Cho's Guardian Angel

The Christmas holiday finally ended, and students began returning to Hogwarts.

Cho came across the long bridge toward the castle with a suitcase in one hand and a long broom case strapped across her back. Several friends walked with her, bundled against the cold.

Not far ahead, a handsome boy in Hogwarts robes waited quietly with a scarf around his neck. Warm white light glowed from the tip of his wand, soft enough to look like a small lantern in the winter air.

It was Edmund.

The moment Cho saw him, she abandoned her friends and ran straight into his arms.

Edmund opened his arms and caught her, holding her close.

"Welcome back, Cho."

"I missed you so much, Edmund."

They had only been apart for a few days, but her voice had already gone thick. Cho sounded as if she might cry.

Edmund heard it and immediately changed the subject.

"Have you put on a little weight?"

"What?"

That stopped the tears at once. Cho pulled back, her reaction immediate and fierce.

Apparently, no matter the world, some subjects remained dangerous territory.

"Really, Edmund? Did I eat that much over the holiday?"

"Maybe your family spoiled you."

"They did," Cho said at once, seizing the excuse. "Every meal was too good. I could not control myself."

Edmund nearly laughed aloud at how smoothly she shifted the blame onto her family.

Still, he knew better than to keep teasing her. One more careless word and the tears might return for an entirely different reason.

"It is too cold out here," he said. "Let's go back to the Great Hall. You have not had dinner yet."

The two of them walked toward the castle. Behind them, several young witches watched Cho with undisguised envy. Why did they not have a boyfriend who was that gentle, considerate, and good-looking?

Among the crowd, Hermione pressed her lips together and quietly continued forward with the others.

After returning to the Great Hall, Cho ate a light meal and then began telling Edmund about her holiday. Most of it, naturally, involved food.

"If you have time during the summer, we should go again," she said at last.

Then she remembered the gift.

"Thank you for the broom, Edmund, but it is far too expensive. I cannot accept it."

Edmund did not think much of the price. The Daily Missions often rewarded him with Galleons, and never less than a hundred. The broom only represented a few days of system income.

"Take it without worrying," he said. "I have brewed quite a few potions for Professor Snape, and he paid me well for them. That amount is nothing serious for me."

Using Snape as a convenient shield explained the source of his money, so Edmund continued smoothly.

"Besides, your name is already engraved on it. If you refuse it now, it will be hard to do anything else with it."

Since he put it that way, Cho could only accept. What truly puzzled her was how he had managed to get a Nimbus 2001 half a year before its official release.

Edmund explained Professor Flitwick's connection, and Cho's curiosity finally settled.

The next month passed without any major events at Hogwarts.

Edmund, however, was busy. Aside from classes, he still had Quidditch practice, Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Club, and Snape's private instruction. If his time management had been any worse, he would have collapsed under the schedule.

He decided that he would stop attending McGonagall's club next term. At his current level, very little of what the club covered was still useful to him.

During that month, Ravenclaw also played Slytherin in Quidditch.

When Cho brought out the Nimbus 2001, the whole school erupted. The broom was not supposed to be released until the summer, yet Cho already had one.

Slytherin immediately realized the situation was bad and tried to use fouls to stop her.

Unfortunately for them, they had forgotten Edmund was also on the pitch.

He showed no mercy. With several clean, brutal strikes, he knocked multiple Slytherin players off their brooms. Two even left the pitch with broken hands.

After that, Slytherin finally behaved. The substitute players, in particular, flew around Cho as though she were surrounded by cursed fire.

Under those conditions, Ravenclaw defeated Slytherin 280 to 100 and secured its second straight victory.

If Ravenclaw could defeat Gryffindor next, the Quidditch Cup would belong to them this year.

Because of his performance, Edmund also acquired a painfully dramatic nickname: Cho's Guardian Angel.

He found it deeply embarrassing.

Cho, however, seemed very pleased.

...

One morning in February, Edmund and Cho entered the Great Hall and found a crowd gathered around the hourglasses. The Gryffindor students looked especially miserable.

Marietta Edgecombe hurried over after collecting the latest gossip.

"Gryffindor lost a hundred and fifty points yesterday," she said. "Apparently Potter and two of his roommates were caught out at night."

"How unlucky," Cho said.

She did not feel much beyond that, but Edmund knew what had happened.

It was probably Hagrid's dragon.

Hermione had asked him a few questions about dragons before, so he had already guessed that Hagrid had somehow obtained one and that Harry, Hermione, and the others had discovered it.

Edmund had not been very interested. The sort of dragon Hagrid might raise was not exactly elegant in his opinion. If it had been the kind of long, majestic dragon found in old legends, perhaps he would have gone to see it himself.

This point deduction was likely the result of Malfoy reporting them, followed by Professor McGonagall taking a very hard line.

That was Harry's luck at work. If any ordinary student had caused such trouble, whether they could remain at Hogwarts at all would have been an open question.

After a brief thought, Edmund lost interest. It had nothing to do with him.

He did not expect the matter to pull him in that afternoon.

After Potions, Edmund followed Snape back to his office as usual.

Lately, Snape had not only taught him potions. More importantly, he had been sharpening Edmund's combat instincts and practical dueling ability.

Ever since receiving Eden's Realm as a Christmas gift, Snape's attitude toward Edmund had improved considerably. He had even begun teaching him some combat tricks he usually kept buried deep.

Edmund considered the gift well worth it.

During their recent sessions, Snape had to use nearly seventy percent of his strength to defeat him.

That alone was enough to make the Potions master silently call him monstrous.

Today, however, after their sparring ended, Snape did not let Edmund leave. Instead, he gave him a task.

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