Privilege

"Lily, you weren't punished, were you?" Petunia looked her carefully up and down, her eyes full of worry.

"I'm fine, but..."

Everyone's hearts tightened at once. They held their breath, waiting for her to reveal Professor McGonagall's punishment.

"Professor McGonagall made an exception and let me join the Gryffindor Quidditch Team as Seeker."

"What?!"

Several cries of surprise rang out at once. Mary, Marlene, and Petunia were all incredulous.

"Professor McGonagall actually made an exception to let a first-year join the team. Merlin, that's amazing!"

James was full of envy. His earlier anxiety about Lily being punished vanished from his mind, and he couldn't help cheering loudly. "Merlin, you were born for Quidditch!"

Lily deliberately edged away from James. He had no sense of propriety. He had caused a pile of trouble for no reason that afternoon, and now he could turn around and praise her as if nothing had happened.

Once Petunia had pieced together what had happened, the tiny bit of goodwill she still had for James plummeted. She leaned close to Lily's ear and whispered, "Stay away from Potter from now on. He doesn't seem very bright. Don't let him influence you."

Lily nodded vigorously in agreement.

When Lily returned to the Gryffindor dormitory that night, she let out a long sigh of relief.

"I finally got away from Potter. I really can't understand how his mind works. He kept going on in my ear just now, saying that if he hadn't snatched Severus's wand, I wouldn't have had a chance to show my flying talent or caught Professor McGonagall's eye."

Alice winked at Dorcas and teased softly, "Maybe he's just trying every way he can to get your attention."

"Well, he certainly managed that. All he succeeded in doing was making me dislike him." Lily sat down at her desk glumly and opened the letter from home.

As Mary picked out a hair clip to wear with her uniform tomorrow, she asked casually, "How do you get an owl from home every day? I can't even be bothered to write home. Every time I do, I have to explain a whole bunch of things about magic. It's too much trouble."

"I still have to manage business at Tales of Blossoms and keep track of locations and revenue for the branches. Petunia and I will most likely stay in the wizarding world long-term, so we need to start integrating the Muggle and wizarding business worlds in advance."

"So that's why. No wonder you're always writing home."

Marlene glanced over Wednesday's timetable and couldn't help sighing. "Merlin, four whole classes tomorrow. There won't be any time for a rest at noon. We should wash up and get to bed early." With that, she picked up a change of clothes and headed to the washroom.

Lily folded her reply, sealed it in an envelope, and summoned Heidi to deliver it. Then she opened a book and pretended to read, but her thoughts drifted to the magic puzzle in her mind. Its progress was still only at 1.8 percent, astonishingly slow. The proficiencies of various spells were divided into black and white: those she was proficient in appeared white, while those she had yet to master were pitch-black. She also noticed that the proficiency levels were divided into three grades—white, gray, and green—with green being the highest. She couldn't help wondering about the rules behind it.

She silently called out to Pindaodao in her mind. How do I improve my spell proficiency?

"You can level it up by using it more. Take Avada Kedavra, for example. Use it frequently and you'll max out its proficiency at green."

Lily immediately cut off her mental connection with Pindaodao. She would have to use that one in secret, wouldn't she? If anyone found out, nothing but Azkaban would await her.

For the next two full weeks, Lily deliberately kept a clear distance from James and his group.

Even though James paid no attention to her aloofness and carried on as he pleased, unfailingly trying to squeeze in beside her in every class, Lily's patience grew at an astonishing rate over those two weeks. In the end, she simply gave up and completely ignored all his deliberate attempts to look cool.

No matter how James used the light and shadow by the window to mess up his hair, thinking he looked dashing and unrestrained, Lily was left speechless, feeling only that he was trying to shake dandruff onto her.

Alas, when will these days end?

In Potions Class that week, Lily was paired with Snape. James sat nearby, his eyes fixed on Snape's back, his gaze so scorching it was as though he could burn two holes through it by sight alone.

Lily and Snape worked together flawlessly. Their understanding of Potions and the precision of their technique far surpassed everyone else in their year. Slughorn could not praise them enough, lavishing compliments on them in front of the class. He even announced a special privilege: starting with the next lesson, they could freely use an empty classroom to study advanced potion recipes on their own, without being bound by the pace of the class.

Lily deftly chopped the nettles, her blade rising and falling steadily. A lighthearted smile played across her face as she found a moment to turn to the person beside her. "Severus, that's wonderful! We can be alone together again, and study Potions together too."

Snape kept his eyes lowered as he prepared the potion, a faint warmth quietly spreading across his pale cheeks. He was clearly happy to spend more time with Lily while under protection.

James watched the whole thing from the side and clicked his tongue in frustration.

Slughorn's personal protection brought Snape a certain standing in Slytherin.

Lucius Malfoy, a core member of the house's pure-blood circle, immediately noticed the half-blood newcomer who had suddenly received special attention from the professor. He secretly had someone look into Snape's background and unexpectedly learned that Snape was the sole descendant of the Princes, a declining Potions family, rather than an ordinary, unknown half-blood.

From then on, Lucius included Snape among those he was keeping an eye on. The atmosphere in Slytherin quietly shifted, and the exclusion and cold looks within the house gradually subsided. The most obvious change was that Snape no longer had to huddle at the very end of the table. He now sat in the middle of the Slytherin table, completely escaping his bullied position at the bottom.

Lily quietly made it through day after day of classes until the eagerly awaited Halloween finally arrived.

The Hogwarts Great Hall had been completely decked out for the holiday. Swarms of pitch-black bats fluttered beneath the vaulted ceiling, round golden pumpkins filled the corridors and table corners, and drifting, transparent ghosts passed among the crowd. The evening breeze carried the sweet scent of caramel, and the whole ancient castle came alive with activity.

This was Lily's first Halloween at Hogwarts since transmigrating.

At the entrance to the Great Hall, James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter stood side by side. It seemed the Marauders had begun to take shape.

Lily spotted them at once, but she didn't pause for a moment. She took Petunia's hand and walked straight past the four of them. She was in a rare holiday mood, and she had no intention of letting a few ringleaders of mischief ruin it.

"Hey, James, look. Evans won't even glance at you." Sirius slung an arm over James's shoulders and raised an eyebrow teasingly.

James watched that striking red hair. There was no disappointment in his eyes; instead, they held a hint of infatuation. "Don't you think she's especially cute when she ignores people with that cold look on her face?"

Sirius silently shut his mouth. He's beyond saving. There's no hope for him.