The starlight from the Astronomy Tower seemed to still linger on her lips. Hermione unconsciously brushed her lower lip with her fingertips, the heat at the tips of her ears refusing to fade even after she entered the Potions classroom. Lynn walked beside her as usual, his expression calm, but beneath his robes, the Star Stone pulsed with a steadier, warmer rhythm than before, silently proclaiming the return of its original power.
The frigid dungeon classroom was thick with the bitter scent of herbs. Snape's black robes billowed like a bat's wings as he "commented" on Neville's cauldron of Bubotuber pus potion, which was giving off strange green smoke, in his uniquely venomous voice. "Mr. Longbottom, congratulations. You have successfully brewed a... new type of cleaner capable of corroding cauldrons?"
As usual, Hermione pushed the prepared Venomous Tentacula roots toward Lynn, then focused on slicing Glimmerworms—her least favorite step. Lynn accepted the roots, his fingers moving slightly as silvery-white starlight, like the finest carving blade, instantly divided them into uniformly sized slices without diminishing their potency in the slightest. He moved naturally, as though merely brushing away dust.
"Before class ends," Snape's cold voice interrupted their work, "place your Shrinking Potion samples and theoretical analysis parchments on the silver-plated tray to the left of the lectern."
The students began gathering their assignments. Hermione carefully poured the pearlescent blue potion into a Crystal Phial, then rolled up her parchment. Just as she rose to approach the lectern, a short boy in Slytherin robes, Crabbe, squeezed hastily past her with his head down and "accidentally" bumped her shoulder!
"Ah!" Hermione's hand jerked, and the Crystal Phial flew from her grasp!
A long-fingered hand flashed out like lightning and steadily caught the falling Crystal Phial in midair. Lynn had somehow appeared at her side, his icy gaze sweeping toward Crabbe's retreating, stumbling back.
"Are you all right?" Lynn handed the phial back to her.
"I'm fine." Hermione sighed in relief and accepted the phial, but her fingertips touched something strangely sticky at its bottom. She lowered her head for a closer look—a Black Diamond Brooch, no bigger than a button and glowing with an ominous dark light, had somehow fastened itself firmly to the bottom of the Crystal Phial! Inside the diamond, a thread of viscous black mist drifted slowly like a living thing!
Hermione's pupils contracted sharply! The dark resonance Lynn's Star Power had locked onto in the Astronomy Tower last night was exactly the same as the aura emanating from this black diamond!
"Don't touch it!" Urgency, rare in Lynn's voice, rang out. A concentrated spark of starlight instantly gathered at his fingertip and shot precisely toward the black diamond—
Buzz!
The black diamond suddenly erupted with an invisible wave of mental force! Cold, slick, and filled with beguiling whispers, it flooded Hermione's mind in an instant:
"Come... into the wall... only there is safe... they're looking for you... run..."
Hermione's eyes instantly went blank. Her body stiffened, and the hand holding the Crystal Phial rose against her will, its opening aimed at her lips—the phial contained concentrated Shrinking Potion! If she drank it, the consequences would be unimaginable!
"Imperio?!" Harry cried out from the front row, recognizing the signs of the evil curse!
"Hermione!" Ron was frozen with fright as well.
In that split second, Lynn's left hand clamped around Hermione's wrist like an iron vise, stopping her from drinking the potion. At the same time, the starlight at his right hand, which was pointed toward the black diamond, did not withdraw. Instead, it flared brilliantly and transformed into a concentrated silver-white chain that instantly wrapped around the agitated black diamond!
Sizzle—!
A piercing sound of corrosion rang out! The starlight chain clashed violently with the viscous black mist radiating from the black diamond, like ice water poured over boiling oil! The black mist twisted and struggled madly, emitting a resentful shriek perceptible only on the mental plane! Hermione's body trembled violently, pain and confusion struggling within her vacant eyes.
"Look at me, Hermione!" Lynn's voice was low and powerful, carrying the unique resonance of Star Power. It pierced through the evil whispers and crashed into the depths of Hermione's chaotic consciousness. "Starlight Unextinguished!"
That familiar call was like a lighthouse! Hermione's unfocused pupils suddenly sharpened, reflecting Lynn's face close before her, filled with worry and determination. She gasped for breath, cold sweat soaking her temples. The Crystal Phial slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor with a crack, blue potion splashing everywhere. The black diamond, tightly bound by the starlight chain, also rolled to the floor. Its eerie glow dimmed, and the black mist within ceased moving, as if temporarily sealed.
The entire classroom fell deathly silent. Snape had somehow appeared beside the lectern. His black eyes were fixed on the black diamond on the floor and Hermione's wrist wrapped in the starlight chain, his face so dark it seemed ready to drip water.
"Professor Snape!" Harry came to his senses and pointed at the black diamond and the still-shaken Hermione. "Someone used the Imperius Curse on Hermione! With that black diamond!"
Snape ignored Harry. With a flick of his wand, a transparent magical barrier instantly enclosed the black diamond on the floor along with the starlight chain. His sharp gaze, like a surgical blade, scraped over Lynn's hand gripping Hermione's wrist and the fading starlight chain before finally settling on Lynn's face. His voice was cold and slick. "An exquisite... method of resistance, Mr. Stone. It seems you possess considerable 'talent' for resisting Dark Magic?" He stressed the word "talent" heavily, his tone full of scrutiny.
Lynn met his gaze calmly as the starlight chain slowly dispersed. "An instinctive reaction, Professor." He still held Hermione's cold, trembling wrist and did not let go.
Snape gave a cold snort and did not press further. Carefully, he used magic to levitate away the black diamond within its barrier. "Miss Granger, go to the Hospital Wing after class. The rest of you," his gloomy gaze swept over the terrified students, "continue your... potions."
***
The scent of disinfectant in the Hospital Wing could not dispel the chill in Hermione's heart. Madam Pomfrey confirmed after examining her that she had only suffered fright and a mild mental shock, then prescribed a bottle of bubblegum-flavored calming potion.
"It was Lucius Malfoy... it had to be!" Hermione sat wrapped in a blanket on the edge of the hospital bed. Her face was still a little pale, but her eyes had regained their sharpness. "That black diamond... it had the same aura as the diary! He wanted to control me... lure me to the Basilisk!" Remembering those cold, beguiling whispers, her body trembled faintly on its own.
Lynn sat beside the bed and silently pressed a cup of hot chocolate into her hands. The warm porcelain cup drove the chill from her fingertips.
"It won't happen again." His voice was not loud, yet it carried the weight of bedrock. He opened his palm, where a stream of flowing silver-white starlight floated. The starlight curled and took shape around his fingertips, finally condensing into a delicate, exquisite bracelet. Its chain was woven from dense strands of starlight, and at its center hung a tiny Star Core Crystal that continuously radiated soft warmth.
"Give me your hand," Lynn said.
Hermione blankly held out her left hand. Lynn lowered his eyes and gently fastened the Starlight Bracelet around her slender wrist. The instant the Star Core Crystal touched her skin, a gentle yet steadfast current of warmth surged through her limbs, dispelling the last trace of coldness lurking in her heart. The Moon White Stone at her neck responded, giving off a soft halo of resonant light.
"It will protect your mind." Lynn's fingertips brushed over the warm Star Core Crystal, then lightly tapped her still-pale lips. "More effective than any potion."
Hermione lowered her gaze to the Starlight Bracelet flowing with starlight around her wrist, then looked at Lynn's focused profile so close beside her. A warm rush, mingled with an indescribable flutter, welled up in her eyes. Suddenly, she leaned forward and quickly pressed a kiss, sweet with the scent of cocoa and light as a butterfly's wing, to the corner of his lips.
"More effective than starlight," she whispered, blushing as she gently rested her head on his shoulder. The Star Core Bracelet's warmth wrapped around her wrist like his unspoken promise.
***
Deep within the dungeons lay Snape's private storeroom. The black diamond, sealed within a magical barrier, hovered above a boiling cauldron. Snape stared at the dormant black mist inside the diamond as strands of silver-blue memory unfurled from the tip of his wand, attempting to penetrate and analyze it.
Suddenly, the black mist erupted! It condensed into the vague, twisted face of a young boy and let out a soundless shriek at Snape! A powerful backlash of mental force slammed viciously into Snape's consciousness!
Snape gave a muffled groan and staggered back two steps, the light at his wand tip instantly dimming. A flash of pain and profound shock crossed his pale face. He stared fixedly at the black diamond as it returned to silence, complex undercurrents surging in his eyes—suspicion, wariness, and a trace of... barely perceptible trembling.
***
The fire in the Gryffindor Common Room cast a cozy golden-red glow. Hermione curled up on the sofa, her injured left wrist resting on the armrest, the Star Core Bracelet flowing with tranquil light. Holding a quill in her right hand, she carefully added a new rule to the blank space on the Warmth Protocol parchment:
>Supplementary Clause Four: The supervisor has the right to require the supervised party to make starlight accessories as protective equipment.
Lynn sat on the carpet beside her, leaning against the sofa with a copy of Hogwarts: A History spread across his knees—Hermione had insisted he needed "relaxing reading." Yet his gaze was not on the book but on the mantelpiece. There, a Starlight Guardian Lion, no bigger than a fingernail and formed from starlight under his control, was pacing about majestically, driving away the cold that tried to creep out from the fireplace shadows.
Having finished the clause, Hermione set down her quill in satisfaction, her attention also drawn to the lively little lion. She extended a finger, and the lion immediately leaped onto it, rubbing against her affectionately and leaving behind a speck of warm starlight.
"It says," Hermione said with a smile, showing the tiny lion on her fingertip to Lynn, "that Clause Four has been carried out perfectly."
Lynn looked at her warm smile in the firelight, then at the protective starlight around her wrist. The Star Stone in his chest gave off a steady, warm resonance. He held out a finger, and the little lion lightly jumped back into his palm, transforming into a stream of starlight that merged into his body.
Outside the window, snowflakes drifted down soundlessly, covering the icy blue Ice Marks on the castle walls. Yet in the warm Common Room, starlight flowed around her wrist, and the contract of protection silently grew stronger. The shadow of the black diamond had temporarily retreated, but on the chessboard, both sides had already bared their deadly fangs. Hermione's fingertips unconsciously traced the words "starlight accessories" on the parchment. Her gaze swept over Lynn's calm profile, and the warmth in her heart drove away every trace of cold.
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