Christmas Eve

Since Hermione and the other two never thought to ask, they perfectly missed the walking library right beside them.

Lin Yue sat in the library reading every day, and likewise saw the trio carve out time each day to search for clues about Nicolas Flamel.

But... in books whose subject matter was modern, how could they possibly find that six-hundred-fifty-eight-year-old gentleman?

His age hardly counted as a modern figure.

Lin Yue calmly withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, and continued reading.

And as time passed bit by bit, December arrived, and with it, Christmas slowly drew near.

The heads of each house began tallying whether students would stay at the castle for the holiday.

Just after finishing breakfast, Lin Yue looked at the form Professor Flitwick handed her. In her mind, the words she had seen before surfaced.

According to those words, she had no home in this world. Without joy or sorrow, she filled in her decision to stay at the castle, nodded politely to Professor Flitwick, and rose to leave the Great Hall.

No sooner had she stepped out of the Great Hall than she ran into Hermione, who had come to breakfast with Harry and Ron.

Hermione's eyes lit up when she saw Lin Yue. She gestured for the two boys to go in and eat first, then walked briskly over to Lin Yue.

"Lin Yue, Christmas is almost here. Are you going home, or staying at the castle?"

Lin Yue stopped walking, her face expressionless as she looked at Hermione. "I'm staying."

"Oh," Hermione nodded. "I'm going home for Christmas. We'll meet again after the holiday."

Having said that, Hermione looked at Lin Yue expectantly, hoping to see even a trace of reluctance in her eyes.

But reality was destined to disappoint her. Lin Yue's eyes remained as calm as a still lake. She simply nodded indifferently.

"Alright. See you after the Christmas holiday."

Hermione sighed helplessly. "Fine... I should have known you'd be like this. What was I even hoping for?"

Quickly composing herself, Hermione smiled and patted Lin Yue's arm.

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore. Go on to class."

"Alright." Lin Yue nodded, turned back, and walked briskly toward the classroom.

After class, Lin Yue returned to the dormitory. Qiuzhang and Marietta, as second-years, had different class schedules and were still in lessons.

Thinking about the survey she had filled out today—whether she was staying at the castle or going home for Christmas—and Hermione telling her she was going home, Lin Yue's mind flashed with information about Christmas. Christmas... meant giving gifts to friends, teachers, and the people around you.

Though she understood the definition of the word "friend," Lin Yue didn't actually feel anything toward friends.

Her feelings toward everyone around her were the same—nonexistent. Yet her brain still faintly transmitted messages to her.

Telling her that she needed to prepare gifts for Hermione, the professors couldn't be left out either, Harry and Ron, Qiuzhang and Marietta, and Penelope...

With just a single thought, Lin Yue's brain automatically listed out a full inventory.

But then another problem occurred to her: buying gifts required money, and she apparently had none.

From the start of term until now, everything she had used had never required spending money.

That HP world consciousness had clearly known in advance how badly the child it had snatched up had been broken.

It hadn't expected her to earn money to support herself while studying.

So, besides the free room and board Hogwarts provided, the HP world consciousness had also placed in her trunk an ink bottle that was always full, a quill that never broke, a stack of parchment that automatically replenished a sheet whenever one was taken, and one bottle each of shampoo, body wash, and conditioner that were always full.

Though Lin Yue had never used the conditioner. And besides these items, along with spare clothes, her wand, and other necessities, there had actually been a cloth pouch in the trunk back then.

Remembering that cloth pouch, and connecting it to the other items in the trunk, Lin Yue almost immediately concluded that this thing was probably also capable of solving her problem.

Bending down, she pulled the trunk out from under the bed. With vacant eyes, she opened it and took out the cloth pouch.

Opening the pouch, ten Gold Galleons lay inside. Lin Yue calmly reached in and took them out.

The moment those ten Gold Galleons were completely removed from the pouch, ten more instantly appeared inside.

Lin Yue stared at the pouch before her, recalling in her mind what Qiuzhang had once said about the price of the Honeydukes chocolate gift box she had been eyeing.

A chocolate gift box, in her thinking, was very suitable as a gift.

After finishing her deliberation, Lin Yue repeated the action of taking Gold Galleons from the pouch a dozen times.

Each time she fully removed the coins, ten more Gold Galleons immediately reappeared in the pouch.

But once she had taken enough Galleons, Lin Yue quickly tied the pouch shut again and put it back in the trunk.

Clutching the counted money, Lin Yue walked swiftly out of the Ravenclaw Common Room and headed to the Owlery.

After choosing a relatively sturdy-looking owl, Lin Yue casually set the Galleons aside, pulled out her quill and a sheet of parchment, wrote a mail-order letter, and handed both the letter and the Galleons to the owl.

The owl let Lin Yue place the letter and Galleons into the small pouch on its leg, then spread its wings and flew out of Hogwarts Castle, heading toward Honeydukes Sweetshop.

Lin Yue watched the owl fly off into the distance, her face utterly blank as she looked down at her clenched right hand.

Inside were ten Galleons she hadn't sent out—exactly the price of one chocolate gift box. For some reason, her brain had just conjured another thought.

It seemed to be telling her that she shouldn't buy Hermione the same chocolate gift box as everyone else.

So she had subconsciously kept these ten Galleons. But... if not a chocolate gift box, what should she give?

Lin Yue felt no confusion, instead quickly beginning to think about what she could give as a gift.

After a moment, she finally scraped together a distant memory from the depths of her mind.

In that memory, she seemed to be teaching herself how to knit, and back then she was very... very what? Lin Yue's brain stuttered for a moment.

Shaking her head, Lin Yue cast aside the stray thoughts, keeping only the knitting memory. She wrote another letter and handed it to the Owl along with a Gold Galleon.

This time, Lin Yue was buying needles and thread. Once that was done, she quickened her pace back to her Dormitory.

Before sitting at her Desk to read with full focus, Lin Yue calculated in her head how long it would take to knit a pair of gloves for Hermione.

She concluded it would only take her three hours.

When the holiday is right in front of you, the remaining time flies by.

It felt like no time at all before the Christmas Holiday had arrived.

Hermione dragged her large suitcase into the Great Hall, where Harry and Ron were sitting at the Gryffindor dining table playing Wizard's Chess.

"Oh... that's a bit barbaric," Hermione frowned as she watched a queen smash another piece to pieces with its stool.

"That's just how Wizard's Chess is, Hermione. And you only say that because you can't beat me at it."

Ron shot Hermione a slightly smug look—this was one of the few things he could win against her at.

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Oh, come off it, Ron. I'm not that petty."

Ron shrugged and watched Harry make a move.

After Harry moved, he looked up at Hermione. "You're heading to the train?"

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "Remember to do your homework over the Christmas Holiday. If you don't, I definitely won't let you copy it when I get back."

"She'll give in eventually..." Ron muttered quietly to Harry. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Also, if you have time during the Christmas Holiday, go check the library again for information on Nicolas Flamel."

"But we've practically searched everything already..." Ron sighed helplessly. They'd checked every book in the Hogwarts Library whose title seemed related to famous figures.

They couldn't be expected to go through every single book, could they?

"Mm-hmm," Hermione nodded slyly. "But we haven't checked the Restricted Section yet, have we?"

"There'll be fewer people in school during the Christmas Holiday. You two can find a chance to go."

"She's corrupted us both," Ron said to Harry, shaking his head.

Hermione, both amused and exasperated, reached out and gave Ron a slap. "No need to put yourselves down like that—I'm a Gryffindor too!"

With that, she flipped her hair and walked off toward the Ravenclaw table, where Lin Yue was knitting gloves at lightning speed with her needles.

Hermione walked up to Lin Yue and saw her—rarely not studying—knitting gloves. She widened her eyes in surprise, and a thought involuntarily popped into her head: who... who could make Lin Yue set aside her studies to knit gloves for them?!

Her mind had already started running through every spell she'd ever learned. Lin Yue, so "naive" and only focused on studying—who could be so heartless as to make her...

Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself, patted her chest, and muttered quietly, "Hermione Granger, calm down, calm down. Maybe she's just knitting them for her Mother."

After soothing herself, Hermione reached out and tapped the table in front of Lin Yue. "Lin Yue."

"Hm?" Lin Yue looked up at Hermione with a blank expression.

"I'm going home," Hermione said softly, her tone so gentle that if Harry and Ron heard it, they'd probably fall out of their seats in shock.

Lin Yue nodded without a flicker of emotion. "Okay. See you after the Christmas Holiday."

Watching Lin Yue react so indifferently, and then glancing at the gloves she was knitting—she didn't even pause her movements while talking to her—Hermione felt her heart sink even more.

Like an angry Lioness, she took a deep breath and struggled to keep her voice steady.

"Lin Yue, are those gloves you're knitting a Christmas gift? Who are they for?"

Completely oblivious to what a surprise was, and even less aware of the need to keep one, Lin Yue answered straightforwardly.

"They're a Christmas gift. For you."

Hearing "for you," Hermione let out the breath she'd been holding. The angry Lioness had clearly been soothed perfectly.

"For me... then I'll thank you in advance," Hermione said softly, offering her thanks to Lin Yue.

"You're welcome." Lin Yue shook her head, her hands never stopping their knitting.

Hermione tightened her grip on her suitcase handle and felt her throat inexplicably go dry.

Clearing her throat, she reached out and gently ruffled Lin Yue's hair. "I'm off now. I need to catch the train."

"Okay. Travel safely."

Lin Yue nodded. Hermione withdrew her gaze, satisfied, and pulled her suitcase toward the entrance of the Great Hall with a bright smile.

Halfway there, she suddenly remembered something and hurried back to Harry and Ron.

"What's wrong?" Harry turned in surprise, catching Hermione in his Peripheral Vision. Why wasn't she gone yet?

"I won't be here over the Christmas Holiday. When you two are having fun, try to drag Lin Yue along with you. Don't let her just study all the time."

Harry thought for a moment about Lin Yue's daily routine—either in the library or studying in her Dormitory.

She felt she should be able to find someone in the library, so she nodded solemnly as well.

"Alright, no problem." This was Hermione's first time asking them to do something, and they would definitely get it done.

Ron nodded seriously beside her, indicating he would join Harry in accomplishing this task.

Hermione relaxed completely, nodded with a smile, turned, and walked out of the Great Hall to catch the Hogwarts Express.

After finishing the gloves in the Great Hall, Lin Yue took them back to the dormitory to study.

The only reason she had knitted the gloves in the Great Hall was that the lighting was better there—nothing more.

Back in the dormitory, Qiuzhang and Marietta had already boarded the Hogwarts Express heading home.

Lin Yue added a bruise to her left arm as punishment for using study time to knit gloves, then began reading.

And while she was reading, heavy snow began to fall outside.

Almost all the students staying at the school ran out to play in the snow—winter, after all, meant the greatest joy for children was playing in the snow.

Harry and Ron, remembering the task Hermione had entrusted to them before she left, thought that in such a heavy snowfall, Lin Yue shouldn't be left out of the fun. So they came together to the entrance of the Ravenclaw Common Room, trying to call her out to play in the snow.

The bronze knocker, seeing someone approach, spoke first and posed its question.

Hearing the knocker's question, Harry and Ron exchanged glances. Though they had heard before that entering the Ravenclaw Common Room required answering a question correctly—anyone could enter if they answered right, and no one could if they didn't—now that they actually heard the knocker's question, they truly felt a headache coming on.

Which came first, the phoenix or the fire?

Harry and Ron both lowered their heads, sinking into deep thought.