Christmas (Part Two)

Before they could figure out the answer, Lin Yue had already left the Ravenclaw Common Room.

She had finished the books she'd borrowed and needed to go to the Library to get another batch.

Seeing Harry and Ron, Lin Yue gave them a blank nod in greeting, then hurried off toward the Library.

Watching Lin Yue's retreating figure, Harry suddenly snapped out of it and quickly called after her.

"Lin Yue! Wait!"

He grabbed Ron and hurried after her, afraid that if they were even a moment too late, Lin Yue would disappear.

Hermione had told them to take Lin Yue out more and help her relax. He couldn't just agree and then do nothing.

Lin Yue stopped and looked at Harry and Ron without expression. "What is it?"

At the emotionless sound of her voice, Harry swallowed hard. That sense of pressure and apprehension rose up in him again.

Ron felt the same way, but he still took a deep breath and managed to explain why they'd come.

"It's snowing outside... We, uh, wanted to invite you to play in the snow." Ron gave Lin Yue an awkward smile.

Lin Yue nodded to show she understood, but the next moment, she answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Sorry, it's my study time now. I can't go downstairs to play in the snow."

"But it's the holidays..." Ron muttered.

Seeing Lin Yue about to leave again, Harry had a flash of inspiration and blurted out something that made her stop once more.

"Hermione told us to take you out more and help you relax!"

When Lin Yue heard that Hermione had asked them to, she forced herself to stop.

Her mind began analyzing the situation without a trace of emotion. Hermione had asked them to, which meant Hermione wanted her to go play in the snow with Harry and the others...

She lowered her head slightly and once again went along with the inexplicable thought in her mind.

"Okay. I'll return my books to the Library, then come with you."

Harry and Ron immediately breathed a sigh of relief. They took the books from Lin Yue and went with her to the Library.

As they walked, Ron nudged Harry with his elbow. "Nice one, mate. How'd you think of using Hermione to persuade her?"

Harry glanced back discreetly to make sure Lin Yue wasn't listening, then lowered his voice.

"Have you never noticed that Lin Yue acts differently only when she's with Hermione?"

"When it's supposed to be her study time, Hermione says one word and she just follows her."

Ron thought it over carefully, then nodded earnestly. "Now that you mention it, that's true."

As far as he could remember, the few times Lin Yue had done anything besides study, it had been after Hermione spoke up.

He silently gave Harry a thumbs-up. After helping Lin Yue return her books to Madam Pince, the three of them headed outside Hogwarts Castle.

Outside Hogwarts Castle, the ground was already covered in a thick layer of snow. The students who had stayed behind ran around, packing snowballs and throwing them at each other.

The ones having the most fun were Ron's twin brothers, Fred Weasley and George Weasley.

They kept scooping snow off the ground and hurling it at everyone nearby, without caring who they were.

As long as someone was there, they were a target.

Lin Yue, Harry, and Ron had just come out of the castle, so they were obviously no exception.

As soon as they stepped outside, several snowballs came flying at them. Harry and Ron ducked out of the way, while Lin Yue, standing behind them, calmly watched the snowballs hurtling toward her and raised a hand to knock each of them aside with pinpoint accuracy.

With no emotions in her mind, she didn't panic or get nervous. Even when she saw several snowballs flying straight at her, she could stay perfectly rational.

She accurately assessed their trajectories and blocked them.

Her move clearly piqued the Weasley Twins' curiosity.

The two exchanged a glance, and each saw the other was eager to give it a try.

But they also knew that if two boys, several years older than Lin Yue, simply threw snowballs at her, it would be incredibly rude.

So after Harry and Ron threw a couple of snowballs back at them, the twins suggested they form teams and have a snowball fight.

There were five of them, so they couldn't divide evenly. They settled on Harry, Ron, and Lin Yue—the three first-years—teaming up.

The two older boys would be on the other team. Lin Yue's side had one extra person, so even with three first-years, they wouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage.

It was only a snowball fight, after all. They weren't using magic. It never occurred to them that if magic were allowed, then even if the teams were Harry and Ron against Lin Yue alone, they'd still be the ones at a disadvantage.

Once the teams were set, the snowball fight began. It wasn't until the game was properly underway that the four boys realized how frightening Lin Yue could be.

They'd thought she was a typical Ravenclaw bookworm who wouldn't be very good at sports.

They hadn't expected that while Lin Yue's stamina wasn't very good, her observation skills and focus were first-rate. She never missed a throw; every snowball hit one of the Weasley Twins.

The snowballs the twins threw either missed her completely when she dodged or were batted away when she raised a hand. Not a single one broke through her defense.

After a full half hour of playing, Lin Yue was already breathing a little heavily.

The four boys had had their fill, too, and seeing Lin Yue's condition, they all stopped of their own accord.

The five of them sat down on a nearby bench to rest. Fred saw Professor Quirrell walking in the distance and curled his lips into a mischievous grin.

He pulled out his wand, pointed it at the snow on the ground, and murmured a spell. A snowball floated slowly into the air and smacked Professor Quirrell on the back of his turbaned head.

"Pfft—hahahaha..." At the sight, George and Fred burst out laughing.

Professor Quirrell was momentarily stunned by the blow. He reached toward the back of his head, then immediately pulled his hand back and hurried away as though nothing had happened.

His reaction only made the Weasley Twins laugh louder.

But as soon as he entered Hogwarts Castle and ran into Professor McGonagall, he put on an expression of fury and told her what the Weasley Twins had done.

Professor McGonagall immediately said sternly that she would reprimand the two of them, then took five points from Gryffindor.

That was why, before the Weasley Twins had even stopped laughing, Professor McGonagall hurried over and gave them a scolding for what they'd done.

Harry, Ron, and Lin Yue weren't dragged into it. While Professor McGonagall was reprimanding the twins, they took Lin Yue with them and slipped away.

"Merlin's backside..." As soon as they entered the castle, Ron groaned miserably.

"Professor Quirrell didn't say anything when he got hit. How'd he end up telling Professor McGonagall right after?"

Harry shook his head. "Maybe because Fred and George are Gryffindors, he wanted Professor McGonagall to deal with it herself?"

Ron shrugged to show he didn't know either, but after what had happened,

Professor Quirrell's standing in their eyes had sunk even lower.

Young people's likes and dislikes were that simple, weren't they? Just like how they disliked Professor Snape.

Lin Yue stood beside them without saying a word, her face calm.

Harry and Ron's guess made some sense, but she had another theory.

Since the start of term, Professor Quirrell had seemed like a stuttering man with a strong smell of garlic, little ability, and a timid, spineless manner.

So saying nothing in front of the Weasley Twins just now fit his usual character.

But going behind their backs to report them to Professor McGonagall suggested that this persona might be an act. It made no sense for a professor to pretend to be so timid.

Considering that he was one of the two professors who had tried to harm Harry, Professor Quirrell now seemed far more suspicious.

Besides, Lin Yue had clearly seen that Professor Quirrell had wanted to touch the back of his head after being hit, but had stopped himself in the middle of the motion.

Was there something strange about the back of his head...?

Lin Yue's thoughts turned over, and her mind rapidly analyzed a string of possibilities.

After analyzing all the information she had, she put the matter aside and looked at Harry and Ron without emotion.

"I'm going to the Great Hall for dinner. Afterward, I'll go straight back to Ravenclaw Tower."

She finished, then watched Harry without blinking, unsure whether Hermione had given them any other instructions.

"Oh, okay..." Harry was taken aback, then nodded.

Once she had her answer, Lin Yue turned around and hurried toward the Great Hall.

By the time Harry and Ron arrived, Lin Yue had already finished dinner and left.

Watching her walk out of the Great Hall, Ron shook his head. "She always eats so fast. I don't know what the point of eating is if you can't enjoy it."

As he spoke, he grabbed a fried chicken drumstick in each hand. Harry served himself some smoked meat.

"Maybe she doesn't enjoy eating," Harry said after taking a bite of smoked meat. He was rather perceptive.

"Then what does she do it for?" Ron asked, biting into a drumstick. Its crispy skin crackled.

"To survive," Harry said with a shrug, completely unaware that he'd gotten it right.

Lin Yue ate to survive. That was why she didn't care what she ate or whether it might damage her stomach.

As long as it kept her body functioning normally and didn't interfere with her studies, that was enough.

That was what her mother had always told her. If people didn't actually die from not eating, her mother might even have told her that eating was unnecessary and a waste of study time.

Lin Yue walked from the Great Hall to the Library, sat down and read until it was nearly curfew, then got up and took her books to Madam Pince to check them out.

Looking at the child before her, who had read several hundred books in just half an academic year—one term—Madam Pince sighed in amazement as she efficiently processed the loan.

After thanking Madam Pince, Lin Yue carried her books back to Ravenclaw Tower.

Back in her dormitory, Lin Yue followed her usual study schedule and didn't go to bed until four.

She slept for an hour, then got up and returned to her desk to read.

At six in the morning, owls began flying to her window one after another.

Lin Yue heard the tapping at the window, but she didn't come out of her study mode. She let the owl outside keep pecking at the glass.

This continued until a thought surfaced in her mind: There's an owl outside. It's here to deliver presents, and Hermione's gift is among them.

The next moment, Lin Yue snapped out of her study mode, opened the dormitory window without expression, and several owls poured in and landed on her desk.

Lin Yue's gaze quickly swept over them, and she soon picked out the owl that was probably carrying Hermione's gift.

She didn't know exactly why she was sure this owl had been sent by Hermione, but the thought was simply there in her mind.

She reached out, untied the letter from the owl's leg, and opened it. Sure enough, it was Hermione's gift.

In the letter, Hermione wished Lin Yue a merry Christmas, hoped she would like her gift, and reminded her to take care of herself during the Christmas holidays.

She also told her to go out and have fun with Harry and Ron more often, and to relax instead of studying all the time.

As she read the almost overflowing concern in Hermione's letter, Lin Yue felt as though something in her mind had spasmed. Her chest also felt warm.

She shook her head, put down the letter, and opened the parcel the owl had delivered, feeling nothing at all.

Inside was a large box of pastries, along with a note from Hermione.

"I made these pastries myself. They're all sugar-free, so they're good for your teeth. I hope you like them!"

Lin Yue put down the note and carefully opened the box in front of her. The scent of the pastries instantly filled her nose.

She reached in and picked up a piece. Instinctively, she was about to shove it straight into her mouth and swallow it.

But in the instant before she could put the whole pastry in her mouth, her mind stopped her.

Once again, she had no idea why the thought came to her, but Lin Yue didn't want to simply "swallow" the pastry Hermione had given her.

So she opened her mouth and slowly took a bite, chewing it carefully.

The soft, sweet flavor blossomed in her mouth. It was the first time in several years that she had truly tasted food again.

Bite after bite, Lin Yue took a full three minutes to finish the pastry, which was smaller than her palm.

It usually took her that long to eat an entire meal, yet now she'd spent all that time eating one tiny pastry.

It was only a pastry, but Lin Yue still felt as though she was a little fuller inside, as if something had been filled in, just a bit.