The Strange Girl

The night fell, and the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station.

Lin Yue listened to the broadcast playing on the train with a blank expression. According to the broadcast, luggage could be left on the train, but she should take her books with her. Her time on the journey shouldn't be wasted; she could read while walking.

Taking her book, Lin Yue walked out of the compartment and silently followed the crowd off the train.

As soon as she stepped off the train, a loud voice reached her ears.

"First-year students, first-year students, gather around me!"

Lin Yue turned her head towards the source of the voice, her thoughts calm and undisturbed.

I haven't encountered Magic yet. This is my first time at this school, so I am a first-year student.

Walking towards the source of the voice, Lin Yue saw the speaker through a group of children her age.

It was a figure much taller than a normal person. Judging by his size, Lin Yue thought he might have Gigantism.

She withdrew her gaze and opened the textbook in her hands, intending to continue reading. However, the complete lack of light around her made it impossible to see even a single letter.

Closing the textbook, Lin Yue thought to herself, My study time is being wasted again. I need to catch up. I'll shorten my sleep tonight.

"Alright, first-year students, follow me." Hagrid waved his hand and started leading the way.

There wasn't a single lamp along the entire path; only Hagrid carried a lantern, and all the students stumbled along.

Lin Yue also had a difficult time walking. By the time they followed Hagrid to the edge of the Black Lake and saw the small boats with lit lamps at their prows, all the first-year students breathed a sigh of relief.

"Four people per boat, everyone get on." Hagrid shouted loudly, then boarded a small boat himself.

Lin Yue looked at the surrounding small boats blankly, casually walked onto one, and sat at the front. Once seated, she used the lamplight to open her book and began to read.

The three Little wizards who boarded later saw this and exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other's eyes.

Reading a book while going to the school by boat?! She's too eager to learn! She must be a Ravenclaw, no doubt!

"Everyone ready? Let's go~"

Following Hagrid's voice, the small boat began to move slowly across the Black Lake.

Lin Yue focused intently on her book, while the other three Little wizards introduced themselves and chatted about their experiences before arriving at Hogwarts.

As for Lin Yue, who was in the same boat, she kept reading. They weren't sure if they should disturb her, so no one spoke to her the entire journey.

It wasn't until the boat docked on the other side that Lin Yue closed her book, looked up, and disembarked. She followed the first-year students with Hagrid to the entrance of the Hogwarts Castle.

Knock, knock, knock. Hagrid raised his hand and knocked heavily three times. The large doors then opened, and some light spilled out.

The professor who came to open the door to welcome the new students looked very stern, but Lin Yue had no particular feelings about her.

After a calm glance, she lowered her head to read again by the light, leaving the first-year students next to her stunned.

Hermione also noticed this. She looked at the girl who had made her feel a little scared on the Hogwarts Express earlier – Lin Yue.

Lin Yue's face remained expressionless, and she still held the Transfiguration textbook she had been reading on the train.

However, it was clear she was nearing the end. She doesn't put her book down even in this situation?

Hermione silently wondered if her own studies weren't diligent enough...

Following the crowd into Hogwarts, everyone else was curiously looking around, occasionally exclaiming in wonder and happily chatting with their classmates.

Lin Yue merely raised her head, her gaze sweeping aimlessly around, before lowering it again to read.

"Alright, everyone, welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said loudly, turning back to face the group of Little wizards.

Her gaze paused when she saw Lin Yue. Everyone else was looking around, but only she was looking down at her book. It was incredibly conspicuous, and this child... had a typical Eastern appearance, but she had no recollection of any children from wizarding families of Eastern descent enrolling this year.

Could she be from a Muggle family? Then perhaps Sprout or Flitwick would have met her.

She withdrew her gaze, having no time to dwell on it. Facing the many Little wizards, she introduced the four Hogwarts houses and warned them about the point system for the House Cup.

While she introduced the four options and explained the House Cup system, Lin Yue looked up and listened attentively.

One must listen carefully to what the teacher says, especially regarding school regulations.

After Professor McGonagall finished speaking, Lin Yue lowered her head again, focusing her attention back on her book.

Professor McGonagall gave a few more instructions and then left the room to prepare for the Sorting Ceremony.

During this time, neither the appearance of the ghosts nor the argument between Harry and Malfoy could make Lin Yue look up from her book, as if they existed in different worlds.

When Professor McGonagall returned, the students in the room immediately quieted down.

Without looking up, Lin Yue followed her into the Hogwarts Great Hall, where their Sorting Ceremony would take place.

From time to time, exclamations from Little wizards could be heard around her, but Lin Yue remained oblivious, her mind solely on the book in her hands, frantically memorizing its contents.

Among a crowd of Little wizards curiously looking everywhere, one was seen looking down at a book. The students from other years in the Great Hall couldn't help but start whispering in surprise.

"Merlin's beard, she must be a Ravenclaw!"

"No way, still reading right before the Sorting? Even as a Ravenclaw, I'm not like this. She makes me doubt if I'm a fake Ravenclaw."

One by one, names were called, and finally, Lin Yue heard Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Lin Yue."

Lin Yue slowly raised her head, closed the book in her hands, and walked stiffly and mechanically to the teacher's table, sitting in the chair next to Professor McGonagall.

The Sorting Hat was placed on her head, covering her eyes and plunging her into darkness.

Her mind raced, recalling the contents of the textbook from earlier, Lin Yue seizing every moment to engrave knowledge into her brain.

The Sorting Hat had never encountered a little wizard like this. She was already wearing it, yet she wasn't nervous or excited at all??

She was actually frantically memorizing knowledge in her head? The Sorting Hat was confused, the Sorting Hat was perplexed, the Sorting Hat was greatly shocked.

It didn't need to consider anymore. At this point, she was still reciting books. Where else could this child go?

She clearly could only go to, "Ravenclaw!"

Professor McGonagall removed the Sorting Hat from her head. Lin Yue stood up and, amidst the applause of the Ravenclaws, took her stiff steps again, sitting down at the Ravenclaw table. She then seamlessly opened her textbook, This caused Qiuzhang, who had been wanting to greet her and get to know this fellow Chinese student, to quietly shrink back.

Alright... it seems this junior is, well, very studious...

The Sorting Ceremony ended. Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and said something with an ambiguous meaning. Lin Yue reflexively memorized the words in her mind, and then the feast began.

Looking at the abundant food on the table, Lin Yue didn't hesitate. She quickly reached out with her fork and knife to grab food, then devoured it at the fastest possible speed.

Her desperate actions startled the Little Eagles at the Ravenclaw table.

Qiuzhang nervously swallowed and stared at Lin Yue, dumbfounded.

Marietta, her expression blank, nudged her friend, "Qiuzhang... is she that hungry?"

"I think... maybe," Qiuzhang nodded, bewildered.

Spending more than five minutes eating meant squeezing out study time. Lin Yue was well aware of this. In fact, even during those five minutes, she was reading while eating.

Eating quickly while looking down at her book meant she didn't know what she was eating. It didn't matter what she ate; as long as she ate quickly, was full, and it didn't affect her subsequent studies, it was fine.

Three minutes and fifty seconds. Lin Yue put down her cutlery, finishing her whirlwind dinner. She picked up her book again, scanned it for a couple more glances, then closed it and began reciting the contents of the book aloud.

Watching her devour food as if stuffing it into her stomach, many Ravenclaws clutched their stomachs with pained expressions.

Merlin knows, just watching her eat made them feel a stomachache. Wouldn't she get sick or something from this?

Seeing her mumbling to herself, Marietta couldn't contain her curiosity and leaned over Qiuzhang to listen.

She immediately recoiled with a look of horror. Qiuzhang, sitting next to Lin Yue, had the exact same look of horror on her face.

"I think this year's top student... is pretty much secured."

Marietta said with difficulty. She had just heard what Lin Yue was muttering.

It was the content from the Transfiguration textbook, and not a single word was different from the textbook, because this girl had even memorized the page number!

Qiuzhang nodded, gathered her courage, and reached out to poke the girl next to her.

"You, Lin Yue, may I call you that?"

Lin Yue stopped reciting and turned to look at Qiuzhang, her eyes like still water. "Yes, hello."

Her voice was beautiful, her emotions mechanical. Qiuzhang flinched slightly but couldn't suppress her innate gentleness, asking with concern, "Aren't you going to rest a bit? I mean, it's dinner time, isn't it? You could eat more, or enjoy some dessert later?"

Lin Yue glanced at the food on the Ravenclaw table, then turned back.

"I've finished dinner. The remaining time is for studying."

"Do you always eat dinner this quickly?" Penelope, the Ravenclaw prefect from not far away, couldn't help but ask.

Lin Yue's gaze moved to the girl speaking. She replied calmly, "Dinner time is five minutes. The rest of the time is for studying."

"Okay, okay..." Penelope nodded with a complicated expression but didn't say much more.

The Little Eagles of Ravenclaw were all passionate about learning. Perhaps this child was just more passionate about learning than the average Little Eagle.

Seeing that no one else was speaking to her, Lin Yue continued reciting the content from where she left off, word for word.

Qiuzhang and Marietta exchanged a glance and lowered their heads to continue eating their dinner.

At the teachers' table, Professor Flitwick, who looked up to check on his students while eating, was stunned to see Lin Yue sitting bolt upright and mumbling to herself.

"Why isn't this child eating?"

Professor McGonagall, sitting next to him, had just witnessed Lin Yue's "crazy three minutes" and replied with a slightly dazed tone.

"She's already finished."

"So quickly!" Professor Flitwick was shocked. "That can't be good for her stomach." He immediately began to worry about the student's health.

"I need to find time to talk to her," Professor Flitwick said, looking at Lin Yue.

After Lin Yue completely recited the Transfiguration textbook once, the banquet finally ended.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and began to explain some rules to the new students.

Most of the new students listened attentively, but they didn't take it too seriously. They were all children of this age; who didn't have a bit of an adventurous spirit?

However, Lin Yue meticulously memorized these rules. The Forbidden Forest was off-limits, going to the right on the fourth-floor corridor meant death, and magic couldn't be used in the corridors.

After memorizing these three meager rules, Lin Yue stood up and, along with everyone else, sang the school song in a flat tone.

After Headmaster Dumbledore announced that the prefects would lead everyone back to the dormitory to rest, Lin Yue froze in place.

Her study habits told her that it wasn't time to rest yet; she should be attending class or a study hall.

However, Headmaster Dumbledore's words as the headmaster should be obeyed.

So, she made a decision in her mind: return to the dormitory and study on her own.

Following the Ravenclaw students back to the dormitory, Penelope, as the female prefect, began to lead the new female students to their respective dormitories.

Bringing Lin Yue to the door of a dormitory, Penelope looked at the expressionless, stiff girl and bent down to meet her gaze.

"Your dormitory is this one. I'm sorry, but you're the only one from the new students who's come out separately, so you'll be sharing a room with Qiuzhang and Marietta. Don't worry, they're both easy to get along with."

Obeying the school's arrangements, Lin Yue had no other thoughts, so she nodded at Penelope. "Okay."

"Get some good rest." Penelope smiled at Lin Yue and turned to head to her own dormitory.

Lin Yue also turned, opened the door, and walked in. Inside the dormitory, Qiuzhang and Marietta were tidying up their belongings.

Seeing Lin Yue walk in, Qiuzhang gently waved at her.

"I was wondering who the new student assigned to our dormitory would be. It's you, Lin Yue."

Lin Yue mimicked her, raising her hand and waving back. "Hello."

After that, she had no further reaction, walking towards the only empty bed in the room and beginning to sort her things.

Qiuzhang and Marietta exchanged a glance, and both began to feel that this young girl, Lin Yue... was a little strange.