A Partial Truth

Hogwarts' Christmas holiday lasted two weeks, fourteen days, and today was already the ninth day. Lin Yue had been reading from eight in the evening of this ninth day straight through until six in the morning of the tenth day before finally closing her book.

She stood up, shouldered her bag, and headed to the Hogwarts Library—she had to return the books.

At six in the morning, Madam Pince hadn't arrived yet. Lin Yue placed the books on her desk, then turned and walked quickly toward the Great Hall.

The fifteen hours of unconsciousness had slightly restored her complexion, but only slightly.

Her face still carried a sickly pallor, her lips utterly bloodless, stained a dark black.

After breakfast in the Great Hall, Lin Yue hurried back to the Ravenclaw Tower, sat down at her desk, and entered her study state, reading seriously.

Over the next four days of the holiday, not a single professor or student staying at the castle saw Lin Yue again.

Even Madam Pince didn't see Lin Yue come to the library to borrow books anymore. Thinking that Lin Yue had finally given herself a few days off to rest, Madam Pince silently breathed a sigh of relief.

She thought to herself, This child finally knows when to let herself rest.

But the truth was, after some thought, Lin Yue had confirmed that her current appearance would definitely cause the professors to demand she stop studying.

Yet studying could not stop—not even when she was sick.

So, she needed to avoid the professors. Lin Yue made this judgment with no emotion in her heart.

Thus, she deliberately went to the Great Hall early for meals over these four days, then returned to her dormitory as quickly as possible, all to avoid running into professors and students staying at the castle, especially Harry and Ron among them.

Even for reading, she only used the books from the small internal library of the Ravenclaw Academy.

For four whole days, she never once closed her eyes, not sleeping even a single minute.

And there was another matter... her left arm had completely lost the ability to lift during these days.

On the very night she had fallen unconscious, she had punished herself for the fifteen hours of study time she had missed.

When her right hand pressed onto her left arm and mercilessly left fifteen handprints behind, her left arm began to tremble uncontrollably, lacking even the strength to lift itself.

With a calm expression, she slowly opened her right hand. Under the light of the dormitory lamp, Lin Yue clearly saw her right palm full of blood.

Slowly removing her wizard robes, Lin Yue gently pulled open her shirt. The upper left arm of the white shirt was completely soaked through with blood.

After Lin Yue took off her shirt, her upper left arm was covered in bloody handprints. The continuous damage had finally overwhelmed her left arm, causing blood to seep out.

Indifferently withdrawing her gaze, Lin Yue reached for a nearby tissue and wiped her left arm forcefully, cleaning away the seeping blood.

Her force was so great that she seemed to feel no pain at all. Even though the pain was piercing, her face showed not a trace of expression.

Even so, Lin Yue only calmly changed into a clean set of clothes, then sat back at her desk and re-entered her study state.

Thus, until the last day of the holiday, her left arm still could not be lifted.

She truly was not afraid of pain. Without emotions, pain was unpleasant but easy to endure.

But beyond the pain, with her left arm injured like this, the human body's natural tolerance had basically reached its limit, leaving her left arm unable to exert any force at all.

Let alone moving it through the pain. So when the holiday ended, what Hermione saw was Lin Yue eating at the table with only her right hand, her left arm hanging limp—a sight that looked strange no matter how you saw it.

Not to mention the suffocating pallor of her face and her blackened lips. Hermione felt as if her heart were being squeezed.

The Hogwarts Express had arrived at Hogwarts in the evening. She had deliberately packed her things quickly and rushed to the Great Hall.

Earlier than the other professors and students, she thought to herself that if she arrived early, she would definitely run into Lin Yue. If Lin Yue hadn't arrived yet, she could wait for her there.

But when she walked into the Great Hall, she did indeed run into Lin Yue, who, as in previous days, had come to eat early.

Before she could even step forward to greet her, Hermione noticed her strange posture.

Frowning, Hermione walked quickly to Lin Yue. "Lin Yue, good evening."

Hearing Hermione's voice, Lin Yue's eating hand couldn't help but pause for a moment. Then she looked up at Hermione expressionlessly.

"Good afternoon, Hermione."

"Mm," Hermione nodded, her gaze fixed tightly on Lin Yue's left arm. "What's wrong with your left arm?"

Without any emotion and utterly incapable of lying, Lin Yue spoke the truth.

"Punishment for wasting study time."

"What?" Hermione looked at Lin Yue in confusion, but Lin Yue didn't answer again. She lowered her head and continued eating on her own.

Hermione vaguely felt that something was off. She narrowed her eyes at Lin Yue, then unceremoniously walked over and sat down beside her, reaching for some food herself.

"I'll go back to your dormitory with you later. Let me see your left arm."

Hermione's tone left no room for argument, and Lin Yue didn't contradict her. She still ate her dinner in front of her without any reaction.

Finishing her own dinner as quickly as possible, Hermione followed Lin Yue closely all the way to the door of the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Lin Yue answered the bronze knocker's question and led Hermione up the common room stairs into her dormitory.

Qiuzhang and Marietta had just gone to the Great Hall for dinner, so the two groups happened to miss each other.

Hermione stood at the door with her arms crossed and nodded at Lin Yue. "Alright, show me your left arm."

Lin Yue spoke mechanically. "Okay."

Then she slowly removed her wizard robes and pulled open her shirt underneath.

At first, as Lin Yue slowly removed her Wizard Robes, Hermione's face flushed a deep red.

But when she pulled open her own shirt, Hermione's shyness vanished instantly, replaced by nothing but seething anger and heartache.

"Who did this?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling as she stared at the blood handprints covering Lin Yue's left upper arm, barely containing her fury.

"Myself." Lin Yue replied flatly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What...?" Hermione froze, her gaze shifting from the arm to Lin Yue's face.

"Wasting study time deserves punishment." Lin Yue answered like a machine.

Hermione swallowed hard, reaching out with a trembling hand to lift Lin Yue's right hand and place it on her own left upper arm.

Lin Yue watched her without reaction, not understanding what Hermione was trying to do.

"Try... gripping this handprint..." Hermione's voice shook as she spoke, still unable to believe Lin Yue had done this to herself.

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded, slowly closing her right hand until it perfectly matched one of the handprints on her arm.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione had to close her eyes and force herself to calm down. When she opened them again, her gaze held the majesty of a lioness.

"Who taught you to do this? To hurt yourself?"

Lin Yue's tone was calm as she spoke. "My parents told me that wasting study time or making mistakes in learning should be punished."

"Hurting yourself as punishment?!" Hermione couldn't help raising her voice. She couldn't believe what kind of parents would say such things, what kind of parents would make their child hurt herself.

"Yes, isn't that punishment?" Lin Yue nodded matter-of-factly.

Hermione covered her face with both hands, hiding it in her palms as she let out a silent scream for a long moment.

Then she slowly lifted her head, looking at Lin Yue, her voice dropping low.

"That thing you said... about wasting study time... what's that about?"

Lin Yue looked at Hermione, instinctively about to answer, but her brain finally seemed to kick in and stop her.

Hermione is kind, a voice rang out in her mind. If she hears that I punished myself for wasting study time knitting her gloves, she'll blame herself.

Having reached this conclusion, Lin Yue selectively revealed part of the truth.

"The time I spent with Harry and the others playing in the snow to relax, and the time I went to see the Mirror of Erised with them."

Hermione nodded weakly, unable even to care about the Mirror of Erised in her words.

All she heard was relaxing with Harry and the others... relaxing with Harry and the others.

Who was it that reminded Harry to take Lin Yue along to relax? Her!

Damn it, she was the one who made Lin Yue punish herself. Even though Lin Yue hadn't mentioned the gloves, Hermione still blamed herself.

Hearing this, she seemed to remember something and looked at Lin Yue. "So... when I took you to watch the Quidditch Match before... you punished yourself for that too, didn't you?"

"That also wasted your study time."

Lin Yue opened her mouth uselessly, like a glitch. She instinctively wanted to answer truthfully, but something in her mind stopped her, sending waves of pain through her head.

Though Lin Yue's face showed no expression and she had no physical reaction beyond opening her mouth, Hermione could sense her struggle and the pain beneath it.

Reaching out to gently embrace her, Hermione slowly stroked her back. "I understand. You don't have to say it."

Lin Yue, held in Hermione's arms, closed her mouth with a face as still as water.

Hermione closed her eyes. "Lin Yue, can I know how your study time is arranged?"

"Yes."

Hermione looked down at Lin Yue in her arms. "Go ahead."

Lin Yue didn't look up, just spoke in a mechanical voice. "Sleep from four to five every morning. Three meals a day, three and a half minutes each. Five minutes for a shower. The rest of the time is for studying."

"Is that also what your damn—sorry," Hermione swallowed the curse that rushed to her lips, "is that also what your parents set?"

"Yes," Lin Yue replied calmly. "It ensures my most basic rest and lets me study at maximum efficiency."

"Nonsense." Hermione muttered through gritted teeth.

Releasing Lin Yue, Hermione crouched down to look her in the eyes. "Don't believe your parents. This will destroy you."

"Your body won't take it, and your mind won't either. Do you know how terrible your complexion looks, how heavy your dark circles are?"

Lin Yue stared fixedly at Hermione, her eyes like dead water. "Studying comes first."

"To hell with Merlin's studying first!" Hermione couldn't hold back anymore. The Gryffindor Lioness unleashed her fury.

She could say in front of Harry and Ron that being expelled was worse than dying.

But when she saw Lin Yue actually putting studying above her own body, even above her own life, Hermione truly felt her rage boil over.

"What's the point of studying if you're dead?!" Hermione grabbed Lin Yue's shoulders tightly, wanting to shake her awake, but afraid of hurting her already frail-looking body, she hesitated to act.

But not studying means death too... Lin Yue thought without a ripple of emotion, though she didn't say it aloud.

Hermione pressed her lips together, looking at Lin Yue. "Either promise me you'll sleep at least six hours every day from now on, and never punish yourself no matter what goes wrong with your studies."

"Or I'll just move into your dormitory to supervise you. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

Lin Yue's brain reacted quickly, and she nodded. "I promise. I guarantee I'll sleep at least six hours every day from now on and won't punish myself for studying anymore."

Hermione nodded, still pressing her lips together as she reached out to help Lin Yue with her shirt. "Put your wizard robes on. It's pretty cold out."

Lin Yue nodded, picked up her robes, and draped them over herself.

"I'll be keeping an eye on your condition every day from now on. If you're still this pale and looking like you haven't slept enough, I'll come straight to your dorm and sleep on the floor!"

"Mm..." Lin Yue answered with a blank expression.

"Get some rest early tonight. Make sure you sleep at least six hours. I'm going now—I need some time to calm myself down."

"Okay."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, looking at Lin Yue. "Not going to say goodnight to me?"

"Goodnight." Lin Yue's voice was mechanical.

"Goodnight," Hermione said, reaching out to hug Lin Yue. "Sweet dreams."

With that, she let go, turned, and walked out of Lin Yue's dormitory. The moment she stepped out, the expression on her face shifted instantly.

Rage and fury were no longer enough to describe what twisted across her features. She felt that if Lin Yue's parents were standing in front of her right now—

Without considering Lin Yue's feelings—she could cast the cruelest curses she could think of on them without a shred of guilt.

Their approach to raising Lin Yue couldn't even be called wanting their child to excel. They were outright cultivating a learning machine—an obedient, efficient learning machine—and they had completely disregarded Lin Yue's physical health in the process.

She couldn't believe there were parents in the world who treated their child like this.

Standing on the stairs, she took a long while to calm herself down. Only when her expression had gradually returned to normal did she slowly descend the stairs and leave the Ravenclaw Common Room.

But Hermione still didn't know—she had only uncovered part of the truth. The real cruelty had yet to be discovered.