Repetitive Sleep, A Small Change

After Hermione left, Lin Yue expressionlessly sat back down in her chair, opened her book, and continued studying.

She had promised Hermione to sleep a full six hours every night and to stop punishing herself over grades, so naturally she would keep those two promises.

But in other respects, she would still follow her "rules"—for example, aside from sleep time, meal time, and necessary physiological needs, every other moment was study time; and if she violated school rules or other regulations, she had to accept punishment.

Her mind was indeed unconsciously making hints to her, again and again, hinting that she should listen to Hermione.

Otherwise, for anyone else—unless they were a professor, headmaster, or someone of that rank—she wouldn't care what they said, let alone change her study plan and study rules because of someone else's words.

As for why her brain kept wanting her to listen to Hermione over and over... Lin Yue herself didn't know. The missing piece in her mind, in her heart, made it impossible for her to understand this behavior of hers.

By the time Qiuzhang and Marietta returned, what they saw was Lin Yue, just like before Christmas, sitting at her desk seriously reading a book.

The two of them moved quietly, took turns washing up, then also sat or lay down on their beds, picking up the books they kept by their pillows for pre-sleep reading.

At eleven o'clock at night, Qiuzhang was the first to put down her book. She raised a hand to rub her eyes, said goodnight to Marietta and Lin Yue, then burrowed into her covers and went to sleep.

Marietta, on the other hand, had dozed off on the Hogwarts Express on the way back, so she didn't feel sleepy and continued holding her book and reading.

Until nearly midnight, a shocking scene unfolded before her eyes: Lin Yue, who should have been reading, actually closed her book, expressionlessly stood up, grabbed her change of clothes, and walked into the bathroom to shower.

After coming out of the shower, she briskly dried her hair. Marietta stared blankly at this scene, unsure if the person in front of her was really Lin Yue anymore.

Or... had Lin Yue finally learned what tiredness was? So she was resting early?

Thinking this, Marietta actually felt a sense of relief rise in her heart.

After drying her hair, Lin Yue lifted her head and cast a calm, steady gaze at Marietta. Remembering that Qiuzhang had said goodnight to both of them before sleeping, Lin Yue opened her mouth and spoke in a completely flat tone.

"Goodnight." With that, she lay down on the bed, reached out to draw the bed curtains, pulled up the covers, and went to sleep.

Marietta stared at Lin Yue's drawn bed curtains and couldn't help swallowing. She was... actually sleeping?

But then, how terrible did Lin Yue's complexion look? Her cheeks were abnormally pale, and her lips were dark. Earlier, she had been facing away from both her and Qiuzhang, so neither of them had noticed.

Just now, with that sudden glance... her complexion was really at its worst. Was she sick?

Suppressing the shock and worry in her heart, Marietta closed her book, lay down on her bed, and drew her own curtains, deciding to find time tomorrow with Qiuzhang to ask Lin Yue if she was ill. If she was, the two of them would take her to the Medical Wing.

Closing her eyes and trying to empty her mind, Marietta soon fell asleep as well.

Lin Yue lay down on the bed and pulled up the covers. The moment her eyes closed, her body—so exhausted it could have made her pass out at any moment—immediately "pulled" her into sleep.

Tragically, just one hour later, Lin Yue's eyes snapped open again.

Instinctively, she sat up to draw the curtains and go study, but as soon as she reached out her hand, she remembered her promise to Hermione to sleep six hours a day, and that she should keep sleeping.

Withdrawing her hand, Lin Yue lowered her eyes slightly and slowly lay back down.

Closing her eyes, her exhausted body once again dragged her into deep slumber—until an hour later, when she woke up again.

This cycle repeated for six hours. Every hour, Lin Yue would wake up, then fall back asleep, going back and forth without ever managing a single restful night's sleep.

At six in the morning, having slept a full six hours, Lin Yue sat up with a face like still water, changed clothes briskly, drew back her curtains, and sat at her desk to read.

After finishing all the books she had borrowed from the Ravenclaw Academy's small library, Lin Yue shouldered her schoolbag, hugged the books, and silently walked out of the dormitory.

Returning all the books from the small library to their places, Lin Yue left the Ravenclaw Common Room with her schoolbag and headed straight for the Hogwarts Library.

Arriving at the library, Madam Pince was already organizing her things, getting ready to start work.

Lin Yue greeted her expressionlessly. "Good morning, Madam Pince."

"Good morning, Miss Lin Yue." Madam Pince looked up and smiled reflexively in response.

But when she saw Lin Yue's complexion, her pupils violently shook. "How is your face even paler than before?! And those dark circles under your eyes... have you been staying up late studying?"

Lin Yue paused for a moment, then replied in a flat tone, "I won't anymore. I'll make sure to get six hours of sleep."

Madam Pince nodded reluctantly. "Well... even though I think for little wizards like you, six hours of sleep still isn't quite enough."

Lin Yue calmly withdrew her gaze, walked straight to the bookshelves, pulled out several books in order, and then brought them to Madam Pince.

Madam Pince registered the book loan for Lin Yue. After politely thanking her, Lin Yue left the library with the books and strode quickly toward the Great Hall.

Entering the Great Hall, breakfast had just been served. Lin Yue sat down at the Ravenclaw table, lowered her head, and ate her breakfast at lightning speed.

Just as she was halfway through her meal, Hermione—who had deliberately woken up early just to intercept Lin Yue at the Great Hall—walked in, yawning.

Although Hermione had gotten enough sleep, forgive her for not really being used to waking up this early—she had gotten up at half past six, after all.

But the moment she saw Lin Yue sitting at the Ravenclaw table, she instantly felt that getting up early was worth it.

Walking up quickly, Hermione leaned down and carefully examined Lin Yue's complexion. Hmm... it was still very bad, but compared to yesterday, it was noticeably better.

It looked like she had followed her advice and slept a full six hours. Hermione nodded in satisfaction.

"Good morning, Lin Yue." Hermione said, and without caring that this was the Ravenclaw table, she sat down directly across from Lin Yue.

Lin Yue, who had shown no reaction to Hermione's scrutiny, only lifted her head from her breakfast plate when she heard her name, and replied in a completely flat voice.

"Good morning, Hermione."

Hermione used her knife and fork to help herself to a sandwich, took a big bite, and asked while chewing.

"You slept a full six hours yesterday, right? I can see your complexion has improved a lot."

"Mmm... I slept enough." Lin Yue nodded faintly, her tone indifferent. Even though she woke up every hour, as long as she lay down and closed her eyes, she would immediately fall back asleep, so it could be considered six hours of sleep.

"That's good then," Hermione smiled slightly, handing Lin Yue a cup of Pumpkin Juice. "Now that your sleep schedule is back to normal, don't you feel much better?"

Lin Yue reached out and took the Pumpkin Juice Hermione offered, took a small sip, and gave a faint nod with a blank expression.

"Mm, much better."

"That's good." Hermione said with a chuckle.

Still finishing breakfast in three and a half minutes, Lin Yue stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. Her first class this morning was Transfiguration.

Before Transfiguration class began, Professor McGonagall noticed Lin Yue sitting in the front row as usual the moment she entered the classroom.

She naturally also noticed the unusual pallor and exhaustion on her face. "Miss Lin Yue, are you ill?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Lin Yue with concern. "If you're sick, you can go see Poppy—that is, the Medical Wing—and you'll recover quickly."

Lin Yue shook her head calmly. "Thank you for your concern, Professor McGonagall, but I'm not sick."

"Not sick? Then what's going on with your complexion?"

Lin Yue's brain stalled slightly as she recalled the word Madam Pince had used.

"Staying up late to study."

This was the truth, nothing wrong with it at all, highly consistent with the facts.

Except that her "staying up late" meant staying awake for several days straight until she collapsed from exhaustion.

Professor McGonagall furrowed her brows tightly. "Miss Lin Yue, I cannot approve of your method of staying up late to study. Young wizards are still growing—you need adequate sleep."

Lin Yue nodded with vacant eyes and repeated the same words she'd said to Madam Pince.

"I won't do it again."

"I hope so." Seeing Lin Yue's empty gaze and expressionless face, Professor McGonagall sighed and said nothing more.

In Transfiguration class, Lin Yue performed as excellently as ever, showcasing her brilliance and strong point-earning ability.

Over the entire class, she earned quite a few points for Ravenclaw again. From the start of term until now, Thanks to Lin Yue and the Ravenclaw study maniacs she had spurred on, Ravenclaw's house points were now far ahead, leaving the other three houses in the dust.

First-year courses at Hogwarts were indeed not heavy. After the morning classes ended, there were no lessons in the afternoon.

Lin Yue ate lunch at lightning speed, reading while walking, her feet moving swiftly as she arrived at the Library, sat down in her usual spot, and began reading.

She completely failed to notice the three little tails following behind her.

One of those three little tails, Ron Weasley, turned to Hermione with a pained expression.

"Hermione... there's no class this afternoon, so it's meant for resting, right? Why don't we go back to the common room and take a break?"

"If you're worried about Lin Yue studying too long, we could bring her along to rest too."

The second of the three little tails, Hermione Granger, listened to Ron's words and couldn't help recalling how taking Lin Yue to watch the Quidditch Match had led Lin Yue to punish herself.

A dull ache in her heart, Hermione shook her head. "No need. I just want to study with her."

While studying, she could keep an eye on that girl, in case she did something else.

And she could also control the study time, make her... rest in time, and constantly remind her not to hurt herself over rest.

"Besides, you and Harry haven't finished your homework yet, right? Perfect timing—we'll finish it in a bit."

Hermione stared sternly at Harry and Ron. Both boys felt as if they were being watched by Professor McGonagall, utterly unable to muster any thought of refusal.

"Alright... we'll finish it as fast as we can." Harry followed his heart and "surrendered" to Hermione.

"Good." Hermione smiled in satisfaction, then walked into the Library, sat down beside Lin Yue without disturbing her, and slowly took out a book to read.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, sighed helplessly, and also stepped forward to sit across from Hermione and Lin Yue, pulling out their homework to write seriously.

After studying for nearly an hour and a half, Hermione looked up and blinked her slightly sore eyes, then reached out and tapped Lin Yue's shoulder.

"Lin Yue. Lin Yue."

Hearing her full name called, Lin Yue immediately disengaged from her study state, turning her expressionless face toward Hermione.

"You've been reading for an hour and a half. Take a break."

"I don't need—" Lin Yue instinctively started to say she didn't need a break, but Hermione cut her off firmly.

"Don't say you don't need a break. You're human, not a machine. Rest properly."

As she spoke, Hermione reached over and gathered all the books in front of Lin Yue into her own pile—forced rest!

Lin Yue slowly withdrew her gaze, leaned back against her chair, and stared fixedly at the wall opposite her.

On the surface, she seemed to be spacing out and resting, but in reality, she was continuously reciting the contents of the books she had just read inside her mind.

On the other side, Harry and Ron had also entered break time with Hermione's permission.

During the break, Hermione lowered her voice and asked them, "So... over Christmas Holiday, did you figure out who Nicolas Flamel is?"

"No..." Harry shook his head guiltily. He and Ron had spent Christmas Holiday just doing homework and having fun.

He'd only remembered to look up who Nicolas Flamel was on the night he first got the Invisibility Cloak, and after that, the two of them had forgotten all about it.

"Alright," Hermione shrugged. "I wasn't expecting much anyway. If you didn't find out, then you didn't. We'll keep searching slowly."

Harry and Ron could only nod silently in agreement.

Lin Yue stood nearby, expressionlessly reciting the contents of the book she had just read, though Hermione, Harry, and Ron's conversation still entered her ears.

But just like last time, since Hermione and the others hadn't asked her, she assumed they didn't need her to tell them who Nicolas Flamel was, so Lin Yue remained silent.

As the four of them rested, a commotion rang out from outside the library.

Listening closely, it seemed to contain the voices of Neville and Malfoy.

The three Gryffindors exchanged glances, all feeling that nothing good was happening outside the library—especially with Neville and Malfoy involved.

Without needing to think, it was obvious Malfoy was bullying Neville. Without a moment's hesitation, Hermione, Harry, and Ron stood up abruptly and headed together toward the library entrance.

Lin Yue watched their retreating figures with a faint gaze. Two seconds later, she yielded to the thought in her mind, stood up, and followed without a ripple of emotion.