Repeated Sleep, Small Changes

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

She had promised Hermione that she would sleep six hours every night and stop punishing herself over her grades, so naturally, she would do both.

As for everything else, she would still follow her "rules." For example, apart from time spent sleeping, eating, and taking care of necessary bodily functions, all other time was for studying. And if she broke the School Rules or other regulations, she would have to accept the punishment.

Her brain really was constantly making suggestions to her without her realizing it, suggesting that she listen to Hermione.

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

As for why her brain kept trying to make her listen to Hermione... Lin Yue didn't know either. Her brain, that missing piece of her heart, made it impossible for her to understand her own behavior.

When Qiuzhang and Marietta returned, they saw Lin Yue sitting at her desk, reading intently just as she had before Christmas.

They moved quietly, took turns having their baths, then climbed into bed and picked up the books they kept by their beds for reading before sleep.

At eleven that night, Qiuzhang was the first to put down her book. She rubbed her eyes, said good night to Marietta and Lin Yue, then snuggled under the covers and fell asleep.

Marietta, however, had slept on the Hogwarts Express on the way back, so she didn't feel tired and continued reading.

It was nearly midnight when a sight that shocked her appeared: Lin Yue, who should have kept reading, closed her book, rose without a word, and took her change of clothes into the washroom to bathe.

After bathing, she came out and briskly dried her hair. Marietta stared at her, dumbfounded, unsure if the person before her was really Lin Yue.

Or... had Lin Yue finally realized how tired she was? Was she going to bed early?

The thought brought a feeling of relief to Marietta.

Once her hair was dry, Lin Yue raised her head and looked calmly at Marietta. Remembering that Qiuzhang had wished them both good night before going to bed, Lin Yue spoke in a flat voice.

"Good night." Then she lay down, drew the curtains around her bed, pulled up the covers, and went to sleep.

Marietta watched Lin Yue's curtains close and couldn't help swallowing. She had really... gone to sleep?

But why did Lin Yue look so awful? Her cheeks were unusually pale, and her lips had a bluish tinge. Earlier, she'd been facing away from Marietta and Qiuzhang, so neither of them had noticed.

Now that Marietta had gotten a good look at her... her complexion was truly terrible. Was she sick?

Suppressing her shock and concern, Marietta closed her book and climbed into bed, drawing her curtains. She decided she would find a time tomorrow to ask Lin Yue about it with Qiuzhang. If Lin Yue was sick, the two of them would take her to the Medical Wing.

Marietta closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind. Before long, she too had fallen asleep.

Lin Yue lay in bed and pulled up the covers. The moment she closed her eyes, her exhausted body, so tired she could have passed out at any moment, immediately "dragged" her into sleep.

The sad part was that just an hour later, Lin Yue's eyes snapped open again.

She instinctively sat up to pull back the curtains and study, but as soon as she reached out, she remembered that she had promised Hermione she would sleep for six hours every night and that she was supposed to keep sleeping.

She drew back her hand, lowered her eyes, and slowly lay down again.

She closed her eyes, and her exhausted body pulled her back into a deep sleep—until she woke again an hour later.

This cycle repeated for six hours. Lin Yue woke up once every hour, then fell asleep again. Tossed back and forth like this, she didn't get a single restful stretch of sleep.

At six in the morning, having slept for six hours, Lin Yue sat up with a dead look in her eyes. She quickly got dressed, drew back her bed 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 put on her backpack, gathered the books, and left the Dormitory without making a sound.

She returned the books to the small library, then left the Ravenclaw Common Room with her backpack and headed straight for the Hogwarts Library.

When she arrived, 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." At the sound of her voice, Madam Pince looked up and smiled automatically.

But when she saw Lin Yue's face, her eyes widened in shock. "Why are you even paler than before?! And those dark circles... Have you been staying up all night studying?"

Lin Yue was silent for a moment, then replied calmly, "I won't anymore. I'll make sure I get six hours of sleep."

Madam Pince nodded reluctantly. "All right... Though I don't think six hours of sleep is enough for young witches and wizards like you."

Lin Yue calmly looked away and went straight to the shelves. She took several books in order and brought them to Madam Pince.

Madam Pince checked the books out for Lin Yue. After thanking her politely, Lin Yue left the Library with the books and hurried toward the Great Hall.

She entered the Great Hall just as breakfast was being served. Sitting at the Ravenclaw table, Lin Yue lowered her head and ate at top speed.

She was halfway through when Hermione came in yawning. She had gotten up especially early to wait for Lin Yue in the Great Hall.

Although Hermione had gotten enough sleep, she really wasn't used to getting up this early. She'd been up at six-thirty, after all.

But the moment she spotted Lin Yue at the Ravenclaw table, she decided getting up early had been worth it.

She hurried over and bent down to examine Lin Yue's complexion closely. Hmm... It was still quite bad, but at least it looked better than yesterday.

It seemed Lin Yue had followed her advice and slept for six hours. Hermione nodded in satisfaction.

"Good morning, Lin Yue." Hermione sat down across from her, not caring that she was at the Ravenclaw table.

Lin Yue had been under Hermione's scrutiny without reacting. Only when she heard Hermione say her name did she lift her head from her breakfast and answer in a flat voice.

"Good morning, Hermione."

Hermione used her knife and fork to take a sandwich for herself, then took a big bite. As she chewed, she asked, "You slept for six hours yesterday, right? You look a lot better."

"Mm... I slept enough." Lin Yue nodded calmly. Although she had woken every hour, she had immediately fallen asleep again as soon as she lay down and closed her eyes, so it could be said that she had slept for six hours.

"Good." Hermione smiled and handed Lin Yue a glass of pumpkin juice. "Now that you're sleeping normally, do you feel a lot better?"

Lin Yue accepted the pumpkin juice Hermione handed her, took a sip, and nodded with an impassive expression.

"Mm, much better."

"That's good." Hermione smiled cheerfully.

As usual, Lin Yue finished breakfast in three and a half minutes. She stood and headed out of the Great Hall; her first class that morning was Transfiguration.

Before Transfiguration class began, Professor McGonagall had just walked into the classroom when she noticed Lin Yue sitting in the front row, as usual.

She also noticed how unusually pale and tired Lin Yue looked. "Miss Lin Yue, are you ill?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Lin Yue with concern. "If you're ill, you can go to Poppy in the Medical Wing. You'll recover quickly."

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

"Not ill? Then what's wrong with your complexion?"

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

"Staying up all night studying."

That was the truth, and there was nothing wrong with saying it. It was very close to what had happened.

It was just that in her case, "staying up all night" meant staying awake for several days until she passed out.

Professor McGonagall frowned tightly. "Miss Lin Yue, I can't approve of your method of staying up all night to study. Young witches and wizards are still growing, and you need enough sleep."

Lin Yue nodded blankly and repeated what she had told Madam Pince.

"I won't anymore."

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

In Transfiguration class, Lin Yue was just as outstanding as she had been in every lesson before, showing off her talent and ability to earn points.

By the end of the class, she had earned Ravenclaw a good number of points. Since the start of term, thanks to Lin Yue and the Ravenclaw top students inspired by her, Ravenclaw Academy had built a commanding lead, leaving the other three houses far behind.

Hogwarts first-years really didn't have many classes. Once the morning lessons were over, there were no classes in the afternoon.

Lin Yue ate lunch quickly, then walked to the Library at a fast pace while reading. She sat in her usual seat and began to study.

She didn't notice the three little shadows who had been following her the whole time.

One of the three shadows, Ron Weasley, turned to Hermione with a pained expression.

"Hermione... We don't have classes this afternoon. It's for resting, isn't it? Wouldn't it be better to go back to the common room and relax?"

"If you're worried Lin Yue will study too long, we can take her along to rest."

The second of the three shadows, Hermione Granger, couldn't help remembering that Lin Yue had punished herself because Hermione had taken her to watch a Quidditch Match over Christmas.

A dull ache stirred in Hermione's heart. She shook her head. "No, I just want to study with her."

And keep an eye on that girl while we study, so she doesn't do anything else.

And that way, she could keep track of how long they studied and make sure Lin Yue... rested, and remind her constantly not to hurt herself just because she was resting.

"Besides, you and Harry still haven't finished your homework, have you? You can get it done while we're there."

Hermione fixed Harry and Ron with a stern look. The two boys felt as if Professor McGonagall herself were staring at them, and couldn't bring themselves to say no.

"Okay... We'll finish it as quickly as we can." Harry followed his instincts and "bowed in submission" to Hermione.

"Good." Hermione smiled with satisfaction, then went into the Library and sat beside Lin Yue. She didn't disturb her, just took out a book and started reading.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances and sighed helplessly. They went over and sat across from Hermione and Lin Yue, then took out their homework and got to work.

After studying for nearly an hour and a half, Hermione looked up and blinked hard to soothe her slightly sore eyes. She reached over and tapped Lin Yue on the shoulder.

"Lin Yue, Lin Yue."

Hearing her full name, Lin Yue immediately pulled herself out of her studies and turned to Hermione, her face expressionless.

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

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

"Don't say you don't need a break. You're a person, not a machine. Take a proper rest."

As she spoke, Hermione even gathered up all the books in front of Lin Yue and pulled them over to her side, forcing her to rest!

Lin Yue slowly looked away, leaned back in her chair, and stared fixedly at the wall across from her.

She seemed to be resting by staring into space, but in reality, she was repeatedly reciting the contents of the books she had just read in her mind.

With Hermione's permission, Harry and Ron also took a break.

While they rested, Hermione lowered her voice and asked, "So... did you figure out who Nicolas Flamel was over the Christmas holiday?"

"No..." Harry shook his head guiltily. He and Ron had spent Christmas doing homework and then playing around.

The only time he'd remembered to look up Nicolas Flamel was the night he received the Invisibility Cloak. After that, he and Ron had both forgotten about it.

"All right." Hermione shrugged. "I should have known. If you didn't find anything, you didn't find anything. We'll keep looking."

Harry and Ron could only nod in silence.

Beside them, Lin Yue expressionlessly recited the contents of the book she had just read. Hermione and Harry's conversation with Ron reached her ears, too.

But, just like last time, Hermione and the others hadn't asked her, so she assumed they didn't need her to tell them who Nicolas Flamel was. Lin Yue said nothing.

While the four of them were resting, a commotion rose outside the Library.

Listening closely, they could make out Neville and Malfoy's voices.

The three Gryffindors exchanged glances, all thinking that something bad must be happening outside the Library, especially with Neville and Malfoy involved.

They didn't need to think twice to guess that Malfoy was probably picking on Neville. Without hesitation, Hermione, Harry, and Ron shot to their feet and headed out of the Library together.

Lin Yue watched them go with an impassive gaze. Two seconds later, she followed the suggestion in her mind, stood up, and followed them, her heart unmoved.