Neville Incident, Part One

After leaving Hogwarts Library with Hermione and the others, Lin Yue calmly looked at Neville and Malfoy's group.

Malfoy was usually accompanied by his two lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle.

At that moment, they were gathered around Neville, pointing at him and laughing. A spell had bound Neville's legs, leaving him hopping helplessly in place.

Hermione frowned fiercely, drew her wand without hesitation, and pointed it at Neville. "Finite Incantatem!"

Neville's legs suddenly came free. Unable to regain his balance in time, he pitched forward uncontrollably. Harry and Ron quickly reached out to catch him, glaring at the three boys as they did.

"Malfoy! You're causing trouble again!" Ron glared viciously at Draco Malfoy, as if he wished he could kill him with a look.

Draco gave a scornful laugh and raised his chin slightly at Ron. "I just learned a new spell. I had to find someone to test it on, didn't I?"

"You!" Harry drew his wand and pointed it at Malfoy.

"Harry! No!" Hermione reached out and gripped Harry's wrist tightly, shaking her head.

They couldn't use magic against Malfoy in the corridor. It would get them and Gryffindor into trouble.

Harry gritted his teeth and reluctantly lowered his wand.

"Honestly..." Draco gave a contemptuous snort, turned, and walked off with his two "little lackeys."

Ron closed his eyes briefly, then turned to Neville. "Neville, you have to learn to stand up for yourself. Even without magic, you should punch him!"

"I... I can't," Neville said, shrinking back and shaking his head. "I wouldn't dare."

"Maybe Malfoy was right. I... I really shouldn't be a Gryffindor. I'm not brave at all."

"Neville!" Ron stared wide-eyed at him and gripped his shoulders tightly. "Listen, in our eyes, you're worth more than twelve Malfoys put together. Got it?"

Neville pressed his lips together and gave the smallest nod.

Lin Yue looked at Neville with a lifeless gaze and spoke without emotion. "Giving in every time will only make the people who bully you go further."

"According to school policy, I recommend asking a professor for help."

"Of course, better yet, just punch him!" Ron chimed in quietly, throwing a punch in front of himself for emphasis.

"I... I'll try," Neville said, shrinking his neck and nodding.

Lin Yue glanced impassively at Ron. His suggestion would undoubtedly break the rules.

She looked away, politely said goodbye to the four of them, and returned to the library to study.

Hermione and the others went back to the Gryffindor Common Room with Neville to make sure Malfoy and his friends didn't bother him again along the way.

After promising Hermione that she would sleep six hours every day, Qiuzhang and Marietta saw Lin Yue going to bed "early" every night.

Little by little, they had gotten used to Lin Yue's new schedule, relieved by it. At least it was much healthier than the way she used to live, wasn't it?

Yet no one knew that during those six hours of sleep each night, Lin Yue's incredibly precise body clock woke her once every hour, over and over again.

A few days later, the second match for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team finally arrived.

This time, Gryffindor House was playing against Hufflepuff.

What came as a surprise was that... Professor Snape was the referee for this match.

"Professor Snape..." Ron was listening to Harry talk about the match referee when the fork in his hand dropped in surprise.

"Yeah," Harry said, his expression heavy as he nodded. "He's refereeing this time."

"Merlin's Bludger..." Ron picked up his fork again and put a sausage in his mouth. "Is he trying to protect Harry?"

"I mean, if Professor Quirrell really was the one who tried to hurt Harry during the first Quidditch Match."

"Probably," Hermione said with a serious nod. "But we can't rule out the possibility that... he might try to cause trouble for the Gryffindor Team."

After all, it was common knowledge throughout Hogwarts that Professor Snape particularly disliked Gryffindor House.

Harry took a deep breath, his expression resolute. "I'll catch the Golden Snitch as quickly as I can!"

"Good luck, mate. I believe in you." Ron slapped Harry hard on the back, nearly knocking the mashed potatoes out of his mouth.

Harry looked back at Ron helplessly. When there's no danger, my friends are the biggest danger of all.

Hermione's response was to lower her head with a smile. Boys were always so full of energy.

That said, when it came to her, she was no less "energetic."

Seeing Lin Yue finish breakfast and get ready to leave the Great Hall, Hermione quickly set down her knife and fork and hurried over.

"Good morning, Lin Yue!" Hermione greeted her with a cheerful smile.

Lin Yue nodded expressionlessly. "Good morning, Hermione."

"Um..." Hermione hesitated as she looked at Lin Yue's completely blank face. She wanted to invite Lin Yue to watch the Quidditch Match with her, but she remembered that Lin Yue had punished herself for going to a Quidditch Match with her last time. Hermione couldn't help hesitating over whether she should invite her again.

Lin Yue looked quietly at Hermione, her voice utterly flat. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

Hermione steadied herself and smiled at Lin Yue again. "Well... I wanted to ask if you'd come watch another Quidditch Match with me. Would you?"

Lin Yue nodded calmly and agreed without hesitation. "Sure."

Hermione pressed her lips together, keeping her eyes fixed on Lin Yue. "Promise me you won't punish yourself for this. You promised before that you wouldn't punish yourself over your studies."

Lin Yue nodded slowly. Her voice was as still as a deep well. "All right. I won't punish myself."

"Good," Hermione said with relief. "Then shall we go to the Quidditch Pitch together tomorrow morning?"

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded.

Hermione smiled happily, then turned and returned to Harry and Ron to continue her lunch.

Lin Yue calmly set off at a brisk pace, left the Great Hall, and headed for the classroom for Magical History.

When she entered the Magical History classroom, Lin Yue wasn't surprised to see the ghost professor. Professor Binns was already floating at the front of the room.

The ghost professor didn't need to eat or rest, and he arrived early to every class.

He was the only professor at Hogwarts who could get to the classroom before Lin Yue.

Lin Yue sat down and casually pulled a book from her bag to start reading.

She had already memorized the Magical History textbook from cover to cover, so she didn't need to spend the time before class reviewing it. Instead, she could read something new.

Lin Yue had just finished a dozen or so pages when the other Ravenclaw Little Eagles and Hufflepuff Little Badgers began filing into the Magical History classroom.

Once everyone had arrived, it was time for class. Professor Binns didn't even look to see how many students were there before launching straight into his lecture.

The ghost's utterly expressionless, monotonous voice, with its soporific quality, rang in the students' ears.

Soon, the Hufflepuff Little Badgers couldn't help yawning one by one. Barely five minutes into class, a large number of them had fallen asleep.

Professor Binns didn't seem to care at all. He continued his lecture as if he couldn't see them.

Before long, even the diligent Ravenclaw Little Eagles could barely stay awake. If the material had simply been difficult, honestly, they wouldn't have been very worried. They might even have looked forward to finding out how challenging the class would be.

But this class wasn't difficult. It was hypnotic. Professor Binns's voice kept drilling into their heads like a tiny auger.

As if it were drilling while saying, "You're sleepy... go to sleep. You're sleepy... go to sleep."

In the blink of an eye, nearly all the Little Eagles were yawning nonstop. Everyone instinctively glanced at Lin Yue. She looked no different from usual; even as she listened to Professor Binns, she didn't seem the least bit sleepy.

The Ravenclaw Little Eagles secretly admired her. Once they saw that Lin Yue was taking notes seriously, they immediately surrendered to their drowsiness and laid their heads down on their desks to sleep.

After all, Lin Yue was taking careful notes. They could borrow them later and copy down the important points. For now, they might as well get some rest~

Lin Yue had no particular opinion about her classmates falling asleep in class. She simply looked at her sleeping classmates for a few seconds, then quickly turned her gaze back to Professor Binns, her hand never pausing as she took notes.

Meanwhile, thoughts kept flashing through her mind: Sleeping in class meant not studying seriously. Not studying seriously was wrong. Not studying seriously would make her grades drop. If her grades dropped, she would be destroyed...

Lin Yue looked up at Professor Binns, her mind perfectly calm, while her hand continued taking notes without pause.

Perhaps the two most alike people in the classroom were Lin Yue and Professor Binns. They were like two precision machines, ceaselessly running.

They didn't make mistakes or get tired. They had no extra thoughts or feelings.

After Magical History class, Lin Yue lent her notes to her Ravenclaw classmates as usual. Once they finished copying them, the notes would circulate among the Hufflepuff students before finally making their way back to Lin Yue.

All of this would be completed two days later. Everyone did their best not to interfere with Lin Yue's study and review time.

The next morning at breakfast, Lin Yue took her Magical History notes back from Hannah.

Lin Yue nodded at Hannah expressionlessly and replied in her usual flat voice, "Thanks for the effort."

"No, no," Hannah said quickly, waving her hands. "We're the ones who should thank you for letting us copy your Magical History notes."

Lin Yue didn't respond at all. She simply turned and put the notebook in her bag.

Hannah looked at Lin Yue, whose entire being seemed to radiate calm and who never showed any expression.

The fear Hannah had felt at first had gradually faded after spending so much time with her.

Hannah could tell that Lin Yue was a very good person. She could be a little "strange" at times, but that couldn't hide her charm.

After putting away her notebook, Lin Yue sat down and ate breakfast quickly. When she finished, she sat quietly on the Ravenclaw bench, waiting for Hermione to arrive.

Fortunately, Hermione didn't keep Lin Yue waiting long. After hurriedly finishing her breakfast, she got up from the Gryffindor dining table and ran over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Lin Yue! Let's go!" Hermione looked at Lin Yue, brimming with excitement. Watching a Quidditch Match wasn't particularly appealing to her.

She wasn't much of a Quidditch fan, so her excitement had nothing to do with the match itself. She was simply thrilled to be watching another one with Lin Yue.

Hermione left the Great Hall with Lin Yue. Harry and Ron followed behind them, eating as they went, while the Ravenclaw Little Eagles watched helplessly as their house's pride was lured away by a little lion.

"It's the second time..." Qiuzhang couldn't help clicking her tongue as she watched Hermione and Lin Yue leave the Great Hall.

"Yeah, the second time." Marietta nodded in agreement, though a glint of insight passed through her eyes.

"Come to think of it, Lin Yue really does listen to Hermione. The first time I talked to her about her schedule, she completely ignored me." Qiuzhang pouted, pretending to complain.

Marietta looked at her friend, who had suddenly started acting like a drama queen, and shook her head with amusement.

"You can't exactly compare to Miss Granger."

"What do you mean?" Qiuzhang turned sharply toward Marietta, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Was Marietta saying she was inferior to Granger? Was that an insult in disguise?

Seeing her friend's dangerous look, Marietta quickly raised both hands in surrender. "You've got it wrong!"

"I'm not saying you're inferior to Granger in any way."

"Then what are you saying?" Qiuzhang asked, frowning in confusion.

Marietta's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Qiuzhang in disbelief.

"Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Qiuzhang felt even more confused.

Marietta glanced around, then leaned close to Qiuzhang's ear. "Lin Yue treats Granger, and Granger treats Lin Yue, completely differently from how they treat anyone else."

"And it's obvious... Lin Yue listens to Granger, but she doesn't listen to us."

"Mm," Qiuzhang said with a nod. "And?"

"And, of course..." Marietta looked at her as if she couldn't believe how slow she was. She held up both hands, extended one index finger on each, then gradually brought her hands closer and closer until the two fingertips touched. "Get it?"

Qiuzhang watched Marietta's gesture and needed only a few seconds to understand what she meant.

"Th-this can't be possible! I mean... they're both girls!"

Marietta looked at the stunned Qiuzhang and waved a hand dismissively. "What's so strange about that? True love knows no gender."