The Girl Held in the Palm of His Hand

White moonlight streamed through the windows into Ravenclaw Tower, making Lin Yue's pale cheeks look even more wan.

The terror of the Cruciatus Curse lay not only in the unbearable torment and pain it inflicted, but also in the fact that it acted directly upon a person's soul.

Lin Yue's soul had already been riddled with wounds from her past experiences. Now, it was as precarious as a castle in the air, ready to collapse at any moment.

Within a silent darkness, a miniature Lin Yue lay curled up, hugging her knees in the void.

A faint golden glow seeped from her body, only to be swallowed completely by the darkness an instant later.

On closer inspection, black-red, lightning-like streaks continually crawled across little Lin Yue's body, relentlessly tearing at her soul.

"Alas..." With that soft sigh, Hogwarts was enveloped by a surge of magic power that instantly rippled outward. Everyone inevitably fell into a deep sleep, utterly unaware of the outside world—even Headmaster Dumbledore.

Outside Hogwarts, winds and clouds churned as vast amounts of invisible magic power frantically converged upon Lin Yue's Dormitory from every direction.

Lin Yue's body slowly rose from her four-poster bed. An immense yet gentle mass of magic power gradually wrapped around her, churning like a pair of giant hands that cradled her in their palms, slowly forming a white cocoon of light.

Magic power seeped into Lin Yue's body bit by bit. In the boundless darkness, the black-red lightning on little Lin Yue's body was gradually pulled out by specks of magic power.

The curled-up little Lin Yue finally calmed down little by little. Once the pain in Lin Yue's soul had been soothed, the cocoon of light slowly dispersed, and Lin Yue was placed back on the bed—her blanket even carefully tucked over her.

The skies outside Hogwarts gradually settled as well, leaving only a silent presence still watching over the place.

"Kree!" A sharp eagle cry rang out beside Lin Yue's bed. A blue eagle stood there, lowering its head to watch her.

"Don't worry. She's fine." A soft, gentle voice sounded from the empty air.

The Blue Eagle raised its head and let out a resounding cry toward the void.

"I can't restore her directly." The gentle voice sighed helplessly.

"I turned her body back to the age of eleven and reconstructed her nerves, but habits and emotions are the one thing that not even the world can simply bestow."

Hearing the gentle voice, the Blue Eagle lowered its head to look at Lin Yue, then carefully stretched out a wing and stroked her cheek.

"Kree!"

"It isn't that they can't be bestowed, but that they mustn't be. Emotions are something people slowly experience and comprehend for themselves. It is precisely those emotions they come to understand on their own that make them whole."

"What Lin Yue needs to do is recover her emotions. If I directly gave her emotions, would she still be the same person? So all I can do is guide her, following the thoughts that arise naturally from the deepest recesses of her mind."

"The same goes for her habits. If she does not use her own will to break through that barrier, then how would directly forcing new ideas into her be any different from what her Parents did?"

"You understood that too, didn't you? That's why you never did anything."

"Kree!" The Blue Eagle glared at the void, spread its wings, and beat them fiercely once.

The gentle voice paused for two seconds before replying helplessly, "Do as you please. Just don't kill anyone."

After answering, it completely concealed itself and vanished without a trace. The Blue Eagle turned back to Lin Yue, and a touch of human-like tenderness flashed through its eyes.

It lowered its head and gently rubbed Lin Yue's cheek with its beak, then raised its head, spread its wings, and soared away.

Ignoring every wall and door, the Blue Eagle traveled unimpeded to Professor Quirrell's office.

Looking at Professor Quirrell, who lay deeply asleep on the bed, as well as the certain someone on the back of his head, the Blue Eagle narrowed its eyes slightly. With one flap of its wings, it sent a Stupefy hurtling straight at them.

Boom! The bed beneath Professor Quirrell instantly shattered, sending his entire body crashing heavily onto the floor. Even the ground cracked beneath him.

"Kree!" The Blue Eagle cried out, flapping its wings as it shot upward toward the Hogwarts Headmaster's Office.

When it flew into the Headmaster's Office, the Portraits and Headmaster Dumbledore were all asleep. The only one still awake was a certain phoenix standing on a specially made perch.

The Blue Eagle's gaze slowly shifted toward the phoenix. Fawkes's body abruptly stiffened, then it awkwardly buried its head beneath its wings.

Don't look at it... It knew nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing.

"Kree!" Seemingly quite satisfied with Fawkes's attitude, the Blue Eagle withdrew its gaze. It then flew into the air and viciously beat its wings again.

A powerful gust instantly erupted inside the Headmaster's Office. The desk was overturned, the sofa was sent rolling several times, and the frames of every Portrait were shattered by the shockwave.

Fawkes trembled as it sensed the commotion outside, not daring to lift its head at all.

The Blue Eagle looked over the wrecked Headmaster's Office and nodded in satisfaction before swaggering off.

A wizard who had been tempted, and a descendant of Salazar, had actually dared to openly lay hands on a child she favored right under her nose. They deserved the beating.

She had taken a liking to this child ever since Lin Yue arrived in this world. The staircases, stone statues, and suits of armor within Hogwarts had all received her instructions to look after the child.

And now, this child had actually been attacked by Salazar's descendant!

And that current junior Headmaster as well—fine, he could set up his scheme if he wanted, but he had still left behind a hidden danger, forcing a student to take a Cruciatus Curse head-on. He deserved to have his Headmaster's Office destroyed.

And don't think she didn't know that this guy had suspected Lin Yue before.

This child had suffered enough already, yet he still suspected her. She knew this guy had done nothing wrong and had merely been cautious, but that did not stop her from taking it out on him.

One of the Four Founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw, was just that willful! If Albus Dumbledore had the nerve, he could come settle the score with her.

The Blue Eagle gave a distinctly human snort, flew back to Lin Yue's Dormitory, and pondered for a while before finally turning into a streak of blue light and entering the watch on Lin Yue's right wrist, leaving only a small blue eagle mark on the side of the watch.

Not long after, a yellow Little Badger ran into Lin Yue's Dormitory as well. It looked around from left to right before finally fixing its gaze on Lin Yue's watch.

Tilting its head, it rammed straight inside.

At the same time, in a room deep within Hogwarts, a red lion looked gleefully at the green Little Snake before it.

Your descendant hurt the child Ravenclaw favored. Just wait for her to come after you later—especially with Helga Hufflepuff beside her. When the Girl-on-Girl Double Beatdown comes, it'll definitely be spectacular.

Lin Yue lay on her bed and turned over as if she felt nothing, completely unaware that, without realizing it, she had gained two mothers who would absolutely adore her—perhaps even spoil her.

The moment her six hours of sleep were up, Lin Yue's eyes snapped open. She sat up expressionlessly, and the agonizing pain from yesterday had already vanished without a trace.

She raised her right hand to check her watch, confirmed the time, then got up and quickly entered the washroom.

Three minutes later, she had finished a Combat Shower and emerged from the washroom with her loose hair still dripping wet.

Picking up her watch and putting it on, Lin Yue's lifeless gaze lingered for two seconds on the eagle and badger at its edge.

Lowering her hand, Lin Yue felt neither doubt nor curiosity. She simply sat down at her desk and opened a book expressionlessly.

She rapidly flipped through the book until seven o'clock, when she finally pulled herself out of her studying state. She stood up, slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, picked up her books, and left the dormitory.

Along the way, Hogwarts' staircases, as usual, carried her of their own accord to where she needed to go.

When she arrived at the Great Hall, breakfast had just appeared on the four long tables. Lin Yue sat at the Ravenclaw table and swiftly "stuffed" food into her mouth.

Before her three-and-a-half-minute mealtime was even over, Hermione entered the Great Hall. She did not even spare breakfast a glance before hurrying over to Lin Yue.

"Lin Yue, are you all right?"

Lin Yue turned her head and looked at Hermione calmly. Her tone was flat. "I'm fine."

Only then did Hermione let out a sharp breath of relief. Last night, she had been so frantic that she had thought she should return and meet up with Harry and the others first, lest they do anything unnecessary, so she had left ahead of time.

But after talking things through with them, she could not stop thinking about Lin Yue's voice at the time—so unusually hoarse, exhausted, and weak...

It had been too dark for her to see Lin Yue's face at all, so she had been unable to confirm her condition. On top of that, Hermione had been too nervous at the time to think much about it.

Once she calmed down, she had almost instinctively wanted to ask Harry for the Invisibility Cloak again, then go to Ravenclaw Tower to check on Lin Yue.

However, before she could even leave, her vision had suddenly gone black and she had fallen asleep—the kind where her whole body abruptly pitched forward as she passed out.

As a result, when she woke up this morning, there was a large red bump on her forehead, though Hermione herself did not know that yet.

The moment she woke up, she rushed straight to the Great Hall without stopping. She was still wearing yesterday's clothes and had not even had time to wash up, so naturally she had not noticed the big bump on her forehead. She was in such a hurry that she had not even felt the pain there.

Lin Yue looked at the bump on Hermione's forehead and calmly pulled out her wand.

To anyone else, that would have looked somewhat terrifying. If a more wary person saw someone expressionlessly pull out a wand right in front of them, their gaze calm and detached—

—they would probably instinctively draw their own wand to retaliate, or simply turn and run. But Hermione had no such thoughts at all. She merely tilted her head, curious about what Lin Yue intended to do with her wand.

Lin Yue raised her wand and gently tapped Hermione's forehead. "Episkey."

Along with the emotionless incantation, the red bump on Hermione's head instantly returned to normal.

Hermione only felt a slight warmth on her forehead. She raised a hand to touch it, then asked in confusion, "Episkey? Was my head injured?"

Lin Yue nodded expressionlessly and spoke mechanically. "There was a bump on your forehead just now. Most likely, you fell and hit it on the ground."

Hearing Lin Yue say "most likely," Hermione flushed slightly and raised a hand to rub her nose.

Rushing to confirm someone's safety, only to suddenly fall asleep and smack face-first into the floor... it was simply too embarrassing.

But Lin Yue had no awareness of Hermione's embarrassment whatsoever. Seeing that she had stopped speaking, Lin Yue sat back down and continued rapidly eating breakfast.

Hermione pursed her lips. Looking around and seeing that there were not many people in the Great Hall, she simply sat down beside Lin Yue and began eating breakfast with her.

Since part of Lin Yue's three-and-a-half-minute breakfast time had already passed, she only ate for nearly another minute before finishing.

Hermione swallowed the salad in her mouth and turned to look at Lin Yue. "Lin Yue, are you full?"

Lin Yue nodded calmly. "Mm."

"All right... then go to class first." Hermione turned back and lowered her head to continue eating her breakfast.

Lin Yue slung on her schoolbag, stood up, and quickly left the Great Hall while reading.

With the end-of-term exams truly drawing near, the students of Hogwarts began to grow tense as well.

After all, they were students, and they took exams seriously.

There were gradually more people in the Hogwarts Library, and Lin Yue's notebooks for every subject had all been borrowed.

Her notebooks contained every knowledge point from every subject without a single omission. The handwriting was neat, as though printed, concise and clear. Even little tips the professors mentioned during class had been recorded with complete accuracy.

As a result, revising from her notes was far more efficient than revising from textbooks.

To the other Hogwarts students, Lin Yue was the one person who had the least need to worry about the end-of-term exams.

After all, at her level, there was no doubt that she would take first place among Hogwarts' first-years this year.

But in truth, she was the most nervous Hogwarts student of all, and the one pushing herself the hardest.

She could not be careless when facing an exam. No matter how easy it was, she could not be careless. Lin Yue's brain repeated this point over and over.

Again and again, she copied out the contents of every subject's textbook from memory. Time after time, she practiced all kinds of first-year spells in the dormitory.

Qiuzhang and Marietta, her roommates, were both dumbfounded. The parchment sheets Lin Yue had used to copy out textbooks from memory had been stacked in a huge pile beside her desk, tall enough to match the desk itself.

She also practiced spells at an extremely high frequency, with almost no time when she was idle.

But with the end-of-term exams approaching, Qiuzhang and Marietta found it difficult to persuade her to rest. They could only watch her frantically copy things out, revise, and practice spells.

Under her influence, they unknowingly joined the ranks of the frantic revisers as well. Though they were not as intense as Lin Yue, they were still far more diligent and efficient than when they revised on their own.

The two of them had even made a private bet on who would take first place in second year and who would take second.

Yes, it was not that they were being arrogant. But given the current situation, by their estimates, first and second place in second year would probably be claimed by the two of them.