Examination at the Medical Wing

Voldemort also noticed Harry, but there was no time left; Dumbledore should be returning any moment. With a scream of frustration, Voldemort rushed out of Hogwarts at top speed.

At the same time, Headmaster Dumbledore hurried through the large hole in the wall and into the potions room. Seeing Harry standing there safe and sound, he let out a slight sigh of relief, though he didn't fully relax—after all, the massive holes in this wall and the one opposite were not something Harry and his friends could have managed.

He could only think of one person who had close contact with Harry and his friends and might be capable of such a feat, and he still couldn't be sure if that child was safe.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Seeing him, Harry felt his entire body go limp, and he leaned back against the wall behind him. Now that Headmaster Dumbledore had arrived, everything was over...

Before any of them could mention Lin Yue, she stepped out from the hole in the wall behind Harry.

The young witch's robes were now in disarray, a testament to the peril of dodging spells, and the dust covering them spoke volumes about the intensity of the battle.

"Miss Lin Yue." Seeing Lin Yue walk out safely, Headmaster Dumbledore finally let out a full sigh of relief. He waved his wand at her, tidying her Wizard Robes while carefully checking her physical condition.

"Good evening, Headmaster Dumbledore." Lin Yue looked at him with an expressionless face, nodding politely to greet him.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, is Lin Yue alright?" Harry asked from the side, full of concern.

Putting away his wand, Headmaster Dumbledore gave Harry a kind smile. "Don't worry, Miss Lin Yue is fine. She's just likely overly exhausted. Go to the Medical Wing and ask Madam Pomfrey for some Dreamless Sleep Potion to get some rest."

"That's good." Harry let out a breath.

Lin Yue stood beside Harry with a detached gaze, saying nothing, her face devoid of any expression, as if Harry and Headmaster Dumbledore were not talking about her, but about someone else entirely unrelated to her.

Leading the two children out of the Forbidden Corridor, Headmaster Dumbledore turned back to look at Harry. "You were very brave, Harry, just like your Parents. They would be proud of you."

"Yeah." Harry smiled, but in his heart, he was reminding himself never to be so reckless again.

Tonight, seeing Ron knocked unconscious on the chessboard and Lin Yue covered in dust, he felt a chill in his heart. He couldn't bear to imagine that if his actions had led to the deaths of his friends, he... he would never be able to forgive himself.

Watching Lin Yue, who seemed to maintain a permanent state of detachment beside Harry, Headmaster Dumbledore fell silent for a moment before finally reaching out to pat her head in a gesture of courtesy.

It was like a kind grandfather comforting his granddaughter.

"Miss Lin Yue, your loyalty to your friends and your bravery in the face of danger are both highly commendable. Please allow me to apologize to you, though you may not know why."

Listening to Headmaster Dumbledore's words, Lin Yue looked up at him calmly.

She truly could not analyze why Headmaster Dumbledore would apologize to her.

Teachers and Parents do not make mistakes; for them, all she needed was obedience.

Under Headmaster Dumbledore's gentle gaze, Lin Yue slowly withdrew her eyes, performing her own calculations in her mind.

Violating school rules to wander at night: one punishment. Knocking out the Three-headed Dog and harming Hagrid's pet: one punishment. Using a Fire-making Spell that harmed the Devil's Snare and damaged Professor Sprout's personal property: one punishment. Blowing up a door and destroying school property: one punishment. Destroying the pieces on the chessboard and damaging Professor McGonagall's personal property: one punishment. Tearing down two walls: two punishments. Damaging a section of the floor: one punishment.

Rapidly completing the calculation, Lin Yue reached a final conclusion in her mind: she needed to punish herself eight times.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, how are Hermione and Ron?" As they stepped onto the moving staircase, Harry followed behind Dumbledore and asked.

"Minerva has already taken them to the Medical Wing, it's alright." Headmaster Dumbledore turned back and gave Harry a reassuring smile.

Hearing Hermione's name, Lin Yue, who had just finished calculating the number of punishments and firmly memorized them, subconsciously looked up at Headmaster Dumbledore.

Only after hearing him say that Hermione was fine did she lower her head again and continue walking.

The journey to the Medical Wing was completely smooth. Ron's injuries had already been treated by Madam Pomfrey, and he himself had been forced by her to drink a Dreamless Sleep Potion and was now fast asleep.

Because Hermione was worried about Lin Yue and Harry, she had refused to drink the Dreamless Sleep Potion; she wanted to see for herself that they were safe the moment they arrived.

Thinking that she wasn't injured anyway, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall let her be.

Now, seeing Lin Yue and Harry walk into the Medical Wing with Headmaster Dumbledore, she jumped off the hospital bed without hesitation, ran forward, and threw her arms around Lin Yue.

Lin Yue, suddenly pulled into Hermione's embrace, was stunned for a moment. Then, imitating her as she had done before, she raised her hands and hugged her back.

"Merlin's beard... thank goodness you're alright..." Hermione's voice was choked with emotion, her heart filled with lingering fear.

Lin Yue opened her mouth. Her brain told her she wanted to say something, so she mechanically spat out a sentence.

"Mm... I'm fine. Headmaster Dumbledore checked me."

Hermione let go of Lin Yue and nodded at Headmaster Dumbledore. "Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore."

Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes filled with guilt as he looked at the two girls. "No... it is I who should apologize to you."

He spoke the last half of the sentence almost in a whisper. A school should be a place that protects its students, but for the sake of Harry's future and the future of the wizarding world... he had to harden his heart and let Harry and his friends slowly learn to endure trials.

Even if Harry and the others would hate him in the future, even if later generations said he was not a qualified headmaster, it didn't matter. At the very least, they would still be standing safely within Hogwarts at that time.

But... could he really harden his heart? Looking at the two young witches standing face-to-face, and Harry trying to cover his eyes nearby, Headmaster Dumbledore could not help but ask himself this in his heart.

"Alright, I think Miss Granger, you should also drink the Dreamless Sleep Potion and get a good night's sleep."

Professor McGonagall walked over from beside Ron's bed. Looking at the three children, her lips were trembling.

She had just heard the full situation from Hermione. Voldemort... she had been so close, just a hair's breadth away from never seeing these children again.

If only she had believed them at the time... Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, suppressing the moisture in her eyes. This usually stern professor took off her wizard hat in front of the three students.

"I am very sorry, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Lin Yue. I did not believe you at the time, causing you to have to go alone... and face danger."

Hermione was the first to become uneasy. She waved her hands in a fluster. "No, it's not your fault, Professor."

Harry also raised his hand and scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed. "Hermione is right, it's not your fault, Professor. I was too anxious at the time and didn't speak the right way, which caused you to misunderstand."

Looking up at Professor McGonagall with an expressionless face, Lin Yue stated the cognition in her brain: "Professors cannot be wrong."

Everyone present assumed she was just comforting Professor McGonagall, so no one noticed the specific words "cannot be wrong" that she had used.

Under the arrangements of Madam Pomfrey, Lin Yue, Hermione, and Harry each lay down on a hospital bed. Lin Yue took the Dreamless Sleep Potion offered to her and downed it without a moment's hesitation.

Her expression remained unchanged, but two seconds later, her eyelids grew heavy. The next moment, she closed her eyes completely and fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing that the children had begun to rest, the two professors present revealed relieved smiles.

However, Madam Pomfrey was still waving her wand, checking on Harry and Lin Yue.

Harry was fine; although he was still a bit thin, he could make up for it by eating more later on.

But when it was Lin Yue's turn, Madam Pomfrey felt a sense of disbelief after finishing her check, and she couldn't help but check her again.

She suddenly turned her head to look at Headmaster Dumbledore, her eyes practically shooting fire as she stared at him.

Headmaster Dumbledore felt a chill run down his back for no reason. He turned his head stiffly and saw Madam Pomfrey looking at him with that fiery gaze.

"Madam Pomfrey... may I ask what is the matter?" Headmaster Dumbledore looked at her with a mix of anxiety and confusion. He hadn't done anything, had he?

"Albus, I recall that the workload here at Hogwarts isn't supposed to be very heavy, is it?" Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the Headmaster.

Headmaster Dumbledore nodded immediately upon hearing her question. "Of course, our curriculum is arranged with the physical well-being of the little wizards as our first priority."

How could he possibly let the little wizards study at the expense of their health? He could never do such a thing.

"Then why is this child's mental state so strained? She must not have had a good night's sleep in a very long time."

Headmaster Dumbledore was stumped by Madam Pomfrey's question. Although he was the Headmaster, he didn't know everything.

Professor McGonagall, standing to the side, pursed her lips and answered her question.

"At the beginning of the school year... Flitwick, Sprout, and I all left her books for advanced study, but later we realized that every subject was doing the same. Since she was already learning enough, we stopped leaving them."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, then shook her head. "No, she hasn't been resting well lately either, otherwise her condition wouldn't be this poor."

"Perhaps she has been reading and studying on her own," Professor McGonagall guessed. "After all, she is a Ravenclaw."

"Very well..." Madam Pomfrey sighed, reluctantly accepting this explanation.

It just so happened that with final exams approaching, Lin Yue hadn't been attending Potions class, and there had been no reason for her to punish herself, so the bruised, dark handprint on her left thigh had faded away.

Furthermore, for the sake of mobility during the trip to the Forbidden Corridor this time, Lin Yue hadn't punished herself beforehand; otherwise, Madam Pomfrey would certainly have discovered it.

Even so, Madam Pomfrey prepared enough Dreamless Sleep Potion for her to drink for several days, intending to let her sleep her fill in the Medical Wing before returning.

She wanted to ensure the child wouldn't just focus on studying and neglect her rest once she went back.

Since Lin Yue was, after all, a Ravenclaw student, Headmaster Dumbledore had notified Professor Flitwick. Before long, Professor Flitwick pushed open the doors to the Medical Wing and rushed in, looking frantic. He hadn't even had time to change out of his pajamas, which showed just how urgently he had come.

"Dumbledore, how are the children?" Professor Flitwick asked in a hushed voice as he saw the four children sleeping soundly in their beds.

"Nothing much, they are all resting," Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head.

"Yes, though Miss Lin Yue's condition is not exactly good." Madam Pomfrey used her wand to levitate several bottles of potions, setting them down on Lin Yue's bedside table.

"What is wrong with Miss Lin Yue?" Hearing Madam Pomfrey's words, Professor Flitwick immediately became anxious.

"She needs rest, plenty of rest," Madam Pomfrey said firmly. "And her stomach—Merlin's dinner, I can hardly believe how she managed to ruin her own stomach like this. It's already showing the early signs of gastritis. Come to think of it, was she the student who only spent a few minutes eating?"

"Yes... Albus and Minerva tried to persuade her, but it only made her eat a little slower on Christmas Day." Professor Flitwick sighed, his voice dropping.

Madam Pomfrey drew a sharp breath. "Very well, it seems I shall have to keep a permanent stock of Stomach-strengthening Potion here from now on!"

Before they could say another word, the hour mark arrived, and Lin Yue's eyelids struggled to open; her subconscious habits were fighting against the potency of the potion.

With her brain in a fog, Lin Yue managed to crack her eyes open a sliver. She had been forcibly "rebooted," but before she could fully open her eyes, she drifted back into unconsciousness.

The three professors and Madam Pomfrey naturally did not miss this scene. Madam Pomfrey frowned and stepped forward to examine her; she had never seen anyone wake up before the time was up after taking a Dreamless Sleep Potion.

After stepping forward to check her carefully, she found the potion was still in effect. So, what exactly was going on?

Madam Pomfrey looked questioningly at Headmaster Dumbledore, the most knowledgeable person present, but Headmaster Dumbledore only shook his head, indicating that he did not know either.

After thinking it over, Madam Pomfrey simply pulled up a chair and sat by Lin Yue's side, keeping a constant watch on her condition.

Professor Flitwick, as the Head of Ravenclaw, did not want to leave either, so he also took a chair and sat beside his student.

Seeing this, Professor McGonagall transformed into a cat and jumped onto the foot of Lin Yue's bed, while Headmaster Dumbledore left to deal with matters regarding Quirrell.

And so, that night, the two professors and Madam Pomfrey watched helplessly as Lin Yue forced herself to "reboot" once every hour, only to fall back into a deep sleep each time. The Dreamless Sleep Potion was supposed to last for eight hours, and she went through this cycle eight times.

The three of them felt distressed just watching her—the way she struggled, trying with all her might to wake up...