Qiuzhang took a deep breath, calming her surprise. She got up and sat on the edge of Lin Yue's bed, then reached out and gently ruffled Lin Yue's hair.
"Don't make everything about studying," Qiuzhang said warmly. "Won't you go out and have some fun with your family over the summer? It'd be nice to relax a little."
Lin Yue turned her head. Her eyes were as unfathomable as a deep pool, as unchanging as ever. "My parents aren't in this world."
She stated the plain truth without a hint of emotion. Qiuzhang and Marietta both froze for a second.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know... I didn't mean to upset you." Qiuzhang fumbled for words.
Lin Yue expressionlessly shook her head. "It's all right. I'm not upset. I can't feel things like that."
Qiuzhang pressed her lips together and looked at Lin Yue with concern. "Then, over the holidays... are you going to stay with your relatives?"
Lin Yue thought quickly, then shook her head. "No, I'm staying at a hotel."
"A hotel?! The Leaky Cauldron?" Marietta came over too and sat on Lin Yue's other side, looking at her with concern.
"Where is the Leaky Cauldron?" Lin Yue asked Marietta without inflection.
"You didn't notice it when you went to Diagon Alley before?" Marietta paused, then quickly convinced herself of the answer.
"Right. You don't pay much attention to anything besides studying. The Leaky Cauldron is the name of the pub at the entrance to Diagon Alley. It's the most famous pub in the wizarding world of Country Y, and they rent rooms on the second floor."
Lin Yue nodded. She was about to ask where Diagon Alley was when it turned midnight. Deciding it was time to sleep, Lin Yue closed her mouth and quietly curled up in bed.
Qiuzhang and Marietta exchanged a pleased look. Whatever else, at least Lin Yue could go to bed early now. That was progress.
The two of them leaned down together, gave Lin Yue a polite kiss on the forehead, and wished her good night. Then they returned to their own beds to rest.
The moment Lin Yue closed her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep. She had made sure to get six hours of sleep every day lately,
but her body—or perhaps her subconscious—still believed she was severely sleep-deprived. So the moment she shut her eyes, she would fall into a deep sleep, then wake again an hour later.
This cycle repeated throughout the night.
By the next day, all the young witches and wizards at Hogwarts had finished packing. They just had to eat breakfast, line up, and board the Hogwarts Express to go home.
They hadn't been home since Christmas, and almost all the young witches and wizards were happy and excited that summer had finally arrived.
There were a few who didn't care one way or the other, or who simply didn't welcome the summer holidays at all.
Lin Yue was the one who didn't care in the slightest. She watched the cheerful atmosphere in the Great Hall with a calm gaze, feeling not the slightest stir inside.
The summer holiday was just a change of location for studying. That was what her mind understood.
As for the person who didn't welcome the holidays at all, that was naturally Harry. Just thinking about going back to the Dursley family made him want to frown.
But when he saw the smiles of his two close friends, Hermione and Ron, and the cheerful atmosphere among their classmates, he really didn't want to spoil the mood. So he could only force a smile and joke around with everyone, just... enjoying his last moments at Hogwarts for the school year.
Only Lin Yue, as she quickly finished breakfast and glanced around the Great Hall, noticed Harry's strange expression. His expression was odd. She reached that conclusion almost at once.
Harry's smile was clearly different from everyone else's. The muscles he used, and the extent to which he used them, were quite different.
So Harry didn't want to smile, but he was smiling. Her mind automatically produced this conclusion, and Lin Yue looked away. She felt no curiosity about why Harry was forcing himself to smile. Instead, she began silently reciting her Transfiguration textbook.
After breakfast, the young witches and wizards were supposed to board the Hogwarts Express. Before that, however, their Heads of House handed out their report cards.
The young witches and wizards looked at their grades with either joy or worry, but only for a moment. The next, they had already put them out of their minds.
Grades were grades. Good enough was good enough. As long as they fell within their expectations, the young witches and wizards could easily accept them. Even if they were a little lower, it was no big deal.
At most, their parents would tell them to work harder when they got home. The Hogwarts professors didn't say much to the students whose grades weren't very good, either.
Everyone had their own strengths. A single report card couldn't determine whether a young witch or wizard was outstanding. As long as they figured out what they wanted to do in the future, worked toward it, and didn't go astray, that was enough.
At the Ravenclaw table, the Little Eagles were more curious about Lin Yue's results than their own final grades.
Lin Yue worked so hard and was so capable... her grades must be great, right?
With that thought in mind, quite a few Little Eagles eagerly rushed to grab a spot behind Lin Yue as soon as they had looked at their own report cards.
When they saw Lin Yue's grades, they couldn't help clicking their tongues. Just as they'd expected... outstanding in every subject, without a single mistake.
The Little Eagles who had seen Lin Yue's report card didn't make a fuss or loudly congratulate her. They simply went back to their seats and sat down.
From what they knew of Lin Yue, she would probably remain as unruffled as ever about these results. Since she herself was like that, they might as well leave her in peace.
After putting away her report card, Lin Yue truly felt no stir at all. Full marks in every subject. She'd met the standard.
I passed all my end-of-year exams this year, Lin Yue concluded in her mind, mechanically turning her head toward the entrance to the Great Hall.
The results had been handed out. Next, fully armed personnel should come in and take away the bottom third of the students to be destroyed.
At that thought, Lin Yue suddenly felt her heart clench. It raced wildly, and her mind turned to chaos.
This was the worry Elder Sister Marietta had told her about... Worry, but what was she worried about?
Lin Yue turned her head blankly. Then she saw her classmates chatting and laughing at the Ravenclaw table, Hermione and her friends talking among themselves at the Gryffindor dining table, and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table, who had been her Potions class partner for the whole school year.
Like scenes from a film, memories flashed through Lin Yue's mind: the celebration the Ravenclaws had held for her, the adventures she had shared with Hermione and the others, and the countless potions she had made with Hannah.
What was she worried about...? Amid the chaos in her mind, Lin Yue forced out a thought.
She was worried about her classmates... A tearing pain shot through her skull. Lin Yue's expression didn't change, but several drops of cold sweat had already slid down her forehead.
She was worried her classmates would be destroyed. She was worried her classmates would become part of that final third.
Before, she could still think about this calmly, without a ripple. But now that the moment had actually arrived, she could no longer keep her composure.
I don't want to... Lin Yue clenched her teeth and struggled to raise her stiff right hand toward the pocket of her robes, where her wand was.
I don't want my classmates to be destroyed... The thought burst clearly into Lin Yue's mind.
But then another thought, just as clear, surfaced. These were the rules. Rules had to be obeyed. I must obey the rules. I can't break them.
Her right hand stopped halfway, unable to move another inch.
Lin Yue watched helplessly as the doors to the Great Hall slowly opened a crack.
The fully armed executioners, the cries of the other students, the sensation of the potion being pushed into their bodies—everything came rushing back from her memories.
No! I don't want this! Lin Yue forced her jaws apart and bit down hard on her tongue.
The heavy taste of blood immediately filled her mouth. The intense pain jolted Lin Yue back into action. She reached into her robes and yanked out her wand.
The next moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened completely. But the person who walked in wasn't a group of fully armed executioners. It was only Mr. Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker, coming to tell all the young witches and wizards that it was time to board the train.
With her mouth full of blood, Lin Yue let her wand hang at her side. All her movements stopped.
There were no executioners, no submachine guns poised to fire. Lin Yue's chaotic mind settled back into calm, and her heartbeat gradually slowed.
Lowering her head, she slid her wand back into her robes and kept swallowing the blood welling from her tongue.
The executioners had chosen to seize the students at their homes... Lin Yue reached that conclusion easily.
She raised her head and looked at the young witches and wizards in the Great Hall. For some reason, everything seemed to turn black and white before her eyes, and she felt as though she were falling.
At the professors' calls, the young witches and wizards picked up their luggage and filed out. Lin Yue stood and mechanically followed the student in front of her.
Her vision was terribly blurry, with specks and streaks in it, like an old black-and-white television struggling to play.
She had none of her usual ability to think. She could only stiffly follow the student ahead of her out of the Great Hall, out of Hogwarts, and onto the Hogwarts Express. Then she stopped in one of the compartments and stared blankly at the seat opposite her.
When they came back from summer break... a third of the students would have disappeared. Lin Yue's vision kept dimming, as though her mind was protesting. Her tongue hurt and felt numb.
Leaning against the seat back, Lin Yue closed her eyes for the first time during study hours.
In the darkness, she saw a little girl. The little girl studied every day, studied every day.
Even so, her scores only ever placed her in the middle of the rankings at the end of the school year.
She couldn't move her parents into the villa they dreamed of, or bring them into the elite class they longed to join.
She knew it was her fault. She wasn't clever enough... She was a stupid child, not the genius her parents wanted.
So she stole time from the little sleep she already got to study recipes and learn how to knit.
She could hold a book in one hand and a spatula in the other. Before winter came each year, she could give her parents a new pair of gloves.
She longed to prove that even without a villa, a family could still live happily together...
But what happened after that? What happened after that...?
A piercing sound rang wildly in her mind. The cold was bone-deep, right beside her. Trembling, Lin Yue curled herself into a ball.
She had so little strength... She was so tired... When had she felt this way before...?
"Are you cold?"
A pair of arms, warm as the sun, wrapped around Lin Yue. The piercing sound cut off at once, and a warm whisper sounded in her ear.
Her trembling body slowly relaxed and unfurled. The darkness in her mind gradually melted away.
A tiny voice, a tiny figure, reached toward the hazy sky above. Save me. Please, save me!
When Lin Yue opened her eyes again, they were still as flat and lifeless as stagnant water.
She turned her head slightly. It was Hermione who had her arms wrapped around Lin Yue from behind. Harry and Ron were helping put her luggage on the rack, while Qiuzhang and Marietta sat across from her, looking at her with concern.
"Qiuzhang and Marietta came to find me and said you didn't seem well, so I hurried over. What's wrong?" Hermione lowered her head and gently nuzzled Lin Yue's cheek.
Lin Yue's lips trembled as she opened her mouth. Her voice was hoarse and harsh, like a broken bellows.
"I don't want to stay at a hotel this summer... Can I... stay at your house?"
Lin Yue stated the thought in her mind plainly. Her ability to think had returned.
Hogwarts hadn't announced the rankings of all its students, so she couldn't be sure whether Hermione, Harry, Ron, Qiuzhang, and Marietta were among the bottom third.
Even though Hermione, Qiuzhang, and Marietta had excellent grades, they could still have made mistakes. Or perhaps the other students at Hogwarts had performed exceptionally well and outscored them.
In this situation, she couldn't save everyone at Hogwarts. All she could do was try her best to save Hermione and the others.
And if the executioners were going to seize and destroy people at their homes, the only way she could think of to stop them was to go home with them.
Even if that broke the rules, she would accept her punishment once everyone had escaped. The executioners could destroy her; she had no objection to that outcome.
Lin Yue's mind, back to full speed, rapidly ran through the possibilities and settled on this plan without hesitation.
Even if the plan ended with her being destroyed, she felt no emotion about it. The only thing that mattered to her was making sure the plan succeeded.
Before you continue