Haunted House

The two girls had played all morning, and now it was time for lunch.

The selection of food at the amusement park wasn't very large, and for convenience, it was mostly fast food.

They each ordered a combo meal, and Hermione, taking advantage of her parents' absence, specially ordered two cups of cola for herself and Lin Yue to indulge properly.

Having parents who were both dentists had this one downside—she hardly ever had a chance to drink soda, because it was too sweet and bad for her teeth.

Even the pastries often made at the Granger household were sugar-free.

So even now, what Hermione looked forward to most was Christmas every year, because on that day she could drink soda without restrictions.

But today, Mom and Dad weren't around, so she could drink soda without limits!

Staring at the two large cups of cola set before her, Lin Yue remained calm as always, though honestly, she didn't recognize what this black liquid with its gurgling bubbles was.

The "drinks" she had consumed were limited to boiled tap water and the pumpkin juice she'd had after arriving at Hogwarts.

As for cola, orange juice, and other beverages, she only knew their history and general concept.

But if a cup of this drink was placed right in front of her, she still couldn't identify it.

Turning her head to look at Hermione, she saw Hermione eagerly pick up her own cup of cola and take a big gulp.

Her expression first twisted, then relaxed, and a contented smile bloomed on her face.

Lin Yue tilted her head and spoke in a flat tone, "Hermione, what is this?"

Hermione, who was about to take a second sip, paused. She looked at the cola in her hand and gestured uncertainly.

"Are you asking about this?"

"Mm." Lin Yue nodded affirmatively.

"This is cola," Hermione answered, "a carbonated drink. It tastes great, but it's not very healthy."

"Oh." Lin Yue nodded. The moment Hermione said it was cola, she was able to match this cup of drink with the concept in her mind.

Hermione pressed her lips together, set down her own cup of cola, and reached out to gently pat Lin Yue's back.

She had been overthinking it... Lin Yue's parents couldn't even let her eat properly, so of course they wouldn't let her drink soda.

"Try it. It tastes really good, and it'll cool you down too."

Lin Yue nodded blankly, picked up the cola in front of her, brought it to her lips, and started gulping it down her throat in big mouthfuls.

Seeing this, Hermione's eyes went wide instantly. She quickly tapped Lin Yue's arm to stop her. "Stop, stop! Merlin's beard, this cola is iced, and the carbonation is really harsh. Drinking it like that will hurt your throat!"

Only then did Lin Yue stop and put the cup down. The sting of the carbonation exploded wildly in her mouth and throat.

But not a trace of it showed on her face. Hermione watched her nervously, scanning her up and down. "You... does your throat feel uncomfortable or anything?"

Lin Yue felt the fading sting in her throat and shook her head. "No."

"That's good..." Hermione sighed in relief and lightly patted her chest. "You scared me to death. Don't drink like that."

"No, even with water, you can't drink it that fast. If the water was a little too hot or a little too cold, wouldn't your throat get ruined?!"

"It wouldn't," Lin Yue shook her head firmly. "It would just hurt for about a week, and my voice would get very hoarse."

Hermione's brow twitched violently. The other hand resting on the table unconsciously clenched the tray holding her burger and fries.

"What do you mean? Don't tell me... you've always drunk water like this before?" Please don't let it be true! Hermione's grip on the tray tightened.

But unfortunately, it was as she feared. Lin Yue's calm face even showed a hint of matter-of-factness. "Yes. Drinking as much as possible in one go, as fast as possible, saves more time for studying."

"I—" Hermione looked at Lin Yue in front of her and forcibly swallowed the words she hadn't yet spoken.

"Alright," Hermione took a deep breath and placed both hands on Lin Yue's shoulders. "Listen to me. Starting today, when you eat and when you drink, you have to take it slow, okay?"

"Put your body first. As for that damned important studying, put it second."

Hearing Hermione's words, another collision of two thoughts occurred in Lin Yue's brain.

Body first? But studying should be first, the cognition in Lin Yue's mind told her.

Yet deep in her mind, another voice was shouting alongside Hermione, "No! That's not right! Your body should come first. The body is the capital of revolution!"

The two thoughts clashed, and Lin Yue fell into a slight "stutter," but in front of her was Hermione's earnest face.

Lin Yue heard her own voice tremble slightly as she spoke, "Okay, I'll remember."

Hermione smiled with a little relief and ruffled Lin Yue's hair. "Eat up now."

"Mm." Lin Yue nodded, picked up her burger, and took a big bite.

Taking a sip of her own cola, Hermione looked at Lin Yue with a complicated expression. The deeper she delved, the more she felt that the tragedy behind Lin Yue was piling up.

It was a chain of tragedies, one tragedy linked to another, a string of them locking Lin Yue inside.

She could feel that she was slowly cutting through that chain, gradually pulling Lin Yue out.

Setting down her cola gently and taking a big bite of her burger, Hermione chewed fiercely. Lin Yue, don't you worry—I'll drag you out completely!

After finishing lunch, both girls collapsed into their seats, burping nonstop.

Without the Grangers around to supervise, two cups of cola each had left Hermione and Lin Yue bloated, and on top of that, they'd each had a large combo meal.

It left them so stuffed that they had to lounge for half an hour before they could stand up and leave.

"Burp." Hermione covered her mouth with her hand as she let out a small burp. "I think I won't want to drink cola for at least a month."

Beside her, Lin Yue's face showed no ripple of emotion, though she too let out an occasional small burp.

They walked a bit more through the amusement park to digest, and only after the excess food in their stomachs had settled did Hermione turn to look at Lin Yue.

"Lin Yue, want to go to the haunted house?" Hermione was still clinging to her plan of using the haunted house's atmosphere to stir Lin Yue's emotions—and of course, having Lin Yue get so scared she'd throw herself into Hermione's arms would be pretty great too~

Lin Yue had no objections to any of this; whatever Hermione said went. She simply agreed and let Hermione drag her toward the haunted house.

Outside the haunted house, the staff member hesitated as he looked at the two little girls before him, then bent down to meet the gaze of the more outgoing Hermione.

"Little sisters, just the two of you playing?"

"Yeah, we can go in, right?" Hermione nodded, pointing toward the haunted house behind him.

"You can, you can..." The staff member scratched his head. "But it's pretty dark in there, and there are employees in charge of scaring people. Do you need us to find a staff member to go in with you?"

Hermione immediately shook her head at his suggestion. No way—she had another reason for bringing Lin Yue in: waiting for her to get scared and then fall into Hermione's arms.

If they brought a staff member along, Lin Yue might not get scared, or worse, she might throw herself at the wrong person.

"Thanks, big brother, but no need. The two of us can handle it ourselves."

"Alright," the staff member said with a kind smile. "Two brave little sisters. Please, go on in."

With that, he took the money Hermione handed over, gave them two tickets, and guided them to the haunted house entrance.

Staring at the pitch-black entrance of the haunted house, Hermione, who had already experienced the Hogwarts Trapdoor, felt nothing.

She thanked the staff member along with Lin Yue, then pulled her inside.

Once inside the haunted house, Lin Yue's vision was completely swallowed by darkness. Blackness so thick she couldn't see her hand in front of her face surrounded her on all sides. Only after her eyes gradually adjusted did she faintly make out her surroundings.

All sorts of scary props lined the path on both sides, and ahead hung a skeleton model dangling upside down, with bits of what looked like shredded flesh attached to it.

These things were certainly scary enough for ordinary children, even adults.

But Lin Yue had no emotions. No matter how dark and terrifying the atmosphere, she felt no fear. Looking at the props, she merely subconsciously pondered what materials they might be made of.

Beside her, Hermione wore an equally uninterested expression. Having spent an entire year in a school full of magic, accustomed to ghosts, moving portraits, and even having faced a troll and the end-of-year adventure, now looking at this haunted house, she had only one thought: Seriously? That's it?

Stepping into a small, separate room, they saw a staff member dressed as a wicked witch brewing potions.

Lin Yue instinctively glanced at the cauldron in front of her, her nose twitching slightly. A smell of mung beans instantly filled her nostrils. Mung bean soup.

Her brain made a quick judgment, and she assessed the large pot of soup.

Hermione watched the staff member's movements and shook her head inwardly. The motions were all wrong—there was no way this would brew a real potion. But what was in that cauldron? It actually looked faintly green?

The "wicked witch" brewing her "potion" heard footsteps and just looked up to scare someone when she spotted Lin Yue's Eastern face. She instantly deflated.

Someone from the East, huh. Then she wouldn't be scaring her... After all, this soup was a recipe she'd learned from her Eastern roommate.

Because it turned a faint green, it could pass as a wicked witch's potion, and drinking it could cool you down. So on this hot summer day, the boss had assigned her to pretend to be a wicked witch brewing potions, even giving some to visitors.

Figuring she couldn't scare the Eastern girl, but maybe the local girl beside her, the wicked witch ladled out two bowls of mung bean soup and set them in front of the girls.

"Come now... two lovely girls, drink my potion. Only one of you can leave here~"

She tried to lower her voice, making it sound raspier and more sinister.

But it was completely useless. Neither Hermione nor Lin Yue was scared. Hermione just pointed uncertainly at the mung bean soup in front of her.

"What is this? Can we really drink it?"

Lin Yue reached out first, took one bowl of mung bean soup from the wicked witch, and drank a sip without hesitation. Confirming it was properly made, she turned to Hermione.

"It's mung bean soup. No problem. It can cool you down in summer. It's well-brewed too—cooked long enough."

The wicked witch's mouth twitched uncontrollably. Two little girls... and they were both this calm? She hadn't scared a single one.

And "cooked long enough"? She'd been brewing it since morning!

Hearing this, Hermione took the other bowl of mung bean soup, sipped a small taste, and nodded. The flavor was indeed unique, and it felt good going down.

Since they weren't scared, Lin Yue and Hermione weren't in a hurry to leave. They just strolled through the haunted house, sipping mung bean soup, turning the whole experience into something more like a walk in the park.

Various NPCs came out one after another, different mechanisms triggered constantly, but not a single one could scare them. Watching this from the surveillance room, the haunted house manager was almost in tears.

This was too demoralizing. God knew he'd specifically come to watch the monitor because he was worried these two little girls would be too scared, crying in place and afraid to move on. But now, not only were they not scared—they didn't even react at all.

It was this very sight that solidified the manager's resolve to update the haunted house. It had to be updated—how could it fail to scare even two little girls?

By now, Hermione had given up on the idea that the haunted house's atmosphere could infect Lin Yue and teach her fear, let alone hoping she'd be scared enough to fall into Hermione's arms.

If even she wasn't scared, how could Lin Yue possibly be?

But thinking about it... she'd been too presumptuous. Lin Yue had faced Voldemort head-on in a fight—how could she be afraid of a haunted house full of fakes?

Walking out of the haunted house, Lin Yue and Hermione had just adjusted to the light when they were met by the haunted house manager, who approached with a serious expression.

He spoke earnestly to Lin Yue and Hermione, saying their haunted house would be updated and would definitely strive to be scarier, and he hoped they'd come play again once it was ready.

After hearing this, Hermione turned to glance at Lin Yue. Even if she couldn't get Lin Yue to fall into her arms, just strolling through the haunted house with her... she was more than happy to!

"Lin Yue, what do you think?" Hermione blinked, looking at Lin Yue with some anticipation.

Lin Yue turned her head and nodded expressionlessly. "I'm fine with anything. You decide."

Hermione smiled, then turned to the haunted house manager. "Alright, we'll definitely come again next time."

After she said this, the haunted house manager even asked Hermione to leave her home phone number, so that once the haunted house was updated, he could call and let her know.

After leaving the number, Hermione took Lin Yue's hand and they left together. They had pretty much played everything there was to play in the amusement park, and both were a bit tired—it was time to go home.

Walking out of the amusement park, Hermione turned to look at Lin Yue, gently brushing the stray hair from her face. "Did you have fun today? Were you happy? I mean... did you feel your heart racing, like you were bubbling over inside?"

Lin Yue was startled. Heart racing? Bubbling over inside?

Watching Hermione raise her hand and calmly press it against her own chest, Lin Yue focused and felt for a moment, then nodded. Yes, her heart really was racing.