Green flames surged in the fireplace, and a billowing black robe emerged from them. The old man in starry pajamas looked up, his bright eyes taking in the newcomer with keen understanding.
"Ravenclaw, Lin Yue." Professor Snape stated the two words simply.
Headmaster Dumbledore paused. "Miss Lin Yue? Is something wrong with her? Minerva and Filius both speak very highly of her."
"She's using Legilimency." Professor Snape drew out the words, his tone firm and decisive.
"Legilimency?" Headmaster Dumbledore leaned forward and folded his hands on the desk. "A child so young can master Legilimency?"
"That's the only possibility. Her eyes are empty, lifeless, and she doesn't even show any emotion on her face. Her Legilimency is very good."
Headmaster Dumbledore stood and paced slowly around his office.
"All right, Severus. Keep an eye on the girl."
Professor Snape's mouth twitched. "I thought you'd ask me to keep a closer eye on that Potter."
"I'll make sure Harry stays safe. We should be more concerned about people who might be dangerous, don't you think?"
Headmaster Dumbledore stopped and looked down at Professor Snape over his glasses. "You know, Severus, this is to protect Harry, and to honor Lily's sacrifice."
Professor Snape's eyes flickered for an instant, then went blank again.
He nodded absently, tossed a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace, and stepped inside.
"I'll keep an eye on her," he said just before he disappeared.
After Snape left, Headmaster Dumbledore walked over to the chair behind his desk and sat down alone.
"Legilimency..." he murmured, head bowed. Excellent grades, exceptional talent, almost every professor who had met her liked her, and now she had Legilimency, too.
Could she be another Tom? A sharpness tinged with weariness flashed in Headmaster Dumbledore's eyes.
While people wondered whether she might be the next Tom, Lin Yue was reading the three books Professor McGonagall had recommended to her.
Transfiguration really was a little more difficult than Charms, Lin Yue judged calmly.
She didn't finish the books until bedtime, and even then, she had only just managed to memorize their contents. It would take her some more time to master them completely.
After adding three more bruises to her left arm, Lin Yue lay down on the bed without changing out of her clothes.
Over the next few days, Lin Yue continued to excel, earning points from her professors in every class.
First-year students at Hogwarts didn't have many classes, so she spent much of her free time in the Hogwarts Library.
This left Professor Snape, who had been watching her during his free time, feeling a little bored.
This little Troll—well, he had to admit that Lin Yue might not actually be a Troll.
The girl spent all her free time in the library, and she didn't even choose what to read.
Instead, she started with the first book on the first shelf and worked her way through them one by one.
She studied every page of every book carefully. Even so, she read far faster than most people.
It was enough to make Professor Snape wonder whether she was really reading attentively.
But after observing her for the past few days, he finally decided to stop watching the girl.
There was no point. He might as well return to his office and brew a couple more batches of potion.
With that thought, he turned and left without hesitation, his billowing black robes disappearing around the corner outside the library.
Not long before curfew, Lin Yue closed her book, checked out the unfinished books from Madam Pince, and hurried back to her dormitory.
Inside, Qiuzhang and Marietta were chatting happily while taking a break from their homework.
When Lin Yue returned, they paused to greet her briefly, then continued their conversation.
Over the past few days, they had figured out that when Lin Yue was reading—or studying—nothing around her could distract her.
Unless you tapped her on the shoulder or called her by her full name, she would ignore anything you said.
So now Qiuzhang and Marietta could finally chat happily in their dormitory again.
Lin Yue sat down at her desk, opened her book, and continued reading where she had left off.
Even after Qiuzhang and Marietta had bathed and gone to bed, she still hadn't left her seat.
They exchanged a glance and sighed, then quietly drew their bed curtains.
They were beginning to see that Lin Yue didn't just love studying. Studying was her life—perhaps even more important to her than life itself.
Tomorrow was Friday, and the weekend would soon be here. Maybe, once the weekend came, Lin Yue would take a break... Qiuzhang tucked in her blanket and thought to herself.
Of course, she had no idea that Lin Yue would spend both days of the weekend reading every book on an entire shelf in the Hogwarts Library.
After breakfast, Lin Yue arrived at the Greenhouse where Herbology class was held, schoolbag on her back. She tried the door twice, but it wouldn't open.
Her expression unchanged, she let go and stood perfectly still, as though frozen in place.
A few seconds later, she opened her bag, took out her Herbology textbook, and began reviewing again.
When the Little Eagles and Little Badgers arrived, they saw Lin Yue reading again and felt their faces grow warm.
She was already so talented, and she still worked so hard. They... So all the young witches and wizards there silently pulled out their Herbology textbooks and lowered their heads to read.
Every student outside the greenhouse had their head bent over a book. It was a rare sight at Hogwarts, and it left the Gryffindor Little Lions and Slytherin Little Snakes taking Flying class on the nearby lawn utterly astonished.
"Merlin's library... Ravenclaws liking books is one thing, but why are Hufflepuffs..." Ron stared in disbelief at the sight of all the students outside the greenhouse reading.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and shot back, "Maybe only a very small number of people don't like studying?"
Ron frowned in pained bewilderment and retorted, "Well, at least I know you're not one of them."
Harry didn't have time to join their conversation. He was busy looking curiously down at the Broomsticks on the ground. There was something about them that felt familiar and welcoming.
After trading a jab, Hermione and Ron fell silent, too. Hermione's gaze passed over the other Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs before settling on Lin Yue at the very front of the crowd.
Watching the girl read so intently, her head bowed like a still, lifeless pool, Hermione couldn't help thinking that Lin Yue must be the one who had inspired so many people to study at once.
Her thoughts didn't last long. Madam Hooch had arrived on the lawn.
Young witches and wizards were generally so excited about Flying class that everyone had already arrived, even though the lesson hadn't started yet.
Madam Hooch looked at the eager students, pulled out her whistle, and blew it sharply. She decided to start teaching them to ride Broomsticks early, so none of the children would lose patience and take off on their own.
"Everyone, stand beside your Broomstick. Put your hand over it, then say, 'Up.'"
Following Madam Hooch's instructions, Hermione stood beside a Broomstick and held her hand above it. In a clear, precise voice, she said,
"Up."
The Broomstick didn't move. Hermione took a deep breath and tried every tone she could think of. At last, perhaps sensing she was about to lose patience, the Broomstick sprang into her hand on its own.
Looking at the Broomstick in her hand, Hermione raised her brows in understanding. "Well, it looks like I don't have much of a talent for flying."
She wasn't disappointed in the slightest. She didn't like flying anyway, something she had decided after reading about it.
Looking at the pictures in her books of witches and wizards flying on Broomsticks, she had been sure she would much rather keep her feet on the ground.
"I'll count to three, and then take off when you hear my whistle."
Madam Hooch began counting, but before she could blow the whistle, Neville wobbled into the air. His face had gone completely white with fear.
He gripped the Broomstick tightly, trembling with nerves as it carried him higher and higher. Madam Hooch kept shouting for him to calm down and descend slowly, but it was no use.
The young witches and wizards watched in horror, Madam Hooch's shouts and Neville's terrified screams ringing in their ears.
The commotion drew the attention of the Little Eagles and Little Badgers standing by the greenhouse.
They closed their books and turned to look. The Little Eagles and Little Badgers all widened their eyes in unison. Only Lin Yue remained calm, still reading as if she hadn't heard anything.
"Merlin! He's going to fall!"
"Madam Hooch is right there. She'll save him, won't she...?"
"Probably not. Madam Hooch doesn't bring her wand to Flying class. Can't you see she can only stand there and watch?"
The Little Eagles and Little Badgers looked pale as they anxiously discussed what to do, but no one had a solution. As Neville flew higher and higher, even crashing into the wall of Hogwarts Castle, the crowd's cries grew louder and louder.
Finally, in the chaos, someone bumped hard into Lin Yue, knocking her Herbology textbook to the ground.
She bent to pick it up and turned around just in time to see Neville fall from his Broomstick.
Without hesitation, Lin Yue drew her wand and pointed it at Neville, following his descent with her arm and aiming with perfect precision.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Her voice sounded mechanical. The Levitation Charm crossed the distance between the greenhouse and the lawn and stopped Neville's fall exactly, leaving him floating in midair.
Lin Yue slowly pointed her wand toward the ground, and Neville was gently lowered to the grass by her Levitation Charm.
The Little Eagles and Little Badgers turned to look at Lin Yue as if she were some fantastic beast.
Neville wasn't a feather in Charms class. He was a person of considerable weight. And she had cast the spell from a great distance, while he was falling fast.
Yet Lin Yue had still managed to cast the Levitation Charm on Neville with perfect accuracy and lower him safely to the ground. For a first-year student, that was astonishing.
Expression unchanged, Lin Yue put away her wand, opened her book, and lowered her head to keep reading.
She wasn't worried about whether Neville had been frightened, or whether he had been injured when he hit the wall.
She had simply followed her instinct to help when someone was in danger, if she could.
As for why she hadn't helped the students who had been dragged away to be destroyed in the past, it was simple.
They had to be destroyed because of the rules. When the rules conflicted with instinct, she had to obey the rules strictly.
Just as her mother and father had told her that when her study time was interrupted, or when her grades fell short of perfect, she had to punish herself.
Even though that conflicted with her instinct not to hurt herself, she would still follow her mother and father's rules and punish herself, again and again.
The Little Eagles and Little Badgers had been thrilled to see Lin Yue save someone and were just about to cheer, but then they saw her calmly lower her head and return to her book as if nothing had happened.
In an instant, they felt as if something had lodged in their throats, leaving them unable to make a sound.
They glanced at one another. In perfect unison, everyone opened their books again and continued reading. What else could they do?
They had settled down, but things were much livelier among the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
Madam Hooch hurried over to help Neville up from the ground where Lin Yue had lowered him. After warning everyone present, she took the clearly frightened boy to the Medical Wing.
Hermione and many of the other Little Lions and Little Snakes stared, dumbfounded, at Lin Yue, who was still reading in the distance.
Was her magical ability really that strong? Hermione pressed her lips together, feeling anxious.
Compared to Lin Yue, was she too far behind? When you had a sufficiently excellent standard to measure yourself against, you couldn't help comparing yourself to it.
That was exactly what Hermione was doing. She took a deep breath and gripped her Broomstick tightly, silently deciding that she had to study harder. Better yet, she would figure out how Lin Yue studied and imitate her.
No—maybe she should study even harder than Lin Yue!
While her thoughts raced, Harry and Malfoy had already taken off, and Lin Yue had gone into the greenhouse after Professor Sprout arrived.
Hermione watched Lin Yue enter the greenhouse, then turned her gaze to Harry and Malfoy in the air.
By then, Lin Yue had taken her place in the first row of the Herbology classroom, watching Professor Sprout at the front with a calm expression.
Before you continue