Herbology class had just ended, and on top of the ten points Professor Sprout had awarded her during class, Lin Yue had earned another twenty points from Madam Hooch.
The sharp-eyed woman stood before Lin Yue, doing her best to look gentle.
"I really must thank you, dear. You prevented Neville Longbottom from getting hurt. For your kindness and excellent Levitation Charm, I think you deserve twenty points."
Lin Yue nodded with a blank expression and politely thanked her. "Thank you, Madam Hooch."
"You deserve it," Madam Hooch said with a smile, ruffling Lin Yue's hair. "Also, Mr. Longbottom would like to thank you."
"Where is he?" Lin Yue asked Madam Hooch flatly, without a trace of emotion.
"What?" Madam Hooch paused.
Lin Yue adjusted the book bag on her shoulder. "He wants to thank me. I'll go find him."
Madam Hooch paused, then understood. "Mr. Longbottom was a little shaken. He's in the Medical Wing now."
"Okay, thank you, Madam Hooch." Lin Yue nodded and quickly left the greenhouse entrance.
The Little Eagles and Little Badgers who had just finished class and come out of the Greenhouse watched Lin Yue's retreating figure with awe.
Another twenty points... It hadn't even been a week since term started, and Lin Yue had already put Ravenclaw far ahead through her own point-earning abilities. Terrifying. Just terrifying.
Pushing open the door to the Medical Wing, Lin Yue headed straight for Neville's bed.
"Longbottom," Lin Yue said mechanically, lowering her head.
"Lin Yue!" Neville quickly sat up in bed when he saw her.
He gave an embarrassed smile and scratched his head.
"Thank you for saving me today... I'm so clumsy, I caused you trouble."
"You're welcome," Lin Yue replied flatly.
Neville lowered his head nervously. Lin Yue continued in the same calm tone.
"You've thanked me. I'm leaving."
With that, Lin Yue walked briskly out of the Medical Wing without looking back, leaving Neville staring blankly after her.
After deciding to follow Lin Yue and see how she spent her free time studying, Hermione entered the Great Hall after class and kept glancing expectantly at the Ravenclaw table.
But the person she was looking for didn't show up. What was going on?
Hermione couldn't help frowning. Lin Yue was usually always on time for meals.
Before she could think any further, she heard that Harry and Malfoy had arranged to duel at midnight.
Taking a deep breath, she went over and tried to talk Harry out of going to the duel. As expected, Harry and Ron both rejected her.
Fuming, Hermione sat back down and shoved a mouthful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Then she saw Lin Yue finally enter the Great Hall and sit at the Ravenclaw table.
As soon as Lin Yue sat down, she began eating quickly. Watching her, Hermione couldn't help speeding up too.
The result was that she choked.
"Cough, cough..." Hermione picked up the pumpkin juice beside her and gulped down a mouthful, finally catching her breath.
Before she'd had time to eat much more, Lin Yue had already finished dinner and left the Great Hall.
Hermione forgot all about the food she hadn't finished, grabbed her book bag, and hurried after her.
Following Lin Yue all the way to the Library, she watched her set down her book bag, take out a few books to return to Madam Pince, then pull several more books from the first bookshelf and sit down to read.
Hermione nervously gripped the strap of her book bag and took a couple of deep breaths. "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. Just go say hello."
After getting herself ready, Hermione walked over to Lin Yue.
"Lin Yue?"
Lin Yue, who had been reading, came out of her focused state and looked up at Hermione with a blank expression.
"Granger. Is something wrong?"
"You remembered my name!" Hermione said with a happy smile.
"Mm." Lin Yue nodded calmly.
"Um... you're really good at studying, so I was wondering... could I study with you?"
"And... sorry for following you here. Please don't be angry."
Lin Yue stared at Hermione. Hermione grew increasingly flustered, wondering if Lin Yue was angry.
Then Lin Yue spoke. "I'm not angry. If you want to study with me, go ahead."
She lowered her head and returned to her book. Hermione let out a sigh of relief, set her own book bag aside, took out her homework, and sat down beside Lin Yue to work.
Lin Yue spoke without the slightest variation in tone, and her face was always calm and expressionless. It was easy to think she was rude and cold toward people.
But Hermione thought she was actually kind deep down... Sitting beside her to study, Hermione felt inexplicably at ease.
It was as if, at that moment, the whole world was peaceful. Even her homework seemed to go faster.
After finishing her homework, Hermione looked at Lin Yue, who was still reading attentively.
She hesitated, but couldn't resist the urge to speak.
"Lin Yue... have you finished your homework?"
Lin Yue turned to look at Hermione. "Yes."
"So fast!" Hermione exclaimed. First-years at Hogwarts didn't have many classes.
But the amount of homework the professors assigned was still substantial for first-years, and some of it was quite difficult.
Even Hermione needed time to get through it, yet Lin Yue had already finished all her homework for the week?
She was incredible... Hermione swallowed.
Looking at Lin Yue's composed face, Hermione's thoughts drifted away from studying. Suddenly, she wanted to confide in Lin Yue.
She wrestled with the idea for a moment, but in the end, she couldn't overcome the urge.
"Harry and Malfoy arranged to duel just now," Hermione said, biting her lower lip. "I told him not to go, but he and Ron told me to mind my own business."
"But it clearly breaks the School Rules! I'm not wrong to try to stop them!"
Lin Yue looked at Hermione, who had suddenly become agitated. Though she didn't understand why Hermione was acting this way, she still spoke mechanically.
"Breaking the rules is wrong. They need to be punished."
"Exactly!" Hermione nodded emphatically. "If the professors catch them, they'll definitely lose points!"
"No..." Hermione twisted her hands together. "I have to stop them tonight!"
"What time? Where?" Lin Yue asked Hermione calmly.
"Huh?" Hermione looked at Lin Yue in confusion.
"The time and place of the duel," Lin Yue repeated, clarifying her question.
"Mid... midnight, in the Trophy Room." Hermione sounded a little dazed.
Lin Yue nodded, stood up, and slung her book bag over her shoulder, ready to leave the Library. "Got it."
"Are you leaving?" Hermione quickly gathered her book bag and followed her.
Lin Yue turned to look at Hermione and pointed at the clock on the Library wall. "It's nearly curfew."
Hermione followed her finger. Was it really nearly curfew already? Once she'd gotten absorbed in her homework, she'd completely lost track of time.
After leaving the Library, Lin Yue and Hermione walked together for a while. Neither of them spoke.
The atmosphere was rather dull, yet Hermione felt as though she enjoyed the silence.
She cautiously glanced at Lin Yue. Her face was still as blank as a still pond, without the slightest ripple.
Lin Yue had been like this ever since they first met: no inflection, no expression, almost as if... she had no feelings.
Hermione couldn't help becoming even more curious about her.
After walking together for a while, Lin Yue and Hermione finally parted ways, one heading for the Ravenclaw Common Room and the other for the Gryffindor Common Room.
After parting from Hermione, Lin Yue's mind once again brought up Hermione's face.
Even her absolutely meticulous and rational mind couldn't work out why she'd asked Hermione where Harry and Malfoy were going to duel.
Nor could it figure out why she'd suddenly wanted to break Hogwarts School Rules and go take a look at midnight.
Rules above all, studying above all. Those beliefs were deeply etched in Lin Yue's mind.
But now, she was going to break the rules... Lin Yue entered the Ravenclaw Common Room, went upstairs without looking around, opened the door, and walked into her Dormitory.
Qiuzhang and Marietta hadn't returned yet. Lin Yue's mind kept circling the thought that she was going to break the rules.
Lin Yue raised her right hand and gripped her upper left arm tightly, squeezing hard.
Her face showed no pain. Fifteen seconds later, she let go. If anyone had pulled back Lin Yue's sleeve, they would have seen—
Her upper left arm was marked with an unmistakable handprint, dark purple and almost black...
She had already suffered the punishment for breaking the rules, so she could go to the Trophy Room at midnight. Lin Yue had made the logic add up in her mind.
She sat at her desk and took out her textbook with her right hand. Just as she tried to lift her left arm onto the desk, a stabbing pain shot through it.
Her face still showed no pain, but the left arm she had started to raise suddenly dropped.
Lin Yue turned her head and forced her left arm straight, rotating it to loosen it up. After a few turns, her arm still hurt, but she could finally raise it normally.
When Qiuzhang and Marietta returned, they found Lin Yue studying, just as they'd expected. They shrugged at each other, then took turns showering before climbing into bed to read and get ready to sleep.
Tomorrow was Saturday. If they went to bed early tonight, they could sleep in tomorrow morning too~
As midnight drew near, Lin Yue closed her book, quietly walked to the Dormitory door, opened it, and stepped out.
On the way from the Ravenclaw Dormitory to the Trophy Room, Lin Yue didn't encounter a single patrolling professor or Filch, and the stairs moved as usual to accommodate her.
As she reached the entrance to the Trophy Room, she heard voices inside.
"Cunning Slytherins! Malfoy never intended to come!" Ron said indignantly.
"This was a trap he set to get you caught!" Hermione's voice came from inside too.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lin Yue saw two shadows cast around the corner to her left.
One was an adult's shadow; the other was a cat's. Filch and Mrs. Norris.
Lin Yue stepped into the Trophy Room. Everyone present immediately turned to look at her.
Ignoring the looks from Harry, Ron, and Neville, Lin Yue stared at Hermione.
"Filch is coming."
"Damn Malfoy!" Harry and Ron cursed under their breath and turned to run at the same time.
Harry didn't forget to pull Neville along. Hermione followed close behind them, grabbing Lin Yue as well, who was still standing there stunned.
Unfortunately, she grabbed Lin Yue right on the upper left arm. Lin Yue gave a soft grunt without changing her expression and ran after Hermione.
After running around a corner, the five of them finally stopped and stood there panting.
"We should have... lost Filch," Harry whispered, gasping for breath.
"Mm, mm..." Ron nodded hard, exhausted too.
Just as the five of them were about to leave and go back to their Dormitories, Neville accidentally knocked over a suit of armor beside him.
"S-sorry..." Neville apologized to the other four, his face pale.
But it was too late. The crash of the armor hitting the floor was deafening. In the silence of Hogwarts at midnight, it was especially loud, loud enough to wake the whole school.
The noise gave Filch a clear trail, and he soon caught up with them again.
The five had no choice but to keep running. As Hermione dragged her along, Lin Yue looked back at Filch, quickly calculating their speed and the distance between them.
Filch was an adult, after all, and faster than they were. If things continued like this, he would catch them.
Her gaze flicked from the fallen suit of armor to an identical one against the opposite wall. Lin Yue quickly drew her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
It was the familiar Levitation Charm. Hearing the incantation, Hermione couldn't help turning to look.
Then she saw the armor that had been scattered across the floor rise into the air. With the help of the Levitation Charm, the pieces even reassembled before it raised its two steel arms and charged at Filch.
The armor against the opposite wall also raised its steel arms and charged straight at Filch.
Filch, running at full speed to catch the students out after hours, stared wide-eyed at the two suits of armor charging straight at him. He froze, unable to move.
As Lin Yue turned and hurried away, she flicked the wand in her right hand toward the right. Both suits of armor immediately raised their arms and pinned Filch against the wall.
Trapped by the two suits of armor, Filch could only turn his head helplessly. Fighting down his panic and fear, he glared resentfully at the figures disappearing around the corner. He had almost caught those students out after hours—almost!
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