We Gryffindors are Finished

Eliana returned to the Gryffindor common room clutching Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled together, whispering about something, their three heads close.

Eliana watched the three bobbing heads, feeling a tickle of curiosity.

She tucked the book under her arm, tiptoed over, and raised her hands, claws extended.

She pounced!

"Ah!"

Ron and Harry, their heads suddenly grabbed and forced into a bow towards Hermione, screamed in fright. Hermione, startled, shrieked as well.

The three terrified victims took a while to recover. They then saw Eliana beside them, doubled over with laughter, nearly convulsing.

"Eliana!" Hermione said sternly.

Eliana looked wronged. "I specifically avoided you—I made Harry and Ron bow to you!"

Ron, still shaken, rubbed his head and said sarcastically, "You're really looking out for your good friend."

Speaking of which, Eliana puffed up with pride. "Of course! That's just how loyal and thoughtful I am!"

Ron's voice rose in disbelief. "You think asking me is praising—"

Eliana held up a finger, gesturing vaguely in front of Ron's mouth.

Her proud head held high, she pulled a book from her robes and slapped it onto Harry's head.

Harry, who had been quietly cleaning his glasses: ???

Wait, he hadn't said a word!

He heard Eliana's triumphant voice, "Look what I got back?"

An unbelievable premonition spread through Harry. He quickly put on his glasses. "My book!"

He cried out in surprise, "Snape actually gave it to you!"

"I really suspect the Snape we met is two different people!" he exclaimed, utterly shocked. "He looked so angry then, I never expected him not only to not deduct points but to agree to give you the book. I bet Malfoy couldn't even do that! You must be his favorite student!"

"Not at all, not at all," Eliana said, feigning modesty, but the corners of her mouth couldn't be suppressed, revealing her tiny, sharp fangs.

She was like a proud kitten whose chin was lifted after being praised, her invisible tail held high behind her.

Good to hear, love hearing it, say more.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Harry, full of anticipation.

Harry's words suddenly got stuck in his throat, his gaze drifting. He suddenly forgot what he had wanted to say.

"When I came back just now, I saw that Gryffindor's hourglass was missing five gems. I thought Snape deducted them because you angered him—now it seems it was just a coincidence."

He stammered, not even knowing what he was saying.

The smile vanished from Eliana's face.

She stared at Harry expressionlessly and said slowly, "It was me."

"What?" Harry didn't react immediately.

Eliana pursed her lips and said unhappily, "I quite liked the second half of what you said, but, um, angry, deducted points, it was me."

She spoke rapidly.

"Ah, this, ah..." Harry was momentarily speechless—should he try to smooth things over?

Eliana didn't need him to smooth things over. When it came to her pride, she could cover up faster than anyone.

"However, I wasn't deducted points for what happened today," she said, stubbornly trying to maintain her "beloved student" status. "It was because I secretly, stole, ah, no, took, some of Professor Snape's rather precious potion ingredients. It all came out today, which is why the points were deducted."

She emphasized, "I think he just wanted to teach me that doing so is wrong, so he only deducted a little—only five points!"

As for whether this lesson was successful... Eliana thought she would still be careful in the future.

She would be more meticulous about not getting caught.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Only de—five points?"

"Oh, that's really not much for Snape," Ron, who had been listening in stunned silence, mumbled, "Look, he deducted five points from Gryffindor for Harry taking the book out of school, which is such a ridiculous reason."

Harry: Please don't bring me up at a time like this, thank you.

Ron looked at Eliana as if she were a new discovery, bewildered. He scrutinized her from head to toe. "But why?"

"Everyone knows Snape only favors Slytherin and hates Gryffindor the most!"

Eliana's little fangs reappeared.

She cupped her face with both hands, her eyes curving into two crescents. "Maybe it's because I'm obedient, smart, clever, and helpful?"

Ron's face contorted like a dried-up fig, as if someone had shoved a dripping, foul-smelling raw pig's heart under his nose. "Hmm..."

Obediently sneaking out at night, smart enough to fight a troll, and stealing potion ingredients while "helping out"?

And that's how she became Snape's favorite student?

Was Snape's eyesight damaged by the potion fumes when he was brewing?

"Besides, do you really need so many reasons to like or dislike someone? Can't he just inexplicably find me agreeable and like me?"

"That's actually possible," Ron nodded thoughtfully, even extrapolating, "He just inexplicably dislikes Harry and doesn't like Harry."

Harry drooped his face, arms crossed over his chest.

I told you! Now is NOT the time! Thank you!

"Everyone, didn't we forget we hadn't finished our discussion?" Hermione reminded them quietly.

"Right!" Harry snapped back to attention, saying seriously to Eliana, "You heard it too, right? Snape said three heads—he was bitten by that big dog!"

"What?!" Eliana exclaimed, "I knew that dog looked like trouble! Three heads. What kind of dog looks like that? Both extra heads are crooked, what good can they think of? And such a big mouth, who knows if it needs a rabies shot!"

Hermione subconsciously chimed in, "Probably not, three-headed dogs are magical creatures, they shouldn't get rabies, right?"

Harry looked at them, disappointed, "Is that the point? Shouldn't the point be why Snape got hurt—"

"That dog bit Professor Snape with its teeth! It has three mouths, who could defend against that?" Eliana said angrily, "It shouldn't have teeth—and the extra two heads shouldn't have them either, they don't seem that smart, but they're better at biting—what normal dog is like that?"

Harry: ...

He chose to give up on communicating with Eliana, whose brain seemed to have been addled by potions, and turned to his other two friends for help: "I'll bet my Nimbus that Snape wanted the thing that big dog was guarding, and he let the troll out too, just to create an opportunity for himself!"

"Shut up, gambler!" Eliana said furiously, "Professor Snape isn't like that!"

"Yes, yes, Professor Snape is a teacher at Hogwarts after all—" Hermione also said hesitantly.

"I actually think Harry's right, is there anything Snape wouldn't do?" Ron said unceremoniously, then met Eliana's angry gaze.

He swallowed, hooking his arm around Harry's neck as if to bolster his courage, "Right, Harry?"

Eliana narrowed her eyes and looked over, but Harry didn't notice. With a teammate backing him up, he became even more certain, "Exactly, Snape... glug glug glug..."

"Exactly nothing, I think you're just talking nonsense because you're anxious about tomorrow's match—you should go to bed early!"

Eliana pulled a small bottle of milk she had packed for herself from her pocket, held Harry's head with one arm, and poured the milk into him with the other, perfectly interrupting his words.

"Replenish your energy and rest your brain!"

She angrily put away the bottle and stomped up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Hey, this person!" Ron's eyes widened, "She still thinks she's in the right!"

After a long silence without a reply from his brother, he turned in confusion and saw Harry's slightly vacant eyes, with white milk stains around his mouth.

"Oh my god, did she get him stupid?" he rushed over in a panic to check, "You're our only Seeker in Gryffindor! Ah, why is his face red too? Did she poison you because she didn't like you telling the truth?"

"Shut up, Ron," Harry said, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed. The feeling of her hand holding his head, with its faint fragrance, seemed to linger on his skin, making his face even redder. "Eliana isn't like that!"

Ron: ???

Listen to yourself, doesn't that sound familiar?

"We Gryffindors are doomed!" He suddenly felt a wave of despair, beating his chest like a baboon and howling at the sky.

Hermione looked at him strangely, "I think so too."

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.