Being Law-Abiding Eliana

Hermione returned on the last day of the holiday. Upon hearing about this, she reacted with horror and strong disapproval.

"What would you do if Filch caught you—out after curfew for three consecutive nights—"

Harry drooped his head listlessly.

Ron, a little resentfully, drooped his head.

Eliana, sitting cross-legged on the armchair, cracked walnuts and raised her head.

"Eliana! I didn't mean to leave you out! I thought you were the most sensible one—"

"Huh?" Ron, shocked, dug at his ear and looked pleadingly at Harry beside him. "Who did she just say was the most sensible?"

Harry opened his mouth, saw Hermione standing by the table and Eliana sitting cross-legged on the stool both turn their heads, and closed his mouth again.

He kept his gaze fixed on his nose and his nose on his heart, remaining silent, and nudged Ron with his elbow.

Ron, lost in his own shock, didn't notice. Under two increasingly unfriendly gazes, he openly grumbled at Harry.

"Is she blind, Ha, the law-abiding Eliana? Why doesn't she say gentle and kind Malfoy? Where does she get this sense of propriety, this 'punch first when things get tough' kind of sense?"

Harry closed his eyes in despair.

Eliana: ???

She took the walnut out of her mouth, cracked it in her hand into eight pieces, and stared menacingly at Ron. "What did you just say?"

Ron clapped a hand over his mouth and squeezed out through his teeth, "Wasn't I speaking softly just now? Does she have donkey ears?"

Harry: ...

Dude, open your eyes and look properly. The furthest distance between us now is less than five steps! What's the difference between this and whispering in their ears?

He cautiously shifted a small step to the side.

"You heard that too!"

Eliana, exasperated, flung her hand up, and the eight walnut shells shot out like bullets, hitting Ron squarely on the forehead.

Ron flopped backward into the chair with a thud.

"%￥^#@&..."

He grumbled a string of unintelligible sounds in his mouth, but thankfully, he had learned his lesson this time, and the sounds were in a language no one else understood.

Harry suddenly looked up. "Right, there's something—"

Eliana had already sat back down cross-legged on the chair. Hearing him, she glanced at him lazily. "You may proceed."

Ron crept stealthily to Hermione's side. "Where did she find these strange words this time?"

"It seems to be from a book about the Emperor of China. She felt the emperor in it suited her perfectly, so she's adopted this manner of speaking," Hermione explained with some effort.

"I was born to be an emperor!"

Eliana stood on the chair and declared loudly.

Hermione: "..."

"I'm very sorry, Miss Eliana, but I must remind you that even in China, there are no longer emperors. New China was established 42 years ago," she said.

Eliana sat down as if nothing had happened and started cracking walnuts again.

"I can't believe it. You didn't find anything about Nicolas Flamel the entire Christmas holiday."

Hermione said, hugging a large book, very disappointed.

"Excuse me—I haven't finished—" Harry interrupted them, unable to bear it any longer, holding up his hand. "Do you know what I'm trying to say—"

Hermione buried her head in the book, flipping the pages with a rustle.

Ron watched Hermione, babbling.

Eliana crunched on her walnuts.

—No one cared about him.

Harry said mournfully, "Snape is the referee for our next Quidditch match!"

The atmosphere instantly became very quiet.

The walnut in Eliana's mouth dropped to the floor.

Although everyone already knew Snape was a good person who had saved Harry's life from Quirrell, after half a semester of close proximity, even Eliana had to admit his favoritism towards Slytherin.

—Especially after hearing that Snape's most admired student this year was Malfoy, she found Malfoy displeasing to look at from every angle.

Harry had seen Eliana grinding her teeth and staring at Malfoy more than once, her wand itching to be used. Because of this, he had to constantly offer her life-risking advice to prevent Gryffindor from losing points, turning into a black gem of negative scores.

Harry remembered the first time he had given such advice. It was during a Potions Class. Malfoy, with his platinum blonde hair, held up his potion and walked to the front of the class to show Snape—perhaps it was indeed well-made—Malfoy smiled so much that his eyes disappeared, and Snape's expression softened slightly for a rare moment.

Then Harry heard a clear sound of teeth grinding coming from beside him.

"Hmph, he's that impressive? Just a bottle of rubbish, and he has the nerve to show off in front of the professor?"

He turned his head and saw Eliana beside him, crawling around in a dark, twisted state.

Harry was startled.

Suddenly, Eliana, who was on the ground, sprang up and appeared beside him.

"Harry, I remember you don't like Malfoy either, right?" Eliana said sinisterly.

"Of course, who would like Malfoy?"

Harry replied without thinking.

"Great!" Eliana slapped her thigh. "Tonight, we'll sneak into the Slytherin common room together and blow up Malfoy's dormitory!"

Harry, who was still clutching his thigh and gasping for air, widened his eyes. "Sorry, what did you say--?"

Had his ears gone deaf? Blow up what? The Slytherin common room?

Eliana's eyes were fierce, her tone impassioned. "You eat more tonight. When I get back from detention with Professor Snape, I'll find out the Slytherin common room password. We'll leave tonight!"

Wait, no, wait a minute.

"Shouldn't we reconsider?" Harry asked weakly, full of worry.

Eliana's eyes shone with a wolf-like glint. "First, scout the area, find out where Malfoy lives, then put on your Invisibility Cloak, and we'll aim for a swift victory!"

Harry said cautiously, "No, maybe we can use the Invisibility Cloak for a more appropriate purpose...?"

"Or," Eliana spat venomously, "we could find a way to lure Malfoy out, beat him up, and then throw him into the Black Lake!"

Harry continued to worry, "Uh... isn't that a bit too violent..."

A demonic phantom almost appeared behind Eliana. "Speaking of the Black Lake, isn't the Slytherin common room underwater? We could also wait a few days and blow up the glass of Malfoy's dormitory from the Black Lake! Flood Slytherin! Woohoo!"

Harry said angrily, "Eliana, are you even listening to me! This is not a good idea!"

Eliana looked at Harry in disbelief, heartbroken. "Harry, you've changed!"

Harry: ...???

"Are you still the Harry I know?" she asked, backing away in disbelief and shaking her head.

Harry suddenly realized and quickly explained, "No, I just think this would be too much of a violation of school rules, and how many points would it deduct from Gryffindor... Actually, Malfoy isn't that detestable... We're all in the same school, it's not like..."

His voice grew quieter and quieter under Eliana's gaze, and then he suddenly froze.

What do you mean, use the Invisibility Cloak correctly...

What do you mean, too violent...

What do you mean, this is not a good idea...

What do you mean, don't violate school rules...

What do you mean, deduct points from Gryffindor...

What do you mean, Malfoy isn't that detestable... Ugh! Blech!

Aren't these the very words Hermione, whom he usually found so annoying, used to say when she advised him? Especially that last sentence, how did it come out of his mouth?

Harry, oh Harry, you've actually become the kind of person you dislike!

Two lines of tears were about to stream from Harry's eyes. He wiped his face abruptly and said decisively, "I'll go with you!"

"Go where! Harry, you're just going along with Eliana's nonsense!"

In the end, it was Hermione, wielding a cauldron, who hit them both, crushing the plan in its infancy.

--Harry also heard that before Hermione went to sleep that night, she cast a warning spell on the door of her and Eliana's dormitory. She also conjured a long rope, tying one end to Eliana's hand and the other to her own.

Honestly, Harry breathed a huge sigh of relief.

He was genuinely worried that one day he would wake up to find the Slytherin common room blown up, Gryffindor's hourglass depleted, and him, as Eliana's good friend, being dragged into Azkaban along with her.

Thinking of this, Harry looked at Eliana warily--he had forgotten, there was still a die-hard fan of Snape here.

"Perhaps Professor Snape wanted to protect you," the die-hard fan indeed said.

Ron retorted, "Indeed, Professor Snape protects Harry when there's danger, but when there's no danger, Professor Snape is the biggest danger!"

Eliana opened her mouth, then closed it.

"Why don't you just not participate in the match?" Ron said. "Just say you're sick."

Hermione suggested, "Pretend you broke your leg."

"Actually break your leg," Ron said.

"I'll break your leg for you," Eliana said, rolling up her sleeves, eager to try.

"Do you want me to get hurt!" Harry said irritably. "Gryffindor has no substitute Seekers. If I don't go, our house team won't be able to compete!"

"Then you should go," Eliana said, quickly rolling her sleeves back down. "I want to see our house win first place."

Harry:...

If only your concern for me could last for one more second.