I've Been Targeted

"Are you okay?"

Ian walked forward and pulled Linley up from the ground.

Linley patted his butt and waved his hand, indicating he was fine.

His eyes shone, and he didn't care about the thick fur on Ian's body at all, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

Being stared at like that by Linley, Ian's skin immediately broke out in goosebumps.

"What are you doing?"

"Ian, do you think we're friends?" Linley asked sincerely.

Ian hesitated for a few seconds and reluctantly nodded, "I guess so."

"You're lying!"

"How am I lying?"

Linley just looked at him with a mournful expression, unable to articulate anything.

He couldn't exactly say that the system hadn't judged his mission as complete, and therefore thought he was lying, could he?

With just a simple test, Linley could see the gap between his current physique and Ian's after he transformed into a werewolf.

After activating the physique attribute, he started with 2 attribute points, and with the 1 point from the side quest reward, he now had a total of 3 points.

Linley guessed that 3 points in physique represented the physical quality of a normal adult. Meanwhile, young wizards in the lower years at Hogwarts should only have about 1 point in physique, like Cedric.

After Ian transformed into a werewolf, his physique was at least 5 points!

And this was Linley's conservative estimate, and Ian wasn't even an adult yet.

An adult werewolf's physical quality would undoubtedly be even more formidable.

Of course, werewolves also had their own limitations.

Putting aside the fact that ordinary werewolves completely lost their self-awareness after transforming, even someone like Ian, after transforming into a werewolf, could no longer use magic.

However, Linley's system's attribute points had no such drawbacks.

If he could obtain the reward for the second stage of the system's missions, he would gain the same formidable physique as Ian after his werewolf transformation, without any restriction on the use of magic.

Such an improvement would be incredibly significant for any wizard.

Even if the physique points could be maxed out...

Linley's mind began to conjure images of himself becoming a human tank, charging through countless beams of magic.

As he thought about it, Linley couldn't help but stare intently at Ian again.

The stare made Ian uneasy, and he instinctively moved a little further away from him.

One month after Christmas ended.

In the Slytherin common room, Linley looked on with a headache as Betty, who had just argued with her boyfriend, sat beside him and poured out her troubles.

"He was involved with Angela from the fifth year, and I even saw her kiss his cheek once! He explained to me that it was just Angela's way of thanking him for his help, and that there was nothing more to it. I believed him. But now, he wants me to cut ties with my family just because my brother married a Muggle..."

Linley was in a really difficult spot. He really didn't want to get involved in the love-hate entanglement of two Slytherin Prefects, but he couldn't leave either. He was forced to play the role of a confidante.

"So he's looking down on your brother for marrying a Muggle wife?"

"It's not just that." Betty, usually strong and capable, had red-rimmed eyes now, looking like she was about to cry.

"He also resents my brother for not marrying his cousin. Our two families had already arranged our engagement, but my brother he..."

What kind of melodramatic family drama is this?! Is your sister-in-law about to have a mother-in-law dispute with your mother? Then pregnancy, abortion, divorce, and finally, lingering affections for four or five years.

Linley complained wildly in his heart, but outwardly he comforted her.

"It's a good thing your brother found true love. Williamson will understand."

Linley thought his comfort was rather weak, but he really had nothing else to say.

"He won't. He can't understand. His family is an extremely rigid pure-blood family. Don't think he doesn't show prejudice towards you; he's just maintaining his upbringing. In fact, he's told me more than once to stay away from you."

Why is it about me again?

Linley was bewildered. He felt increasingly uncomfortable and realized this was not a place to linger. He made an excuse.

"Senior, I just remembered I haven't finished my Transfiguration homework. We have Transfiguration class this afternoon, so I need to go back and finish my homework. I'm sorry, but I can't chat with you any longer."

His reason was sound, and Betty didn't try to keep him. She just asked softly.

"Are you free tonight? I'm in a bad mood. Can you accompany me for a walk by the Black Lake?"

Linley's skin crawled, and he hastily waved his hands.

"I'm sorry, Senior. Tonight, Cedric asked me... asked me to go fishing! Yes! Fishing! So I can't. We arranged this in advance, and I really don't have time. I'm really sorry, Senior. Goodbye!"

Linley fled the Slytherin common room as if escaping.

Linley actually didn't care at all about Betty saying that Raphael had bad-mouthed him behind his back.

He hadn't expected all the young wizards in Slytherin to like him. Maintaining a superficial harmony where they all kept to themselves was good enough; there was no reason or need to go further.

What horrified Linley was the implication behind Betty's words just now.

Even though he'd been single his entire two lives, he'd seen pigs run even if he hadn't eaten pork! The romance dramas he'd watched when he had nothing else to do hadn't been for nothing.

Betty's words, between the lines, all expressed the same meaning: Raphael and I have no chance, so something could happen between us.

Linley's face turned pale with fright, feeling unable to comprehend her thoughts.

He was only twelve years old this year, by traditional counting!

Betty was in her seventh year, almost seventeen.

There was a full five-year age gap between them. Although Linley usually appeared precocious, his outward appearance was still quite youthful.

Was this considered pedophilia?

Linley's mind was in a complete mess. Naturally, he didn't go to the library to catch up on some nonexistent homework. Instead, he found Cedric and Ian, and they agreed to go fishing by the Black Lake that evening.

"Are you crazy?"

Cedric felt Linley's forehead, and Linley slapped his hand away.

"Who are you cursing?"

"If you're not crazy, why are you fishing in the Black Lake? If you're going to fish, you can only fish for fishermen."

"I don't care, even if it's fishermen, you have to accompany me tonight."

Ian had Astronomy class that evening and couldn't join their foolishness. In the early evening, only Cedric accompanied him to bait the hooks by the Black Lake.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Cedric grumbled as he baited his hook with beef he'd sneakily taken during dinner.

Their actions were bound to attract attention. A group of idle young wizards watched them from a distance, as if expecting them to catch something extraordinary.

Linley had already cast his hook into the lake. He hadn't baited it because his intention wasn't to fish.

He turned his head towards Cedric and said cautiously, "I think I've been targeted by an old cow."