The Grind Began

The following week arrived quickly, and the atmosphere of study in the castle had become nearly frenzied.

The Ravenclaws were the first to feel the pressure.

Their inherited "crown of wisdom" seemed to have been challenged.

In the Common Room, the voices that had once discussed profound theories were now mixed with recitations from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"We absolutely cannot disgrace the title of 'smartest house' in front of the other houses!" The prefects' rallying cry put every second-year Ravenclaw on edge.

But the real transformation took place in Gryffindor Tower.

The next morning, when Harry and Ron appeared in the Common Room with messy hair and sleepy eyes, they were stunned by the sight before them—

The place, usually almost empty at this hour, was now packed with students reciting under their breaths.

Neville Longbottom held a book bigger than his face and muttered to himself as he practiced in front of the fireplace.

"Merlin..." Ron rubbed his eyes. "Am I still asleep?"

Even when Peeves floated past and tried to overturn several students' books, they did not even look up as they snapped in unison, "Don't interrupt our studying!"

Peeves fled in dismay, muttering, "There's no fun left at all."

The most obvious battleground had shifted to the Great Hall.

At breakfast, the dining hall, once filled with clattering cutlery and laughter, now echoed with waves of recitation.

The Gryffindor and Slytherin tables had practically become opposing front lines.

Students in red and gold and silver and green stuffed bacon into their mouths while glaring fiercely at their copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Their voices grew louder and louder, as if they were not reciting at all, but engaging in some sort of vocal duel.

"Red Caps fear Riddikulus!" a Gryffindor second-year shouted.

"Especially Lumos Maxima!" a Slytherin immediately added without backing down, taking a savage bite out of his bread with provocation in his eyes.

After every sentence they recited, they would glare at each other. They looked less like they were studying and more like they hoped to summon the dark creature the other had mentioned with their eyes and send it to attack their sworn enemies across the table.

The Ravenclaw table caught in the middle was filled with an anxious air of academic dignity under challenge.

"How... how can they defile pure scholarly discussion with such hostility?" a fifth-year Ravenclaw said in distress, though the speed at which he turned the pages had noticeably increased.

Whenever a Gryffindor or Slytherin student recited something incorrectly or got stuck, nearby Ravenclaws could not help quietly correcting them. "Wrong. It's 'partially resistant to the basic confusion charm,' not 'immune.'"

This would often make both sides of the "duel" freeze, awkwardly glance at their books, then throw themselves back into "battle" with even greater "anger," as if being corrected by a rival house was the greatest humiliation imaginable.

The Hufflepuffs, meanwhile, displayed their own unique wisdom.

Most of them sat quietly at their own table, leisurely enjoying breakfast while watching the "performances" of the other three houses. Only occasionally would they lower their heads to glance at the notes they had brought, managing to watch the battle and study at the same time.

Though they sometimes became so absorbed in the spectacle that they finished their pumpkin juice without turning more than a few pages, they enjoyed every moment of it.

This frenzy quickly spread beyond Defense Against the Dark Arts.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick was enthusiastically explaining the wand movements for the Cheering Charm when he heard faint murmurs below. "Red Caps dwell in damp, dark places and are extremely sensitive to bright light and fire..."

Standing on tiptoe, he discovered that several students were mechanically following the wand movements while their lips unconsciously moved, reciting something completely unrelated.

In the Herbology greenhouse, Professor Sprout was astonished to find that students who usually secretly threw Dragon dung balls at each other now all had Defense Against the Dark Arts notes in hand, stealing glances at them whenever she paused while demonstrating how to repot Mandrakes.

The most dramatic scene took place in Potions Class.

Professor Snape glided silently through the classroom like an enormous bat.

His sharp gaze caught something unusual at the back of the room—

Potter and Weasley had their heads pressed together, their lips moving nonstop.

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"Looks like our famous Mr. Potter and his sidekick are plotting another idiotic prank?" Snape's voice dripped with malice.

His black robes billowed as he strode toward the back of the classroom, one long finger already raised, ready to deduct ten points.

"Let me hear what you are..."

His voice abruptly cut off.

Because he clearly heard the two boys whispering:

"...therefore, when encountering a banshee, the first step is to block your hearing rather than attempt to fight it..." Harry frowned deeply, utterly focused.

"Shut up, Harry, you memorized it wrong! Page 138 clearly says that beginner wizards should try using the Silencing Charm to protect themselves, not stand there like idiots waiting to die!" Ron argued fiercely, still clutching the parchment covered in highlighted notes.

Neither of them even noticed Snape standing beside them, his expression shifting unpredictably.

Professor Snape froze in place, the hand prepared to deduct points hanging in midair. He could neither lower it nor raise it.

The muscles in his face twitched slightly, and for the first time, his black eyes held an almost bewildered look.

He had seen Potter and Weasley pass notes in class, secretly assemble Sneakoscopes, and even fall asleep—but he had never seen them so focused on... studying?

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely forced out through clenched teeth, "...Do not read other books... in Potions Class."

His voice was dry and had even lost its usual mocking edge.

He spun around sharply, his black robes stirring up a gust of cold air. Harry and Ron stared at each other, only then realizing that they had narrowly escaped Snape's point-deducting clutches.

The other professors' initial satisfaction soon turned into helpless amusement.

Professor McGonagall had no choice but to sternly declare before Transfiguration, "In my classroom, I expect your minds to contain nothing but Transfiguration!"

Professor Flitwick put it more tactfully. "Children, focus is the foundation of success. It is best to lay only one brick at a time."

Even the gentlest Professor Sprout could not help reminding them during Herbology, "If you remain this distracted, next time more than one person may faint from the Mandrakes' cries."

Lin Du realized he had overcorrected a little.

So during Defense Against the Dark Arts the next day, Lin Du stood at the podium and looked over the students below, their eyes bloodshot and their spirits feverishly high.

"I have noticed," he began slowly, "that the atmosphere of study in the castle lately has been... quite enthusiastic."

The classroom immediately fell silent, and every student looked at him nervously.

"But," he continued, shifting his tone, "studying is not a competition to see who can work themselves to death. My original intention in setting up rewards was to help you master the knowledge needed to protect yourselves, not to make you resort to anything for the sake of winning."

He scanned the classroom, his gaze pausing briefly on several students with particularly heavy dark circles.

"Starting today, I am announcing several new rules. First, no studying after two in the morning. Second, no reciting Defense Against the Dark Arts material during other professors' classes. Third, no using any Stimulant potion to extend your study time."

A wave of disappointed groans rose from the classroom.

"But Professor," a Ravenclaw student protested despite himself, "how can we win the rewards if we do not do that?"

The corners of Lin Du's mouth lifted slightly. "The rewards will remain, but the rules will change. From now on, the grading criteria will include not only test scores, but also classroom performance, practical application, and—" He paused deliberately. "—whether you maintain healthy study habits. Those who overwork themselves will lose points."

The students looked at one another. None of them had expected such a turn.

"Knowledge is a weapon, but not one meant to harm yourselves," Lin Du said at last. "I hope you understand that true strength comes from balanced growth, not obsessive madness."

After class, the sounds of recitation throughout the castle noticeably weakened.

Though the competition remained, the nearly insane atmosphere of relentless academic rivalry finally began to cool.

Madam Pince was pleased to discover that the library was no longer packed after ten at night. The House-elves in the kitchens also breathed a sigh of relief—the demands for coffee and Draught of Living Death deliveries in the middle of the night had dropped dramatically.

Hogwarts finally began to return to its usual rhythm after the storm of studying that Lin Du had personally ignited and personally extinguished.