Harley found herself in an awkward position. Should she accept the flowers or not?
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall arrived just in time to bail her out.
"It's so late, and you're still not in bed!" Professor McGonagall emerged through the portrait hole with a lion's roar.
The crowd immediately fell silent. George, kneeling on one knee with a bouquet in his hands, stood out so much that Professor McGonagall noticed him at once.
"Mr. Weasley, what are you doing?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking stunned. She couldn't believe one of her students would do something like this!
Fred and George shuddered, finally realizing just how inappropriate their behavior had been.
But Harley drew Professor McGonagall's attention and explained what had happened.
In the end, George wasn't punished, but under Professor McGonagall's stern gaze, the celebrating crowd dispersed and returned to their dormitories.
Harley noticed, however, that Lavender and Parvati didn't say good night to Hermione before going to bed.
Unfortunately, Hermione, whose intelligence far outstripped her emotional awareness, didn't notice this. She was still lamenting the lost points when she finally fell asleep.
The next day, another piece of news set Hogwarts abuzz: Harley had become the youngest member of a House team in a century, and she was playing Seeker!
Wood had wanted to keep the news under wraps, but Harley stopped him.
There was no way to keep it secret. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team couldn't exactly train in the dark.
Anyone in the castle could glance out at the pitch and find out.
So they might as well release the news early and put pressure on the other teams—
Just how good did a player have to be for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team to make an exception and recruit her in her first year?
After thinking it through and weighing the pros and cons, Wood could only accept Harley's plan.
Many people crowded around to congratulate Harley. Even Hermione, still feeling down, offered her best friend her best wishes.
But those around them secretly rolled their eyes, though Hermione didn't notice.
Harley didn't have much time to worry about her best friend now. She was busy.
Professor Snape had taken over Harley's detention from Professor McGonagall. Harley had no idea what excuse he'd used to get Professor McGonagall to agree.
So from Monday to Friday, she had Potions tutoring every evening.
Professor Snape seemed genuinely determined to turn Harley into a top Potion Master, and started teaching her from the smallest details.
Even for the simple "Boil-Cure Potion" they'd learned in their first class, Professor Snape explained the properties of every ingredient.
He also provided plenty of ingredients and had Harley repeatedly brew the potion the wrong way, so she could better understand what happened when different properties interacted.
Harley enjoyed this routine and devoted nearly all her energy to it.
The weekend after her first Flying Class, Harley found all the ingredients for the Apothecary Sequence potion at Hagrid's Hut, but this time she still failed.
The potion she brewed promptly lost its Spirituality, contaminating the vial and turning it into a Mystical Item with extremely harmful effects.
That failure made Harley realize that her first success had been nothing more than a stroke of luck.
After putting the Mystical Item away and sealing it with layer upon layer of protection, Harley could only devote herself even more earnestly to studying Potions.
A short while ago, Harley had received a Flying Broomstick funded by the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, with Professor McGonagall covering part of the cost. Now she had to start training with the team.
On top of that, Harley was still working hard to find a way to turn the Bard Beyonder Characteristic into a Mystical Item, while keeping up with all her other classes...
Harley felt as if she were constantly running from one thing to the next. She even considered brewing a Sleepless potion and turning it into a Beyonder Characteristic.
After all, a Beyonder Characteristic didn't need to be made into a Mystical Item to be put to simple use. That way, Harley wouldn't need to sleep.
Amid this hectic life, time flew by. Before she knew it, Halloween was just around the corner.
The second-to-last class before Halloween was Charms. In that lesson, Professor Flitwick announced that they would begin learning the Levitation Charm.
The Gryffindor students were thrilled.
Ever since they'd seen Professor Flitwick make Neville's toad fly all over the classroom in their first lesson, they'd longed to learn the spell themselves and send Slytherin students flying all over the place.
But the spell wasn't easy to learn.
Professor Flitwick emphasized the details again and again, explaining how to flick their wrists and demonstrating the motion several times.
Most of the students still couldn't get it right. Harley was paired with Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff girl, and watched as Susan "effortlessly" set the practice feather on fire.
"Harley, how did you do that?" Susan asked curiously as she watched Harley casually extinguish the flames on the feather, then make it fly with ease.
"Oh, it's simple. Watch my wrist." Harley made the feather rise again with ease.
Professor Flitwick happened to see this and awarded Harley a point.
After all, Harley had already earned plenty of points from him, and he didn't want Ravenclaw's lead in the House Cup to grow too large and make the competition too lopsided.
Susan copied Harley's movements, but still failed.
When Susan still couldn't get it, Harley sighed.
"Here, I'll hold your hand and guide you through the movement so you can feel exactly how to flick your wrist."
With that, Harley stepped right behind Susan and wrapped her slender hands around Susan's small ones.
Harley rested her head on Susan's shoulder. "Feel my movements carefully. First, sweep your hand up, then flick it down..."
Susan felt warm breath repeatedly brush her ear, and her face inexplicably turned red. She did her best to shift her attention and focus on learning the spell.
After several attempts, Susan managed to make the feather fly on her own.
"Harley, I did it!" Susan exclaimed, excitedly turning around and hugging Harley. "I love you, Harley!"
The girls nearby perked up and immediately crowded over, hoping Harley would teach them too.
A few boys seemed interested in learning as well, but when they saw Harley holding the girls' wrists to demonstrate the movement, they felt too embarrassed to approach.
A few, of course, brazenly tried to push their way forward anyway, only to be driven back by the girls' deadly glares.
Before long, a crowd of girls had gathered around Harley. How could they pass up such a wonderful teacher without getting close—no, without asking her for help?
(Thanks to reader 20211022151212109 for the tip!)
(Thanks to Su Zitian for the tip!)
(Thanks to Jiang Nannan for the tip!)
Before you continue