Moonlight Like Water, Brimming with a Young Girl's Thoughts

After giving the gifts, Silan and Hermione spent their last days together on September 19, 1992.

After dropping Hermione off near the Gryffindor common room, Silan turned and left.

Hermione watched him until Silan's figure completely disappeared from sight before reluctantly turning her gaze away.

It's past midnight now.

The Fat Lady in the portrait at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room is asleep.

After being woken up by Hermione, she was a little angry. "You naughty little wizard! Where have you been? Why are you so late!"

"I'm sorry, Fat Lady," Hermione said in her sweet voice, "I've always known you're kind and beautiful, and you certainly wouldn't make things difficult for me."

"Please, open the door."

The Fat Lady yawned and muttered, "Smooth-talking little wizard, but you're right."

"Password."

She maintained a professional demeanor, but a smile had unconsciously crept onto her face.

"A honey-eating bird," Hermione said.

A new school year brings new beginnings, Gryffindor common room has also changed its password.

The portrait of the Fat Lady slowly unscrewed, revealing the opening behind the painting.

The circular lounge was dimly lit by only a few lights, and there was no one inside.

Hermione quietly crawled through the hole, tiptoed back to her bedroom door, and carefully pushed it open.

At this time, Lavender and Parvati should already be asleep.

The dormitory was quiet; there wasn't a sound.

The bright moonlight streamed through the arched window and onto the floor, casting a silvery-white archway.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, tiptoed like a kitten, and quietly went inside.

But as soon as she stepped into the dormitory, the door behind her was suddenly closed.

One pair of hands pulled her aside, while the other brought her a chair and pressed her down into it.

A candle was held up in front of Hermione.

The sudden light made her squint involuntarily.

I can't see anything clearly anymore.

Lavender's voice came from the right. "Is that Hermione?"

"Yes, it's her." It was Parvati's voice from the left.

"Why haven't you come back for so long? We were just about to go look for you."

As she spoke, she placed the candle in her hand on the table and sat down in the chair next to it.

They all knew it was Hermione's birthday, but she was probably a little down because she hadn't seen Silan.

Lavender stood beside Hermione, took her hand, and comforted her, "Don't be sad, Hermione."

"Silan it's because preparing a gift took too long."

"He'll probably come looking for you tomorrow... or rather, during the day today..."

Halfway through his sentence, Lavender, by the candlelight, saw Hermione's lips purse into a thin line, even slightly upturned.

She keenly sensed that something was amiss.

"Wait, you saw Silan?"

Lavender narrowed his eyes, revealing a highly insightful gaze.

Parvati, who was standing nearby, noticed this too and laughed, teasing, "I bet she's already gotten a gift from Silan."

Hermione blushed with embarrassment as she recalled the Scar Kiss and the way she and Silan were so close when she put on the necklace in the Room of Requirement's Rest Room.

That's too bold! That's too unrestrained!

"Ahem, it's nothing, I'm going to sleep now."

Hermione snapped a sentence and tried to sneak to bed.

But Lavender and Parvati clearly had no intention of letting her go.

The two of them acted simultaneously, pressing her back into the chair.

The candle was raised again.

"You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Lavender said sternly, the candlelight blurring her facial features.

"However, considering that this is your first offense, the court will give you a chance to reform."

Parvati pulled her chair next to Hermione, sat down, and continued, "So, tell me what happened!"

"It's really nothing..."

Hermione turned her head away, trying to cover her tracks, and didn't dare to meet Parvati's eyes at all.

"If you don't tell me, you're not getting any sleep tonight." Lavender sat down next to her and tickled Hermione.

"Don't touch me, hahaha... it's so itchy..."

Hermione tried to block with both hands, but two fists couldn't fight four hands.

Under the combined attack of Lavender and Parvati, she was quickly defeated, panting slightly.

"I'll talk, I'll talk..."

Hermione's two roommates high-fived and pulled their chairs closer together, surrounding her.

He kept blinking at her.

"Silan gave me a necklace; he made it himself." Hermione avoided the topic, not daring to mention those embarrassing things.

"That's it?"

"That's all?"

Lavender and Parvati were both somewhat unsatisfied and prepared to use tickling again to make Hermione give in.

Hermione quickly pulled the necklace Silan had given her out of her clothes to distract her roommate.

Just as she expected.

As soon as the necklace was taken out, Lavender and Parvati forgot to tickle her and stared at it in a daze.

The candlelight shone on the necklace, shattering into a room full of glittering starlight.

Lavender opened his eyes wide and leaned closer to look.

"This... this is so beautiful!"

"Wait!" Parvati exclaimed, as if he had discovered something.

"You just said that this necklace was made by Silan herself?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded.

This made her two roommates even more envious.

We're all second-year students, how come there's such a big difference in our abilities?

You're good at academics, handsome, and that's fine, but how come you're also so skillful with your hands?

Is it really necessary to be so stingy when giving a birthday gift?

"Oh, right," Hermione added, "This necklace is also an alchemical artifact."

After she finished speaking, Hermione demonstrated the necklace's function to them, conjuring up a singing canary.

The little canary circled the room once, then perched on the bed frame and began to sing.

The melodious birdsong sounded like heavy blows to the two roommates.

Not only is it beautiful, it's also an alchemical tool?!

Is this never going to end?

After exchanging a glance, they both saw a hint of regret in each other's eyes.

I shouldn't have asked.

The thoughtfulness and value of this gift made them feel that their own gifts were rather inadequate.

Lavender leaned against Hermione, somewhat dejected.

"Where did you find such a good friend?"

"I need to write a letter home," Parvati said seriously, "To ask them if I have any friends like this from childhood; they must have forgotten."

The three chatted idly for a while, then climbed into their respective beds.

Hermione lay in bed, gazing contentedly at the ceiling, feeling utterly satisfied.

Thinking back to Lavender's question, Hermione muttered to herself.

"Silan is the treasure I've found."

"It's me! It's me!"

The moonlight, like water, was filled with the girl's secrets.

School life is strange; sometimes it feels like an eternity, and other times it flies by.

Time flew by as Silan busied himself.

He's been practicing Occlumency with Lucia whenever he has free time lately, and his progress has been incredibly rapid.

Lucia has completely adapted to life in the Suitcase and spends her days lazily sunbathing on the grass.

While learning Occlumency, Silan diligently studied the Half-Blood Prince's textbook and created some Potions based on its teachings.

"Good quality."

He glanced at the Potions in the cauldron and used his wand to extinguish the flames.

After bottling and storing the freshly prepared Hemostatic Healing Potion, Silan stretched.

[Potion Prodigy: Proficiency +1]

A virtual screen suddenly popped up, and a line of small text appeared.

[The Potion Prodigy has broken through to level 2]