Chapter Summaries

Lin Er retrieved fish and river snails, then brought a bundle of clothes from the new house for her family to wear. After sharing tofu with her little friend, she worried about his neglectful and abusive home and wondered where he lived.

• Lin Er collected fish and river snails from the river and told a neighbor she planned to use the snails as chicken feed.
• Lin Er hid the snails at the new house, then brought clothes from upstairs to Grandma Lin, who believed they had been packed by her grandaunt.
• Lin Er ate fish head and fried tofu with her family and saved some tofu for her little friend.
• Lin Er received a bouquet of thistles from her little friend and recalled that he was underfed, neglected by his parents, and abused by his father.
• Lin Er wondered where her little friend lived and why officials had not intervened in his situation.

Lin Er studied English and discussed magic with her young pen pal at an internet cafe, then sent him her wand after he failed to cast Lumos. Back at school, she worried about her schoolbag’s expiring charm, moved most of its contents to storage, and fell asleep after something pressed against the back of her head.

• Lin Er translated Harry Potter passages for her pen pal at an internet cafe, where a teacher questioned her and led away two boys who had been watching her.
• After the boy said he lacked a working wand and could not cast magic, Lin Er sent him her wand, and he replied [OK] the next day.
• Lin Er returned to school and gave Ying Yuecheng a cake as a thank-you gift.
• Lin Er realized her schoolbag’s extension charm had only one day left, so after evening self-study she moved most of its contents into the storage room.
• Lin Er went to sleep in the dormitory, and something suddenly pressed against the back of her head.

Lin Er received a precious magic book from her pen pal and discussed Harry Potter with Shi Meng, defending Severus Snape. The chapter ended with Shi Meng questioning whether the other Hogwarts professors were really any fairer than Snape.

• Lin Er went home at night to protect her belongings, renewed the Extension Charm on her bag, and accepted the magic book her pen pal sent.
• Lin Er used the Bone-Vanishing Spell to prepare fish for her pen pal and planned to clear out a bamboo grove the next day.
• Shi Meng recognized the spells in Lin Er's notebook, and they discussed their favorite and most disliked Harry Potter characters.
• Lin Er named Severus Snape as her favorite and told Shi Meng that he had secretly protected Harry for years.
• Lin Er defended Snape's favoritism toward Slytherin by asking whether the other Hogwarts professors treated their students fairly.

Lin Er explained Snape’s troubled childhood, his rise in Slytherin, and his conflict with James Potter’s Marauders. She began describing the group’s members and Lupin’s secret as a Werewolf.

• Lin Er argued that Dumbledore had treated young Snape with suspicion and favored Gryffindor, while Shi Meng and Cheng Liang challenged her view.
• Lin Er described Snape’s abusive home life, his pursuit of Dark Magic and Potions, and how talent helped him gain status among Slytherins.
• Lin Er said Snape and James Potter’s rivalries grew from their opposing houses, clashing values, and affection for Lily, Snape’s best friend.
• Lin Er explained that James’s Marauders included James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter, then began describing how Lupin had been bitten by a Werewolf as a child.

Lin Er recounted how Snape was nearly killed by Lupin and then bullied by the Marauders, while her classmates reacted with sympathy for Snape. At lunch, Lin Er shared snacks with her cousins and friends, and the chapter ended with Shi Meng asking what happened after Lily intervened.

• Lin Er explained that Sirius Black lured Snape to transformed Lupin, and James Potter rescued Snape before Dumbledore pressured him to keep Lupin's secret.
• Lin Er described the Marauders attacking Snape after their fifth-year exams until Lily arrived, leaving her classmates eager to hear what happened next.
• Lin Er prepared food in her enchanted schoolbag so she could heat meals for the seven-year-old child.
• Lin Er shared small cakes with Ying Yuecheng, Ying Yuechi, Shi Meng, and Xu Duoduo.
• Shi Meng and the nearby students asked Lin Er to continue the story after Lily came to Snape's aid.

Lin Er continued recounting how Lily tried to stop the Marauders from bullying Snape, but did not take his side until he was humiliated again. Snape insulted Lily, and the classmates debated whether they could accept help from a friend who had not stood with them.

• Lin Er told her classmates that Lily stopped the Marauders, allowing Snape to retrieve his wand, but he fought back and was hung upside down again.
• Lin Er explained that Lily repeatedly tried to make the Marauders stop and wanted Snape to abandon Dark Magic, though she did not immediately fight beside him.
• Lin Er recounted that Snape tried to retaliate, Black petrified him, and Lily finally drew her wand to protect him.
• After the Marauders mocked Snape and released him for Lily's sake, Snape called Lily a Mudblood.
• Lin Er explained the insult's meaning, then told the classmates that Lily called James an arrogant jerk and ran off while the Marauders humiliated Snape again.

Lin Er reflected on Snape’s past and her reasons for loving novels, then tried to write to her young pen pal, Prince, about Potions and the dangers of following Snape’s path. As class continued, she wondered whether the magic connecting them came from her mysterious rebirth and whether Prince lived in a different world.

• Lin Er told Shi Meng that Snape had freely joined the Death Eaters despite his later appeal to her.
• Lin Er remembered how a close friendship had once helped her become more confident and feel cared for.
• When Prince did not answer her question, Lin Er considered sending him a letter but put the blank page away when the history teacher arrived.
• Lin Er thought about recommending Snape as a Potions role model to Prince, whose pen name and interest in Potions reminded her of the Half-Blood Prince.
• Lin Er planned to discuss society and ethics with Prince once her English improved, and wondered whether his world and her own shared the same magic.
• Lin Er recalled a hazy dream from before her rebirth that might have given her the magic book, wand, and young pen pal as compensation.

Lin Er used her magic to begin turning a hidden ledge beside the deep pool into a secret base. After trading food with her little pen pal, she left the purple bamboo grove intact as cover and started carving a cave into the cliff.

• Lin Er flew over the river, caught small white fish, and made crispy dried-fish snacks.
• She sent food and dried fish to her little pen pal and received a pale purple stone in return.
• Lin Er flew to the cliff at three in the morning and found a small grove of purple bamboo on a ledge above the deep pool.
• She used Diffindo to hollow out the cliff behind the bamboo, planning to make a sheltered secret base.
• Lin Er built a stone wall among the bamboo to conceal future cooking and keep firelight from showing.

Lin Er prepared spicy river snails at her secret riverside base and brought some home, where Grandma Lin scolded her for taking food from others and made her trade apples for it. After finishing her homework, Lin Er tried to slip out again, but Lin Huihui exposed her little cake and Grandma Lin began scolding as Lin Er escaped through a neighbor’s house.

• Lin Er decided to blast out the riverside cave during the day after villagers nearly discovered her nighttime work.
• Lin Er bribed Lin Huihui with spicy strips, went to the river, cooked a wokful of spicy snails, and brought home a small basin with freshly caught fish.
• Grandma Lin scolded Lin Er for bringing home food from someone else and took two apples to repay them; the family ate the snails and Grandpa Lin shared baijiu with her.
• Lin Er finished her school worksheet at home and persuaded Grandma Lin to let her go out after making Lin Huihui complete most of her homework.
• Lin Huihui spotted Lin Er’s little cake and yelled to Grandma Lin that her sister had money to buy treats, so Lin Er slapped her and escaped through the old neighbor’s house.

Lin Er sold her seasoned river snails outside Experimental High and made a profit, then bought food and study supplies for her pen pal. As she headed back, she spotted a five-yuan note in the corridor and hesitated over whether to pick it up.

• Lin Er took a bucket of cooked river snails to Experimental High and sold them for one yuan per cup as students returned to school.
• Lin Er sold out, promised her repeat customers she would return the following week, and calculated that she had made at least a hundred yuan in profit.
• Lin Er bought stir-fried rice noodles for herself and her pen pal, then shopped for more food to send him.
• Her pen pal requested a notebook and pen, so Lin Er bought those along with several English dictionaries and sent them through the magic book.
• Lin Er spotted a five-yuan note in the corridor near the school gate and worried that everyone would see her pick it up.

Lin Er accidentally used the Summoning Charm to take a man's fifty yuan, then returned home with a large fish and money she had earned selling river snails. Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin counted her earnings, and Grandma Lin called someone after learning how much she had made.

• Lin Er cast the Summoning Charm for paper money, accidentally summoned a nearby man's fifty yuan, and used Obliviate after he saw her catch it.
• Lin Er returned home with a large fish, and Grandma Lin helped prepare it while Lin Huihui tried to snoop through Lin Er's backpack.
• Lin Er asked her grandparents if they would sell food, then revealed a bag of small bills from her backpack.
• Lin Er told Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin that she had sold a bucket of river snails for one yuan a cup outside Experimental High.
• Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin counted 134 yuan, and Grandma Lin went to make a phone call.

Lin Er introduced her grandparents to selling river snails so her family could earn money, while keeping quiet about the cash she had gathered with magic. After her grandmother caught her hiding how she got a fish, Lin Er left for school with extra spending money and a growing sense that her family’s habits might hold them back.

• After Lin Er was scolded for selling river snails, Dad Lin suggested Grandma Lin could make and sell them, and Lin Er decided to teach her grandparents the business.
• The next morning, Lin Er found Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin had gathered two basins of snails, then hurried to retrieve her bucket, pot, and seasonings from the new house.
• Lin Er explained how to prepare the snails and defended her secret cooking, but Grandma Lin soon asked where her fish had come from and struck her with a rag when she confessed she had picked it up.
• Grandma Lin made Lin Er wash her hair and continued scolding her, while Grandpa Lin packed her some fish to take to school.
• Grandma Lin gave Lin Er another ten yuan for school, and Lin Er argued that she needed money for daily expenses and to reciprocate friends’ snacks before leaving.

Lin Er settled into school life with more confidence, while her classmates remained curious about how much she had changed. She recited her Chinese assignment and was praised by the English teacher for scoring over 110 on a test.

• Lin Er saw teachers carrying down the peanuts she had forgotten to collect from the roof, and they guessed a bird had stored them there.
• Lin Er paid her living expenses, and the class monitor noticed how different she looked from when she first enrolled.
• Lin Er joined the line to recite her Chinese homework, completed it successfully, and left after the group leader checked her name.
• Lin Er reflected on old classmates and decided not to force friendships in her new life.
• Lin Er's English teacher praised her score of over 110 on an in-class test, leaving her blushing for much of the lesson.

Lin Er used high test scores to dispel rumors that she was intellectually disabled while keeping busy with magic, school, and nighttime excursions. As she began taking weekly tests, she sent her pen pal Chinese-learning tapes and a tape repeater to help him study.

• Lin Er scored highly on English tests, causing rumors about her intellectual disability to collapse, though classmates and teachers later speculated that she had trouble concentrating.
• Lin Er used the Summoning Charm to collect lost money and spent evenings cleaning snails, expanding her cave, and flying to the outskirts of the city to gather more money.
• Lin Er stored the items she summoned, including jewelry, coins, and low-denomination notes, in a wooden box.
• Lin Er continued asking teachers questions after class despite often daydreaming, while her test results remained above average in the main subjects.
• Lin Er began taking weekly tests and sent her pen pal her primary-school Chinese tapes and tape repeater so he could learn Chinese.

Lin Er spent the National Day holiday helping her grandparents sell river snails, while learning why their business succeeded and why their elderly neighbor had stopped visiting. The chapter left the family’s snail business thriving despite a relative’s attempt to copy it.

• Lin Er learned that Xu Duoduo had left school because her mother was taking her to have surgery.
• Lin Er’s grandparents spent the holiday selling cooked river snails in the city, and Grandma Lin claimed their rivals had quit because customers avoided their poorly cleaned snails.
• Lin Er realized her magic was cleaning the snails and secretly used it when Grandma Lin’s salt failed to remove the grit.
• Grandma Lin told Lin Er that the elderly aunt’s daughter had copied their snail business, but her dirty, inferior snails and false claim to their name drove customers away.

Lin Er watched her grandparents leave to sell snails and let Lin Huihui take their share to play with friends, then secretly sent snails to her pen pal. She reflected on discovering that he lived in the Harry Potter world in 1967 and chose not to reveal the dangers ahead, leaving their friendship growing closer through their letters.

• Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin rode into the city to sell river snails, leaving Lin Er to watch Lin Huihui.
• Lin Huihui took the snails Grandma Lin had left for them and went to share them with her friends, while Lin Er let her go.
• Lin Er secretly sent her pen pal half a portion of snails and recalled that he had sent her pain-relieving Potions.
• Lin Er realized her pen pal lived in 1967 and confirmed his world was the Harry Potter world after he mentioned Hogwarts.
• Lin Er decided not to warn her seven-year-old pen pal about future dangers or ask him to save anyone, and their letters grew more frequent.

Lin Er realized she could use a cell phone to communicate with her young pen pal, so she flew to the city and bought one. After learning about translation options from a fellow customer, she gave him her saved spicy river snails and headed back toward the park.

• Lin Er counted her 4,032 yuan and 60 fen and decided to buy a cell phone.
• Lin Er used a Disillusionment Charm and flew by broom toward the city, avoiding houses, highways, and surveillance cameras.
• At a Samsung shop on East Street, Lin Er joined a man's purchase to bargain for two phones and gifts.
• The man questioned whether Lin Er had stolen her family's money, and she joked that she had stolen money for her little brother's excess-birth fine.
• Lin Er asked the man about English translation software, gave him her saved spicy river snails as thanks, and left without telling him her real name.

Lin Er explored the lively plaza, secretly bought gifts and supplies, and used her enchanted schoolbag and a magic book to bring her purchases home. She returned after dark and cheered up the tearful Lin Huihui with instant noodles.

• Lin Er watched Grandma Lin and Grandpa Lin sell snacks at the plaza, then wandered through the stalls without letting them notice her.
• Lin Er bought toys, batteries, and game prizes for Prince, including a piggy bank, panda plush, tricycle toy, and pendant.
• Lin Er discovered Wenchang Tower and an underground supermarket, where she bought bedding, snacks, and clothes for her pen pal.
• Lin Er hid her purchases in her enchanted schoolbag and magic book passage, covering a restroom camera with levitated toilet paper as she left.
• Lin Er arrived home after dark and found Lin Huihui crying because she had thought Lin Er was missing.
• Lin Er gave Lin Huihui instant noodles, and Lin Huihui quickly stopped crying and followed her to prepare them.

Lin Er and her family earned over five hundred yuan selling river snails, then expanded their work with help from Grandma She and She Pengfei. Lin Er also began openly using her magic to find money in the city, where she discovered a secluded spot beside Wenchang Tower.

• Grandma Lin counted the money from four buckets of river snails and decided to focus on selling snails instead of peanuts.
• Lin Er and Grandpa Lin prepared snails at home while Grandma Lin collected more with Lin Huihui, then Grandma She and She Pengfei joined to help remove the tails.
• The family finished processing two basins of snails, and Grandma Lin began stir-frying them for sale.
• During the holiday, Grandma Lin’s family sold up to six buckets a day, and Lin Er helped deliver them as customers returned.
• Lin Er went to the city and used magic to find money, earning at least two or three hundred yuan a day from a secluded stairwell beside Wenchang Tower.

Lin Er asked an old martial arts teacher in the city to accept her as a student, hoping to learn self-defense, but he required an adult guardian’s approval. She persuaded Grandpa Lin to hear the teacher out, leaving the family’s decision unresolved as Xiao Qiang recognized her grandparents’ snail stall.

• Lin Er found an old man teaching children martial arts and asked to join his class, but he told her to bring an adult because lessons cost a hundred a day.
• Lin Er returned to the square and asked Grandpa Lin to take her to the teacher, explaining she would pay for lessons herself and attend on weekends.
• Grandpa Lin worried about Lin Er traveling alone, but she persuaded him that learning martial arts would help her protect herself and pursue her dreams.
• Lin Er and Grandpa Lin entered the alley, where the old teacher and another elderly man spoke while Xiao Qiang led the children through stretches.
• Xiao Qiang learned that Lin Er’s grandparents owned the snail stall in the park and said he had bought their snails before.