Seeing Lynn carry a bowl of Shrimp Porridge out of the kitchen, Harry quickly stepped forward to take it and politely thanked her.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Lynn replied in a cold tone, then mechanically returned to the sofa and sat down.
Harry, who had originally wanted to tell Lynn about the special situation last night, silently closed his mouth.
He would wait until Hermione and the others woke up to tell them; he should try not to add any "burden" to Lynn.
After finishing the Shrimp Porridge, Harry leaned over the dining table. Having not slept well all night, he dizzily drifted off to sleep.
Lynn, who was staring at the yard outside the window, suddenly heard a faint, steady snoring. Turning her head, she saw Harry sleeping soundly, slumped over the dining table.
Standing up, Lynn picked up a small blanket from the sofa and draped it over Harry's shoulders.
Sleeping in clothes without covering up anything makes it easy to catch a cold, Lynn thought with no ripple in her heart, while pulling the blanket tighter around Harry.
After doing all this, Lynn slowly walked back to the sofa, sat down again, and stared unblinkingly at the ground and sky outside the window.
Around seven-thirty, Hermione, having finally slept her fill, walked down the stairs feeling refreshed.
While looking for Lynn, she inevitably saw Harry sleeping soundly on the dining table.
Startled for a moment, Hermione walked over to the sofa and patted Lynn's shoulder.
Lynn had heard Hermione's footsteps long ago and calmly looked up at her.
"Hermione, good morning."
"Good morning," Hermione smiled gently and responded in a low voice.
She pointed toward the dining table and asked, still in a low voice, "What's wrong with Harry? Why is he sleeping here?"
Lynn paused for a moment and shook her head, her tone flat. "I don't know, but based on an analysis of his complexion and mental state, there's a high probability he didn't sleep well last night."
"He admitted it himself."
"Oh." Hermione nodded understandingly. So he's catching up on sleep. But why come downstairs to do it instead of staying upstairs?
After a moment of confusion without finding an answer, Hermione decisively gave up on further thought. She went into the kitchen with Lynn and gratefully accepted the bowl of Shrimp Porridge she had served.
Taking a sip of the Shrimp Porridge, Hermione narrowed her eyes comfortably; the fragrance of the rice and the fresh sweetness of the shrimp blended perfectly.
As expected of Lynn, her cooking is truly superb.
It wasn't until nine-thirty in the morning that Harry slowly woke up to the sound of faint talking nearby.
Lynn, who was sitting at the dining table with her hand being held by Hermione, instinctively cast her gaze toward Harry and spoke without any tone.
"Harry is awake."
As soon as Lynn finished speaking, Hermione, who had been playing with her hand, Maranhao, who had been chatting, Marietta, who had been writing a letter home, and Ron who was eating chips all turned their gaze toward Harry.
"Hey, buddy, you're awake?" Ron stepped forward and patted Harry on the back.
The newly awakened Harry put on his glasses, and after seeing the chip bag in Ron's hand, he felt entirely unwell.
"Ron Weasley, don't pat me with your greasy hands from eating chips!"
Ron shrunk his neck and gave a guilty smile, withdrawing his hand, his eyes cautiously glancing at Harry.
He had just woken up, yet he was surprisingly sharp.
Noticing Ron's gaze, Harry unceremoniously rolled his eyes. How could he not know his own buddy?
As soon as Ron Weasley opened his mouth, he knew what he wanted to say.
"What happened to you last night? Lynn said you didn't sleep well?"
Hermione looked at Harry with concern as she asked. The other three girls also stopped their conversation and letter-writing, focusing their attention on Harry.
Harry curled his lip. "Don't even mention it. In the middle of the night... a, uh, strange creature suddenly broke into my room."
"I don't know what it was, so I can only call it that."
A strange creature? And a sudden break-in? Hermione and the other five were stunned, their gazes toward Harry filled with confusion and gravity.
Lynn's pupils constricted sharply, and her heart began to ache as if it were being squeezed by a clamp.
Break-in, Enforcement Agent? Lynn's mind automatically made this equation.
Forcing entry into a student's home equals an Enforcement Agent, which equals taking Harry away to be destroyed.
"What kind of creature?" Before Lynn could think any further, Hermione asked Harry with a serious expression.
This was, after all, a remote villa; it was normal for animals to wander in, but if it was something dangerous, it would be bad.
Seeing Hermione's expression, Harry knew she might have misunderstood and quickly raised his hand to wave it off.
"It's not a dangerous creature. It could even speak human language and communicate with me. It's probably some kind of creature from the Wizarding World. It has a very large nose and ears that aren't small either—very pointed. And it felt a bit... neurotic?"
Merlin knows how much effort he spent last night trying to soothe the little fellow so it wouldn't scream and wake Lynn and the others.
Hearing Harry's description, several girls, including Lynn, blurted out a term: "House-elf."
"What?" Harry looked completely surprised. "House-elf? What kind of creature is that?"
Facing Harry's question, Hermione instinctively provided an explanation, describing what kind of creature a House-elf was.
As Lynn listened to Hermione's explanation to Harry, her brain was constantly thinking.
In her original world, there was no magic; Enforcement Agents were just ordinary people equipped with firearms to ensure the destruction went smoothly.
In this world, there was magic, and Hogwarts was a magic academy. It could be inferred that the Enforcement Agents likely knew magic as well.
There were also people from the Wizarding World, and this House-elf was very likely sent by them to check in advance if they were preparing to resist.
Or more directly, it was sent by them to capture Harry.
Lynn made her judgment, but the subsequent conversation between Ron and Harry caused her train of thought to instantly become muddled.
"So what did that House-elf want with you?" Ron looked at Harry in confusion.
Harry sighed helplessly and summarized the House-elf's meaning. "He told me not to go to Hogwarts, saying there would be danger there."
"But how could I not go to Hogwarts? That place is my home!"
Harry shook his head, his emotions somewhat agitated. He couldn't not go back to Hogwarts; it was the place he recognized as home.
Hearing Harry's words, Lynn's brain instantly stalled, and her previous train of thought was immediately disrupted and reorganized.
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