After the Charms class ended that day, Ron was in an extremely bad mood.
Today, Professor Flitwick had taught them their very first spell at Hogwarts — the Levitation Charm.
However, his practice partner was Hermione, that bossy and annoying know-it-all.
The worst part was that he performed terribly. Throughout the entire class, he didn't succeed even once.
Because of that, Hermione arrogantly pointed out his mistakes. Of course, he refused to accept it. Then she performed a perfect Levitation Charm, earning praise from Professor Flitwick — which felt like a hard, invisible slap across his face.
"No wonder nobody can stand her," he said to Harry as they struggled through the crowded corridor. "Honestly, she's a nightmare."
At that moment, someone suddenly bumped into Harry and hurried past them.
It was Hermione.
Harry caught a glimpse of her face and was surprised to see that she was crying.
"I think she heard what you said."
"So what?" Ron replied stubbornly.
But there was a hint of unease in his voice. "She must have noticed it herself — she doesn't have any friends."
Harry didn't quite agree.
"Isn't Lynn her friend?"
"He's a Slytherin!" Ron argued.
"We're Gryffindor. It's different!"
Harry felt a bit bad about ignoring Hermione like this, but Ron was his friend, so he shrugged.
"Alright then."
---
Hermione felt terrible.
Tears kept streaming down her face uncontrollably.
She had only wanted what was best for everyone. She had even listened to Lynn and stopped reporting others for breaking rules. She had merely corrected Ron's pronunciation and demonstrated the right way — yet she was still disliked.
She felt deeply wronged.
She had so much she wanted to say to someone. She skipped the next class and wandered around the castle looking for Lynn, but couldn't find him anywhere.
In the end, she could only hide alone in the girls' bathroom, quietly wiping her tears.
This place was nothing like what she had imagined before coming here.
Not only had she failed to make friends, she had even become someone people disliked.
Hermione was like a little squirrel abandoned by her group, hiding alone in a tree hollow, covering her head with her long tail and crying silently.
---
Meanwhile, Lynn, who was writing intensely in the Room of Requirement, had no idea what Hermione had just gone through.
Cedric's words had inspired him greatly. He spent three days verifying whether his idea had any chance of success — and in the end, he found that it actually might work!
So he immediately wrote down his theories and experiments on parchment while the inspiration was still fresh.
He never intended to complete the spell entirely by himself. Professor Fox was undoubtedly an excellent "tool person" who could help a lot in this matter.
As soon as he finished writing the letter, Lynn hurried to the owlery.
Of course, he wasn't some heartless capitalist. His own owl had just completed a cross-continental delivery a week ago — he wouldn't make it go again so soon.
So Lynn decided to rent one of Hogwarts' public owls.
After quite a bit of coaxing, he finally managed to "invite" a not-so-bright-looking owl using some corn.
Watching the owl fly away, Lynn felt satisfied.
He had a feeling this was the final obstacle in completing his Soul-Sealing Spell. If Professor Fox's reply could provide help, then his plan would have a very high chance of success.
---
After sending the letter, Lynn was in a great mood.
He hummed a tune he couldn't remember the name of as he walked toward the Great Hall.
Hogwarts was especially lively today. Countless bats fluttered along the walls and ceiling, and dark cloud-like shapes floated above the tables, making the candle flames inside the pumpkins flicker constantly.
Delicious food suddenly appeared on golden plates, just as abundant as at the start-of-term feast.
"Where did you go?" Cedric asked, his pockets stuffed with candy.
Lynn grabbed half of them and stuffed them into his own pockets.
"I totally forgot it's Halloween Eve today," Lynn said, popping a candy into his mouth and enjoying the overly sweet taste.
"Where did all this candy come from? Did you go up to the professors and say 'trick or treat'?"
Cedric looked at him speechlessly.
"Of course not. Professor Sprout stuffed them into my pockets as soon as I entered the hall."
Lynn looked around, feeling like he had forgotten something.
"Where's Ian? Haven't seen him."
"His paper on a universal counter-curse is very well written. Professor Flitwick thinks it can be used as a teaching example, so he asked him to refine it. He'll probably come later."
Lynn kept looking around, still feeling like something was missing.
Until he saw the professors' table — one seat was empty.
Professor Quirrell.
Suddenly, he remembered what he had forgotten!
Today was Halloween — the day of the troll attack in the original story.
He then looked at the Gryffindor table, where Ron and Harry were eating happily.
Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
Lynn frowned, quickly told Cedric something, and rushed out of the hall.
He had been too absorbed in researching and improving the Soul-Sealing Spell these past few days, almost forgetting that the first-year storyline was still progressing.
In the original story, Hermione wouldn't be in danger today — but he feared that his presence might change things. If she hadn't hidden in the bathroom like before, the consequences would be unimaginable.
---
On the way, he saw Quirrell running hurriedly toward the Great Hall.
His heart sank.
This meant the troll had already been released.
Lynn didn't care about anything else anymore. Starting from the first floor, he checked every girls' bathroom one by one.
Just as he was about to give up and go find the troll first, he suddenly heard familiar crying behind a door.
Relief flooded his heart.
He calmed himself, straightened his robes, put on a smile, and pushed the door open.
"Let me see which poor little girl is hiding here, secretly feeling sad?"
The cunning big bad wolf had found the little squirrel hiding in her tree hollow.
The little squirrel, with red, teary eyes, pouted and wiped her tears with her sleeve.
"I'm not secretly feeling sad…"
Before she could finish, she burst into tears again.
Lynn couldn't help but laugh. He crouched in front of her and gently patted her fluffy hair.
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