As the eight-hour mark arrived, the effects of the Dreamless Sleep Potion completely wore off, and Lin Yue suddenly opened her eyes now the potion lost its efficacy.
Her body had long wanted to force her to "turn on," but unfortunately, the influence of the Dreamless Sleep Potion had only allowed her to struggle repeatedly between waking and sleeping.
Now that the potion had completely lost its effect, Lin Yue woke up without any surprise.
At the foot of her bed, Professor McGonagall had transformed back from her tabby cat form, and the serious witch was now pursing her lips as she looked at Lin Yue. Professor Flitwick was sitting nearby, and upon seeing her awake, he handed her a glass of water.
Lin Yue took the cup with both hands, expressionless, and after saying a brief thank you, she lowered her head to take a small sip. Madam Pomfrey walked over from Hermione and the others' hospital beds, waving her wand at Lin Yue.
"Your body is fine, but your spirit still hasn't fully recovered. You'll need to stay here with me for a while; is that alright?" Her gaze was quite intimidating as it fell on Lin Yue. Within the confines of the hospital wing, not many dared to challenge Madam Pomfrey's authority.
Lin Yue fell silent for a moment, her gaze calmly fixed on Madam Pomfrey. "I might need to go out to get a book. All my books are in the dormitory, and I've already finished a few. I want to go to the library to exchange them."
Hearing Lin Yue's words, Madam Pomfrey took a deep breath, glancing at the girl and thinking, even in such a state, she still wants to study?!
"Miss Lin Yue, what you need right now is rest. Put studying aside for the moment; your health is the most important thing, do you understand?"
The words echoed in her ears, triggering an immediate response in her brain. The thought that studying comes first exaggeratedly occupied Lin Yue's mind.
Lin Yue's tone was flat and mechanical as she replied, "Studying is the priority. My body is just trying to be lazy and delaying my study time."
Madam Pomfrey felt genuinely exasperated and turned to Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, signaling them to say something.
"Miss Lin Yue, I understand your desire to study, but Madam Pomfrey is right. How about this," Professor McGonagall gently took Lin Yue's hand, "You can read in the hospital wing, but you must listen to Madam Pomfrey. If she tells you to rest, then you need to rest."
As professors, they really can't force students who love to study to stop studying... And with Madam Pomfrey watching, it’s unlikely that Lin Yue would overdo it.
Lin Yue's brain quickly analyzed the situation. Professor McGonagall had instructed her to listen to Madam Pomfrey, and when she said to rest, Lin Yue should rest. In other words, Professor McGonagall also required her to rest when Madam Pomfrey suggested it; that was the professor's intention.
"Okay, I will do as you say," Lin Yue nodded stiffly.
The three adults present finally felt a bit relieved, although they still had some confusion. They were puzzled as to why Lin Yue woke up every hour after taking the Dreamless Sleep Potion, which had never happened before. However, upon examining her, they found no issues aside from excessive fatigue and gastrointestinal damage, so they assumed it was just Lin Yue's unique constitution. After all, even Potion Master Professor Snape and professional healer Madam Pomfrey did not understand the situation, so a first-year student like Lin Yue would likely not know either. Asking her might only add psychological pressure, which would be counterproductive.
"Rest well, Miss Lin Yue," Professor Flitwick said with a smile as he stood up. "Don't worry about the exam; you scored very well."
"Yes," Professor McGonagall nodded with a smile as well, "You scored highly in my class too."
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick," Lin Yue mechanically nodded, automatically analyzing that she must have received full marks. Although surviving the last two-thirds of the year-end exam was enough, and doing well in the first third could bring her family a decent allocation of resources, for her, only a perfect score would be considered acceptable. Her parents had told her so. Only a perfect score would prevent her from facing punishment, so she instinctively interpreted the professors' praise as her having achieved full marks.
But why were they praising her for just getting full marks? Wasn't that the most basic expectation? Without any emotional confusion, Lin Yue simply reflected on these thoughts calmly in her mind.
After praising Lin Yue, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick left, and Madam Pomfrey returned to her office to prepare a diet plan to help Lin Yue's gastrointestinal health. The curtains on either side were drawn open; to her left was Harry, to her right was Hermione, and to Harry's left was Ron.
The three of them had already woken up when Madam Pomfrey was checking their bodies. At this moment, Ron had a pained expression on his face and couldn't help but cry out in despair.
"I just opened my eyes not long ago and I hear the professors discussing grades... Merlin, I feel like my mood has already soured."
"You studied well, Ron, have a bit of confidence in yourself," Hermione said, turning her head and rolling her eyes without hesitation. "Even if you don't have confidence in yourself, please have some trust in my abilities. I definitely helped you review without any problems."
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"Or should I say," Hermione narrowed her eyes dangerously, "that you didn't remember what I told you to?"
"I remembered, I remembered, I really did!" Ron quickly raised both hands to defend himself.
For Merlin's sake, he was still a wounded person and didn't want to suffer another one of Hermione's major attacks.
Satisfied, Hermione nodded and got out of bed, walking over to Lin Yue's hospital bed to sit down, reaching out to tuck the hair on her cheek behind her ear.
"How did you sleep last night?" Since Professor McGonagall and the others didn't mention it, Hermione was unaware that Lin Yue woke up every hour while sleeping.
"Pretty good," Lin Yue replied with a blank expression, nodding slightly.
Raising her right hand to check the time, Lin Yue immediately calculated that she had slept for eight hours... eight hours.
You have become complacent!
The four words suddenly appeared in Lin Yue's mind, causing her head to throb with pain.
In the villa's yard, a girl dressed in short sleeves and shorts stood barefoot on the ground, surrounded by snow that had been deliberately swept to ensure it completely covered her feet.
A middle-aged woman stood at the villa's door, tightening her down jacket. "You have become complacent, haven't you? Do you know that the second place is only ten points behind you? Why did you lose a point in physics and not get a perfect score?"
"Are you satisfied with yourself like this? Have you reached the passing standard?"
"No..." Snow fell all over the girl, and she trembled uncontrollably, but there was not a trace of pain on her face or in her eyes.
"You admit that you have become complacent," the middle-aged woman glared at the girl.
"I have become complacent."
"Say it again!"
"I have become complacent."
"Say it again!"
"I have become complacent."
"Very good," the middle-aged woman showed a satisfied expression, "Remember this lesson."
The girl's lips were dark, and her feet, buried in the snow, had turned red.
"Yueyue, mom is doing this for your own good. You have to maintain your absolute first place."
The middle-aged woman spoke earnestly, "As usual, come in by yourself in ten minutes." After saying that, she turned and went back into the villa.
With a bang, she closed the door. The middle-aged woman rubbed her arms through her down jacket, "It's freezing! Why is it so cold this winter?"
You have become complacent!
The four words flashing in her mind continuously stimulated Lin Yue's brain, and past memories surged forth.
She should do something... She should be punished, a thought kept reminding her in Lin Yue's mind.
Hermione said that she shouldn't punish herself for studying anymore. Another thought emerged in her mind, and the two ideas kept pulling at each other, as if they were trying to tear Lin Yue's brain in half.
Even as memories surged and waves of pain coursed through her brain, Lin Yue's expression didn't change even a little. But still, Hermione looked into her eyes and vaguely sensed that she was thinking about something bad, that she was... struggling?
Without any hesitation, Hermione took off her slippers, lay down on the hospital bed, and directly pulled Lin Yue into her arms, gently patting her back.
Harry and Ron turned around obediently, facing away from the two girls who were embracing.
"What's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Hermione asked softly, looking down at Lin Yue in her arms.
Warm... so warm... Lin Yue dazedly lifted her head. There was no villa, no gently falling goose-feather snow, only Hermione's gentle smile and her warm embrace.
"I’ve been slacking off..." Lin Yue instinctively voiced the conclusion in her mind.
"Who said that?" Hermione frowned. "The professors just praised you for your good grades."
"I slept for eight hours yesterday, and I haven't started studying today. I've been slacking off, I..." Lin Yue's voice was devoid of emotion.
Hermione raised her hand to cover Lin Yue's mouth, looking at her seriously. "You haven't been slacking off, okay? You haven't. You just took a normal, necessary break."
"I haven't been slacking off?" Lin Yue confirmed with Hermione, feeling no emotion in her heart.
"You haven't," Hermione nodded affirmatively.
"But I overslept, and I didn't use my study time to study."
"That's called giving yourself a break," Hermione said, gently running her fingers through Lin Yue's hair.
"A break..." The definition of a break immediately surfaced in Lin Yue's mind. A break? In her understanding, a holiday was a time for completely autonomous study, filled with books and papers, not lying in bed.
"Is this a break?" Lin Yue stared blankly at Hermione's slender, fair neck.
"This is a break," Hermione said, pulling Lin Yue completely into her embrace, letting Lin Yue's face nestle into her neck.
"Stop thinking, let your mind rest for a while."
"Mm..." Lin Yue's thoughts were swept away, and she just sat there dazed, not thinking about anything, nestled in Hermione's neck, her nose filled with Hermione's scent.
Nearby, Harry had quietly pulled the curtain at his bedside, isolating them from the two girls.
"Harry..." Ron, holding his stomach, looked at his good friend. "Do you think I could ask Madam Pomfrey for a stomach potion? My stomach hurts a bit."
"You could try?" Harry replied uncertainly.
"By the way, when can we be discharged?" After a while, Ron waited until his stomach felt normal before reaching for the chocolate Madam Pomfrey had prepared for them at the bedside and took a big bite.
"We should be able to leave this afternoon, but Lin Yue has to stay for a few days. Didn't the professors say she needs to rest here?" Harry thought for a moment and answered.
"Indeed, she really needs to rest well," Ron nodded in agreement.
"Sigh..." Harry sighed. After spending more time with Lin Yue, he could vaguely sense a kind of contradiction and conflict within her.
It was as if what she was doing wasn't what she wanted to do. This feeling was faint, and compared to Hermione's perception of Lin Yue, it was much weaker, but he still had some impression of it. As a friend, he was genuinely worried about Lin Yue's state.
He used to think she really loved studying, and while it still seemed that way now, Harry just felt that something was off. As Harry said, the three of them were released from the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey that afternoon, while Lin Yue was undoubtedly left behind. That same afternoon, Cho Chang and Marietta were finally permitted by Madam Pomfrey to enter the hospital wing to visit.
"Merlin’s beard, Lin Yue, luckily you're okay." Cho Chang patted her chest as she looked at her junior sitting on the hospital bed, expressionless and reading a book.
Merlin knew how shocked she and Marietta were after hearing the rumours. The rumours said that a dark wizard, Professor Quirrell, attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and was discovered by the three saviours of Gryffindor, who then went to stop him. In the end, Ravenclaw's Lin Yue confronted the dark wizard and defeated him.
Although the rumours concluded with Lin Yue defeating the dark wizard, who knows if she was injured? Did she fall under a curse? After all, he was a dark wizard! Didn't they see that Lin Yue was staying in the hospital wing and didn't return that night?
Lin Yue closed her book, breaking out of her studying state, and politely greeted Cho Chang and Marietta, "Good afternoon, Senior Cho Chang, Senior Marietta."
"Good afternoon," Marietta responded with a smile, "How are you? Is there anywhere else you feel unwell?"
Lin Yue shook her head, her voice calm and steady, "No, it's just that Madam Pomfrey thinks I need more rest, so she asked me to stay in the hospital wing."
"That's absolutely right!" Cho Chang and Marietta said in unison.
"But it's a pity you won't be able to see tomorrow's Quidditch match, it's Ravenclaw against Gryffindor."
The two of them sat down on chairs beside Lin Yue's hospital bed, with Cho Chang looking at Lin Yue with regret.
"Indeed," Marietta nodded, "Fortunately, you’re here; Ravenclaw is currently leading the other houses by over eight hundred points, there's no way they can catch up."
"Yes, you're a great contributor to Ravenclaw, everyone is saying that once you get out, they want to hold a special celebration for you." Cho Chang said, smiling at Lin Yue.
Lin Yue's expression showed no change. "I'm just doing what I should do."
Cho Chang and Marietta exchanged glances and shrugged helplessly. Meanwhile, in the watch on Lin Yue's right hand, Rowena Ravenclaw, who had just woken up from intermittent sleep, suddenly heard Cho Chang and Marietta's words.
Before she could feel happy for Lin Yue, she was shocked to find that the child had entered the hospital wing.
Entered the hospital wing?! This child had previously endured the Cruciatus Curse without going to the hospital wing. What on earth happened this time to bring her to the hospital wing?