Because Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall asked her to take a good rest today and not study, Lin Yue decided to relax. So, when Harry and Ron finished playing with the magical firecrackers and came to the dining table with a big pile of gifts, ready to eat, they saw Lin Yue leisurely enjoying her meal, occasionally sipping on some pumpkin juice.
"Merlin's napkin..." Ron stared blankly at the scene of Lin Yue eating slowly, completely unaware that the gifts he was holding had fallen to the ground.
Lin Yue was eating slowly, which seemed as impossible to him as Professor Snape giving points to Gryffindor. Yet, at this moment, this impossible event was happening! Harry, standing next to him, looked at the scene with disbelief. He had thought that by the time he and Ron finished playing with the magical firecrackers, Lin Yue would have already finished her lunch and gone to the library to read.
They had even prepared to rush to the library to find her after finishing their lunch, but who would have thought that when they finished playing with the firecrackers, they would not find Lin Yue's empty seat waiting for them, but rather see her sitting comfortably in her chair, leisurely enjoying her lunch.
Harry and Ron sat down next to Lin Yue in perfect harmony, with Harry sitting next to Lin Yue and Ron next to Harry.
"Lin Yue... are you going to the library after lunch?" Harry slightly turned his head and quietly asked Lin Yue.
Lin Yue swallowed the bacon in her mouth. It's strange; she should have eaten this before, but she had no idea it tasted like this.
Is it because she ate slowly today? Turning to look at Harry, Lin Yue replied to his question in a flat tone.
"I'm not going to the library after lunch. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall told me to take a day off today and not to think about studying."
"Okay." Harry nodded and glanced at Professor McGonagall in surprise. He never thought that Professor McGonagall would one day say to let students rest and not think about studying.
"What about you? Are you still going to the library later?" Ron, seeing that Harry had finished asking and received no response, reached out and tapped his shoulder.
"I'm not going." Harry shook his head and said quietly.
"Great..." Ron breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he didn't want to study on Christmas Day.
With the study plan rejected, Lin Yue had nothing to do after finishing her lunch. When it came to thinking of something to do besides studying, she really couldn't come up with anything. Even though the previous surgery hadn't affected her memory, her life before the surgery was mostly filled with studying. To ensure her grades remained above the threshold for being destroyed, Lin Yue had used almost all her time outside of sleeping and eating. Of course, her eating and sleeping times were still normal back then, but even so, it wasn't enough to satisfy her parents. This is how the surgery came about.
As for going out to play, or watching TV and using the computer, Lin Yue had only ever seen her parents do those things; she had never been allowed to look at them herself. Going out to play was even more impossible, as almost all the children were studying at home, who could arrange to go out and play with others?
But now that she had Harry and Ron with her, it didn’t matter that she didn’t know how to relax on her own. The two boys were confident that they would help her relax well.
Until... "Merlin's beard!" Ron exclaimed in despair, grabbing at his red hair. Just a moment ago, his piece had once again been captured by Lin Yue's piece; this was already the tenth game he had lost.
To help Lin Yue enjoy this relaxing day, he and Harry took her back to the Gryffindor common room. Ron eagerly volunteered to play wizard's chess with her, but what he didn't know was that Lin Yue had a vast amount of reading material in the Hogwarts library, which included books on wizard's chess. Moreover, she was devoid of emotions, which meant she wouldn't be disturbed by feelings while playing, allowing her thinking to be much faster than that of an average person.
Ron was destined to lose; no matter how he played, Lin Yue could always make her next move in just a few seconds. In contrast, he initially seemed to handle the game well, but halfway through, he started to hesitate. Each move often took him several minutes, leaving Harry beside him in shock.
Harry knew Ron's level in Wizard's Chess; it wasn't just him and Hermione who couldn't beat him. Even in the entire Gryffindor house, there were hardly any who could outplay him. Yet now, facing Lin Yue, he had lost ten games in a row. While Harry felt a bit sorry for Ron, he mostly found it amusing and couldn't help but revel in his misfortune.
After losing the eleventh game, Ron slumped down on the table without any dignity. Weakly raising his right hand, he said, "I’m done, I’m done... I can’t win, I really can’t win." Lin Yue nodded, expressionless, as she stood up and stretched her legs.
Harry couldn't help it anymore; he covered his mouth and chuckled while patting his good buddy on the shoulder.
"Ron, are you okay?"
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"Not really..." Ron lifted his head, looking at Harry with a face ashen as death. When he saw the uncontrollable smile on Harry's face, he couldn't help but scowl.
Taking a deep breath, Ron began his counterattack, "Harry... it's your turn now. I've already been with Lin Yue for a while, so it's your turn to keep her company."
Upon hearing this, Harry's smile instantly froze on his face. Keeping Lin Yue company... he didn't even know what to do.
Ron can at least play wizard chess with Lin Yue, but what about him? He can't take Lin Yue out to play Quidditch, can he? It's freezing outside, and flying around in the sky would be deadly cold. What if Lin Yue catches a cold, and when Hermione finds out... wouldn't he be in big trouble?
Harry shivered violently, then completely dismissed the idea of taking Lin Yue outside to play Quidditch. After thinking for a while, he remembered something he had just received that morning, something that was said to be very precious.
"Lin Yue, wait a moment, I'll get you something to look at."
After Harry finished speaking, he ran up the stairs to his dormitory and took out the invisibility cloak he had just received that morning. He handed the invisibility cloak to Lin Yue, who could play with it or study it. She was so eager to learn, and she should be interested in something as novel as an invisibility cloak.
Running down the stairs with the invisibility cloak, Harry handed it to Lin Yue. "Here, you can play with it or study it."
Lin Yue reached out with a calm expression to take the invisibility cloak from Harry. As soon as she held it, she felt something unusual. She could tell it was an invisibility cloak, but the texture of the cloak didn't feel like the materials commonly used for invisibility cloaks as described in books.
It is an invisibility cloak, but not an ordinary one. Lin Yue's heart remained calm, with no emotional fluctuations, as she held the invisibility cloak in front of her. Lin Yue calmly examined it from top to bottom, and then noticed the ancient and intricate patterns on it. After folding the cloak neatly, Lin Yue looked at Harry.
"This invisibility cloak of yours is very special."
"Huh?" Harry looked at Lin Yue with some confusion. "What's so special about it?"
"This cloak is different from the ones you can buy now," Lin Yue said, her tone completely steady. "It is not made from the materials commonly used to create invisibility cloaks today, so its effectiveness is not time-limited; it should be permanently effective."
Harry swallowed hard and nodded, "I see..."
"This was left to you by your father," Lin Yue said, watching as Harry quickly processed this information in his mind.
"How do you know?!" Harry looked at Lin Yue in surprise. He had only learned this morning, when he received the cloak, from a small note that had been sent along with it, that this invisibility cloak had once belonged to his father.
If it weren't for having seen Lin Yue's handwriting, which is completely different from the font on the little note, Harry would have thought that this invisibility cloak was sent by Lin Yue just based on her earlier statement.
"Because your father should indeed have an invisibility cloak passed down from his ancestors."
Lin Yue calmly explained the facts she knew, "In the fairy tales of the wizarding world, the Peverell brothers made a bet with Death and received gifts from him."
"Among them, the third Peverell brother received the invisibility cloak."
Ron, who was standing nearby listening to Lin Yue and Harry's conversation, suddenly clapped his hands.
"I've heard this story too, the story of the Deathly Hallows!"
"But isn't this just a legend?" Ron looked at Lin Yue in confusion, wondering if the legend was true.
"Not entirely," Lin Yue shook her head indifferently and spoke mechanically, "The Peverell family did exist in history and had a marriage alliance with the Potter family."
"The Potter family can be said to be the descendants of the Peverells, specifically the third Peverell."
"Therefore, it's not surprising that Harry's father would inherit the invisibility cloak passed down from their ancestors."
"Merlin... Harry, this invisibility cloak of yours is one of the Deathly Hallows!" Ron exclaimed, looking at the neatly folded invisibility cloak that Lin Yue was holding.
"Deathly Hallows?" Harry frowned, "What are they used for?"
"The Resurrection Stone is said to bring back the dead, the invisibility cloak allows you to escape death, making it so that even Death cannot find you, and the Elder Wand makes you unbeatable. Whoever possesses these three items can become the Master of Death, the master of Death itself."
Ron explained to Harry what he had seen in a fairy tale.
"Is that possible? It's just a fairy tale, right?" Harry said, somewhat amused and bewildered; becoming the Master of Death sounded like a fairy tale plot.
"It should just be a fairy tale," Lin Yue said slowly from the side, her emotionless eyes looking at Harry and Ron.
"The most likely identity of the Peverell brothers is that they were all powerful alchemists, and these three Deathly Hallows were alchemical products they created."
"As for why there is a rumor that possessing these three Deathly Hallows can conquer death, I think it might be because the powers of these three Hallows are so great that they have surpassed people's general understanding."
"That makes sense," Harry nodded thoughtfully.
After playing a full eleven games of Wizard's Chess, Lin Yue exchanged stories about the legend of the Invisibility Cloak with Harry and Ron. By the time the three of them stopped talking, it was already time for dinner.
Following Harry and Ron out of the Gryffindor common room, the three of them made their way to the Great Hall together. Inside the hall, the professors were already seated at the round table, and the few remaining students had taken their places as well. Lin Yue and her friends were among the last to arrive.
After quickly walking to the round table and taking their seats, Professor Dumbledore looked around to see that everyone was present and then reached for the goblet in front of him.
“Everyone, I wish you a Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas!” everyone else echoed as they raised their goblets. Lin Yue also expressionlessly raised her cup, mechanically wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. As for the sudden flutter in her heart, she dismissed it as possibly just a slight arrhythmia.
In the students' goblets is pumpkin juice, while the professors' goblets are filled with wine.
Because it is Christmas, the professors have mostly put aside their pretenses and indulged themselves for once, becoming slightly tipsy.
Watching the slightly tipsy professors, Lin Yue suddenly had a strange thought flash through her mind. Perhaps the teachers she has encountered in this world are indeed different from the ones she has met before.
Shaking her head, Lin Yue dismissed this inexplicable thought from her mind and slowly began to cut a large piece of turkey in front of her with a knife and fork.
If it were a regular meal, she would not use a knife and fork to cut the turkey. Instead, she would dive in with her hands, aiming to finish as quickly as possible so she could get back to studying. In fact, if she bit it into small pieces, she would even swallow the bones just to save time.
But today, only today, she would follow what Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall said and slow down her eating.
As she slowly placed the cut turkey into her mouth, a taste she had never experienced before blossomed in her mouth. Lin Yue's taste buds told her that this turkey was delicious, but she should feel... what should she feel? She blandly took a second bite of the turkey, and the food was indeed delicious, but what should she feel?
Her brain did not provide her with an answer, so she did not think much about it and continued to eat the turkey bite after bite. Her mood remained unchanged as a thought kept repeating in her mind: this turkey tastes good. Accompanied by the Christmas pudding, ice cream was served at the table. This thought then transformed into this Christmas pudding, this ice cream tastes good.
However, no matter how the food in these thoughts changed, Lin Yue's face showed no signs of change, and her heart remained a still pond. With a pair of lifeless eyes, she could see others smiling and their eyes crinkling with joy as they enjoyed the delicious food.
Lin Yue's brain responded to this: they are laughing. Why are they laughing? Because they are happy. Why are they happy? Because the food is delicious. So... if she also thinks the food is delicious, then she should be happy too?
But she did not feel happy; she felt no emotions. Lin Yue blinked and calmly reached for another piece of Christmas pudding. Completely unaware that even though her heart and mind were devoid of any feelings or fluctuations, tears had already begun to form in her eyes.