Hogwarts' Christmas holiday lasts for two weeks, fourteen days, and today is already the ninth day. Lin Yue has been reading from eight o'clock on the evening of the ninth day until six o'clock the next morning before finally closing her book.

She stood up, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and headed to the Hogwarts library to return her books. At six o'clock in the morning, Madam Pince had not yet arrived, so Lin Yue placed the books on her desk and then turned around to quickly walk towards the Great Hall.

Fifteen hours of unconsciousness had slightly improved her complexion, but only just a little. Her face still bore a sickly pallor, her lips were colourless, and dark circles surrounded her eyes. After having breakfast in the Great Hall, Lin Yue hurried back to the Ravenclaw tower, sat down at her desk, and entered a serious study mode, focusing intently on her books.

In the following four days of the holiday, no professor or student remaining at school saw Lin Yue. Even Madam Pince had not seen Lin Yue come to the library to borrow books again, and she silently breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Lin Yue had finally given herself a few days off to rest.

She thought to herself that this child finally knows how to let herself rest.

However, the fact is that Lin Yue, after some thought, confirmed that her current appearance would definitely lead the professors to ask her to stop studying. But learning cannot be stopped, not even when one is sick. Therefore, she needed to avoid the professors. Lin Yue made this judgment without any feelings. As a result, she deliberately went to the dining hall early for the past four days and then quickly returned to her dormitory, all to avoid encountering the professors and the students who stayed on Hogwarts, especially Harry and Ron among them.

Even during these four days, she only read books from the small library within Ravenclaw House. For a full four days, she had not closed her eyes, not even for a minute of sleep. Another thing was that her left arm had completely lost the ability to be raised during these days. On the night she fell unconscious, she punished herself for the fifteen hours of study time she had wasted. When her right hand pressed down on her left arm, leaving fifteen clear handprints without mercy, her left arm began to tremble uncontrollably, losing all strength to lift itself. With a calm expression, she slowly opened her right hand, and under the light in the dormitory, Lin Yue clearly saw her right palm covered in blood. Slowly taking off her wizard robe, Lin Yue gently pulled open her shirt, revealing that the upper left arm of her white shirt was completely soaked in blood.

After Lin Yue took off her shirt, her left upper arm was covered in bloody handprints. Continuous injuries had finally taken a toll on her left arm, causing it to bleed.

Calmly averting her gaze, Lin Yue reached for a tissue nearby and vigorously wiped her left arm, cleaning off the blood that had seeped out.

The force she used seemed to make her completely unaware of the pain; even though it hurt deeply, there was not a trace of expression on her face.

Even in this state, Lin Yue merely apathetically changed into a clean set of clothes and then sat down at her desk to resume studying. As a result, until the last day of the holiday, her left arm remained in a state where she couldn't lift it.

She truly was not afraid of pain; in the absence of emotions, while the pain was uncomfortable, it was bearable for her. However, aside from the pain, the injury to her left arm had reached a limit of the body's capacity to endure, making it impossible for her to exert any strength with it.

Let alone endure the pain to move it, so when the holiday ended, what Hermione saw was Lin Yue with her left arm hanging down, eating at the table with only her right hand, looking strangely out of place. Not to mention the suffocating pallor on her face and her dark lips, Hermione felt as if her heart was being squeezed.

The Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogwarts in the evening, and she hurried to the Great Hall after packing her things. She arrived earlier than the other professors and students, thinking that if she got there early, she would run into Lin Yue. If Lin Yue hadn't arrived yet, she could wait for her there. As a result, when she walked into the Great Hall, she indeed encountered Lin Yue, who had come early to eat, just like a few days ago. Before she could greet her, Hermione noticed Lin Yue's strange posture.

Furrowing her brows, Hermione quickly walked up to Lin Yue. "Lin Yue, good evening."

Hearing Hermione's voice, Lin Yue paused her eating for a moment, then looked up at Hermione with a blank expression.

"Good afternoon, Hermione."

"Uh-huh," Hermione nodded, her gaze fixed on Lin Yue's left arm. "What happened to your left arm?"

Lin Yue, who showed no emotion and would never lie, simply stated the truth.

"A punishment for wasting study time."

"What?" Hermione looked at Lin Yue in confusion, but Lin Yue did not respond further and continued to eat on her own.

Hermione vaguely felt that something was off. She squinted at Lin Yue and then unceremoniously walked over to sit beside her, reaching out to grab some food for herself.

"I'll go back to your dorm with you later and let me see your left arm."

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Hermione said this in an undeniable tone, and Lin Yue did not argue back, continuing to eat her dinner without any reaction.

After quickly finishing her own dinner, Hermione closely followed Lin Yue all the way to the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room. Lin Yue answered the riddle of the bronze knocker and led Hermione up the stairs to the common room, entering her dorm. Cho Chang and Marietta had just gone to the Great Hall for dinner, so the two groups missed each other perfectly.

Hermione stood at the door with her arms crossed and nodded at Lin Yue, "Alright, let me see your left arm."

Lin Yue mechanically replied, "Okay."

Slowly taking off her wizard robe, she opened her shirt underneath. At first, when Hermione saw Lin Yue slowly removing her wizard robe, a deep blush appeared on her face. But when Lin Yue took off her shirt, Hermione's shyness immediately vanished, leaving only a surge of anger and heartache in her heart.

"Who did this?" Hermione asked, trembling as she stepped closer to Lin Yue, her voice filled with suppressed rage as she looked at the bloody handprints all over Lin Yue's left upper arm.

"I did it myself," Lin Yue replied emotionlessly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What...?" Hermione was taken aback for a moment, her gaze shifting from Lin Yue's left upper arm to her face.

"Missing study time requires punishment," Lin Yue answered mechanically.

Hermione swallowed hard, trembling slightly as she lifted Lin Yue's right hand and placed it on her own left upper arm.

Lin Yue looked at Hermione without any reaction, not understanding what Hermione was trying to do.

"Try... to press your hand against this handprint..." Hermione said, her voice trembling. She still couldn't believe that this was something Lin Yue had done to herself.

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded and slowly pressed her right hand against one of the handprints on Hermione's left upper arm, perfectly aligning with it.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione had to close her eyes to force herself to calm down. When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with the authority of a lioness.

"Who taught you to do this? To hurt yourself?"

Lin Yue spoke in a flat tone, "My parents told me that if I waste study time or make mistakes in my studies, I should be punished."

"Hurting yourself as a punishment?!" Hermione couldn't help but raise her voice. She could hardly believe what kind of parents would say such things, what kind of parents would allow their child to harm herself.

"Yes, isn't that a punishment?" Lin Yue nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Hermione covered her face with her hands and silently screamed for a while, hiding her face in her palms.

Only then did she slowly lift her head and look at Lin Yue, her voice becoming subdued.

"What you said... about wasting study time, what does that mean?"

Lin Yue looked at Hermione and instinctively opened her mouth to respond, but her brain seemed to finally kick in and stop her. Hermione was kind, and a voice in her head reminded her that if she punished herself for delaying her studies by making her a pair of gloves, she would feel guilty. After coming to this conclusion, Lin Yue selectively shared part of the truth.

"The time spent relaxing with Harry and the others to have a snowball fight, the time spent going to see the Mirror of Erised together."

Weakly nodding, Hermione could no longer focus on the mention of the Mirror of Erised in her words. All she heard was the time spent relaxing with Harry and the others... relaxing with Harry and the others.

Who reminded Harry to take Lin Yue out to relax? It was her! Damn it, she was the one who caused Lin Yue to punish herself. Even though Lin Yue didn't mention the glove-making incident, Hermione still felt guilty and blamed herself for it.

Listening to this, she seemed to remember something and looked at Lin Yue, "So... when I took you to watch the Quidditch match before... you also punished yourself, right?"

"That also took up your study time."

Lin Yue seemed to be stuck, futilely opening her mouth. She instinctively wanted to answer truthfully, but something in her mind was stopping her, causing her head to throb painfully. Although there was no expression on Lin Yue's face and she had no other physical reactions besides opening her mouth, Hermione could sense her struggle and the pain that accompanied it.

Gently reaching out to hold her, Hermione slowly stroked her back, saying, "I understand. You don't need to say anything."

Lin Yue was held in Hermione's arms, her face as pale as water, with her mouth closed tightly.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, "Lin Yue, can I know how you schedule your study time?"

"Sure."

Hermione lowered her head, looking at Lin Yue, whom she was holding, "Go ahead."

Lin Yue didn't look up, just mechanically replied, "I sleep from four to five every day, have three meals a day, each lasting three and a half minutes, take five minutes to shower, and spend the rest of the time studying."

"Is this also your damn... sorry," Hermione swallowed the curse that almost slipped out, "Is this also set by your parents?"

"Yes," Lin Yue answered calmly, "It ensures I get the most basic rest, allowing me to study in the most efficient state."

"That's nonsense," Hermione muttered through gritted teeth.

Releasing Lin Yue, Hermione crouched down to look into her eyes. "Don't believe your parents; this will ruin you."

"Your body can't take it, and your mind can't take it either. Do you know how bad your complexion looks and how heavy your dark circles are?"

Lin Yue stared blankly at Hermione, her eyes as still as dead water. "Studying is the most important thing."

"To hell with studying being the most important!" Hermione couldn't hold back any longer; the lioness of Gryffindor unleashed her anger.

Although she could say in front of Harry and Ron that being expelled was worse than dying, when she saw Lin Yue truly putting studying above her own health, even her own life, Hermione felt an uncontrollable rage.

"What good is studying if you lose your life?!" Hermione grasped Lin Yue's shoulders tightly, wanting to shake her awake, but she was afraid of causing more problems for her already weak body, so she hesitated to act. But not studying could also lead to losing her life... Lin Yue thought to herself, feeling no waves of emotion, yet she didn't voice this thought.

Hermione pressed her lips together and looked at Lin Yue. "Either you promise me that you'll get at least six hours of sleep every day from now on, and that no matter what problems arise in your studies, you won't punish yourself for it or I can just move into your dorm to supervise you; I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

Lin Yue's brain quickly processed this, and she nodded, "I promise you; I guarantee that I will get at least six hours of sleep every day from now on, and I won't punish myself for studying anymore."

Hermione nodded, still pressing her lips together, and reached out to help Lin Yue adjust her shirt. "Put on your wizard robe it's quite chilly."

Lin Yue nodded and reached for her wizard robe to put it on.

"I'll be keeping an eye on your condition every day. If you still look pale and weak from lack of sleep, I'll come straight to your dorm to sleep on the floor!"

"Mm..." Lin Yue replied expressionlessly.

"Make sure to go to bed early tonight and remember to get six hours of sleep. I'm leaving now; I need to take some time for myself."

"Okay."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at Lin Yue, "Aren't you going to say goodnight to me?"

"Goodnight," Lin Yue replied mechanically.

"Goodnight," Hermione said as she reached out to hug Lin Yue, "Have sweet dreams tonight."

After saying that, she let go and turned and leave Lin Yue's dormitory. As soon as she stepped out, Hermione's expression changed dramatically.

It was fierce; anger was no longer enough to describe her current state. She even felt that if Lin Yue's parents were standing in front of her right now, without considering Lin Yue's feelings, she could cast the most vicious curse she could think of on them without any psychological burden.

Their approach to Lin Yue's education could no longer be described as hoping their child would become excellent; they were simply raising a learning machine, training a compliant and efficient learning machine, completely disregarding Lin Yue's well-being.

She could hardly believe that there were parents in the world who treated their children this way.

Standing on the stairs, she took a while to calm her emotions, and only when her expression gradually returned to normal did Hermione slowly walk down the stairs, leaving the Ravenclaw common room.

However, Hermione still did not know that she had only learned a part of the truth... the real cruelty had yet to be discovered.