The two girls played for the whole morning, and it was already noon, time for lunch. The food options in the amusement park weren't many, and to make it convenient, they were mostly fast food. One of them ordered a meal set, and Hermione, taking advantage of her parents not being around, specifically ordered two cups of cola for herself and Lin Yue to indulge a little.
Having parents who are both dentists has its downsides; she hardly ever had the chance to drink sugary beverages because they are bad for teeth. Even the pastries made at the Granger household are sugar-free. So, even now, Hermione looks forward to Christmas every year, as on that day she can drink as much soda as she wants without restrictions. But today, since her parents weren't around, she could also enjoy drinks without limits!
Looking at the two large cups of cola in front of her, Lin Yue remained calm. To be honest, she didn't really know what this bubbling black liquid was. The "drinks" she had consumed were limited to boiled tap water and pumpkin juice after arriving at Hogwarts. As for cola, orange juice, and other beverages, she only knew their history and general concepts. However, if a cup of such a drink was placed in front of her, she still wouldn't be able to recognize it.
Turning to Hermione, she saw Hermione eagerly pick up her cup of cola and take a big gulp. Her expression twisted for a moment, then relaxed, and a content smile blossomed on her face. Lin Yue tilted her head and asked in a flat tone, "Hermione, what is this?"
Hermione, who was about to take a second sip, paused for a moment. She looked at the cola in her hand, uncertainly gesturing. "Are you asking about this?"
"Mm-hmm." Lin Yue nodded affirmatively.
"This is cola," Hermione replied, "a carbonated drink, very tasty, but not very healthy."
"Oh." Lin Yue nodded. When Hermione said it was cola, Lin Yue was able to connect this cup of drink with the concept in her mind.
Hermione pressed her lips together, put down the cup of cola in her hand, and gently patted Lin Yue's back.
She was overthinking... Lin Yue's parents wouldn't even let her eat properly, so how could they possibly allow her to drink soda?
"Try it, it tastes really good, and it will cool you down after you drink it."
Lin Yue nodded blankly, reached for the cola in front of her, and brought it to her mouth, gulping it down.
Hermione's eyes widened in shock at this scene, and she quickly tapped Lin Yue's arm to stop her, "Stop, stop! Merlin above, this cola is cold, and the carbonation is very stimulating. Drinking it like that will hurt your throat!"
Hearing this, Lin Yue finally stopped and put down the cup, the stimulating sensation of carbonation exploding in her mouth and throat.
But there was not a trace of discomfort on her face. Hermione looked at her nervously, constantly assessing her from head to toe, "You... your throat isn't uncomfortable, is it?"
Lin Yue felt the gradually dissipating irritation in her throat and shook her head, "No."
"That's good..." Hermione sighed in relief, gently patting her chest, "You scared me. Don't drink soda like that."
"No, you shouldn't drink anything that fast, even water. Otherwise, if the water is a bit hot or a bit cold, won't that ruin your throat?!"
"It won't," Lin Yue shook her head confidently, "It will only hurt for about a week, and my voice will be very hoarse."
Hermione's brow twitched violently, and her other hand instinctively tightened around the plate holding her burger and fries on the table.
"What do you mean? You didn't... always drink water like that before, did you?" Please say no! Hermione's grip on the plate tightened even more.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as she hoped. Lin Yue's calm face even showed a hint of nonchalance, "Yes, I try to drink as much as possible at once, quickly, to save more study time."
"I..." Hermione looked at Lin Yue in front of her, forcing herself to swallow the words she hadn't said yet.
"Alright," Hermione took a deep breath, placed her hands on Lin Yue's shoulders, "Listen carefully, starting today, you need to eat and drink slowly, okay?"
"Put your health first, and that damned important studying, put it second."
As she listened to Hermione's words, Lin Yue's mind once again experienced a clash between two thoughts.
Health first? But studying should be the priority, that's what her understanding told her.
Yet deep in her mind, another voice was shouting along with Hermione, "No! That's not right! Your health should come first; health is the foundation of revolution!"
The two thoughts clashed, and Lin Yue fell into a slight "stutter," but in front of her was Hermione's earnest face.
Lin Yue heard her own voice tremble slightly as she spoke, "Okay, I remember."
Hermione smiled a little more at ease and ruffled Lin Yue's hair, "Let's eat."
"Mm." Lin Yue nodded, reaching for her burger and taking a big bite.
After sipping her cola, Hermione looked at Lin Yue with a complex expression. The more she got to know her, the more she felt that the tragedies behind Lin Yue were piling up.
It was a chain of tragedies, one linked to another, locking Lin Yue inside.
She could feel that she was slowly cutting through this chain, gradually pulling Lin Yue out.
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Gently putting down her cola, Hermione took another big bite of her burger, chewing fiercely, "Don't worry, Lin Yue, I will definitely pull you out completely!"
After finishing their lunch, the two girls slumped in their seats, continuously burping.
Without the Granger couple around, after downing two cups of cola, both Hermione and Lin Yue felt bloated, especially after each having a large meal.
It took them half an hour to recover enough to stand up and leave.
"Burp," Hermione covered her mouth and let out a small burp, "I think I won't want to drink cola again for a month."
Next to her, Lin Yue's face showed no change, though she occasionally let out a small burp as well.
After walking around the amusement park for a while to help digest, and once the excess food in their stomachs had settled somewhat, Hermione turned to Lin Yue.
"Lin Yue, how about we go to the haunted house?" Hermione was still thinking about her plan to use the haunted house's atmosphere to stir Lin Yue's emotions. Of course... having Lin Yue get scared and jump into her arms would be quite nice too~
Lin Yue had no objections to these matters; whatever Hermione said was what it was. So she directly expressed her agreement and let Hermione lead her toward the haunted house.
When they arrived outside the haunted house, the staff hesitated for a moment as they looked at the two little girls, then bent down to make eye contact with the more outgoing Hermione.
"Little girls are you two here to play by yourselves?"
"Um, we should be able to go in, right?" Hermione nodded and pointed to the haunted house behind him.
"Yes, you can go in..." The staff scratched his head, "But it will be quite dark inside, and there are scary staff members. Do you need us to find someone to accompany you inside?"
Upon hearing his suggestion, Hermione immediately shook her head. It was a joke; she had another purpose for bringing Lin Yue in, which was to wait for Lin Yue to get scared and then jump into her arms.
What if they brought a staff member along, and Lin Yue wasn't scared anymore, or worse, what if Lin Yue jumped into the wrong person's arms?
"Thank you, mister but we can manage on our own."
"Alright," the staff said with a kind smile, "Two brave little girls, please go in."
Saying this, he took the money Hermione handed him, gave them two tickets, and guided them to the entrance of the haunted house.
Looking at the dark entrance of the haunted house, Hermione, who had experienced the trapdoor at Hogwarts, felt nothing. After thanking the staff with Lin Yue, she pulled her in together.
Once inside the haunted house, Lin Yue's vision was completely engulfed in darkness; everything around her was pitch black. It wasn't until her eyes gradually adjusted that she could vaguely see her surroundings.
Various scary props were placed along the sides of the path, and ahead was a skeleton model hanging upside down, with something that looked like shredded meat hanging from it.
These things would indeed be scary enough for most children and even adults.
However, Lin Yue felt no fear; even though the atmosphere around her was dark and frightening, she felt no sense of terror. Looking at those props, she merely thought about the possible materials used to make them.
Beside her, Hermione also wore a look of disinterest. Having spent an entire year in a school full of magic, she was used to the ghosts in the school, the moving portraits, and even had experienced trolls and end-of-year adventures.
Now, seeing such a haunted house, Hermione had only one thought: Is this it?
They walked into a small, separate room, where they saw a staff member dressed as a wicked witch brewing potion.
Lin Yue instinctively looked at the large pot in front of her, her nose twitching slightly as a scent of mung bean wafted into her nostrils—mung bean soup. Her brain quickly made a judgment, and Lin Yue concluded what that large pot of soup was.
Hermione shook her head secretly as she observed the staff's actions; they were not doing it correctly at all. It was a wonder if they could brew any potion like this. But what was in her pot? It did look a bit faintly green.
The evil witch, who was "brewing potions," had just lifted her head to scare someone when she saw Lin Yue's East Asian face, and her spirit instantly deflated. An Eastern person, huh? She wouldn't be able to scare her... After all, this soup was made using a method she learned from her Eastern roommate.
Since it turned out to be a light green color, it could pass for the evil witch's potion, and drinking it could also help cool down, so the boss had arranged for her to pretend to be an evil witch brewing potions in the summer heat, and she could serve it to tourists.
Thinking that she wouldn't be able to scare that Eastern girl, but the local girl next to her should be able to, the evil witch ladled out two bowls of mung bean soup and brought them to them.
"Come... two lovely girls, drink my potion! Only one of you can leave from here~" She tried to lower her voice, making it sound hoarser and eviler.
However, it was completely useless; neither Hermione nor Lin Yue was scared. Hermione just pointed uncertainly at the mung bean soup in front of her. "What is this? Can we really drink it?"
Lin Yue was the first to reach out and take a bowl of mung bean soup from the evil witch's hands. Without hesitation, she took a sip, confirmed that it was fine, and then turned to look at Hermione.
"It's mung bean soup, no problem. It can help cool down in the summer, and it's well-cooked; it's been simmering long enough."
The evil witch couldn't help but twitch her lips; the two little girls... were surprisingly calm. She hadn't scared either of them at all.
And wasn't it because it had been simmering long enough? She had been cooking it since morning!
Hearing this, Hermione also took another bowl of mung bean soup, lowered her head to take a small sip, and then nodded. The taste was indeed unique, and it felt good to drink.
Since they weren't afraid, Lin Yue and Hermione didn't rush to leave. They strolled through the haunted house while sipping on the mung bean soup, managing to turn the haunted house into a park-like experience.
Various NPCs took turns appearing, and various mechanisms were constantly triggered, but none of them could scare the girls. The person in charge of the haunted house was watching this scene from the surveillance cameras and was almost in tears.
This was too demoralizing. God knows he had been watching the monitors specifically because he was afraid these two little girls would be too scared and end up crying in place, refusing to move. But now, not only were they not scared, they seemed to have no reaction at all.
It was precisely this situation that strengthened the person in charge's determination to update the haunted house; it had to be updated. How could it be that even two little girls couldn't be scared?
By now, Hermione had already given up on the hope that the atmosphere in the haunted house would infect Lin Yue and make her learn to be afraid, let alone that she would be scared enough to jump into her arms.
If she herself wasn't scared, how could Lin Yue possibly be scared?
But thinking about it, it made sense... She had taken it for granted. Lin Yue had the courage to face Voldemort head-on; how could she be afraid of a haunted house that was all fake?
As they walked out of the haunted house, Lin Yue and Hermione had just adjusted to the light when they were approached by the haunted house manager, who looked very serious.
He earnestly told Lin Yue and Hermione that their haunted house would be updated, that he would work hard to make it scarier, and he hoped that when the updates were complete, he could invite them both to come and play.
After listening, Hermione turned to Lin Yue and gave her a glance. Although she couldn't have Lin Yue jump into her arms, just wandering through the haunted house with Lin Yue... she was very willing to do that!
"Lin Yue, what do you think?" Hermione blinked and looked at Lin Yue with some anticipation.
Lin Yue turned her head, expressionless, and nodded, "I'm fine with anything, you decide."
Hermione smiled and turned to the person in charge of the haunted house, "Okay, we will definitely come back next time."
After saying that, the haunted house manager asked Hermione to leave her home phone number so that he could call her when the haunted house was updated.
After leaving her number, Hermione pulled Lin Yue along as they left. They had already done most of the fun things in the amusement park, and both of them were a bit tired; it was time to go home.
As they walked out of the amusement park, Hermione turned to Lin Yue and gently brushed aside the stray hair in front of her face, "How was today? Did you have fun? Just... did you feel your heart racing, like you were bubbling over?"
Lin Yue was taken aback. Heart racing? Bubbling over?
Watching Hermione raise her hand and calmly place it on her own chest, Lin Yue carefully felt for a moment and nodded. Yes, her heart was indeed beating very fast.