Because they arrived at Hogsmeade through an Apparition, Lin Yue and her companions walked back to Hogwarts with Professor Dumbledore, even though they reached the Great Hall before other students. They sat in the empty Great Hall, and both Cho Chang and Marietta, sitting beside Lin Yue, looked around curiously at the hall they had already seen for two years. It was as if they had never seen the Great Hall of Hogwarts before. Or rather, they had indeed never seen it looking so empty.
Sitting between the two older students, Lin Yue quickly recalled the textbooks she had memorized for this school year, completely ignoring the enthusiastic glances that the two older girls were casting around.
Hermione and Harry were also sitting at the Gryffindor long table, discussing something with each other. As for Penelope, she had been taken away by Professor Flitwick to help; the professors also needed to do some preparations before the official start of the school year. Since the students from her house had returned early, Professor Flitwick naturally asked her for help without hesitation. It wasn't until after lunch that Penelope walked into the Great Hall, wiping sweat from her forehead. In the hall, there were only seven people, including her, as the professors were still busy in their respective offices. Therefore, the lunch brought to the long table by the house-elves was not much, just enough for them to eat.
Penelope sat down next to Cho Chang, took a big bite of a pie, and continued to wipe the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
Cho Chang looked at the rarely "disheveled" senior and, somewhat surprised, took out his own handkerchief to help her wipe the sweat, so she could focus on eating.
"Senior Penelope, what on earth did you go do? Why are you sweating so much?"
Marietta looked at the fine beads of sweat on Penelope's forehead with some confusion; even now, Penelope was still sweating.
"Don't mention it," Penelope sighed helplessly after swallowing a mouthful of pie. "I went to help Professor Flitwick clean the statue of Lady Ravenclaw in the Ravenclaw common room."
"It hadn't been cleaned all holiday, and it was super hard to wipe."
Cho Chang and Marietta nodded in understanding; it made sense.
As the founder of Ravenclaw House, the statue of Lady Ravenclaw had always been cleaned by the students of Ravenclaw House themselves, never needing the help of house-elves. Now that summer has passed, it must have been difficult to clean... However, it seemed that out of concern for tiring out the young witches and wizards, Professor Flitwick had always done this task himself before.
But this time, with Penelope around, Professor Flitwick decided to let her take a turn. It turned out that the young witches and wizards were not as fragile as he had thought. Lin Yue lowered her head to eat, and as she listened to Senior Penelope, she unconsciously began to reflect.
The material of the statue of Lady Ravenclaw is indeed quite difficult to clean.
With no fluctuations in her hearts, they concluded that after having lunch, they would spend the entire afternoon in the Great Hall. The other young wizards finally arrived at Hogwarts and walked into the Great Hall. As the young wizards filed in, many were surprised to see Lin Yue and the others sitting together, their mouths agape.
The Gryffindors instinctively surrounded Hermione, Harry, and Ron, asking how they had arrived early and why they hadn’t seen them on the Hogwarts Express.
The Ravenclaws gathered around Penelope, Autumn, and Marietta, while Lin Yue... was seen with her mouth moving as if she were reciting something.
The Ravenclaws tacitly accepted that she was studying and did not approach to disturb her.
However, Lin Yue, who was indeed immersed in reciting her textbook, did not notice Draco's poisonous glare from the Slytherin table.
But Lin Yue was oblivious to this; Penelope, on the other hand, noticed it and frowned deeply. She waved her hand to signal the boy across from her to sit a little to the left, blocking Lin Yue from Draco's view.
The boy sitting across from him was taken aback for a moment. Although he didn't understand why Penelope wanted him to move to the left, he obediently shifted his position. After all, his house prefect wouldn't harm him; he would just listen to what she said.
"What’s going on? Why is Malfoy staring at Lin Yue like that?"
"What does Malfoy mean by that?"
Draco's gaze just now was completely unmasked. Perhaps he thought that with the Malfoy family backing him, there was no need to hide anything. As a result, many of the Ravenclaws clearly saw his expression, and at this moment, everyone squinted their eyes, looking unfavorably at the Slytherin table.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Lin Yue was indeed a key contributor to Ravenclaw's victory in the House Cup last year. Although she always appears cold and expressionless, which can seem quite intimidating, after spending a year with her, they have come to understand her true character. Beneath her icy and rigid exterior, she is very patient with everyone. If you call her name, she will respond to you. Although her speech is formal, she is always polite. Her knowledge is also extensive; she is well-versed in many advanced topics and will patiently and diligently answer any questions you have. Such an excellent, studious, and polite junior has long been cherished by the Ravenclaws. Now, a Slytherins is glaring at her so fiercely. Have they even asked if they could agree to this?
Cho Chang and Marietta exchanged a glance and silently looked at Lin Yue. After seeing that she had no reaction, they both breathed a sigh of relief and began to recount what had happened in Diagon Alley, with Penelope chiming in with her comments.
"How dare he!" A boy who had just moved his seat slammed his hand on the table and turned to glare at the Slytherin table, his eyes blazing with anger. He cursed Hermione Granger for being a Mudblood and insulted Lin Yue, questioning whether she was even human!
How dare he! What was wrong with Lin Yue? She was just being herself, and she had the entire Ravenclaw house backing her up. She only needed to live and study according to her own wishes; everything else could be left to them.
The long table was visibly buzzing with whispers as the first-year students had not yet been sorted, so only students from the second to seventh years were present. The Ravenclaw were discussing among themselves, coming up with countless plans to teach Malfoy a good lesson.
That look he had just given was clearly one of hatred towards Lin Yue; they would not sit idly by and watch that brat bully their precious Ravenclaw.
As the students discussed their plans, Penelope, the girl prefect, and another boy prefect, who should have put a stop to it, did not voice any further objections. On the contrary, they used their knowledge of the professors to suggest several ways to avoid getting caught.
Cho Chang and Marietta also joined in to contribute to the Ravenclaws' action plan. During the discussion, Lin Yue was the only one at the Ravenclaw table who was out of the loop. Moreover, Cho Chang even kindly covered her ears with her hands.
She could tell that Lin Yue was extremely rule-abiding; if she heard their plans, it might upset her. So, there was no need for her to know about these matters.
Lin Yue, who was suddenly and gently covered her ears by Cho Chang, stopped reciting and looked up at Cho Chang.
Seeing Lin Yue's eyes, which were as expressionless as an inorganic object, Cho Chang smiled gently and shook his head, indicating that she was fine.
Receiving the answer, Lin Yue felt no confusion or curiosity in her heart; she nodded and lowered her head to continue reciting from the textbook.
Thus, under the joint planning of the little eagles of Ravenclaw, a detailed "prank" scheme was laid out, almost one for each day.
A group of top students gathered together, and even discussing prank operations was highly efficient.
With spells, potions, and even alchemy and ancient runes, the knowledgeable Ravenclaw was far more terrifying in their pranks than the simple mischief of Gryffindor.
Various methods emerged one after another, and the details could be well controlled, ensuring that Malfoy would be extremely uncomfortable, but without anything truly serious happening.
They guaranteed that for this entire school year, as long as Malfoy was at school, he could have "exciting days" every day and would definitely not have the energy to trouble Lin Yue.
Poor Draco, who was gritting his teeth wanting to do something after learning that he couldn't take revenge because Dumbledore intervened, found that his plans had already been arranged for him before he could even think of anything.
The discussion among the Ravenclaws continued until the new student sorting began. Cho Chang released her hand that had been covering Lin Yue's ears and gently reminded her in a soft voice, "Lin Yue, the sorting ceremony has started. Let's learn later and watch the ceremony first."
Lin Yue turned her head stiffly to look at Cho Chang and nodded, "Okay." After saying that, she focused on the new student sorting.
This year, there weren't many new students entering Ravenclaw, but without exception, the first thing they did upon entering the house was to look at Lin Yue, who was sitting between Cho Chang and Marietta. This second-year senior, who had gained quite a reputation, had earned over 800 points for the house in one academic year, and her fame had indeed spread among the parents.
Moreover, her previous "appearance" in Diagon Alley meant that almost no new student was unaware of her. However, upon seeing Lin Yue's expressionless face and the deadness in her eyes, many first-year Ravenclaws couldn't help but shrink back.
Then, the older Ravenclaws beside them would gently introduce Lin Yue, explaining that she was just used to being this way, but she was a very nice person. "No matter what questions you ask, as long as Lin Yue knows the answer, she will seriously help you."
Penelope unreservedly and without exaggeration "recommended" Lin Yue to the new little eagles. When Lin Yue heard Penelope call her name, she turned to look at her and nodded lightly after hearing her words.
"If you have any questions, I will answer whatever I can."
Extending a helping hand to others within one's capacity is a basic courtesy. The new Ravenclaws blushed and quietly expressed their gratitude to their senior. Their evaluation and sense of familiarity towards Lin Yue increased a little more in their hearts.
"Senior Lin Yue, aren't you tired?" A ethereal and elegant voice rang out.
Lin Yue accurately pinpointed the source of the voice; it was a little girl with golden hair and a pair of slightly bulging, somewhat dazed eyes.
"Why would I be tired?" Lin Yue couldn't fully understand her meaning, so she could only ask, even though she felt no confusion inside.
"You’re dragging a lot of things." The girl pointed at Lin Yue's back, but there was nothing behind her.
"I'm not dragging anything." Lin Yue blinked; her brain told her that there was nothing behind her except for the back of the chair.
"Alright," the girl nodded, and then as if remembering something, she reached out her hand towards Lin Yue. "I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood."
"Lin Yue." Lin Yue politely extended her hand to shake hands with Luna, her expression showing no change at all.
At the Gryffindor long table, Hermione, who was about to pick up her knife and fork to enjoy dinner, instinctively looked up at the Ravenclaw table. She wanted to see if Lin Yue was following her advice and eating dinner slowly, but she didn't see Lin Yue eating. Instead, she saw Lin Yue shaking hands with a new student.
A complex feeling surged within Hermione; she was half happy for Lin Yue making new friends, but the other half felt a bitterness at seeing Lin Yue shake hands with the younger student. She bit her lip, took a big sip of pumpkin juice, and silently scolded herself.
"Hermione Granger, what are you thinking? Lin Yue is your friend, and you know her situation, right? Now she has new friends, and you should be happy for her, that's all."
Even though she thought this, Hermione couldn't shake off the bitterness in her heart. It wasn't until she saw Lin Yue and Luna release each other's hands that the bitterness in her heart quietly faded away.
Lin Yue always keeps her promises, so she took her time enjoying dinner. This scene left the Ravenclaws speechless, and even the professors at the staff table were quite surprised. After the initial shock, everyone felt genuinely happy. Unfortunately, this happiness didn’t last long, especially for the eagles.
After dinner, Professor Dumbledore formally introduced Gilderoy Lockhart, who was dressed like a flamboyant peacock, sitting next to him. He announced that Lockhart would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. The eagles, who had been smiling at Lin Yue's leisurely pace, suddenly had their expressions fall, looking gloomily at Lockhart, who believed himself to be quite charming and was throwing flirtatious glances around.
Merlin’s beard… they had hoped that Lockhart was just there for dinner, nothing more. But now, was he really going to be their professor? Listening to the discussions around her, Lin Yue blinked calmly. To her, it didn’t matter who the professor was; she just needed to learn well from them. The school wouldn’t make a mistake, Lin Yue’s mind was certain of that.
Meanwhile, Hermione, who understood Lockhart was a fraud, began to consider the possibility of asking Lin Yue for help with Defense Against the Dark Arts this year.