Back in her Dormitory, sitting at her desk, Lynn instinctively wanted to take out a book to continue studying. However, the reality was that she couldn't recall a single piece of knowledge.
Her mind was in a state of chaos, and her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tight. She couldn't perform any kind of thought and could only sit blankly in her chair.
What was wrong with her... what was this situation? Why was her heart tightening in waves? Why was her brain screaming and trembling so frantically?
She had never experienced this before... wait, she had. When was that?
It seemed like a very, very long time ago, so long that her memories were blurred. It seemed to be when she was only a few years old, seeing two fully armed men with live ammunition dragging away an older girl she knew from next door.
She had been in this same state back then. So why was that? She had been very... very... very what?
Lynn's brain kept glitching, like a computer trying to start something but constantly failing.
She sat there in her chair for several hours. Lynn remained there until Maranhao and Marietta had finished dinner, played with their friends for a while, and returned just as the curfew began.
Seeing Lynn sitting blankly in her chair, both Maranhao and Marietta were startled.
Maranhao frowned and walked over slowly, bending down to look. She was surprised to see a faint furrow in the brow of Lynn's usually unchanging face.
This discovery made Maranhao's heart sink. Something made Lynn frown?! Just how serious was whatever had happened!
"Lynn, Lynn, what's wrong?"
Lynn's slightly furrowed brow instantly smoothed out, and she returned to her expressionless state. She turned her head to look at Maranhao and asked a question in a completely flat tone.
"I think of several people, I think of what they are going to do, my brain is confused, and my heart is racing. Why?"
Maranhao was momentarily at a loss by Lynn's question, but Marietta, standing behind her, spoke gently.
"If you were talking about one person, I might say you like them. But since you're talking about several people, it probably proves... you know they are going to do something dangerous, and you are worried about them."
"Worried..." Lynn raised her hand and gently touched her chest, where a heart was beating erratically. "So this feeling is what it means to be worried."
"Lynn, has something happened?" Maranhao knelt down, gently holding Lynn's hand and looking at her with concern.
Lynn turned her head and looked at Maranhao calmly. In her mind, the scenario of her telling the truth and Senior Cho Chang and Senior Marietta following her to the fourth-floor forbidden area instantly appeared.
Her heart tightened painfully again for no reason. Worry. This was worry... "It's a secret," Lynn spoke truthfully, while also preventing Maranhao and Marietta from going with her.
Yes, to the fourth-floor forbidden area. Just now, having understood what worry was, her brain immediately made that decision.
Standing up abruptly, Lynn strode toward the door. "Wait..." Maranhao called out to her.
Lynn turned back to look at her with an expressionless face. Maranhao tried her best to suppress the concern in her heart and gave a gentle smile.
"You haven't had dinner yet, have you?"
"No." Lynn shook her head.
"We'll go get some for you. When you get back... you can eat." So you must come back!
"Okay, thank you, Seniors." Lynn nodded, turned, opened the door, and strode out.
Marietta walked to Maranhao's side, looking at the Dormitory door with unease. "You're just going to let her go alone?"
"With the strength of the two of us... going would probably just get in her way."
Maranhao shook her head. "Let's go. Let's head out one more time. At the very least, we can't let her go hungry when she gets back."
Marietta nodded and followed Maranhao out with a sigh, heading straight for the Hogwarts kitchen. She hoped Lynn would return quickly and safely so that she might even get to eat the food while it was still hot.
Arriving at the fourth-floor forbidden area, Lynn thought about her nighttime excursion and her intention to break into the restricted zone, so she reached out to press her left thigh. But then she thought about what she was about to do.
Lynn withdrew her hand. She needed to be able to move quickly, she thought emotionlessly. Therefore, she would wait until everything was over before accepting her punishment.
Looking at the wooden door blocking her path, Lynn raised her wand and cast an Unlocking Charm. The door swung open instantly.
Stepping inside, the three heads of the Cerberus immediately turned toward her.
Before the Cerberus could start barking, Lynn gripped her wand tight and shouted calmly at it, "Stupefy."
Bang! The powerful spell sent Fluffy the Cerberus flying, and it collapsed heavily onto the ground behind it.
However, this didn't cause much damage to the thick-skinned beast; it merely forced it into a deep, pleasant slumber.
Pulling open the trapdoor on the floor, Lynn jumped down without hesitation.
After falling for a while, Lynn landed steadily on the devils snare at the bottom. She recognized the plants as devils snare at a glance and waved her wand expressionlessly.
"Incendio."
Vigorous flames immediately began to burn beneath the devils snare. The plant frantically retracted its tendrils. Lynn fell further, but her mind didn't panic or stall in the slightest. She adjusted her posture in mid-air and landed nimbly on the ground.
Waving her wand again, the flames died down. She looked up at the devils snare; even though she had consciously weakened the spell's power, the plant had still suffered some damage.
Fluffy the Cerberus belonged to Hagrid, and the devils snare belonged to Professor Sprout.
Both were personal property. Although she had damaged them out of necessity, she had ultimately violated regulations and damaged their personal belongings.
Those were two more points for which she needed to be punished. Lynn committed this firmly to memory, then walked forward without any emotional fluctuation.
Opening the door and entering the next room, Lynn looked up to see a swarm of keys flying across the ceiling. Looking at the door on the opposite side and the keyhole on it, she immediately understood what this room wanted her to do.
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