"See you in three weeks, Lily! Don't miss me!"
"Mmhmm, see you!"
With a smile on her face.
Lily waved goodbye to the few friends who weren't going home for Christmas and planned to stay at Hogwarts.
Mitchell blew a pink bubble from her mouth, which popped with a snap. While chewing, she didn't forget to urge Lily to keep up with the many students ahead.
As usual, led by Hagrid—
Groups of excited students boarded the whistling Hogwarts Express, eager to return to their long-lost parents.
"Come on, sit with us this time. Mary and Germaine have wanted to chat with you on the train for a long time!"
As Lily's roommates—
Mitchell carefully avoided mentioning the recent breakup that had obviously broken Lily's heart, warmly greeting Lily to walk toward the compartment where their small dorm group was.
As soon as the compartment door opened, two pretty faces covered in smiles immediately appeared in front of Lily, loudly cheering for her arrival!
A relaxed and happy atmosphere filled the air.
When the trolley came down the aisle, the four of them bought some snacks from the vendor, chatting while eating, with laughter mixed in from time to time.
Seeing the genuine, relaxed smile on Lily's face—
Mitchell and Mary exchanged glances for a long while. Finally, Germaine at the side couldn't stand it anymore.
Coughing lightly a few times, she seriously observed the changes in Lily's expression.
Weighing every word, Germaine probed carefully:
"Lily, setbacks in life are inevitable, but as long as you persevere, they will always pass."
Stunned for a moment—
Only then did Lily suddenly break into an even brighter smile, leaning forward proactively to hug Germaine and thanking her softly.
"Thank you, guys. I will keep your encouragement in my heart!"
"Ahem, now you know who is truly on your side, right? Everyone in Slytherin is a bad person. Stay away from them in the future."
Mary looked into Lily's eyes and admonished her earnestly.
"Ravenclaws always play it safe, Hufflepuffs only know how to eat. Only Gryffindors will stand up when you are in danger."
"Hmm, I don't think it's that absolute, right?"
A look of difficulty appeared on Lily's face. After pondering for a while, she spoke softly.
"Just like I always think Mary's mom's cookies taste really good. But if you, Mary, became a Hufflepuff because you inherited the talent for food, I would still be very happy to be friends with you."
Lily's tone wasn't loud.
However, when those shining eyes looked over with anticipation, Lily's sincerity was conveyed to the bottom of Mary's heart through that clear gaze without error, making her blush involuntarily at this heartfelt praise.
After being coy for a moment, she let go of her prejudice against other houses amidst her joy and said seriously:
"Alright, Lily, I admit what I said was too biased. Other houses have their merits too."
"I told you, if Mary smiled a little more usually, you would definitely be very popular outside Gryffindor too! After all, Mary is really pretty!"
"I-I don't need that!"
Her cheeks turned redder and redder.
Under Lily's continuous praise, Mary soon became dizzy as if falling into the clouds.
Mitchell and Germaine looked at each other, marveling helplessly at the charm Lily exuded unconsciously, yet in their hearts, they harbored a desire they didn't even realize themselves, hoping to hear Lily's evaluation of them.
Just as someone was naturally good at bewitching people's hearts—
Lily also possessed an unreasonable affinity and charm!
She seemed naturally able to discover the merits of others and had the precious ability to praise them out loud without hypocrisy or stinginess. This often made many people willing to become friends with Lily!
Snape was not wrong. Even without communication with him, Lily would never feel lonely.
In fact, if she was willing to open her heart—
Lily would inevitably gain a second, third, and even countless more best friends after Snape!
Snape still needed to operate diligently to secretly pull up a group of believers in Slytherin with a scale of only a few people.
However, Lily didn't need to go through such trouble at all.
Under her sincere praise that came from the bottom of her heart, almost no one could resist this pure happiness as precious as gold.
The effect was certainly not comparable to brainwashing, but the range affected exceeded Snape's by who knows how many times!
In just a few months, the entire Gryffindor had fallen under Lily's charm, and similar signs had already appeared successively in other houses!
The fake Dark Lord still diligently developing his team: Snape.
The real Dark Lord with a hundred responses to a single call: a certain sweet and silly red-haired girl.
And after confirming that Lily was fine—
These roommates concerned about Lily finally relaxed. Amidst the relaxed chat about everything under the sun, the scenery outside the train was also flowing fast.
Until the train wheels slowly stopped, rubbing out a string of eye-catching sparks.
This unfinished conversation that lasted for several hours without feeling tiring at all finally came to an end.
"Then goodbye! You can already start looking forward to the Christmas gifts I sent!"
Lily smiled brightly.
After saying goodbye to the three, she dragged her suitcase with the owl on top and trotted all the way to the exit, her energetic flame-colored long hair bouncing with her steps.
However, before Mitchell could look away, she was surprised to see that Lily, who should have headed straight for the exit, gradually seemed to slow down unintentionally.
At the same time—
That guy walking right next to Lily, wasn't he that Slytherin boy who had already broken off relations with her?
With Mitchell's reminder, the other two also looked in that direction.
In their gaze, Lily seemed to turn her head and say something to the other party with a longing look, her words earnest.
But that boy behaved incredibly coldly.
Not only did he not cast a glance at Lily, but he deliberately distanced himself, as if drawing a clear line with the disappointed-looking Lily!
Lily was trying to salvage it!
Lily failed!
Someone was bullying Lily!!
A bolt of lightning flashed through the minds of the three, making them instinctively feel indignant for Lily's pitiful and humble situation.
Their gaze towards Snape's retreating figure also carried cold condemnation.
Coincidentally, the three girls made a surprisingly consistent evaluation of Snape:
Pfft~
Scum!
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