'Detention in the Forbidden Forest?!' Hermione spun around to stare at Harry in disbelief.
They had just finished revising in the Library and were walking back to their respective tower common rooms with Lynn.
'Yeah,' Harry nodded, then looked at her, puzzled. 'What's wrong with that?'
'What's wrong?' Hermione frowned. 'It's a huge problem. The Forbidden Forest is full of dangerous creatures—that's why students are banned from entering. Even Professors have to be extremely careful when they go in.'
'How could they send you there for detention?' Hermione's face paled and her lips pressed into a tight line. 'Who told you this?'
'Professor McGonagall,' Harry said, pulling a slip of parchment from his pocket and handing it to Hermione. 'She gave it to me at dinner. It has the time and details of the detention.'
Hermione scanned the note carefully. 'All right… it looks like you really are taking a walk in the Forbidden Forest.'
'Don't worry too much,' Ron interjected, trying to comfort his two friends. 'If it's the Forest, Hagrid will definitely be with him.'
'Exactly,' Harry echoed, nodding at Ron and giving Hermione a reassuring smile to calm her. 'With Hagrid there, nothing will happen to me.'
Lynn watched them talk up ahead, her face expressionless as her mind raced.
Harry being sent to the Forbidden Forest for detention was, by her assessment, high-risk—even with Hagrid present. After all, Hagrid couldn't stay glued to Harry every second.
That would leave a first-year Young Wizard like Harry facing whatever lay in the forest on his own.
Lynn reached that conclusion in seconds; Hermione took only a moment longer.
'Harry, I'm coming with you,' Hermione declared decisively.
'What? No, Hermione, you don't need to—' Harry began, waving his hands.
'I'm going,' Hermione shook her head. 'I helped deliver Norbert with you, and you covered for me. It's only right I go.'
'Besides, it's the Forbidden Forest. One more person means one more pair of eyes. Lend me your invisibility cloak when the time comes.'
Hermione rattled this off without pause, giving Harry no chance to refuse.
By the time she finished, refusal was impossible; those bright eyes fixed on him made any 'no' die in his throat.
It felt like being stared down by Professor McGonagall—utterly impossible to disobey.
'All right… thank you,' Harry conceded helplessly.
'I'm going too,' Lynn cut in, her tone flat.
'You're not,' Hermione countered this time, turning to face Lynn with utmost seriousness.
'You still haven't fully recovered. You should rest. Harry and I can handle it.'
Lynn met Hermione's gaze with eyes as still as the Dead Sea.
'With just the two of you, the escape probability in a special situation is low. If I come, it increases significantly.'
Hermione hesitated; she knew Lynn was right. In an emergency, Lynn's presence would make them safer.
'Also, I was there that night and Harry covered for me, so it's only fair I go as well.'
Lynn spoke mechanically, devoid of emotion. She didn't grasp the sentiment, but since Hermione's words had worked, she borrowed them.
Hermione clenched her teeth. She truly didn't want Lynn risking herself; detention in the Forbidden Forest was unheard of in Hogwarts history.
Clearly this was no ordinary punishment—who knew what waited for Harry in there.
If Lynn came along, would she end up— Lynn said slowly, stiffly, 'Whether you agree or not, I'll follow. That's a fact.'
'Fine, fine…' Hermione surrendered, raising her hands. 'You can come, but only if you promise to stay safe.'
'Right,' Harry added quickly. 'If anything dangerous happens, forget about me—just run!'
'Merlin's magical creatures…' Ron groaned, covering his face. 'Harry, your invisibility cloak can cover three people, can't it?'
Harry and Hermione both looked at Ron; he shrugged. 'I can't just sit in the common room while you lot walk into trouble.'
'Listen, Ron, don't come,' Harry said, patting Ron's shoulder.
'Too many of us, and the cloak might not stretch—then we'll be exposed and in real danger.'
Ron stared unwillingly, hating the idea of his friends facing unknown perils while he hid in the common room.
'We need backup, Ron,' Hermione soothed. 'If something happens, someone has to help—and you're the best choice.'
'Meaning, you know all of us well enough to explain everything,' she added, pointing to herself, Harry, and Lynn.
'Yeah,' Harry added with a mischievous wink, cracking a dark joke. 'If we do get killed, at least you can collect our bodies.'
'Oh, shut up,' Hermione snapped, smacking the back of his head.
Lynn watched their interaction impassively, then delivered her brain's cold assessment.
'There's no need for excessive worry. Hogwarts has never sent students into the Forbidden Forest for detention, so Harry's punishment must be unusual and serve a specific purpose.'
Harry swallowed at Lynn's analysis; Hermione nodded, pale, having reached the same conclusion.
'Yet the order came from Professor McGonagall, whose chance of harming Harry is effectively zero. Therefore, the probability of lethal danger is extremely low.'
'Hence, the most plausible scenario is that something in the Forest needs to be shown to Harry, and detention is merely the pretext to lead him there.'
Lynn paused, mind racing through possibilities and quantifications.
'Whatever must be seen carries unknown risk, but we can roughly assume it won't be life-threatening.'
'All right,' Harry said, visibly relaxing. After Lynn's reasoning, he felt resigned—if they just wanted him to see something, he'd go and see it.
"As long as I don't die, at worst I'll just spend a few days in the Hospital Wing," Harry said, raking a hand through his messy hair.
"You're certainly carefree…" Hermione shook her head with a laugh, then reached out to pinch Lynn's cheek—soft and smooth.
"Thanks for your hard work."
"It wasn't hard." Lynn answered honestly.
"Then tomorrow night, Harry and I will meet you at the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room?"
"Alright." Lynn nodded, turned, and walked toward Ravenclaw Tower.
Hermione sighed as she watched Lynn's retreating back, then turned to Harry and Ron and nodded. "Let's head back too."
The two agreed and silently followed Hermione; Ron nudged Harry with an elbow.
"What is it?" Harry whispered, tilting his head.
"When you two get back from the Forbidden Forest tomorrow night, you have to tell me exactly what happened."
Worry was written all over Ron's face; even after hearing Lynn's analysis, he couldn't stop fretting over his two best friends.
But he couldn't show it in front of Hermione. She wasn't like Harry—she was a girl, more sensitive. If she sensed his worry, she might overthink and grow even more anxious.
"Don't worry." Harry patted Ron's shoulder.
Back in the Dormitory, Lynn changed clothes, took a quick shower, and, after a cursory hair-dry, sat at her desk to read.
Maranhao and Marietta had had full schedules that day and were already asleep. Lynn closed her book at midnight and prepared for bed.
Sitting on the bed fully dressed, she mentally reviewed tomorrow's plan: night-time excursion, sneaking into the Forbidden Forest—two school rules broken.
Without hesitation she gripped her left leg hard twice, leaving two large purple bruises, then lay down calmly.
She fell asleep instantly, woke every hour, and opened her eyes at six o'clock sharp.
The whole day: a Potions Class in the morning, Herbology in the afternoon.
As usual, Lynn couldn't earn full marks in Potions, but thanks to Hermione's request, she no longer punished herself over points.
She merely berated herself in her mind, using the same words her parents once used.
"Others get perfect scores—why can't you? Same teacher, same class, they get full marks and you lose points. What's wrong—are you pig-brained?!"
Walking hurriedly toward the Great Hall for lunch, she automatically recited the scripted answer: "I am… sorry, I was wrong."
Seated at the Ravenclaw Table, she wolfed down her lunch.
Three and a half minutes later she left for the greenhouse, arriving early for Herbology to wait for Professor Sprout.
She stood stock-still, reading a Library book on Potions, for a full hour.
During class, Professor Sprout awarded her ten points for her plant-tending skills.
Merlin above, she rarely saw a student so gifted.
Every movement matched the textbook exactly, swift and flawless; at such a young age it was remarkable, and Professor Sprout truly adored the child.
After Herbology, Lynn ate dinner in the Great Hall, returned to the Ravenclaw Common Room, and sat on the sofa reading while waiting for Hermione and Harry.
At nine the common-room door swung open.
Hermione entered with Harry; her gaze was instantly drawn to the vast Ravenclaw House Library on the left.
"Wow…" Hermione's eyes sparkled at the seemingly endless books, as if they were boundless treasure.
Following her gaze, Harry's head throbbed at the sight of the endless volumes.
He tugged Hermione's sleeve and whispered, "Hermione, it's almost time…"
"Hmm? Oh, right." She snapped back to attention and nodded.
Seeing Lynn on the sofa, she stepped forward. "Lynn, we should go."
Hearing her full name, Lynn closed her book, set it aside, stood briskly, and said in a flat tone, "Alright, let's go."
Hermione carefully drew the invisibility cloak from her robes, draped it over herself and Lynn, and followed Harry out of the Ravenclaw Common Room.
"Harry, are our feet showing?" Hermione whispered as she and the hidden Lynn walked behind him.
Harry bent down for a look, then shook his head. "No."
"Good—let's hurry." Hermione exhaled in relief.
Walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Lynn, Hermione felt the other girl's warmth and softness; her heart gave two hard thumps and heat rose in her cheeks.
She shook her head in confusion—why was her heart fluttering, her face and body warming? Was she coming down with something?
Before she could ponder, they reached the first-floor corridor where Argus Filch awaited.
Filch led Harry and the invisible Hermione and Lynn toward Hagrid, rattling off grisly tales to scare Harry.
Despite his age, Harry felt a twinge of nerves and swallowed hard.
Beside her, Hermione felt the same; only Lynn compared every horror story with information from the Hogwarts Library books.
Most were false—nonsense, she concluded.
At Hagrid's hut they found Draco Malfoy already there, clearly terrified at the prospect of entering the Forbidden Forest.
He kept saying he'd tell his father; hearing him, Lynn's mind automatically processed the data.
Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius Malfoy, ex-Death Eater, pure-blood aristocrat, Hogwarts board member, who paid a fortune to escape punishment after Lord Voldemort's fall.
After organizing the facts in her head, she watched impassively as Harry and Draco traded taunts.
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