HP: I beat the otome game at Hogwarts

Chapter 39 The Contradictory Wizarding World

After the Christmas holidays, the number of Gryffindor rubies decreased rapidly, thanks in large part to Lyra and the twins.

Including but not limited to: losing points for wasting materials in Potions class (being caught by Professor Snape while trying to steal potion materials); losing points for running and playing around in the hallways (the twins accidentally knocked over Professor Flitwick); losing points for casting evil spells on classmates (teaching a lesson to a Slytherin boy who was bullying a younger Gryffindor student); losing points for littering in the school hospital (protecting Hermione the cat); and losing points for wandering into the restricted section of the library at night.

Especially the last point, Lyra and the twins were each penalized twenty points.

The reason was that Lyra suddenly became interested in the advanced Animagus transmutation technique. However, the method to master Animagus was recorded in books in the restricted section of the library. Lyra and the twins couldn't find a reasonable excuse to get the professor's authorization signature, so they decided to sneak into the library at night to find books about Animagus in the restricted section.

Unfortunately, he died before achieving his goal.

As soon as Lyra and her two companions stepped into the restricted book section, they accidentally bumped into a moldy, green-covered old book. The book was clearly very unhappy about being disturbed in the middle of the night and immediately started screaming at the top of its lungs.

The piercing screams carried far through the quiet night, and the three were caught red-handed by Professor McGonagall, who was on patrol that night.

Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor, is the complete opposite of Snape, the Head of Slytherin, who is known for his favoritism and bias. She is a strict and fair teacher, a fact that even Slytherin students cannot deny.

Therefore, not only did he fail to find the Animagus practice method, but Professor McGonagall also severely deducted points from his Gryffindor grade and imposed a two-week detention.

Gryffindor lost sixty points in an instant, and their ruby ​​score was almost gone. Lyra felt a rare sense of guilt.

Amidst this series of misfortunes, the only thing that brought Lyra some comfort was that, because of her frequent visits to Lady Lorris, Lyra and Filch had a good relationship, and the labor service she was assigned was a relatively easy task—cleaning empty classrooms in the secluded corridors of the castle.

These classrooms had accumulated a lot of dust because they hadn't been used for a long time. It sounded like a lot of work, but Lyra, relying on Filch's high favorability, mastered a way to cheat.

According to regulations, magic cannot be used when punishing students by making them do chores; the wand will be handed over to Filch before they are put in solitary confinement.

Lyra would always borrow Ron's broken wand beforehand and hand it over to Filch. Filch clearly recognized the familiar broken wand, but ultimately chose to remain silent.

After Filch deliberately left and didn't supervise the three of them working the whole time, Lyra took out her wand, cast a cleaning spell, and easily cleaned the dust off the entire room.

“This is so touching—” George exaggeratedly wiped away tears.

"This is the first time in four years since we entered Hogwarts that we have felt warmth from Filch." Fred tugged at Lyra's scarf, pretending to wipe away non-existent tears of emotion.

*

As the new school term began, the weather gradually cleared up, the snow melted, and the sun shone on Hogwarts once again.

During recess today, Lyra went to the greenhouse to check on the growth of the mandrakes and ran into Professor Sprout. Professor Sprout happily told Lyra that the mandrakes were becoming moody and taciturn, which meant that they were rapidly leaving their childhood and entering maturity.

“Professor Sprout said that as soon as the mandrake pimples heal, they can be transplanted again,” Lyra told the lonely old woman in Filch’s office when she visited her. “It won’t be long before we can cut them down and boil them into potions. Mrs. Lorry will be back to keep you company soon.”

After leaving Filch's office, Lyra ran into Harry, Ron, and Hermione as she passed the prize display room.

"Hermione! Congratulations on being discharged!" Lyra rushed forward to hug Hermione warmly, gently stroking her fluffy brown hair. Ever since petting the fuzzy version of Hermione, Lyra had developed this new habit.

Hermione shyly pulled away from Lyra's embrace; she was still not quite used to Lyra's enthusiasm and favoritism.

Ron, standing to the side, watched with envy.

With only his older brothers who liked to lecture or tease him, and his younger sister who was more clever and favored than him, Ron had never experienced the tender embrace and caresses from his older sister.

Harry, on the other hand, was looking down at a worn-out black diary in his hand, as if he had taken a great interest in it.

Lyra had always felt that Harry's attitude towards her had been strange since Christmas. He wasn't as eager to greet her as before. It wasn't that he disliked her, but he always looked at her with a strange gaze and would secretly peek at her when she wasn't looking, like a detective searching for clues—it was all very odd.

But Leila didn't pay much attention.

Perhaps the little brother is starting to grow up and no longer likes to cling to older sisters. Leila remembers that when she was little, there was a period when she suddenly stopped liking to cling to her older brothers and sisters, and instead acted like a little adult with a haughty air.

Lyra felt a little wistful. Harry and Ron had grown so fast this year; she hadn't thought of them as little brothers before, but they might soon be taller than her and catch up with George and Fred.

No, she needs to drink an extra glass of milk tonight!

*

No further petrochemical incidents occurred at the school, and everyone's mood began to improve and relax.

Leila and the twins both felt this while doing community service.

Because in these remote and deserted empty classrooms, they began to encounter more and more people secretly making potions, and all of them were making the same kind of potion—love potion.

That's right, Valentine's Day is almost here.

Finally, everyone stopped being anxious and worried about being killed by the monster in the secret room, and began to feel romantic—this is definitely strong evidence that everyone is relaxed.

Lyra always felt that wizards in the magical world lived very contradictory lives.

On the one hand, they tend to be conservative in many areas.

For example, there are more torches than lamps in the castle, people like to use parchment and quills, use owls to deliver messages, and like to wear long robes.

Just imagine, she gets stared at in Diagon Alley wearing a short skirt and even gets criticized by some old-fashioned wizards. If she wore a crop top and super short shorts that are popular in Muggles, wouldn't she cause a sensation?

On the other hand, wizards are also very simple and brutal, even somewhat barbaric.

For example, Quidditch, a sport that is enthusiastically embraced throughout the magical world, is actually very dangerous: flying and colliding at high speeds without any protective measures in the air can easily lead to death if one is not careful.

For example, using aphrodisiacs.

If you can't win the love of your sweetheart, just give them a magic potion to make them infatuated with you.

Is there a simpler and more direct way to woo someone?