Returning to her dormitory, Lys glanced at the mess in her room and finally felt the urge to tidy up.
With a cleaning spell, debris from the shattered walls flew into the trash can, various materials and books returned to the shelves, scattered parchments stacked neatly back on the desk, and the quilt trembled twice on the floor before jumping back onto the bed.
However, the torn hole in the quilt from the explosion was beyond repair.
After some thought, Lys took out the shiny lunchbox and headed to the kitchen.
Her lunchbox was packed to the brim by the house-elves, with sections for hot, cold, dry, and wet foods, ensuring the best taste when Lys ate.
Lys knew well the habits of the house-elves; they wouldn't disobey orders, but how well they executed them depended on their whims.
Reflecting on her recent actions, she discovered a little secret in her interactions with the house-elves. It turned out that the Gryffindor girl she had reprimanded in the Great Hall was usually arrogant and violent.
The house-elves would tidy up rooms and clean clothes for the allowed young wizards daily, but this girl often demanded the elves punish themselves for waking her up or for any flaws in the laundry.
Realizing she had spoken ill of a young wizard, the house-elf began to bang its head against the wall. Lys cast a cushioning charm to lessen the impact, providing punishment without much harm.
Lys swallowed the chicken leg in her mouth and then asked the house-elf to bring her a longer quilt.
"Respected young wizard, we will deliver it to your dormitory after dinner."
But before dinner, a soft, large quilt appeared on Lys's bed. The preferences of house-elves were so easy to predict.
Without any disturbances, Lys steadily followed her study plan, practicing spells and emulating the essays of excellent students.
Time flew by, and Lys performed consistently, securing at least four O's in her grades. After leaving the exam hall, she no longer felt the tension of constantly recalling the test papers like in previous years.
However, it was a pity that she couldn't earn extra points by successfully casting a Patronus after the regular Defense Against the Dark Arts exam.
Despite turning pale, Lys only managed to summon a room full of silvery mist, failing to form a complete Patronus. The chubby Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher seemed a bit disappointed.
In the last few days at school, Lys, along with Gobang, spent several intense days in the Forbidden Forest. Although there were some dangerous creatures inside, especially a type of giant spider with the size of a small elephant and incredible speed, which troubled Lys greatly.
However, the Hippogriff protected Lys, deterring most threats, allowing her to enjoy a spring outing in the perilous Forbidden Forest.
Gobang caught many magical creatures on its own, eating the ones it liked and also the ones it didn't, knowing that once home, its diet wouldn't be as free.
During these days, Gobang's belly was always bulging, and its already wide snake body protruded even more.
This significantly increased the burden on Lys, who carried it every day, causing her to eat much more.
Lys even fought a Crumple-Horned Snorkack while the Hippogriff lay beside her, almost getting thrown by the Snorkack.
Frustrated, Lys muttered for a couple of days about inventing a spell to fly, so she wouldn't have to fear those ground-charging fools in the future.
On the final Hogsmeade visit, Lys bought a new school robe, slightly larger, and asked the shopkeeper to send it directly to Severus Snape via owl.
She also bought a batch of candies to take home for her dad.
Collecting some rare and hard-to-find materials stored with Hagrid to give to her mom.
With a few books she planned to study at home, Lys didn't bring anything else.
A simple small suitcase, mostly filled with things for her parents.
Boarding the train home, Lys settled in and began reviewing notes and reading books. Students passing by looking for seats avoided her compartment.
But someone still knocked on the compartment door. The first was Ernie Macmillan, who didn't say much, just gave Lys a pair of extremely shiny hair clips.
He pointed to Lys's messy hair, which had grown long because she was too lazy to comb it. "These are self-combing. You can just slap them on your hair when you don't feel like combing."
Ernie didn't say anything else and returned to his carriage when someone called for him.
Lys stuffed the hair clips into her suitcase, transfigured a mirror, and tidied her messy hair in the reflection, tying it with the headband her mom had bought her.
She nodded at herself in the mirror, and another knock came at the door.
Lys remembered this senior, a peculiar one. Last time on the train, he mentioned something about a "Crumple-Horned Snorkack," which she couldn't find any information on, leading her to suspect he made it up.
But after confirming he could share the compartment, he simply pulled out a book and started doing a crossword puzzle, not even glancing at Lys.
When Gobang chased a sunbeam onto the table, he seemed to realize who Lys was.
"You're Black from Slytherin, right? How are you?" he looked up at Lys, who nodded, and he nodded back.
"It's okay, we're all a little different, but being different is being yourself, just like the Wrackspurt flying into our brains..."
Lys was once again bewildered, not understanding what this senior was talking about, but when he stopped, they both smiled.
Until they got off the train, they both focused on their books without further interaction.
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