The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

After Dolly disappeared from sight, Qiu Zhang breathed a sigh of relief and took out another pendant with a similar shape from his pocket.

Qiu Zhang's father actually bought a pair of pendants, but hers was a bit larger.

In addition to having the same function as Dolly's pendant, it can also sense the status of Dolly's pendant from a distance.

For example, the pendant in Qiu Zhang's hand is a beautiful and healthy green overall, but a small piece of jade set separately at the top is a faint yellow, which means that Dolly is not in good health.

This made Qiu Zhang very distressed, but in the end, he gently stroked the small piece of yellow gemstone with his fingers, put the pendant around his neck, and then hid the jade in front of his chest.

It felt as if Dolly had always been with her.

With this feeling, even when Cho Chang returned to the Great Hall and saw Dolly and Hermione getting along well again, he didn't feel lonely or isolated.

"Why did you go?"

Hermione looked at Dolly with some suspicion, but Dolly said frankly, "I'll tell you when we get back."

"alright."

Since Dolly has said so, Hermione can't force her to do so.

However, after the two finished their meal and completed their homework, and returned to their dormitory, Hermione was already waiting for Dolly's explanation with a smile on her face.

Dolly didn't hide anything and directly took out the jade pendant to show Hermione.

"what is this?"

Hermione looked at the jade pendant that shimmered with a pale yellow light and realized that it was a magical item.

“I gave Qiu Zhang that Nimbus 2001 before, and you said I was too generous, that I had no idea of ​​the value of that thing, and that I shouldn’t have done it.”

"But now Qiu Zhang has given me this jade stone in return. It can tell me my physical condition. For example, yellow means I am not healthy enough."

"Green indicates a normal state, while red indicates danger."

After saying that, Dolly took off the pendant and placed it in Hermione's hand, letting Hermione experience it for herself.

Looking at the jade that had transformed into a symbol of health and green in her hands, Hermione could only suppress the doubts she wanted to express, such as "unbelievable" and "is it real?"

Ultimately, it boils down to this: "Is this kind of thing... really that valuable?"

“I’m not sure either, but we haven’t seen anything like it in Britain. It could just be a common spell in the Eastern magical world, or it could be a very valuable antique.”

Dolly reached for the pendant, but Hermione gripped it tightly and took a step back, saying, "We need to make sure it's not dangerous!"

"I've heard that some items may be cursed, and in severe cases, they can cause death."

“Choo Chang said she’s been wearing it for a week now,” Dolly shrugged.

Hermione raised her voice: "She's really bold. She should at least have it examined by the Ministry of Magic first."

Dolly wasn't annoyed, and instead patiently asked, "So, do we still need to send it to the Ministry of Magic for appraisal?"

Hermione wanted to say yes, but seeing Dolly's expression that she would agree no matter what she said, her emotions felt like punches hitting cotton, completely unable to be vented.

He could only shove the pendant back into Dolly's hand and say, "You decide for yourself, I have no objection."

When Hermione saw the pendant return to Dolly's hand and turn yellow again, she realized her tone had been a bit abrupt. She then said, "It really seems to be working. It's been very helpful to you."

"At least it ensures you don't do things when you're in a bad state."

“I’m just worried that she might get scammed. You said it was her father who bought it, and he’s just a Muggle after all.”

"Oh, I didn't mean her father was stupid, it's just..."

Hermione got more and more confused as she talked, and finally gave up, saying, "I'm sorry, Dolly."

Dolly put on the pendant and asked with a puzzled look, "Why are you apologizing to me? Weren't you concerned about me?"

Hermione was speechless. She was indeed concerned about Dolly; that was an undeniable fact.

However, the emotions that arise from concern are not something pleasant.

Hermione felt that Dolly must have noticed something during this time; she was just pretending not to know.

"Alright, what should we do next? Read a book, play chess, or perhaps go to the lounge to chat with someone?"

After giving these three suggestions, Dolly herself found them uninteresting.

Suddenly I felt that the dormitory renovation needed to be accelerated, and I would start dealing with it as soon as I got home for Christmas.

Hermione shook her head and said, "No, I'm not feeling well today. I'll read for a while and then go to sleep."

"it is good."

Dolly didn't say anything more. She could tell that Hermione was in a low mood and even in a very conflicted state.

Although Dolly was confident that she could comfort and cheer Hermione up most of the time, there were some things Hermione still needed to figure out for herself.

Of course, I'm not referring to Dolly trying to turn her gay, but rather to making Hermione understand that a person can't have only one friend.

If Hermione wanted to make friends, it would be very easy for her. After all, she was in Ravenclaw, where people admired intelligence, and Hermione was the most outstanding one in the first year of Ravenclaw.

If she just lowered her guard a little and became a little more confident, the three girls in the next dorm would definitely be happy to chat and study with Hermione every day.

As for whether Dolly will be jealous or not, she can make up for it by holding Hermione in her arms again at night!

Finally, Dolly's reason for doing all this was definitely not because she had no free time while spending every day with Hermione, but because even the closest two people would get tired of being together all the time.

This has nothing to do with purity; it's simply that humans, once they're well-fed and watered, instinctively want to find pleasure.

Even if Dolly had twenty more years of life than Hermione, she couldn't be an inexhaustible treasure trove of emotions; it would eventually run dry.

Allowing Hermione some independence is to give both of them time to recharge and then better cherish the time they spend together.

After washing up, the two of them went to bed.

Dolly was reading classic novels, while Hermione was looking at textbooks for older students.

However, Hermione's gaze kept drifting towards Dolly, as if she wanted to get some answers from Dolly.

But the more she looked, the more irritated she became. In the end, she simply turned off the light, pulled the blanket over her head, and hid herself in the darkness.

Although Hermione was very unwilling, she had to face a problem.

What should Dolly do if she has more than one friend?

That friend was equally outstanding, even a little better than her, and was willing to spend a lot of money on Dolly, and was also more popular than Hermione.

Hermione used to not care about these things because she subconsciously felt that she and Dolly were best friends and that no third party would interfere between them.

But now Hermione has to admit that Dolly really wants a friend like Cho Chang, and she should have the right to make friends.

But why does Hermione, Dory's first friend, always feel like her heart is being squeezed and she can't breathe?

Is it really as Dolly said, that she shouldn't have only one friend and that she valued Dolly too much?

Is it wrong to not make other friends and just stay with Dolly?

Hermione became increasingly confused. Her studious little brain was completely inept at processing this information, and she even had a vague feeling that Dolly had betrayed her, which led to feelings of anger.

Annoyed, she grabbed Crookshank and shoved him into the bed, hugging him tightly and burying her face in the hair on the back of his neck to vent her self-loathing and her desire to lash out at Dolly.

If she did that, she would completely sever her friendship with Dolly, not only losing her best friend but also pushing herself back into a similar learning and living environment as when she was isolated by her classmates in elementary school.

This must never happen again.

But the thought of Dolly and Cho Chang laughing and chatting kept Hermione awake, and she pretended not to hear Crookshanks's wailing.

Finally, Crookshanks, in a fit of rage, thrashed about as if drowning, his claws almost reaching out, before finally finding a chance to escape Hermione's embrace and leaping onto Dolly's bed, lying down beside her.

Dolly was fast asleep, and the jade pendant sat on the bedside table, shimmering with a faint green light.

Hermione looked at the jade pendant, and an idea began to form in her mind.

She reached out her hand in the darkness, wanting to touch the pendant and then throw it into a corner where no one knew her.

As for how to explain it tomorrow morning... Crookshan, who had just closed his eyes, suddenly started to bristle, feeling that he was very likely to be burdened with a huge black pot.

Crookshan quickly circled around, on high alert, his back hunched over.

Only then did he see Hermione, who had already reached out her hand, in the darkness, and they made eye contact.

Crookshanks' bright eyes, like a beacon, made Hermione quickly pull her hand back, then bite her wrist.

The pain brought tears to her eyes, but Hermione didn't make a sound.

He didn't let go until he calmed down, then lay back looking at the ancient ceiling, recalling every moment he spent with Dolly.

Maybe... she really wasn't a good friend. She only befriended Dolly because Dolly was the best girl, and she just happened to meet Dolly.

If it were someone else, they might have mistaken her for an arrogant and rude little Muggle wizard at their first meeting at the tavern.

As she thought about it, Hermione found herself shedding tears.

Then she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep. When she woke up, her eyes were still a little sore, obviously because her tears had been dried repeatedly by the wind.

She's so embarrassing!

Hermione touched her cheek, and seeing that Dolly was still asleep, she simply went to wash up and then quietly left the room.

From today onward, she plans to try living on her own. This is certainly not to avoid seeing Dolly, but... just to try to step out of her comfort zone—Dolly had mentioned this word before, which she didn't quite understand then, but now she seems to understand it a little.

Why didn't you call me today?

Dolly, whose hair was still a little messy, rushed over just before dinner and asked Hermione a question, feigning reproach.

Hermione smiled and said, "I got up too early today, so I didn't wake you up too."

"It's almost time, hurry up and eat. I've already saved some of your favorite dishes for you."

"Thank you, Hermione, you're the best."

Dolly gave Hermione a hug, which Hermione accepted with a smile, as if everything was the same as before, except that Hermione hadn't woken her up this morning.

So Dolly didn't think much of it, since besides Hermione, Crookshanks was also responsible for waking her up. Maybe Hermione really did wake up too early today.

The next day was no different from the previous one, except that tomorrow was Halloween, and the atmosphere in the auditorium was getting stronger and stronger.

The prefects had already begun preparing the necessary supplies, and were just waiting for everyone to finish eating before they started decorating the entire auditorium.

Dolly woke up very early the next morning.

Crookshanks are still asleep, and Hermione has vanished again.

Dolly sensed something was wrong, so she stopped lingering in bed, quickly got ready, and went to the Great Hall to see what Hermione was up to.