HP: I beat the otome game at Hogwarts

Without hesitation, Leila threw a punch that knocked her to the ground, but the old woman with long fingernails dodged it with agility beyond her years.

"Your nails are so beautiful, take them and give them to me—" The old woman chuckled and continued to pounce on him.

"Petrify them all!"

"Crushed to pieces!"

Lyra relentlessly unleashed a barrage of spells, but the old woman was incredibly persistent. Lyra suspected that the other woman was afraid of her attacks, which were all common, unimpressive spells; only cruel black magic could frighten this dark witch away.

Lyra recalled the spell she had heard before; the Slytherin seventh-year student who tried to cast it but failed was severely punished by Professor McGonagall with a deduction of points.

"Peel off the skin and pull out the tendons!"

A mesmerizing red light shot from the tip of Lyra's wand, creating a smoking black hole at the old woman's feet.

This time, the old woman with long fingernails was finally frightened. She stopped in her tracks, hesitant and uncertain, wondering whether to give up her prey.

While the old woman hesitated, Lyra suddenly waved her wand at the sky, and a huge black swallow-tailed dog phantom appeared in the air.

Hopefully, Theodore Nott will see this phantom in time!

The phantom of summoning allies clearly intimidated the dark witch opposite her, but she still harbored a final hesitation, after all, her nail dish hadn't been replenished with fresh human nails in a long time...

“Avada Kedavra…” Lyra made a move to cast the Unforgivable Curse, and green light began to emerge from the tip of her wand at the old woman—

This completely shocked the old woman with long fingernails. She realized that the person in front of her was not an easy sweetheart, but a ruthless dark wizard.

That girl is really ruthless! All she wanted was to keep a few fingernails, but she wanted to save this old woman's life!

Just as she had come, the old witch quickly and silently fled.

"Were you just trying to cast the Unforgivable Curse?"

Lyra turned her head and saw Theodore Nott holding his wand and looking at her in shock.

“You’re too slow!” Leila complained. “I was just pretending to scare her. If you had come earlier, I wouldn’t have even had to pretend.”

“But your wand did emit a green light just now—” Theodore Nott breathed a sigh of relief, but still didn’t let the topic go.

“Uh, but I didn’t intend to actually use it; I was just saying it casually.” Lyra didn’t take it seriously.

"Just shouting it out?" Theodore Nott said seriously, "Only a strong desire to kill and unwavering conviction can successfully cast a spell—"

“I see. I was really determined back then,” Leila said, much more relaxed after meeting Theodore Nott. “I was thinking, if you hadn’t come, I would have made you pay for ten deluxe chocolate butter mega ice creams, topped with all sorts of dried fruit!”

"..."

*

The rest of the trip went smoothly. Theodore Nott led Lyra through a maze of twists and turns to an inconspicuous little shop, the kind without even a sign, not even as nice as the Burgin Burke shop.

However, it was a secondhand wand shop, and with the help of the shrewd native Theodore Nott, Lyra successfully bought an anonymous secondhand wand.

“When we’re on vacation, we can use this wand outside of school. It’ll be very convenient to cast the Ignore Charm on the forked tail of a Swallowtail.” Theodore Nott said calmly, not at all like someone who was instigating underage wizards to break the law.

“Thank you,” Lyra said, not only for Theodore Nott’s help in resolving her problem of casting spells outside of school, but also for the fact that he had just paid for her secondhand wand, which cost a full 70 Galleons.

“It’s nothing,” Theodore Nott said casually. “You also treated me to a lot of Muggle snacks.”

“This isn’t a price,” Lyra shrugged, but didn’t insist on getting a refund. She knew that for Theodore Nott, these things weren’t worth arguing about. Neither of them were petty people.

“My main concern is that if I don’t compensate you, you’ll order ten deluxe chocolate butter giant ice creams in one go,” Theodore Nott retorted to Lyra nonchalantly. “I’m afraid the people in the ice cream shop will misunderstand that you’re my girlfriend, and I can’t afford to lose face like that.”

"..."

*

Late at night, Harry lay on his bed, his whole body hidden under the sheets, like a thief, holding a flashlight in one hand and a quill pen in the other, trying to finish his summer homework.

If the professors at Hogwarts knew, they would be very pleased: that some students would rather stay up all night to finish their homework.

But in fact, if he had any other choice, Harry wouldn't want to do it this way either.

The Dursleys, who lived at 4 Privet Drive, were the reason Harry couldn't sleep well at night. Or rather, the reason he had a miserable summer.

Because the Dursleys forbade Harry from having any contact with magic in their home, even harmless summer homework.

From the very first day Harry returned to the Dursleys for summer vacation, his textbooks, wand, cauldron, and flying broomstick were locked in the cupboard downstairs. If Harry hadn't managed to sneak out a few books when no one was looking, he would have had to hand in a blank paper when school started—the professors—especially Professor Snape—would have torn him to shreds.

Fortunately, his owl Hedwig started making a ruckus as soon as she was put in the cage. In order to prevent the neighbors from finding out that they kept an owl, the Dursleys had to allow him to let the owl out at night.

Harry painstakingly finished his paper, capped the ink bottle, and hid the flashlight, textbook, paper, quill, and ink bottle all inside an old pillowcase. He then tucked the pillowcase under a loose floorboard. Finally, he stretched and looked expectantly at the night clock beside his bed.

It's one in the morning. He's been thirteen years old for an hour.

The Dursleys wouldn't react at all; they wouldn't even give Harry a birthday card. But he didn't care at all, because the people who really cared about him would send him a birthday present by owl soon.

Yes, he guessed that his good friends from school wouldn't forget his birthday, and he was right.

Three owls, carrying heavy bundles, flew wobbly toward Harry.

One was Errol from Ron's family, another was Hedwig from his family, and the third was a tawny owl, the school's owl, who brought a letter bearing the Hogwarts seal.

Harry eagerly grabbed the package Errol had brought, which contained a letter and a gift from Ron.

He smiled as he read his best friend's letter and his first birthday present of the year: a miniature peephole.

He then opened the package Hedwig had brought, which contained gifts and a letter from Hermione.

But what puzzled him was that there was another unsigned gift in the package.