HP: I beat the otome game at Hogwarts

As soon as Leila approached the long table in the dessert area, she saw a large plate of her favorite mint ice cream placed on the edge of the table and grabbed it without hesitation.

Take it all away!

With a triumphant smile, Leila picked up the entire tray of ice cream, ready to claim it all for herself.

Suddenly she felt an undeniable gaze upon her. When she looked up, she was once again faced with the heartbreaking situation of running into an acquaintance.

Calm down. What you drank today was an anti-aging agent, not a compound decoction. As the saying goes, things can happen once or twice, but not a third time. You can't be unlucky forever. You're wearing heavy makeup; he won't recognize you, won't recognize you, won't recognize you...

"White?" Theodore Nott looked at the dark-haired girl in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"..." Leila was completely numb.

"How did you recognize me?" Leila gave up struggling and asked weakly, "I clearly drank an anti-aging potion and wore heavy makeup—"

"Yes, you smell of an anti-aging potion. Anyone skilled in potions can recognize it as soon as they get close."

“But I was wearing heavy makeup—” Leila pressed on relentlessly.

“Oh, this makeup is indeed quite ugly,” Theodore Nott glanced at her face and answered sincerely, “but people who know you well will still recognize you.”

"...Thank you, but please don't comment on the makeup." Lyra was too exhausted to retort to Theodore Nott's sharp tongue; otherwise, she would have certainly engaged in several rounds of banter.

"And no one who comes to this party would take away an entire tray of ice cream; such rudeness is unheard of—" Theodore Nott still didn't give up, continuing to stab Lyra in the heart.

"...Okay, I believe you really recognized me." Leila didn't want to listen to this annoying tall dog friend continue talking. She scooped up a big spoonful of ice cream, showing her desire to end the conversation.

“Most importantly—” Theodore Nott casually delivered the final, fatal blow with the most brutal strike, “you have Bell’s dog hair stuck to you.”

"..." Leila felt utterly depressed, remembering how she had spent a long time cuddling with her puppy before leaving for this wretched party.

After turning her grief and anger into a voracious appetite, Leila devoured an entire plate of mint ice cream, followed by a huge pile of tiramisu, chocolate tarts, strawberry pudding, cream cookies, and more, completely ignoring the glares from her tall dog friend beside her, such as "Are you a pig?", "Never heard of this before," and "This is an eye-opener."

She sat contentedly in the chair, feeling a significant relief from the repeated exposure of her true identity. On the bright side, at least her tall friend didn't know she had entered as Rose Love, and he wouldn't ask any questions.

Knowing that his pen pal, who had used Rose Love as a pseudonym, had already been threatened not to reveal his author identity, and that he and his pen pal had both been exposed, he was now even more unaware of his true identity.

Just as she was optimistically trying to reassure herself, Theodore Nott, sitting opposite her, frowned and reminded her, "You're getting shorter—"

"Oh, maybe the anti-aging serum has worn off, it's alright," Leila said calmly. "I'll just take another sip..."

Wait, when she went out today, she put down her silver handbag and picked up the puppy because she was being affectionate with it... When she left, she put down the puppy, but didn't pick up the silver handbag containing the anti-aging serum!

"Save my dog's life—" Leila cried, tugging at her tall dog friend's sleeve.

*

Leila adjusted her dress in front of the bathroom mirror. Today she was wearing a form-fitting silver sequined dress. Now she looked fifteen again, having gone from seventeen to fifteen years old. Not only had her height shrunk, but the coconut in front of her had turned back into a peach, making the whole dress look empty.

Lyra had to shrink the dress on the spot to fit her now, and also changed the color to avoid being recognized by anyone as the female writer Rose Love and the fifteen-year-old Lyra White, who not only looked alike but were also wearing the exact same dress.

Fortunately, she was quite good at Transfiguration, and fortunately, she had a second wand. Thanks to Professor McGonagall, and thanks to the tall dog friend.

Since there's no way to replenish the age-defying serum, the only option is to completely switch back to Lyra White's identity.

She washed off her heavy makeup in the sink, then combed her long, curly hair into a high ponytail, looking quite different from before, before leaving the bathroom.

"Thank you for covering me to the restroom just now," Leila said to her tall dog friend.

Theodore Nott nodded nonchalantly: "If anyone asks later, just say you're the lady I brought in today."

After all, today's party was essentially a small-circle dinner, attended by people related to the book publishing industry or wealthy individuals looking to invest, and the fifteen-year-old black-haired girl was clearly not among them.

Fortunately, she was beautiful enough to serve as a decorative female companion.

A vase is good, a vase is wonderful, at least a vase doesn't have the danger of exposing one's true identity. Leila tearfully engages in self-pity.

*

While Lyra was experiencing a series of mishaps at the party, Harry was nearly jolted off his way to see Merlin on the Knight Bus.

The driver seemed rather inexperienced with steering, yet he pressed the accelerator quite hard—this Knight Bus always zipped around on the sidewalk, terrifying Harry.

Fortunately, the bus didn't hit anything. Rows of lampposts, mailboxes, and trash cans jumped aside as the bus approached, and then returned to their original positions after it passed.

Harry lay on the bed of the Knight Bus, feeling as if he were on a turbulent sea. With another slam of the accelerator from the driver, there was a loud bang, and he was violently thrown from the left side of the bed to the right side, a result of the Knight Bus's acceleration throwing him backward.

Harry tried to pull himself together, looking out the dark window at the bus speeding along a completely unfamiliar street. Once he got used to the Knight Bus's pace, he could finally appreciate the passing scenery.

Bang! Harry was once again thrown against the bedpost by the bus that had suddenly jumped a hundred miles forward, his calf throbbing painfully.

When the Last Knight bus came to a stop gliding in front of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry bet he had a few more bruises on him.

He staggered out of the car, and before he could even lift his suitcase and Hedwig's cage, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Harry looked up and saw the owner of the hand; his stomach felt like it had been filled with a bucket of ice.

After his aunt ran away from home, he bumped into Fudge, the Minister of Magic.