This was the first Friday of the new term, yet no one seemed happy about the approaching weekend. Their school bags were stuffed with half - finished homework that was due on Monday. Harry was in a bad mood because Umbridge wouldn't allow him to participate in the Gryffindor Quidditch goalkeeper try - outs. I noticed he was wearing a thin glove to cover the scar on the back of his hand. Ron looked even worse than Harry. His face had been deathly pale since early morning, as if something dreadful was about to happen. Taurus, as usual, stretched his neck to look for Hagrid at the staff table. The seat that belonged to Hagrid was still empty. Hermione seemed the most normal among us. She cheerfully told me that she had found a wonderful technique last night to fix the dropped stitches when she was knitting a hat. I realized that being stared at by such sparkling eyes, it would be hypocritical to pretend not to understand what she meant. So I had to tell her that I still had two small Charms exercises unfinished and would knit with her after I finished them. She was overjoyed and quickly told me that she had already started learning to knit socks.

"Aren't you going to watch the goalkeeper try - outs?" Taurus asked us two girls while sipping his cereal.

"Don't go." Before Hermione and I could decline politely, Ron cut in front of us. "Er... there's nothing to see! If I were you, I'd use this time to do more homework."

Hermione turned to look at Ron's gradually blushing face (which made the freckles on his face less obvious), and as if she had thought of something, she raised her eyebrows.

At half past five in the evening, I put a small tick behind the last assignment on my to - do list (a birthday present from Hermione, and it's extremely useful). "Finish today's tasks today!" it shrieked. Then I walked out of the library. The sky outside was gradually dimming, and it was impossible to see if there were still people on the Quidditch pitch. I made a detour to the hospital wing to get some materials that Madam Pomfrey had promised to prepare for me, which took a bit more time. When I returned to the Gryffindor common room, it was already bustling. Before I could figure out what was going on, Ron cheerfully shoved a glass of butterbeer into my hand.

"He's the new Gryffindor goalkeeper." I held the goblet blankly, took a sip, and then sat down in the armchair beside. Hermione, with knitting needles in both hands (actually, it was more like her hands were tangled in a mess of wool), explained the situation to me. Crookshanks meowed eagerly, looking at the ball of wool on her knees. "I think the two of us have to be prepared for the boys to talk about Quidditch non - stop."

Although she said that, she obviously looked very happy. Her eyes would glance from time to time at Ron, who was hopping around the common room, pouring drinks for people, with a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm going back to the dormitory for a while." I said to her. Seeing her slightly disappointed look, I immediately added, "I'll be right back. I'm just going to get something. I'll leave my school bag here."

Just five minutes after our beginner's witchcraft knitting class started, the portrait hole opened again, and Harry climbed in a bit laboriously, clinging to the opening with one hand. Ron immediately rushed over and handed him a bottle of butterbeer. He habitually reached out his right hand to take it, but almost immediately switched it to his left hand.

"Found it, found it." Taurus came running towards them, waving a red robe. "Katie found Wood's old robe. She said she'll alter it for you if it doesn't fit. I've already changed the name on the back to yours!"

It took Harry quite a while to struggle out from the crowd. Angelina kept pulling him and Taurus, giving them instructions to spend more time practicing with Ron in the future. He sat down opposite Hermione and me, holding a butterbeer bottle that was still one - third full in his left hand. Looking at the ball of wool in Hermione's hands, he said, "Still knitting?"

"Give your opinion." Hermione held up the knitted item in her hand, which looked like two crossed sticks entangled with each other, towards him.

"Um... it's really hard to tell what it is." Harry replied, trying to hold back his laughter.

"What a pity. This was knitted by Iris. Too bad you don't like it." Hermione put on a regretful expression.

"Er," he glanced at me, "Well... how should I put it, it's quite... nice. I mean, if it's finished—"

"I didn't knit this." I laughed, stopping his struggle to find the right words. "I've just learned how to wind the yarn around the crochet hook."

"Oh, you men." Hermione shook her head. "I've knitted a lot and hidden them in various places in the room. They disappear in a blink of an eye. I think it should have some effect!"

"But can you really represent Hogwarts to free the house - elves here?" Taurus sat on the armrest of Hermione's chair, his hand lazily resting on the back of her chair. "They should be employed by Dumbledore, right?"

"It's never wrong to make an attempt!" Hermione retorted. "I've looked up a lot of information. The so - called employment contracts that restrict the behavior of house - elves - we all know it's actually an unequal and cruel form of slavery - are very vague in the descriptions. That's why I—"

"Forget I said anything." Taurus raised his hands in surrender. "Carry on."

He undoubtedly gave me a sympathetic look as I was struggling with the thick wool yarn that had tied the two crochet hooks into an impossible knot.

The pure joy didn't last long. Soon everyone remembered that there was still a pile of homework waiting for them, and they started making excuses to leave Ron's celebration. Fortunately, Ron didn't mind much. Wearing Oliver Wood's goalkeeper uniform was enough to make him happy tonight. Harry tried his best to look happy, but he was clearly exhausted. When Hermione accidentally touched his gloved right hand while pulling him to knit hats with us, he immediately shook her hand off.

"Er, I'm too tired - Umbridge is like a nightmare. I mean, the nightmare is finally over." he said incoherently. "I don't think I'll have time tomorrow either. I have a mountain of homework, and I just promised Angelina to help Ron practice more. I'm sorry."

I wanted to call him back, but he turned and walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and didn't come down again. Hermione kept sitting there knitting hats, listening to Ron excitedly telling us over and over again about the thrilling saves he made during the try - outs. I actually felt a bit redundant, but I didn't dare to leave.

The next morning, I waited in the common room early. The fire in the fireplace had completely died out. The butterbeer bottles that had been rolling around on the floor and the crumpled parchment from last night were gone, and I had no idea where Hermione's hidden woolen items had disappeared to. Early in the morning, Gryffindor Tower was still in a quiet and sweet slumber. I saw that Neville was already dressed and ready to leave with his school bag on his back. He was like a different person this semester. As Ron put it, he was terrifyingly hard - working. Even Professor McGonagall couldn't find fault with Neville's attitude towards study. She encouraged him over and over again, saying that all his exercises were very standard and that he just lacked a bit of confidence.

After simply saying good morning, I watched his back and uneasily realized that he would also be going to Umbridge's for detention for a day next week. Maybe the stickers I made weren't enough, and I'd have to trouble Madam Pomfrey again. I hoped she wouldn't find me annoying.

Harry got up earlier than I expected and wasn't with Taurus and Ron, which relieved me. Otherwise, I'd have to find an excuse to send the two of them away. His uncombed hair stuck out messily on his head, and his glasses were crooked, making him look a bit like a slovenly wizard who had shut himself in a room for years without going out. He was carrying a large stack of homework in his left hand. When he plopped down into his usual armchair, he was so sleepy that he didn't even notice I was beside him. He stared straight ahead with a look of pondering the meaning of life on his face until I called out to him.

"Iris?" He rubbed his eyes with his left hand and adjusted his glasses. "What are you doing here?"

I bent down and took out two small boxes from my school bag. "Can you take off the glove on your right hand? I made two kinds of stickers. Although I'm not sure if they'll work, but like Hermione said, what if they do?"

I carefully placed the boxes on the armrest of the chair, hoping not to spill the liquid they were soaked in when I opened them. Looking up, I saw that Harry was still sitting there without moving. I thought he might have been scared by the smell and color of the liquid, so I said sincerely, "Don't worry, they're not poisonous."

"You made these for me?" His tone was a bit different from usual. "Because of the back of my hand?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I actually finished them last night, but there were always people in the common room. You said you didn't want others to know about this, so I didn't call you. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He pursed his lips. "Er, I don't think I need them. It's already much better..."

"You even use your left hand to rub your eyes." I sharply exposed his poor lie. "Why are you lying?"

"No, it's just..." His left hand hesitated to take off the glove but quickly stopped. "Hey, give them to me. I'll go back to the dormitory and put them on myself."

"In that case, I can only go back to the dormitory and tell Hermione something I forgot to tell her." I folded my arms. "She knitted hats too late yesterday and hasn't woken up yet. She should still be there."

Harry helplessly sat back in the armchair. "Er, I have to explain first. Er, it's not as serious as it looks. It's just that my hand was bleeding on the back last night, and then I was too tired and forgot to take off the glove before going to bed. Er, and then I was a bit too forceful when I tried to take it off just now..."

"And you told me it was already much better." I looked at his horribly blood - stained and skinned hand and said, "Don't you trust me that much?"

"Of course not." He said quickly. "I was just worried you'd be scared. It's actually no big deal. I've been flying around on a broomstick since I was a kid, and getting fractures is common. Besides, I've never been afraid of pain since I was a child. My mom always suspected that I lack the basic perception of pain."

I said expressionlessly, "While you were flying on a broomstick, I was secretly dissecting the horned toads in the medicine cabinet. Don't think of me as a delicate girl who would scream and faint at the sight of blood and wounds. To be honest, you might not be able to beat me - I don't mean a fight, I mean a one - on - one duel.

Obviously, he didn't believe this at that time, but it didn't matter. We would have the opportunity to verify it soon.

"Two kinds of stickers." I pointed to the two boxes. "I think it's better not to use them at the same time. One kind has a scar - removing effect, but it will hurt a lot when applied - extremely painful, because the pus of the bubotuber used as the main ingredient has a high concentration and thus a strong irritation. The other kind only has a simple pain - relieving effect. It's the filtered and pickled juice of the tentacles of a Murtlap. It was Hermione who reminded me of it. I didn't tell her about this. It was because Brown squeezed a pimple and swollen half of her face. She was in so much pain that she couldn't eat and felt ashamed to go to the hospital wing. Hermione said she could try this. I added a little fish bone powder to it. I think it will work better. It slows down the evaporation of the juice. You choose one."

"I choose the pain - relieving one." Harry made a decision without any hesitation.

I carefully picked up a soft, golden - soaked sticker, but Harry suddenly put his hand behind his back as if he had remembered something.

"These aren't, you know, stolen - taken from your dad, are they?" he asked, lacking confidence. Getting a zero in Potions class this week seemed to have left him with quite a psychological shadow.

"No." I laughed at his horrified expression. "I went to the hospital wing with the Patil twins. Then I used Miss Brown as an excuse to ask Madam Pomfrey for these. Well, I think she might have been a bit suspicious but didn't say anything. After all, I'm considered a good student."

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and handed me his right hand.

"I thought you'd choose the scar - removing one." I tried my best to cover his wound and the area where the skin had peeled off with the sticker.

"It already hurts a lot." he mumbled. "And a few scars on a guy don't matter. My dad always says scars are a man's badge."

"You just said you've never been afraid of pain since you were a kid." I pouted. "But your choice is wise. I think if normal healing spells don't work on this wound, potions probably won't either. Ordinary magic can't cause such a wound. If Hermione knew about this, she'd definitely make you tell Professor McGonagall. Umbridge has no right to punish students like this."

"I don't want to tell her." The sticker seemed to be working well. He stretched his right hand, then tried to unscrew an ink bottle. "I don't want to tell my parents either. They already have enough to worry about... I think being distracted is a terrible thing for them."

We were silent for a while, thinking about the members of the Order of the Phoenix outside the school. We didn't know what dangerous missions they were on, whether they had even faced the Dark Lord, and whether they were in danger but couldn't tell us. Sometimes I even felt glad that this school year was so busy. Only when overly tired would I, during a brief break, just want to fall asleep groggily instead of feeling anxious due to wild thoughts.

"Thanks." Harry helped me close the two boxes, ending the silence. His eyes were bright, as if reflecting the gentle morning sunlight. "I feel much better."

"If you're going to practice Quidditch, remember to change to a new sticker. Don't put on your gloves directly, or it'll contaminate the potion." I thought for a while and, deciding there were no other precautions, nodded to him. "Well, I'm going to the library. See you later."

"Okay." He yawned and unfurled a completely blank roll of parchment. "See you later, Iris."

The boys didn't seem to have a good Saturday. We finally persuaded Neville, whose nose was bleeding non - stop, to go to Madam Pomfrey for a check - up (he said he accidentally bumped into something, but we all thought he ate the Weasley twins'Nosebleed Nougats by mistake). Then the three who went to the playground to practice Quidditch came back early.

"How was the training?" Hermione asked without looking up as she knitted her hat.

"It was - " Harry was about to answer when Ron interrupted him in a hollow voice and sat down on Hermione's right. "It couldn't be worse."

Harry sat down on my left, and Taurus sat opposite the fireplace. After hearing Ron's words, Hermione comforted him, "It's normal that the first training isn't smooth. It takes time to get used to - "

"Without me saying anything, you've decided that I messed everything up?" Ron suddenly asked angrily. "I'm doomed to be a failure. Is that what you've always thought?"

Hermione watched his gloomy figure walking towards the boys' dormitory, looking both surprised and wronged. She also irritably shooed Crookshanks, who was playing with the wool, aside and turned to ask the other two boys, "What happened?"

"Nothing. It wasn't really his fault," Harry always stood up for Ron. "But he didn't have a very good time either. Just like you said, this is just the first training."

"If Malfoy hadn't brought those Slytherins to make trouble nearby, it wouldn't have been such a mess today," Taurus said, frowning. "But we can't expect to stop Slytherins from watching the Quidditch match, and it's impossible to cast a spell on Malfoy to make him unable to hear those jeers... So Angelina's worry is reasonable."

"I see. He took out his anger on me after being bullied outside," Hermione shouted angrily at Harry and Taurus. "Please remind him that I'm not a trash can."

"We're not trash cans either," Taurus said, rubbing his hair after Hermione left for the girls' dormitory, carrying a large ball of wool and half - finished products. "She's taking out her grievances from Ron on us. Shouldn't we find a trash can too to be fair?"

"You can just yell at Ron directly, and then you'll form a perfect loop and stop bothering others," I yawned.

"Good idea," Taurus stretched. "I have to go back and do some homework quickly. I never thought I'd be troubled by homework one day - Aren't you going back, buddy? You have a lot more homework left than I do."

"Oh, coming right away." Harry glanced at me before standing up.

"Is the sticker still working well?" I asked him in a low voice.

"Extremely well." He pretended to bend down to pack his schoolbag and showed me the back of his hand. "I almost forgot there was still an injury there."

I reminded him to give one to Neville when he came back from detention, and then said good night to him.

On Sunday, the weather was sunny and the temperature rose a bit. Many junior students went to the grounds to sit and enjoy the rare bright sunshine. I had expected to receive a reply from my mother today, but Vivian hadn't come back yet, which made me very uneasy. Harry and the others had so much homework that they couldn't leave Gryffindor Tower. Hermione obviously hadn't forgotten what happened last night. She mumbled that it was their own fault and left without looking back.

I soon regretted choosing to review my History of Magic notes while soaking up the sun. Professor Binns' hypnotic ability far exceeded my imagination. The sentences written in the notebook unconsciously started playing in my mind in his dull, monotonous tone, and the bright sunshine shining on me was like an invitation to a soft dreamland. It was not until McLaggen called me several times that I dazedly looked up.

"What's the matter?" He stood there, looking down at me. I moved to the right, hoping not to be covered by his shadow. It felt terrible.

"I heard you broke up with that Malfoy kid." He said with glee. "Of course, I knew this would happen."

"I can't see how this concerns you." I said sharply. "If you have nothing else to say, I'll be leaving."

"Hey!" Just as I stood up to leave, he grabbed my hand. "Can you listen to me finish? I thought I didn't like you anymore because you were actually with someone as arrogant and haughty as Malfoy. I thought I had misjudged you and told myself that apart from your pretty face, you were nothing special. But the other day, I made a bet and ate a pound of Billywig stings. For a moment, I thought I was going to meet Merlin - of course not. I'm in good health and only stayed in the hospital wing for two nights. But at that moment, I realized I still like you very much. If you were with Malfoy because of his family's money, my family is no worse. And my uncle has a very good relationship with the acting director of the Auror Office."

"Are you done?" I asked irritably.

"Done." He looked at me smugly, as if he was certain that I would throw myself into his arms the next second. "Is there anything you want to say to me, Iris?"

"A few things." I angrily cast a Relaxo Charm on his hand that was tightly gripping mine. "First, you said you like me, but unfortunately, I don't like you, and I never did and never will. Second, if you hold my hand like that again and don't let go, you'll wish you still had two normal hands. Third, goodbye."

After saying that, I shook off his hand and stormed into the castle, no longer in the mood to enjoy the sunshine.

In the evening, Hermione pulled me and Ginny to sit and chat, keeping a distance from the three boys who were rushing to finish their homework. Ginny held Crookshanks in her arms and teased it with a small ball of wool. Hermione seemed to have suddenly developed a keen interest in the stories on the late - night wizarding emotional radio station - even though just a few days ago, she had complained that it was annoying when the Patils and Brown listened to it in the girls' dormitory.

"Who made you angry?" She used her wand to adjust the knitting needles that were shuttling back and forth in front of her, then turned to ask me. "You've been fuming since dinner."

"Malfoy?" Ginny tilted her head and asked.

"He doesn't talk to me anymore." I briefly recounted what had happened in the afternoon, and Ginny showed a disgusted expression. "Ugh, McLaggen is just a stupid oaf who only grows in height." She said bluntly. "I really don't want to admit he's a Gryffindor. You should have just chopped off his fingers and fed them to the giant squid in the lake. And 'nothing special apart from a pretty face'? He himself is like an annoying fly, chasing after every single pretty girl. What right does he have to say that?"

"He chased after you too, right?" Hermione asked Ginny. "Around the end of last term?"

"I gave him a Bat - Bogey Hex that he'll never forget." Ginny tossed her fiery - red hair and sneered disdainfully. "He avoids me like the plague now."

She ranted on like a firework tube with a continuous - firing charm, and I felt much better after hearing her. Around ten o'clock, Ginny yawned and said she was going back to rest. Hermione and I discussed the Vanishing Spell for a while, and at this time, her eyes were unconsciously drifting towards the three boys in the corner, who were buried in their books. By half - past eleven, Hermione finally couldn't help but walk over and ask them, "Have you finished your homework?"

"No." Ron replied irritably. I shook my head. This wasn't the right way to ask for help.

"The largest moon of Jupiter is Ganymede, but you wrote Callisto." Hermione seemed to let go of her annoyance. She walked behind Ron to look at his Astronomy essay. I sat down and glanced at Harry and Taurus's Divination dream records, which were clearly made - up. Dreaming of being drowned by a flood three times a week was really tragic.

"Are you here to boss us around?" Ron asked Hermione grumpily. "We're already swamped - "

An owl landed on the windowsill. I thought it was Vivian and immediately got up and walked over. But when I got closer, I realized it was a long - eared owl I'd never seen before. It stood there, looking at us in the room, beautiful and majestic.

"Who knows this owl?" I asked. "It has a letter."

"Hermes?" Hermione looked at Ron in surprise. "Percy's owl?"

"Why would it bring me a letter?" Ron asked, astonished, and dropped his quill. I opened the window, and it flew in and landed on Ron's essay. As soon as he untied the letter, it flew away.

Ron opened the letter and started reading, but the more he read, the more tightly he furrowed his brows. Finally, he had an expression of disgust, as if he was about to vomit. We passed the letter around. It first congratulated Ron on being elected a prefect, then went on at length to advise him to "choose the right path" and distance himself from those close to Dumbledore. In particular, it mentioned that he should stop associating with Harry and Neville, detailed how Dumbledore had lost his reputation in the Ministry of Magic this summer and forfeited several honors. Finally, it suggested that Ron communicate more with Umbridge, calling her a "lovely and amiable" woman and hinting that she would soon have more power at Hogwarts.

"Lovely and amiable?" I was the last one to finish reading the letter. "Does your brother have some misunderstanding about these two words? This woman, she - "

"Ron." Harry interrupted me. He tried to force a smile. "So? If you want - er, to cut off relations with me and Neville, we won't suddenly attack you. I can promise you that."

"Give me the letter." Ron snatched the paper full of words from my hand, tore it in half, and then continued tearing it into quarters. "He's the stupidest - idiot - in the world. If I were Dad - I'd break off the pointer with his name on the family clock - and throw it in the trash."

He threw the shredded pieces into the fireplace. The flames spat out a few tiny sparks, which quickly turned to ashes.

"Don't have time to be angry about this." He said with a sullen face, spreading out the parchment in front of him. "We still have to finish these things before dawn."

"Swear that 'I'll never leave my homework until the last day again.'" Hermione had a faint smile on her face. She folded her arms and looked at Ron.

"I'll never leave my homework until the last day again." Ron blinked and held up three fingers.

"I don't really expect them to learn their lesson." Hermione pouted at me, but still sat down and started looking over Ron's Astronomy essay.

"Can we also get help if we swear?" Harry and Taurus looked at Hermione expectantly.

"I can't go through so much homework." Hermione took Taurus's homework and pouted at Harry. "Go swear to someone else."

"Just now, I heard a witch on that radio station crying that the oaths made by wizards are all false. Let's skip this step." I yawned and took Harry's essay. Actually, there were no major mistakes, but it was very rough because he was in a hurry. Also, he had forgotten to write about a few points - and he might have misheard Professor Sinistra in class. He wrote with certainty that Europa was covered with rats.

"But what does it mean that Umbridge will soon have more power at Hogwarts?" Harry murmured. "Percy obviously knows something we don't."

"If it's happening at Hogwarts, we'll find out sooner or later." Hermione said, looking down and revising the essay. "But I hate this feeling. That woman is making Hogwarts less and less like Hogwarts every day."