Hermione's eyes lit up when she saw the words on the notebook.
Because it said, "Yes, you can meet me outside the Hufflepuff lounge. I'm there to deal with something with my classmates today. It won't take long."
She read the sentence twice carefully, then looked up and said to her friends, "Let's call it a day and go back to school."
Harry and Ron nodded.
After all, there was no fun in today's trip, and the weather would only get worse if they stayed any longer.
So once more they pulled their cloaks tight about them, hid their faces with shawls, put on gloves, and followed Cathy Bell and a friend out of the bar and back along the road.
They struggled to step on the frozen snow on the road and walked in the direction of the Hogwarts. For no reason, Harry thought of Ginny.
They didn't see her today, Harry thought. She must be comfortable with Dean in Madame Pardev's teahouse, a favorite place for happy couples.
Harry frowned and buried his head in the snow and rain, walking forward step by step with difficulty.
But it was some time before they realized that the two girls walking in front of them were quarreling, for the wind began to blow the sound of their quarrel into his ears.
It seemed to be because of something in Katie's hand.
"It's none of your business, Linny!"
They turned a corner on the path, and the rain and snow became heavier and heavier. Hermione wanted to use magic to hold up a barrier, but it backfired because a large amount of rain fell on Harry's glasses, blurring them.
Hermione had to withdraw the barrier. She didn't use this spell much, so she didn't practice it much, and the magic in her body was far from strong enough to support a barrier like a force field.
In fact, after the formation of a force field, it could begin to interact with the surrounding magic elements. Once the interaction began, the magic used to maintain the force field would be reduced. When this power was reduced to a certain level, it would become an eternal magic engraved in the body, like Jon's force field.
However, this process required a large amount of spiritual power, and Hermione's spiritual power was not as strong as Jon's. She could not maintain the formation of a force field.
Jon was the descendant of a pure-blooded family and had Helga's help, but Hermione didn't have the help of others.
Therefore, there was no other way but to train slowly.
Back to the present.
While Hal was wiping the lens with his gloved hand, Lini suddenly reached out to grab the bag in Katie's hand.
Katie pulled it back with all her might, and the bag fell to the ground.
Then, in an instant, Katie rose into the air. Unlike Ron, who was ridiculously hung upside down by his ankles, her posture was very elegant. Her arms were stretched out as if she was about to fly.
However, there was something strange about her, something that was not right … Her hair was blown around by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and there was no expression on her face.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Linnie all stopped and stared at her.
Six feet above the ground, Katie suddenly let out a scream of terror.
Lini followed suit. She grabbed Katie's ankles and tried desperately to drag her back to the ground.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed to help.
Just as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them.
Harry and Ron managed to hold her, but she was writhing so violently that they could not control her.
Thus, they placed her on the ground. She writhed violently and screamed in pain. It was obvious that she couldn't recognize any of them.
Harry looked around. There was no one around.
"You guys stay here!"
He shouted to the others in the howling wind. "I'm going to call for help!"
Hermione nodded. She secretly held her wand, but did not know what spell to cast to relieve Katie's pain.
At this time, Harry ran in the direction of the school.
He had never seen anyone like Katie before, so he could not figure out what was going on.
He raced around a corner and collided with a huge creature that looked like a bear standing on its hind legs.
"Hagrid!"
Cried Harry as he fell into a hedge. He struggled out, gasping for breath.
"Harry!"
Hagrid's eyebrows and beard were stained with rain and snow, and he was wearing his enormous, sloppy beaver coat. "I went to see Gropp. He's making great progress. You —"
"Hagrid, someone's hurt over there. Maybe they're under a spell or something —"
"What?" said Hagrid, bending over Harry. The wind was too loud.
"Someone's under a spell!"
"Under a spell? Who's under a spell — not Ron? Hermione? "
"No, not them. It's Katie Bell. Over here …"
They ran back along the path and soon saw Hermione, Ron, and the small group of people around Katie.
Katie was still writhing and screaming on the ground. Ron, Hermione, and Linnie were all trying to calm her.
"Get out of the way!" shouted Hagrid. "Let me see!"
"Something's happened to her!"
Said Linnie, sobbing. "I don't know how —"
Hagrid stared at Katie for a second. Then, without a word, he bent down, scooped her up in his arms, turned, and ran in the direction of the castle.
In a few seconds, Katie's screams had died away. There was only the howling of the wind.
Hermione looked around. Then she hurried over to Katie's crying friend and put her arm around her.
"You're Linnie, aren't you?"
Linnie nodded.
"Did it happen all of a sudden, or —"
"That … it happened as soon as the parcel was torn open."
Lini said, sobbing, pointing to the soaked brown paper bag on the ground.
The paper bag cracked open, and something inside was emitting a green light.
Ron stooped and reached out. Harry caught him by the arm and pulled him back.
"Don't touch it!"
Harry bent down and saw a magnificent opal necklace sticking out of the paper.
"I've seen it before," said Harry, staring at it. "It was on display in Birkin and Burke's a long time ago. The sign said it had a charm on it. Katie must have touched it."
He looked up at Linnie, who was now shaking uncontrollably.
"How did Katie get hold of it? Logically speaking, this thing shouldn't have fallen into your hands. "
"That's what we were arguing about. She had it in her hand when she came out of the Three Brooms lavatory. She said it was a present for someone in the Hogwarts and that she was to give it to her.
She had a funny look on her face when she said it … She must have been under the Soulless Charm. I didn't realize it! "
Linnie was shaking with sobs again. Hermione patted her gently on the shoulder.
"Didn't she say who gave it to her, Linnie?"
"No … she wouldn't tell me … I said she was out of her mind and mustn't take it to school, but she wouldn't listen …"
"We'd better get back to school."
Hermione still had her arm around Linnie. "Then we can find out what's going on with her. Come on."
Harry hesitated for a moment. Then he untied the shawl from his face, wrapped it carefully around the necklace, and picked it up.
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