Lys's current dormitory no longer met her needs. The already cramped space barely accommodated her bed, desk, and bookshelf. Now, with the addition of scattered experimental materials and bones, every step required careful calculation to avoid tripping.
After some thought, Lys used a Levitation Charm to push her bed into the farthest corner. Then, she transfigured a high-backed chair into a storage rack, consolidating all the fragmented spaces into one.
Finally, with just enough room to move around, Lys resumed dismantling bones.
She didn't want anyone to see her work before it succeeded. Once she succeeded, she hoped her father could stand again too...
And success required enough preparation. Only with preparation could Lys feel confident. That meant she had to take this seriously.
After a night of studying bones, Lys barely managed to summon the energy to face her morning Potions class.
Standing before her cauldron, she absentmindedly tossed in some ingredients. A sizzling sound emerged from the bottom of the cauldron, and black-purple liquid began to burn through the base, nearly spilling onto the floor.
As Professor Slughorn cast a Vanishing Spell to clean up the mess, Lys suddenly found herself losing control.
She didn't know why she felt this way. The more she learned, the more she wanted to master, to understand, to achieve.
Professor Slughorn was saying something, but Lys couldn't hear a word.
Frustration piled up: the spells that wouldn't work, her Patronus, the essays, that infuriating cursive handwriting, Potions, the endless books, the pain, the exclusion.
With every thought, Lys cast another spell, nearly reducing the table holding the cauldron to splinters.
Then, suddenly, she froze, her wand still outstretched.
Professor Slughorn, startled, couldn't stop Lys's actions in time. He quickly cast protective spells around the nearby students before approaching her.
"Are you alright, child? You look as exhausted as you did last year."
Lys couldn't hear him. Her ears buzzed incessantly. Staring at the cauldron with its damaged bottom, she felt a wave of despair. From her first year, Potions had always been a struggle. She had worked so hard, but why wasn't it enough?
In her first year, she had tried so hard to learn, but what good had it done? In her second year, she had to copy others' essays just to scrape by. In her third year, she had desperately stuck close to Snape, even enduring the wary glances from Gryffindors, all for the sake of learning Potions.
But what was the point?!
Now, that damned cauldron still ended up burned through!
Lys's eyes reddened, her nose stung. Dad... he had demanded that she must excel, must be excellent! Lys cast another spell at the cauldron before her. But why couldn't she do it? Dad would be disappointed. Mom would be angry. She would... she would be angry!
Lys lowered her wand, tilted her head back, and crossed her arms tightly around herself. But I want to make Mom happy too. Why can't I do it...
Her movements grew smaller and smaller. She blinked rapidly a few times, then suddenly glanced around. "I'm sorry, Professor. I... I think I need to visit the hospital wing. I'll turn in this class's assignment as soon as I can."
Seeing Professor Slughorn nod, Lys didn't even wait for him to finish speaking. She grabbed her companion, the little creature Gābēng, and strode out of the Potions classroom. Her cloak billowed behind her, concealing her frailty and vulnerability.
But Lys didn't go to the hospital wing. Instead, she went to the beech tree. There, she repeatedly cast the Orchideous spell, over and over, telling herself not to panic.
That Christmas, she could only summon a single incomplete leaf in the snowy night. Now, her spellcasting abilities far surpassed her peers.
The girl who had been mocked for being illiterate now possessed knowledge few of her peers could rival.
Even in her first year, when she could only endure bullying, she could now take on several opponents at once.
Don't rush, Star-Lys. Don't rush...
Hugging her arms, Lys couldn't help but feel anxious. It was already February. Exams would begin in the first week of June, and there were still so many things she couldn't get right.
Don't rush, Star-Lys. Don't rush...
After that day, every professor noticed something was off about Lys, but no one had a solution.
The tense atmosphere outside the school and the approaching Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s) affected many upper-year students, leading to similar cases of nervous breakdowns, tears, or sudden outbursts.
Madam Pomfrey had to distribute calming draughts to these students. However, Professor Slughorn, unwilling to deal with the repetitive task of brewing, delegated the responsibility to a seventh-year student and fourth-year Severus Snape.
The seventh-year, busy with their own exams, passed the task entirely to Snape. As a result, Snape often stayed late in the Potions classroom.
He frequently saw Star-Lys Black in a corner, brewing her class assignments, though the results were often less than satisfactory.
Finally, when she produced a passable potion, she stopped coming.
From Snape's perspective, though he was reluctant to admit it, Star-Lys Black was a reasonably excellent student.
After all, many students, including himself and Lily Evans, excelled only in specific subjects.
But Star-Lys was different. Except for electives and History of Magic, she consistently achieved Outstanding (O) and Exceeds Expectations (E). Snape could confidently say that the gap between her Outstanding and Exceeds Expectations grades was likely due to errors in her essays rather than practical skills. It was worth noting that she had been illiterate in her first year, so essay flaws were entirely understandable.
Moreover, based on her dueling skills and spellcasting acumen, even an average adult wizard would struggle against her.
And judging by the Christmas gift she had given him, her progress in Alchemy was not insignificant. Recently, the Forbidden Forest had seen an increase in injured magical creatures with signs of healing. Aside from the meddling Potter trio, only she would seek out that half-giant Hagrid.
So, in addition to her academic achievements, she likely excelled in Healing Magic as well.
Returning to her Potions performance, Snape reflected that while the professor taught multiple classes, there were still idiots who couldn't produce any assignment at all, as if they had poured water from their brains into their cauldrons.
Yet, despite her struggles, Star-Lys could consistently produce a potion, even if the quality varied. This was something 99% of wizards couldn't achieve. Without talent, no amount of effort would yield a successful potion.
Star-Lys ranked among the top students in her year and even above.
So why was she so anxious? Was it about choosing sides? But the Dark Lord didn't recruit underage wizards; only exceptional graduates earned his mark.
Stirring his cauldron, Snape found his thoughts wandering. Surely it wasn't just for an Outstanding grade?
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