Before Hermione could scream, Kate covered her mouth with one hand—
Of course, in the eyes of the three-headed dog, it just looked like this strange little thing was dancing around on its own.
"Roar!" It opened its three massive, basin-sized mouths and let out a low growl at Kate.
This guy really isn't a female!
Kate, secretly cursing that activating her buff was useless, could only open the door while it hadn't yet pounced forward.
While exiting, she cast a final Disillusionment Charm on herself, then grabbed Hermione and ran out together.
The rare emptiness of Mana in her body made Kate feel exceptionally uncomfortable. For the first time, she discovered that the amount of Mana was not quite the same as the data displayed on the System screen.
In the past, when she hadn't taken the magic-suppressing potion, she could practice spells day and night without stopping.
The quantity and recovery speed of the Mana in her body could always exceed the rate at which she consumed it, which created the illusion that she had endless Mana to use.
But now, with just half of it sealed, she felt her ability falling short of her will after casting merely four Disillusionment Charms.
Could it be that this Mana value is also related to the speed of Mana recovery?
Dragging Hermione all the way to the entrance of the Gryffindor Common Room, Kate panted heavily as she watched Hermione say the password, "Pig Snout."
The Fat Lady looked strangely at the empty space in front of her that could produce sound, then swung the door open.
"You go in, I have to go back," Kate whispered.
"Wait!" Hermione hurriedly pulled her back. "How about you sleep here tonight?"
Kate shook her head. "Going downstairs takes less time than going up, and... you aren't alone in your dormitory. It's inconvenient."
After saying that, she raced against time and ran toward the stairs.
There was a seven-minute time limit remaining. If she hurried, she could still make it back in time.
However, just halfway there, she ran into Mrs. Norris on patrol again.
Kate's body went stiff. She wanted to flee from this sharp-sensed cat, but Mrs. Norris rarely didn't make a sound.
It even made way for her.
Oh, her buff wasn't turned off yet!
The Animal Affinity buff that was useless against the three-headed dog was unexpectedly effective on Mrs. Norris.
Kate's tense heart relaxed slightly. She quickly fled past it and finally managed to return to the Slytherin Common Room with great difficulty.
As soon as she sat on the bed, the Disillusionment Charm on her body wore off immediately.
Kate finally breathed a sigh of relief, her weak body collapsing limply into the soft bedding.
An ordinary Disillusionment Charm actually didn't consume Mana that easily, but hers was a strengthened, extended version, and she had cast it on two people simultaneously.
Thus, the Mana consumption increased massively. Coupled with half her own Mana being sealed, it led to her being in such a sorry state today.
"System, I feel that my Mana recovery speed is significantly slower today. What is going on?" Once she caught her breath, she opened the System to ask.
[What this System displays is not simple data, but a general term based on the aggregation of everything related to it.]
It sounded a bit convoluted, but the simple explanation was that her Mana value was not just a simple quantity of Mana, but a calculation that included everything related to Mana.
For example, quantity, and for another example, Mana recovery speed.
For yet another example, her Agility was not just movement speed, but also the speed of drawing her wand and the instinct to dodge flexibly during combat.
[Ding! Host has triggered the Three-Headed Dog plot!]
[Main Quest 4 Open: Protect the Philosopher's Stone guarded by the three-headed dog.]
[Hermione Granger Exclusive Side Quest 2 is opening!]
[Character Side Quest 2: Avoid Hermione encountering the Halloween Troll event.]
The System kept chattering as it issued quests, but Kate, having exhausted her Mana and being completely worn out, had already fallen into a deep sleep on the bed.
When early morning arrived the next day, Kate was woken up by music playing from the System.
"Mmh..." The silver-haired ball turned over impatiently in bed. "System, isn't today Sunday? Don't make a fuss..."
It was a rare Sunday, and neither Hermione nor Cho Chang had asked her out. She had clearly planned to steal a half-day of leisure and absolutely not wake up before ten o'clock.
However, this broken System was actually playing bizarre remix music in her brain!
And it was limited to her hearing it alone. Was this even reasonable?
Kate sat up in bed with a sleepy face and patted her own head. "I'm awake. Can you turn off the music?"
Do you know how terrifying it is for a beautiful girl to be sleeping soundly, only to suddenly have Zhuge Liang's voice ring out in her brain?
[System Notification: Host has unviewed quests. Please remember to check.]
...This is your reason for waking someone up early in the morning?
Kate was speechless for a moment. She yawned and casually tapped open the System interface. When she saw the quest displayed on it, her originally sleepy brain instantly sobered up.
Are you kidding?
Asking her to protect the Philosopher's Stone?
Then what is Harry Potter doing? Observing from the sidelines?
"No, no, I can't do this job. Having the Savior is enough, why must you drag me into it?"
She immediately shook her head in refusal.
[If the Host refuses the Main Quest, the System will initiate a forced detachment, causing mental damage to the Host. 98% probability of death, 2% probability of dementia.]
"Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything."
Kate rubbed her small face helplessly, looking at the warning information displayed by the System, feeling a wave of distress and panic.
Now she had to do it whether she wanted to or not.
She had no interest in things like the Philosopher's Stone. Wizards could generally live for one or two hundred years, which was already much longer than ordinary people.
Counting from when she transmigrated, she had barely finished one-twentieth of this body's time.
Being able to live again was already not easy; she had no interest whatsoever in forcibly prolonging life using items like the Philosopher's Stone.
As for using the Philosopher's Stone to turn stone into gold or whatever, for someone with no great ambition like her, having enough money to use was sufficient.
There was still a pile of gold mountains in the Gringotts underground waiting for her to spend, so where would she need the Philosopher's Stone's ability?
"...Looking at it this way, I actually seem quite suitable to go get the Philosopher's Stone."
In the original works, Harry needed to pass the Mirror of Erised to get the Philosopher's Stone. This was a mirror that reflected the deepest desires of one's heart.
Before today, Kate had never thought about using this mirror to look at herself.
Because as an adult, she knew very well how many distracting thoughts were in her heart.
To have one's truest desires displayed plainly by a magical item would, after all, make one feel rather uncomfortable.
But as things stood, she had no choice but to go find that mirror and test it out in advance.
"Right, System, what is this task regarding Hermione about?"
Could it be that Ron was preparing to provoke Hermione again?
[Plot restriction, please explore on your own, Host.]
Kate sighed. Fine then. At worst, on Halloween, she would just stay by Hermione's side the entire day.
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