Just as Lin Shu and Madam Hooch stood confronting each other fiercely, Neville's body was already swaying in the air like a snapped kite, his limbs thrashing wildly as he tried to grab something to steady himself.
The fierce wind roared into his ears, stinging his cheeks.
The students looked up in terror, some screaming, while others cried out helplessly for Madam Hooch.
The situation was extremely critical, but the spells Madam Hooch hurriedly cast had no effect. Neville was still being whipped back and forth by the broomstick in midair, hanging upside down one moment and spinning at high speed the next. His face was as pale as paper, and his hair stood completely on end from the wind.
Lin Shu was utterly speechless.
This was it?
She didn't even know where to begin! A professor who was this useless probably wouldn't even qualify to be an outer sect disciple in her sect!
The next second, she kicked the broom horizontally, sprang up with a single bounce, and landed right on top of it.
That's right—she stood on it.
If she rode straddling it, she'd find it crotch-chafing.
Before everyone's eyes, she rushed forward in an extremely tricky posture, moving at lightning speed like a shooting star. The broom beneath her feet acted like a tamed dragon, raising its head and racing forward, tearing through the vast sky.
Although Lin Shu was stepping on a broom, the flight technique she used was the sword-flying of Dongxuan.
Her posture was upright, and her long hair danced wildly in the fierce wind. She turned slightly sideways, her single knee bent as if she had merged into one with the sword body, riding the waves through the sea of clouds. As she shuttled back and forth, the surrounding mist was split apart by blade-like sword qi, revealing the azure sky.
As Neville fell, he felt sure he was done for, so terrified he simply closed his eyes, not daring to imagine how pathetic his crash would look.
Yet the expected pain never came. When he opened his eyes again, Lin Shu was holding him up by the scruff of his collar with one hand.
By the scruff!
Oh, heavens! Merlin!
She was so strong.
Lin Shu was speechless once more, feeling that Neville must have been scared out of his wits. She had already grabbed him, so why wasn't he jumping over to her broom right away? What was he waiting for?
Was he waiting for daylilies to wither?
She was in no mood and had very little patience left, so she gave a one-handed flick, tossed him behind her, and then guided the broom down to the ground.
"Shu, you looked so insanely cool just now. How did you think of those poses? I need to find a chance to try that myself. If you ask me, standing up to fly has way more swagger than just riding it."
Malfoy was the first to crowd around again. Having watched all of Shu's cool moves, he was completely captivated and successfully transformed into a little fanboy.
"Don't copy me. What I used wasn't your flying spell, so even though those moves look extremely difficult when I do them, I'm safe. I can't guarantee your flying spells won't make you fall if you try to fly like that."
After the two whispered a few words, Neville over there finally came back to life. He had been so utterly terrified that even after landing on solid ground, he sat slumped on the grass for a long time to recover.
The first thing he did once he recovered was to find Lin Shu and express his gratitude.
"Shu, thank you. Thank you... for saving me. If not for you, I probably wouldn't even be in one piece right now."
Neville spoke with genuine sincerity, though perhaps from having spent too long in the air, his voice was still trembling.
This gave Malfoy an opening for criticism.
"Who do you think you are? Is 'Shu' a name for the likes of you to use? Stupid lion, having to rely on us Slytherins to be saved when you're in danger. You're completely useless."
"Alright, Malfoy, Neville didn't provoke you. Your anger is burning for no reason at all."
Lin Shu hurriedly spoke up to stop him, calmly accepting Neville's thanks and telling him it was just a small matter not to be taken to heart.
After all this commotion, class was still not over yet. Madam Hooch still stood tall nearby, wearing a stern and unapproachable expression.
"Alright, back to your positions and continue the class. As for Shu Lin, for talking back to a professor and using unauthorized flight techniques, five points from Slytherin."
As her voice fell, a gasp rippled through the crowd, accompanied by whispered murmurs.
Yet Lin Shu wore her usual unbothered, aloof expression, showing neither anger, regret, nor any sense of unfairness that would prompt a scene.
She licked her canine teeth, a gesture both alluring and provocative. The next second, she let out a light laugh:
"Tch—how boring. You guys can finish this class, I'm leaving first."
Lin Shu turned and walked away with absolute smoothness. To her, this class held no importance; her sword-flying was already extremely proficient, and even if she mastered this broken broom, it would still just be that—it wasn't like it could bloom flowers.
With that time to spare, going to Professor Snape's to serve detention or going to Moaning Myrtle's to brew some pills would be far better than wasting time here.
She walked away with utter panache, without a shred of hesitation. She waved her sleeves, leaving not a single cloud behind.
Only the crowd of students was left in an uproar. The Slytherin little snakes bore the brunt of it, immediately rushing to stand up for Lin Shu.
To them, Lin Shu's terrifying strength was precisely the light they ought to worship, look up to, and pursue. As for talking back to a professor, or having one's own temper and backbone—none of that mattered, none of it was a big deal.
To put it simply, the strong had the capital to be proud.
Only mediocrity escaped envy.
Lin Shu had merely displayed strength that surpassed the professor and was now being targeted; they wouldn't stand for it.
The little snakes wore angry expressions. Malfoy rushed to the front, dropping the broom in his hand first, glared bitterly at Madam Hooch, and then chased off in the direction Lin Shu had taken.
With the first came the second.
Before long, most of the Slytherins had cleared out, marking Madam Hooch's very first career Waterloo.
Vexed and furious, her chest heaved violently, looking every bit the picture of someone driven to extreme anger.
"Slytherin forming factions to talk back to a professor and cutting class en masse—fifty points from Slytherin."
Hermione frowned, her small frame seeming to harbor immense power at that moment as she stepped in ahead of Harry just as he was about to put his left foot forward.
"Madam Hooch, Shu meant no disrespect to you, please believe that. Besides, Shu saved Neville; shouldn't she be awarded points? She flew brilliantly just now, far better than many of the upper-year seniors. I think she deserves praise."
Harry nodded and immediately echoed Hermione's words.
"The situation was critical when Neville's broom went out of control and no one else had a solution. Shu was the one who stepped up. She didn't ignore a student from another house just because she's a Slytherin. She is the best Slytherin."
Madam Hooch was left speechless by the arguments, though she refused to back down. Until the end of the class, everyone dragged their exhausted bodies away from the training grounds.
What was supposed to be a very interesting class had turned out like this, leaving everyone unhappy.
Everyone was worrying about Lin Shu, but she herself never suffered from internal friction.
Halfway away from the flying lesson, she ran into the Weasley twins. Without a word of explanation, they grabbed her arms and dragged her over to an empty stairwell.
"George! Fred! Don't carry me around like luggage, I'm warning you, I'm very dangerous."
"Our sweetheart is throwing down threats."
"Could it be that I used too much strength and hurt our little sweetheart?"
As soon as George finished speaking, Fred chimed in. Lin Shu was already used to their back-and-forth routine.
If one day only one of them were left, or if one day they stopped talking like this, she would probably find it strange instead.
However, since they happened to bump into each other, she might as well hand the pendant to Fred! That way she wouldn't keep thinking about it and wasting precious brain storage.
"Alright! Why did you guys drag me over here? Actually, never mind, don't tell me—let me talk!"
The two were amused, and just as they were about to speak, Lin Shu pinched their mouths shut with lightning speed.
"Little mouths, no talking."
"Mmph mmph mmph—mmph mmph mmph—"
Three seconds later, Lin Shu let go, dug a necklace out of her robe pocket, and handed it to Fred.
"For you. It keeps you safe, carry it around and you'll get a surprise. That's all I'm saying, anything more will cost extra."
Fred raised an eyebrow and took the necklace to inspect it closely, while George beside him changed his expression, staring straight at Lin Shu as if trying to use his gaze to awaken her conscience.
"Sweetheart, where's mine?"
"Oh, Senior George! Trust me, you don't need this."
"How do you know I don't need it? I want one."
"You really can't ask for this! No, you aren't allowed to want it, and you aren't allowed to ask. Spare your cute, kind, and morally upright junior sister! If I say any more, I'll be leaking heavenly secrets, and then those huge thunderbolts are gonna strike me down left and right."
Fred let out a snort of laughter, but George didn't find it funny. This was perhaps one of the rare instances where the twins lacked synchronization.
"I don't care, sweetheart, you can't play favorites. Fred and I are clearly identical—look into my eyes and tell me you actually prepared a gift for me too."
Meeting that gaze full of expectation, Lin Shu really couldn't bring herself to refuse.
"Well... fine, fine, I'll give you one! My bad for not thinking it through, what a small thing to fuss about, I'll hook you up."
With that, Lin Shu rummaged in her pocket and pulled out another one. This was originally meant for Senior Cedric, but since she hadn't run into him yet, she'd just give it to George first!
To soothe his wounded soul.
"Now you can't say I'm playing favorites. This pendant seals the power of the talisman paper inside; it was made by my senior sister herself, and I don't have many of them."
"Sweetheart, promise me you won't forget me again, okay? I'll just pretend what happened today never happened."
Lin Shu froze, meeting George's still somewhat injured eyes, and somehow felt a surge of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Senior George. I have a reason for giving these out. Although I can't spell it out clearly, trust me—it's much better if you never have to use it."
That could be considered quite a clear hint.
Could the two of them understand?
Uncertain, let's wait and see.
She watched as Fred and George exchanged a glance, their faces expressionless, making it impossible to tell what they were thinking. When they looked back at Lin Shu, their smiles returned, revealing their signature bright white teeth.
No matter how Lin Shu looked at it, those faces of theirs had a bewitching magic.
For a moment, she didn't know whether to lower her head or dodge away.
"Sweetheart, help us put them on."