Bellatrix was overflowing with hostility.
In her eyes, Isolde had been intentionally provoking her from the very beginning.
Ever since she was a child, she had always been the strong one who crushed others, an existence revered and praised by her peers.
When had she ever been treated like this?
Defeat was already an extreme humiliation, yet Isolde simply refused to let it go, insisting on using a gentle and harmless appearance to puncture her remaining dignity over and over again.
Could she possibly become friends with a half-blood?
That gentle apology sounded a hundred times more grating to Bellatrix than the most vicious curse.
She was certain that this half-blood girl was doing it on purpose.
Intentionally copying her moves to shatter her innate pride, intentionally winning the duel to suppress Black’s glory.
Intentionally feigning gentleness while watching her in such a disheveled and embarrassing state, just wanting to see her furious yet completely powerless to fight back!
Heh!
Do you just love the way I can’t stand her yet can’t get rid of her?
Bellatrix’s chest heaved violently, scorching anger burning through her limbs and bones, overpowering the piercing pain in her ankle.
Her fingernails dug deeply into her palms, leaving several pale indentation marks, while unresignation and resentment surged at the bottom of her heart.
On the other hand, Isolde was filled with helplessness and bewilderment, her eyes clean and clear, completely devoid of any provocative intent.
She lowered her eyes slightly, sighing inwardly, feeling a terrible headache coming on.
How could the target of her conquest be so hard to approach?
Bellatrix was truly aloof.
She just wanted to properly close the distance between her and Bellatrix, not wanting every encounter between them to result in a tit-for-tat confrontation, and certainly not wanting to genuinely hurt the other party.
Yet precisely in Bellatrix’s eyes, all of her gentle goodwill had turned into ulteriorly motivated provocation and humiliation.
Watching the person in front of her bristling all over, acting as if facing a formidable enemy, with a fury in her eyes almost breathing fire, Isolde decided to adopt Plan B.
I will approach Bellatrix using the most direct, unswerving, incisive method that boosts favorability the most.
Help the other party.
As the saying goes, help others with their matters.
Without waiting for Bellatrix to shout angrily again, Isolde stepped forward, giving her no further chance to struggle or resist.
She reached out and firmly grasped Bellatrix’s slender arm.
Her fingertips touched the other’s slightly cool fabric, her strength gentle yet firm, allowing no escape.
“What are you doing, Isolde Winnier!”
Extreme shame, indignation, and anger rushed straight to her head in an instant, glaring fiercely at the person before her, her gaze as sharp as if about to spew flames.
She struggled with all her might, her back stiff and straight.
The excruciating pain in her ankle struck again due to the violent movement, hurting her to the point of dizziness.
Being still young and insufficiently mature in mind, the young Bellatrix was somewhat mentally broken at this moment.
“Who asked you to poke your nose into other people’s business! I don’t need your pity! Let go of your hand immediately!”
The sharp reprimand carried a suppressed tremble.
The proud Black had never been so forcefully touched or forcibly controlled by anyone; this made her feel even more humiliated than defeat.
In her view, Isolde’s forcible pulling action was an escalation of provocation.
It was an impudent act that was certain of her weakness and impotence, wantonly trampling on her dignity.
Yet Isolde completely ignored all her rage, struggle, and resistance.
Clearly seeing the swollen and gruesome burn on her ankle, looking at the glaring charred hole on her pure white sock, the strength in her hand was steady and stubborn, firmly encircling her arm so she couldn’t break free by even a fraction.
Isolde leaned forward slightly, her posture upright and composed, her tone still light and gentle, carrying a trace of unrefusable stubbornness:
“Because you are injured, and I happen to want to be a helpful, good student, so Miss Bella, I will take you to the infirmary.”
As her voice fell, she directly pulled the stubborn, bristling, and furious The Handmaiden Black away.
Not far away, Rodolphus stamped his feet with anger.
“No, what right does this guy have to take Bellatrix away? Does Bellatrix actually want to be friends with her?”
“This damned half-blood! This evil half-blood! This Unforgiven half-blood!”
“Just walked away with Bellatrix like that?”
“…”
Bellatrix’s whole body was stiff, and every step she took was painful and humiliating.
Her arm was firmly pulled by someone, and she was forced to follow the other’s pace forward.
The onlookers kept silent throughout the entire process, watching this deeply contrasting scene.
No one dared to step forward to stop them, nor did anyone dare to speak out in discussion.
The young girl ahead had a composed posture and innocent eyebrows.
Completely unaware that every move she made was fiercely poking at the bottom line of The Handmaiden Black behind her.
Not only that, but Isolde was also praising herself in her heart.
Look at that!
A classmate as helpful as me, a classmate as sunny and powerful as me.
In this lifetime, Bellatrix must look at her with new eyes now, right?
But Lord Voldemort was also a half-blood!
As long as she was strong enough, she would surely win Bellatrix’s favor as well.
And Bellatrix looked up, staring at Isolde’s calm profile, the anger and grievance deep in her heart almost overflowing, leaving only one thought in her mind——
This person had been intentionally provoking her from beginning to end.
Bellatrix slept in the infirmary at night.
Isolde originally wanted to stay and accompany her for a bit, to take care of her.
But under the other’s strong demand, she left anyway.
Halfway through the middle of the night, she woke up.
Isolde felt there was nothing to do, so she came out for night wandering.
As long as she wasn’t caught by the professors and didn’t have points deducted from her house, it would be fine.
Sneaking out of the dormitory, she felt that night wandering alone was simply too quiet.
Who else could she look for?
Playmates from her past life?
Oh, no, they were all in the Ravenclaw Common Room.
Thinking over and over, Isolde decided to go “visit” Bellatrix.
Even though they didn’t seem that familiar yet, communication and familiarity always required someone to take the initiative.
And coincidentally, when she found Bellatrix, she had also just woken up.
Amidst her drowsy eyes, Isolde stood behind the bed curtains until Bellatrix noticed her with a frown.
“Winnier? You’d better give me a proper reason. Out of what psychology would you wander into the infirmary in the middle of the night?”
“Are you crazy? Why are you by my bed?”
The Handmaiden Black kept sneering, sitting up from the bed; her wounds were almost healed under treatment.
“Do you know what night wandering means? You’ll get points deducted from our house!”
Isolde refused to admit this and shook her head: “I won’t be caught, so points won’t be deducted this way.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll report you?” Bellatrix laughed heartily.
“You were the one discovered by me!”
“But I came specifically looking for you.”
“Besides, if you report me, the points deducted will be from our house.”
After Isolde finished speaking, Bellatrix fell silent for a moment with a strange expression.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t want to have points deducted from our house.”