When flocks of Owls flew in from outside the Great Hall, the Young Wizards of Hogwarts knew that today's Daily Prophet had been delivered.
Several Professors at the Staff Table also shifted their gazes toward the Owls flying into the Great Hall.
With those Pure-blood families involved, the Ministry of Magic and The Daily Prophet would certainly react to the comments made by The Ravenclaws during lunch yesterday; things the students could think of, they naturally could too.
So they were actually waiting for today's Daily Prophet, regardless of whether it was Amanda, Hermione, or the Young Wizards of Ravenclaw.
They were still students, and as their Professors, they had an obligation to protect them, didn't they?
Whether physically or in terms of public opinion, as Professors, they bore a corresponding responsibility.
Reaching out to steadily catch The Daily Prophet dropped by the Owls, Hermione, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope opened their copies almost in unison.
Amanda tilted her head slightly to look at The Daily Prophet in Hermione's hand, which featured a striking headline: "Unstable Elements? A New Crisis in the Wizarding World!"
"Tsk," Cho Chang clicked her tongue, "This writing style... it doesn't feel like Rita Skeeter's usual flair."
"Because her article is further back; this first page should belong to the Ministry of Magic."
A bone-chillingly cold voice spoke; clearly, Penelope had already found the article written by Rita Skeeter.
To be honest, it was quite easy to find, because besides this first page, the rest of the paper was entirely dedicated to Rita Skeeter.
Hearing this, Hermione flipped back a page, and the headline there was a line of large text: "What Exactly Caused the Smartest Among Them to Make the Most Unwise Decisions?"
Amanda blinked at the title and began to quickly scan the contents of the entire report.
In the report, Rita Skeeter briefly described the support and protection Amanda and Hermione received within Ravenclaw House.
At the same time, she raised questions and speculations as to why the two of them were able to receive the full assistance of The Ravenclaws.
"We have to wonder how these two girls—these young, beautiful girls from the Muggle world—managed to conquer the house of Ravenclaw."
It was a clever method of guidance; while seemingly describing her and Hermione's situation, it was actually deliberately steering the readers' thoughts.
Amanda quickly analyzed the situation while mentally marking a small red 'X' over Rita Skeeter.
Slandering girls by implying improper means was a common tactic used by the media, and Amanda was well aware of this.
She didn't care about Rita Skeeter's slanders against herself, but she could not tolerate such slanders being made against Hermione.
Hermione was equally furious; she shook her head with a mirthless laugh, marveling at how she had truly underestimated the level of Rita Skeeter's shamelessness.
However, it was clear that this report wasn't the most excessive part, because upon seeing the subsequent coverage, Marietta Eckmore could no longer help but slam the newspaper onto the table.
Look at what that woman wrote! How did she dare! Didn't she go to school at Hogwarts too?
Headmaster Dumbledore was probably her Professor back then!
"The Powerful Strength and Ambition of Two Young Witches: Why is Dumbledore Sharing Everything So Freely?"
Seeing Marietta Eckmore's reaction, Cho Chang and Penelope stopped reading the first two reports and flipped directly to the final third report; immediately, both of their expressions darkened significantly.
"What did she write now?"
Seeing the three older girls' faces so dark they looked ready to summon a thunderstorm, Hermione immediately prepared to flip the page to the last report, but Cho Chang held her hand down.
"Hermione, maybe don't look. Don't let it dirty your and Amanda's eyes."
Listening to Cho Chang's words and noticing Marietta Eckmore glancing toward the Staff Table from time to time, Amanda instantly deduced the most likely conclusion.
"Rita Skeeter is slandering Hermione and me by claiming we have inappropriate relationships with the Professors?"
Speaking this guess in a completely flat tone, Hermione turned to look at her in disbelief.
"No way, I mean," Hermione was now somewhat incoherent with shock, "she graduated from Hogwarts too; how could she slander the Professors of Hogwarts like this?!"
"Truly nothing can be hidden from you, Amanda."
Penelope reached out to ruffle Amanda's hair while taking The Daily Prophet from in front of Hermione.
"But she didn't slander you with the Professors; she slandered you with Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Alright, now that you both know, just keep eating breakfast. Don't read the specific report; it'll only ruin your mood."
Penelope casually tossed the two newspapers onto the long table, trying her best not to show the burning rage in her heart.
"I'm not reading it either. It's complete nonsense, worse than gossip rags."
Having said that, she waved her wand, and the two newspapers on the table instantly burst into flames; Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore also didn't hesitate to throw their Daily Prophets into the fire.
Any hint of hesitation would be an act of self-harm; reading such trash would only make them sick with anger.
The same thing wasn't just happening among them; at the Ravenclaw Table, the Gryffindor Table, and the Hufflepuff Table, hundreds of Young Wizards were cursing in unison.
Amanda even saw Harry and Ron so angry they forgot magic and used their bare strength to tear The Daily Prophet to shreds.
By the end, because the paper was too thick, both of their faces were flushed red from the effort.
Even the Young Wizards of Slytherin found these three reports hard to believe.
The first report—the theory about Headmaster Dumbledore's ambition that the Ministry of Magic often secretly promoted—wasn't surprising, and Headmaster Dumbledore didn't care at all, so it was nothing.
But starting from the second report, what was Rita Skeeter writing?
Had she gone mad?!
Slandering Amanda and Granger was fine, but did she really have to drag in the entire Ravenclaw House or even Headmaster Dumbledore?
And with that kind of slander! Merlin's beard, Headmaster Dumbledore isn't dead yet; he's still alive and well!
She really isn't afraid of making Headmaster Dumbledore lose his temper and turn on her, is she?
Even if she wasn't afraid, they were; the Pure-blood families behind them were.
They had told Rita Skeeter to slander and attack those two Young Wizards, Amanda and Granger.
But that was limited to those two Young Wizards from the Muggle world with no background.
Why did she take it upon herself to provoke all of Ravenclaw and Headmaster Dumbledore?
Did she think their Pure-blood families weren't dying fast enough?
In the eyes of The Ravenclaws and Headmaster Dumbledore, could these reports have been written by her alone?
In their eyes, these reports were written by her because they, the Pure-blood families, had ordered it!
In the end, the bill would be settled on their heads!
The Little Snakes of Slytherin were now completely panicked; the schadenfreude they felt yesterday while waiting for a good show had vanished entirely.
Everyone looked up cautiously at the exceptionally low atmosphere in the Great Hall, and at The Ravenclaws, who were the most somber among the three houses.
When they won't completely enrage the other party, some people feel schadenfreude about provoking them.
But under conditions that will completely infuriate the other party, people become afraid; this is an unavoidable part of human nature.
At the Staff Table, the Professors put down their newspapers with cold faces, and Professor McGonagall's lips were even trembling with rage.
"Shameless, shameless! This is absolutely shameless!"
"How dare she, how dare she slander Albus like this!"
Professor McGonagall turned to look at Headmaster Dumbledore, who remained "calm," showing not a single trace of anger on his face.
However, if one looked closely, there was clearly no warmth left in his eyes.
"It seems our Wizarding World's official newspaper isn't quite clear on what it's writing."
Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head and set The Daily Prophet aside.
Turning his head slowly, even across several seats, Professor Snape could still feel the chill radiating from Headmaster Dumbledore.
That bone-chilling coldness.
"I'm an old man now and don't care much for this kind of news, but Miss Amanda and Miss Granger cannot be slandered at will."
Headmaster Dumbledore slowly stroked his white beard. "I will have a good talk with Cornelius about this. It doesn't matter if he suspects me, but he cannot harm the reputation of my students."
"That is very necessary, Albus!"
Professor Flitwick's voice was high-pitched. "How about you leave talking to The Daily Prophet to me? Amanda is a student of my house, after all."
His hand was already in his robe pocket, clearly gripping his wand.
"I would also be very happy to make a trip; Miss Granger is my student," Professor McGonagall said fiercely.
Although Professor Lupin's face was also frosty, he couldn't help but feel amazed looking at these Professors who made no effort to hide their desire to take action.
The last time the Professors wanted to take action like this was probably against the arrogant Voldemort and the Death Eaters over a decade ago.
Congratulations to Rita Skeeter; through her own efforts, she had elevated The Daily Prophet to the same level as them.
But as fate would have it, The Daily Prophet wouldn't last long enough for the Professors to act.
Seeing the fierce way Hermione chewed her fried egg, Amanda's eyes blinked without any warmth.
In the next moment, the five small metal spheres surrounding The Daily Prophet building instantly fired red beams.
Boom!
A violent tremor surged through the building housing The Daily Prophet; Rita Skeeter, who had been leisurely drinking coffee, jerked her hand and spilled the cup all over herself.
At the same time, the area around The Daily Prophet building was being continuously destroyed by red beams.
The red beams circled The Daily Prophet building, blasting the ground around it into a churning mess, clearly intending to scare everyone inside out.
Amanda hadn't forgotten that there were upperclassmen from Ravenclaw House working inside The Daily Prophet.
Plus, Hermione had previously emphasized to her the importance of valuing life—both others' and her own.
So from the start, she had no intention of directly attacking The Daily Prophet building and causing a tragedy with no survivors.
"Quick, notify the Aurors! Fast! A Dark Wizard is attacking!"
The staff inside The Daily Prophet shouted as they ran outside.
Wizards on the same street came out one after another, staring dumbfounded at the wreckage of the street before them.
The attacks from the red beams paused temporarily; they were waiting for the people inside The Daily Prophet to reach a safe position.
Panting as they ran out, The Daily Prophet staff struggled to climb over the "trenches" blasted at the entrance by the red beams and did their best to get as far away as possible.
The spectating Wizards kept looking up at the sky and all around, but they couldn't find any sign of the Dark Wizard who should have been there.
No Dark Wizard? Then who exactly caused the attack just now?
It wasn't that no one looked toward where the red beams had just been fired from.
But the five small metal spheres Amanda had created were simply too small; flying in mid-air, they couldn't see them at all.
The red light flashed again, and five beams struck The Daily Prophet building simultaneously with unerring precision.
Rumble! Bang!
Under their continuous assault, The Daily Prophet building collapsed almost instantly; every brick and stone shattered, and every piece of debris turned to dust.
The red beams moved incessantly, "attending" to every part of The Daily Prophet building, ensuring that no matter how many people or who used Reparo, the place could never be restored.
The attack of the red beams lasted for a full half-minute; at first, the spectating Wizards could still see The Daily Prophet building collapsing and rapidly disappearing.
But with the passage of time, The Daily Prophet building completely vanished within the smoke and dust.
When the dust settled, what remained before their eyes was no longer The Daily Prophet building.
All that was left was a bottomless crater, along with countless surrounding pits gouged out by the red beams.
"Merlin's hairband..."
A Wizard murmured softly, "What kind of magic is this?"
"What magic could possibly do something like this?"
A disheveled Rita Skeeter clutched the news drafts in her hands; she had risked her life to bring them out of The Daily Prophet building.
These were what she intended to publish in The Daily Prophet tomorrow, but now, looking at The Daily Prophet building where not even ruins remained, she deeply doubted if tomorrow's Daily Prophet could even be printed or delivered.
Before she had time for further thought, a red beam, much thinner than before, struck the news drafts in her arms directly.
"Ah!!!"
Rita Skeeter screamed in terror, threw her drafts onto the ground, fell back, and scrambled away on all fours.
Boom!
The drafts she had thrown down exploded under the attack of the red beam, completely vanishing along with the ground beneath them.
In the distant Hogwarts Great Hall, Amanda stood up and followed Hermione, who had finished her breakfast; it was time for them to go to Potion Class.
Casting a cold glance back at the Little Snakes of Slytherin, who had their heads bowed and didn't dare look at anyone else in the Great Hall, Amanda walked straight out.
People always have to take responsibility for their actions, don't they? They indeed reported back to their families, and their families indeed did things like slandering Hermione, slandering the Ravenclaw family, and slandering Headmaster Dumbledore.
Then they must take responsibility for their own actions and those of their families; the current somber atmosphere was exactly what they deserved.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.