After finishing the morning's History of Magic Class, Amanda went to the Great Hall for lunch with her fellow third-year Ravenclaw students.
Just as she sat down and took a couple of bites, Hermione, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope sat down beside her one after another.
Hermione picked up the pumpkin juice beside her and took a large gulp, then smacked her lips with a bit of discomfort.
"Even though pumpkin juice tastes alright, drinking it for an entire academic year really gets tiring. Can't Hogwarts provide any other drinks?"
Cho Chang smiled and patted Hermione's shoulder to comfort her. "Aren't you guys in your third year now? In a little while, you'll be able to go to Hogsmeade. At The Three Broomsticks pub there, you can drink many other beverages."
"Though you won't be able to drink alcohol until you're of age," Marietta Eckmore added with a beaming smile from the side.
Hermione swallowed. To be honest, she was craving something. "Are there carbonated drinks?"
Hearing Hermione mention carbonated drinks, the three upperclassmen who had tried them during their villa vacation all swallowed simultaneously.
That taste... it was indeed a bit mesmerizing; just thinking about it made one desire a drink.
Unfortunately, "There are no carbonated drinks in Hogsmeade," Penelope said, shaking her head.
"It's a pure Wizarding village; there aren't even Muggles there, let alone Muggle drinks."
"Alright then," Hermione sighed. It seemed she would have to wait until she went home for the Christmas holidays to have some.
Amanda swallowed the steak in her mouth, looked up at Hermione with an indifferent expression, and then lowered her head again.
"What classes do you have this afternoon?" Cho Chang asked gently as she added some vegetables to Amanda's plate.
"Care of Magical Creatures," Amanda replied without any fluctuation in her tone.
"That's a very interesting class," Penelope nodded. "At least when Professor Kettleburn taught it, it was very interesting. Hagrid likely won't be bad either."
"Definitely," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows with certainty as one of Hagrid's friends. "Hagrid knows so many magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest; his class is bound to be very interesting."
Amanda sat in her seat and opened her mouth, but seeing Hermione's trusting and excited expression, she ultimately didn't voice her analysis.
Hagrid's character was undoubtedly kind, but perhaps because of his own size, or his affinity with magical creatures—
This might lead him to mistakenly believe that certain dangerous magical creatures were actually not dangerous, combined with his naturally careless and easily excitable personality.
For this first class, Hagrid was very likely to show them some magical creature that he considered very interesting but was dangerous for Young Wizards.
Although this was an outcome with an eighty-three percent probability, thinking of Hermione's expression just now, Amanda swallowed the result of her analysis.
She had no intention of saying it out loud. Anyway, wasn't she going to the class too? Then there was no need to worry.
No matter what magical creature Hagrid brought out, she could always ensure the safety of Hermione and the other students.
After lunch, Amanda and the three others went back to the Dormitory to rest, while Penelope went to find Professor Flitwick to request a classroom. To teach Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore, she first needed a large enough room.
At least one where the three underclassmen wouldn't disturb each other.
After hearing Penelope's request, Professor Flitwick nodded without hesitation.
"Of course, Miss Penelope. You may continue to use the classroom your study group used last academic year."
Professor Flitwick said cheerfully, "I also heard about what happened on the hogwarts express. Even I didn't expect that so many children in Ravenclaw would know the Patronus Charm."
"It is a very difficult spell."
Penelope smiled somewhat shyly. "We actually know quite a few spells; it's just that most students don't like to show them off. With that time, we can do more research and learn more incantations."
"Very pure Ravenclaw thinking, Miss Penelope," Professor Flitwick clapped his hands. "I am proud of you all."
"Thank you, Professor."
Penelope smiled and bid farewell to Professor Flitwick, then returned to her own Dormitory to rest.
It wasn't until it was time for class that Amanda put down the book in her hand and walked out of the Dormitory with Hermione.
With the screaming snidget book tucked under her right arm and her left arm linked with Hermione's, Amanda reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest and looked coldly into its depths not far away.
She seemed to hear the sound of something pawing at the ground.
Based on the sound of that pawing, a Unicorn? A Thestral? A Hippogriff?
Three possible options quickly flashed through Amanda's mind. If it were truly any of these three creatures—
Then the magical creature Hagrid was going to introduce in the first class was indeed interesting enough, and dangerous enough.
Especially the final possibility, the Hippogriff. Amanda's brain recalled information about Hippogriffs without any emotional fluctuation.
Undoubtedly, it was the most dangerous of the three possible creatures.
"Harry, Ron, good afternoon."
Amanda nodded politely to Harry and Ron, and the two boys responded with smiles.
Then Ron looked at Hermione with a long face. "Hermione, can you find some time to help Harry and me look over our Potion Class homework?"
"We promise we just need you to help check it; we've definitely finished writing it."
Harry nodded vigorously beside him. "Right, right, right, we've already finished it; we just want you to help us check it."
"Please," Ron pressed his hands together. "We really don't want to be scolded by that old ba—Professor Snape."
"Fine," Hermione nodded, caught between laughter and tears. "I never said I wouldn't help you check your homework; I just won't let you copy it."
"Bring your homework to me when we have dinner tonight. I'll finish checking it tonight and give it back to you tomorrow morning."
"Okay," Harry and Ron agreed in unison, then stopped bothering Amanda and Hermione and walked silently to the side.
"I wonder what magical creature Hagrid will bring."
Hermione stood on her tiptoes with great interest and peered into the Forbidden Forest.
Amanda mechanically reached out her left hand to steady Hermione and said expressionlessly:
"Just now, I heard the sound of pawing in the Forbidden Forest. Therefore, the three most likely magical creatures are the Unicorn, the Thestral, and the Hippogriff."
"A Unicorn!" Hermione's eyes lit up. "I heard they really like girls; maybe we can even pet them."
"Thestrals are also very interesting!"
"But the Hippogriff..." Hermione paused, speaking with some hesitation. "Hagrid surely wouldn't be so reckless, would he?"
"To have us interact with a Hippogriff in the first class."
"I'm not sure," Amanda shook her head, her tone flat. "There's too little information; I can only analyze these three possibilities."
"The probabilities of these three possibilities are equal; it's impossible to determine which one it is."
"Then let's not think about it!" Hermione giggled, reaching out to hug Amanda's left arm tighter. "We'll naturally find out when class starts."
"Mm." Amanda nodded with a calm face.
When it was time for class, Hagrid walked slowly out of the Forbidden Forest. "Welcome, everyone. Welcome to your Care of Magical Creatures class."
The Little Lions of Gryffindor clapped loudly. Amanda also clapped cooperatively, and with her lead, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs all began to clap enthusiastically as well.
Seeing this, the Slytherins could only reluctantly clap a little, even if they were unwilling. The matter with The Daily Prophet hadn't been settled by the Professors yet, especially not by Headmaster Dumbledore.
They couldn't afford to seem too out of place or too conspicuous now, or who knows what the consequences would be.
Amanda held the screaming snidget book in her right arm as she watched Hagrid walk up and stand before everyone.
"Oh, you've all brought your books," Hagrid nodded with a smile. "But your books..."
Hagrid's gaze swept over the books that the Young Wizards had tightly bound with belts. "Have none of you found the way to open the book?"
A look of disappointment appeared on his face. "Has truly no one discovered how to open it correctly?"
Hagrid's eyes searched through the crowd until he saw Amanda and Hermione holding their screaming snidget books normally, without them being bound by belts.
"Miss Amanda! Hermione! Your books aren't tied up. Can you tell everyone how you managed to make them behave?"
Hagrid smiled with encouragement, seemingly extremely expectant that Amanda and Hermione could give the answer he wanted.
Hermione pursed her lips, looking at Hagrid with some difficulty. Although she didn't know what answer Hagrid wanted... she felt that the method Amanda used to help her "tame" the screaming snidget book certainly wouldn't be the one he was looking for.
However, Amanda clearly didn't think that much. Hagrid was a Professor; the Professor had asked her a question, and since she knew the answer, she should answer straightforwardly.
"Give the screaming snidget book a beating, and they'll behave."
Amanda spoke these words in a flat voice. Almost the second she said it, the screaming snidget books in the hands of all the Young Wizards present simultaneously stopped struggling.
The screaming snidget books in her and Hermione's hands trembled even more violently.
They seemed to remember the fear of being stepped on by the Deinonychus Amanda had transformed into back in Diagon Alley, with sharp claws resting on their covers.
"A—a beating?!" Hagrid's eyes widened with a blank expression, and then he waved his hands in a fluster.
"No, we can't—we can't do that to them."
"You just need to stroke their spines gently," Hagrid said as he held up his own book and slowly ran his large fingers over the screaming snidget book's spine. "And then they'll quiet down."
Sure enough, a moment later, the screaming snidget book in Hagrid's hand quieted down, opened slowly, and lay limply in his hand.
"Truly magical! Who would have thought we should use our hands to stroke the spine of a book that wants to bite us to death."
Draco couldn't help but mock, but he still "obediently" ran his hand over the spine.
Amanda also looked down at the screaming snidget book in her hand. Although it was already quiet, she still followed Hagrid's instructions and gently stroked its spine.
Then she looked up and nodded seriously to Hagrid. "I apologize, Professor Hagrid. I shouldn't have treated my textbook that way. I will be careful in the future and won't be as impulsive as before."
"Oh, it—it's nothing, you don't have to..." Hagrid waved his hands even more fearfully. He really hadn't expected Amanda to apologize and admit her mistake to him over this.
"It's alright Hagrid, please continue with the class."
Hermione spoke gently to help Hagrid out of the situation, while also reaching out to pull Amanda into her embrace.
"Relax, Amanda. No one will blame you for that. Just relax and enjoy the class."
Amanda nodded without any change in her expression. "Okay."
Hagrid took a deep breath and smiled again. "Today I've prepared a very special and interesting magical creature for you. I think you should see it."
"You really must see it."
After saying that, he turned and walked into the woods with great excitement. Seeing how excited he was—
A faint premonition appeared in Amanda's mind. She felt that among her previous guesses about what this magical creature was—
The probability of the third guess was slowly increasing.
A roar came from the woods, and the Young Wizards couldn't help but take a step back collectively. Even Amanda was pulled back a bit by Hermione.
Hearing the roar in her ears, Amanda was completely certain. The magical creature Hagrid brought for the first class was her third guess: the Hippogriff.
A few seconds later, a tall "beast" was led out by Hagrid. This beast had the head of an eagle, the body of a lion, and its two front claws were also those of an eagle.
Hermione gasped beside Amanda. "Merlin's beard! Hagrid actually—actually brought out a Hippogriff for the first class."
"This is—this is a very dangerous magical creature!"
Amanda felt the hands hugging her left arm tighten a bit more. She turned her head slightly to look at Hermione.
"It's fine. I can beat a Hippogriff."
Hermione was stunned for a moment by Amanda's words. It took her two seconds to realize she meant there was no need to be afraid; she could defeat the Hippogriff and protect her.
"Mm," Hermione smiled brilliantly and nudged Amanda's shoulder gently. "Amanda is so amazing."
Amanda's ears turned a faint shade of red as she looked at the Hippogriff Hagrid was leading with a normal expression.
Hagrid patted the Hippogriff beside him. "This fellow's name is Buckbeak. Maybe you've seen it in books or heard of it before; it's a Hippogriff."
"This is a very proud creature, unyielding even in death. They will only treat creatures whose etiquette they approve of with gentleness."
"Bow to them. If your bow is accepted by them, they will bow back. But if they don't bow back—"
Hagrid paused. "Then you need to back away slowly and leave its sight."
"Alright," he said, clapping his hands as large as fans. "Who wants to try first?"
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