Almost as soon as Hagrid finished speaking, all the Young Wizards took a step back in unison, even Hermione and Ron retreated at the same time.
Amanda was also pulled back a large step by Hermione along with the crowd.
Only Harry, who hadn't reacted yet, remained standing blankly on the spot.
"Ah! Harry, brave boy, come on, come on."
Seeing Harry standing apart from the crowd, Hagrid immediately beamed with joy.
Harry froze for a moment and looked around in disbelief; sure enough, there was no one left beside him.
He turned back to look at Hermione and Ron with an incredulous expression. Hermione's face reddened slightly, and she silently leaned her head against Amanda's shoulder.
Ron, looking somewhat guilty, looked up at the sky.
Watching his two best friends, Harry's mouth couldn't stop twitching. Really... in a life-and-death situation, he could absolutely trust these two.
But in normal times when there was no danger, his two best friends didn't hesitate to throw him under the bus.
Amanda blinked and reached out with a stiff movement to draw her wand from her wizard robe pocket.
She prepared herself so that if Harry failed and didn't get Buckbeak's approval, she could immediately step in and rescue him at any moment.
Harry was her friend, and also Hermione's friend; she didn't want anything to happen to him.
This thought naturally arose in Amanda's mind. Although there was still no emotional fluctuation, she finally had a thought of her own.
Facing Hagrid's expectant gaze, and for the sake of making his first class a success, Harry took a deep breath, suppressed the panic in his heart, and stepped forward two paces.
Coming face-to-face with Buckbeak at such close range, Harry truly felt how beautiful and dangerous such a creature was.
Its feathers were sleek and glossy, its muscles were smooth and well-defined, and every part of its body was filled with a natural, wild beauty.
Yet along with that wild beauty, its body—which was quite a bit taller than Harry—its sharp talons that looked capable of shredding a person, and its sharp beak all made him feel a sense of dread from deep within his bloodline.
Forcing down his fear, Harry bowed deeply toward Buckbeak.
Watching Harry salute Buckbeak, Amanda spotted the problem almost instantly.
Harry's bowing angle hadn't reached ninety degrees; it was off by thirteen point two degrees.
Having had to salute teachers every day in her original world with a requirement for a perfect ninety-degree bow, Amanda found identifying this problem incredibly easy.
Furthermore, Harry's emotions were far too panicked, which could very likely lead Buckbeak to mistake him for something that could be its prey.
Amanda watched as Harry straightened his back after bowing, and she also watched as Buckbeak remained completely unmoved.
Seeing this, Hagrid also became a bit worried. He stepped forward, wanting to hold Buckbeak's lead tightly, while also speaking to comfort Harry.
"Harry, don't be afraid. Back away slowly, back away slowly."
Harry swallowed hard and lifted his foot, preparing to retreat.
However, Amanda's gaze remained fixed on Buckbeak, and she put her wand away.
This was because her mind had already constructed a muscle movement model and relevant analysis for Buckbeak.
According to Buckbeak's current muscle movement state, it didn't want to attack Harry.
On the contrary, it wanted to return Harry's salute.
Sure enough, just as Hagrid was about to pull Buckbeak back, it faced Harry and slowly but seriously returned the salute, lowering its head.
Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief. He gave up on leading it back to the Forbidden Forest and instead waved at Harry with great enthusiasm.
"Harry! Quick, Buckbeak has accepted you. Come and pet him."
Hearing that he had to pet Buckbeak, Harry's face turned visibly paler by several shades. But Hagrid was his friend, and this was his first class... Thinking of this, Harry stopped hesitating, strode forward, and cautiously reached out to stroke Buckbeak's beak.
Buckbeak lowered its massive head, submissively letting Harry pet it.
Amanda nodded at this point, and the nerves that were constantly taut in her brain slowly relaxed.
Given Buckbeak's current attitude toward Harry, it was absolutely impossible for it to attack him.
In fact, if Harry wanted to, it wasn't impossible for him to climb on and have Buckbeak take him for a few laps.
Unless Harry suddenly went mad at this moment and did something irrational or disrespectful to Buckbeak.
Otherwise, Harry wouldn't be attacked, and she could determine through character analysis that Harry wouldn't provoke Buckbeak now.
Gently stroking Buckbeak, Harry felt its cold, hard beak and its warm, smooth feathers.
Just as his heart was slowly calming down, another sentence from Hagrid sent it racing again.
"Great! Wonderful!"
Hagrid clapped loudly for Harry, shouting praises for his performance.
"I think he's willing to let you ride him for a flight now."
Harry's hand stroking Buckbeak paused, and he turned to look at Hagrid in a daze.
Was Hagrid really this excited for his first class... bringing out Hippogriffs, letting students have close contact with them, and now wanting him to ride one for a flight?!
This wasn't a flying broomstick; this was a Hippogriff. If it decided to throw him off halfway, he would be dead for sure.
"Hagrid, I don't think I should—"
Before Harry could finish, Hagrid picked him up and placed him directly onto Buckbeak's back. Buckbeak was extremely cooperative and didn't move an inch.
Sitting on Buckbeak's back, Harry's breathing was shallow, and his eyes frantically searched the crowd.
Amanda, with Hermione leaning on her shoulder, received Harry's gaze and gave him a calm nod.
She signaled that it was fine and that it was safe.
Having received Amanda's sign, the unease in Harry's heart quickly dissipated.
"Hold onto its neck, but don't pull its feathers; it doesn't like that."
Harry nodded and reached out to hug Buckbeak's neck tightly.
Watching Harry hold Buckbeak's neck, Amanda's mind quickly began calculating the friction generated by Harry holding the neck and sitting on the back.
She compared this against her mental simulation of Buckbeak's maximum flight speed and only stopped the calculations after confirming that Harry would not be thrown off under any circumstances.
She turned her head toward Hermione, who was clutching her arm with lips pursed and a face full of worry, and said in a completely flat tone.
"Harry won't be thrown off."
Hermione was startled for a moment, but once she came to her senses, her mood immediately relaxed. If Amanda said Harry wouldn't be thrown off, then he definitely wouldn't be.
In that case, she could rest easy.
"Go on! Take him for a flight."
Hagrid gave Buckbeak a gentle pat. Buckbeak spread the wings on its back, ran a few paces, and then soared into the sky.
As Buckbeak carried Harry into the sky and gradually flew further away, Amanda silently calculated Buckbeak's average flight speed in her head to estimate the time it would take to carry Harry around Hogwarts once.
At the exact moment the countdown in her head reached zero, Buckbeak landed on the ground with Harry.
Hagrid walked forward with a grin to help Harry down. "Wonderful, Harry, truly wonderful!"
"Ten points to Gryffindor!"
"Alright everyone, line up and try to approach these Hippogriffs one by one."
As Hagrid spoke, he led several more Hippogriffs out from the trees. These proud creatures stood before the Young Wizards with their heads held high.
The Young Wizards divided themselves into groups and stepped forward one by one to try and salute them.
Perhaps because Hagrid was there, almost all the Young Wizards successfully received a return salute from the Hippogriffs.
Occasionally, if one didn't get a return salute, the Hippogriffs didn't attack them; they simply watched them retreat out of sight.
When it was Amanda's turn, she looked at the Hippogriff in front of her and bowed deeply, accurately and swiftly reaching a perfect ninety degrees.
At the same time, the Hippogriff, as if not wanting to be outdone, returned the salute deeply to Amanda, not even waiting for her to straighten up.
By the time Amanda straightened her back, what she saw was the Hippogriff still saluting her.
Looking at the massive creature with its head bowed low, Amanda slowly reached out and stroked its head.
The Hippogriff gave a soft cry and gently nuzzled against Amanda's palm.
Behind Amanda, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, a smile on her face as she watched her pet the Hippogriff.
Speaking of which, Amanda really was liked by magical creatures; the Hippogriff had returned the salute before she had even finished hers.
The same applied to the stairs that were incredibly obedient in front of Amanda. Clearly, Amanda was so good that almost everyone liked her.
Harry had successfully gained the Hippogriff's approval and even flew a lap on it.
Amanda hadn't even finished her bow before receiving a return salute from the Hippogriff.
Watching these two things happen before his very eyes, Draco's anger couldn't help but flare up.
That Potter was one thing—he was at least a Young Wizard from a pure-blood family—but that Amanda!
Why was she so special again? She clearly didn't have any pure-blood family lineage at all.
His sense of superiority was shattered, his sense of uniqueness destroyed, and combined with the news he'd heard over the last few days about his family's business stalling and being almost unable to continue...
Draco only felt the fire in his heart burning larger and fiercer.
Looking at Buckbeak in front of him, his expression grew darker and darker.
He couldn't go and provoke that lunatic Amanda, and he couldn't provoke Granger who was protected by her, but surely he could deal with this annoying beast!
Draco slapped Buckbeak hard with his hand. "You're not proud at all, and you're not aggressive either, are you, you big beast?"
The previously calm Buckbeak instantly let out a screech, a sound that also shocked the muddled Malfoy back to his senses.
He stumbled back, extending an arm to protect himself.
"No, no, no, don't do that, Buckbeak!"
Hagrid shouted as he ran toward them, but he was too slow; Buckbeak had already raised its talons high.
In the next moment, the sharp claws came crashing down.
"Protego!"
Bang! With a loud crash, a trembling Draco looked up to see Buckbeak's talons stopped firmly five centimeters in front of his arm.
An invisible magical shield covered him, firmly blocking Buckbeak on the outside.
"Draco!"
"Draco, move."
Pansy, Daphne, Blaise, and the others shouted, while Goyle and Crabbe stepped forward and quickly pulled him back to safety.
Amanda waved her wand to cancel the spell, and Buckbeak's talons fell again, striking the ground fiercely.
Hagrid rushed forward and tightly grabbed the rope tethering Buckbeak.
"This won't end so easily. You and this big beast of yours will pay for this!" Pansy said, glaring at Hagrid.
Hermione furrowed her brows and snapped back without hesitation, "Shut up, Parkinson. Anyone with eyes saw that Malfoy provoked Buckbeak. Hagrid warned you to be polite to him!"
"Be polite to it?!"
Pansy's voice suddenly became shrill. The difficulties her family had been facing lately were also very great, perhaps even worse than the House of Malfoy.
"Only a mudblood like you would be polite to a beast like that!"
"How dare you!"
The Young Wizards from the other three houses were simultaneously enraged, and many of them drew their wands.
But Amanda was one step faster. Boom!
A circle of golden flames erupted around Pansy, forcing the surrounding Slytherins back several steps.
As if only just remembering Amanda was present, Pansy turned pale as she looked at her.
Golden fire danced in Amanda's eyes as she slowly tilted her head. "Are you threatening Hermione, Miss Parkinson?"
"Are you hurting Hermione, Miss Parkinson?"
"Are you a threat to Hermione, Miss Parkinson?"
With every sentence, the golden flames around Pansy rose higher. The scorching temperature almost pierced her skin, and the hot air nearly scalded her lungs.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Pansy couldn't stop coughing as she collapsed wretchedly to the ground.
"Stop it!"
The Slytherin Young Wizards reacted and all drew their wands, pointing them at Amanda.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The Little Eagles collectively drew their wands, pointing them straight at the Slytherins, while the Hufflepuffs circled around behind them, wands aimed at the Slytherins' backs.
This time, the Gryffindors couldn't even squeeze their way in.
"No, no, no, calm down, everyone calm down."
Hagrid, who had been furious at Pansy's words, now calmed down instead, walking into the middle of the crowd to try and soothe their emotions.
Boom!
The golden flames erupted upward again, even beginning to slowly spiral inward toward Pansy, who was trapped in the center.
Pansy, sprawled on the ground, didn't even have the voice to scream anymore. She felt like her whole body was in pain; her throat and lungs felt as if they were about to stop working.
Staring fixedly at where Pansy was, the golden flames in Amanda's eyes danced unquenchably.
A soft, warm hand slowly covered her eyes. Feeling that sensation and smelling the faint fragrance near her nose, the golden flames in Amanda's eyes instinctively went out.
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