"What's wrong? What are you looking at?"
Hermione, who had just ordered a bowl of stew and was about to start eating, asked Amanda softly as she noticed her gaze fixed on the Professors' table.
Calmly withdrawing her gaze, Amanda turned to look at Hermione with a smile. "I'm watching the three Principals."
"Headmaster Dumbledore and the others?" Hermione took a large bite of the stew, feeling her body warm up instantly. Swallowing the food, she blinked twice. "What's wrong with them?"
Amanda also pulled out her wand and tapped the stew on the menu. "They were probably discussing the wandless magic I used just now. Karkaroff and Madame Maxime were likely trying to confirm with Headmaster Dumbledore if everyone at Hogwarts can perform wandless magic, or even Wandless and Non-verbal Spellss."
"Uh..." Hermione's expression stiffened. Everyone at Hogwarts knowing Wandless and Non-verbal Spellss? What were those two Principals thinking? That was clearly impossible!
"They want to win the Triwizard Tournament too much." Amanda shook her head, bluntly stating the two Principals' objective, while also beginning to "deal with" the stew in front of her.
"It's understandable, though," Hermione nodded, taking a break from eating to speak with Amanda. "Hogwarts has so much history and prestige in the entire West; it's normal for every magic school to want to surpass it."
"Yes, there is indeed competition between schools."
Amanda nodded in understanding. In her original world, there was plenty of competition between schools.
After finishing a bowl of stew and wiping her mouth, Amanda didn't order anything else. Seeing that she was done, Hermione pointed toward the area outside the ball.
"Want to go for a walk? It seems quite noisy staying here."
"Okay." Amanda returned to her expressionless state, nodded, and followed Hermione out of the ball.
The two girls walked side-by-side on the path outside, and Amanda's arm was soon linked by Hermione.
Slightly stunned, Amanda remembered something. She pulled out her wand and gave it a light wave. The next moment, the high heels on Hermione's feet turned into a pair of warm and comfortable sneakers.
"Thank you," Hermione said with a gentle smile, looking at Amanda.
"It's nothing," Amanda shook her head.
The two of them sat down on a bench together, chatting about today's Christmas Ball. On the back of the bench they were sitting on, a strangely shaped beetle was perched.
Blinking mischievously, Hermione leaned close to Amanda and whispered into her ear, "By the way, I haven't asked you yet—how is my kissing skill?"
Her ears turned red instantly as if they were on fire. Amanda opened her mouth, and it took her two full seconds to find her voice again.
"It's... it's very good. Hermione's kissing skill is very good."
"Pfft." Seeing Amanda's face flushed and her words stuttering, Hermione laughed heartily.
It really wasn't in vain that she had spent so many nights lying in bed wondering how to kiss Amanda.
Pursing her lips and lowering her head, the two girls sat for a while longer before standing up again to continue walking forward.
As they were about to pass another bench, a deep, gruff voice reached their ears.
"I know you are one, too."
Amanda and Hermione looked at each other, and Hermione mouthed to Amanda, "Hagrid?"
Comparing Hagrid's usual voice to the voice she just heard, Amanda nodded with certainty.
The voice just now had a 92% match with Hagrid's usual voice, and there were no signs of deliberate imitation; it was undoubtedly Hagrid's.
Hagrid seemed to be talking to someone. After locking eyes for five seconds, Hermione decisively pulled Amanda to head back. Not interrupting someone else's conversation was a form of politeness, after all.
"What is it? Hagrid, I don't understand what you mean," Madame Maxime's voice came through, causing both Amanda and Hermione to freeze at the same time.
Amanda quickly analyzed the reason for the two being together in her mind, while Hermione's thoughts were much simpler—she immediately thought: is Hagrid... in love with Madame Maxime?
But thinking carefully about Hagrid's size and Madame Maxime's size, she couldn't help but nod. Yes, these two were indeed a good match.
The two girls quickened their pace, but they still heard the next sentence perfectly clearly.
"You're a Half-giant blood too! We're both half-giants; isn't it obvious?"
"Cough, cough, cough..." Hermione choked on her own saliva upon hearing Hagrid's words and began to cough violently.
"What Hagrid said wasn't very polite," Amanda blurted out while reaching out to gently pat Hermione's back to help her catch her breath.
"Cough, cough, indeed." Hermione rubbed her chest, finally getting her breath back.
"Madame Maxime definitely won't like him saying that."
One must know that Half-giant bloods were a group that faced extreme discrimination in the wizarding community, similar to the situation of Werewolf Wizards.
And Madame Maxime was the Principal of a magic school like Beauxbatons; how could she like someone publicly pointing out the biggest "stain" on her?
Sure enough, as Amanda and Hermione hurried away, Madame Maxime stood up quickly as if she had been deeply offended, glaring at Hagrid with a mix of panic and anger.
"How—how can you say such a thing?! I'm just—just big-boned!"
After saying that, she left without looking back, leaving Hagrid alone and stunned. Behind the bench where they had been, a small beetle slowly flew into the sky.
This Christmas Ball seemed to have brought many things to fruition. Amanda returned to her Dormitory with swollen lips, and Marietta Eckmore was even kissed by Cho Chang to the point where she had to be carried back.
Even Penelope and Luna returned to the Ravenclaw Common Room holding hands.
The Young Wizards of Hogwarts truly proved what young heartbeats were all about.
The day after the Christmas Ball, just as Amanda and Hermione sat down at the Ravenclaw Table, they heard a "thud" from not far away.
Looking back, Amanda saw a Hufflepuff girl pressing down hard on a magazine, her face filled with unparalleled shock and visible anger.
Seeming to notice Amanda's gaze, the Little Badger looked back at her and immediately averted her eyes as if burned. Of course, in Amanda's eyes, a simple analysis suggested that the other party had likely just seen some news they didn't want her to see.
So, at this moment, was there a bit of a guilty conscience?
But what exactly did she see? And was it related to her?
Amanda tilted her head, her gaze lingering on the magazine under the girl's hand, as the names of various magazines in the British Wizarding World quickly flashed through her brain.
After just a few seconds, she immediately found the result in her mind. It was an entertainment magazine from the British Wizarding World that often published various celebrity gossip.
But what did celebrity gossip in the British Wizarding World have to do with her? She wasn't a celebrity.
Turning back to look at everyone at the Ravenclaw Table, as Amanda's gaze swept over a second-year Little Eagle, she keenly noticed that the girl was holding the exact same gossip magazine as the Hufflepuff girl.
Standing up and walking toward the girl's seat, Amanda leaned down politely and tapped her shoulder. "Hello, Junior Louise. Sorry to bother you, but could I borrow your magazine for a moment?"
Louise froze for two seconds before immediately turning around and handing the magazine to Amanda.
"Of—of course you can!"
If the darling of their Ravenclaw wanted something, as long as they had it, why wouldn't they give it?
The Little Badger at the Hufflepuff table widened her eyes at this scene. Was it really okay to let Senior Lin Yue see today's magazine just like that...?
"Thank you."
Amanda smiled gently and opened the magazine in front of Louise. The first report she saw was "The Veela without Veela Blood, Hermione Granger," written by Rita Skeeter.
Her brow twitched slightly, and Amanda read on quickly. The article stated, "Our Miss Granger seems to be using her kissing skills to make the Ravenclaw genius offer her heart, but we do not yet know what kind of experience would allow a girl like Miss Granger, who is only in her fourth year at Hogwarts, to possess such kissing skills."
Frowning deeply, Amanda's brain performed a non-stop analysis. This article was clearly based on the conversation between Hermione and herself on the bench during the Christmas Ball last night.
Using Hermione's question about her kissing skills to imply her past romantic history, and even subtly suggesting that there might be more serious issues with Hermione.
The difference from the last report was that this time, it didn't mention other Hogwarts students or Professors.
Perhaps Rita Skeeter thought that the last time The Daily Prophet building was reduced to rubble, it was the work of Headmaster Dumbledore or the Professors?
And she believed that by not mentioning them this time, the report wouldn't lead to any serious consequences.
Turning the page, Amanda immediately saw another report with a shocking headline: "A Half-giant blood as a Professor? Is Hogwarts Really Safe?"
This was about Hagrid. Amanda's frown deepened.
Her conversation with Hermione, and Hagrid's conversation with Madame Maxime—all of it happened last night outside the Christmas Ball venue, and all of it had been written in the magazine by that person, Rita Skeeter.
But how did she know about this?
Everything she had seen with her eyes last night began to replay in Amanda's mind—every detail of last night, every point worth noting.
She was certain that when she and Hermione were talking yesterday, there was no one around.
Replaying the scene in her mind, Amanda quickly searched everything around her and Hermione, and her thoughts came to a sudden halt.
A detail on the back of the bench was zoomed in, then zoomed in again. It was a very inconspicuous beetle. If one didn't look closely or pay attention, it would be easy to overlook it.
There were no other people present, nor any other magic items or Muggle objects capable of eavesdropping or having similar functions.
Added to that, the markings on this beetle were clearly abnormal and didn't conform to the laws of nature.
The probability of it being an Animagus was as high as 86%. Therefore, Rita Skeeter was an illegal Animagus whose Animagus form was a beetle. Using this form, she had eavesdropped on her conversation with Hermione and Hagrid's conversation with Madame Maxime, then added sensationalist details to her reports.
Lowering her eyes, Amanda closed the magazine and handed it back to Louise. "Thank you, Junior Louise."
"You're welcome, Senior Lin Yue." Louise smiled happily and took back the magazine.
Amanda went back to sit beside Hermione. Hermione, who had just finished a bite of fried egg, immediately turned to look at her.
"Why did you go borrow a magazine just now?" It was clearly one of those gossip tabloids; why would Amanda like reading such things?
Before Amanda could answer, Louise, who had taken back her magazine, let out a cry of surprise after flipping through it.
"Merlin's Quick-Quotes Quill! Rita Skeeter is a maniac!"
No wonder Senior Lin Yue wanted to borrow this magazine just now. It turned out that inside... she looked at Amanda and Hermione's direction with some concern; it turned out there was content slandering Miss Granger inside.
"What's this?" Hermione looked at the Ravenclaw junior after hearing the exclamation. Seeing her looking their way, she understood something. "Did that magazine write about me?"
"Yes..." Amanda lowered her head and nodded.
"It was written by Rita Skeeter. She used what you asked me yesterday about your kissing skills to imply that your romantic history is complicated, and even that there are other issues with you."
"I'm sorry, Hermione. This is my fault. I didn't notice her in time yesterday. She should be an illegal Animagus, and her form is a beetle. She was perched on the back of the bench when you were chatting with me yesterday."
"Clearly her markings were so unnatural and abnormal, and I..."
"Stop, stop, my dear girl." Hermione sighed helplessly and reached out to cover Amanda's mouth.
"No one can notice everything wrong around them all at once. To be honest, it's already very impressive that you can remember it now. I was completely oblivious to it."
Hermione said, spreading her hands. Even for Amanda, it was impossible to know everything around her at all times and have it completely under control.
Moreover, at that time, she had just been kissed by her and was in a state of embarrassment and excitement.
"Don't blame yourself anymore."
Hermione let go of her hand and looked at her with a smile, not angry at all about being slandered.
She had only kissed Amanda yesterday; nothing could make her angry today~
Amanda nodded obediently and said in a cold, stern voice beside Hermione, "I will make Rita Skeeter pay the price she deserves. An illegal Animagus, writing slanderous reports about Hermione, and reports that invade Hagrid's privacy... she should be punished."
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