"Mhm!" Hermione smiled and stroked Amanda's back. "Then I'll leave the task of defending my rights to you, Amanda."
"I will." Amanda nodded solemnly. Hermione placed a large piece of pie she had cut into Amanda's plate.
"But while defending me, you must be careful, Amanda. You absolutely mustn't be discovered, especially by those people from the Ministry of Magic."
"I won't be."
Amanda shook her head decisively. After this incident with Rita Skeeter, she had truly grown.
Eyes weren't always reliable; from now on, no matter what she did, she would first use magic to scan her surroundings to ensure there was no one nearby who shouldn't be there.
"So," Hermione reached out and forked another piece of pie for herself, "do you have to tell Headmaster Dumbledore that you're leaving school again?"
"No need," Amanda took a big bite of pie and shook her head. "There's a book on curses in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library. There's a curse in it that's perfect for Rita Skeeter."
"With her name and her Animagus form, I can easily lock onto her. I can curse her from right here in Hogwarts."
"A-a curse?" Hermione repeated the word, which sounded somewhat unpleasant, with a hint of awkwardness.
Why did she feel... that the things her Amanda was learning in the Hogwarts Restricted Section were becoming increasingly dangerous and strange?
Before, it was just Dark Arts below the level of the three Unforgivable Curses; now, it was all sorts of curses.
Hermione didn't dare to guess what would come next.
Seeing Hermione's complicated expression, Amanda immediately analyzed what she was thinking.
"Don't worry, Hermione. Curses are also a type of magic. Some non-restricted books mention curses as well."
"It's just that the curses mentioned in restricted books either kill directly or have unique effects that can affect a person for their entire life, making it easy for people to equate them with the Dark Arts."
"That's why books containing those curses are kept in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library."
Of course, the most important part was what she said next: "As long as one doesn't use curses filled with extreme malice, there won't be any side effects."
Hearing this, Hermione's heart immediately settled.
Actually, Hermione didn't care what Amanda learned or whether it was considered good or bad; magic itself had no morality—only the user did.
And she was certain that her Amanda was a good person. So even if she used the Dark Arts, she would surely be doing something good—except for that one time she acted foolishly.
Hermione's only concern was that if Amanda learned these dangerous things, the hidden contents might cause her to suffer from a backlash of side effects.
Now that Amanda said she wouldn't face such things herself, Hermione was relieved.
After breakfast, since it was the holidays and they had finished their homework early, Hermione, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope, having nothing else to do, followed closely behind Amanda.
Initially, only Hermione followed. But when the three seniors saw that the two juniors had no intention of returning to the Ravenclaw common room and confirmed they weren't looking for "private time," they followed without hesitation.
Their homework was done too, and seeing that something interesting was about to happen, they wanted to follow and see.
Leading Hermione and the three seniors to the eighth floor, in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls, the words Professor McGonagall had told her in first year came to Amanda's mind.
Behind this tapestry, there seemed to be an interesting room.
Expressionlessly, she walked back and forth in front of the tapestry three times. After the final pass, a simple, ancient door instantly appeared on the wall.
"Merlin's keyhole! There's actually a room like this here!"
Marietta Eckmore couldn't help but exclaim. Cho Chang beside her was also full of surprise.
Hermione looked at Amanda with some confusion, clearly not understanding how Amanda—who usually spent her time doing homework or extra reading and rarely relaxed—had found such a hidden and difficult-to-manifest room.
Penelope, however, lowered her eyes in thought. After two seconds, she rubbed her chin and spoke thoughtfully.
"I remember hearing some rumors from a few seniors that there's a room in Hogwarts Castle that can fulfill a person's wishes. Apparently, once when they wanted a place to hide their things, this room suddenly appeared."
As she spoke, Penelope looked uncertainly at the ancient door Amanda was opening. "Maybe this is that room that fulfills wishes?"
"Fulfills wishes?" Marietta Eckmore added curiously, taking a few steps forward in her leather shoes. "So what wish did Amanda make to this room...?"
Her voice stopped abruptly. Marietta Eckmore stared at the interior of the room revealed by the opening door, and along with the other three girls, she froze.
The interior was pitch black, with no light source other than a circle of white candles in the very center of the room.
Furthermore, the walls were covered in dense, incomprehensible magical runes.
In the corners of the room, various magical items used by Wizards from both the West and the East throughout history to cast curses were piled up.
"This is... quite a standard room for casting curses," Cho Chang said, swallowing as she looked at the interior.
Having read many books, even if she wasn't skilled in curses—or didn't know how to cast them at all—she could still recognize that this room and its contents were for cursing.
It was precisely because Marietta Eckmore recognized the room and those items that she fell into a brief silence.
At this moment, the three seniors all had the same thought: what kind of villain could have provoked Amanda enough for her to use a curse against them?
Thinking this, they all turned their gaze toward Hermione as they followed Amanda into the room.
Hermione glanced at Amanda, who had already begun further arranging the room, and whispered an explanation of what had happened during breakfast to the three seniors.
"Rita Skeeter again," Cho Chang could hardly keep from rolling her eyes. "Wasn't Amanda blowing up The Daily Prophet's building enough to teach her a lesson?"
"She probably thinks the Professors were the ones who blew up the building."
Penelope gave a cold laugh. "And so she naturally assumed that as long as she didn't slander the Professors or Headmaster Dumbledore this time, and only slandered Hermione, she'd be fine."
"Too bad she's wrong," Marietta Eckmore said, crossing her arms. "But at least The Daily Prophet learned its lesson. They probably didn't dare publish her report, which is why she sent it to that gossip magazine."
The four girls chatted amongst themselves while Amanda immediately used a spell to check the room upon entering.
After confirming there were no other signs of life besides the five of them, she drew her wand and pointed it at the center of the circle of candles, sketching a strange circular pattern on the floor.
Her right arm moved mechanically as she muttered something expressionlessly. Once the pattern on the floor was complete, Amanda slowly backed out of the candle circle.
Seeing that Amanda's preparations were finished, the four girls cautiously took a step back. None of them were skilled in curses, so they couldn't help her.
But by the same token, they couldn't allow Amanda to be distracted by their safety while she was casting; that would be a hindrance rather than a help.
Once in the safe zone, Amanda waved her wand at the circle of white candles.
The next moment—whoosh! With the sound of rising flames, the light from the candles abruptly turned black, and the pattern Amanda had just drawn on the floor slowly turned red.
Continuing to wave her wand in a specific manner, Amanda chanted under her breath.
The black candle flames flickered incessantly, and the color of the pattern on the floor grew more vivid.
The four girls, including Hermione, watched as the black flames rose higher and higher, eventually forming the name "Rita Skeeter" in mid-air, before dissipating two seconds later to form the shape of a beetle.
Once the shape of the beetle vanished, the black flames formed the word "Truth." After that word dissipated, Amanda lowered her wand with a relaxed expression.
The pattern on the floor slowly faded, and the light from the white candles gradually returned to normal.
Thoughts flowed through her mind: I need this room to become a place where Hermione, my friends, and I can talk comfortably.
The second the thought occurred to Amanda, the room changed once more. All the cursing-related items around them vanished.
Five armchairs appeared in a circle out of thin air, with a nice-looking coffee table in the center.
Torches and various warm, cozy paintings were hung on the walls, and even a thick carpet was spread across the floor.
"Hermione, Senior Cho Chang, Senior Marietta, Senior Penelopa, please sit down."
Amanda gestured and sat down in one of the armchairs first.
She had heard their discussion earlier, but it hadn't been convenient to speak during the cursing process, so she hadn't joined in.
She had transformed the room like this so that Hermione and the others could ask her whatever they wanted.
Sure enough, as soon as they sat down, the four girls, including Hermione, looked at her with inquisitive eyes.
"Amanda, what curse did you just put on Rita Skeeter?"
Curiosity sparkled in Hermione's eyes. Thinking of the word "Truth" formed by the black flames, she had a rough idea.
"I didn't curse her with death or anything else like that."
Amanda shook her head calmly. Direct death or injury would do nothing to make Rita Skeeter realize or correct her mistakes.
So, "I cursed her to only be able to maintain truth from now on."
To only be able to maintain truth was different from only being able to speak the truth; it meant more than just words.
From now on, every expression Rita Skeeter made and every article she wrote would have to be true; she couldn't fake a single thing.
From now on, nothing about Rita Skeeter—no matter how small or for what reason—would involve even a hint of "falseness."
"And should she try to tell a lie, write a report contrary to the truth, or commit any form of deception, she will feel the sensation of her soul being burned by flames for three consecutive days."
"And that duration can stack."
The four girls exchanged looks and clicked their tongues, a single thought simultaneously occurring to them.
And that was: their darling really did have an iron-fisted way of doing things.
"It's good. This should make Rita Skeeter behave."
Penelope nodded with a smile. With Amanda's curse, Rita Skeeter would have no choice but to behave.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Hermione thought for a moment and then brought up the predicament Harry was currently facing.
"Harry's in a bit of trouble now. When he opens the golden egg, there are no clues about the next task inside—only a piercing screech. He can't figure out what the second task is."
The other four fell silent for a moment. Amanda, who already knew the answer and was an investor in the Triwizard Tournament, kept her mouth tightly shut.
Regarding the task details, Hermione and the others helping Harry with analysis could be seen as a test of whether those close to the champions could provide assistance.
But if she were the one to reveal exactly what the task was... that would be outright helping Harry cheat.
"Screeching." x3
The other three girls clearly didn't expect Amanda to provide the answer either; they all lowered their heads in deep thought.
"Human screaming? Torture? Harm?" Cho Chang murmured, then shook her head in disagreement. "Impossible. Even the Triwizard Tournament wouldn't intentionally torture or harm the contestants."
"Could the screeching be terror?" Marietta Eckmore suggested uncertainly. "What would the champions encounter that would terrify them?"
However, aside from the silent Amanda, no one present could answer her conjecture with certainty.
After nearly ten seconds of silence, Penelope looked up at Hermione. "Has Harry tried opening the golden egg underwater?"
"Underwater?" Hermione blinked, looking at Penelope in confusion. "I don't think so. Why would he do that?"
Penelope leaned back against the sofa, carefully considering what Ludo Bagman had said after the first task. "Since Mr. Bagman told the champions that the clue for the second task is hidden in the golden egg, then this so-called clue definitely wouldn't just be a screech, leaving the champions to guess the rest."
"Most likely, the screeching only sounds like a screech. In reality, it's the language of another race, and it's explaining something."
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