"Miss Granger, I suppose you don't really need career counseling anymore?"
Professor McGonagall looked at Hermione with a smile, half-joking, half-serious.
Hermione smiled shyly. In front of her Professor, no matter the time or situation, she was always a student.
"Perhaps, Professor McGonagall, I already have my own goals."
"That's excellent, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall nodded approvingly. "Since you have a clear goal, there's no need for me to say anything more."
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." Hermione nodded politely.
She stood up, put her arm around Amanda's waist, and led her out of the Great Hall.
"Honestly," Hermione rubbed her eyes on the morning two days later, after finishing the Ministry of Magic documents, "it feels like life after becoming Minister for Magic isn't much different from before."
Amanda raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the documents in Hermione's hand. These had all been edited and shortened by various Ministers of the Ministry of Magic.
Of course, it wasn't to hide anything from Hermione—they wouldn't dare. It was simply because they knew Hermione was still in school and wanted to disturb her as little as possible.
"My dear Hermione," Cho Chang said with emotion, patting her junior's shoulder, "you won't say that during the summer holiday."
"Exactly," Marietta Eckmore nodded. "Don't forget you're still at Hogwarts, so many things that require your personal attention can't be done right now. That's why it seems like you have less to do."
"Alright, alright," Hermione said, shrugging with a smile. "Looks like I'll be busy this summer."
"Hermione is right."
Amanda nodded silently from the side, reaching into her wizard robe pocket as she spoke, taking out a piece of paper and handing it to Hermione.
"Senior Platt sent me this international situation report, Hermione, take a look."
Hermione took the parchment from Amanda and immediately unfolded it to read.
The first entry on the parchment was about Country M. The Muggle Government of Country M and the Magical Congress of Country M—the former suddenly discovered the existence of the latter, and the latter was suddenly exposed to the former.
The two rogues met with intense animosity, each wanting to seize control of the other. The situation in Country M was already filled with the smoke of conflict, just one spark away from erupting.
"This is good news," Hermione said, a faint smile appearing after reading the first item. "At least they won't have time to cause trouble globally."
"Who's to say it isn't?" Cho Chang, who had leaned over to read the note with Hermione, responded.
The subsequent information detailed the situations in Country F, Country D, Country E, and various smaller nations.
Most countries were carefully approaching and gradually integrating with their respective Wizarding Worlds. A small number of countries chose to ignore it, feeling they had enough problems in their Muggle Worlds without bothering with the Wizarding World.
Country D's situation was slightly unique. According to the information provided by Senior Platt, it was rumored that 'that person' had already emerged from seclusion.
"Hiss… the person who emerged, is it the one I'm thinking of?"
Marietta Eckmore gasped, her face visibly paling.
Country D, the Wizarding World, the term "emerged from seclusion," and at this time, who else could it be but Gellert Grindelwald?
"Most likely, yes."
Hermione's brows furrowed with a hint of worry, but her demeanor remained composed.
"Amanda, if we have to face Grindelwald?"
"Capture alive, five minutes. Regardless of life or death, two minutes." Amanda's mind quickly compared her strength with Grindelwald's known abilities and stated her conclusion concisely.
"However, I don't think there's a high probability of Grindelwald clashing with me."
"Why?" Hermione turned to Amanda curiously. "Grindelwald also advocates for Wizards to lead Muggles. He might be displeased with your actions of exposing the Wizarding World to Muggles."
"Intuition." Amanda shook her head, as there was too little information about Grindelwald.
There were basically only records of his conflict with Headmaster Dumbledore, but no records of his younger days.
Furthermore, Amanda had never met Grindelwald, so she couldn't perform a corresponding personality analysis of him.
"A girl's intuition is generally quite reliable." Hermione nodded, not overly worried, and continued reading.
In any case, they had to deal with Voldemort. If Grindelwald didn't come looking for trouble, that would be for the best. If he did, then at most they would just deal with two Dark Lords simultaneously.
Anyway, they still had more people on their side: Amanda, Headmaster Dumbledore, Lady Hufflepuff, and Lady Ravenclaw. If Mr. Gryffindor and Mr. Slytherin could also wake up in time, there would be even fewer problems.
The last item on the paper concerned Country Z across the ocean. Regarding matters of the Wizarding World, Country Z chose to openly acknowledge it.
And quickly reached a consensus with the Wizarding World, which swiftly became their newest Special Administrative Region, with an extremely smooth transition and highly stable conditions.
"What can I say, it's not surprising at all." Hermione shrugged and handed the note back to Amanda.
"I think so too," Amanda expressed her agreement, taking the note and tucking it into her wizard robe pocket. "Hermione, when are you planning to enter the Muggle World?"
Hermione pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "No rush. Let's stabilize the Wizarding World first. The Muggle World is relatively stable right now, isn't it?"
"Of course." Amanda nodded affirmatively. When absolute power descends, some conflicts of interest have to stop, whether they want to or not.
Ultimately, the most fundamental condition for reasoning with others and making them listen to you is having enough strength yourself, allowing others to calm down and listen to your reasoning.
"Hermione, Amanda." Harry finally approached after waiting for a while for the girls to finish their conversation.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione turned to look at Harry, and Amanda also turned.
"Good morning, Harry."
"Good morning," Harry pointed to the Staff Table. "Hagrid wants us to go see him after class this afternoon."
"After class this afternoon?" Hermione looked puzzled for a moment, then agreed without hesitation. "Alright, I can go."
"I can too." Amanda agreed beside her.
Harry made an OK gesture and quickly walked towards the Great Hall exit.
He had to leave quickly, otherwise if Amanda and Hermione did something that made him see, he would have a toothache again.
Toothaches were really unbearable; when they started, even eating wasn't enjoyable.
The History of Magic class ended in the morning, and Transfiguration class ended in the afternoon.
Amanda handed her schoolbag to Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore, asking them to take it back to the Dormitory for her, then quickly walked down the stairs and waited at the entrance of Hogwarts Castle.
A moment later, Hermione, Harry, and Ron arrived in a hurry. "Sorry, we just had Potion Class, and it took some time to hand in our Potions."
Hermione tucked her fringe behind her ear and caught her breath.
"It's alright," Amanda reached out and gently stroked Hermione's back, helping her calm down. "You're not late."
"Alright, let's go."
Once they had caught their breath, the four Young Wizards, including Amanda, walked together towards Hagrid's hut.
Harry reached the door and knocked, asking loudly, "Hagrid, Hagrid, are you there?"
Creak... The next second, the wooden door of Hagrid's hut opened, and Amanda clearly saw Hagrid's face through the crack.
Seeing the expression on his face, Amanda tilted her head thoughtfully and entered Hagrid's hut.
She looked at Hagrid and asked directly, "Hagrid, have you adopted another creature you shouldn't have?"
At this, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were all startled, then simultaneously looked at him. There was no denying it; Hagrid had quite a few "previous offenses."
Aragog during his school days, a Dragon in first year, Blast-Ended Skrewts in fourth year—who knew if there was really something else now?
Amanda blinked, then raised a hand to point to his face as if Hagrid didn't understand. "The expression on your face tells all."
"Oh, oh, alright…" Hagrid clasped his large hands together awkwardly, quietly explaining the situation to the four of them.
"It's my half-brother."
"Your half-brother?" Ron repeated, his expression instantly turning to horror. "That means… a Giant?!"
"Yes," Hagrid said, his face flushed. He looked troubled as he faced the four Young Wizards. "Grawp is too small and always gets bullied by the others in the tribe. I couldn't leave him there."
"Merlin, Hagrid, that's a Giant…" Even Harry felt helpless now.
After Acromantulas, Dragons, and Blast-Ended Skrewts, was Hagrid finally raising a Giant?
"Hagrid, I think you should understand the danger of Giants? Not to mention Hogwarts is here, and there are so many Young Wizards. This, this is too dangerous, and what you're doing is absolutely illegal."
Hermione's face was visibly anxious. Ron, who had somewhat recovered, sighed helplessly and spread his hands.
"But Hermione, you can't arrest Hagrid, can you? You're in charge of this; you're the current Minister for Magic."
"That's two different things, Ron," Hermione said, looking sternly at Ron, her serious expression, identical to Professor McGonagall's, immediately silencing him. "If Grawp causes any trouble, I'll have no choice but to arrest Hagrid! And Grawp's life might even be at risk."
"No, no," Hagrid quickly waved his hands. "Headmaster Dumbledore helped me hide him in a cave. He won't come out to harm students."
"I'm going to help Headmaster Dumbledore with some things, that's why I wanted to ask for your help to teach Grawp to speak English."
"Teach a Giant to speak English…" Ron murmured, slumping onto the sofa. Hermione and Harry were also in a daze.
But they all knew they couldn't refuse Hagrid's request. After five years, their friendship was already deeply rooted.
"Hagrid…" Hermione covered her face, feeling utterly helpless. Rationally, she knew Grawp should be sent to a remote mountain, a habitat far from people. This would be the best choice for Grawp himself, for Hagrid, and for the Young Wizards of Hogwarts.
Emotionally, however, she couldn't bring herself to tell Hagrid to send Grawp away. Putting herself in Hagrid's shoes, she probably wouldn't want to send Grawp away either, though she would eventually harden her heart.
Seeing Hermione's dilemma, Amanda put her arm around her waist and gently patted her, signaling her not to worry.
Looking up at Hagrid, Amanda proposed her solution. "Hagrid, the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts is very large, large enough for a Giant like Grawp. So I can use magic to enclose a habitat for him in the Forbidden Forest."
"However, until we are completely sure he is not dangerous and will absolutely not harm the Young Wizards of Hogwarts, this habitat will be restricted by me. He will not be able to leave it. Can you accept that?"
Hagrid nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes." He looked at Amanda expectantly.
"Hermione, is this acceptable?"
Hearing Amanda's question, Hermione sighed and nodded. "Yes, and…"
She furrowed her brows in thought for a moment, then quickly smoothed them out. "If we can indeed teach Grawp well, he could serve as a model for public relations. This would help the public accept our plan to civilize the Giant race after the battle with Voldemort ends."
"Exactly," Amanda said, resting her chin on Hermione's shoulder, her voice muffled. "The results from teaching Grawp can also be used as data, so that future education of other Giants will have a precedent."
"Mm." Hermione curved her lips, reaching out to gently pinch Amanda's cheek.
It was cool, and her skin was delicate and smooth; it was really nice to pinch. Hermione thought this and couldn't resist pinching it twice more.
"Hagrid," Amanda said, letting Hermione pinch her cheek, her hands wrapped around Hermione's waist, almost collapsing onto Hermione, "when teaching Grawp, I might need to use certain methods, but I won't actually harm him. As his brother, and now his guardian, I believe this requires your consent."
"Of course, of course," Hagrid nodded repeatedly. "Grawp has, after all, always lived among Giants, and he does have some not-so-good habits."
"Teaching him will definitely require some methods; I understand all that."
For Hagrid, the fact that Amanda and the others were willing to help him teach Grawp already made him very grateful and touched.
As for Amanda's mention that teaching Grawp would require some methods, wasn't that perfectly normal? Even he himself couldn't always guarantee emotional stability when dealing with his half-brother.
"I'll leave this to you all. Whether you teach Grawp well or not, please prioritize your own safety, alright?"
"Don't worry, Hagrid," Amanda lifted her head from Hermione's shoulder and pecked her cheek. "We'll protect ourselves, and we'll give you a Grawp who can speak English and is polite."
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