When white snow covered Hogwarts, Amanda's Christmas holiday homework was also completed early.
To prevent her from spending all her time on those extra reading lists, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope dragged her outside the Castle to build snowmen.
Beside them, Harry, Ron, and the Weasley Twins were split into two teams, having a snowball fight with each other.
A while ago, Harry and Ron had been focusing on the matter of Dobby, so they hadn't had much time to relax.
It wasn't until yesterday that the matter of Dobby was finally settled; he would be brought to Hogwarts tomorrow, the day before Christmas, by Lucius Malfoy.
And in front of Headmaster Dumbledore, he would be given clothes and set free.
As for why Mr. Malfoy would agree to this... Harry and Ron weren't quite sure.
After building snowmen with the three seniors for an entire afternoon, Amanda stared at the snowman in front of her for a moment, slightly dazed.
The snowman in front of her held a wand, its expression serious yet gentle, with a head of somewhat disheveled hair made of snow cascading behind its head.
It was the spitting image of Hermione, who was currently lying in the Hospital Wing.
"Merlin's snowman... can a snowman be built with such exquisite detail?"
Marietta Eckmore, who had also just finished her own snowman, walked over to Amanda's side and stared at the snowman before her, dumbfounded.
"Is this Hermione?" Cho Chang also walked over, posing a question with a tone of certainty.
"Without a doubt."
Penelope walked up behind her three juniors and spoke softly, a hint of jealousy in her eyes as she looked at Amanda.
Building a snowman of Hermione so seriously—though she understood that Hermione was likely special to Amanda.
But... as her senior, she still felt quite uncomfortable.
Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore reacted almost the same way; if Amanda hadn't been right there, their pouts would have been long enough to hang an oil jar from.
Amanda looked at the snowman before her with a calm expression; in truth, she didn't know why she had built a snowman that looked like Hermione.
In her memory, she had simply been reviewing her Christmas holiday homework in her mind while building the snowman.
The act and design of the snowman were driven entirely by her instinct.
Her body had automatically built this snowman according to the model in her brain, and besides this snowman, there were... "So beautiful!" Cho Chang took a small snowman that Amanda had picked up from an inconspicuous spot nearby; looking at the facial features and physique, it was clearly herself.
"I like it." Marietta Eckmore also took the second small snowman Amanda handed over, beaming with joy.
Penelope carefully took the last snowman, the one belonging to her, that Amanda handed over.
She lowered her head and gave Amanda a polite kiss on the forehead. "Thank you, I like it very much. It wasn't in vain that I've been so good to you, my junior."
Amanda blinked with a blank expression; she didn't quite understand why the three seniors were so happy.
She had simply judged from the micro-expressions of the three seniors that they probably wanted snowmen too.
As it happened, while she was instinctively building snowmen earlier, she had subconsciously made these three small ones, which were in the likeness of the three seniors.
Since they wanted them now, she would just give them to them.
At the same time, Amanda's gaze slowly shifted to the snowmen the three seniors had built.
They were all very ordinary snowmen, one snowball stacked on another, but one could tell they were made with care; the snowmen even wore the blue scarves exclusive to Ravenclaw around their necks.
The three seniors happily held the snowmen Amanda had given them and soon discovered some ways in which they were different from other snowmen.
The snowmen in their hands were not only lifelike, but they also showed no signs of melting.
You see, although the weather was indeed very cold, they were actually holding these three snowmen.
Normal snowmen would melt at least a little, but these three in their hands... hadn't changed at all.
The three girls looked at each other and silently accepted the fact that the snowmen Amanda had built were magical.
Truly an enviable magical talent—this thought only flashed by for a moment.
What they thought about more was that this was so convenient! They could keep these snowmen forever!
After playing in the snow, Amanda returned to the Dormitory with Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore; the two seniors told her in unison to take a hot bath first.
"We're your seniors, so we're definitely more resistant to the cold."
"Exactly, you're younger, so you have to be careful not to catch a cold."
Pushed into the bathroom, Amanda closed the door expressionlessly, swallowing the words she had been about to say.
She had actually wanted to say... according to the rules of etiquette, she should have deferred to her seniors.
Besides, they had all cast Warming Charms on themselves before going out to play in the snow, so it was impossible to catch a cold.
Reaching out to turn on the shower, hot water fell from Amanda's hair and flowed over her body.
As she slowly washed herself, Amanda continuously recalled the content of Potion Class in her mind.
There were only a few months left until final exams after Christmas; starting her review now wasn't too early.
Steam billowed in the bathroom, while a biting cold wind blew outside Hogwarts Castle.
The "Hermione" that Amanda had built stood in a spot outside Hogwarts Castle, remaining motionless even as the cold wind swept past.
Even when blown branches struck it, not a single mark was left behind.
Fred, still immersed in the snowball fight, threw a snowball with great force, and it slammed into the snowman Amanda had built.
Fred instantly cried out, gasping for air. "Oh no!"
Not caring that the snowball fight was still ongoing, he rushed toward the snowman as fast as he could, taking several snowballs to the body.
Ron and George, coming to their senses, stopped throwing snowballs and walked forward with Harry, looking at him strangely.
"Fred, what's wrong with you?" Ron asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Brother, have you finally gone completely mad?" George asked teasingly.
Only Harry, who had witnessed everything, tremblingly pointed at the snowman in front of Fred.
"The snowman... built by Amanda... it's Hermione..."
"What?" Ron and George both exclaimed in confusion, then turned to look closely at the snowman.
"By Merlin, it really does look like her..."
Ron's voice grew smaller as he marveled at it.
Wait, a snowman built by Amanda, and it's of Hermione—how much must this snowman... Thinking of Amanda and then of Hermione, Ron silently took two steps back.
"Fred," George said, his face pale as he looked at his brother, "you didn't just hit it with a snowball, did you?"
"I did." Fred nodded reluctantly.
"Merlin..." Ron covered his mouth to stifle a cry, only whispering after checking that no one was around.
"You hit the snowman Amanda built, and it's in the shape of Hermione. With how Hermione, The Ravenclaws, and Mom dote on her, if they find out about this, they'll definitely come after you."
As he spoke, he even sounded a bit gleeful at his brother's misfortune.
Their mother, Mrs. Weasley, adored Amanda now because she had saved Ginny.
From what they knew, their mother had prepared an extremely generous Christmas gift for Amanda.
Thinking of his mother, Fred held his breath and leaned in to inspect the snowman closely, then let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, the snowman is fine."
"It's actually quite sturdy."
The four boys were silent for a moment and then left as if nothing had happened.
As long as there were no bad consequences, time to slip away.
After her bath, Amanda walked out of the bathroom drying her hair.
Now she had also learned to thoroughly dry her hair after a bath; she could mentally recite the knowledge she had learned while drying it.
But she couldn't leave it wet, because if she didn't dry it, it would trouble Senior Cho Chang and Senior Marietta.
After Amanda finished her bath, Cho Chang went in with a change of clothes, while Marietta Eckmore only sat back on her bed in relief after making sure Amanda had dried her hair.
Sitting at her desk, Amanda looked at the vast white sky outside, then suddenly stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.
From their Dormitory window, she could just see the snowman Hermione she had built earlier.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
She took out her wand and gave it a light flick; the snowman outside Hogwarts Castle floated up steadily and then slowly drifted to the window.
Manipulating her wand to make it "lie down," Amanda easily moved it inside and placed it by her bed.
Snowman Hermione stood by Amanda's bed like a piece of art; its eyes made of snow stared unblinkingly at Amanda's bed.
Marietta Eckmore wasn't very surprised to see Amanda summoning the snowman from below.
After all, they had also brought back the snowmen Amanda had made for them.
To be honest, just a moment ago, she and Cho Chang had wondered why Amanda would leave her own snowman of Hermione outside.
But now she had brought it up, so Amanda was just a bit slow to react.
Looking at Snowman Hermione standing quietly by her bed, Amanda felt her heart, which had felt tightened just moments ago, suddenly relax.
The voice that had been ringing deep in her mind just now also stopped; sitting back at her desk, Amanda opened her book and began to read carefully.
After a while, Cho Chang came out of the bathroom and was slightly stunned to see the snowman by Amanda's bed, but she quickly realized what had happened.
She walked back to her bed and sat down as if she hadn't seen anything, slowly drying her hair.
For the rest of the day, Amanda remained immersed in her books until a letter from Professor McGonagall interrupted her studies after dinner.
Snapped out of her studies by Cho Chang calling her full name, Amanda opened the window; an Owl dropped a letter and flew away.
Opening the letter, she found it was indeed in Professor McGonagall's handwriting.
Miss Amanda, Mr. and Mrs. Granger will arrive at Hogwarts tomorrow at twelve noon; you may go to the entrance of Hogwarts Castle to meet them then.
Her aunt and uncle were coming tomorrow; Amanda put the letter away. Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore looked at each other, but neither of them presumed to ask what was in the letter.
What if it involved Amanda's privacy?
Arriving at Hogwarts the day before Christmas were not only Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who would arrive at noon.
But also Lucius Malfoy, who had already delivered Dobby to the Headmaster's Office in the morning.
Having lost his house-servant, learned that his plan had failed, and been subtly warned by Headmaster Dumbledore.
Lucius Malfoy felt the anger in his heart growing heavier and heavier.
Stomping out of the Headmaster's Office, he happened to run right into Harry, who had rushed over to check on Dobby.
Seeing Harry rushing toward the Headmaster's Office at this time, what was there that Lucius didn't understand?
The person who had caused him to lose Dobby and his plan to fail, even if it wasn't this Potter, was certainly related to him.
Glaring at him fiercely, Lucius spoke slowly, maintaining his haughty air.
"Mr. Potter, I believe running in school is quite uncouth."
Having heard Amanda's analysis and knowing that Ginny getting Voldemort's diary was likely his doing, Harry was in no mood to humor him.
"That's still more civil than plotting against an eleven-year-old girl, Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius's eyes narrowed instantly, and he gripped his cane tightly.
"It really was you, Potter."
"You're just like your parents—reckless and courting death."
Harry's expression turned even colder, and he let out a cold laugh. "That's still better than you, Mr. Malfoy. You preach blood purity, yet you kiss the hem of a half-blood like Voldemort's robes. Is that the way of the House of Malfoy?"
Hearing Harry speak the truth of Voldemort's lineage and insult the House of Malfoy, Lucius unhesitatingly drew the wand from the head of his cane.
"You need to learn how to keep a low profile, Potter. Av—"
"Protego."
Before his spell could be uttered, a flat voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation rang out.
A powerful Shield Charm stood directly between Lucius and Harry, shaking the ground with its impact.
Amanda stepped forward, her eyes devoid of any luster. She had been on her way to the Castle entrance to meet Mr. and Mrs. Granger.
But she had seen Harry and Lucius Malfoy halfway there, and more importantly, Lucius actually intended to cast a spell on Harry.
"Do you intend to harm Harry's safety, Mr. Malfoy?"
Amanda's voice was flat, yet it inexplicably made Lucius feel uneasy.
The scene of his previous conflict with this young girl was still fresh in his mind, and facing her again... Lucius gripped his wand and gave Amanda and Harry a deep look.
"Remember this—Hogwarts and Dumbledore cannot protect you forever."
With that, he turned and left. Amanda watched his back, silently dismissing the thought that had popped into her mind to kill him directly to eliminate the threat.
Hermione had said that unless absolutely necessary, one must not kill.
The Shield Charm dissipated with a boom. Amanda turned around, and Harry looked at her, thanking her sincerely.
"Thank you, Amanda. You've saved me once again."
"Without me, you could have managed."
Amanda's expression didn't change; her eyes turned to Harry's right hand, which was already subtly gripping his wand.
"No," Harry shook his head with a bitter smile, "without you, I definitely wouldn't have managed. I don't know many spells yet."
"Your Expelliarmus would have been enough to knock Lucius Malfoy's wand away."
Quickly calculating in her mind, Amanda spoke the result she had reached.
"Maybe," Harry scratched his head, "I'm going to Headmaster Dumbledore's office now."
"Alright."
Amanda nodded and continued walking down; it was almost twelve o'clock, and her aunt and uncle should be arriving soon.
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