Faced with Professor Snape's words, Headmaster Dumbledore seemed as if he had lost, remaining silent for a long time.
Professor Snape nodded his head with a look of both satisfaction and success, letting out a cold snort.
"Very well, it seems this plan has been finalized."
Moody's low voice rang out; only then did everyone remember he had just been released, and they hadn't sent him to the Hospital Wing yet.
"Alastor, I'll take you to the Hospital Wing," Headmaster Dumbledore said, raising his wand as if he were about to levitate Moody the next moment.
However, looking at the expression on Moody's face and considering his personality and style of doing things, Amanda was absolutely certain in her mind.
He would definitely not let Headmaster Dumbledore take him to the Hospital Wing, because that wasn't the best choice for beating them at their own game.
"Don't do anything foolish, Albus," Moody waved his hand, speaking gruffly.
"To beat them at their own game and let everything proceed as normal, the best way is to continue letting this Barty Crouch Jr. impersonate me, while I should continue staying in the space at the bottom of this trunk."
As for him impersonating Barty Crouch Jr.? The experienced Old Auror hadn't even entertained that thought.
Setting aside how difficult it would be to impersonate someone he had never observed closely, the mere fact that Barty Crouch Jr. likely remained in contact with Voldemort was enough for Moody to reject the idea.
Voldemort was a highly skilled master of Legilimency; even Moody wasn't confident he could truly deceive him.
"Alastor, you don't have to do this. You know, we could have you impersonate Barty Crouch Jr."
Professor McGonagall didn't really want this elderly Old Auror to be locked up again.
"This is the best choice, Minerva."
Moody crossed his arms; since he hadn't been locked up for too long this time, he still had some energy left.
He looked at Headmaster Dumbledore with bright eyes, his remaining good eye shooting out a sharp and determined light.
Looking at his good eye, Amanda's mind easily simulated what Moody would look like with both eyes intact and a whole body.
A sharp, resolute Auror with agile movements and superb magical abilities; he was undoubtedly an Auror who could fill half of Azkaban on his own.
"Enough, Albus," Moody looked back and gestured toward the space under the trunk, "Quickly, send me back."
"Hurry up. For the sake of the Polyjuice Potion, that imposter won't let me die. When this plan is over, you can just come back and let me out!"
To Moody, not only would this action not cost him his life, but even if it truly would, he would contribute his life without hesitation to capture Dark Wizards, or even to capture Voldemort.
"Very well, Alastor. Please allow me to offer you my highest respects."
Headmaster Dumbledore took off his hat and bowed his head to him, then, at the Old Auror's urging, waved his wand to place him back into the space at the bottom of the trunk.
Click, click, click... The trunk was closed layer by layer again. Amanda looked down at Barty Crouch Jr., who was still unconscious on the floor.
Blinking with an indifferent expression, she looked up at Headmaster Dumbledore.
A profound Memory Charm can actually implant a false memory into the victim that is indistinguishable from the truth. This way, whether it's the victim themselves or someone probing their memories, they will be unable to discover that the memory has been altered.
Regarding this point, Amanda was confident that she had thoroughly mastered the theoretical knowledge and all the techniques for casting this charm, and possessed enough magic power to perform it.
However, she had never had the chance to try it, so she wasn't sure if she could actually achieve the highest level described in books.
Maybe she could find a Dark Wizard to test it on later, Amanda thought aimlessly, but now was not the time for her to practice.
Her mind was very certain about this; this matter involved Voldemort and the entire British Wizarding World, so it needed to be done by the most experienced and trusted Wizard.
The other three Professors present clearly thought so too, as none of them moved, instead looking at Headmaster Dumbledore in unison.
After locking the bottom layer of the trunk and ensuring it looked exactly as it had when the fake Moody was rummaging through it, Headmaster Dumbledore waved his wand to remove the binding curse from the fake Moody.
Then he used Episkey to heal the injuries caused by the Stupefy spell.
And the final step was, "Obliviate."
Headmaster Dumbledore whispered the incantation, his wand pointing directly at the fake Moody on the ground.
He deleted the other's memory of everything that had happened tonight and added a memory that no one had visited tonight.
It took Headmaster Dumbledore less than a minute to complete everything.
Waving his hand to cast Rennervate on the fake Moody, Headmaster Dumbledore signaled for everyone to exit the fake Moody's office.
Walking out of the fake Moody's office, Amanda looked up at Headmaster Dumbledore after they had walked a certain distance.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, about today's events..."
Before Amanda could finish, Headmaster Dumbledore nodded with a gentle smile.
"You can tell your three seniors, as well as Hermione and the other two."
"After all, they care about you so much. If you say nothing, they might be sad. Moreover, we need Harry to make his own choice; we can't keep the situation hidden from him."
"Alright, thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore," Amanda nodded mechanically.
"But it's limited to only those six people; this matter still needs to be kept somewhat secret."
Headmaster Dumbledore cheerfully stroked his white beard, looking as if he weren't worried at all about Voldemort, who was destined to be resurrected at the end of this year.
"I understand, Headmaster Dumbledore."
Amanda's face remained as calm as the cold waters deep in the Arctic Ocean, without the slightest hint of tension or worry.
"Goodnight, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Snape," she said, nodding to each of the three Professors in turn.
"Goodnight, Miss Amanda. Go back and get a good night's sleep."
After the four Professors nodded in response, Amanda turned and strode toward Ravenclaw Tower.
After answering the door knocker's question and entering the Ravenclaw Common Room, Hermione, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope were indeed still awake, sitting neatly on the sofas in the common room, discussing something.
Although she couldn't hear their voices yet, based on an analysis of their lip movements and personalities, Amanda was basically certain they were discussing nothing other than their studies.
The sound of the common room door opening interrupted the discussion between the four girls. They looked up together, and upon seeing Amanda, they all showed joyful smiles.
"Amanda!" Hermione jumped up from the sofa, rushed over, and hugged her tightly.
"Hermione." The cold stiffness on Amanda's face softened instantly. She was no longer just mimicking Hermione's actions, but instinctively reached out both hands to hug Hermione back.
"Mhm, let me check you."
Even though she knew Amanda had gone with Headmaster Dumbledore and the Professors to find the fake Moody, Hermione couldn't help but release Amanda and look her up and down carefully.
After all, the person impersonating Moody was someone capable of defeating that experienced and powerful Old Auror; he definitely couldn't be underestimated.
"I'm fine," Amanda said, yet she still cooperated with Hermione's gaze by raising her arms to her sides, allowing her to check.
"Good, no injuries."
Hermione nodded with satisfaction, her smile becoming even brighter.
"So Professor Moody... was he really a fake?"
Cho Chang and the other two stepped forward, and Cho Chang asked with a face full of concern.
"Yes," Amanda nodded, her face still soft but her voice cold and calm. "Our analysis was not wrong; the Professor Moody at the banquet was a fake."
"Merlin's beard..." Marietta Eckmore closed her eyes. A Dark Wizard capable of defeating Moody—she found it hard to imagine who it could be.
And the question she found hard to imagine, Penelope asked directly.
"So who exactly impersonated the real Professor Moody? And what was the purpose of doing so?"
Looking at her three seniors and Hermione, Amanda refused to answer their questions for the first time.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, Senior Penelope, Senior Cho Chang, Senior Marietta. It's not that I'm intentionally hiding it, but it's already time for everyone to sleep."
"I'll tell you the details tomorrow during the day, is that alright?"
Considering the shock and fear that Voldemort's resurrection might bring to Hermione and the three seniors, Amanda decided it was better not to break the news now when they should be sleeping.
It would cause them to lose sleep or have nightmares, and clearly, Amanda didn't want them to have anything to do with either.
So it was better to tell them tomorrow during the day; that way, they would have some time to process and organize the information without ruining tomorrow night's sleep.
"Okay," the four girls agreed without hesitation, and Amanda looked at Hermione again.
"Hermione, bring Harry and Ron to the Ravenclaw Common Room tomorrow afternoon. I'll tell all six of you the whole situation."
"Will do."
Hermione nodded solemnly, and then they parted from Penelope and returned to their respective dormitories to rest.
Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore had already showered, so Amanda went straight into the washroom and turned on the tap as soon as she returned.
At the same time, the other three girls closed their bed curtains and fell into a dreamland within minutes of lying down in their beds.
After showering, Amanda looked at the three tightly closed bed curtains, drying her hair while revealing an extremely soft smile.
What a wonderful life. Hermione, Senior Cho Chang, and Senior Marietta can still sleep sweetly and without worry.
She must protect such a beautiful life well, she must.
Drying her hair and lying in bed, even a second before Amanda completely fell asleep, her mind was still filled with this thought.
"Goodnight, my little girl." A gentle goodnight kiss landed on Amanda's forehead as a young and beautiful Witch straightened up.
She was tall, and her whole being exuded a sharp aura like that of an eagle.
Across from her, a Witch with a plump but healthy, non-bloated figure also leaned down to give Amanda a goodnight kiss.
"I hope you have a sweet dream."
"This current Headmaster you beat up earlier is okay; he's quite bold," Helga looked up at Rowena and gave her evaluation of Headmaster Dumbledore.
Being able to make arrangements in the shortest possible time after knowing the details, and even thinking calmly to make the decision to let Voldemort be resurrected for his ultimate and complete destruction—this current Headmaster indeed had some courage.
"That's also why I only gave him one hit," Rowena shrugged indifferently.
The two of them had actually mostly recovered as early as the end of Amanda's third year.
Speaking of which, it surprised them; as soon as they regained consciousness and woke up, Amanda noticed immediately.
Although they had been prepared, their daughter's sharpness still shocked the two mothers a little.
Yes, the two of them had already appointed themselves as Amanda's mothers.
Anyway, neither of them had children, and they liked Amanda so much—she was to their taste—so why not let her be their daughter?
However, considering Amanda's previous experiences, they hadn't told her their intention yet, fearing it might trigger her.
They hadn't even officially appeared before Amanda, only silently granting her full authority over Ravenclaw Castle and the Hufflepuff Maze.
That was why Amanda could directly lock those heads of Pure-blood families into Ravenclaw Castle during the Quidditch World Cup Final.
"Are we really not going to do anything about the Voldemort matter?" Helga looked at Rowena with some uncertainty. If they let these juniors handle it themselves, won't they get themselves hurt or even killed?
Rowena shook her head firmly. "Every generation has its own responsibilities and trials. As predecessors, we already carried them through the great wars of the Middle Ages."
As she spoke, she gently stroked Amanda's small head with her hand. "Now it's the turn of today's adults to shoulder the responsibility; we cannot keep doing it for them."
"Alright," Helga sighed, also reaching out to gently hold Amanda's hand.
Feeling the softness of the girl's hand, Helga patted the back of her hand with an even gentler expression, while saying something that had nothing to do with being gentle: "It's also lucky they didn't treat a child as the main force of the battle just because of that stupid prophecy, otherwise I would definitely give them a good lesson."
"Mm-hmm, they at least have some sense of responsibility," Rowena nodded approvingly. At least these juniors were much more responsible than the adults in Amanda's original world, doing what an adult should do; this was enough to barely satisfy her.
"Every generation has its own trials and responsibilities," Rowena said softly as she looked at Amanda's peaceful sleeping face, sounding almost like she was chanting. "The adults of today dispel the darkness of today for you, and you bring a bright future for your future descendants."
Helga looked at her partner with a smile. This Rowena was always sharp-tongued but soft-hearted; now she says it's the juniors' responsibility and she won't interfere.
But if Amanda ever has to face Voldemort and suffers even the slightest loss, she will definitely jump out instantly and give Voldemort a fierce beating.
After all, while the logic is sound, her own daughter is what matters most.
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