As soon as the six hours of sleep were up, Amanda snapped her eyes open.
Lying in bed, she raised her right hand to her forehead. She could still faintly feel where two extremely gentle people had kissed her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and a wave of warmth gradually spread from her heart to her entire chest.
Mother... for some reason, that word suddenly popped into her mind.
After sitting on the bed for a good while to steady herself, Amanda finally got up to wash. After she had finished and sat at her desk reading for nearly half an hour, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore woke up one after another.
Once all three girls had finished washing, the four of them went to the Great Hall together for breakfast.
To tell Harry and Ron to come to the Ravenclaw Common Room in the afternoon, Hermione specifically ran back to the Gryffindor Table during breakfast.
This surprised Harry and Ron, who had just entered the Great Hall and were about to get something to eat.
Sitting across from Hermione, Harry looked at her cautiously and asked, "Hermione, why did you come back here for breakfast?"
Hermione swallowed her sandwich and looked up at Harry. "I came to tell you to come to the Ravenclaw Common Room after classes this afternoon. Amanda has something to tell us."
"What is it?"
Ron froze for a moment, then looked at Hermione with a face full of curiosity.
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know yet. We'll wait for Amanda to say so this afternoon."
"Alright then." Harry and Ron exchanged looks and nodded "obediently."
After a full day of classes, Hermione led Harry and Ron into the Ravenclaw Common Room.
Seeing Hermione bring them in, Amanda stood up and waved to them.
As the three of them approached, she heard Harry and Ron discussing Professor Moody.
"Fred and George both said his Defense Against the Dark Arts class is really cool."
Ron spoke to Hermione with excitement, and Harry beside him was in the same state.
"Yeah, and they said Professor Moody really knows the Dark Arts. It's great. After Professor Lupin, this year's defense against the dark arts professor is another reliable one."
Listening to Harry and Ron's praise for Professor Moody, the expression on Hermione's face was incredibly complex. She had heard Amanda say with her own eyes last night that the current Professor Moody was a fake, and this news had been confirmed by Headmaster Dumbledore and the others.
However, because she had been in a hurry to come to Amanda's place, she hadn't told Harry and Ron yet, thinking that Amanda would surely tell them everything.
Seeing the complexity on Hermione's face and hearing Harry and Ron's praise, Amanda nodded with a calm expression.
"This fake Professor Moody certainly does know the Dark Arts."
After all, he was a veteran Death Eater; it wouldn't make sense if he didn't know the Dark Arts.
"Right?" Ron said with a grin, before suddenly reacting.
"Fake Professor Moody?!" He and Harry exclaimed almost in unison.
"Yes," Amanda responded without a ripple on her face. She looked at Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope. "I already said last night that the analysis the seniors and I did yesterday was correct. The current Professor Moody is indeed an impostor using Polyjuice Potion."
"The real Professor Moody is being imprisoned in his office."
"Merlin..." Ron looked at Amanda in shock. Coming from the Weasley family, he had heard much of Moody's legendary reputation.
For such an experienced and powerful Auror to be imprisoned, that fake Moody must possess extraordinary strength.
"Wait, wait, wait," Harry struggled to find his voice, holding up both hands to signal a pause. "This fake Professor Moody knows the Dark Arts and infiltrated Hogwarts in disguise... he wouldn't happen to be a Death Eater, would he?"
The others remained silent. Only Amanda answered him in a voice as steady as a deep pool, "Correct. His name is Barty Crouch Jr."
"What?!" This time it was Marietta Eckmore's turn to be shocked. Her mother worked at the Ministry of Magic and had told her about some of the prominent figures there.
"Isn't Barty Crouch Jr. dead? He was sent to Azkaban by his own father, Barty Crouch Sr."
Amanda shook her head expressionlessly, then gave the other six a detailed account of how Barty Crouch Sr. and his wife had swapped their son out.
"After the swap, Barty Crouch Sr. couldn't just leave his son alone," Penelope frowned. "So now that Barty Crouch Jr. has escaped, then Barty Crouch Sr...."
"He's probably under the Imperio curse," Hermione said, raising a hand to tidy her hair. "After all, he's not dead. We saw him at the Quidditch World Cup Final."
"Merlin's oatmeal," Ron said with a pained expression, covering his face with his hand. "Can't we just have a few more normal defense against the dark arts professors?"
"That's what I was thinking," Harry sighed. He had really thought this was another good Professor like Professor Lupin.
"What is his purpose for entering Hogwarts?" Cho Chang asked in a gentle voice, her gaze instinctively drifting toward Harry.
When it came to Death Eaters, she naturally assumed the target was Harry. After all, the "conflict" between Harry and them was the greatest.
"To capture Harry and then help Voldemort resurrect."
Amanda once again used her most ordinary tone to speak the most shocking words.
However, because of the previous groundwork, everyone took it relatively well. It was also because they had long since mentally prepared themselves for the fact that Voldemort would eventually return.
"Alright," Harry shrugged indifferently; he didn't feel particularly afraid. "Why does Voldemort need me to resurrect?"
Was he going to kill him on the spot to celebrate?
"He needs your blood. Headmaster Dumbledore says it's a type of magic," Amanda spoke the truth frankly.
"Fine." Harry clicked his tongue. So, take a bit of his blood first, then kill him to celebrate?
Of course, he didn't plan to just sit and wait for death. Even if he had to face such a situation, he would fight Voldemort to the end. Even if he couldn't kill Voldemort, he would die trying to take a few Death Eaters with him.
"The current situation is that we can only completely kill Voldemort if we allow him to resurrect. Therefore, Headmaster Dumbledore has decided to beat him at his own game and let him return. This is why the fake Professor Moody is still teaching normally; Headmaster Dumbledore erased his relevant memories after figuring everything out yesterday."
Amanda explained as briefly as possible. She revealed Barty Crouch Jr.'s entire plan: to have Harry participate in the Triwizard Tournament, help him win, and then send him to Voldemort via the trophy which would be turned into a portkey.
"According to the plan," Amanda looked steadily at Harry, "you need to choose for yourself whether to participate in the first two tasks of the Triwizard Tournament. If you do, the authenticity and the deception of Voldemort and his followers will increase by fifty-five percent. But at the same time, you will face corresponding dangers."
Listening to Amanda, Harry didn't notice the mention of danger at all. What he cared more about was, "I only need to participate in the first two tasks? What about the third task? Facing Voldemort?"
Amanda shook her head, her face still unchanged. Her voice was as steady as rock that had remained unmoved for billions of years deep underground.
"The Professors will not let you face Voldemort. You are still young, and according to data simulation analysis, if you face Voldemort now, your survival rate is only fifty percent."
"Then I can't let someone else disguise themselves as me to face Voldemort either."
Harry immediately understood. Headmaster Dumbledore and the Professors meant for him to decide whether to participate in the relatively safe first two tasks to add authenticity to the plan.
Then someone else—perhaps Headmaster Dumbledore, perhaps one of the Professors—would disguise themselves as him to enter the third task and face Voldemort.
At the thought of someone else facing those dangers in his place, Harry couldn't help but get emotional. He argued in a low voice with Amanda.
"If I know it's an extremely dangerous thing, what reason do I have to hide in a safe place and let someone else take the risk for me? I can't do that."
"If something happens to the person who goes in my place, or if Voldemort discovers the plan because of it, that would be my fault."
Listening to Harry's words, Hermione and Ron looked at each other. This was the Harry they knew, the Harry they had been friends with for four years.
He always left safety for others and kept the danger for himself.
It was as if... he was born to consider others.
"No," facing Harry's argument, Amanda still shook her head calmly. "No means no. Harry, when facing dangers you can handle, Headmaster Dumbledore and the Professors, as your elders, will let you choose for yourself."
"But when facing a danger that could truly take your life, they will absolutely not let you go. Because they have a sense of responsibility; they are true adults, not cowards who shirk responsibility."
"The era where you hold up the sky for the world is in the future, not now when you haven't fully grown."
Finishing these words that surged from her mind in one breath, Amanda didn't even realize how incredible it was for her to be saying such things.
She could actually say things like this now. Hermione looked at Amanda, feeling her eyes grow warm and her lips curve upward.
She took a deep breath and turned to Harry. "Harry, the Professors won't let you go. Just like if you had a child in the future, would you let your child face an extremely dangerous Dark Wizard?"
"How could that be possible!"
Harry denied the possibility without hesitation. Then he realized and gave a helpless, bitter smile.
Right, he wouldn't let his future child face an extremely dangerous Dark Wizard, so how could Headmaster Dumbledore and the others let him face Voldemort?
Having thought it through, Harry no longer insisted. He looked up at Amanda very seriously. "I'm willing to participate in the first two tasks of the Triwizard Tournament. If we're going to beat Voldemort at his own game, I should at least be involved to make it more real and increase the success rate."
"Good. Also, Professor McGonagall said she will give you some special training," Amanda said, indicating there was no problem.
Professor McGonagall was going to give him special training?! Harry swallowed, feeling a bit of trepidation in his heart.
"Well, so you're definitely going to be our Hogwarts champion, mate."
Ron patted Harry on the shoulder, both worried about the two tasks Harry would face and a bit gleeful that Harry was about to receive special training from Professor McGonagall.
Seeing the expression on Ron's face, Harry gave him two hard slaps on the back with a grin.
Watching the two boys joke around, the five girls, including Amanda, all showed bright smiles. With Voldemort about to return, they didn't know how much longer they could enjoy such easy and happy days.
Putting away her smile, Amanda straightened her expression, her face returning to a state of meticulousness. "Harry, Barty Crouch Jr. putting your name into the goblet of fire is definitely against the rules, so you probably won't be the only Hogwarts champion."
"Yeah, I understand." Harry nodded solemnly.
"This also means there is a sixty-five percent chance you will have to face some unpleasant comments from other students."
After all, they couldn't tell the specific plan to all the Young Wizards at Hogwarts; that would create too much uncertainty.
It could also very likely affect the safety of those Young Wizards. There's a reason for the saying that the more you know, the more dangerous it is.
"However, I can basically ensure that everyone in Ravenclaw will not make unpleasant comments about this."
"Thank you, Amanda." Harry gave a grateful smile. Actually, it didn't matter what was said about him; dealing with Voldemort was the most important thing.
"You're welcome." Amanda shook her head.
At this moment, none of them—not even Amanda—had calculated the emotional changes in people brought about by her presence.
The relationship between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had been drawn much closer because of Amanda herself. Therefore, when Harry truly became a champion...
The Hufflepuffs, who were originally somewhat dissatisfied, realized instinctively that this was Amanda's doing after seeing that the Ravenclaw Eagles generally had nothing negative to say about it.
The Little Badgers didn't even stop to think if this was because Harry was Amanda's friend and she had restricted the Eagles' comments.
Instead, they immediately thought there must be some hidden reason that Amanda couldn't speak of, so she had simply requested all The Ravenclaws not to say anything bad to Harry.
It could only be said that while consistently receiving help from Amanda and The Ravenclaws, the Little Badgers had built up almost unconditional trust in them.
And because of this, Harry, who had originally prepared to face bad comments, only saw a calm Hogwarts that was no different from usual.
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