"All actions of the Ministry of Magic are reasonable and legal!"
Umbridge's face was flushed with anger. After she finished speaking in her high-pitched voice, the laughter in the classroom grew louder.
"All actions of the Ministry of Magic are reasonable and legal," Harry repeated Umbridge's words loudly. "What a ridiculous statement!"
"This is the best joke I've heard all year. I think I can laugh for a whole year."
Ron laughed and agreed beside him. Umbridge, trembling with anger, finally remembered she was a Professor. She dared not do anything to Amanda, but couldn't she deal with these ordinary Young Wizards?
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, fifty points from Gryffindor for your behavior."
"Thank you, Professor Umbridge, your deduction makes us proud."
Harry tugged at Ron's sleeve. The two stood up, placed their right hands on their chests, and bowed like "gentlemen" to Umbridge.
"Hahahaha..."
"Well done!"
"Quickly deduct all the points from Gryffindor House's Point Hourglass, Harry!"
"Maybe this year, for the House Cup, everyone will be competing to see who has the fewest points."
Gryffindor had fifty points deducted by Umbridge, but the Little Lions laughed even harder, and the boisterous atmosphere almost ripped the classroom ceiling off.
Even the Little Snakes across the way couldn't help but laugh, watching Umbridge on the podium as if she were a joke.
Deducting points is only useful when students care more about scores than they recognize the Professor.
Now, no one recognized Umbridge, nor did they care about her additions or deductions of points. What good was it for her to deduct Gryffindor's points?
She merely made a joke of herself.
Seeing that the deduction had no effect, Umbridge's pink clothes trembled even more violently. Her eyes were filled with malice as she glared fiercely at Harry and Ron.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, please report to me for detention tonight."
Umbridge giving a Young Wizard detention? She had ill intentions!
Any Young Wizard with a brain could figure this out without much thought, especially since she named Harry and his friend.
The Gryffindors' laughter ceased abruptly. The Little Lions subtly reached into their pockets. Those brave enough were already considering whether to beat Umbridge into incapacity right there in class.
In any case, they couldn't let her bully one of their own during detention tonight.
The Little Snakes of Slytherin sitting on the other side of the classroom were also stirring, ready to join in if the Gryffindors made a move.
That way, first, they wouldn't be the ones who started it; second, they would satisfy their own desire to hit Umbridge; and third, they could show Amanda their determination to stand on her side, since they would be helping her friends.
Killing three birds with one stone. It could be said that the Little Snakes had finally rediscovered the shrewd characteristics of their House.
However, this "conflict" ultimately failed to ignite. A hand signaling a stop slowly rose, Hermione's right hand resting steadily near her ear. The next moment, both the Little Lions and the Little Snakes quietly sat back down in their seats.
"Harry, Ron."
Hermione stared fixedly at Umbridge, then slowly turned to look at the two boys beside her.
"I believe you two can distinguish between normal detention and detention that causes physical or emotional harm?"
"We can distinguish."
"Of course we can."
The two boys answered without hesitation.
"Since Professor Umbridge wants to give students detention, we, as students, should naturally obey." Hermione said, pulling out her wand and examining it over and over in her hand as if seeing it for the first time.
"But if this detention is unreasonable or non-compliant, I think you two should also be able to protect yourselves, and in your panic, it's highly possible you might strike without restraint, right?"
"Hiss... indeed," Harry frowned, feigning distress. "My Charms isn't very good, and I easily lose control of the force."
"I'm worse off," Ron immediately chimed in without a pause. "Sometimes I'm not even sure what Charm I'm going to cast."
"Oh, that's alright," Hermione smiled contentedly and nodded, looking towards Umbridge on the podium. "I believe Professor Umbridge won't mind, and she certainly won't let you enter that kind of agitated state, right? Professor Umbridge..."
The wand was raised, pointing directly at Umbridge on the podium, and the sparks bursting from the tip showed the latent magic ready to erupt from Hermione.
"Miss Granger!"
Umbridge hastily drew her wand, but relaxed upon realizing she wasn't facing Amanda. "Are you threatening a Professor?"
"I never threaten anyone," Hermione shook her head sincerely. "Because I always follow through on what I say."
Her voice ceased abruptly. Then, with a slight flick of her wand, Umbridge was hit by Hermione's spell before she could react, and her wand flew out of her hand.
Seeing the wand flying in mid-air, the two boys' eyes lit up. They scrambled to pull out their wands, and the incantations for the Explosion Charm sounded one after another.
Bang! Bang!
Amidst two deafening explosions, Umbridge's second wand in her life instantly shattered into pieces.
"When it comes to catching things, you're definitely better at it, mate."
Ron sighed, patting Harry's shoulder. It had been Harry's spell that shattered Umbridge's wand.
"I'm a Seeker, after all." Harry shrugged.
"Everyone, begin the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical according to the pre-class groupings!"
Hermione announced loudly. The Young Wizards in the classroom immediately became excited. They cheered loudly, drew their wands, half attacking and half defending. Naturally, the focus was all on Umbridge.
Amidst the incessant flashes of Charms, Umbridge shrieked loudly like a toad in a pond, as if she were back in the previous class with Amanda.
She wouldn't have to teach all her subsequent classes this way for the rest of the year, would she? Umbridge felt a wave of panic, suddenly regretting accepting this mission to come to Hogwarts.
Throughout the entire class, both the offensive and defensive sides made significant progress in their mastery of Charms and practical combat, while only Umbridge suffered a certain degree of fright.
When the Little Lions and the Little Snakes arrived at the Great Hall, they felt completely refreshed.
Hermione, without hesitation, pulled Harry and Ron over to the Ravenclaw Table.
Hermione coming to the Ravenclaw Table was routine, but Harry and Ron coming over was quite rare. Many Little Eagles curiously glanced at them, then silently moved aside to let the three Little Lions sit down.
Sensing the people beside her, Amanda turned her head, nodded indifferently, and said, "Hermione, Harry, Ron, good evening."
"Good evening." Hermione smiled gently, leaned over, and kissed Amanda's cheek.
Harry and Ron, standing nearby, awkwardly looked away, wondering why Hermione had brought them along.
It couldn't be that she wanted them to witness her interaction with Amanda.
However, Amanda helped them ask that question first: "Hermione, is something the matter?"
Looking at Amanda, who was tilting her small head at her, Hermione felt a wave of tenderness in her heart, and then spoke in an incredibly soft voice.
"Umbridge intends to give Harry and Ron detention tonight. I'm afraid she might use some dirty tricks, so I brought them here to ask if you have any ideas."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances. Harry gently tugged on Hermione's wizard robe sleeve.
"Hermione, didn't we already warn Umbridge in class? Besides, if Ron and I are actually harmed, we'll definitely fight back."
"Mhm!" Ron nodded vigorously beside him. Having been led by Amanda with unstoppable momentum in previous years, and having gone through various speeches across the country this summer, their personalities had unknowingly become tougher.
Perseverance, resistance, and refusing to succumb to harm—these points had long been deeply imprinted in their character.
Of course, more importantly, Harry now understood that he had Amanda, Hermione, and many more friends steadfastly supporting him. With a strong backing, one naturally gains confidence.
So, swallowing his anger? He wouldn't do that now.
Hermione sighed helplessly, looking at her two dearest friends who lacked complicated schemes.
"What I said in class earlier was mainly to prevent Umbridge from making any big moves against you, and to preemptively legitimize your potential resistance."
"But this doesn't effectively prevent her possible small tricks."
In just a few brief exchanges, Amanda's brain had already sorted out the entire sequence of events and essentially reconstructed the likely conversation between Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Umbridge.
It was essentially Umbridge giving Harry and Ron detention, and Hermione suggesting that Umbridge's detention might be unconventional, pointing out the possibility of Harry and Ron suffering physical and emotional harm during it.
This led to the conclusion that if such a situation occurred, Harry and Ron had the right to protect themselves, preemptively legitimizing their potential resistance against Umbridge.
Looking up at the two boys, Amanda, without any change in tone, began analyzing the situation for them from the perspective of Umbridge's personality.
"According to Umbridge's personality, she would think that as long as she avoids me," Amanda pointed to herself, "other Young Wizards are not enough to cause her any apprehension."
"She likely has two possible thoughts: The first is that other Young Wizards would be wary of her identity as the deputy head of the ministry of magic and the current defense against the dark arts professor at Hogwarts, and thus wouldn't dare to resist. The second is that even if other Young Wizards tried to resist, they wouldn't have the ability to defeat her, an adult Wizard."
"What?" Hearing Amanda's explanation, Harry found it unbelievable.
"Haven't we dealt with her harshly enough? Can't she see her own helplessness?"
Disarmed once by Amanda, disarmed once by Hermione, had her wand blown up twice by him, and beaten until she couldn't raise her head at least three times by a group of Young Wizards—wasn't that enough for Umbridge to face reality?
"It's useless," Amanda shook her head expressionlessly. "For people like Umbridge and Fudge, no matter how many facts you lay out in front of them, they won't acknowledge them."
"Unless external forces genuinely hold their heads down and make them concede."
Just like Amanda's plan to make Voldemort appear before the majority of the British Wizarding World, thereby forcing Fudge to admit that Voldemort had returned.
"They really are a peculiar kind of person." Ron shook his head, unable to understand the thought process of people like Fudge and Umbridge.
"They are simply too superstitious about the power they wield and too ignorant of their actual capabilities." Hermione pointed out the crux of the matter directly.
"You could say that." Amanda nodded in agreement, then continued her previous explanation.
"Therefore, considering the two thoughts Umbridge might have, her hand won't reach me, nor will it reach Hermione, who has the closest relationship with me."
Amanda's brain spoke instinctively without even thinking. Hermione's breath hitched slightly, and she lowered her head, noticing Amanda's barely upturned lips.
Hmph~ She was the one with the closest relationship to Amanda; Amanda herself said so.
"But her hand is very likely to reach out to you, and to other Young Wizards at Hogwarts. This aligns with her desire for revenge and her tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong."
"And this time, because of Hermione's preemptive measures, she won't make any big moves, but she is very likely to use small tricks against you."
"I see." x2
After hearing Amanda's analysis from the beginning, the two boys instantly understood.
"There's a saying where I come from," Senior Cho Chang, who had been listening silently nearby, suddenly spoke up. "An open spear is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is hard to guard against. A person like Umbridge is actually the most difficult to deal with."
Everything she does is hidden beneath that disgusting smile, secretly tripping people up and using dirty tricks, making it very easy to be caught off guard.
"Senior Cho Chang is right. That's why I prepared this for everyone. Harry and Ron, you two can test it out first this time."
As Amanda spoke, she took two badges out of her wizard robe pocket. The badges were clearly Gryffindor style, featuring two golden lions roaring.
Although she called it a test run, the reliability of these badges had actually already been proven.
"protective badge, capable of effectively resisting and reflecting Dark Arts and curses other than the Three Unforgivable Curses. It was produced using the magical power storage and output technology from Factory No. 11 to drive the Alchemy Product Assembly Line of Factory No. 42."
"Current production is sufficient to cover the entire British Wizarding World. The protective badges for the other Young Wizards will be delivered to Hogwarts tomorrow morning."
As for the two badges Amanda took out now, they were samples sent by the factory for her to check for satisfaction. Four Houses correspond to four styles, with two badges of each style.
"That's amazing!" Ron exclaimed, taking the protective badge from Amanda's hand. He looked at it curiously for a moment before pinning it onto his wizard robe and politely thanking Amanda.
Harry was also not reserved about it. After thanking her, he took the badge and pinned it onto his wizard robe.
Hmm, Amanda secretly nodded as she looked at Harry and Ron in front of her. They looked quite good paired with the wizard robes; the appearance was excellent. She could double the Designer's salary.
Hermione looked at the two boys in front of her and thought of Factory No. 11 and Factory No. 42 that Amanda just mentioned. She remembered when they rode the New Hogwarts Express before, Amanda mentioned Factory No. 06 and Factory No. 35.
So... how many factories has this girl built?
What else is she hiding and doing? Are these factories built in the Wizarding World? No, the Wizard population in the Wizarding World shouldn't be enough to supply so many factories.
So the factories are in the Muggle World? Why would Amanda establish factories in the Muggle World? And they're linked to magic.
Thoughts churned endlessly in her mind. Hermione quite enjoyed the feeling of analyzing what Amanda was planning.
Because it allowed her to feel that she was constantly getting closer to Amanda, constantly familiarizing herself with her thoughts, her actions, understanding her more, and delving deeper into who she was.
Understanding Amanda more and more, getting closer to Amanda—this was a subject Hermione would never tire of throughout her life.
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