Hogwarts' Christmas break lasted two weeks, or fourteen days, and today was already the ninth day. Amanda read continuously from eight o'clock on the evening of the ninth day until six o'clock on the morning of the tenth day before closing her book.
Standing up, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed to the Hogwarts Library; she needed to return the books.
Madam Pince had not yet arrived at six in the morning. Amanda placed the books on her desk, then turned and quickly headed toward the Great Hall.
The fifteen hours she spent unconscious allowed her complexion to recover slightly, but only slightly.
Her face was still a sickly white, and her lips were completely drained of color, dark and bruised.
After eating breakfast in the Great Hall, Amanda hurried back to Ravenclaw Tower, sat down at her desk, and entered a serious state of study, reading intently.
Over the next four days of the holiday, no Professor or student staying at school saw Amanda again.
Even Madam Pince hadn't seen Amanda come to the Library to borrow books again. Thinking that Amanda had finally given herself a few days off to rest, Madam Pince silently sighed in relief.
She thought to herself that the child finally knew how to rest.
The truth, however, was that Amanda had concluded after deliberation that her current appearance would surely lead the Professors to demand she stop studying.
But studying could not be stopped; even being sick could not halt her studies.
Therefore, she needed to avoid the Professors. Amanda made this judgment without any emotional reaction.
Thus, for these four days, she deliberately went to the Great Hall early to eat, then returned to her Dormitory as quickly as possible, all to avoid running into the Professors and the students staying behind, especially Harry and Ron.
She even read books from the small internal Library within Ravenclaw House during these four days.
For four full days, she did not close her eyes again, not sleeping for even a minute.
Furthermore, there was one more thing... her left arm had become completely unable to lift during these days.
On the very night she woke up from her unconsciousness, she punished herself for the fifteen hours of study time she had wasted.
After her right hand pressed down on her left arm, mercilessly leaving fifteen handprints.
Her left arm began to tremble uncontrollably, losing even the strength to lift it.
With a calm expression, she slowly opened her right hand. Under the Dormitory light, Amanda clearly saw her right palm filled with blood.
Slowly removing her wizard robe, Amanda gently pulled aside her shirt. The upper left sleeve of the white shirt was completely soaked in blood.
Amanda's upper left arm, revealed after taking off her shirt, was covered in bloody handprints. The continuous self-inflicted injuries had finally overwhelmed her left arm, causing it to seep blood.
Withdrawing her gaze indifferently, Amanda reached for a nearby tissue and vigorously wiped her left arm, cleaning away the seeping blood.
The force she used suggested she felt no pain at all; even though it must have been excruciating, there was no change in her expression.
Even in this state, Amanda merely changed into a clean set of clothes with indifference, then sat down at her desk and re-entered her study state.
Consequently, her left arm remained unable to lift until the very last day of the holiday.
She truly wasn't afraid of pain. Without emotion, pain, though unpleasant, was easily endured for her.
However, besides the pain, her left arm was so injured that the human body's tolerance had essentially reached its limit, making it impossible for her left arm to exert any force.
Let alone moving it despite the pain. Thus, when the holiday ended, what Hermione saw was Amanda, looking strangely awkward, eating at the table only with her right hand while her left arm hung limp.
Not to mention the suffocating pallor of her face and her dark, bruised lips. Hermione felt like her heart was being clutched tightly.
The hogwarts express arrived at Hogwarts in the evening. She deliberately rushed to the Great Hall immediately after tidying up her belongings.
Earlier than the other Professors and students, she thought that if she went early, she would definitely run into Amanda, or if Amanda hadn't arrived yet, she could wait for her there.
As she walked into the Great Hall, she indeed encountered Amanda, who, just like the previous days, had arrived early to eat.
Before she could go up and greet her, Hermione noticed her strange posture.
Frowning, Hermione quickly walked up to Amanda. "Amanda, good evening."
Hearing Hermione's voice, Amanda's eating hand paused involuntarily. She then looked up at Hermione with a blank expression.
"Good afternoon, Hermione."
"Hmm," Hermione nodded, her gaze fixed on Amanda's left arm. "What happened to your left arm?"
Amanda, devoid of emotion and incapable of lying, immediately spoke the truth.
"Punishment for wasting study time."
"What?" Hermione looked at Amanda confusedly, but Amanda did not answer again, lowering her head to continue eating.
Hermione vaguely sensed that something was seriously wrong. She narrowed her eyes at Amanda, then walked over and sat down beside her without ceremony, reaching out to get food for herself.
"I'm going back to your Dormitory with you later. Let me see your left arm."
Hermione's tone was absolute. Amanda did not contradict her, continuing to eat the dinner in front of her without any reaction.
Finishing her dinner as quickly as possible, Hermione followed Amanda closely, all the way to the entrance of the Ravenclaw Common Room.
Amanda answered the bronze knocker's question, then led Hermione up the Common Room stairs and into her Dormitory.
Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe had just gone to the Great Hall to eat, so the two groups missed each other.
Hermione stood by the door with her arms crossed and nodded at Amanda. "Alright, show me your left arm."
Amanda responded mechanically, "Okay."
She then slowly removed her wizard robe and pulled open the shirt she was wearing underneath.
When Hermione first watched Amanda slowly remove her wizard robe, a deep blush rose on Hermione's face.
But the moment Amanda pulled open her shirt, Hermione's shyness immediately vanished, replaced entirely by anger and heartache.
"Who did this?" Hermione asked, stepping forward, her voice trembling with barely suppressed fury as she looked at the bloody handprints covering Amanda's upper left arm.
"Myself." Amanda replied matter-of-factly, devoid of emotion.
"What...?" Hermione froze, moving her gaze from the upper left arm to stare fixedly at Amanda's face.
"Wasting study time requires punishment." Amanda answered like a machine.
Hermione swallowed, then reached out with a slight tremor and pulled up Amanda's right hand, placing it on her own upper left arm.
Amanda watched Hermione without reaction, not understanding what Hermione intended.
"Try... fitting your hand over this print..." Hermione said, her voice shaking. She still couldn't believe Amanda had done this to herself.
"Okay." Amanda nodded, slowly closing her right hand, which perfectly matched one of the handprints on her upper left arm.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione had to close her eyes to force herself to calm down. When she opened them again, her eyes were filled with the authority of a lioness.
"Who taught you to do this? To hurt yourself?"
Amanda spoke in a flat tone, "My parents told me that wasting study time or making mistakes in studies should be punished."
"Harming yourself as punishment?!" Hermione couldn't help but raise her voice. She simply couldn't believe what kind of parents would say such a thing, what kind of parents would make their child hurt herself.
"Yes, isn't this punishment?" Amanda nodded, taking it for granted.
Hermione covered her face with both hands, hiding it in her palms while silently raging for a long moment.
Then she slowly raised her head, looking at Amanda, her voice dropping low.
"What exactly do you mean by... wasting study time?"
Amanda looked at Hermione, subconsciously about to answer, but her brain seemed to finally kick in and stopped her.
Hermione is kind. A voice echoed in her mind: if Hermione heard that she punished herself for the time wasted knitting her gloves, she would blame herself.
Having reached this conclusion, Amanda selectively revealed part of the truth.
"The time spent relaxing, playing snowball fights with Harry and the others, and the time spent looking into the mirror of erised."
Hermione nodded weakly, unable to even focus on the mirror of erised mentioned in Amanda's words.
All she heard was relaxing with Harry and the others... relaxing with Harry and the others.
Who reminded Harry to take Amanda along to relax? It was her!
Damn it, she was the one who caused Amanda to punish herself. Even though Amanda hadn't mentioned the knitting incident, Hermione still blamed herself remorsefully.
Hearing this, she looked at Amanda as if remembering something. "So... when I took you to watch the Quidditch match before... you punished yourself for that too, didn't you?"
"That also delayed your study time."
Amanda futilely opened her mouth as if glitching. She instinctively wanted to answer truthfully, but something in her brain was stopping her, causing her head to ache in waves.
Although Amanda's face was expressionless and she showed no physical reaction other than opening her mouth, Hermione sensed her struggle and the pain beneath it.
Reaching out, Hermione gently embraced her, slowly stroking her back. "I understand, you don't need to say it."
Held in Hermione's embrace, Amanda closed her mouth, her face calm as still water.
Hermione closed her eyes briefly. "Amanda, can I know how your study time is scheduled?"
"Yes."
Hermione lowered her head, looking at Amanda, whom she was holding. "Tell me."
Amanda didn't look up, only speaking mechanically, "Sleep from four to five every day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are three and a half minutes each. Showering is five minutes. The rest of the time is for studying."
"Is this also mandated by your damn... I apologize," Hermione swallowed the curse that rushed to her lips, "Is this also mandated by your parents?"
"Yes," Amanda replied indifferently, "It guarantees my most basic rest, allowing me to study in the most efficient state."
"Nonsense." Hermione whispered through clenched teeth.
Releasing Amanda, Hermione crouched down and looked into her eyes. "Don't listen to your parents. This will destroy you."
"Your body won't be able to handle it, and neither will your mind. Do you know how terrible your complexion is, and how dark your eye bags are?"
Amanda stared fixedly at Hermione, her eyes like stagnant water. "Studying comes first."
"To hell with studying first!" Hermione truly couldn't hold back anymore. The Gryffindor lioness unleashed her fury.
Although she could tell Harry and Ron that being expelled was worse than dying.
But upon seeing Amanda genuinely prioritize studying over her own body, and even her own life, Hermione felt absolutely furious.
"What are you going to study if you're dead?!" Hermione reached out and gripped Amanda's shoulders tightly, wanting to shake her awake violently, yet fearing she might cause further harm to her already frail-looking body, she hesitated to act.
But if I don't study, I'll also die... Amanda thought, completely unfazed, but she didn't voice the thought.
Hermione pressed her lips together, looking at Amanda. "Either promise me that you will sleep for six hours every day from now on, and you won't punish yourself no matter what problems arise in your studies."
"Or I'll just move directly into your Dormitory to supervise you. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."
Amanda's brain reacted quickly, and she nodded. "I promise you, I guarantee I will sleep for six hours every day from now on, and I will no longer punish myself because of studying."
Hermione nodded, still pressing her lips together, and reached out to help Amanda pull up her shirt. "Put your wizard robe on; the weather is quite chilly."
Amanda nodded, reached out, and put on her wizard robe.
"I will be monitoring your condition every day from now on. If you still look this pale, weak, and sleep-deprived, I will come straight to your Dormitory and sleep on the floor!"
"Mm..." Amanda agreed expressionlessly.
"You rest early tonight, and remember to get six hours of sleep. I'm leaving now; I need a moment to collect myself."
"Okay."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, looking at Amanda. "Aren't you going to say goodnight to me?"
"Goodnight." Amanda said mechanically.
"Goodnight," Hermione reached out and hugged Amanda. "Have sweet dreams."
After speaking, she released her and turned to walk out of Amanda's Dormitory. The moment she stepped out, Hermione's expression instantly changed dramatically.
Hideousness and rage were no longer enough to describe the state of her face. She even felt that if Amanda's parents were standing in front of her right now.
Assuming Amanda's feelings were disregarded, she could cast the cruelest curse she could think of on them without any psychological burden.
Their education of Amanda could no longer be described as wanting their child to be outstanding; they were fundamentally cultivating a learning machine—a compliant, efficient learning machine—and completely disregarding Amanda's physical health in the process.
She simply couldn't believe there were parents in the world who treated their child this way.
She stood on the stairs calming herself for a long while until her complexion slowly returned to normal. Only then did Hermione slowly descend the stairs and leave the Ravenclaw Common Room.
However, Hermione still didn't know that she had only uncovered part of the truth... the real cruelty had yet to be discovered by her.
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