After hearing Amanda's explanation, Harry stood there for a long time without making a sound. Hermione and Amanda remained in their embrace until Harry closed his eyes and spoke again, at which point they finally let go.
"I'm going to the forbidden area on the fourth floor tonight to get the Philosopher's Stone before Professor Quirrell does."
"No! Harry, that's dangerous!" Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at Harry; it was clear she did not approve of his plan.
"We can go tell the Professors, tell Headmaster Dumbledore. They will handle it. We shouldn't be here risking our lives as first-year students."
Harry pondered for a moment and realized Hermione was right, so he immediately nodded.
"Alright, I agree. Let's try telling the Professors first."
The group of four didn't waste any more time and quickly sprinted across the grass, heading straight for Hogwarts Castle.
Amanda was pulled along by Hermione at the back, her brain rapidly sorting and analyzing the known information.
Her meticulous mind quickly connected all the events that had happened this term: the duel challenge from Malfoy, which led them to run blindly into the fourth-floor forbidden area, where they discovered Cerberus and the thing it was guarding.
Harry receiving his father's invisibility cloak from an anonymous sender at Christmas, and then coincidentally finding the mirror of erised shortly after.
Hagrid revealing top-secret information to them, such as Nicolas Flamel and Fluffy the Cerberus.
One incident after another—though there was too little information and evidence for Amanda to deduce the truth, a faint thought lingered in her mind: these events were definitely not accidental; there had to be a hidden hand behind them.
Someone was prompting Harry, or rather prompting them, to do something. A coincidence can happen once or twice, but when it happens every single time, then someone is definitely manufacturing those coincidences on purpose.
Despite these thoughts, since no one asked, Amanda didn't say anything. She expressionlessly allowed Hermione to pull her into Hogwarts Castle, where they happened to run right into Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall saw the Gryffindor trio pulling Amanda into the Castle and gave a relatively gentle smile. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Amanda. Why aren't you relaxing now that the exams are over? The sunlight today is indeed very pleasant."
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall, we have an emergency. May I ask where Headmaster Dumbledore is?" Harry asked directly with urgency.
Seeing Harry's state, Professor McGonagall was visibly taken aback. "Headmaster Dumbledore has gone to the Ministry of Magic for a meeting."
"At a time like this?!" Harry found it hard to accept. The Philosopher's Stone could be taken by Lord Voldemort at any moment, and yet Headmaster Dumbledore—the only person Lord Voldemort ever feared—had actually gone to the Ministry of Magic for a meeting?
"Headmaster Dumbledore is very busy; he has many matters to attend to," Professor McGonagall frowned. "Mr. Potter, may I ask what exactly is the matter?"
In his haste, Harry blurted out, "It's a secret."
Hermione took a deep breath, and Ron couldn't help but cover his face with his hand. Harry had definitely said the wrong thing!
Only the emotionless Amanda felt that Harry was telling the truth; the matter of the Philosopher's Stone was indeed a secret, a top-secret one at that.
Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared slightly at Harry's words. "Very well, Mr. Potter. Since that's the case, you can wait until Headmaster Dumbledore returns tomorrow and then go to the Headmaster's office to find him."
Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he spoke urgently, "Tomorrow might be too late! Fine, it's about the Philosopher's Stone! Someone is going to steal it!"
Clatter... all the books Professor McGonagall was holding scattered onto the floor.
She reacted quickly, bending down to pick up her books, then looked at the four children with a stern expression.
"I don't know how you learned about the Philosopher's Stone, but it is under strict protection. You have no need to worry."
"That's enough," seeing that Harry wanted to say more, Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Go and have a good rest."
With that, Professor McGonagall walked away with long strides. Before leaving, she nodded at Hermione, seemingly signaling her to take Amanda and rest well.
Seeing Professor McGonagall nod at her, Hermione guiltily looked away. She knew very well that if they couldn't get help from the Professors... they would likely have to go in themselves.
Sure enough, Harry turned to his other three friends and said one sentence.
"You all go rest. I'll go back and prepare. Tonight, I'm going through the trapdoor to get the Philosopher's Stone out."
Immediately, he saw Hermione looking at him as if he were talking nonsense, and Ron looking at him as if he were joking.
Even Amanda stared at him blankly. "Personal analysis: the probability of them agreeing to let you go alone is infinitely close to zero."
Amanda spoke as Harry looked at her, and Hermione and Ron subconsciously nodded in agreement.
Hermione tilted her chin slightly. "Actually, it's normal for the Professor not to believe us. After all, it does sound absurd for students to suddenly claim the Philosopher's Stone is about to be stolen."
"So I've already prepared to go with you tonight to get the stone."
"Exactly," Ron chimed in from the side. "You didn't think we'd let you go on such a dangerous mission alone, did you?"
"Wait, you don't have to..." Harry waved his hands anxiously. Didn't they understand? This time they might be facing Lord Voldemort; they could die!
"It doesn't matter," Ron stepped forward and put an arm around Harry's shoulder. "If Lord Voldemort really is resurrected, no one will be safe anyway."
"My family is pro-Muggle, and Hermione is Muggle-born. Instead of waiting for him to get the stone and come back to life, we might as well take the initiative."
Hermione linked arms with Amanda and followed behind the two boys. "That's right. And with the three of us going together, the odds of success are always higher."
She had already subconsciously excluded Amanda from this plan. It was bad enough she couldn't take Amanda to relax; she definitely didn't want to bring Amanda along for an activity that risked her life.
Clearly, Harry and Ron shared this thought, so they didn't discuss the plan to get the stone early in front of Amanda anymore.
If there was to be a sacrifice, the three of them were enough; there was no need to drag another person down.
Amanda, showing no emotional fluctuation, was led by the arm by Hermione to the entrance of the Ravenclaw Common Room.
Hermione reached out to straighten Amanda's collar, then looked up into her eyes.
"Get some good rest. We're leaving now."
Hermione turned and left after speaking. She had a feeling that she couldn't stay any longer; if she did, she might not want to leave at all.
Watching the three of them leave, Amanda knew clearly that they were going to prepare to enter the fourth-floor forbidden area tonight to get the Philosopher's Stone.
She also understood perfectly well that the reason Hermione and the others had brought her back was because they didn't want her to be involved.
However, lacking emotion, she didn't understand—or rather, she didn't comprehend what 'worry' actually felt like. Therefore, she couldn't figure out why Hermione and the others wouldn't take her along when her presence would clearly increase their safety and survival rate.
Mechanically lowering her head, Amanda turned to answer the bronze knocker's question and entered the Ravenclaw Common Room.
Back in her Dormitory, sitting at her desk, Amanda instinctively wanted to take out a book to continue studying. However, the reality was that she couldn't recall a single piece of knowledge.
Her mind was in a state of chaos, and her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tight. She couldn't perform any kind of thought and could only sit blankly in her chair.
What was wrong with her... what was this situation? Why was her heart tightening in waves? Why was her brain screaming and trembling so frantically?
She had never experienced this before... wait, she had. When was that?
It seemed like a very, very long time ago, so long that her memories were blurred. It seemed to be when she was only a few years old, seeing two fully armed men with live ammunition dragging away an older girl she knew from next door.
She had been in this same state back then. So why was that? She had been very... very... very what?
Amanda's brain kept glitching, like a computer trying to start something but constantly failing.
She sat there in her chair for several hours. Amanda remained there until Cho Chang and Marietta had finished dinner, played with their friends for a while, and returned just as the curfew began.
Seeing Amanda sitting blankly in her chair, both Cho Chang and Marietta were startled.
Cho Chang frowned and walked over slowly, bending down to look. She was surprised to see a faint furrow in the brow of Amanda's usually unchanging face.
This discovery made Cho Chang's heart sink. Something made Amanda frown?! Just how serious was whatever had happened!
"Amanda, Amanda, what's wrong?"
Amanda's slightly furrowed brow instantly smoothed out, and she returned to her expressionless state. She turned her head to look at Cho Chang and asked a question in a completely flat tone.
"I think of several people, I think of what they are going to do, my brain is confused, and my heart is racing. Why?"
Cho Chang was momentarily at a loss by Amanda's question, but Marietta, standing behind her, spoke gently.
"If you were talking about one person, I might say you like them. But since you're talking about several people, it probably proves... you know they are going to do something dangerous, and you are worried about them."
"Worried..." Amanda raised her hand and gently touched her chest, where a heart was beating erratically. "So this feeling is what it means to be worried."
"Amanda, has something happened?" Cho Chang knelt down, gently holding Amanda's hand and looking at her with concern.
Amanda turned her head and looked at Cho Chang calmly. In her mind, the scenario of her telling the truth and Senior Cho Chang and Senior Marietta following her to the fourth-floor forbidden area instantly appeared.
Her heart tightened painfully again for no reason. Worry. This was worry... "It's a secret," Amanda spoke truthfully, while also preventing Cho Chang and Marietta from going with her.
Yes, to the fourth-floor forbidden area. Just now, having understood what worry was, her brain immediately made that decision.
Standing up abruptly, Amanda strode toward the door. "Wait..." Cho Chang called out to her.
Amanda turned back to look at her with an expressionless face. Cho Chang tried her best to suppress the concern in her heart and gave a gentle smile.
"You haven't had dinner yet, have you?"
"No." Amanda shook her head.
"We'll go get some for you. When you get back... you can eat." So you must come back!
"Okay, thank you, Seniors." Amanda nodded, turned, opened the door, and strode out.
Marietta walked to Cho Chang's side, looking at the Dormitory door with unease. "You're just going to let her go alone?"
"With the strength of the two of us... going would probably just get in her way."
Cho Chang shook her head. "Let's go. Let's head out one more time. At the very least, we can't let her go hungry when she gets back."
Marietta nodded and followed Cho Chang out with a sigh, heading straight for the Hogwarts kitchen. She hoped Amanda would return quickly and safely so that she might even get to eat the food while it was still hot.
Arriving at the fourth-floor forbidden area, Amanda thought about her nighttime excursion and her intention to break into the restricted zone, so she reached out to press her left thigh. But then she thought about what she was about to do.
Amanda withdrew her hand. She needed to be able to move quickly, she thought emotionlessly. Therefore, she would wait until everything was over before accepting her punishment.
Looking at the wooden door blocking her path, Amanda raised her wand and cast an Unlocking Charm. The door swung open instantly.
Stepping inside, the three heads of the Cerberus immediately turned toward her.
Before the Cerberus could start barking, Amanda gripped her wand tight and shouted calmly at it, "Stupefy."
Bang! The powerful spell sent Fluffy the Cerberus flying, and it collapsed heavily onto the ground behind it.
However, this didn't cause much damage to the thick-skinned beast; it merely forced it into a deep, pleasant slumber.
Pulling open the trapdoor on the floor, Amanda jumped down without hesitation.
After falling for a while, Amanda landed steadily on the devils snare at the bottom. She recognized the plants as devils snare at a glance and waved her wand expressionlessly.
"Incendio."
Vigorous flames immediately began to burn beneath the devils snare. The plant frantically retracted its tendrils. Amanda fell further, but her mind didn't panic or stall in the slightest. She adjusted her posture in mid-air and landed nimbly on the ground.
Waving her wand again, the flames died down. She looked up at the devils snare; even though she had consciously weakened the spell's power, the plant had still suffered some damage.
Fluffy the Cerberus belonged to Hagrid, and the devils snare belonged to Professor Sprout.
Both were personal property. Although she had damaged them out of necessity, she had ultimately violated regulations and damaged their personal belongings.
Those were two more points for which she needed to be punished. Amanda committed this firmly to memory, then walked forward without any emotional fluctuation.
Opening the door and entering the next room, Amanda looked up to see a swarm of keys flying across the ceiling. Looking at the door on the opposite side and the keyhole on it, she immediately understood what this room wanted her to do.
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