Hurrying out of the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione prayed in her heart that Amanda was alright.
"She just forgot to let me know she's safe, she just forgot to let me know she's safe..." Hermione kept chanting to herself, her feet rushing through the corridor and into the main part of Hogwarts Castle.
As soon as she entered the main Castle, the motionless moving stairs caught her attention.
Unable to help herself, Hermione walked forward and stared at the motionless stairs in disbelief.
She had never heard of Hogwarts' moving stairs ever coming to a halt.
Drip. A drop of warm liquid fell onto Hermione's face. She reached up to wipe it, and looking down at her fingertip, she saw a startling smear of blood-red.
"No, no, no, please don't let it be."
Hermione looked up. Ron's little sister, Ginny, was supporting another person and flying rapidly upward with her.
And the person she was supporting was Amanda. Hermione's eyesight was quite good, so she saw at a glance Amanda's unnaturally drooping right arm and her bleeding right leg.
"Damn it." Hermione raised her hand and slapped her forehead hard. It was all because of her. If it weren't for sending her back, Amanda certainly wouldn't have been injured!
There was no time to think about anything else. Hermione bolted upstairs. Just as she was about to reach the corridor where Amanda and the Basilisk had fought earlier, a rustling sound caught her attention.
It was too close; it was too late to run now. Stopping abruptly, Amanda's words quickly flashed through Hermione's mind.
Indirectly looking into the eyes of a Basilisk would cause petrification. After Amanda revealed that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a Basilisk, Hermione had actually spent her free time looking up books to understand this creature.
Direct eye contact with a Basilisk would result in death; conversely, indirect eye contact would only cause petrification.
Hermione took a deep breath, the image of the bleeding Amanda slowly ascending just now flashing before her eyes.
She had to see her again. With trembling hands, Hermione pulled a small mirror from her pocket.
I'm sorry, Amanda... it seems I won't be able to see you or hug you the moment you're injured.
Hermione slowly opened the small mirror and turned it toward the corridor ahead.
A pair of large yellow eyes instantly entered her sight. Her body gradually stiffened, and her consciousness and body felt as if they were being severed.
Hermione's consciousness remained clear, but her body had already turned into a stone statue.
The Basilisk, slithering over quickly, flicked its tongue at the petrified Hermione and then slithered past her without a care.
It had no intention of inflicting further harm.
At the same time, Harry and Ron walked out of their Dormitory into the Gryffindor Common Room with their newly finished homework.
The two boys stared at the empty common room for a moment. "Hermione isn't back yet?"
Ron looked at Harry, a bit dazed. "It's been curfew for a while now."
Harry also shook his head blankly. "I don't know. But since Hermione said she'd come back to check our homework, she definitely will. Should we sit and wait for a bit?"
He pointed to a sofa not far away. Ron nodded in agreement, and the two of them sat down together.
Just as they sat down, Harry frowned at a piece of clothing lying next to him.
This clothing... it looked so familiar. Out of politeness, Harry didn't pick it up but examined it closely from a distance.
"Ron! Isn't this the knitted cardigan Hermione was wearing tonight?"
"What?"
Hearing Harry's question, Ron turned to look and scrutinized the clothing for a few moments.
He nodded hesitantly. "It seems... it really is that one."
"But if Hermione's clothes are here, where is she?"
Ron said as he exchanged a look with Harry. Hermione was always the most organized and thorough of the three.
It was absolutely impossible for her to leave and forget her clothes here.
Unless something so urgent happened that she couldn't even think straight.
The only thing that could make Hermione feel that urgent was...
"Amanda!" they both blurted out.
The two boys spoke in unison, and the next moment, they jumped up and rushed out of the Gryffindor Common Room.
Curfew didn't matter now. Hermione was their friend, and Amanda was their friend too; neither of them could be allowed to come to harm.
If they were mistaken and both Hermione and Amanda were fine, that would be best, but if they were right, they wanted to get there as soon as possible.
On the other side, Cho Chang and the other two, who had also rushed out of Ravenclaw Tower into the main part of Hogwarts Castle, saw the ascending Amanda supported by Ginny, just as Hermione had.
They naturally also saw Amanda's injuries and the blood dripping down. They swerved around the corridor, rushed onto the moving stairs, and headed all the way up.
With Amanda injured like this and carrying Ginny, her destination for going all the way up was definitely the Headmasters Office.
So they could just go straight to the Headmasters Office.
Supported by Ginny, blood continued to pour from Amanda's right arm and leg.
The pain didn't cause any change in her expression; she even acted as if her injuries were painless.
However, her face grew uncontrollably pale. The blood loss from both her right leg and arm was too great, and the body's physiological reaction was unavoidable.
Furthermore, her wand had been knocked away by the Basilisk, and she wasn't very practiced with the Blood-Stopping Charm. Being unable to perform wandless magic, she had no way to stop her own bleeding.
Landing in front of the gargoyle of the Headmasters Office, Ginny helped Amanda walk over.
Amanda looked up at the gargoyle with a pale face, her voice slightly weak yet still as calm as water. "cockroach clusters."
The gargoyle moved aside, and Amanda was helped by Ginny onto the spiral staircase. When they reached the door of the Headmasters Office, she raised her hand and knocked.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, Ginny and I have something we need your help with."
Headmaster Dumbledore, who had just changed into his star-patterned robes, was taken aback for a moment before waving his hand to open the wooden door of the office.
"Of course, children, please come in..."
His words caught in his throat. Headmaster Dumbledore gasped as he saw Amanda, supported by Ginny, with the right side of her clothes nearly soaked in blood.
This child hadn't been gone for long, had she? How did she get injured like this?
Walking forward quickly, Headmaster Dumbledore took Amanda from Ginny.
"Child, you must go to the Hospital Wing."
There was no need to ask what happened or how she was injured. The most important thing now was to get his student, his child, to the Hospital Wing for treatment.
Headmaster Dumbledore was absolutely certain of this, without a doubt.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, the situation is urgent. There's a certain possibility of an accident occurring during the time it takes to get to the Hospital Wing."
Amanda glanced at Ginny and spoke without any emotion.
From the perspective of the optimal outcome, finishing the explanation in the Headmasters Office and resolving it as quickly as possible...
...was safer than going outside where there was more space, more uncontrollable factors, and a more drawn-out explanation.
However, Headmaster Dumbledore clearly had no intention of listening to Amanda's suggestion.
"I am still here, Miss Amanda." Headmaster Dumbledore drew his wand, emitting an aura that made one unconsciously want to trust and rely on him.
He waved his wand to make Amanda float comfortably and steadily, applying a Blood-Stopping Charm to her at the same time.
Headmaster Dumbledore gently put an arm around Ginny and led the two students out of the office.
"As long as I am here, you don't need to worry about whether the outcome will be good or bad. Whatever the situation, I am still here, aren't I?"
Headmaster Dumbledore smiled at Amanda and Ginny. "As long as I am Headmaster, the students of Hogwarts will always be the top priority in this Castle."
"Your safety is what matters most, dear children."
Amanda's brain paused for a second as she listened to Headmaster Dumbledore's words.
Headmaster Dumbledore said her safety was most important, and Professor McGonagall said her healthy and happy growth was the priority.
But clearly, there were things more important than those—the big picture, the overall development of the place, the overall development of humanity. As an individual, shouldn't one unconditionally consider the big picture and contribute oneself to manifest value?
After only a second of thought, Amanda cleared these messy ideas from her mind.
She prepared to quickly recount what had just happened. "Ginny, I'm afraid I won't be able to hide your involvement in what I'm about to say. Is that alright?"
Ginny, held by Headmaster Dumbledore, spoke without hesitation. "It's fine, Sister Amanda. This is all my fault; I shouldn't have run away from it."
Floating in the air, Amanda turned her head and said seriously, without any expression on her face, "It's not your fault."
After saying that, she looked at Headmaster Dumbledore. "The method Voldemort used to open the Chamber of Secrets has been found. He possessed Ginny and used her to open it."
Headmaster Dumbledore's pupils constricted sharply upon hearing Amanda's words. Possessing Ginny?
Thinking back to the state of Voldemort that Harry had told him about at the end of last year... he had an ominous suspicion.
"Based on my observations, the expressions and micro-expressions on Ginny's face at that time were completely different from her normal state, and the similarity to the Voldemort I saw on the back of Quirrell's head was over ninety percent."
"Therefore, I can confirm that Ginny was possessed by Voldemort."
Amanda recounted her analytical process expressionlessly, and the moment Headmaster Dumbledore's pupils constricted did not escape her eyes.
This reaction very likely proved that Headmaster Dumbledore knew or had thought of Voldemort's method of possession.
It seems I haven't read enough books, Amanda concluded to herself.
Ginny, held by Headmaster Dumbledore, tried to suppress her urge to cry and looked up at him, nodding.
"Sister Amanda is right. I was completely unconscious at the time, as if someone else was controlling my body."
"It was the same on Halloween night yesterday, and then Madam Norris was petrified."
"I'm sorry... Headmaster Dumbledore," Ginny's voice carried a hint of a sob. "I was too stupid, too cowardly. I harmed Madam Norris and caused Sister Amanda to get hurt. Please expel me; I shouldn't stay at Hogwarts anymore."
Headmaster Dumbledore continued to walk quickly, yet his speech remained extremely steady and gentle.
"Don't say that about yourself, Miss Weasley. You will not be punished."
"You must know that many Wizards much older and more experienced than you have been deceived by Voldemort."
"Like those Pure-blood families; their heads are certainly clever enough, yet weren't they also deceived into believing he was a Pure-blood?"
Headmaster Dumbledore winked at Ginny with a smile.
Floating, Amanda turned toward Ginny. "My injury is not your fault. It's because I haven't mastered my skills well enough and couldn't protect you while fighting the Basilisk. It was my stu—"
At this point, Amanda instinctively wanted to continue condemning herself, but then she remembered how Hermione had covered her mouth when she heard this before.
She stopped, but added another sentence: "It's my fault, not yours."
Be strict with oneself and lenient with others; if a problem arises, reflect on oneself first and find the cause within oneself regardless of the situation.
Do not look for excuses in others; this was a fundamental principle, as Amanda's mind firmly established.
"Alright, you are both good children. Neither of you is at fault in this matter."
"Miss Weasley is undoubtedly a victim, and Miss Amanda is undoubtedly a person brave enough to help her classmates. I think after you've recovered a bit, I will award you House points."
Headmaster Dumbledore looked at Amanda kindly, then turned his gaze forward again.
"Ah, it seems your friends are worried about you too."
Hearing this, Amanda struggled to tilt her head up and look forward. "Senior Cho Chang, Senior Marietta, Senior Penelope, I'm so sorry for alarming you and making you come all this way."
"Silly girl, what are you saying?" Cho Chang rushed forward to check Amanda's injuries, her words cutting off Amanda's politeness.
"You're hurt so badly." Marietta Eckmore also ran forward, her brow furrowing in distress as she looked at Amanda's wounds.
Penelope reached out to help Amanda tidy her hair. "It must hurt terribly."
"It doesn't hurt," Amanda shook her head with a cold expression. "I'm used to it. Besides, it's because I haven't mastered my skills well enough that I got injured."
Penelope concernedly took Amanda's hand, just about to look up and ask Headmaster Dumbledore what had happened and why she was injured.
Harry and Ron came running from not far away, shouting as they ran.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, Hermione... Hermione has been petrified. She's in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey said the situation is a bit unusual and needs you to come over."
Hermione has been petrified.
Those words exploded one by one in Amanda's brain. Her heart tightened instantly; her eyes lost all light, and her face showed no change.
But Penelope felt the hand holding hers suddenly tighten.
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