"You'll never taste that again, I promise."
Hermione reached out and pulled Amanda into her arms, gently patting her back.
From now on, she would definitely watch over Amanda to prevent her from punishing herself again, and would carefully protect her. Anyone who wanted Amanda to be hurt again, in any way, would have to pay a painful price!
The three seniors, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Senior Penelopa, also raised their hands and gently rubbed Amanda's head.
Beside them, Fred and George looked at each other, trying hard to think of how to liven up the atmosphere.
"Good girl, although it is indeed Halloween right now."
"But we'd better not talk about such scary things."
"How about this, to truly give you some Halloween blessings."
"Pick out some sweets at random."
"The seniors will pay the bill for you!" x2
Amanda raised her head from Hermione's arms and looked calmly at the Weasley Twins who were acting in tandem, shaking her head stiffly.
"Thank you for your kindness, Seniors, but there's no need. I can basically estimate your financial situation..."
Before she could finish, a whole bag of chocolate frogs was stuffed into Amanda's hands by Fred. "Don't think so much on Halloween."
"Exactly," George also stuffed a large bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into Amanda's arms. "This isn't something a junior should worry about."
After stuffing the items, the two went straight to the counter to pay, leaving Amanda holding the two large bags of sweets while Hermione held her waist.
"Those twins are just a bit too mischievous, but they really are good people."
Penelope shook her head with a smile. This was why, despite being so obsessed with pranks, almost no one at Hogwarts disliked them.
After browsing in Honeydukes Sweetshop for a good while and practically filling their stomachs with sweets, the five girls walked out of the shop together.
For the rest of the afternoon, they wandered around Hogsmeade, visiting Zonko's Joke Shop, the Owl Post Office, and other places.
They even looked at the Shrieking Shack from a distance for a while.
Amanda narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Shrieking Shack in the distance, taking in all the various lingering marks on the wooden house.
Beside her, Penelope was telling her and Hermione the legend of the Shrieking Shack.
"According to legend, about twenty years ago, the Shrieking Shack started being haunted. Every night of the full moon, blood-curdling howls would come from inside..."
Penelope spoke in great detail about the legends here, with Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore occasionally adding some details.
Hermione listened with great interest, her face full of curiosity as she looked at the Shrieking Shack.
Beside her, Amanda quickly began to analyze based on the three seniors' narration and the remaining traces on the distant Shrieking Shack.
First, the time was set about twenty years ago. The Shrieking Shack would have howls, and only on the night of the full moon.
What kind of ghost only moves on a full moon? Amanda couldn't find a ghost in her knowledge that fit this condition, but there was indeed one type of creature that did: a Werewolf.
As long as a Werewolf doesn't intend to harm people, they usually only transform on the night of the full moon. So, it's normal to howl only then.
Secondly, Senior Penelopa's non-stop explanation just now also mentioned that the Shrieking Shack has had no howls in recent years.
It could be reasonably inferred that this possible Werewolf had left the area near Hogwarts.
The only Werewolf Wizards Amanda knew who had attended Hogwarts was this year's defense against the dark arts professor, Professor Lupin.
Thoughts flashing through her mind, Amanda's gaze quickly swept over the marks left on the outside of the Shrieking Shack.
Scratches, impact marks, bite marks... all kinds of traces pointed to the same possibility: a Werewolf.
Combined with Professor Lupin's current age and the start and end times of the strange howling in the Shrieking Shack, Amanda was almost certain that the so-called ghost in the Shrieking Shack back then was Professor Lupin, who transformed into a Werewolf once a month.
However, if there was only Professor Lupin alone, it would be impossible to cause the marks currently on the outside of the Shrieking Shack.
Those impact marks were clearly left by a horned creature, and some of those scratches clearly didn't match the claws of a Werewolf.
So, more than just Professor Lupin used to come to the Shrieking Shack.
What kind of people would Professor Lupin trust enough to let them stay with him when he turned into a Werewolf?
Or rather, what kind of people would stay with Professor Lupin in his Werewolf state without any aversion?
The answer required almost no thought; Amanda drew a conclusion immediately.
There were only two options: either a Professor or Professor Lupin's friends.
If that was the case, then the marks outside the Shrieking Shack were easy to explain.
Whether it was a Professor or Professor Lupin's friend, they were in their Animagus forms while accompanying him.
Because this could effectively prevent the Werewolf from harming them and avoid contracting Lycanthropy Toxin.
A black claw suddenly flashed through her mind. Amanda shook her head hard and began to concentrate on recalling the appearance of the claw that had just flashed by.
That was the claw of the large black dog she had seen in Diagon Alley, which was the claw of Sirius Black's Animagus form.
It had only been a brief glimpse at the time, so it was indeed quite difficult for Amanda to recall it clearly now.
Shaking her head hard again, Amanda felt her temples being gently pressed and slowly massaged.
Turning her head slightly, Amanda saw Hermione seriously massaging her temples, and the three seniors with somewhat worried expressions.
"Do you have a headache?"
Hermione said softly, her movements not stopping for a moment.
Amanda even felt that with Hermione's massage, the originally blurry image of the large black dog's claw in her mind began to slowly clear up.
"No," Amanda shook her head with a calm expression, "I'm just thinking about something, something I've somewhat forgotten."
"You actually forget things," Cho Chang stepped forward and put her hat on Amanda, "If you forgot it, it means it's not important. It's okay not to think about it. Wear a hat so your head doesn't get cold."
Amanda was stunned for a moment, then reached out and put the hat back on her. "I won't get cold. Wear it yourself, Senior Cho Chang."
Cho Chang wanted to say more, but Hermione shook her head with a giggle and pulled a knit hat out of her wizard robe pocket to put on Amanda.
"This is my hat. I saw you came out without one, so I brought an extra one. It's coming in handy now."
Feeling the warmth from the top of her head, Amanda felt her heart warm up as well.
A strange sense of ease and lightness spread through her brain. Similarly, this time her brain did not autonomously produce pain to override this feeling.
Her lips slowly curled up, and Amanda's eyes couldn't help but curve. "Thank you, Hermione. Thank you, Senior Cho Chang."
"You're welcome."
Hermione and Cho Chang replied in unison. After replying, Hermione reached out and pinched Amanda's smiling cheek.
"Good, you're smiling more and more. You look so good when you smile; you should smile more often."
"Mm." Amanda responded and nodded slowly.
At the same time, the originally blurry image in her mind was finally completely remembered and completed.
The large black dog's claw slowly changed from flat to three-dimensional in Amanda's mind, finally overlapping with the claw prints outside the Shrieking Shack that didn't belong to a Werewolf.
The two fit perfectly, with an error of no more than 0.5 centimeters. It was basically certain that besides the Werewolf Professor Lupin turned into, the one who had left claw prints here before was Sirius Black.
Therefore, a previous judgment could be concluded: the ones staying with Professor Lupin in the Shrieking Shack were not Professors, but his friends, and Sirius Black was one of them.
They all transformed into Animagus forms to accompany Professor Lupin, who became a Werewolf on the night of the full moon.
Among them, Sirius Black's Animagus form was a large black dog, and another unknown person's form was a horned animal.
As for whether there were others besides these two, there was too little information now, and Amanda could no longer deduce further.
After the final stop at the Shrieking Shack, the five girls returned to Hogwarts together. By now, the sky was faintly dark, and the temperature was gradually dropping.
There was no change in expression on Amanda's face, but she could clearly feel that her head was very warm now, much more comfortable than in the past.
It was strange. She clearly shouldn't be afraid of the cold. Her mother once said that being afraid of the cold proved her willpower wasn't strong enough.
If she were strong enough, she wouldn't be afraid of the cold. So, making her stand or kneel in the snow as punishment was not just to make her remember her mistakes.
It was to further train her. Pity the hearts of parents; they went to great lengths for Amanda's progress.
So she should strive even harder in her studies to better repay them.
Amanda used to firmly believe this, so even in winter, she didn't pay much attention to keeping warm. But now, she didn't think so.
Wearing the knit hat Hermione gave her, her right hand was held by Hermione and placed in the pocket of the wizard robe.
A warm feeling spread throughout her body. She could clearly feel that this was more comfortable.
Perhaps she was destined not to become the person of strong will her mother hoped for.
But now, she could become the person Hermione hoped for, the person her friends hoped for, and the person the Professors hoped for.
Healthy and happy, living well according to her own thoughts.
Back at Hogwarts, a rich aroma of pumpkin hit her nose.
Entering the Great Hall, pumpkins carved into various patterns could be seen everywhere.
Sitting at the Ravenclaw Table, the five girls, who had played all afternoon and were long since famished, began to feast in unison.
No need to worry about table manners; eating to their fill and eating happily was the most important thing for them right now.
Meanwhile, at the Gryffindor Table, Ron sat down with a large bag of sweets he had bought for Harry.
"Here are the sweets for you..."
Ron struggled to lift the large bag of sweets into Harry's arms. The weight was enough to make Harry, who was sitting in his chair, wobble.
"Merlin..." Looking at the huge bag of sweets in his arms that even blocked his view, Harry turned and put them on the floor.
"You actually bought this many."
Harry said in surprise, watching Ron rub his arm beside him.
"You gave me a lot of money." Ron said as a matter of course, rubbing his arm.
Harry couldn't go to Hogsmeade, so he asked him to bring sweets. Then all the money Harry gave must be spent on sweets, and it all had to be spent.
With this thought, Ron had simply bought enough sweets for Harry to last almost a whole semester.
"I suddenly feel like it's okay whether I go to Hogsmeade or not."
Harry took a sip of pumpkin juice, then turned to tell Ron what he had seen and heard in Professor Lupin's office today.
"Merlin's crystal bottle," Ron showed a look of discomfort upon hearing that Professor Lupin had drunk the mud-like Potion made by Professor Snape, "Is Professor Snape really not going to poison him?"
Under Hermione's firm correction, he and Harry now addressed Professor Snape quite respectfully.
But what he thought of him in his heart... that wasn't necessarily the case.
"Uh, to be honest, I thought so too at the time. I even wanted to warn him not to drink it, but I saw that he wasn't worried at all."
Harry took a bite of the pumpkin pie in front of him. "Maybe Professor Snape really is being kind, and we're just thinking the worst of him."
"After all, Professor Lupin does look frail, like someone who gets sick easily."
"Well, that explanation makes sense." Ron nodded, accepting Harry's reasoning.
Sitting not far away, the Weasley Twins looked at each other. They had just learned from Harry's words that he couldn't go to Hogsmeade.
It must be because his uncle and aunt wouldn't sign for him.
"I think I know what gift to give our Little Harry for the upcoming Christmas, Fred."
"I think you're thinking the same thing as me, George."
"But can you bear to part with it? Such a useful little prank helper." Fred nudged George gently with his elbow.
"Could you bear to part with it, Fred?"
George raised an eyebrow, looking at his twin brother who was asking the obvious.
"If it were for anyone else, of course I might be reluctant." Fred smiled and waved the fork in his hand.
"But Harry is our little brother Ron's best friend."
"And he's a good kid." George and Fred looked at each other and added another sentence.
"Then it's settled." The Twins high-fived, deciding together to give Harry a surprise before going to Hogsmeade on Christmas Day.
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