Seeing Amanda's flushed cheeks with her own eyes and hearing her trembling words, Hermione understood everything.
This girl might not have realized it yet, but in her heart, she must feel the same as I do; we must like each other.
Squinting her eyes with pleasure, Hermione slowly pulled away from Amanda.
Amanda hadn't quite caught on yet, and teasing her too much wouldn't be good.
Feeling Hermione pull away, Amanda let out a sharp breath. The heat on her face seemed to be gradually fading, but in its place, an itchy sensation arose in her heart.
It was as if... she didn't want Hermione to move away like that.
But if she didn't want Hermione to pull away, what did she want Hermione to do?
Lean close to her ear and whisper like just now?
Or kiss her cheek gently like before?
Amanda's mind was in a mess. Having never thought about such things, she felt utterly at a loss.
Thinking, which usually came as naturally as instinct, failed her on this one question.
Fortunately, Hermione didn't do anything else to confuse her. They explored Hogsmeade together once more and returned to Hogwarts before dark.
Tomorrow was Christmas. The Great Hall was already being decorated here and there, and the setup would be finished tomorrow during the day.
Looking at the giant Christmas tree in the corner of the Great Hall and the small gifts hanging from its branches, Amanda looked away with a calm expression.
This was the third year she had seen a Christmas tree, and the third year she truly celebrated the holiday.
In her original world, although she knew about holidays, that knowledge was limited to textbooks.
When the actual holidays came, she never went out, even though they were still given a symbolic day off.
However, the school would also provide "thoughtful" supervision services for parents on that day.
As long as they signed the consent form, children could stay at school to study on the "holiday."
She remembered seeing a news report on television stating that children and parents worldwide had chosen the supervision service for fifteen consecutive years during holidays.
The news even praised everyone for making great contributions toward a better future and solving humanity's current predicaments.
But... was that really the truth?
After being away from her original world for three years, influenced by Hermione, her friends, and the Professors, Amanda had doubted the situation in her original world more than once.
Last time outside the Louvre Museum, she had explained her speculations about her original world to Hermione.
Thinking about it again, her speculation was indeed the most likely to match reality; the probability of it being the truth was as high as 98.6%.
It could only be said that in her original world, everyone had been deceived.
And they had been deceived for a long time; the lie in her original world was one that had lasted for decades.
"What are you thinking about? You're so serious that the sausage on your fork is about to fall off."
Sitting next to Amanda, Cho Chang saw her staring blankly ahead as the sausage on her fork slipped. She tapped Amanda's shoulder with a slight chuckle.
"Mhm, thinking about a lie."
Amanda snapped back to reality, responded, and ate the sausage on her fork expressionlessly.
She was as calm as if that lie had never happened to her, as if it hadn't taken her life.
"What lie?" Cho Chang put down her cutlery and looked at Amanda curiously.
Had someone lied to Amanda? In Hogwarts? It shouldn't be possible; after everything that had happened, no one should dare.
"A lie that has lasted for decades and deceived everyone."
"How is that possible?!"
Cho Chang's eyes widened in surprise, her expression filled with deep disbelief.
"It's impossible for someone to deceive everyone, especially for so long."
"If it's a lie woven by the entire world in unison, there is more than enough power to deceive every ordinary person on Earth."
Amanda took a sip of pumpkin juice and stated the fact in a flat voice.
"But... why would they do that?"
Cho Chang frowned. She couldn't understand what kind of situation would lead the entire world to unite and deceive its own citizens.
"I don't know."
Amanda shook her head indifferently; this was also something she couldn't figure out no matter what.
Fundamentally, it was an unnecessary deception.
Based on the technological development and talent cultivation rate of her original world, Infinite Energy should have been developed long ago—she had told Hermione this before.
Since it had been developed, why lie to everyone, claiming there was an energy shortage and implementing the Exam-Based Disposal System?
Wasn't Infinite Energy enough for the whole world? It could satisfy everyone's needs.
This lie shouldn't exist, and there was no need for it.
"Because that is human nature."
Hermione's gentle voice drifted over. She placed a small bowl of fish soup in front of Amanda. Having spent the whole day in Hogsmeade where it was so cold, she had specifically gone to the end of the Ravenclaw Table to get some soup to warm Amanda up.
Upon returning and hearing the conversation with Senior Cho Chang, Hermione knew what they were talking about.
They were talking about the truth of Amanda's original world, which Amanda had mentioned to her before.
She had told Amanda back then that it was due to human nature, but Amanda couldn't understand it.
She hadn't expected Amanda to remember this for so long, keeping it in mind and even thinking about it until now.
Her obsession with this scam was deep, very deep.
But it made sense; this scam had cost so many students their lives. Many were dragged away and disposed of right in front of Amanda, and eventually, she had become one of them herself.
It was already impressive that Amanda could maintain her current state without having a mental breakdown because of this scam.
On the day she fully recovered, her reaction would likely be even more intense.
"Because of human nature..."
Cho Chang murmured softly. She had a feeling the truth behind this wouldn't be something she wanted to hear.
However, since it concerned her junior, Amanda, as her senior, she had to understand it to some extent.
Watching Amanda lower her head to drink the fish soup, Cho Chang wisely swallowed her words, deciding to ask Hermione for details when Amanda wasn't around.
Penelope and Marietta Eckmore, who had been sitting nearby without interrupting and not knowing what to say, shared a knowing look with her.
Clearly, the three of them shared the same thought at that moment.
After dinner, Amanda, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore returned to the Dormitory together, and Penelope naturally followed them inside.
As soon as they entered the Dormitory, Amanda went to the desk to "review" the content for the next class, while the other three seniors surrounded Hermione with serious expressions.
"Hermione, what was that lie Amanda was talking about just now?" Marietta Eckmore spoke first, pulling Hermione to sit on her bed.
Cho Chang and Penelope sat on their left and right sides, respectively.
Glancing cautiously at Amanda, Hermione pursed her lips and explained in a low voice.
She didn't want to mention the lie in front of Amanda at all, in any form.
It would only deepen the faint feeling of discomfort and pain in Amanda's heart.
So she had made an exception this once, explaining things to the three seniors without asking for Amanda's opinion.
She hoped Merlin would forgive her rudeness, considering the special circumstances.
"To put it simply... it's actually not that complicated."
Hermione sighed, her voice turning somber.
"You seniors already know about the situation in Amanda's original world."
"Mhm." The three seniors nodded in unison.
"In her initial account, her world adopted those practices because of a lack of resources."
Hermione clasped her hands and twisted them slowly. Even speaking of that lie filled her heart with a sense of unease and intense suffocation, yet Amanda had lived through that lie for over a decade.
"But after Amanda left that world, met us, and gradually returned to normal, she quickly discovered something was wrong based on her own calculations."
"Something wrong?" Penelope's eyebrows twitched violently; for some reason, she had a bad premonition.
"Yes," Hermione nodded dejectedly. "According to the technological progress and talent cultivation rate of her original world, the energy and resource issues should have been solved long ago, so the shortage shouldn't have existed at all."
"But... until she came here—I mean, to our world—wasn't her original world still like that?"
Cho Chang asked in confusion. Amanda was disposed of and came here because she failed an exam after being drugged by her parents.
If the resource problem in her original world was truly solved as Hermione said, why hadn't that practice been abolished?
That practice was wrong even under the absolute pressure of resource issues, let alone when there were no life-or-death problems. It was... it was just utterly absurd!
"Yes," Hermione gave a bitter smile. "So that's where Amanda's calculations led to a contradiction: why did everyone in the world think the resource problem was unsolved when it clearly was? Why did they maintain that practice despite the problem being resolved?"
By this point, the faces of the three seniors had turned completely grim. They were all top students in their respective years; none of them were fools.
They each had their own understanding of the human heart and nature.
"Heh..." Penelope sneered. "I'm afraid someone benefited from this and developed a taste for it."
"A greedy snake trying to swallow an elephant." Cho Chang also spoke a familiar proverb from her hometown with an angry expression.
"I think those who concealed the truth and deceived everyone are the ones who truly deserve to be disposed of."
Marietta Eckmore crossed her arms and closed her eyes, her usually soft voice now chillingly cold.
"There's nothing we can do... after all, it's a matter of another world; we can't interfere at all."
Hermione shook her head helplessly. If she could, she would certainly want to lend a hand to that world; after all, who knew how many people there were like Amanda.
"Indeed," Marietta Eckmore sighed. "They are far away in another world. No matter what, it's not our place to interfere."
Despite saying that, an unquenchable fire flickered in the eyes of the four girls.
Before long, Penelope returned to her own Dormitory. It was the day before Christmas, and everyone needed to sleep early.
After all, the Halloween banquet tomorrow would surely last a long time, and they would have to stay up late.
At midnight, Amanda finished her shower and went to bed on time, waking up at exactly six o'clock the next morning.
Sitting up in bed and opening her eyes, she saw a small pile of gifts on the floor in various wrappings. Among them was a blue gift box with a bow that looked familiar to her.
It was undoubtedly tied by Hermione herself. Sitting by the bed, she reached down to pick up Hermione's gift first. Amanda carefully untied the bow and even more carefully opened the box.
Although she didn't quite know why, she instinctively didn't want any part of this gift, including the ribbon and the box, to be damaged in the slightest.
Inside the gift box, a cute, chubby little blue cup sat securely.
On top of the cup was a letter. Amanda took it out and read it carefully; it was filled with Hermione's blessings, her gratitude for Amanda's company over the past year, and her hope for the year to come.
A smile played on her lips as Amanda placed the letter very gently on the bed beside her.
Then she slowly took the little cup out of the box. Inside the cup lay a small slip of paper.
Amanda reached into the cup, took out the note, and unfolded it. It had a few words written on it: "Fill with hot water."
Putting the note and the letter safely together, Amanda walked to the desk with a smile and carefully set down the little cup.
Then she drew her wand, pointed it at the cup, and recited a spell. Warm water gushed from the tip of her wand, eagerly flowing into the little cup.
As the warm water filled it, Amanda could see the blue walls of the cup slowly changing; it seemed that some images were gradually appearing on them.
She continued to fill the cup with warm water until it was nearly full, at which point the blue on this side of the cup had completely transformed.
It turned into an image—one that made Amanda's heart skip a beat with joy, and one that made her eyes crinkle into a smile.
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