When the hogwarts express arrived at its final stop, King's Cross Station, Amanda and Hermione said goodbye to their friends and walked out of the platform together.
Passing through the barrier, the two girls left the magical world they had spent the entire school year in and returned to the Muggle world.
"Hermione! Amanda!"
Not far from the platform entrance, Mrs. Granger was waving happily, greeting her daughter and her daughter's future girlfriend.
Yes, she had now firmly decided that Amanda was Hermione's future girlfriend.
Of course, the final confirmation of this would depend on Amanda fully recovering her emotions.
However, from the perspective of her and Mr. Granger as Hermione's parents, they were more than satisfied with Amanda as their daughter's partner.
First of all, Hermione liked her, so this most important point was satisfied.
Secondly, Amanda also valued Hermione enough and cherished her—this important second point was also satisfied.
With that said, what else was there to hesitate about?
"Mom, Dad!"
Hermione called out excitedly, pulling Amanda along to throw herself into her mother's arms.
Of course, she held back her strength; she and Amanda were no longer the little children they used to be, and jumping in together carried quite a bit of weight.
"Auntie, Uncle, good afternoon."
Amanda, held in Mrs. Granger's arms, politely nodded to the couple individually.
"Good afternoon."
Mr. Granger smiled gently and naturally took the luggage from the two girls' hands.
Although the children were at an age where they should be independent, it was the first day back home, so being a little special was fine.
"Oh," Mrs. Granger lowered her head, rubbing Hermione's little head with her left hand and stroking Amanda's hair with her right, "You've both grown taller, not bad, not bad."
"It's just that you're both still a bit too thin; you need to eat more."
"Mom, my weight is already very standard."
Hermione protested softly about her weight. As for Amanda's weight... sorry, she had the same thought as her mother: she was too thin and needed to eat more.
Amanda, having her weight pointed out, tilted her head in Mrs. Granger's arms. According to the index published by the World Health Organization, her weight was indeed on the thin side.
This was indeed an accurate fact.
"I will try to adjust my weight."
Amanda said obediently, and together with Hermione, she was ushered by Mrs. Granger toward the exit of King's Cross Station.
After leaving King's Cross Station and getting into their car, Mrs. Granger couldn't wait to turn and look at her daughter as soon as she fastened her seatbelt.
"Hermione, how was this school year?"
"You never wanted to say much in your letters."
With her daughter in a world completely unknown to her, and having experienced so many thrilling events in the previous two years, Mrs. Granger was truly afraid that Hermione would only report the good news and hide the bad.
"Mom, this year was really, really peaceful."
Hermione giggled, signaling her to calm down, and then began to recount the events of the year.
From the Dementor on the train to discovering that the defense against the dark arts professor was a Werewolf, then going to Hogsmeade, and finally, uncovering the truth about the incident with Sirius and Peter Pettigrew, clearing the innocent and sending the guilty to prison.
"Okay..." Mrs. Granger pursed her lips, looking at Amanda with even more heartache in her eyes. When this child was entangled by that so-called Dementor, what must she have seen? How painful it must have been.
"Mom, don't worry, I have already mastered the spell to deal with Dementors; I can protect Amanda from those guys in the future!"
A confident smile spread across Hermione's face, perfectly embodying what it meant to be radiant.
"Well done."
Mrs. Granger raised her eyebrows and reached out to poke Hermione's nose, also signaling her not to be too proud.
"However, the 'peaceful' you speak of is really quite different from what we consider peaceful."
Mrs. Granger sighed. Clearing a major case last semester—was this still considered peaceful?
It felt like in her daughter's eyes, only events that could threaten their lives were considered not peaceful.
Listening to the discussion between Mrs. Granger and Hermione, Amanda's mind was still on the news she had received two days ago.
Peter Pettigrew had successfully escaped from Azkaban.
She didn't know what Fudge was thinking, knowing full well that Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, and that an Animagus could escape the pursuit of Dementors.
He still only used Dementors to guard Peter Pettigrew and didn't arrange even a single Wizard guard at Azkaban.
As a result, two nights ago, Peter Pettigrew just walked out of Azkaban openly.
He probably wouldn't even believe it himself—there was such a big commotion when catching him, yet after catching him and locking him up, it was so easy for him to escape.
Regarding this matter, Fudge's office was still trying hard to suppress the news.
After all, once this news got out, the opposition and criticism from the British Wizarding World against him would definitely skyrocket.
However, Amanda had learned the news firsthand from a Ravenclaw graduate who worked at the Ministry of Magic.
But considering that everyone was immersed in the happy atmosphere of being on holiday in those few days, she didn't tell everyone the news in advance.
Not wanting to ruin the happy atmosphere—Amanda now understood this point.
Anyway, Fudge wouldn't be able to keep this news hidden forever. If nothing else, with so many staff members at the Ministry of Magic, not every one of them was tight-lipped.
Sure enough, on the third day of the holiday, while Amanda was burying her head in the breakfast she had made, she suddenly heard an exclamation from Hermione, who was eating breakfast next to her while reading The Daily Prophet.
"Merlin's pants!" Hermione put down the spoon she was going to use for the egg custard, looking at The Daily Prophet in disbelief.
"Peter Pettigrew escaped from Azkaban and his whereabouts are unknown?!"
She read the headline on the newspaper word by word, feeling like she was about to explode with anger.
"Fudge, is Fudge an idiot? He knew Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, yet he just locked him in Azkaban and that was it, without adding any Wizard guards!"
"Is he really not secretly helping Peter Pettigrew escape?"
"Given that Fudge only wants to solidify his own power," Amanda swallowed the smooth and delicious egg custard in her mouth, "he wouldn't do something like intentionally letting go of an unstable factor while giving the public a point to attack him."
"Fine, then he's just stupid."
Hermione raised her hand and rubbed her brow hard; she really felt so angry.
Amanda had analyzed so hard and captured Peter Pettigrew so hard, but because of Fudge's mistake, the person ran away.
It was just...
Reaching out to lightly tap Hermione's cheek, Amanda's voice was incredibly calm, "Hermione, don't worry, Peter Pettigrew will eventually appear again."
"When he appears again," Amanda paused slightly, "I won't give him another chance to be locked in Azkaban."
Peter Pettigrew obviously had the intention of resisting to the end. For such an enemy, Amanda would act the first time she saw him.
Without hesitation, she would immediately carry out her maximum-strength attack to completely eliminate the danger.
She would resolutely prevent them from having any possibility of causing harm to Hermione or her friends.
"Just don't get seen by Fudge's people."
Hermione gave up on thinking about these annoying things and affectionately pressed her hand on the back of Amanda's head, rubbing their heads together.
"Hmm, don't worry, they definitely won't be seen by Fudge's people."
Amanda nodded with an extremely serious attitude, but her tone remained unchanged.
Not being seen by Fudge's people and there being no Fudge's people to see—these two final results were the same, so they were actually the same logic, right?
So, achieving the final result through these two choices was very easy.
Amanda and Hermione had just finished breakfast and hadn't had time to clear the tableware when Mrs. Granger walked quickly into the dining room.
"Hermione, Amanda, there is someone outside who claims to be the person in charge of the Amusement Park Haunted House looking for you. It seems they said they had an appointment with you that when their Haunted House upgrade was completed, they would invite you to visit again."
"There is indeed such a thing." Amanda and Hermione nodded at the same time.
"Go answer the phone, I'll clean up here."
Mrs. Granger said, shooing the two girls to answer the phone while she started to clear the tableware on the table.
Picking up the phone, Hermione tried to be as polite as possible to greet the person on the other end.
"Hello?"
Amanda stood by, watching calmly as Hermione communicated with the Haunted House manager, and finally confirmed that the two would go to experience the newly upgraded Haunted House tomorrow.
And they would also become the first batch of tourists to be received after the Haunted House's new upgrade.
Hanging up the phone, Mrs. Granger also walked back to the living room, wiping her hands.
"So, why did the Haunted House invite you to experience it as soon as they finished the upgrade?"
Mrs. Granger said, looking at her daughter and Amanda beside her with some curiosity.
Hearing Mrs. Granger's words, Amanda's expression remained unchanged, while Hermione beside her showed a bit of embarrassment.
"Uh, this is because... their previous version of the Haunted House didn't scare us two kids at all, and they were a bit hit, so we agreed at the time that when they finished renovating this new version of the Haunted House, they would invite us to visit again."
"It didn't scare you two."
Mrs. Granger looked at the two girls in front of her, between laughter and tears. Not to mention whether Amanda could feel the emotion of fear well herself.
Just the fact that they were both genuine Young Wizards—could a fake Haunted House really scare them?
"Hermione, you are a big kid now," Mrs. Granger combed her daughter's hair, "you also have to learn to take care of others, right? You are a Young Wizard, so you certainly won't be afraid of the Haunted House, but if that Haunted House is really attentive, then its operators and designers still need recognition."
Hermione pursed her lips and nodded obediently, "I understand, Mom. If their Haunted House is really attentive, I will... pretend to be scared."
She definitely wouldn't be like last time; that seemed to have really hit people.
But at that time, weren't they still young?
Amanda also nodded expressionlessly at the side. At that time, she would also score the layout, mechanism settings, etc., of the Haunted House in her heart.
If the score was high, she would fully mobilize her facial muscles and body movements based on the relevant knowledge points of acting to show a look of fear.
Affectionately kissing the foreheads of the two girls, Mrs. Granger put on her coat and went straight to work.
The next morning, Amanda and Hermione arrived outside the Haunted House as agreed.
The Haunted House manager had been waiting there for a long time, "Welcome!"
He smiled brightly and walked forward, gesturing to the Haunted House, which did not look small in the entire Amusement Park, "This is the Haunted House we spent two years redesigning and rebuilding. It is guaranteed to be exciting and thrilling. As agreed, as soon as it was renovated and confirmed to be safe for use, I called you."
"Thank you, sir."
Amanda and Hermione politely nodded and thanked him. Then, without being too polite, the two girls walked into the Haunted House holding hands.
As soon as they walked into the Haunted House, the infrared equipment detected that people had entered, which prompted the facilities of the entire Haunted House to start running.
Accompanied by a weird background music, the background story of the Haunted House rang in Amanda and Hermione's ears.
Listening to the background story of the Haunted House, Amanda blinked indifferently, her brain quickly analyzing the brilliance of the story.
The story cleverly fused the Witch, Vampire, and Werewolf in horror stories together, making the plot rich while also increasing the playability and scenery.
Regarding the background story and background music, Amanda could give it a full score of ten, with a score of nine.
Continuing to walk inside, Amanda's gaze swept over the walls, the ground under her feet, and the ceiling above her head in turn.
There was clearly the sound of machinery running in the walls next to them; if there were no accidents, that was a mechanism.
Not far away on the ground, there was an NPC with half of their body hidden underground, and on the ceiling above, there was an infrared sensor light that most people would find difficult to notice when scared.
For the mechanism and NPC settings, Amanda could give an overall score of ten, with a score of eight.
Comprehensive evaluation: If the subsequent parts of this Haunted House were also like this, then its design and construction were very attentive. Therefore, she should pretend to be scared to give the designers and operators encouragement.
Reaching the final result, Amanda slowly mobilized her facial muscles to make her fear appear more natural, from calm to slightly nervous, and then to fear, showing a smooth and natural process.
And Hermione, who was standing next to her, was also acting out a look of fear, because she also felt that the design and operation of this Haunted House were really attentive.
After fully mobilizing her fear expression, Amanda's look of fear was impeccable, but her heart was calm as she shook her hands and hugged Hermione's arm.
If you looked closely, you could even see her shoulders trembling slightly.
Immediately in the next moment, the NPC hidden well in the darkness of the ground suddenly grabbed Amanda's ankle.
"Ah!"
Amanda screamed decisively, turned around, and nestled into Hermione's arms facing inward, her hands also tightly hugging her waist.
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