"That's right, you won't."
Hermione turned around, nodding as she looked at Crouch and the Aurors behind him.
"So, we cannot hand over these heads of the Pure-blood families to you, and we will not hand them over."
"Even if this might lead to us being slandered and gaining a bad reputation, for the sake of more people in the British Wizarding World, and for more people in the entire United Kingdom, we are willing to do this."
Hermione's voice was powerful and resonant. It didn't just move the surrounding British wizards—seeing a young girl who hadn't even graduated from Hogwarts willing to go this far for them.
It also left the Wizards from other countries completely stunned. Originally, seeing the state of the Y Country Ministry of Magic, they thought the British Wizarding World was finished.
They thought the British Wizarding World, which had been the leader of the magical world for so many centuries, was in decline.
But looking at it now, how could it be failing? Their younger generation was truly capable of holding up the sky, and they were doing it right now.
So what if the old fogies in the Ministry of Magic were useless? The newcomers were already ready to take over.
"Merlin's lace short-sleeves! Hermione could practically be the Minister for Magic already, and Amanda could be the Head of the Auror Office."
Ron whispered to Harry beside him. Harry silently closed his mouth and nodded; he felt the same way.
Given the current situation, it would be truly bizarre if Hermione and Amanda weren't among the candidates during the next Ministry election!
"But we cannot be like these heads of Pure-blood families." The cold hardness on Hermione's face faded. With a gentle expression, she took Amanda's wrist and lightly pressed her wand down.
Amanda cooperated by relaxing her arm, letting it fall naturally, while giving Hermione an equally soft smile.
"We will not torture their bodies, and we will not take their lives—at least not for now."
Hermione opened her arms to all the Wizards watching.
"We are not Voldemort, and we are not Death Eaters. We respect life, so we will not deprive them of their lives here today."
The spectating Wizards listened quietly; no one wanted to speak and break the spell of Hermione's "speech."
"But we are also not cowards or weaklings who allow ourselves to be bullied!"
Hermione raised her right hand and pumped her fist powerfully. "We will imprison these people. We will respect their lives, but if they ever attempt to despise the lives of others again—the lives of anyone else—we will not hesitate to ruthlessly take their lives first."
"This is not cruelty! This is not inhumanity! This is a powerful measure to protect ourselves and more people in the British Wizarding World!"
Hermione's voice grew louder and louder, until finally, her voice rang out across the entire campsite even without using 'Sonorus'.
Slowly lowering her right hand, the calm following Hermione's speech was met with thunderous applause from the surrounding Wizards.
A blend of mercy and firmness, punishing guilt where it was due without pardoning evil just because of gossip—Hermione and Amanda, these two young girls who hadn't even graduated from Hogwarts, deserved everyone's applause.
"Amanda, restrain them all and prepare to lock them up."
Hermione raised a hand to rub her throat, whispering into Amanda's ear with a slightly raspy voice.
"Alright."
Amanda agreed with a smile. With a light tap of her wand, Draco and Narcissa, who were standing in front of Lucius, were instantly knocked aside. All the Pure-blood family heads she had restrained were enveloped in cages made of layers of fire.
"Father!"
Seeing Lucius imprisoned within the golden flames, Draco shouted and tried to rush forward, but Narcissa held him back firmly.
"Draco, no! You can't go!"
Narcissa was now completely awake to the situation, realizing that the current state of affairs left them no room to maneuver.
The only thing she could do now was take Draco away immediately and return home to ensure his safety.
After all, as long as they behaved themselves from now on and did nothing, surely Amanda and Hermione Granger wouldn't be able to do anything to them.
But Lucius... Narcissa bit her lower lip and glanced toward Lucius. Lucius, heavily injured to the point of delirium, sensed her gaze in his daze. He turned his head slightly and gave a faint shake.
Cissy should take Draco and leave now, leave immediately. She must not come into conflict with that Amanda again.
They had underestimated Amanda. Her strength was already enough to put her in the same category as Voldemort and Dumbledore.
In fact, if one compared the strength of these three at this age, Lucius believed that even the Dumbledore and Voldemort of the past did not possess Amanda's level of power.
Unfortunately, he realized this too late. Now, he himself had fallen into Amanda's hands.
And based on the voices he had heard while drifting in and out of consciousness, the Ministry of Magic had no way of taking them from Amanda.
So... they wouldn't be released. Everything in the House of Malfoy could only be left to Cissy now. Draco was still young and had been spoiled by them; he only hoped the boy would grow up quickly after this disaster.
The cages of fire imprisoned those who had just been torturing others for fun. Amanda's pupils reflected the dancing flames as she slowly raised her wand again.
A beam of blue magical light shot from the tip of her wand into the void above a nearby empty space.
The empty air rippled in layers, and when a gap was finally torn completely open, everyone present was stunned.
They all knew about spatial magic like Apparition, and most could use it.
But the spatial magic this girl Amanda was using now was clearly on an entirely different level from Apparition.
Tearing through space to open a stable spatial tunnel—such magical mastery made it hard to believe she wasn't a centuries-old Wizard.
What was even more surprising was that through the spatial tunnel, they could see an ancient, towering Castle on the other side. Several ring-shaped stones were spinning and tumbling rapidly around the Castle. Directly in front of the Castle was a lifelike sculpture of a giant eagle, its wings spread as if it were wrestling with the sky itself.
Amanda clearly knew where she had connected the spatial tunnel. She tapped her wand again, and the Pure-blood family heads imprisoned in the fire cages floated toward the tunnel one by one.
As they passed through, the ring-shaped stones orbiting the Castle on the other side quickly stopped moving, waiting for all the fire cages to enter the Castle basement before resuming their rotation.
With a calm expression, she lowered her hand, and the spatial tunnel closed.
Amanda looked at the surrounding Wizards with a cold, detached gaze. By now, Narcissa had already taken Draco and left quietly.
She was aware of this, but she hadn't stopped them.
Since they currently had no intention of threatening Hermione or her friends, Amanda naturally had no interest in hunting down the mother and son.
Moreover, even Lucius Malfoy himself was still alive, wasn't he?
She never intended to kill anyone easily; Hermione wouldn't like it if she did.
"The place where these Pure-blood family heads are being held is Ravenclaw Castle. They will only be released once they truly realize their mistakes or when it is certain they no longer pose a threat to anyone."
"Until then, anyone—and I mean anyone—who tries to release them will find it futile and impossible. So I suggest those with such intentions think carefully before acting."
"Be careful that what greets you is not success, but death."
Amanda nodded slightly to the other Wizards, completely ignoring how excited they were by the term 'Ravenclaw Castle'. She directly pulled Hermione along and turned back toward the tent.
Hermione was at a critical age for growing, and she had stayed up very late tonight. She needed to rest early.
As for Amanda herself, that was naturally not a concern. After all, staying up late was perfectly normal for her.
It was even normal for her to pull all-nighters for the sake of studying.
Just as she turned with Hermione, Amanda saw Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope, whom she had assumed had already gone home with their parents.
Well, in fact, nearly half of the students from Ravenclaw House had stood behind them at some unknown point.
It was just that Amanda and Hermione's attention had been focused on their speech and dealing with the Ministry people, so they hadn't noticed them.
"Merlin! I can't believe it, you two spoke so well!"
Penelope was the first to step forward, pulling both younger students into a tight hug and unceremoniously messing up their hair.
"Exactly! Seeing you leave those Ministry guys speechless was so satisfying!"
Marietta Eckmore pumped her fist fiercely. Her mother worked at the Ministry and sometimes got pushed around by Fudge's people.
Seeing Amanda and Hermione give the Ministry people such a hard time, how could she not be happy?
"Even better, you've really completely dealt with the Pure-blood families."
Cho Chang smiled and reached out to pinch Amanda and Hermione's cheeks. Since both juniors were being hugged by Senior Penelopa, they couldn't run away no matter how she pinched them~
"Yes," Amanda allowed Cho to pinch her cheek without even flinching. She remained absolutely calm. "The Pure-blood families have lost their sources of wealth, and now they've lost their heads. They're at the end of their rope."
"They won't be able to stir up any more trouble."
Even if Voldemort were to be resurrected in the future, they wouldn't be able to cause any waves.
Just like the House of Malfoy, only Draco and Narcissa were left. Could Voldemort really expect a widow and her son to fight for him?
The most they could do was squeeze what little was left in their own pockets to provide some pitiful financial support for Voldemort.
But that tiny bit of financial support was a mere drop in the ocean compared to the wealth Amanda now possessed.
"Alright, alright, everything's over now. Everyone go back to sleep. Amanda and Hermione need to go to bed too."
Penelope released the two juniors and waved away the surrounding Ravenclaws.
The group of pajama-clad top students nodded, shuffling their slippers as they prepared to leave like the other onlookers. However, just as they stepped away, they heard the sound of air being displaced nearby.
A squat, pink figure Apparated in with another group of Aurors.
Amanda glanced back, catching sight of Umbridge. "As expected of one of Fudge's people—arriving late enough that they'll never even get a warm meal."
After saying that, she had no intention of acknowledging the newly Apparated group and pulled Hermione straight into the tent.
"Miss Amanda, regarding your actions just now..."
Umbridge had a sickly sweet smile on her face. Just as she tried to step forward to stop Amanda and Hermione, she was blocked by the large group of Ravenclaws who hadn't left yet.
"What happened just now is already very clear."
Penelope looked at her with an equally forced smile. It was just a smile; she could do it too.
"Exactly. If you have questions, why don't you go ask the other adult Wizards?"
Cho Chang also pointed cheerfully toward the Wizards who were still lingering nearby.
"That's right," Marietta Eckmore added, nodding with a smile. "Amanda and Hermione are still children; they need their rest."
"Yeah, they're not like you. Old ladies don't need much sleep."
Harry insulted Umbridge without hesitation. Seeing her face as she tried to cause trouble for Amanda and Hermione right away...
He didn't need any mental preparation to mock her; the words just came out.
"It seems Hogwarts has failed to teach you proper manners."
Umbridge's chest heaved, but she forced the smile to stay on her face.
Penelope silently took a step forward, the tip of her wand peeking out from the sleeve of her dressing gown.
"First of all, it is well known that Hogwarts is a place to learn magic, not manners. Secondly, we naturally show corresponding respect to those who deserve it."
"Yes, unfortunately, you are not among them."
Cho Chang chimed in, and she and the other Ravenclaws stepped forward together, also faintly revealing their wands.
Seeing so many Ravenclaws gathered together, even the Aurors following Umbridge felt uneasy.
Even if they included the people on Director Crouch's side, they might not actually be a match for this group of Ravenclaw students.
It was common knowledge that Ravenclaw students knew a vast array of spells. Besides, they didn't actually want to fight students!
"Fine, fine, fine," Umbridge puffed out her chest like a bullfrog. "I see you truly have no regard for the Ministry of Magic."
Boom!
A Hurricane Curse whipped past Umbridge's face, nearly knocking her over.
"Leave. If you disturb Hermione's rest, I'll blow you into the sea to feed the sharks."
The cold voice rang out from the tent. The Ravenclaw students looked at each other, excitement and victorious smiles on their faces.
At this moment, none of them knew that tomorrow morning, a full-page report titled "Twin Stars of a New Era" would be grandly published in The Daily Prophet.
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