"This is the first time I've ever seen a book take you so many days to finish; it doesn't even look that thick."
Hermione reached out and pinched the cheek of Amanda, who was reading, and spoke with a hint of curiosity.
Amanda had been reading this copy of advanced dark magic revealed since before Harry's second task, and now even the second task was over.
Given Amanda's reading and learning speed, Hermione could hardly imagine how difficult or how thick a book would have to be to require Amanda to read it for so long.
Amanda looked up from the book with an indifferent expression and looked at Hermione beside her. "The content of this book isn't actually that much."
To be honest, the copy of advanced dark magic revealed in her hand wasn't very thick. Amanda had read countless books thicker than this one, and none had taken her this long.
"Then is the content difficult?"
Hermione tilted her head and glanced at the book under Amanda's hand. advanced dark magic... well, it was normal for it to be very difficult.
"It's not very difficult," Amanda shook her head without any change in expression, pausing slightly before continuing, "it's just that it involves a lot of things."
"Involves a lot of things?" Hermione frowned and repeated Amanda's words, clearly not quite understanding what she meant.
"Mhm."
Amanda gave a low response, looking at the content on this page of advanced dark magic revealed: Horcrux.
Voldemort was hit by the Killing Curse reflected by Harry but didn't truly die; the diary Ginny encountered in her second year, which belonged to Tom Riddle—Voldemort himself—and could charm and control people; and Voldemort's chosen method of resurrection using the bone of the father, the flesh of the servant, and the blood of the enemy.
Three clues combined into one result; the final analysis was that Voldemort had created a Horcrux.
Furthermore, based on an analysis of his own manic personality, Amanda had reason to believe that he definitely hadn't made just that one Horcrux, the diary.
So Amanda had been reading this book repeatedly over the past few days. In fact, while reading, she was constantly speculating, trying to use her mind to analyze the number of Horcruxes Voldemort might have created, the potential vessels he might have chosen, and the possible locations where those vessels might be stored.
Unfortunately, there were too few existing clues. Amanda couldn't even be completely certain whether Voldemort had made more than one Horcrux.
If he had only made one Horcrux, then clearly, that Horcrux had already been destroyed. He wouldn't even need to be resurrected; if they killed Voldemort's main soul now, he would die completely.
However, according to Headmaster Dumbledore's statement that Voldemort could only be truly killed once he had actually resurrected, it was clear that Voldemort definitely had more than one Horcrux.
Therefore, his main soul couldn't be killed right now; he wouldn't truly die at this moment.
"More than one." Reaching her final conclusion, Amanda murmured softly. Hermione, sitting next to her, looked at her with even more confusion, but she still didn't speak to interrupt her train of thought.
Continuing the deduction, Amanda's brain kept working. Even if Voldemort had more than one Horcrux and killing his main soul now wouldn't kill him permanently...
They could also prevent him from resurrecting. After destroying all his Horcruxes, they could then kill his main soul, and he would die completely.
After all, a Voldemort in a soul state without a physical body was always safer than a Voldemort with a physical body.
But why did Headmaster Dumbledore insist on letting Voldemort resurrect?
There was only one explanation: he could only be truly killed after Voldemort had actually resurrected. Thus, there must be another variable in between.
There was a variable that differed between Voldemort resurrecting and not resurrecting, and this variable determined whether Voldemort could be truly killed.
Having reached a milestone result, Amanda instinctively continued her deeper analysis.
Thinking deeply about Voldemort's resurrection plan, Headmaster Dumbledore had specifically insisted on following Voldemort's plan, letting Voldemort use Harry's blood to resurrect.
This point was extremely important. It was because Headmaster Dumbledore insisted on this point that she had suggested using special effects makeup to ensure Voldemort used Harry's blood.
So, why did Voldemort have to use Harry's blood to resurrect?
There was a connection between Voldemort and Harry. Amanda thought of this obvious result almost instantly, and this connection had to be very complex.
Voldemort using Harry's blood to resurrect was the biggest variable between his resurrection and non-resurrection. Therefore, was the variable for whether Voldemort could be completely eliminated... Harry?
Frowning deeply, memories began to surface one by one in Amanda's mind.
Harry's Parseltongue, a talent that could only be inherited from the Slytherin family.
Yet, in that book she had read specifically about Pure-blood families, the Potter family had never had any connection with the Slytherin family.
So where did Harry's Parseltongue come from?
It was known that there was a complex connection between Voldemort and Harry, Harry could speak Parseltongue, Voldemort made Horcruxes, Headmaster Dumbledore insisted on letting Voldemort use Harry's blood to resurrect, and Voldemort could only be truly killed if he resurrected... All the milestone clues and analytical results were linked together, even as Amanda repeatedly scrutinized these findings and flipped through advanced dark magic revealed dozens of times.
At this moment, she had to admit that the result of her seventy-second deduction had not changed; there was no error.
The greatest possibility for this matter was the one she had guessed—an 89% probability. The data was right there in her brain. This possibility, which was full of danger for Harry, was something Amanda couldn't help but believe.
Harry was a Horcrux that Voldemort had accidentally created. This was the only possibility that explained why Voldemort had to be resurrected to be truly killed, and the only possibility that explained why Headmaster Dumbledore wanted to ensure Voldemort used Harry's blood to resurrect—it was the only chance for survival.
Similarly, this possibility confirmed Amanda's analysis of Voldemort's personality and actions; Voldemort had created more than one Horcrux.
Because only by splitting more than one Horcrux would the soul become extremely unstable. Only by splitting more than one Horcrux would the soul shatter in an accident, making Harry an accidental Horcrux.
Closing advanced dark magic revealed and setting it aside, Amanda took the initiative to reach out and hug Hermione, burying her head in the crook of her neck.
"Amanda, what's wrong?"
Hermione was stunned for a moment, then hugged back the rarely seen state of Amanda, gently patting her back.
"I've deduced some things," Amanda said in a muffled voice. Her heart throbbed with pain because of the results her brain had reached, and her brow furrowed slightly as a result. "Some things about Harry and Voldemort..."
Having known Harry for four years, this kind, strong boy with a heart of gold had long since become Amanda's friend.
She wanted Harry to live, to live well, and to live happily—not just because he was Hermione's friend and Hermione cared about him, and if Harry was unwell, Hermione would also be sad, worried, and uncomfortable.
But also because Harry was her friend too. If Harry was unwell, she would also worry and feel sad. Yes, she would be heartbroken too... Hearing Amanda's rare tone and feeling her tight embrace, the clever little Witch immediately understood that the things Amanda had deduced were bad, very bad.
Amanda took a deep breath. She looked up and stared intently at Hermione, her face returning to an expressionless state, but her voice trembled slightly. "The result I deduced is very bad, a narrow escape... and it has to be Harry. I don't know what to do, Hermione."
"The rational choice would be to tell Harry, so he can prepare early and increase his chances of survival and defeating Voldemort, but..."
But thinking of the cheerful, carefree figures of Harry and Ron after the second task, Amanda found herself unable to speak. She didn't want to tell the result of her deduction to Harry—to the boy who could still laugh happily and was still somewhat carefree.
"Oh, although I don't know exactly what you've deduced," Hermione kissed Amanda's cheek gently, "it must have made you very upset and uneasy. Look at you now, it's truly heartbreaking."
Pressing her cheek against Amanda's, Hermione didn't care that they were in the Ravenclaw Common Room and that many Little Eagles might see them.
She nuzzled Amanda's cheek affectionately. "You're worried for your friend, thinking of your friend, and you don't want Harry to face a reality that's too grim, so you don't want to tell him your deduction. That's perfectly normal."
"But Amanda," Hermione released Amanda and cupped her cheeks with both hands, looking into her eyes gently, "as friends, we also don't want you to struggle with your deduction all by yourself."
"Tell us, and we'll figure it out together. Besides..."
She raised an eyebrow and spoke with confidence, "The Harry I know isn't someone who would shrink back or be afraid because of danger. On the contrary, if someone else blocked the danger for him or kept things from him, he would actually be angry."
"I understand," Amanda's voice regained its stability, and a gentle smile returned to the corners of her mouth. "I will tell you all the results."
Hermione was right. They had so many people: herself, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope. With the seven of them working together, what was there to be nervous or worried about?
"I'm glad you've come around," Hermione gave Amanda a light kiss. "Tomorrow after lunch, I'll go find Harry and Ron, and we'll all have a good talk."
"Mhm, let's go to that room on the eighth floor from before." Amanda nodded with a calm expression.
After lunch the next day, Amanda took the three seniors from her house and waited early outside the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.
After Hermione arrived with Harry and Ron, they all walked into the Room of Requirement and sat on the soft, comfortable sofas that had appeared according to Amanda's needs.
"Amanda," Hermione reached out and put her arm around Amanda's waist, "Harry said he has something to tell us too."
"Okay," Amanda nodded calmly and looked at Harry. "Harry, you go first."
"Alright," Harry pursed his lips and clasped his hands. "Um, what I want to say is that I had a dream last night. I dreamed of... I dreamed of Voldemort and Wormtail."
"Voldemort was punishing Wormtail because he let Mr. Crouch be rescued."
"Dreaming of Voldemort?" Cho Chang was slightly stunned as she listened to Harry. "Why would you dream of Voldemort?"
Upon hearing this sentence from Harry, the probability assessment in Amanda's mind that Harry was an accidentally created Horcrux of Voldemort rose by another 5%.
"I don't know why," Harry shook his head, frowning deeply at the same time. "But it's not the first time. I had a similar dream this summer, seeing Voldemort kill an old Muggle man."
"You've been having these dreams since summer?" It was Hermione's turn to speak. She held Amanda and looked at Harry. "Then why didn't you tell us then?"
"Come on, Hermione," Harry smiled and spread his hands, looking completely unconcerned. "That was right before the Quidditch World Cup Final. It was just a dream; there was no need to ruin your mood."
"Your business is more important than the Quidditch World Cup Final, Harry."
Penelope rubbed her temples, carefully considering the situation Harry described, while the others nodded in agreement with her statement.
"Dreaming of Voldemort," Marietta Eckmore pondered for a long time with her eyes downcast, not understanding what was going on. "I don't understand what's happening. Cho, Senior Penelope, what about you?"
"I don't know." The two, who had also been thinking for a long time, shook their heads in unison.
Amanda, held in Hermione's arms, looked up at the friends sitting in a circle in the Room of Requirement and spoke in an even voice.
"I know what's going on, and according to my calculations, the accuracy is 94%."
The five Young Wizards present, excluding Hermione, simultaneously had the thought: As expected of Amanda.
Meanwhile, Hermione turned to look at her and asked softly, "This situation... is it what you mentioned before, the thing you deduced between Harry and Voldemort?"
"Yes," Amanda looked at Hermione and nodded without changing her expression, while glancing around at the other five Young Wizards. "Do you know of something called a Horcrux?"
"Horcrux?"
Voices of confusion rose one after another. Everyone, including Hermione, shook their heads with looks of incomprehension.
They hadn't seen this thing mentioned in class, let alone in books in the Library.
"A Horcrux, as the name suggests, is a container for holding a soul," Amanda explained in a flat tone. "Through a specific method—a cruel murder—one splits their own soul and then uses magic to place the split portion of the soul into a chosen vessel."
Listening to Amanda's explanation, the faces of everyone present turned pale. No one would deny the importance of the soul to a person. How could anyone want to split their own soul?!"
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