Watching Amanda walk straight toward him, the reporter sent by The Daily Prophet this time felt his heart pounding in his chest.
He had just watched the Young Wizards of Hogwarts contradict Amanda, and now Amanda was walking toward him. Could it be—could it be that she wanted to silence him?
Having heard the well-known rumor circulating within The Daily Prophet about Amanda blowing up their building, he was already imagining himself suffering the same fate as that former building.
He would be scattered in pieces, he would die without a sound...
Merlin above, if he had known it would come to this, he would have spent all the Galleons he had stored in Gringotts beforehand.
Clearly, his overwhelming panic had caused the reporter to forget the oddity he had just noticed about the Young Wizards of Hogwarts.
After all, they were just children; how could they act in front of a veteran reporter without revealing some flaws?
It was only natural that something would seem off.
"Hello." Amanda's voice remained cold and solemn, yet she extended her right hand toward the reporter from The Daily Prophet with an extremely gentle attitude.
"Hello, Miss Amanda." Taking a deep breath, the reporter forced himself to calm down and shook Amanda's hand with both of his.
"Mr. Reporter, you should have seen what just happened, right?"
"I, I saw it," the reporter's body stiffened, and he nodded with a stutter. "But please rest assured, Miss Amanda, The Daily Prophet absolutely acknowledges the resurrection of You-Know-Who. We have absolute trust in you, Miss Amanda, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter!"
The reporter said this with such sincerity that he might as well have raised his wand and sworn to Merlin that The Daily Prophet was now a loyal supporter of Amanda and her group.
"There's no need to be nervous, Mr. Reporter." The indifferent expression on Amanda's face softened slightly as she shook her head mechanically.
"You may report everyone's doubts about us; no, you must report everyone's doubts about us."
"Huh?" The reporter froze, staring blankly at Amanda.
"Not only that," Amanda's lips curled slightly. "If the Ministry of Magic asks you to help smear me or Harry later on, please cooperate with them."
She "instructed" in a dull voice, then paused halfway through. "However, if the Ministry of Magic wants to smear Hermione, The Daily Prophet might need to be careful with the scale of the smear. You should understand what I mean, right?"
"Understood, understood." Although he didn't know why Amanda wanted to do this, the reporter nodded frantically without hesitation.
Reporting everyone's doubts, and cooperating appropriately if the Ministry of Magic wanted to smear Amanda and the others—that was no problem at all. Or rather, as long as it was Amanda's idea, nothing was a problem.
They could even report tomorrow that Fudge was actually Voldemort's older brother!
After all, if they reported that, it wasn't certain when Voldemort would come after them, but if they displeased the young girl in front of them, The Daily Prophet would suffer the very next day. These were memories they had experienced before.
Seeing that the other party understood her intentions, Amanda had no desire to say more. She nodded to the reporter, "Pleasure doing business with you."
"Pleasure doing business with you." The reporter replied immediately, then let out a huge sigh of relief as he watched Amanda turn and leave.
"Report the doubts of the Young Wizards of Hogwarts toward Miss Amanda and the others..."
The reporter frowned, scratching his head as he thought carefully. Suddenly, he recalled the oddity he had noticed earlier, and enlightenment dawned on him.
The doubts from the Young Wizards of Hogwarts earlier were just acting, and it was obviously part of Miss Amanda's plan.
So, Miss Amanda wanted to use their hands to make the people of the British Wizarding World doubt them as well, even going so far as to have The Daily Prophet cooperate with the Ministry of Magic's potential smears against them.
This was the only possible explanation, but... what was the reason for Miss Amanda doing this?
The reporter looked bewildered at Amanda's back as she disappeared into the night, then shook his head vigorously.
"Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I won't think about it. Just doing what Miss Amanda said is the right thing to do."
On one side, Amanda strode toward the Ravenclaw Common Room; on the other, Harry's arm was healed with a gentle wave of Madam Pomfrey's wand.
Immediately after, he was sent to the Gryffindor Common Room by Professor McGonagall without any room for argument.
The news of Voldemort's resurrection, spread by Harry, would surely reach the Ministry of Magic soon, and Fudge would likely be arriving shortly.
That annoying, hypocritical fellow—it was better not to let Harry, a child, face him alone. Let Albus exchange some pleasantries with him and pretend to give him a warning; that would suffice.
Upon returning to the Ravenclaw Common Room, Amanda once again enjoyed the treatment of having all the Little Eagles staring at her the moment she looked up.
"Everyone is waiting for you to provide an explanation and explain what to do next."
Hermione stepped forward, took Amanda's arm, and led her in front of the Ravenclaw Little Eagles.
The Little Eagles looked at Amanda; besides trust, there was a faint, imperceptible fear regarding Voldemort's resurrection in their eyes.
Yes, only imperceptible fear, because they trusted the person standing right in front of them at this very moment.
"Voldemort has been resurrected; there is no doubt about this."
Amanda stated the truth firmly first. The Little Eagles exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
"Earlier outside, asking everyone to contradict Harry, contradict me, and contradict Hermione was indeed a plan we had beforehand."
A cold and emotionless voice echoed in the Ravenclaw Common Room. "Humans are all afraid of facing their own fears, so the people of the British Wizarding World will not be willing to acknowledge the resurrection of Voldemort..."
Amanda explained bit by bit that she wanted to push the Ministry of Magic to deny Voldemort's resurrection and allow them to smear her and Hermione's group.
At the same time, by utilizing the fear of the people in the British Wizarding World, they would also be unable to accept the fact of Voldemort's resurrection, thereby driving them to stand on the side of the Ministry of Magic.
Finally, when the truth of Voldemort's resurrection is completely exposed to the public, with nowhere to hide and no way to avoid it, those who chose to believe the Ministry of Magic out of fear will feel deceived, thereby inciting a greater blow against the Ministry of Magic.
Fudge will step down because of this, and Hermione will take the position of Minister for Magic in the wake of it.
Having heard Amanda's plan, the Ravenclaw Little Eagles were dumbfounded. Utilizing the Ministry of Magic, utilizing public opinion, utilizing the human nature of the British Wizarding World.
How did they feel... that Amanda was more terrifying than Voldemort? With this level of calculation, if Voldemort had even half of her ability, the British Wizarding World would have belonged to him long ago.
"As for why I needed everyone to act and question us earlier, it was precisely because of this."
Pausing slightly, Amanda continued, "And I need everyone to note: if your parents question us, or if your parents' friends question us, you may refute them a sentence or two, but remember not to try to persuade them too much."
"What we need is to sow the seed of belief in Voldemort's resurrection in the hearts of most people in the British Wizarding World, not to let this idea grow into a tree directly."
The Little Eagles present looked at one another. They were very skeptical about whether Amanda, the "child of others" who had been praised by their parents for four whole years, would really be questioned by their parents.
Of course, their parents' friends were a different matter.
If their parents didn't question it, they would tell their parents about Amanda's requirements anyway. In any case, nothing could affect the plans of Amanda and Hermione.
Hermione becoming Minister for Magic—what a wonderful thing! So much better than Fudge, who knows by how many times!
Such a good thing, they couldn't wait. The sooner, the better.
"Understood."
"We will do as you say."
Voices of agreement came from the group of Little Eagles, and Amanda nodded gently to them.
"Thank you all."
After "aligning their stories" with the Little Eagles, Amanda went back to the Dormitory to rest with Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore.
The four girls took turns showering and then went straight to bed. It was already twelve o'clock, and even Amanda did not study any further.
The Young Wizards were sleeping sweetly, but Minister for Magic Fudge and his faction were completely unable to sleep.
This was already an eventful autumn. The Pure-blood families they had previously fawned over and curried favor with had suddenly lost power, while Amanda and Hermione—whom they had previously made things difficult for and offended—had suddenly seized control of the Wizarding World's economy and even imprisoned the heads of the Pure-blood families.
Because of this, their power had already been shaken, and now news of Voldemort's resurrection had spread?
Wouldn't that make the power in their hands even more unstable? It might even be gone at any moment!
For Fudge and those who supported him, this was clearly not an acceptable situation.
For this reason, Fudge made a special trip to Hogwarts at the fastest speed, aiming to see the person who first spoke of Voldemort's resurrection: Harry Potter.
And he would use every means possible to deny him, insisting that he said such things just to gain attention. If necessary, he could even provoke him into making a mistake or something.
However, it was a pity that after he arrived at Hogwarts, he couldn't see anyone except Headmaster Dumbledore.
Let alone Harry Potter, he didn't see a single Young Wizard!
"I'm afraid the children are all asleep, Cornelius," Headmaster Dumbledore spread his hands, his long white beard twitching slightly. "They need sufficient sleep."
"And what about Harry Potter? He's sleeping at a time like this? After telling such a lie and causing such a stir?"
Fudge's emotions suddenly became unstable. Thinking about Voldemort's resurrection, he realized his power was likely to become even more precarious or even change hands directly, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"I do not believe my student is lying, Cornelius." Headmaster Dumbledore's eyes stared fixedly at Fudge, as if looking through the person to see the core of him that was loyal to power and drowning in it.
"I believe in my student, and you should also let go of unrealistic fantasies. Voldemort has returned; this is undeniable."
"No, no, no," Fudge backed away while laughing. "He hasn't returned, he cannot return, he must not return!"
"Don't try to trick me, Albus, don't try to trick me. I will not hand over the position of Minister for Magic, never!"
After saying this, he left directly through the fireplace in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts.
Watching the green flames flare up suddenly, Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head helplessly. "Whether you hand over that position or not, it's not up to you, Cornelius."
The day after the third task of the Triwizard Tournament ended, The Daily Prophet reported that Cedric Diggory had won the championship. At the same time, it also reported Harry Potter's claim that he had seen Voldemort's resurrection with his own eyes, and that the Young Wizards of Hogwarts were skeptical about it, but Amanda and Hermione affirmed it resolutely.
Because of this report, the British Wizarding World shook twice. The name Voldemort was simply too intimidating, and it also involved the two young girls, Amanda and Hermione.
By now, who in the British Wizarding World could not know these two young girls?
It was also because of this report that letters from home for The Ravenclaws were delivered to them at the fastest speed. The parents couldn't even wait for the fast-approaching summer vacation to communicate with their children in person.
Regardless of whether it was true or false, they had to hear what their own children had to say, rather than just listening to what The Daily Prophet said.
Meanwhile, the Wizarding World Gazette, which was almost on par with The Daily Prophet, had, under Amanda's instruction, provided an analysis of the matter—suggesting it could be true or could be false—and had taken a neutral stance.
To sow the seed of belief in the hearts of the people of the British Wizarding World, but not to let this seed grow too large for now—this was Amanda's current plan.
"The plan you mentioned before didn't include this!" Harry, who was pressed into a chair by Amanda, looked at her in terror. He felt he would rather go back to last night and "battle the scholars with his tongue" again, rather than face Amanda's Legilimency like this!
"Just as I said earlier, as a Horcrux accidentally created by Voldemort, not only can you see his thoughts and what he is doing, but to a certain extent, he can also see what you are thinking and doing, or even deliberately mislead you."
"So you need to learn Occlumency."
Amanda said this while drawing her wand, her expression cold and serious, without the slightest fluctuation.
"But, but there's no need to practice like this, right? We can change the practice method."
A drop of cold sweat ran down Harry's forehead. He glanced at Hermione, who was standing to the side raising an eyebrow at him, as well as Ron, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, and Penelope, who all had expressions of watching a good show.
Good old Ron, great, he could really help block danger when there was danger, but when there was no danger, he could really watch him have a good time!
"This is a good way to urge you to learn it quickly," Amanda remained unmoved, raising her wand to point directly at Harry without a single fluctuation in her tone. "I will only look at your thoughts regarding Hermione. Please do your best to stop me. If you cannot stop me, I will say whatever I see."
"No, can we discuss this? Can you look at something else instead?" Harry felt as if he were in a complete panic right now.
Merlin knew he had really secretly complained about Hermione. Of course, it wasn't too excessive, but... looking at the thick tome in Hermione's hand, Harry didn't think he could take many hits.
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