Walking along the path in the woods outside the villa with Hermione holding her arm, Amanda subconsciously observed her surroundings, her free right hand tense at all times.
Prepared to deal with any potential emergencies, her gaze swept across the area around the path.
Amanda automatically analyzed the state of the path; the surrounding branches showed signs of being recently trimmed, just as the villa's owner had said.
He had specifically helped clear this path, and there was very conspicuous snake repellent near the grass on the ground.
Senior Penelopa walked at the very front, while Harry and Ron were at the back; they had subconsciously left the safest position in the middle for Hermione and Amanda.
Even if they vaguely understood in their hearts that the strongest among them was actually Amanda.
Walking slowly through the woods, Amanda couldn't walk fast at all because she had eaten too much just now; she could only shuffle forward step by step.
Hermione held her arm to support her, and Harry, Ron, and Senior Penelopa weren't in a hurry either, just walking along at a leisurely pace.
Amanda looked silently at Senior Penelopa, who was deliberately keeping a low speed in front, then looked back at Harry and Ron, who could only walk in small, slow steps, and spoke in a flat tone.
"Hermione, you guys can go ahead. I'll follow behind you."
She couldn't cause trouble for others because of herself; Hermione and the others could walk faster, and she would do her best to keep up.
They shouldn't have to accommodate her.
Hermione tightened her grip on Amanda's arm and shook her head. "Don't say such silly things. We came out to walk with you in the first place. How could we leave you behind while the four of us go ahead?"
"That's right," Senior Penelopa turned around, walking backward leisurely, and reached out to rub Amanda's head. "Walking slowly is nice; you won't get tired, and you can enjoy the scenery here."
"It's also beneficial for your health," Hermione added from the side. Although her parents were both dentists, she still knew the basic medical fact that vigorous exercise after a meal is bad for the stomach.
Hermione knew that much, at least. As for Harry and Ron behind the three of them, they didn't speak at all.
The two boys had spotted a somewhat strange bug on the ground by the road and were huddled together, looking at it curiously.
Senior Penelopa and Hermione glanced at each other, both seeing a hint of helplessness in the other's gaze.
Sigh... Boys, the things they like to play with are just a bit unique.
However, because they were walking slowly enough, they didn't need to specifically stop to wait for Harry and the others; they just kept moving forward.
Sure enough, in less than two minutes, Harry and Ron, having seen enough, caught up.
Walking with light steps on the forest path, for some reason, the scene Amanda had previously seen in the mirror of erised suddenly appeared in her mind.
Her and Hermione walking together in the mountains... that scene and this scene were so similar.
She calmly turned her head to glance at Hermione. After confirming that the two scenes were indeed very similar, Amanda withdrew her gaze, her heart without the slightest ripple.
The summer vacation spent by the seven children together was undoubtedly happy, and a summer vacation where the seven children lived in a place by themselves without any adults in charge was undoubtedly even happier!
It had been nearly a week since the seven of them gathered at the villa, and everyone had become accustomed to life there.
They spent a very short time each day doing homework, and the rest of the time was spent eating snacks and watching television.
When it was their turn, they would just do some cleaning and cook a meal.
It was worth mentioning that among the seven children, there really wasn't a single one who was a novice at housework; everyone had good self-care abilities.
This made Harry unable to resist harshly complaining in front of everyone about his cousin Dudley Dursley, who still lived like a "baby" and couldn't do anything.
To this, Ron's evaluation was blunt: "How high can your expectations be for a pig?"
Harry deeply agreed; indeed, for a pig, being able to eat and drink was enough.
The three girls' evaluations were more refined; they simply stated that Dudley Dursley was being spoiled like this now.
If he didn't change in the future, he would have plenty of hardships to face when he grew up.
Amanda listened quietly on the side without offering an opinion. Based on what Harry said...
She didn't quite understand why Dudley Dursley hadn't been destroyed yet.
However, the next moment she reached a conclusion. Yes, it must be because Dudley Dursley's parents—Harry's uncle and aunt—were part of the elite class, so Dudley Dursley could be exempt from this "system."
Speaking of this system, Amanda turned her head and looked indifferently out the window.
The Enforcement Agents still hadn't come; there was no sign of them on the ground or in the sky.
This third week was already almost over; were they still not coming?
Thinking rapidly, Amanda soon sorted out the most likely answer.
This year, the students' resistance was quite fierce, so the Enforcement Agents had encountered some obstacles during the destruction process, causing a delay.
Of course, there was another possibility, and the most ideal one.
All of them had passed Hermione's exams, and none of the seven of them needed to be destroyed, so of course, no Enforcement Agents would come to the door.
But soon, the peace of villa life was broken.
Just after waking up on Saturday morning, Amanda, who had already finished making and eating breakfast, turned her head to see an exhausted-looking Harry.
The dark circles under his eyes were unusually heavy. She turned her head back to check the time.
It was six-thirty in the morning. At this time, besides her and Harry, everyone else was still asleep.
Under normal circumstances, even Harry shouldn't be up at this time.
After all, even when it was his and Ron's turn to prepare meals, they would wait until eight in the morning to get up.
One reason was that it was too early to wake up, and the other was that if they made breakfast too early, it would get cold; by the time the others woke up to eat, they would be facing cold fried eggs and cold bacon.
That taste... but Amanda didn't have such concerns.
Considering she woke up early herself, she usually made porridge in the morning. By the time everyone woke up, the temperature in the pot would be just right.
Standing up and walking over to Harry, Amanda confirmed that his complexion and mental state clearly looked like he hadn't slept well.
"Harry, good morning."
"Hmm? Yawn..." Hearing the voice, Harry looked at Amanda next to him and covered his mouth while yawning.
"Good morning, Amanda."
"You didn't sleep well last night," Amanda stated the fact expressionlessly.
"Yeah," Harry's expression flickered strangely as he nodded in admission.
Looking at Harry's expression, Amanda instinctively analyzed that something had happened.
Her gaze swept over Harry from head to toe, but she didn't find any wounds or signs of injury.
It wasn't Enforcement Agents, so Harry probably just had a nightmare, Amanda concluded in her mind.
She then went into the kitchen and served Harry a bowl of steaming Shrimp Porridge.
Seeing Amanda carry a bowl of Shrimp Porridge out of the kitchen, Harry quickly stepped forward to take it and politely thanked her.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Amanda replied in a cold tone, then mechanically returned to the sofa and sat down.
Harry, who had originally wanted to tell Amanda about the special situation last night, silently closed his mouth.
He would wait until Hermione and the others woke up to tell them; he should try not to add any "burden" to Amanda.
After finishing the Shrimp Porridge, Harry leaned over the dining table. Having not slept well all night, he dizzily drifted off to sleep.
Amanda, who was staring at the yard outside the window, suddenly heard a faint, steady snoring. Turning her head, she saw Harry sleeping soundly, slumped over the dining table.
Standing up, Amanda picked up a small blanket from the sofa and draped it over Harry's shoulders.
Sleeping in clothes without covering up anything makes it easy to catch a cold, Amanda thought with no ripple in her heart, while pulling the blanket tighter around Harry.
After doing all this, Amanda slowly walked back to the sofa, sat down again, and stared unblinkingly at the ground and sky outside the window.
Around seven-thirty, Hermione, having finally slept her fill, walked down the stairs feeling refreshed.
While looking for Amanda, she inevitably saw Harry sleeping soundly on the dining table.
Startled for a moment, Hermione walked over to the sofa and patted Amanda's shoulder.
Amanda had heard Hermione's footsteps long ago and calmly looked up at her.
"Hermione, good morning."
"Good morning," Hermione smiled gently and responded in a low voice.
She pointed toward the dining table and asked, still in a low voice, "What's wrong with Harry? Why is he sleeping here?"
Amanda paused for a moment and shook her head, her tone flat. "I don't know, but based on an analysis of his complexion and mental state, there's a high probability he didn't sleep well last night."
"He admitted it himself."
"Oh." Hermione nodded understandingly. So he's catching up on sleep. But why come downstairs to do it instead of staying upstairs?
After a moment of confusion without finding an answer, Hermione decisively gave up on further thought. She went into the kitchen with Amanda and gratefully accepted the bowl of Shrimp Porridge she had served.
Taking a sip of the Shrimp Porridge, Hermione narrowed her eyes comfortably; the fragrance of the rice and the fresh sweetness of the shrimp blended perfectly.
As expected of Amanda, her cooking is truly superb.
It wasn't until nine-thirty in the morning that Harry slowly woke up to the sound of faint talking nearby.
Amanda, who was sitting at the dining table with her hand being held by Hermione, instinctively cast her gaze toward Harry and spoke without any tone.
"Harry is awake."
As soon as Amanda finished speaking, Hermione, who had been playing with her hand, Cho Chang, who had been chatting, Marietta, who had been writing a letter home, and Ron who was eating chips all turned their gaze toward Harry.
"Hey, buddy, you're awake?" Ron stepped forward and patted Harry on the back.
The newly awakened Harry put on his glasses, and after seeing the chip bag in Ron's hand, he felt entirely unwell.
"Ron Weasley, don't pat me with your greasy hands from eating chips!"
Ron shrunk his neck and gave a guilty smile, withdrawing his hand, his eyes cautiously glancing at Harry.
He had just woken up, yet he was surprisingly sharp.
Noticing Ron's gaze, Harry unceremoniously rolled his eyes. How could he not know his own buddy?
As soon as Ron Weasley opened his mouth, he knew what he wanted to say.
"What happened to you last night? Amanda said you didn't sleep well?"
Hermione looked at Harry with concern as she asked. The other three girls also stopped their conversation and letter-writing, focusing their attention on Harry.
Harry curled his lip. "Don't even mention it. In the middle of the night... a, uh, strange creature suddenly broke into my room."
"I don't know what it was, so I can only call it that."
A strange creature? And a sudden break-in? Hermione and the other five were stunned, their gazes toward Harry filled with confusion and gravity.
Amanda's pupils constricted sharply, and her heart began to ache as if it were being squeezed by a clamp.
Break-in, Enforcement Agent? Amanda's mind automatically made this equation.
Forcing entry into a student's home equals an Enforcement Agent, which equals taking Harry away to be destroyed.
"What kind of creature?" Before Amanda could think any further, Hermione asked Harry with a serious expression.
This was, after all, a remote villa; it was normal for animals to wander in, but if it was something dangerous, it would be bad.
Seeing Hermione's expression, Harry knew she might have misunderstood and quickly raised his hand to wave it off.
"It's not a dangerous creature. It could even speak human language and communicate with me. It's probably some kind of creature from the Wizarding World. It has a very large nose and ears that aren't small either—very pointed. And it felt a bit... neurotic?"
Merlin knows how much effort he spent last night trying to soothe the little fellow so it wouldn't scream and wake Amanda and the others.
Hearing Harry's description, several girls, including Amanda, blurted out a term: "House-elf."
"What?" Harry looked completely surprised. "House-elf? What kind of creature is that?"
Facing Harry's question, Hermione instinctively provided an explanation, describing what kind of creature a House-elf was.
As Amanda listened to Hermione's explanation to Harry, her brain was constantly thinking.
In her original world, there was no magic; Enforcement Agents were just ordinary people equipped with firearms to ensure the destruction went smoothly.
In this world, there was magic, and Hogwarts was a magic academy. It could be inferred that the Enforcement Agents likely knew magic as well.
There were also people from the Wizarding World, and this House-elf was very likely sent by them to check in advance if they were preparing to resist.
Or more directly, it was sent by them to capture Harry.
Amanda made her judgment, but the subsequent conversation between Ron and Harry caused her train of thought to instantly become muddled.
"So what did that House-elf want with you?" Ron looked at Harry in confusion.
Harry sighed helplessly and summarized the House-elf's meaning. "He told me not to go to Hogwarts, saying there would be danger there."
"But how could I not go to Hogwarts? That place is my home!"
Harry shook his head, his emotions somewhat agitated. He couldn't not go back to Hogwarts; it was the place he recognized as home.
Hearing Harry's words, Amanda's brain instantly stalled, and her previous train of thought was immediately disrupted and reorganized.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.