That House-Elf most likely wasn't sent by the Enforcement Agents.
Its purpose was to warn Harry that Hogwarts was in danger and not to return to school.
It wasn't to inform him that his grades didn't meet the standard and needed to be destroyed, so he didn't need to return to school.
Based on her memory and understanding of the Enforcement Agents, they were backed by a powerful armed force.
Therefore, they had always disdained methods like deception or manipulation, at most gathering intelligence beforehand on whether the target would resist and how.
Then they would directly charge through the door to capture the person; it was useless for any student to try and resist.
Their powerful armed force made them fearless of any student's, or even parent's, resistance.
So, the House-Elf Harry spoke of couldn't have been sent by the Enforcement Agents.
"A House-Elf," Penelope frowned, looking at Harry thoughtfully as she spoke, "usually only very ancient and wealthy Wizard families possess them."
"Have you offended any classmates with such a background at school?"
Almost without hesitation, Harry, Ron, and Hermione blurted out simultaneously.
"Malfoy!" ×3
Ron nodded with righteous indignation, "It must be Malfoy; he wants to stop Harry from going to school."
Hermione fell silent, looking down in thought, then looked up and shook her head, "We can't be so certain; after all, we can't rule out the possibility that the House-Elf was telling the truth."
"But Harry can't actually not go to Hogwarts," Ron spread his hands.
"That's true," Hermione nodded.
Cho Chang watched the three juniors from the side with a gentle smile and spoke words of comfort.
"Don't worry too much. With Headmaster Dumbledore and the Professors at school, Harry will definitely be able to continue his education."
"It's just that you'll have to be more careful this school year," Marietta added from the side; she had heard some rumors about the trio and Amanda's adventures at the end of the previous school year.
"Night wandering, adventures—avoid doing them as much as possible."
Harry and the others looked at each other and nodded with some embarrassment.
Amanda listened to the conversation of the other six, her brain working rapidly.
A House-Elf warned Harry of danger instead of a Professor, proving that this danger was likely known only to this House-Elf, and not to the Professors or Headmaster Dumbledore.
But regarding Hogwarts matters, the Professors and Headmaster Dumbledore should be more aware.
There was only one explanation for this situation: the danger came from the outside, or rather, the origin of the danger was outside.
And this outside source had deep contact with this House-Elf, which was how it knew the news.
Deducing further from the living environment of House-elves and information about them, this outside source was most likely, and could only be, its master's household.
Books at Hogwarts mentioned that House-elves cannot reveal their masters' secrets.
That explained why this House-Elf only said Hogwarts was in danger and told Harry not to go back, while remaining tight-lipped about what the danger was or where it came from.
In summary, Amanda concluded in her mind that the House-Elf's masters must be planning something.
What they were planning to do would cause danger at Hogwarts; the House-Elf found out and came to notify Harry and issue a warning.
But as for why the House-Elf chose to favor Harry over its masters, Amanda couldn't deduce it without relevant information.
She could only summarize and analyze this far based on the available information, her gaze dull as she looked at the six people present.
Everyone had already started talking about other topics; as before, if no one asked her, she didn't feel the need to speak.
Speaking one's opinion when others hadn't asked for it could easily be seen as showing off and might cause resentment, which was very impolite.
Seeing everyone chatting, Amanda quietly walked toward the kitchen; it was almost lunchtime, and she should start cooking.
Seeing Amanda head to the kitchen, Hermione quickly followed, and Cho Chang and Marietta also entered the kitchen in unison.
With the three of them helping, Amanda, who used to partner with Hermione as the main cook, had now become an assistant.
And she was an assistant with the least work, finishing her tasks with fluid movements.
When Amanda turned around again, the remaining work had already been taken over by Hermione and the others.
With nothing left to do, Amanda could only take two steps back and stand quietly by the kitchen door.
Her eyes looked lifelessly at the working trio—Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta—waiting to step in if any help was needed.
However, before she could watch for long, Penelope, who had been waiting for a while, came up and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Amanda, don't just stand here. Why don't we go watch television? How about it?"
Amanda turned her head stiffly toward Penelope, then looked at the three busy people in the kitchen.
She slowly shook her head, "I'll wait and see if any help is needed."
"There isn't any."
"The three of us are enough."
"That's right, Amanda, go take a break."
Hermione and the others turned and chimed in unison; Amanda opened her mouth in vain, finally just nodded, and followed Penelope to the living room.
The three girls smiled at each other; letting Amanda rest—mission accomplished.
In the living room, Harry and Ron had already tuned the channel to cartoons for Amanda.
They had even opened the packaging of the snacks for her; as soon as Amanda sat on the sofa, a bag of opened cookies was thrust into her hand by Harry.
"Thank you," Amanda thanked them expressionlessly, then mechanically put the cookies into her mouth one by one.
There wasn't a single trace of the happiness, joy, or relaxation one usually has when eating snacks.
Not long after the cartoons started, several Owl cries came from outside the window.
Amanda quickly turned her head, no longer stiff or mechanical, and her right hand swiftly reached for the wand in her robe pocket.
Harry and Ron shuddered at her stress response, but Penelope, sitting next to her and turning her head as well, didn't see this scene.
Instead, seeing the Owl outside the window, she smiled and said loudly, "The school Owls are here; they must be bringing the booklists."
Hearing her words, the three girls in the kitchen temporarily put down their work and ran out.
From the school—Amanda stood up and walked toward the window a step ahead of everyone.
Schools also cooperated with Enforcement Agents; although she felt Hogwarts was very different from her previous school.
It was still better to be careful; reaching out to open the window, Amanda watched the flying Owls with a sharp gaze.
Only after confirming they carried nothing but letters did her expression return to normal, and she reached out toward the Owl in front of her.
The Owl in front of Amanda landed on the windowsill and then carefully placed the letter in its beak into her hand.
It even gently touched her finger with its beak, as if comforting her to relax.
"Thank you." Although it was an Owl, the etiquette deeply ingrained in her mind made Amanda thank it solemnly.
Opening the letter, it was indeed the booklist Senior Penelopa had mentioned.
Unfolding the booklist, Amanda scanned it from top to bottom; more than half of the long list consisted of books written by someone named Gilderoy Lockhart.
Looking closely at the titles, Amanda classified them as fictional biographies.
However, the booklist specified they were textbooks for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so Amanda instinctively raised their importance in her mind.
"Merlin's booklist..." Ron wailed as he looked at the list in his hand.
"It's this Gilderoy Lockhart again." He raised his hand to cover his face, lamenting in pain.
"What's wrong with this person?" Hermione, who had always been in the Muggle world, looked at Ron in confusion.
She felt that someone who could write so many books, and have them all selected as textbooks, must be very impressive.
She even felt a faint urge to admire and idolize him just now.
"Uh." Harry, beside her, felt a bit awkward; during his two days at the Weasley family's house, he had helped clear out gnomes once, so he knew Mrs. Weasley greatly admired this Gilderoy Lockhart.
She even wanted to consult his books for the methods he wrote about while clearing out the gnomes.
"My mom admires him a lot," Ron said weakly, "but a lot of the things he writes in his books are really useless."
"Like clearing out gnomes, the method he gave was really... super lousy."
Harry nodded vigorously in agreement; out of curiosity, he had tried the gnome-clearing method Gilderoy Lockhart provided.
The result was that it wasn't even as fast as throwing them by hand.
"Surely not," Hermione frowned deeply, "If his books were really that useless, would they be chosen as Hogwarts textbooks?"
Penelope sighed helplessly and shook her head, "But these are textbooks for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
"As everyone knows," Cho Chang added from the side, "the Professor for this class changes every year, and their quality varies wildly, let alone the textbooks."
"You can understand this by looking at last year's Professor Quirrell," Marietta shrugged, "and at least he had some ability."
"Yeah, now that the textbooks are Gilderoy Lockhart's books, I'm afraid the defense against the dark arts professor has also been replaced by him. If so, then the defense against the dark arts professor really is a buffoon, a total buffoon."
Penelope frowned deeply, criticizing Gilderoy Lockhart without mercy.
Hearing the usually gentle senior speak such merciless words made the Gryffindor trio present freeze for a moment.
Cho Chang clicked her tongue and placed the booklist on the table with disdain.
"It's not that we're speaking ill of him; it's just that this person's reputation is too foul in families with Ravenclaws."
"That's right," Marietta agreed with a nod, "My mom calls him the least Ravenclaw-like Ravenclaw student."
"He's had no ability since his school days and only knows how to brag everywhere; he didn't even manage to succeed with the Levitation Charm, which should be learned in the first year, until the second year."
Penelope spoke of Lockhart's "glorious deeds" with a face full of disdain.
After hearing this, Hermione also looked at the booklist in her hand with a hint of disdain, feeling that the admiration and idolization she had just started to feel...
...was really better off being fed to the dogs. She moved her gaze from the booklist to Amanda, who was standing there unchanged, carefully reading the list.
Hermione had no doubt that in this short time, she had already memorized the booklist from beginning to end.
As expected, Amanda was the impressive one; look at how she could use the Levitation Charm to fight Voldemort in her first year.
Then look at that Lockhart, who only learned the Levitation Charm in his second year... Just as Senior Penelopa said, I really hope this guy doesn't become our defense against the dark arts professor.
As for their conversation, Amanda listened and made quick judgments in her mind.
No book is useless; if you think a book is completely useless, it's because you haven't read it carefully.
Therefore, the books Lockhart wrote must be useful. Amanda put away the booklist; just as she read every book in the Hogwarts Library carefully...
...she would also read Lockhart's books carefully. Even if she couldn't learn any magic, she could learn good vocabulary and sentences, and various writing techniques.
As for whether he would become the Professor, Amanda thought quickly.
That would prove he must have sufficient ability in at least one area; teachers do not make mistakes.
There is always something a student should learn from a teacher; if he really became a Professor, then she would need to listen carefully in class and learn things from him.
At this moment, Amanda didn't know yet that she indeed could learn things from this Professor Lockhart.
It just had nothing to do with magic, but rather how to perform in a play, how to brag about oneself, and how to weave a good story.
After receiving the booklist, the seven Young Wizards, except for Amanda and Harry, all wrote letters home to explain that the booklist had arrived.
That evening, everyone received replies. The parents of Cho Chang, Marietta, Hermione, and Penelope all sent enough money to buy the books.
Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, tactfully asked when they wanted to go to Diagon Alley to buy books, as their family also needed to go early since Ginny was starting at Hogwarts this year.
So they could go to Diagon Alley together.
In reality, Mrs. Weasley was a bit worried about the seven children going to Diagon Alley on their own, even though the security there was decent.
But what if? So the gentle and meticulous Mrs. Weasley wanted to take the children together.
Anyway, her family had many children; what was a few more? More children meant more fun.
The others said there was no problem with this, and Hermione added that if her parents had time, they would also come along.
Hearing Ron and Hermione's words, Amanda couldn't help but think of her own parents.
Worrying about a child... was it that feeling she had experienced before, where the heart felt tightened and the brain felt heavy?
They probably never felt that, she thought without any emotional fluctuation, but suddenly two gentle streams of magic flowed from the watch on her wrist through her entire body.
"You are also a child someone worries about, a child someone loves."
Such a voice abruptly appeared in Amanda's mind.
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