When the summer vacation came to a complete end, the restitution process was finally finished under Hermione's full push.
Electronic files for all items had been established and stored in the databases of the Y Country Muggle World, and the physical items were packed according to their country of origin.
According to contacts from the Y Country Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these physical items would be returned once the respective countries had made the necessary preparations for reception, with the expected time being around Christmas.
This happened to allow Hermione to personally handle the matter during the Christmas holidays.
The preliminary restitution procedure was for Hermione and Amanda to personally board a peace-class sky continent and return all physical items to their respective countries.
Once, Country Y had used its most powerful warships to plunder them from their homelands to this place; they gained trophies but lost their civilization.
And now, Country Y would also use its most powerful warships to send them home, returning trophies they should not have kept, and welcoming back the civilization they should have had.
Regarding this entire restitution plan, the majority of the general public in Country Y was in favor.
These things never belonged to Country Y; they didn't in the past, they don't now, and they truly never would in the future.
Now that Prime Minister Granger had established electronic files for them, it was equivalent to recording past history; returning them on this basis—who could say it wasn't a good thing?
The entire Parliament agreed, and the general public basically had no objections; this matter, which seemed like it would be very difficult to handle, was pushed through by Hermione using thunderous methods.
However, the consequence was that the dark circles under her and Amanda's eyes had clearly become much heavier again.
Although no one opposed the restitution plan, appearances still had to be maintained.
So Amanda and Hermione pulled several all-nighters, working almost non-stop to finalize the detailed flow of the restitution plan. That overtime work once made the minor protection department of the Muggle Government of Country Y unsure whether they should stop them.
Stop them? One was the Prime Minister, and the other was the Prime Minister's greatest backer; every one of them held a higher rank than themselves.
Don't stop them? They were still just sixteen-year-old children; such overtime was a complete violation of regulations.
Ultimately, under the hesitant reminders of that department, Amanda and Hermione reluctantly accepted the suggestion and stopped their overtime work the day before September 1st arrived.
The reason, of course, was that they had already finished all the work they needed to be busy with.
Sitting on the hogwarts express, Amanda slowly flipped through the book in her hand. Regarding the non-stop work of the past few days, she didn't feel any pressure; she was used to it.
Hermione, however, couldn't manage; at this moment, she was leaning on Amanda's shoulder, sleeping soundly.
There was a soft knock on the compartment door. After Amanda softly said 'come in,' Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore pulled the door open and walked in.
"Good afternoon." x2
"Good afternoon, Senior Cho Chang, Senior Marietta," Amanda nodded and said in a low voice.
"The dark circles under yours and Hermione's eyes are so heavy." Cho Chang frowned, walked over, bent down, and looked pityingly at the faces of her two juniors.
The two large dark circles were incredibly prominent on their originally fair and delicate cheeks. Especially Amanda—it had taken a lot of effort to nurse her back to health over the past few years and make the dark circles disappear, so why were they back now?
"Is it because you were busy with the restitution plan?"
Cho Chang raised her hand to gently touch Amanda's dark circles, then withdrew her hand and pulled Marietta Eckmore to sit in the opposite seats.
"Yes," Amanda recalled the overtime of the past few days but still nodded with a smile, "Hermione and I both felt that this matter was better handled sooner than later, the faster it's completed the better, so we worked a bit hard."
"You two are still young, why are you pushing yourselves so hard?" Marietta Eckmore said as she took the book from Amanda's hand. Regardless of how old Amanda and Hermione were, in her eyes, they were juniors who needed her care and concern.
"Why are you still reading? There's still half an hour before the train departs. Including the three minutes on the road, you can still sleep for over half an hour."
"Hurry up and sleep for a bit."
"I'm not..." Before the word 'tired' could come out, Amanda felt the glares from her two seniors. With a gulp, she very sensibly tilted her head, letting her small head rest against Hermione's.
She then closed her eyes and fell into a dreamland almost instantly.
"And she says she's not sleepy." Cho Chang sighed helplessly and glanced at the book her lover was holding that Amanda had been reading: 'The Mysteries of Time: The Mysteries of the Same Timeline and Parallel Universes'.
"Why is this child reading this kind of book?"
Feeling Cho Chang's gaze, Marietta Eckmore placed the book between the two of them, opening it to read with her.
After reading nearly five pages, the hogwarts express slowly started. In thirty minutes, the two of them had actually only read five pages.
One must know that if it were a school textbook, a ten would have to be added in front of that number at least.
However, just looking at these five pages, they already felt waves of headaches and dizziness.
"What on earth is written here?" Marietta Eckmore rubbed her brow with a headache. "The words used are so complicated—something about different situations and different branches creating different parallel worlds."
"Is this even normal English?"
The pain Cho Chang felt at this moment was exactly the same as her lover's; the things written in this book were bizarre.
She didn't understand why Amanda would read this book.
Closing the book, the two girls leaned against each other, looking at the two juniors also leaning together opposite them, both revealing gentle smiles.
Three minutes passed in a flash. When the broadcast sounded, Amanda, who had always been a light sleeper, suddenly opened her eyes.
Her black eyes were full of spirit; if not for the dark circles around them, no one could tell she was someone lacking sleep.
She reached out and gently nudged Hermione, who was resting on her shoulder, calling out softly.
"Hermione, Hermione, we've already arrived at Hogwarts."
"Mmm, mmm..." Hermione hummed a few times in a daze, slowly opened her eyes, and raised a hand to rub them. "Are we there? Hah, okay."
Sitting up to clear her head, Hermione took a deep breath and patted her cheeks to wake up completely.
"Good afternoon, Senior Cho Chang, Senior Marietta."
"Good afternoon, Hermione." The two seniors nodded. Cho Chang handed the book in her hand to Hermione and, without any hesitation, directly snitched on her own junior.
"Hermione, Amanda didn't sleep after getting on the train earlier; she was still reading. She only slept after we took her book away."
Amanda's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Cho Chang, the shock on her face almost overflowing.
Wait? Senior Cho Chang, her dear senior—how could she betray her like that? Wasn't she the senior's most cherished and beloved little junior!
"Thank you for reminding her to sleep, Senior Cho Chang," Hermione took the book with one hand and placed the other on Amanda's waist, giving it a gentle pinch. "Otherwise, someone might have feigned compliance while staying awake~"
If she weren't reluctant to use force, she, Hermione Granger, would have definitely left a bruise on Amanda's waist today.
"I didn't feel tired."
Amanda very sensibly lowered her body, acting spoiled by rubbing the soft top of her head against Hermione's neck. "Wait until you feel tired?" Hermione looked at the spoiled Amanda in her arms and gave a light snort while hugging her. "By the time you feel tired, it'll be too late; you'll be heading to St Mungos."
"I told you not to stay up all night helping me with my overtime."
"That won't do," Amanda denied decisively. "If I don't help Hermione with the overtime, Hermione's workload would be too heavy!"
Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore watched this scene, sighing helplessly and shaking their heads. Fine, neither of these two juniors could talk about the other; they were both equally dedicated to exhausting themselves.
Being held by Hermione as they walked out of the compartment, just as they stood in the corridor of the hogwarts express, a lower-year Hufflepuff girl ran over. She looked up at Amanda with a flushed face and handed her a letter with both hands.
Just as Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at Amanda, and Amanda swallowed nervously, the lower-year Little Badger spoke.
"Senior Lin Yue, Senior Granger, Professor Slughorn asked me to pass this to you. He's inviting you to a banquet he's organizing at noon."
"A banquet organized by Professor Slughorn?" Hermione frowned in confusion.
Amanda, who had researched this Potions Master and their future Potion Class Professor in advance, reacted quickly and took the letter from the lower-year Little Badger with a smile.
"Alright, we've received the letter."
As for whether to go, that would depend on Hermione's thoughts. After all, they had worked overtime for so many days—what if Hermione preferred to go back to the Dormitory to catch up on sleep?
Then they wouldn't go. Given their current strength and abilities, could they not follow their own wishes and be a bit willful in such matters?
Otherwise, what was the point of having this strength and ability?
Amanda opened the invitation letter, took a look, and then handed it to Hermione.
At the same time, she pulled her suitcase toward the train door while introducing him to Hermione.
"This Professor Slughorn is famous for liking to make connections with students he thinks might be successful, cultivating them into his personal network."
"From what I've gathered, many famous people in the Wizarding World have certain connections with him."
"Oh, is that so?" Hermione looked at the letter in her hand and frowned. Liking to make connections with students he thinks will be successful?
Then what about those students whose studies or other aspects are slightly worse? This utilitarianism and discriminatory attitude made Hermione instinctively feel a bit of repulsion.
How could Amanda, who knew Hermione best, not know what she was thinking? She reached out and hugged Hermione's waist.
Amanda chuckled and turned her head to kiss the corner of her lips. "Professor Slughorn is indeed a bit utilitarian, but he is also very conscientious toward ordinary students; he isn't the type of Professor who is completely irresponsible."
"Furthermore, when Voldemort and the Death Eaters were powerful last time, Professor Slughorn was also at Hogwarts; he would protect the students."
Overall, although Professor Slughorn was somewhat utilitarian, he was ultimately a qualified Professor.
"Alright, in that case, let's go over there."
Hermione shrugged, folded the letter, and put it into her wizard robe pocket. Anyway, if they felt unhappy there, they could leave at any time.
No one could stop them.
Stepping off the hogwarts express, Amanda, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore got into a carriage together. The two boys, Harry and Ron, ran over from not far away and jumped onto the carriage, and Luna followed with a bit of realization in her eyes.
After greeting each other, Cho Chang looked at everyone present and said sentimentally.
"Everyone's here, just missing Senior Penelope."
Penelope graduated last year, so she naturally didn't come to Hogwarts again this year.
"Sometimes encounters between people happen unexpectedly."
Luna said in an ethereal voice, turning her head to look at the distant Hogwarts Castle.
Amanda, hearing the implication in Luna's words, blinked and also looked back at Hogwarts Castle.
So Senior Penelope stayed at the school to teach? Then when they meet again, they really should congratulate her properly.
Jumping off the carriage with Hermione, the two greeted everyone and prepared to head to the location of Professor Slughorn's banquet.
"Wait for me, I have to go too." Harry quickly followed. Hermione slapped her forehead in realization.
"How could I forget? the boy who lived, the savior—he's definitely someone Professor Slughorn would invite."
"Hermione..." Harry rolled his eyes weakly. "I'm right next to you, I can hear you."
Amanda and Hermione looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding.
Watching the silent interaction between the two girls, Harry complained, "What savior? When that name came out, you two didn't help me stop it."
"We didn't come up with that," Hermione raised her hands to show her innocence. "It's a new title everyone in the British Wizarding World gave you; it wasn't set by us at the Ministry of Magic."
"It's just that as the fame of your title grew, The Daily Prophet eventually adopted it."
"That's right," Amanda spread her hands, her gaze toward Harry carrying a bit of pity, "not only that, after your story spread to the Muggle World..."
"A large portion of people in the Muggle World also started calling you the savior. Additionally, you are now a synonym for a strong child in the Muggle World."
"As far as I know, quite a few parents use you as a role model when educating their children."
"What?!"
A cry of surprise escaped his lips. Harry looked at Amanda and felt completely numb.
Didn't he just go to stay at The Burrow for a while at the end of summer? He just hadn't been in contact with the Muggle World for that short time—what on earth happened there? Why would Muggles know his story!
And it didn't matter what they called him; it was just a title, Harry didn't care too much.
The key was, why use him as a role model to educate children? Wouldn't Amanda or Hermione be more suitable role models than him?
Harry didn't think he had ever been a standard good child; he had lied, caused trouble, used bad language, and copied homework—he'd done it all. Using him as a role model would lead children astray.
"Oh, Harry, after all, the Wizarding World and the Muggle World are going to merge," Hermione gave Harry a look that said 'you understand,' "and you're a celebrity in the Wizarding World, so in one of the issues of The Daily Prophet sold to the Muggle World, they wrote a column about you."
"And your experiences from childhood until now very much highlight your resilience, kindness, and friendliness, so it naturally became a role model for parents when educating their children."
Amanda picked up where Hermione left off. As for why this role model wasn't her or Hermione... perhaps it was because they truly weren't examples that ordinary children could follow?
Harry 'The Role Model for Muggles to Use When Educating Children' Potter only felt his vision go dark. "The Daily Prophet... didn't publish my photo, did they?"
This was his final shred of dignity; this was truly too much of a social death.
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