Amanda had long ago conducted a deep analysis of Voldemort's personality; he was arrogant, complacent, and supercilious.
It was conceivable that, as the Dark Lord, he would hold an attitude of contempt or hostility toward Defense Against the Dark Arts. So why would he proactively ask to become the defense against the dark arts professor?
Amanda felt that she couldn't believe there wasn't some sort of problem hidden within this.
Seeing that she was clearly deep in thought, Cho Chang, who had originally intended to ask for her opinion on the curse Voldemort had laid, temporarily withdrew her question.
So, where exactly did the problem lie in Voldemort wanting to become the defense against the dark arts professor?
Amanda looked toward the Staff Table. Headmaster Dumbledore had finished introducing the faculty changes for this school year, and the Sorting Ceremony for new students had begun.
One by one, the eleven-year-old Young Wizards walked up to the Staff Table and were assigned to the house that suited them best under the arrangement of the Sorting Hat.
For those freshmen who joined Ravenclaw House, the older students, as always, first introduced them to Amanda—the darling of everyone in Ravenclaw House.
Amanda smiled gently and nodded to the freshmen. This time, whether the Young Wizards were from the Wizarding World or the Muggle World, they all recognized her. The Young Wizards waved to her in greeting, their faces filled with trust and reliance.
Similarly, many Young Wizards looked toward Hermione as soon as they sat down.
Young Wizards from both the Muggle World and the Wizarding World knew that their guardians—the ones fighting for them in various hidden places—were Hermione and Amanda, two seniors who were only five years older than them.
The Sorting Ceremony ended, and the Start-of-Term Feast officially began. Amanda turned back and picked up her knife and fork, beginning to enjoy her dinner at a leisurely pace.
While she was enjoying her dinner, Cho Chang leaned over and asked curiously, "Amanda, what were you thinking about just now?"
For it to make Amanda think for so long, it certainly wasn't a small matter.
Amanda swallowed the mashed potatoes in her mouth, turned to Cho Chang, and said, "Based on personality and character analysis, the probability that Voldemort truly wanted to be the defense against the dark arts professor is very small."
"Then why did he come to Hogwarts to seek the defense against the dark arts professor position from Headmaster Dumbledore?" Hermione also turned to join the conversation, and Marietta Eckmore leaned closer to Cho Chang to ensure she could hear everyone clearly.
Amanda frowned slightly, attempting to analyze Voldemort's objective. "According to behavioral deduction, the fact that Voldemort came to Hogwarts to apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position proves that the goal of this action could only be achieved at Hogwarts."
"It cannot be ruled out that he wanted to instill some of his ideas into more Young Wizards, hence the possibility of applying at Hogwarts. However, according to Voldemort's personality, this possibility is less than five percent and can basically be ignored."
"Extending further to more possibilities, starting from things Voldemort might have cared about at the time... based on the timeline, there are two possibilities. First, Headmaster Dumbledore—a Wizard powerful enough to potentially interfere with his future plans."
"But considering that Headmaster Dumbledore is not someone Voldemort could easily kill, and that Headmaster Dumbledore is still alive and well today, the possibility that Voldemort falsely applied to Hogwarts to deal with Headmaster Dumbledore is completely excluded."
"At the same time, the second thing Voldemort might care about: his Horcruxes. If Voldemort came to Hogwarts to falsely apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for the sake of his Horcruxes, it can be further subdivided into two possibilities."
"First, something he wanted to use as a Horcrux was at Hogwarts. Second, he wanted to hide a Horcrux somewhere in Hogwarts."
"In the first case, the known Horcruxes of Voldemort are: the Gaunt family ring, destroyed; Voldemort's diary, destroyed; the giant snake Nagini, dealt with; and the Hufflepuff cup, destroyed. That makes four Horcruxes so far."
"Considering that seven is recognized in the Wizarding World as the most magical number, there is a ninety-two percent chance that Voldemort has seven Horcruxes. Of the remaining three, one is known to be Harry himself. The other two, based on deduction, are most likely items belonging to the Founders—namely, the diadem of ravenclaw and the locket of Slytherin."
"Since the resurrection stone ring was inherited by the Gaunt family, it can be inferred that the Slytherin locket was also inherited by the Gaunt family. Therefore, it couldn't have been at Hogwarts to begin with, but it cannot be ruled out that Voldemort hid it within Hogwarts after turning it into a Horcrux."
"Thus, taking everything into account, the most likely scenario can be summarized as: Voldemort hid either the diadem of ravenclaw or the locket of Slytherin—or perhaps both—within Hogwarts."
As Amanda finished her analysis, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore felt as though a brand-new possibility had opened up before them.
Yes, it was very likely that Voldemort had hidden a Horcrux at Hogwarts. "So the question now is, where did Voldemort hide his Horcrux?"
Hermione spoke as she pondered, and both Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore nodded in agreement beside her.
Amanda deliberated for a moment. Her gaze inadvertently swept over Headmaster Dumbledore at the Staff Table, and she felt a sudden jolt in her mind as a possibility occurred to her.
"Voldemort's character is arrogant and conceited—arrogant and conceited in every aspect."
She spoke rapidly, the light in her eyes growing brighter. "This arrogance can even be assumed to extend to Hogwarts itself!"
"Voldemort attended Hogwarts for seven years and claimed to be the Heir of Slytherin," though in reality he was indeed a descendant of a cadet branch of the Slytherin line. "Then he would undoubtedly believe that his understanding of this Castle is deeper than anyone else's."
"Deeper than Headmaster Dumbledore, deeper than Professor McGonagall, deeper than any other Professor. So, where are the secret places in Hogwarts?"
"Um, the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets?" Marietta Eckmore tentatively suggested a location.
Amanda nodded. "That is indeed a secret place, but there is no Horcrux there."
Otherwise, Headmaster Dumbledore should have discovered the Horcrux there and destroyed it during their Second Year.
"The Room of Requirement?"
Hermione followed Amanda's train of thought. Regarding secret places, she naturally thought of the Room of Requirement.
That place presented different scenes to people with different needs; it was simply too perfect for hiding things.
"It is indeed possible," Amanda said with certainty.
"Then shall we check the Room of Requirement next?" Cho Chang suggested.
"Okay." x4
The four girls unanimously decided to focus their attention on the Room of Requirement. In a place they couldn't see, Rowena and Helga were currently watching their dear daughter and her friends discuss matters with smiles on their faces.
Reaching out to put her arm around Helga's waist, Rowena gave a soft snort. "These little ones really don't seek our help at all."
If they only asked her and Helga, she could take the diadem out of the Room of Requirement and give it to them right now.
How could she not know where her own diadem was?
However, "This Voldemort is truly seeking death. It's one thing to tamper with Salazar's things, but to dare tamper with your things, Helga... he truly deserves to die."
Rowena gnashed her teeth in anger, her elegant and beautiful face filled with an expression of resentment.
She didn't mind her own things or Salazar's things so much, but for Helga's things—that Voldemort really had some nerve!
"Oh, it's nothing," Helga waved her hand dismissively, reaching out to gently stroke Rowena's back to help her partner calm down. "It's just a cup for drinking water; there's a whole set back at Hufflepuff Manor."
The world thought Helga Hufflepuff's golden cup was some incredible treasure, but in reality, it was just the cup Helga used for drinking water back then, nothing more.
As for why it was left in the outside world, it seemed to be because she had accidentally left it somewhere while drinking water outside once, Helga thought reflectively.
In the chaotic era of the Middle Ages, even a Wizard of Helga's level had to bring their own drinking and eating utensils when going out, guarding strictly against any possibility of being poisoned.
"On the other hand, your diadem was actually ruined by Voldemort as well."
Helga snorted coldly, clearly also extremely dissatisfied with the fact that Voldemort had tampered with her partner's belongings.
"It's just a useless headpiece," Rowena shrugged indifferently. "The world even legends that it has some effect on increasing wisdom; even my silly adopted daughter of a student actually believed it."
"Heh, if a diadem could increase human wisdom, then why would humans bother to study so hard? How foolish."
"Speaking of that adopted daughter of yours, don't you plan to go see her?"
Helga turned to look at Rowena, remembering how Helena was all alone in the world when she first entered the school.
Rowena saw her pity and, since she had entered Ravenclaw House, Rowena adopted Helena to better protect her from Muggle harm during the holidays.
After that, Helena grew up thinking Rowena's diadem could truly bring wisdom and secretly took it away.
Yet the truth was very simple: that diadem was just a headpiece Rowena liked very much, nothing more.
"There's no need," Rowena shook her head. "She doesn't need my protection now. Meeting would only be awkward for everyone; it's better not to meet."
Besides, she had a daughter of her own now. Although she didn't blame Helena, she ultimately wanted to let the past stay in the past.
"You're right." Helga nodded, watching Amanda, Hermione, and the others schedule their mission to find the hidden Horcrux in the Room of Requirement for the weekend.
Of course, they also planned to call Harry, Ron, and Penelope. Many hands make light work; with three more people, they might find the Horcrux three minutes earlier.
The abundance of the Start-of-Term Feast left the Young Wizards of Hogwarts eating to their hearts' content.
Having eaten and drunk their fill, they each returned to their dormitories. After showering, Amanda leaned against the bed to read. Hermione followed soon after, naturally lying down beside her while drying her hair, then turned over to hug Amanda's waist.
Amanda looked down at Hermione hugging her waist, closed her book, and gently hugged her back.
The two girls, who had been working hard and doing overtime for several days straight, fell into a dreamland in each other's arms as soon as their hair was dry.
The next morning, Amanda and Hermione woke up early and opened the Dormitory window. Flocks of Owls flew in, placing various official documents that needed processing and files that needed auditing onto Amanda's desk.
Hermione and Amanda sat at the desk, cooperating to quickly process these documents while chatting with each other.
"It's really hard on those government workers in the Muggle World; they even have to adapt to sending mail by Owl."
"They should get used to it after a few days." Amanda handed her processed documents to Hermione. Hermione scanned them, made some additions, and signed her name; their cooperation was seamless.
When processing the next document, Amanda raised an eyebrow and pushed the file in front of Hermione. "Someone still dares to play little tricks."
"Hmm?"
Hermione responded inquisitively, leaning over to look at the document Amanda had handed her.
"A handwritten document, submitted through the direct-to-prime minister channel."
After taking office as the Muggle prime minister, one of the first things Hermione did was set up a direct-to-prime minister channel where anyone could write to her about anything.
As long as the situation inside was verified as true, she would help handle the matter.
Furthermore, Hermione had directly replaced the staff of the prime minister's direct channel with alchemy dolls, eliminating any possibility of letters being intercepted.
The issue this person wanted to report was that the factory where he worked had failed to raise wages according to her latest requirements and had even defaulted on wages.
After several failed attempts to get a response, he could only write to Hermione for help.
In the letter, the person's words were earnest, with every line filled with a longing for help. At the end of the letter, he specifically mentioned that he was very sorry for bothering Prime Minister Granger and adding to her workload.
"This isn't him adding to my workload," Hermione narrowed her eyes. "It's those people bullying the common folk who are adding to my workload."
Placing the letter on the table, Hermione stood up and directly put on her wizard robe. Amanda also quickly rose and donned hers, without much need for communication.
With a shared understanding, Amanda took Hermione's arm and brought her along as she instantly disappeared from the spot via Apparition.
They had long ago emphasized that they were Wizards and could use Apparition—especially Amanda, whose Apparition was even stronger than that of ordinary Wizards.
So, if there was any problem anywhere, they could go and inspect it without giving anyone a chance to cover it up.
Reappearing on a main street, Amanda and Hermione strode toward the factory mentioned in the letter.
"If the contents of the letter are true, I will definitely carry out a massive overhaul of this factory's management, including the relevant local officials."
Hermione said bluntly. Amanda nodded beside her. "I think it might be necessary to convene a nationwide conference to gather all the bosses and factory owners and have a good talk with them, to prevent them from having any more fluke mentalities."
"Yes, I agree," Hermione nodded. "The sooner the better. How about tomorrow night? Give them all a day to get to London."
"That's enough time," Amanda calculated in her head and nodded. "Let's make it tomorrow night."
"Mm." Hermione responded softly, giving a slight smile to the security guard at the factory gate, and pushed open the factory doors amidst the man's startled and stunned gaze.
---------------------------------
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.