Having spent six years with Harry, even if she couldn't analyze micro-expressions or perform personality-driven behavioral analysis like Amanda, Hermione could still basically guess his thoughts just by looking at his expression.
Harry was basically destined to never use that spell, Hermione thought, though it wasn't certain; if one day Harry were pushed to his limit by a Death Eater, he might indeed use magic he never even imagined he could.
Anyway, that textbook filled with Professor Snape's Potion notes was kept by Harry.
And in the several Potion Classes that followed, it earned him praise from Professor Slughorn.
Ron expressed envy at this, but he resolutely refused to look at that potions book; that way, if Professor Snape found out later, he shouldn't be blamed, right?
He hadn't even touched the book, so he couldn't be the one blamed.
"Amanda, Hermione, look what I found," Harry said as he flipped to the very first page of the potions book, pointing to a very small name: the Half-Blood Prince.
"Do you think this name could be Professor Snape?"
"Shh."
Amanda quickly raised a finger, signaling Harry to be quiet.
"Harry, I think if Professor Snape finds out you know this."
Pointing her finger at the name of the Half-Blood Prince, Amanda raised an eyebrow. "You'll definitely be in big trouble, the really bad kind."
"Alright, alright," Harry slowly closed the book. "I—I don't know anything."
He turned and walked slowly toward the Gryffindor Table; Hermione shook her head helplessly as she watched his back.
"Sigh, boys." They always manage to find the path that isn't fatal but is the most dangerous.
"But the name Half-Blood Prince..." Hermione muttered under her breath, turning to look at Professor Snape at the Staff Table.
"It really does seem like you can see that Professor Snape lacked self-confidence when he was young?"
Using such a name to boost his own prestige, Hermione felt her analysis was likely correct.
Amanda also looked toward Professor Snape and pursed her lips. According to the book she had read earlier introducing Pure-blood families, Professor Snape's mother came from a Potion-making family, the Prince family.
But this lady from the Prince family married a Muggle, and after that, there were no records at all.
Even Professor Snape's name was likely only added to the book after he became the world's youngest Potions Master.
And the book didn't even mention his father's name, only saying he was a Muggle.
A Wizard paired with a Muggle, plus Professor Snape's current personality, it was certain that his childhood wasn't pleasant.
What Hermione said just now was also correct; Professor Snape likely lacked confidence while simultaneously craving status and power, which is why he gave himself the nickname Half-Blood Prince.
It symbolized status while also symbolizing his own power.
Analyzing from this perspective, it wasn't hard to judge why Professor Snape was enticed by Voldemort to become a Death Eater.
Although the current reports say that Professor Snape had long since received a mission from Headmaster Dumbledore to go undercover among the Death Eaters.
But Amanda keenly felt something was fishy; based on Professor Snape's daily behavior and personality, he wasn't the type of Wizard who would agree to help Headmaster Dumbledore and become a mole without any reason.
So the correct past should be that Professor Snape was enticed by Voldemort to join the Death Eaters, and later, for some reason, he turned to Headmaster Dumbledore and became a mole planted inside the Death Eaters.
However, the specific reason that prompted Professor Snape's change was unknown; with too little information, it was hard for Amanda to analyze a result.
But it was certain that the current rumors were false, spread by Headmaster Dumbledore to protect Professor Snape.
"My darling, stop thinking and eat first." Hermione looked at Amanda, who had clearly entered a state of deep thought, smiled and shook her head, then nudged her to eat.
"Mm." Hearing Hermione call her darling, Amanda instinctively responded, then blushed and quickly lowered her head to take a big bite of fried sausage.
Resting her chin on her hand and watching Amanda eat sausage, Hermione couldn't help but show a happy smile.
Being able to quietly watch her lover like this was a kind of happiness.
A week passed in a flash, especially for Amanda, who felt time flying after starting various advanced classes.
While the total number of advanced classes was fewer than the original classes, what used to be one session a week for various subjects now became several advanced sessions a week.
It made the Young Wizards who just entered their sixth year feel a bit disoriented, often mistaking one week for several.
When the pleasant weekend arrived, Amanda, Hermione, Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, Harry, Ron, and Senior Penelope gathered once again in front of the Room of Requirement.
"Congratulations, Senior Penelope, on becoming a teaching assistant at Hogwarts." Harry and Ron politely congratulated Senior Penelope; this was the first time they had seen her up close since the start of the school year.
She was a teaching assistant for the lower-grade Charms Class, so her usual schedule and timing were basically different from theirs.
Naturally, the chances for everyone to meet were very few.
As for Marietta Eckmore and Cho Chang, they had already congratulated Senior Penelope on the first day of school.
Amanda and Hermione had also gone to Senior Penelope's office early on to express their blessings.
After all, they were all girls, so it was more convenient for them to go to Senior Penelope's place.
Unlike Harry and Ron, the two boys, who had to pay more attention to social distancing.
"Thank you for your blessings," Senior Penelope nodded with a smile. "I'm so glad I could come back to Hogwarts and spend another year with all of you."
She said this because Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore were about to enter their seventh year, after which they would graduate.
Pulling out her wand to get ready, Senior Penelope tucked her hair behind her ear with one hand. "Being able to act with you all again really excites me."
"How could we leave you out, Senior Penelope?" Amanda shrugged. "You're our most reliable senior."
"Oh, stop it," Senior Penelope shook her head with a laugh. "We all know the most reliable one here is you."
"Alright, tell us what we're doing today."
As Senior Penelope finished speaking, Harry and Ron also quickly drew their wands.
They looked so alert, as if a crowd of Death Eaters would appear the moment the Room of Requirement door opened.
"No need to be so nervous," Amanda signaled Senior Penelope and the others to relax. "We're just here to see if a Horcrux is really hidden in the Room of Requirement."
"If there really is one," a hint of coldness flashed across Amanda's face, "then we'll destroy it."
"A Horcrux in the Room of Requirement?" Harry frowned, but they had been there many times before and never found any Horcrux.
But he quickly found the answer himself.
Of course they couldn't find it before; the Room of Requirement turns into different rooms based on different needs, and their need wasn't to hide a Horcrux, so how could they encounter the room used for hiding one?
"I think there will be," Amanda nodded to Harry. "With Voldemort's personality, it's very likely he hid something here."
"To prove he is the Heir of Slytherin, that he knows all the secrets of Hogwarts Castle, and to prove that there are some places and things that good people like Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall would never think of."
"That's just because they are too noble and unwilling to think that way." Cho Chang snorted with her arms crossed. It's not that they couldn't think of it; how could Headmaster Dumbledore not think of something Voldemort could? It's just a matter of whether they are willing to.
"But how are we supposed to find the room where Voldemort hid the Horcrux? The Room of Requirement is ever-changing; who knows what kind of room he hid it in."
Hearing Harry's question, Amanda explained unhurriedly, "Voldemort wanted to hide a Horcrux; that was his need. The Room of Requirement would see that need in his heart and then fulfill it."
It was that simple, so checking if Voldemort hid a Horcrux here only required one thing: finding a place to hide things.
Taking a deep breath, Amanda cleared her mind of other thoughts and walked back and forth three times outside the door of the Room of Requirement.
Thinking constantly in her mind, "I need a place to hide things, I need a place to hide things, I need a place to hide things..."
After the three thoughts passed through her mind, Amanda looked again, and an ancient door appeared before her.
Walking to the door, Amanda turned back to the other six people. "I estimate the Horcrux in the Room of Requirement will likely be the diadem of ravenclaw or the locket of slytherin."
"So if anyone encounters these two things, please, please do not touch them. Call me over to handle it."
Hermione and the other five immediately nodded in agreement, and only then did Amanda turn and push open the ancient door.
With a soft sound, dust billowed up. Amanda lightly flicked her finger, and a powerful Hurricane Curse immediately swept away the surrounding dust.
Hermione and the others followed Amanda into the Room of Requirement and were immediately shocked by the scene inside.
It was like a junk warehouse, piled with all sorts of contraband; there was almost nothing you couldn't find, only things you couldn't imagine.
Walking and looking deep into the room, Amanda's gaze quickly swept over everything. She saw several extremely dangerous Potions and even many... poorly graded exam papers.
To this, Amanda could only express understanding. After all, no one wants their bad grades to be known; hiding these low-score papers was understandable.
After entering the Room of Requirement, the seven of them split up with tacit cooperation. Even though the room was ridiculously large, with seven people, it didn't take long to search everywhere.
During the search, they constantly found things like diadems and pendants.
However, they were all ruled out after Amanda rushed over to cast detection spells to confirm.
Those weren't Voldemort's Horcruxes. Although there were indeed some Dark Arts items, they were far inferior to a Horcrux.
But those confirmed to be Dark Arts items were also destroyed by Amanda along the way.
Since they were Dark Arts items, rather than leaving them there to potentially harm someone, it was better to destroy them to eliminate future trouble.
Finally, hard work paid off. After a long search, Hermione called out, "Amanda, there's a diadem here, come see if it's the one."
Hearing this, Amanda quickly turned and ran toward Hermione. Climbing over a "mountain" of junk, she leaped and used the Levitation Charm to land steadily.
"Hermione, step back first." Amanda reached out to protect Hermione and made her retreat, while she drew her wand and stepped forward slowly, casting a detection spell.
As a thick black mist rose from the diadem, Amanda's face instantly became more serious and cautious.
"Found it!"
She shouted loudly, and the five people searching in other directions quickly ran over.
"Found it?" Harry, the first to arrive, looked ahead of Amanda and Hermione, where a seemingly ordinary diadem was placed.
"This is the diadem of ravenclaw?" Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore also arrived quickly. As students of Ravenclaw House, they looked at the diadem before them with curiosity.
If they hadn't known it was a Horcrux, the two of them really would have been curious enough to want to touch it.
After all, it was the legendary diadem that could grant wisdom.
"Legend has it that the diadem of ravenclaw can grant wisdom." Just as they thought this, Ron's voice came from behind.
Senior Penelope also ran over from another direction at the same time. Amanda shrugged with her back to the six of them, clearly responding to Ron's words.
"A diadem cannot bring wisdom to humans; only learning can."
"Yeah, that's why people in both the Wizarding World and the Muggle World say fairy tales are for kids. Reality is just that cruel; knowledge will never automatically jump into my head." Ron clicked his tongue and said jokingly.
Hearing Ron's words behind her, Amanda slowly raised her wand at the diadem. The next moment, golden flames erupted from the tip of the wand, hitting the diadem with extreme precision.
"Aah!!!"
Accompanied by a piercing scream, the diadem began to burn. The six people present, except for Amanda, all covered their ears.
The golden flames continuously scorched the diadem, quickly destroying the black soul within. After one last scream, the diadem vanished into nothingness, and the golden flames instantly extinguished without affecting anything nearby.
Putting away her wand, Amanda looked thoughtfully at where the diadem had been. So now, Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes were only the locket of slytherin and Harry himself.
So, where on earth could the locket be?
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