[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
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"Oh ,Dear Headmistress Ossena, I have arrived safely at Hogwarts and completed my enrollment, All is well, Please let Sister Karina know I am fine~ With love, Amanda Merlin ."
Pansy said in a shrill voice.
"Hey, your dear Muggle orphanage director! Let me guess, you usually pick food out of the trash, don't you? And you only bathe once a year?"
Perhaps her tone was too amusing, because several students couldn't hold back their laughter.
Amanda stood up and reached out her hand.
"Give it back to me."
She spoke each word with a dark expression, her face clouded like a storm.
Pansy stuck out her tongue and dashed to the podium.
"Huh? The Muggle orphan is angry? No, no! Who would give it back to you…"
She seemed so eager to make Amanda look like a fool that she didn't care how foolish she appeared herself.
"Really? I hope you don't regret it."
Amanda looked at her as though she were already dead.
Because, it seemed, Pansy was the only one who hadn't noticed, Professor McGonagall had just entered the classroom and was standing directly behind her.
She frowned severely, her voice trembling with anger.
"Miss Parkinson, would you care to explain what you're doing?"
Pansy jumped in fright, quickly hiding the letter behind her back, guilt written on her face.
"Professor McGonagall, I was only joking with… Amanda."
But McGonagall was not so easily fooled.
"Return the letter to Miss Merlin and apologize to her."
"Sorry, I was wrong."
Pansy spoke quickly and insincerely, glaring at Amanda as she handed the letter back.
"Five points from Slytherin. Though I don't like taking points from you in your very first class at Hogwarts, I hope this serves as a warning, Miss Parkinson."
The Slytherin students in their seats looked at Pansy with clear resentment.
After all, this was only the first class of the new term, and Slytherin had already lost five points. Five points!
Their hearts ached.
Professor McGonagall watched Pansy return to her seat and said firmly:
"If anyone misbehaves in my classroom again, I will send them out, and they will never be allowed back."
Pansy stiffened.
Once everyone was settled, Professor McGonagall did not ask them to open their textbooks, nor did she begin explaining theory. Instead, she transformed her mahogany desk into a pink pig.
The students gasped in admiration.
Harry chuckled softly, for the pig reminded him of his cousin Dudley.
Draco whispered, "Harry, if you keep eating like you do every day, Professor McGonagall will turn you into a pig."
Harry paled slightly, clearly considering the possibility.
With a wave of her wand, McGonagall returned the desk to its original form.
"This is one of the most advanced transfiguration techniques, changing objects into animals. It takes a great deal of practice to reach this level..."
Harry sighed in disappointment.
"Amanda, I only hope you can learn quickly and turn Dudley into a pig as soon as possible."
Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"I don't want to end up in Azkaban."
"But turning him into a pig doesn't seem to break any wizarding laws."
Draco said this seriously to Harry.
They then filled several pages with complex notes, mostly McGonagall speaking while they wrote frantically.
The pace of her teaching was undeniably fast. Even Amanda barely had time to finish writing before McGonagall was already moving on.
Then, each of them was given a matchstick. Their task: turn it into a needle.
"Vera Verto!"
The classroom was filled with the sound of transfiguration spells.
Blaise Zabini, sitting in front of them, shouted the incantation louder than anyone else, sweat dripping down his face, though he insisted it was just because of the heat.
Harry and Draco tried their best, but their matchsticks remained unchanged.
After his twentieth attempt, Harry dropped his wand in exhaustion.
"Merlin's beard, I'm beginning to think transfiguration is a scam. It's obviously just a matchstick, how could it turn into a needle? That doesn't even follow the laws of physics!"
"Amanda, why aren't you practicing?"
Draco glanced at Amanda. In the whole room, she was the only one not casting the spell, she hadn't even taken out her wand.
Instead, she was carefully rereading her notes, trying to understand every line.
"First, you must fully understand the object being transformed, its size, shape, properties and imagine the connection between the two..."
"Amanda, if you don't try soon, the class will end."
Harry urged, more anxious than Amanda herself.
"I just wanted to see if anyone could actually manage to turn a matchstick into a needle, so I'd know it wasn't just a dream."
Amanda smiled lightly.
"No rush."
She read the final line:
"The precision of the wand's movement must be extremely exact, related to the size of the object being transformed..."
After double-checking her notes to ensure nothing was missing, she finally lifted her wand.
"Vera Verto"
The round head of the match shrank rapidly, a hole appearing at its center. The wooden stick grew thinner and thinner until it gleamed silver.
Though the other end wasn't as sharp as a real needle, it was unmistakably a needle.
Professor McGonagall looked at Amanda and gave the first smile of the entire class.
"Very well done, Miss Merlin."
She held up the needle Amanda had produced and then demonstrated the spell herself.
…
"Perhaps I have no magical talent... I'm afraid I'll fail all my exams."
Harry complained miserably after class.
Amanda reassured him.
"It's all right. We still have our SO team."
The SO Group, that was the name Amanda had given their study skills alliance.
"S" stood for study, while "O" represented the most ideal outcome, outstanding.
Harry's interest returned immediately.
"By the way, how did you manage to turn the matchstick into a needle so quickly? Professor, I really want to learn!"
"I still have things to do. Meet me in the common room tonight. And don't forget your mission."
Amanda reminded him.
Although the first-years only had one class in the morning, she still had matters to attend to before lunch in the Great Hall.
"I'm going to the Owlery," Draco said. "Want to come with me?"
"No, I don't think I have anyone to write to, and no one to write to me," Harry said, spreading his hands.
"Amanda, don't you have a letter to deliver?"
…
The Owlery was at the very top of the West Tower. A narrow spiral staircase wound its way upward, leading to the circular room.
"Actually... I've always known Pansy has feelings for me. I understand why she's been watching you and Harry so closely."
Draco spoke suddenly as he walked behind Amanda. He seemed to have been burdened by this thought for some time.
Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"The way she expresses her affection is so obvious. If you still don't understand, then you're either a fool, or you're pretending not to."
"I'm sorry. I've always put the interests of the Malfoy family above everything else. That's why I didn't act sooner."
Draco's lips had grown pale, and it was clear he was in great pain.
Amanda replied evenly, "That's not quite what I mean."
"The most permanent way to solve a problem... is to address the problem itself."
"You understand me."
Draco stopped slowly on the spiral stairs, his lips drained of all color.
"Amanda, I don't think you're that kind of person."
"I've always treated Pansy like a younger sister. When she was little, she once played with fire and set her hair ablaze, and I poured a basin of water over her head. Another time, she accidentally ate hellebore..."
Draco began recounting fragments of their childhood.
"But her attitude toward me changed last year. When I realized, I tried my best to avoid her, but she wouldn't notice."
"...Until she saw another girl at my side."
Finally, he added, "Pansy is still very young. Her family dotes on her, so she's become... a little unbalanced."
Growing anxious, Draco revealed everything.
Amanda turned back with an innocent smile.
"Draco, what exactly are you thinking?"
His pale gray eyes flickered with rare confusion.
"Huh?"
"I'm simply saying that if she doesn't study hard and keeps wasting time bullying others, she'll be expelled from Hogwarts sooner or later."
Amanda stepped forward, the heel of her Oxford shoe making a dull sound against the stone. Several owls stirred above them, startled, and fluttered between the rafters.
She had nothing to do with Pansy and Draco, she only hoped their drama wouldn't interfere with her own life.
After all, there were so many other things waiting for her.
Draco hurried after her, his tone rising slightly.
"You're right. I should have a serious talk with Pansy, and write to her parents to try to restrain her behavior."
Amanda circled the Owlery until she spotted Bertha resting in a carved alcove in the wall.
The owl had folded her wings and was sleeping soundly in a nest of straw.
Amanda quietly placed her letter at her side. Bertha opened one eye, glanced at her, and flapped her wings in approval.
"Amanda, come and look at my Dragun!"
Draco called out from across the room, his voice filled with irrepressible excitement.
Dragun was the eagle owl Draco often bragged about. Amanda could hardly describe it except to note its enormous head and body.
"My goodness! What's that? An eagle owl? Amazing!"
Neville exclaimed in surprise as he entered the Owlery.
Clearly, his reaction pleased Dragun. The owl spread its wings, nearly a meter across, and gazed down at him proudly with glassy yellow eyes.
"Neville Longbottom?"
Amanda recognized him as the boy who had been searching for his toad on the train.
"Ah... you're Amanda Merlin and Draco Malfoy?"
Neville had probably overheard a good deal of gossip in the past two days. When he saw them, he stepped back nervously.
"Are you here to send a letter as well?"
Amanda's sharp eyes caught sight of something hidden behind his back.
Neville shook his head quickly, his face red.
"No, nothing, nothing at all, don't worry about it."
"There's no need to be afraid of us. You're in Gryffindor, aren't you? Show some courage."
Draco stroked Dragun's brown feathers with satisfaction. Neville's compliment had clearly flattered him as much as the owl.
Neville hesitated, glancing at them as if to make sure they wouldn't hex him the moment he turned around, then hurriedly attached a letter to a school owl.
Amanda called after him as he was about to leave.
"Neville, would you be interested in joining our SO group?"
"Uh, sorry, what was that?"
Neville was already on edge, his body tilted toward the exit.
"It's short for Study Skills Sharing Group. The purpose is to help every member find the most effective and convenient way to achieve a grade at the end of term."
Neville's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
But his gaze flickered between Draco and Amanda, as if recalling the rumors about them.
He descended the stairs nervously, muttering, "I'll think about it when I have time."
"You actually invited Neville to join our group? He..."
Draco shook his head.
"He's an idiot, universally acknowledged as one of the least talented wizards. Before he was eight, everyone thought he was a Squib."
Amanda shook her head as well.
"Magic isn't just about casting spells. Everyone has strengths, and I'm sure Neville does too."
Though she said this to Draco, Amanda admitted to herself that if she didn't already know Neville would later excel at Herbology and even become its professor, she might have shared Draco's doubts.
Then she added.
"Even if he isn't outstanding at anything, he's still a perfect test subject. If our method works for him, we'll prove it can work for almost anyone."
Draco couldn't deny her logic.
"You really have thought of everything."
He spoke softly as they left the West Tower.
"You know... before I met you, I always thought I was the best."
Amanda smiled.
She sensed vaguely that Draco's demeanor had shifted in some indescribable way over the past month.
"I used to be arrogant, conceited, and pretentious. I looked down on everyone, loved ordering people around, forming cliques, stirring up conflict... But after meeting you, I've slowly started seeing myself more clearly."
"I'm still far from a worthy heir to the Malfoy name. I've always treated my father as a role model, but..."
"I've only ever relied on the Malfoy reputation."
Draco spoke bitterly.
"Amanda, you're exceptional. I hope one day I can walk beside you as your equal."
Amanda patted his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.
"Why didn't I notice you were so talkative before?"
"But thank you."
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