The Weasley Twins proved with facts that what they said about being worth every kind of candy in Honeydukes Sweetshop really meant every single kind.
While they brought back snacks for all of Gryffindor, they even placed two of every single type of candy found in Honeydukes Sweetshop in front of Amanda, not even leaving out the cockroach clusters.
Although there weren't many of each kind, when the variety grew, even with only two of each, a large pile still stacked up in front of Amanda.
"Thank you." Amanda looked up at the Weasley Twins. Fred and George shook their heads with beaming smiles, patting her little head as if she were their own younger sister before going off to celebrate with the other Little Lions.
Only Harry, Ron, and Ginny remained by Amanda's side.
"Uh, Amanda, are you really going to eat that? I don't think Fred and George would mind if you threw it away."
Harry looked somewhat uncertainly at the cockroach cluster in Amanda's hand. To be honest, he thought this kind of candy was most likely a prank Fred and George were playing on Amanda... after all, there were probably very few people who actually enjoyed eating cockroach clusters.
"No," Amanda shook her head while looking calmly at the cockroach cluster, not bothered by its appearance in the slightest. "If something given by others has no safety risks, it's best for me to finish eating or drinking it. It's basic politeness."
"Besides, these cockroach clusters are still very different from real cockroaches."
As Amanda spoke, she began to seriously explain the scientific details of how real cockroaches move their limbs, as well as the various reactions they might have in different situations.
She spoke until the faces of the three people beside her turned quite pale.
"Amanda, stop, stop." Ron, his face pale, pressed his hands together in a prayer gesture for Amanda to stop.
"I feel like images are already starting to appear in my head."
The kind of image where hundreds, or even thousands, of cockroaches were crawling all over the place in front of him.
It couldn't be helped; Amanda's description was too detailed and too realistic. Merlin knows how she could be so clear about the way cockroaches moved!
Amanda tilted her head, understanding as she saw the expressions on the faces of Harry, Ron, and Ginny. "Sorry, I made you feel uncomfortable."
As she spoke, she put the cockroach cluster in her hand into her mouth and chewed. Hmm, it was chocolate-flavored, with a specially made candy layer on the surface to mimic the reflective shell of a cockroach.
"The taste is actually quite good. Candy-coated chocolate with rich layers, and a toffee filling in the very center."
Amanda swallowed the cockroach cluster, but her description of its taste didn't make the three others feel much better.
Looking at their pale faces, Amanda shook her head slightly and made an evaluation in her mind: if Harry and the others were like this in her original world, they probably wouldn't have made it through medical school.
After all, the hospital's dedicated exit passage for students—thinking of that passage, Amanda naturally and calmly put another chocolate frog into her mouth—was specially designed with all sorts of things.
Of course, Amanda had no intention of thinking deeply about those things, and she didn't have the time anyway, because Hermione had already arrived at the Gryffindor Common Room with Cho Chang, Marietta Eckmore, Penelope, and Luna.
"Amanda!"
As soon as they stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room, Amanda was hugged by Cho Chang and Marietta Eckmore, who came running toward her. The two seniors happily tousled her hair.
"That's amazing! You're really amazing! You can tell lies now!"
Cho Chang excitedly messed up Amanda's hair and then gave her a firm kiss on the head, just like a real older sister.
Marietta Eckmore made the same gesture, though she "coincidentally" happened to kiss the exact same spot on Amanda's forehead as Cho Chang.
After the two seniors came Penelope and Luna. Penelope patted Amanda's shoulder with emotion and lightly kissed her forehead.
"Being able to see you make such great progress before I graduate allows me to graduate with peace of mind."
Amanda showed a faint, warm smile and reached out to gently hug Penelope. "Senior Penelope doesn't need to say that. Perhaps before you graduate, you'll see me truly return to normal."
She naturally had some premonitions about her own brain. She could feel that after five years of changes, something in her brain was about to reach the point where quantity leads to a qualitative change.
"Senior Lin Yue," Luna's ethereal voice sounded as she made a small circle with her hands, "the thing you're dragging... there's only this much left."
Luna's words were as baffling as ever, but this time, the several people present understood her easily.
The fact that Amanda could lie was indeed a qualitative leap. The eight of them chatted, laughed, ate snacks, and drank butterbeer together until night fell. They all ate until they were stuffed, clearly not needing dinner anymore.
"We're planning to open a joke shop in Diagon Alley," Fred's voice came from not far away.
"That's right," George's voice followed in agreement, "we've saved up some money over the years."
"Though it's not much, it's enough for us to lease a relatively small shop in a decent location."
The two boys were excitedly telling Angelina about their future plans. Amanda held her butterbeer bottle, tapping it gently with her finger as she listened to their plan, then stepped over.
She only spoke after seeing them stop their conversation with Angelina. "Sorry for the interruption, Senior Fred, Senior George, Senior Angelina."
"It's alright, Amanda. It's good to see you." Angelina smiled warmly. Looking at this junior who was younger but extremely capable, she was also full of affection—the kind of affection a senior has for a junior, of course.
"I just heard Senior Fred and Senior George mention wanting to open a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Perhaps you don't have to choose such a small storefront; you could choose one that's larger and more prominent."
The thoughts in Amanda's mind raced as she looked up at the Weasley Twins.
"But our funds aren't sufficient for a larger, more prominent shop, so we wanted to find a small one first and wait until we have enough funds to... wait, Amanda, what do you mean?"
"Do you mean... you want to invest in us?" George opened his mouth, finishing Fred's unfinished sentence.
"Yes," Amanda nodded certainly. "I plan to invest seven thousand Galleons for you to use in finding a storefront, preparing raw materials, and for the grand opening promotions."
"Seven thousand Galleons?!" Fred couldn't help but widen his eyes. George beside him was also stunned, and after reacting, he quickly waved his hands.
"No, no, we can't take that. It's too much. If we don't run the joke shop well, wouldn't your money be lost? We can't pay back seven thousand Galleons."
If it were just the two brothers, it wouldn't matter whether they lost or made money; it was their own money anyway.
But if Amanda were included... that would be different. She was their junior, the person who had saved their sister, and someone they treated like a sister. They couldn't let her lose her money.
Amanda raised an eyebrow but shook her head very calmly. "According to my calculations, with your R&D capabilities and your perseverance in studying joke items, the probability of you losing money is infinitely close to zero, and the probability of you making money is greater than ninety-nine percent."
"For example, the instant getaway sweets?"
Hearing Amanda mention instant getaway sweets, Fred and George immediately began coughing loudly because they saw Hermione coming over with their little sister Ginny and the others.
"instant getaway sweets?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at the Weasley Twins. "Do they work in the literal sense?"
"Wow, Fred, George, you're finished if Mom finds out." Ginny also blinked, teasing her two brothers mischievously.
"So little Ginny definitely won't say anything, right?" Fred said to Ginny, who gave a noncommittal smile.
"As far as I know, these candies are currently mostly used in Umbridge's classes. Among the other Professors, they've only appeared once in Professor Snape's class and were countered by Madam Pomfrey ten minutes later."
"Don't you want to extend their effects and make them harder to crack? I won't just invest in you; my factory will also be open to you so you can develop new products and iteratively upgrade existing ones."
"Merlin above..." Marietta Eckmore murmured softly upon hearing Amanda's words. "Amanda is a textbook good student."
And yet she was actually taking the initiative to suggest helping Fred and George upgrade their products—even, even instant getaway sweets?!
Skiving! That word sounded like it should be completely foreign to Amanda!
Standing nearby, Hermione was simply between laughter and tears as she watched Amanda. This girl was truly slowly recovering, but thinking about Amanda helping Fred and George develop things... well, whatever, she would just pretend she didn't know anything.
"But similarly," Amanda looked at the Weasley Twins, who were clearly tempted, "I will also invest in a collaboration with Hogwarts to use another factory to develop things that crack your products. Both sides will be independent, competing with each other, and developing on dual tracks."
You can even play it like that???
Everyone present was shocked by Amanda's idea. Both the good and the not-so-good things were being invested in by her and were under her command.
Wouldn't this be equivalent to Amanda creating a complete closed-loop cycle herself?
"When the two collide, they can keep developing. By the same token, only with mutual competition can there be progress."
Amanda curled her lips in a confident and sunny smile. Although the sense of mechanical stiffness was still on her face, it had long since mostly vanished.
"Do you want to cooperate with me? Senior Fred, Senior George, do you want to go head-to-head with the future Hogwarts Professors?"
Exchanging a glance, mischievous grins clearly began to appear on the faces of the Weasley Twins. Putting away the grins, they turned back to look solemnly at Amanda.
"I think we'd be very willing to cooperate with you."
"Since you believe in us, we'll definitely make sure our Miss Investor makes a fortune."
They shared a smile, deciding the future "combative life" of the Hogwarts Professors that was destined to be both hilarious and infuriating.
"The Professors won't like hearing this news," Cho Chang said in a low voice.
"Not necessarily," Penelope shook her head, "Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall might be very interested."
Professor Sprout probably wouldn't care too much as long as the students didn't fall behind in their studies. The only one who might truly care and dislike it would probably be, cough cough, Professor Snape.
Hermione sighed and reached out to pinch Amanda's earlobe. "I can already imagine the future workload of the Professors."
Amanda blinked, letting Hermione pinch her ear as she turned to look at her innocently. "Actually, the Professors' workload is already quite large. In the future, once Voldemort is completely dead, the Hogwarts teaching staff can definitely be expanded to recruit talented Wizards and train them to become Professors."
Otherwise, with Hogwarts' current arrangement of one Professor per subject, it would be a miracle if the Professors weren't under a lot of pressure. So, her cooperation with the Weasley Twins was also to promote the expansion of the Hogwarts faculty. Yes, that was it.
"Fine, I'll take that as a good explanation."
Hermione giggled and withdrew her hand to kiss Amanda on the cheek. This slightly naughty and mischievous Amanda was even cuter and more lovable!
The celebration continued until curfew. Amanda applied the Disillusionment Spell on herself, Hermione, and the others before leading them back to Ravenclaw Tower.
The Disillusionment Spell cast by Amanda personally was enough to ensure that they wouldn't show any flaws even if they ran or jumped.
After returning to Ravenclaw Tower and washing up, the girls went straight to bed.
Having played for an entire afternoon and evening, everyone's stamina was quite depleted. Lying in bed and feeling the cloud-like mattress and pillow, it wasn't long after closing their eyes that they comfortably and peacefully drifted into dreamland.
When she opened her eyes the next morning, the Sunday sun made Amanda feel warm all over.
With no classes, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Marietta Eckmore all coincidentally chose to sleep in, so she lightened her movements as she got up. After washing up, she sat at her desk and read her book seriously while waiting for Hermione and the others to wake up so they could go to the Hogwarts Great Hall for breakfast.
Considering that Young Wizards would sleep in on weekends, breakfast at Hogwarts would continue for a long time, even connecting directly to lunchtime. The Young Wizards didn't have to worry about missing it at all.
Silently flipping through the pages of the book one by one, Amanda rapidly read and memorized the knowledge within.
After a brief forty minutes had passed, Hermione's bed curtains were also pulled open. Amanda heard footsteps coming from behind her, followed immediately by her waist being hugged.
Instinctively leaning back to nuzzle into Hermione's neck, she said in a gentle and delicate voice, "Good morning, Hermione."
"Good morning, Amanda." Hermione blinked hard and leaned down to kiss the corner of Amanda's lips.
A touch of pink climbed onto Amanda's face, and a smile spread across her face at the same time.
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