Within Hogwarts, among its students and staff, and outside its walls, with Sirius Black and Lucius Malfoy, everyone was delighted by the shift in public opinion.
But in stark contrast, the only person feeling down was Jane Yu.
For the first few days, she, like the rest of the wizarding community, happily indulged in the juicy gossip Sirius had exposed.
But soon, the articles published by The Daily Prophet began to take a strange turn.
Day after day, the newspaper featured pieces written by Hogwarts students and staff, explaining the gaming console, interspersed with highly academic papers...
Jane wondered to herself—she hadn't paid for any trending topics, had she?
As she read on, Jane felt her face scrunching up.
Why on earth would anyone think of writing academic papers about a gaming console?
This was just an ordinary entertainment device... Did it really warrant the research efforts of two professors?
Proper magical research was being neglected, and instead, they were painstakingly studying a gaming console—
Hogwarts was truly doomed!
Look at these students and staff, all obsessed with the console—
And then look at Voldemort, who tirelessly delved into Dark Magic with the spirit of burning the midnight oil, even going so far as to fragment his own soul to maximize its utility, relentlessly influencing the wizarding world...
She couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration, as if lamenting unfulfilled potential.
What was even more unsettling was that she had received several apology letters from parents.
They apologized for their previous misunderstandings and even asked her to guide their children, under the pretense of "mutual progress."
Her business partner, Lucius Malfoy, also sent a letter, claiming that he had deeply understood Jane's promotional strategy. He decided to purchase a dedicated section in The Daily Prophet for marketing purposes and to donate a batch of gaming consoles to St. Mungo's to build a positive public image.
At this point, Jane came to a realization—
The entire world was against her!
Based on the pattern of events over the past two years, she felt she already knew how the story would unfold next—
First, she'd be called to the Headmaster's office, where she'd be awarded a pile of points for introducing the gaming console. Then, at the end of the term, her house would win the House Cup.
This would completely derail her plans to drop out, achieving the "Hogwarts' Reluctant Resident for Three Years" milestone.
Sure enough, Dumbledore summoned her soon after.
But this time, it was about her summer arrangements.
...
In the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk.
To his left were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Harry Potter, while Severus Snape sat to his right.
The distance between the two sides was as vast as an ocean, clearly indicating that they had already clashed before her arrival and were now locked in a silent battle of glares.
Jane took in the scene and, recalling the juicy gossip Sirius had revealed in the papers, couldn't help but savor the moment.
James Potter's place had been taken by his son Harry—was this some sort of reenactment of the Marauders vs. Snape?
When she entered, all eyes turned to her.
Harry's eyes lit up instantly. He waved enthusiastically and mouthed for her to stand by his side.
But Jane felt the scene seemed unbalanced.
Professor Snape was one against three, which made him appear somewhat outnumbered.
So she naturally stood by her Head of House, sensing the corners of his mouth lift ever so slightly.
Across from them, Harry and Sirius performed a dramatic transformation, their expressions shifting from anticipation to disbelief, then to disappointment, and finally to anger.
"Jane, be honest—did this old bat force you to side with him?"
Sirius could no longer hold back, immediately jumping to blame his nemesis for everything.
Jane felt the air around Snape grow colder as he prepared to unleash his fury—
Only for Dumbledore to interrupt mid-cast.
"Peter Pettigrew has escaped from Azkaban."
The news dropped like a bombshell, causing an uproar in the room.
Dumbledore raised his hand slightly, signaling for everyone to calm down:
"The Ministry of Magic should have executed him on the spot with the Dementor's Kiss, but the execution was delayed due to the need to disclose certain information."
"He transformed into an Animagus—you know, rats are quite adept at squeezing through pipes, and sewers are everywhere."
"This information has been classified, and only a few people are aware of it."
Given Fudge's usual behavior, Jane immediately understood the reasoning.
He likely wanted to use Peter Pettigrew to score some political points, which led to the delay in dealing with the criminal, giving him an opportunity to escape.
And the method Sirius had used to evade the Dementors as an Animagus was surely something Pettigrew, as a former friend, could easily guess.
Fudge had evidently learned a lot from Sirius's escape—
Such as how to quickly suppress news of major incidents to avoid unfavorable public opinion.
And he had promptly applied these lessons to Pettigrew's escape.
Sirius's handsome face twisted in anger, resembling his appearance when he had just been released from Azkaban:
"Everyone knows he's an Animagus!"
"I specifically warned them—not to let the Dementors guard him alone—at least assign an Auror—"
"Fudge, that idiot—all he cares about is his reputation—"
Snape, who had been simmering with anger, finally found an outlet for his frustration. With his spell fully charged, he began to unleash his venom:
"How touching, Black."
"Perhaps transforming into animals to avoid Dementors is the unbreakable vow of you Marauders."
As the two began their second round of verbal sparring, Dumbledore attempted to mediate:
"Ahem... I don't think that's the main point."
"There are two urgent tasks before us—"
"First, to locate Peter Pettigrew's hiding place; second, to ensure the safety of Jane and Harry."
Jane and Harry exchanged glances, her dark eyes meeting his green ones.
Hearing her name mentioned alongside Harry's, she immediately sensed something was off.
This felt like being dragged into an unwanted plotline!
Dumbledore's blue eyes were filled with gravity, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen:
"Given his previous actions, I suspect Jane and Harry may become targets of his revenge."
"And as for the upcoming summer... I will need to be elsewhere and may not be able to protect Jane."
Jane nearly raised her hand in protest on the spot.
Her guardian, who had stuck to her like glue during peaceful times, as if his eyes were glued to her—
Now that she was in danger, he was planning to run off?
Seriously, what kind of logic was this?
Sirius immediately volunteered:
"Leave it to me. Harry was going to spend the summer with me anyway, and I think having Jane with us would be safe, plus she'd have someone her own age to—uh, uh, uh..."
Snape silenced him with a well-timed Tongue-Tying Curse, sticking his tongue to the roof of his mouth.
"I need to conduct some research and improvements on the Wolfsbane Potion over the summer," he said flatly, though his tone was laden with subtext. "I think if Miss Yu has enough ambition, she should know what her priorities are."
Dumbledore looked at him unexpectedly, rubbing his temples as he considered:
"Actually, our newly appointed Care of Magical Creatures professor also made a similar request."
Sirius and Snape's expressions darkened simultaneously.
"However—given his age and health, it feels a bit much to trouble him."
Their expressions brightened again.
Jane thought of Newt Scamander, who could sprint with two buckets of meat and wrestle dragons, and couldn't help but doubt Dumbledore's words.
What had Scamander done to offend her guardian?
Little did she know, Dumbledore had other plans in mind.
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