Chapter 16: From Conflict to Peace

Draco's grey eyes took on a commanding look as he called out to Jane:

"Hey, pauper, come help me with this!"

Jane looked at him like he was mentally challenged.

Was this kid's brain working properly? Is this how you ask for help?

Seeing Jane ignore him, Draco grew anxious and resorted to threats:

"If you don't help, I'll write to my father tomorrow and have you expelled!"

Expelled?

Key word acquired!

Talk about perfect timing!

Jane looked at him eagerly: "Quick, write to your father - I've been worried about how to get expelled!"

She'd been going about this all wrong - this Draco fellow was her true target!

She took it all back, she would never mock his intelligence again!

But to her surprise,

Her response appeared to Draco as Jane being unmoved and immune to his threats.

His face turned red, steam practically coming out of his ears as he shouted:

"I'm serious!"

Jane knew he was serious, and fully agreed:

"Mm-hmm, I know you're serious, because I am too."

Draco was hopping mad, his tongue tied in knots:

"Y-y-you!"

Look at that expressionless face! Listen to that dismissive tone!

Was she being serious? She was clearly just brushing him off!

Faced with the barrel of color-changing snails, thinking of Professor Snape's authority, plus losing the flying competition to Harry, and the possibility of his father being informed about his near neck-breaking incident...

And now this cold-hearted girl wouldn't even help him grind snail shells...

He felt he'd never been so wronged in his life!

Young Draco Malfoy's nose stung as tears streamed down his face.

What was happening?

She'd only answered his question,

How did he end up crying?

Jane was completely baffled.

"First week of school... you singed my hair..."

"Helped Scarhead Potter..."

"Poisoned all my friends..."

As Draco tearfully listed her crimes, Jane grew even more confused.

"Burned your hair? When?"

The boy looked up, tear tracks still on his cheeks, glaring at her fiercely:

"Ha, I knew it - you've completely forgotten!"

"What you did in Charms class!"

So it was from when her spell had sent sparks onto his hair in Charms!

Jane finally understood.

She looked at Draco's head and indeed noticed a patch of hair slightly shorter than the rest, combed to the side and held in place with gel to hide it.

Faced with the victim of her actions, she began to feel awkward.

"Would you like some snail meat?"

She hadn't had dinner and was feeling a bit hungry.

Draco, who had just stopped crying, stared at her blankly.

The black-haired girl pulled over the barrel of color-changing snails, took down a cauldron from the wall, cast Aguamenti from her wand tip, and began heating the cauldron.

Once the water was boiling, she poured in the color-changing snails to cook them.

A savory aroma began wafting through the potions office. Draco could even hear his own stomach growl.

"Get me a porcupine quill."

He grunted reluctantly but still followed the command, finding a quill from the potions cabinet.

Jane moved the cauldron off the fire - the snails were fully cooked, their shells gleaming with brilliant, eerie multicolored light. This was their evolved camouflage, who would have thought the tender meat inside would be such a delicacy?

She sat cross-legged, aimed the porcupine quill at the small holes in the snails, poking and picking out the meat straight into her mouth.

The flavorful juices burst across her tongue, the chewy snail meat tender and juicy with a springy texture.

She tossed the empty shells into the barrel and gestured for Draco to join in.

"I must be crazy... eating color-changing snails in the office!"

He grumbled, but his growling stomach told the truth. He clumsily copied Jane's movements, picking out the meat and putting it in his mouth, savoring it—

His eyes widened at the first bite and he quickly sped up his eating.

When Professor Snape returned to the office, all the potion ingredients had been processed.

The cauldron was back on the wall, all traces eliminated by the pair.

Jane and Draco stood 'obediently' before him.

Snape looked at them suspiciously. He knew the barrel of giant snails he'd assigned Draco couldn't be completed in just a few hours of detention.

But they were now completely powdered, high quality with no meat or mucus residue.

He twitched his nose, catching a strange appetizing smell that made him feel suddenly hungry.

His gaze swept the office inch by inch, finding nothing obviously amiss...

"Mr. Malfoy, where is the snail meat you removed?"

Draco's face, which had regained its color, went white again.

They'd overlooked this crucial detail!

His pleading eyes immediately turned to Jane.

The black-haired, black-eyed girl who was usually expressionless and cold stepped forward in front of him.

"I ate it," he heard her say flatly.

Draco felt like he'd gone from hell to heaven in an instant. He'd never been so grateful to anyone!

Unlike Draco's emotional rollercoaster, Professor Snape was in an especially foul mood.

He should have known there would be trouble wherever Jane was!

Why did he go answer that old bee's summons and leave this troublemaker in his office!

"Spit it out!" he commanded harshly.

Color-changing snail mucus was highly toxic, yet these two idiots were standing here acting innocent!

Seeing them still frozen in place with no reaction, he grabbed them each by the collar and rushed them to the hospital wing.

In the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey cast detection spell after detection spell on Jane and Draco, green and white light dancing over them.

She frowned deeply, while Snape stood by looking grim.

Finally she spoke:

"Severus, I'm afraid I can't help - I can't find anything wrong."

"No one in history has ever thought to eat color-changing snails. With their coloring..."

Professor Snape went pale, seeming to age several years.

"Thank you, Poppy. I'll take them to Dumbledore."

Jane's eyes lit up.

Dumbledore!

The headmaster's office! She was finally going!

Snape and Pomfrey each grabbed one student and hurried to the castle tower.

Draco had started sobbing, thinking he was poisoned and dying, but Snape's glare forced him to quiet down.

The four burst into the headmaster's office like a thunderbolt.

Upon hearing what happened, Dumbledore's jaw dropped.

It seemed that every day since Jane's arrival had brought him shock and surprise.

Raising his wand, Dumbledore began casting spells on the two students.

After several spells, both students' eyes were clear, their spirits high, bouncing with energy.

There wasn't a trace of poisoning to be found.

"Er, Severus, Poppy, I don't think anything's wrong with them."

Dumbledore lowered his wand and spoke hesitantly.

"Are you sure? They ate an entire barrel! Dozens of color-changing snails!"

Snape forced the question from his throat.

Dumbledore shook his head, sat back in his chair, and looked kindly at Jane:

"Child, don't be afraid. I'd like to ask how you prepared these snails?"

Jane's dark eyes met his blue ones, but saw little suspicion there.

"Boiled them, ate the meat, ground the shells."

Meanwhile, her inner voice was crying out eagerly:

"I ate potion ingredients, expel me quick!"

Unfortunately, things didn't go as she wished.

Dumbledore quickly caught on, smiling with a twinkle in his eye:

"It seems our kitchen can add another recipe to the menu."

What did he mean?

Why wasn't he scolding her?

Jane left thoroughly confused.

...

After she left, Dumbledore and Snape immediately began an intense discussion.

Snape was clearly furious. In fact, for the past two weeks, he'd worried daily about the various troubles Jane caused. Her behavior was completely at odds with all of Slytherin!

Though her potions talent made him temporarily tolerate these troubles, the constant anxiety had left him extremely irritable.

"Reckless, unrestrained, careless - she causes more trouble than Potter!" Snape raged. "The Sorting Hat must be senile to put a Gryffindor in Slytherin!"

Dumbledore remained extremely calm:

"Severus, calm down. I hear she's not doing well in Slytherin?"

Not doing well?

Hearing this, Snape almost laughed out loud. He said sarcastically:

"Ha, I'd say Miss Yu isolates everyone."

"Beating up older students, poisoning her year mates, excellent at charms, decent at potions... rather than worry about her getting hurt, we should worry about her classmates."

"If she'd just extend an olive branch, students would be falling over themselves to befriend her."

He understood Slytherin.

Power was everything - blood status was just a tool to provoke conflict and protect interests.

But Dumbledore clearly disagreed. The old man shook his head, fixing him with a sharp look:

"You're too narrow-minded, Severus."

"She needs friends, true friends, not ones based on power or blood status."

"She has no sense of belonging in Slytherin - don't you understand the real reason why?"

Snape glared at Dumbledore like a cat whose tail had been stepped on:

"I'll say it again - I don't have the time, energy, nor will I—"

"Deal with these trolls' messy emotional entanglements!"

But Dumbledore just smiled, raising his hands to stop the argument:

"No matter, Severus."

"Miss Yu is very talented. For this old man's sake, perhaps you could give her some extra guidance in potions."

Snape let out a cold snort through his nose and stormed out.

The door slammed shut.

But Dumbledore knew he had agreed.