Chapter 117: Fire Wrapped in Paper

"Albus," Professor McGonagall said with evident concern, "The students' health has been troubling lately… My classes haven't been full for weeks."

Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick nodded in agreement, their classes suffering the same fate with abysmal attendance. Students were either plagued by diarrhea, vomiting, or the flu, infecting entire dormitories and even their neighbors at adjacent desks. The Heads of Houses were deeply worried about their students' well-being.

"This might be a new illness," Professor Sprout said, her usually gentle face now filled with worry. "It's spreading rapidly throughout the school, with symptoms like headaches, runny noses, fevers, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, and so on."

Professor Flitwick let out a nervous sound of agreement and pulled out a thick stack of excuse notes from his pocket.

"These are all from those poor children—"

He wiped his eyes and sighed, saying, "I've excused them from homework and essays, hoping they'll recover soon."

Mentioning essays seemed to remind Professor McGonagall of something.

"Speaking of which, I've noticed a significant decline in the quality of submitted assignments lately. I suspect the course pace might be too fast."

Professor Sprout nodded in understanding, her gray hair slightly swaying as she agreed. "Oh, Minerva, I feel the same! Perhaps it's because I adjusted the course schedule and introduced Bubble Pods earlier than usual. Many students failed to turn in their assignments."

Professor Flitwick, however, appeared less concerned about this, as he had encountered something even more troubling.

"This week, during my night patrols, I noticed a sudden increase in students wandering around at night—"

"Albus, while I mean no offense to the Ministry of Magic, I must say that having Dementors guard the campus is an extremely poor decision."

"The students are morbidly curious about these dangerous dark creatures. They all want to see them in person to verify what the textbooks say."

Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout gasped in horror.

"Merlin's beard—how dare they!"

"Those are some of the foulest beings in existence!"

As Dumbledore listened to the professors' discussion, he couldn't shake off a growing sense of unease.

Mass absences, collective failure to submit homework, and students sneaking out at night to see Dementors…

Something about all this felt off.

In all his years as headmaster, he had never heard of a mere flu incapacitating so many people.

A sharp intuition led him to think of someone who had been unusually well-behaved for some time now—

She had been attending classes obediently for over a month, which was out of character!

The inexplicable feeling of discord prompted Dumbledore to interrupt the conversation.

"Pardon me, Minerva, Pomona, Filius."

"I'd like to ask—has Jane Yu been attending classes in the past two weeks?"

At the mention of this exemplary student, the professors all smiled.

Professor Sprout's smile deepened, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes becoming more pronounced as she spoke fondly. "Of course, she hasn't missed a single class. Just last week, we were working with Bubble Pods. I asked the students to peel the pods—"

"And guess what? In her hands, those plump pink pods behaved as obediently as ordinary peas!"

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement. "She's been doing exceptionally well. Her Transfiguration skills are impressive. She might even become an Animagus in the future."

Professor Flitwick enthusiastically waved his arms in agreement. "Ah, her talent in Charms is unparalleled! She picks up any spell instantly!"

Hearing their praises, Dumbledore felt somewhat reassured.

Although he was pleased to hear his student being commended—

He couldn't shake off a lingering sense of oddity.

Rubbing his temples, he decided he couldn't suspect Jane Yu without concrete evidence.

"I'm glad to hear that," Dumbledore raised his teacup in acknowledgment. "Let's get back on topic. Why don't we call Severus and ask about the situation in Potions class?"

Snape arrived at the headmaster's office with a speed that could be measured in seconds.

He carried a thick stack of parchment, his expression as dark as the black robes billowing behind him. His sallow face was set in a grim scowl, every line of his anger pulling downward.

"I cannot believe the level of incompetence among Hogwarts students," he declared, slamming the stack of parchment onto a nearby table. "Having such students has utterly tarnished my reputation in the field of education—"

"Severus, calm down. What's the matter?"

The professors tried to console their furious colleague, though they were somewhat puzzled.

For Snape to lose his composure in the headmaster's office, something significant must have happened.

Snape sneered and gestured toward the stack of parchment. "The quality of the students' Potions essays is truly astonishing—"

Professor McGonagall picked up the stack and began flipping through it, only to find it filled with newly submitted assignments, all marked with a glaring "T" grade.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Finnigan, Mr. Thomas…"

The more she read, the more severe her expression became. Her smile vanished entirely, replaced by trembling hands as she grew increasingly exasperated with her Gryffindors.

"Pomona, Filius, I think you should take a look at this…"

She pulled out the Gryffindor assignments and handed the rest to Professor Flitwick.

Another professor lost their smile as Flitwick's face turned red with anger while reading through the papers.

"Miss Turpin, Miss Brocklehurst, Mr. Goldstein, Mr. Boot, Mr. Corner…"

Flitwick looked as if his blood pressure was about to spike.

He couldn't believe that students from Ravenclaw, a house known for its wisdom, could produce such drivel!

It was utterly humiliating!

Professor Sprout, puzzled, took the remaining parchments to check for Hufflepuff students.

"Merlin's beard—" she exclaimed, "All T's (Troll), abysmal!"

"Miss Bones, Mr. Macmillan, Mr. Finch-Fletchley… I can't believe it!"

Now, none of the professors were smiling.

Seeing that others were suffering the same torment made Snape feel slightly better. He coldly remarked, "Now that you're all aware of the students' situation, shall we get back to the main issue?"

Dumbledore hesitated for a few seconds before speaking. "Oh—Severus, actually, we called you here precisely because of this matter."

"Recently, many students have been absent due to the flu, and the quality of their assignments has declined. Do you have any insights?"

Snape snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "No one has been absent from my class in the past few weeks—"

This statement caused the other three Heads of Houses to pale.

"Not a single student, Severus?" Professor Sprout asked in disbelief. "Then why… we…"

Snape mercilessly shattered her last hope. "Yes, not a single one, Pomona."

"Perhaps you've been too lenient with these trolls, allowing them to feign illness with impunity."

Professor Sprout clutched her chest, feeling as if she were on the verge of a heart attack.

Everyone watched in horror as the usually kind and gentle witch gave a sinister smile.

"Very well, excellent!"

"Excuse me, Albus, everyone—"

Her patched, soil-stained robes billowed as she stormed out, heading straight for the hospital wing.

"Calm down, Pomona! There might be a misunderstanding!"

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick hurried after her, panting, while Dumbledore and Snape followed suit.

They still harbored doubts, suspecting that there was more to this than students feigning illness to skip class.

Soon, they received Madam Pomfrey's response:

"There haven't been any students admitted for the flu, nor has anyone come to fetch potions."

"However, there have been quite a few cases of students being sent here due to sleep deprivation."

"They sleep here while muttering in their dreams about something called a 'game console.'"

The Heads of Houses exchanged puzzled looks.

"What is a game console?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.

"Er… it's a device for entertainment…" Dumbledore explained with difficulty. "It's very appealing to children."

At this, everyone's expressions turned grim.

So that's why the students were skipping classes and neglecting their assignments!

They had been indulging in entertainment, shirking their responsibilities!

Dumbledore felt his vision darken, as if he were about to faint.

He recalled how Jane Yu had spent an entire summer playing games with the Lemay family during her first year.

This game console had to be something she brought into the school!

He knew it—this had her written all over it!

No wonder she had been so well-behaved for months—

She had been planning something big all along!

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