Chapter 118: The Confiscation Operation

A merciless storm of confiscating game consoles swept through Hogwarts, leaving wails of despair in its wake and devastation wherever it passed.

Professors used the Summoning Charm with lightning speed during classes, seizing large quantities of contraband on the spot. The house points of all four houses plummeted towards zero at an unstoppable pace, reduced to single digits that even four Thestrals couldn't pull back.

Professor Sprout led the formation of a special task force alongside Professor Snape, conducting one-on-one interviews with students based on their submitted excuse notes. The duo employed both sternness and kindness, successfully breaking down the psychological defenses of several students. Finally, they uncovered the source of the game consoles—

It was none other than their star student, Jane Yu!

And so, the culprit Jane Yu was caught red-handed.

She was brought before a five-member panel for a joint trial.

The headmaster's office was filled with several large sacks of contraband. The evidence was irrefutable, and the suspect had no choice but to confess.

The brows of the four Heads of Houses and Dumbledore were furrowed tightly.

Snape was the first to speak, his black eyes burning with anger, looking as though he wanted to throw one of the sacks over Jane's head.

"What a remarkable masterpiece, Miss Yu."

"Leading half the school to play games, inciting your classmates to feign illness, skip classes, and neglect their homework… wasting their education…"

"Your actions are enough to reduce Slytherin's points to zero!"

The other professors looked at him disapprovingly. Everyone knew that while his words were harsh, his bias was glaringly obvious—

Because Slytherin's points were already in the single digits.

Dumbledore rubbed his temples and coughed lightly.

"Ahem, Severus, perhaps I should ask her first."

His blue eyes, magnified by his glasses, gazed at Jane as if pondering how to begin.

"Do you realize the consequences of your actions, Jane?"

Jane nodded repeatedly, her heart leaping with joy, though she maintained a calm facade.

"Yes, I do. Given the impact I've caused—"

"You can expel me. I accept this punishment."

Dumbledore's heart tightened.

The word "expel" undoubtedly triggered a sensitive spot in his mind.

It instantly brought back memories of Lockhart's curse!

Look at this child—she's even volunteering to leave school!

If he agreed—

Wouldn't her next step be to leave Britain and wander the world?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Not in this lifetime!

The curse would never come true!

Professor McGonagall let out a disapproving hiss, her gaze filled with tension, fearing that Dumbledore might actually agree.

She didn't believe this was entirely Jane's fault and quickly spoke up.

"Albus, this item wasn't on the list of prohibited items at the start of term. I think we need a basis for punishing students."

"Besides, this is more about the students' lack of willpower. We can't place all the blame on one person."

Before Dumbledore could respond, Professor Sprout chimed in, unwilling to lose such a gifted student.

"Oh, Albus, I think Minerva is right!"

"Students should learn to resist temptation. We should guide them, not resort to the crude measure of expelling a child."

Dumbledore smiled wryly. He felt as though he was being unfairly saddled with the blame for expelling a good student. He opened his mouth to defend himself.

"Don't worry, Minerva, Pomona. I think we need to discuss her punishment further."

The two professors gave their great headmaster reproachful looks. McGonagall continued to speak up for Jane.

"Albus, I don't think this is appropriate—"

Her voice was interrupted by an exclamation from Professor Flitwick.

"Such perfect magical circuits, such beautiful illusion charms and sound projection charms… 'Wizard Duel,' oh, this is fantastic!"

Everyone turned to look at him, only to see Professor Flitwick holding a game console, his nose almost pressed against the screen, his hands furiously pressing the buttons.

"Filius, you—?"

McGonagall's call finally brought the Ravenclaw Head of House back to his senses.

Professor Flitwick glanced at them sheepishly before averting his gaze. For some reason, he suddenly felt an urge to hide the game console behind his back and stuff it into his robes.

He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his smooth forehead.

"Oh, Jane's involvement in designing this magical device is a perfect blend of alchemy and charms!"

"I've experienced its wonders, and now I feel completely rejuvenated, my magical energy replenished!"

He waved his arms enthusiastically, looking as though he might take flight with his short limbs.

Seeing the last Head of House defect to the other side, Dumbledore and Jane were left with matching expressions of bewilderment.

One was both surprised and delighted—surprised at Jane's influence among the professors, who were all speaking up for her; delighted that his young ward had managed to co-develop such a sophisticated magical device with the Lemay couple. Truly, she was a child raised by Albus Dumbledore.

The other was both shocked and exasperated—shocked that even Professor Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw, was nearly ensnared by this; exasperated that despite her game consoles causing students from all four houses to feign illness and skip classes, their Heads of Houses were still defending her!

Jane looked at Dumbledore with pleading eyes, hoping he would deliver a final verdict so she could reunite with Aberforth or the Scamander couple as soon as possible.

Little did she know that Dumbledore had already removed "expulsion" from the list of possible outcomes in his mind.

"I don't think we have grounds to expel her," he said lightly, his white beard trembling slightly. "Indeed, this item wasn't prohibited at the start of term."

The four Heads of Houses simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

Dumbledore smiled as he stood up, the stars and moons on his robes twinkling.

"However, I believe we should add this item to the list of banned items starting today."

Jane's face turned into a mask of despair!

How could such a grand plan fail?

How could the professors let her off the hook?

Her mind screamed in frustration like a groundhog shrieking in distress!

The more she thought about it, the more something felt off.

It seemed these professors had some sort of strange bias in her favor?

Even when it came to students feigning illness, skipping classes, and sneaking out at night, they still argued for leniency on her behalf—

Was there no justice in the world?

The professors quickly moved past the matter, instead discussing punishment plans for the many students who had skipped classes. The atmosphere in the headmaster's office became light and cheerful once more.

"From now on, essays should have a word count requirement, not an inch requirement, to prevent students from padding their lengths," McGonagall suggested.

This immediately received unanimous approval from the other three professors, who had suffered greatly in the past few weeks.

"And for sick leave, students must not only submit a handwritten note but also obtain Madam Pomfrey's approval."

Dumbledore agreed to this proposal on the spot.

"I'll make them make up all the assignments they missed over the past few weeks!" Flitwick, still fuming, jumped onto his chair.

Snape nodded in agreement, adding coldly.

"Since they have so much time to play, perhaps we should assign extra homework to these 'frail' students. What do you think?"

On any other day, the usually gentle professors might have disagreed, but in their current state of righteous indignation, they all supported the idea of giving the students a hard time.

Professor Sprout gave a "kind" smile, suggesting that the students should work with Bubble Pods in the greenhouse. For every pod that bloomed into a flower, they would have to tend to an additional plant, ensuring they learned their lesson.

Even Jane couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the brave souls.

But it was clear the professors hadn't forgotten about the mastermind behind it all.

Though she was spared expulsion, she couldn't escape punishment entirely—detention was inevitable.

"You've earned yourself a semester of detention for your troll-like behavior, Miss Yu."

Snape's cold voice delivered the verdict.

Yet he seemed to be in an unusually good mood, the perpetual crease between his brows smoothing out.

Everyone knew he was pleased to finally have a reason to put Jane in detention.

After all, detention = private tutoring = cultivating an exceptional apprentice = ensuring the legacy of his life's work.

This drew envious, jealous, and resentful looks from the other Heads of Houses.

Which only made Snape's mood even better.

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