Jane Yu eagerly picked up the game console, discovering that it now operated on magical power, requiring her to steadily channel magic while playing.
When she flipped the switch, a line of small text appeared on the screen:
[Thanks to our friend, Yu Jane, for her contributions to the wizarding world of gaming. — Nicolas Flamel & Perenelle Flamel]
The text gradually faded, and the main interface appeared.
As the Flamels had mentioned last year, they had adapted all the games with a wizarding twist.
The original "Snake Battle" was renamed "Ashwinder Chase," featuring an Ashwinder that devoured flames, growing longer with each flame consumed.
Games like "Tennis" and "Steel Blade Hockey" were transformed into "Quidditch," where players could act as Chasers to score goals. The designs in "Sanrio Carnival" were replaced with Chocolate Frog character cards, where matching three identical cards would clear them.
"Contra" became "Wizard Duel," where the character was now a wizard holding a wand instead of a gun, and players had to choose different spells to fend off enemy wizards in various levels. The console also included wizarding classics like "Wizard Chess" and "Gobstones."
Jane played through the games one by one and finally found the "surprise" the Flamels had mentioned in "Super Mario Land."
The game had been renamed "Save the Wizarding World," with a new protagonist and setting.
One day, a powerful Dark Wizard descended upon the wizarding world, intending to turn all dissenters into Muggles. Players took on the role of a little black-haired witch named Yu, who had to collect various magical items throughout the levels. Once all items were gathered, they could defeat the Dark Wizard and save the wizarding world.
The original monsters in the levels had also been replaced with magical creatures: turtles became Fire Crabs, mushrooms turned into bouncing Umbrella Mushrooms, and Piranha Plants were now Devil's Snare...
Though seeing her name in the game made her cringe with embarrassment, she immediately wrote a letter to the Flamels to express her gratitude.
If these consoles could be sold, they would surely bring in a hefty sum of Galleons. The Flamels truly were kind-hearted people!
She set down her quill but suddenly remembered Draco's insistence on writing letters before the holidays.
So, she opened another piece of parchment and began sending letters to her fellow Slytherins.
By the afternoon, owls were flocking in.
Daphne's letter rambled on about her younger sister soon attending Hogwarts and included a silver-embroidered bib she claimed to have made herself.
Theodore's letter subtly hinted that she should start her summer homework and asked if she needed any outside assistance.
Draco's letter was a full three pages long, starting with complaints about how late her letter had arrived, followed by two pages detailing his eating, drinking, playing, and living arrangements, and ending with a tirade against Dumbledore that left Jane utterly baffled.
Then there were letters from Gemma and Flint, who were mainly worried about their career prospects after graduation. Their letters were filled with anxiety about life and work after leaving school.
The letters varied in content, but one thing seemed to be universally agreed upon—
Everyone asked about her health and complained about Dumbledore.
Each letter came with a copy of The Daily Prophet, some even with key points circled in red ink.
Curious, she unfolded one of the newspapers and was immediately struck by the eye-catching headlines—
[Gilderoy Lockhart Sentenced to Prison]
[Negligence or Malice?]
[A Courtroom Curse! Dumbledore's Major Failure!]
She quickly flipped through the pages and found the section with her name. Her photo in the courtroom, alongside Dumbledore's, took up most of the page.
[Special report by Rita Skeeter: During the recent trial of Gilderoy Lockhart for the misuse of powerful Memory Charms, a key witness, Yu Jane, a third-year Slytherin student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was cursed in the courtroom.
Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts, was present but failed to prevent the criminal's malicious act in time. He showed indifference and neglect toward his student's suffering.
It is worth noting that last September, he hired Gilderoy Lockhart as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, leading to a sharp decline in the quality of the subject and widespread student complaints. Does this suggest collusion with Lockhart to frame the witness? We cannot say for sure.
After the trial, Dumbledore refused to be interviewed and coerced Yu Jane into declining an exclusive interview with this reporter to protect his reputation.
This poor girl was brought to tears in the courtroom and is now missing, living in fear of being expelled by Dumbledore.]
This was pure slander!
No wonder her fellow Slytherins were all cursing Dumbledore in their letters!
No wonder those wizards had been looking at her with such sympathetic eyes!
When she descended the stairs of The Leaky Cauldron, she realized she had become famous.
The customers began whispering as soon as they saw her, occasionally sighing and sneaking glances in her direction.
Old Tom, the innkeeper, affectionately pushed a plate of food overflowing with portions in front of her.
"Child, your room fee includes three meals a day. No need to pay extra."
Jane felt something was off.
She hadn't heard of The Leaky Cauldron's room fees including meals before.
She hesitated but thanked him and began eating.
A few minutes later, Old Tom brought over a serving of ice cream, his wrinkled face breaking into a smile.
"Child, this is your dessert."
Not ten minutes later, he returned with a glass of pumpkin juice, looking as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
Jane felt a chill under his pitying gaze, especially as the murmurs around her grew louder.
"Do you have something you'd like to say to me?" she asked.
Old Tom scratched his bald head and, in a soothing tone, said, "Child, I know you've suffered from curses and unjust treatment, but don't be afraid."
"Hogwarts doesn't expel students lightly... I've already written to Headmaster Dumbledore, demanding that he keep you."
The surrounding wizards perked up their ears, listening intently to their conversation. A short wizard loudly chimed in:
"Yes, we all support you! My whole family wrote to Dumbledore!"
A burly witch raised her glass in a toast, spilling beer onto the table:
"Justice must not be disheartened! My family wrote not only to Dumbledore but also to the Ministry of Magic!"
"And to The Daily Prophet... Your curse will surely be lifted!"
A drunken wizard across from her raised his glass and shouted:
"If Hogwarts dares to expel you, we'll flood Dumbledore's office with Howlers!"
The Leaky Cauldron erupted into a frenzy, with everyone loudly discussing Lockhart's case.
The crowd first cursed the fraud, declaring they had burned all his books and wished him a lifetime in Azkaban.
Then they lambasted Minister Fudge as an incompetent fool, criticizing the Ministry's improper trial procedures and bureaucratic nonsense.
Next, they debated the Wizengamot's and Dumbledore's failure to protect the witness.
Finally, they sighed over poor Jane Yu—the righteous young witch who had suffered a curse.
Many came over to toast her, and some even asked for her autograph, which she politely declined.
She smiled wryly as she dragged her weary legs back upstairs.
No wonder Dumbledore had been so adamant about refusing Newt's and her "apprenticeship" request!
It turned out he had been bombarded with letters from righteous wizards!
The power of the people was indeed formidable; a collective outcry could drown him in Howlers!
But how had she ended up so unlucky, caught in the crossfire?
Wouldn't it be better to wait until this storm passed before bringing up the matter of leaving school?
What a streak of bad luck!
She suddenly felt she needed a piece of Murtlap Essence again.