The "illegal internet café" had been shut down.
The students involved were ordered to line up with their hands on their heads under Professor McGonagall's stern warning. One by one, they were escorted out of the room.
Their legs trembled, and they looked as though they might collapse to the ground at any moment.
They were sent to the Headmaster's office to face judgment.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore and Snape had already finished confiscating the contraband. Both were furious, their faces stiff with anger.
Dumbledore, in particular, felt his earlier guilt toward Jane Yu completely vanish—
Twenty-odd gaming consoles, a mountain of stickers, and a bulletin board plastered with rule-breaking notices...
The evidence was overwhelming, enough to expel the students a dozen times over!
And all this gaming and rule-breaking had taken place right under their noses!
Judging by the notes pinned to the bulletin board, this unauthorized gathering room had existed for over a month. From the initial spread of gaming consoles to their subsequent ban, the students had been using this room to indulge in gaming and organize nighttime escapades in blatant violation of school rules.
Snape clutched a stack of colorful notes, his face dark as a thundercloud, looking like he wanted to set them on fire and scatter the ashes over the students' heads.
His voice was dangerously low as he read aloud from one of the notes:
"Mr. Potter's handwriting. Let's see—'This game is so bad it's amazing, bad to the point of brilliance, bad enough to rival my Potions class...'"
Harry's face turned ghostly pale.
He couldn't lift his head, wishing he could dig a hole in the castle floor and bury himself to escape Snape's wrath.
"To think that I, of all people, would one day receive such high praise in Potions, even compared to your beloved games..."
Snape's icy gaze swept across the Gryffindors, quickly locking onto Harry, who was staring at the ground:
"The famous Mr. Potter. Perhaps you have many insights into Potions, so much so that you've made such an insightful critique."
"In that case, I suppose you no longer need to attend my classes. After all, as a Potions master, you must be confident enough to guide others."
Harry looked up in horror, his pleading eyes turning to Professor McGonagall, hoping she might speak on his behalf. But she, too, wore a stern expression, clutching another note:
"If four students from different houses sneak out together, the points deducted will cancel each other out... dynamic balance…"
Her disappointed gaze swept over the students before finally landing on Dumbledore:
"Albus, I think we must impose some punishments."
"It's clear the students haven't learned their lesson. They've been recklessly sneaking out at night, using prohibited items... showing no fear of losing house points..."
She had felt guilty about assigning too much homework to the students. Now, she wished she had tripled it!
The students began to panic, fearing they would be expelled. Even Draco seemed less confident.
"Please don't expel us, sir!"
"We'll study hard and never play games at school again!"
They pleaded with Dumbledore, while younger students started sobbing in fear.
But Jane Yu remained calm.
She knew the time had come. The professors' anger had reached its peak—
It was time for her to detonate the bomb!
"Please don't punish them." She stepped forward, feigning righteous indignation. "Everything that happened here was organized by me. These gaming consoles were all provided by me."
Dumbledore's gaze was filled with disappointment as he sat frozen in his chair, absently rubbing his teacup, unable to speak for a long time.
"If anyone should be expelled, it should be me," Jane continued, adding fuel to the fire. "I'm the one who led them to break the rules."
Professor McGonagall looked heartbroken, her voice trembling with disbelief:
"I can't believe you would do such a thing, Miss Yu."
Snape said nothing, his expression vacant. He was already calculating how many weeks of detention he should assign to Jane.
The Headmaster's office fell silent for thirty seconds.
Suddenly, Draco Malfoy stepped forward and grabbed the bag of gaming consoles:
"These were all bought on my father's orders! He loves playing games and specifically asked me to buy some to bring home for Christmas!"
"I only lent them to these people out of pity—it has nothing to do with Yu!"
This immediately struck a chord with the crowd, emboldening them.
Like a chain reaction, others began stepping forward—
The Weasley twins claimed it was part of their career planning. The brothers had consulted Slughorn about their plans to open a joke shop, with Jane as their investor. Familiarizing themselves with products was an essential step in their business preparations.
Ron and Harry argued it was also part of their future plans. The duo intended to open an arcade filled with such products, creating a chain brand in collaboration with the Weasley twins' shop.
Ravenclaw's Terry Boot spoke convincingly, claiming he was studying Ancient Runes and had a keen interest in Alchemy. The gaming console was one of the few alchemical products he could access at school, so he had begged Jane for one to study.
Hufflepuff's Susan Bones, sobbing, insisted the games taught her a lot about magical creatures—far better than Hagrid's lessons. She had begged Jane for a console as a supplementary learning tool.
At this moment, everyone felt a surge of determination to protect Jane.
She was their hero, their guiding light in their great endeavors—
She had even stepped forward to take all the blame, willing to bear the consequences alone—
They would never let their hero suffer alone!
The students' earnest excuses left the professors dumbfounded.
In summary, their collective message was—
This had nothing to do with Jane. Each of them had their own legitimate reasons, and Jane had only provided a console out of kindness.
Listening to their increasingly absurd justifications, Snape's face darkened to an unprecedented shade. He gritted his teeth and said:
"Lies, deceit, and manipulation—"
He was about to unleash his fury when Dumbledore interrupted him.
The students watched in horror as their headmaster began to smile.
"I'm delighted to see such unity among you," Dumbledore said, wiping his glasses with a touch of emotion. "Though I didn't expect it to be over something like this."
He finally understood Jane Yu's purpose!
To foster unity among the four houses through something everyone loved!
How many years had it been since Slytherin and Gryffindor coexisted peacefully?
In his 110-plus years of life, he had never imagined a day when a Malfoy would step forward to speak up!
While the gaming consoles had indeed caused trouble...
On the flip side, wasn't the unity among the four houses worth celebrating?
And this unity had emerged despite the professors' strict bans and crackdowns, as resilient as goblins and just as hard to suppress!
Having endured so many trials yet still remaining united, these students shared a bond of remarkable strength!
How could he destroy such genuine camaraderie?
"Children, don't worry. No one will be expelled just for playing games."
Dumbledore's long white beard couldn't hide his smile as he continued:
"But you must learn self-control. Willpower is an important lesson in life."
"For example, gaming consoles—without willpower, one can easily become addicted, fall behind in studies, and jeopardize future career prospects..."
After a heartfelt lecture, he stroked his beard, turning to discuss the punishment:
"For your unity, I was going to award each house 200 points."
"But since you broke school rules, I'll have to cancel those points."
"And as for your gathering place, I regret to announce that it is permanently closed."
The farce finally came to an end, and the students walked back to the Great Hall, still shaken.
Each wore an expression of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped disaster.
They exchanged smiles, unable to believe they had been let off so easily.
Draco exclaimed, "I knew he wouldn't expel so many people at once," and for once, Ron agreed with him.
They had learned a valuable lesson: safety in numbers and the strength of unity.
The only one who couldn't understand Dumbledore's decision was Jane Yu.
The professors had been on the verge of exploding, and she had even stepped forward to take the blame—
Why had it all ended so lightly?
Why had the students come forward to defend her?
Since when did unity become a reason to avoid punishment?
She pondered this, concluding that it must be because the matter hadn't escalated to the parents.
It had remained a minor issue between students and professors, something her guardian could easily handle.
But now that the gaming consoles and the "internet café" had been shut down, she was left with no options.
Was her grand plan truly coming to an end?
She thought dejectedly.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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