Jane Yu had already figured out the purpose of her detention.
As someone sent by her superior, Fudge, and holding dual roles as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Umbridge would undoubtedly employ a mix of intimidation and manipulation. Once she extracted enough evidence of Dumbledore opposing the Ministry of Magic, she would expel Jane.
And sure enough, Umbridge's approach began with something as simple as a drink order.
"Tea, coffee, or milk?"
As Jane rubbed her eyes, irritated by the pink wallpaper, lacy pink tablecloths, and countless cat-themed plates adorning the walls, Umbridge smiled and asked what she would like to drink.
This pink "milk tea shop"... Though the decor was garish, the service attitude of the staff wasn't bad!
At least so far, Umbridge hadn't cast any spells on anyone.
Quite polite, much more so than Crouch, who would turn someone into a ferret at the slightest disagreement.
"Milk tea," Jane replied. "Medium size, 70% sugar, less ice, black tea base with ice cream, and substitute oat milk for regular milk."
Umbridge's smile froze on her face. She had never expected a student to actually place such a specific order!
This made her inwardly curse Dumbledore a few more times and pour an entire bottle of colorless Veritaserum into the drink.
"Not a very traditional way to drink milk tea," she said, turning around and handing over a seemingly perfectly prepared cup of milk tea with a slight tilt of her head and a smile. "I suppose you're just as unconventional in school as you are with your milk tea preferences, aren't you?"
"I believe innovation is the key to societal progress," Jane replied, taking the milk tea and courteously taking a small sip.
Why did this milk tea have a hint of alcohol?
A very innovative taste, reminiscent of soy sauce milk tea... paired with coffee... and red wine... rich and creamy...
She couldn't help but take another big sip.
Honestly, she thought if Umbridge opened a milk tea shop, it might just become a hit.
"Good," Umbridge said with a slight smile, walking behind her desk and picking up a quill. "I have a few questions to ask you—"
Her words were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Harry's stiff face appeared behind it.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter," Umbridge gestured to a chair adorned with lace trim. "Take a seat. I'll first address Miss Yu's repeated failures as a prefect, and then we'll deal with your issue of spreading fear-mongering rumors."
But before she could finish, Jane's crisp and meaningful voice suddenly echoed in the small office:
"I don't like the decor in your room. How can you cover everything in the same shade of pink? Don't you know what gradients are?"
"Pink is delicate, lace is cute, but how old are you? Even if you're 18, your personality has nothing to do with being delicate and cute."
Harry's previously suppressed anger turned into sheer horror, causing him to jump out of his chair and stare at Jane in disbelief.
Umbridge, on the other hand, seemed utterly unprepared for a student to speak to her like this. In fact, it had been years since anyone dared to talk to her this way. Those who had voiced dissent were crushed like ants under her feet.
"Silence!" Umbridge screeched. "Answer my questions properly—disrespecting a professor, fifty points from Slytherin!"
"Answer what questions? You haven't even asked anything yet. This is hilarious; you're already upset, breaking down."
"And besides, using Veritaserum on poor, vulnerable students? Your character doesn't deserve my respect. You're utterly unfit to be a professor."
"As a two-faced b****, sorry, I don't mean to bring up your parents, but I doubt they could take pride in you. Even Merlin would pinch his nose at you. Back in school, I bet you had no friends in the locker room, and your character makes everyone at work want to slap you. So now you're left bullying students for attention."
Umbridge looked as if she might faint from rage. She drew her wand, seemingly ready to cast a Cruciatus Curse on Jane, but was startled back to reality by the loud sound of a door slamming.
It was Harry flipping his chair and storming out of the room!
At this moment, he couldn't care less about whether Umbridge would target him in the future, because he realized—
Jane Yu might not make it out of this office alive!
He had to find Dumbledore immediately to take charge of the situation!
"Can you stop this damn Veritaserum?" Jane couldn't control her own mouth, feeling dizzy as if she were drunk. "Sorry, but I have to tell you something. In Gotham, you're the queen... In a circus, you're the busiest... In a deck of cards, you're the joker... Oh, look at the red cherry on top of this cream, doesn't it look like your fallen nose?"
"Shut up! Don't mention that!" Umbridge's usual smile was gone, replaced by a sinister and chilling expression. "One hundred points from Slytherin! Answer me, what are Dumbledore's plans—"
"How would I know? What does someone else's plan have to do with you?" Jane looked puzzled. "Why don't you make plans for yourself? In a year, you'll be dead. Fudge sent you to this Defense Against the Dark Arts position to either die or go mad, didn't he?"
"What did you say?" Umbridge's face froze. She stepped forward, grabbing Jane's shoulders, her nails almost digging into her flesh. "Sowing discord, slandering the Ministry—I'm Fudge's most trusted person—what else do you know? Keep talking!"
"Don't you know this position is cursed by Voldemort?" Jane continued to ramble, the Veritaserum making her almost brutally honest. "No one wants this job. Those who've taken it either died, went mad, or ended up disgraced. Look at the tragic fates of your predecessors. Soon, you'll be just like them. If Fudge truly trusted you, why didn't he keep you by his side? Why send you to a school, far from the center of power, to teach?"
Umbridge stumbled back and fell into her chair.
She knew she was here to strip Dumbledore of his power and clear political obstacles for Fudge.
She also knew she was one of the few people Fudge could trust, which was one of the few ways to secure her position.
But no one had told her before coming here that this was a cursed position, one that could lead to death or madness!
"Nonsense!" she said, feigning composure. "The Ministry of Magic has empowered me to manage the school with advanced and risk-free teaching methods, improving students' grades—"
Her words were interrupted by Jane's uncontrollable urge to retort.
"Oh, speaking of teaching methods, do you know what high school is? Do you know how to develop students' all-round abilities in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor?"
"Let me tell you: At 6:00 a.m., the wake-up bell rings. At 6:20, everyone lines up for morning exercise. At 6:40, morning reading begins. At 7:00, it's breakfast time. By 7:30, morning self-study starts. At 8:00, the first class begins. At 10:00, there's a run before returning to class. Lunch is at noon, followed by a nap until 1:20 p.m. Afternoon classes start at 1:30. Evening runs are at 9:50 p.m., and lights out at 10:10 p.m.—"
"Entertainment items are confiscated. Everything is for exams and a bright future. School rules include short haircuts, no long nails, uniforms, weekly quizzes, monthly exams, midterms, finals, surprise tests, and baseline tests after holidays..."
Listening to this, Umbridge found it... intriguing!
She hadn't expected this Jane Yu to have such extreme thoughts!
No rest for students, day and night classes, running, exams, no entertainment—
Even cattle and horses would be happier! She suspected even Azkaban prisoners lived better!
She unexpectedly felt a strange sense of kinship.
This made her pick up a pen and start taking notes.
"And then?" she eagerly asked, temporarily setting aside her earlier anger, as she rarely encountered someone as cruel as herself.
"So you're a piece of..." Jane replied seriously. "Your ugly personality and poor teaching methods are all a piece of... So, could you sign this for me—"
She was promptly screamed out of the office by Umbridge, who seemed unwilling to see her again anytime soon.
"Wait—you haven't signed my expulsion notice—"
Jane reached out her hand, almost getting her fingers caught in the door.
...
Meanwhile, Harry was sprinting down the corridor, his determination to save Jane making his legs move so fast they almost left afterimages.
This caused him to crash into Snape, the impact nearly sending both of them flying.
"Potter!" Snape growled, grabbing him by the collar. "Detention—! Fifty points from Gryffindor—!"
But Snape didn't get the panicked, fearful Harry he expected. Instead, he heard some very bad news:
"Jane—Jane's in detention with Umbridge—she's been given Veritaserum—! She'll be tortured—I'm worried—"
This time, Snape couldn't care less about dealing with this thorn in his side. He stormed off toward Umbridge's office:
"No, I don't think Miss Yu has anything to worry about. You should be more concerned about Professor Umbridge."
But before the two of them could enter the office, they encountered Jane, who had just finished her detention.
"Are you okay, Jane?" Harry panted, his glasses fogged up.
"I think I'm fine, thank you—" Jane mechanically replied.
She felt a headache coming on as she recalled the hellish high school mode she had just described, as if she had downed two bottles of strong liquor.
A wave of drowsiness and nausea hit her, and she swayed before collapsing into darkness.
"But I think... maybe... you guys won't be so fine."
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