"Oh—Severus, the Veritaserum you brewed—its potency is truly astonishing," Dumbledore's weary voice echoed beside the hospital bed in the medical wing. His travel-worn appearance was complemented by a deeply fatigued expression.
Upon hearing about the incident involving Jane, he had rushed back to Hogwarts at breakneck speed, postponing an investigation far away in Austria.
"Even a fake Veritaserum shouldn't cause the drinker to pass out—that's hardly safe—"
At these words, Snape's face darkened, his expression laced with his signature sarcasm.
Faced with complaints from his superior—and a student's guardian, no less—he chose to redirect his anger, launching into a tirade against Umbridge:
"No, I wouldn't waste my precious ingredients on that foolish idiot."
"With her utter lack of knowledge about potions, her brain inferior to that of a troll, I wouldn't be surprised if she was stupid enough to pour an entire bottle of Veritaserum into a student's drink."
He roughly administered several bottles of sobering potion to Jane and revealed the secret behind the "Veritaserum" he had provided to Umbridge:
"Veritaserum is colorless, tasteless, and has a viscous texture, but diluting a few drops of thickening agent in clear water can achieve the same appearance."
Dumbledore was momentarily surprised, but his lingering doubts remained unresolved. Hesitating, he asked:
"Severus, are you sure you gave her the right bottle?"
He waved his hand in front of his nose, catching a strange scent in the air:
"I don't think my sense of smell is wrong… Do you smell alcohol?"
Snape sneered, unleashing his full sarcasm toward Umbridge:
"Of course, our esteemed guest, the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, dedicated to curriculum reform, wanted to enhance the Veritaserum's potency."
"I told her that adding a moderate amount of alcohol could make the potion take effect faster, but clearly her limited vocabulary doesn't include the word 'moderate.' I suspect she added a large mix of spirits."
Dumbledore suddenly recalled the incident when Jane had fallen sound asleep after drinking a small bottle of nettle wine during her first year.
He carefully observed her flushed cheeks and unconscious state, and couldn't help but press his hand to his forehead.
This child—she had actually been drunk!
...
Jane Yu woke up from her sweet slumber feeling a bit dazed.
Opening her eyes, she immediately recognized the familiar ceiling and decor of the medical wing.
And, of course, the familiar hooked nose on her left side—Professor Snape—and the familiar white beard on her right side—Headmaster Dumbledore.
The scene was so reminiscent of her first year that she almost thought she had traveled back in time.
"May I ask what year it is now?" she politely inquired, propping herself up halfway.
Snape and Dumbledore exchanged a glance, their expressions resembling someone who had just tasted a vomit-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean—
"It seems she hasn't fully recovered," Dumbledore remarked. "Severus, perhaps we need more sobering potion—"
After being forced to drink another cup of extremely foul potion, Jane gagged beside the bed for a while.
Finally, her mind cleared.
Realizing she hadn't been affected by Veritaserum at all but had merely been drunk, she wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it!
Her once-impressive alcohol tolerance—capable of handling two bottles of strong liquor—was gone forever!
Her soul had returned to her body, but now she was a lightweight.
Getting drunk on a single alcoholic drink, babbling nonsense in front of Umbridge, and embarrassing herself before Dumbledore, Snape, and Harry...
Jane suddenly felt it might be better to pretend to be unconscious.
But Dumbledore clearly had no intention of letting her continue sleeping. He pulled her up and enveloped her in a big hug:
"Oh, Jane, I'm so sorry—I never expected that in just one day away from the school—she would try to harm you—"
Before Jane could respond, Snape, arms crossed, let out a cold snort from his nose.
"Perhaps the Headmaster is unaware that our brave and fearless Miss Yu unleashed a torrent of profanity and vulgarity in front of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Perhaps you should be more concerned about the Senior Undersecretary's mental health, to prevent her from making some very unwise decisions—"
Jane couldn't tell if he was insulting her or Umbridge, but she felt he might be targeting both of them.
"Oh, I think as a Senior Undersecretary, Professor Umbridge should have developed some resilience and tolerance for students," Dumbledore said with a wink. "A drunken child's ramblings can hardly be taken seriously, can they?"
Jane frowned, strongly suspecting that not only had Umbridge taken her words seriously, but she might also be planning to add fuel to the fire and put them into practice.
She could already imagine a group of students running laps around the Black Lake!
Dumbledore then handed Jane a two-way mirror sent by the LeMays:
"Nicolas and Perenelle hope you can contact them directly. Apparently, they've encountered some... technical bottlenecks they can't resolve."
Having successfully delivered the "package," he was about to leave when Jane stopped him.
"Wait." She asked curiously, "Grindelwald… have you found him?"
Honestly, she was quite curious about how the reunion between these old lovers would unfold after half a century apart.
Would it be a fierce confrontation, a passionate rekindling, or an awkward silence?
"No." In response to her question, Dumbledore sighed. "The symbol of the Deathly Hallows has appeared in multiple countries… but he's adept at concealing his whereabouts. By the time we arrive, he's already gone."
"Alright." Jane's gossiping curiosity vanished instantly, and she shrugged in disappointment. "What about Voldemort?"
"Nothing either." Dumbledore sighed even louder, clearly exhausted from chasing both leads, lamenting his advancing age and dwindling energy. "He's also skilled at hiding. He summoned the Death Eaters once to extract flesh and blood from them—you remember the potion formula for his resurrection, don't you? He's trying to reacquire those three ingredients to free himself from his infant form."
Beside them, Snape involuntarily shuddered, his face, which had been pale at the start of term, now back to its usual sallow hue.
Jane nodded.
"While we can't control the servant's flesh, we've already secured the father's bone. As for the enemy's blood… we're strictly protecting Harry, ensuring Voldemort has no chance to obtain his blood again."
Jane raised her eyebrows in shock, giving Dumbledore a look as if she'd seen a ghost.
So Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix had dug up Voldemort's father's grave?
And taken out the skeleton inside?
That's grim—this man couldn't even rest in peace after death.
Digging up someone's ancestors—that's a serious act of destroying someone's luck!
For a moment, she couldn't tell whether Dumbledore or Voldemort was the true Dark Lord.
Of course, Snape also looked as if he'd swallowed a fly, his face even more sallow.
"Ahem… desperate times call for desperate measures… Just to be safe, considering his lineage, we might have also taken the bones of his grandparents, great-grandparents, and uncles… uh… maybe ashes… Don't worry, once it's all over, we'll bury them back."
White-on-the-outside, black-on-the-inside Dumbledore coughed awkwardly twice and chose to make a quick exit:
"Alright, that's it. I need to head to Austria. I imagine they're already impatient."
He avoided the two's troll-like stares and left the medical wing at lightning speed, his steps far quicker than usual.
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