Hogwarts had never been this lively before.
"Yu is back! Umbridge is gone!"
With a loud cheer, the floor of the Slytherin common room shook violently. Then, the door was pushed open by Dumbledore—
The young Slytherins, who had been confined to their dormitories by Umbridge, poured out like a flood!
"No more cursed morning runs, no more oppressive frog jumps!" Mafalda, who leapt out of the common room in two strides, raised her arms high and shouted, "We can sleep in until the first morning class starts! No more drinking Energy Potions like water!"
Over the past few months, Energy Potions had become everyone's essential "coffee substitute" to stay awake.
"We can finally wave our wands again!" Warrington and Montague's wand tips sparked, "They've gone rusty! Though being a 'physical wizard' wasn't too bad, I still want to unleash my stagnant magic and move my rusty wand!"
"Merlin's beard! I never want to hear the words 'exam paper,' 'practice questions,' 'memorization,' or 'dictation' again!" Daphne shuddered at the thought of the past days. "What have I been through? My God, I don't even know how I survived!"
Among the jubilant Slytherins, only Blaise was once again the victim of a sack attack.
"I don't know where it went wrong, but it's been like this for two years in a row," Blaise complained as he slowly approached Jane Yu, his body battered and reeking of sewage. "I was supposed to watch over Parkinson and Bulstrode to prevent them from sneaking out to snitch. Daphne originally planned to use Veritaserum on them, but unfortunately, she couldn't steal the ingredients from Snape."
He pointed to the foul-smelling sack and broken rope on the ground, explaining that he had just been rescued from the washroom by Dumbledore:
"I was tailing them when they sneaked out at dawn. I planned to knock them out, but I blacked out first."
"When I woke up, I was in the sack. The sack was in the girls' washroom toilet."
What Blaise didn't know was that, on the other end, Ginny Weasley and her twin brothers were grinning devilishly.
They had only intended to lure Parkinson and Bulstrode into the toilet, but unexpectedly, they got an extra tail.
Buy two, get one free—a special promotion.
Jane Yu couldn't possibly know who had orchestrated this.
After all, Parkinson and Bulstrode had made enemies everywhere, making it hard to determine who had taken this opportunity to target Blaise.
"Never mind, as long as Umbridge is gone." Unable to figure it out, Blaise decided to stop thinking and took a deep breath of the castle's fragrant air. "The air here is so fresh, a hundred times better than the toilet... Maybe this is the scent of freedom. Without the pink toad, the air quality has improved significantly..."
But Blaise wasn't the only one who had suffered.
"Of course, you haven't been expelled," Dumbledore said with a subtle smile in response to Jane Yu's question. "Umbridge, as an illegal professor and unauthorized headmistress, had no authority. Her expulsion notices without the headmaster's signature are invalid."
Following Blaise, Jane Yu also shed tears of sorrow.
—Who could understand the pain of repeating a year?
That Umbridge, truly useless in every way!
But clearly, none of the students present could understand her feelings; everyone was busy spreading the news of Umbridge's departure.
"Umbridge is gone! Her era is over!"
"One era ends, and another begins!"
"Under Yu's guidance, we defeated our enemy!"
"Slytherin is our supreme hero, and Yu is the god who restored us to our throne!"
Even when facing the recently released Gryffindors, the young Slytherins couldn't contain their excitement and launched into a tirade.
Draco's pale face flushed slightly as he grabbed Ron by the collar, who had just squeezed out of the Fat Lady's portrait:
"Weasley! Red-haired mole! Pauper! I'm telling you, the pink toad is gone!"
Without waiting for Ron's dumbfounded reaction or his question of "Has Malfoy gone mad," Draco turned and grabbed Harry by the collar:
"Potter! Scar—uh, it's been enough time... I can call you Scarhead now! I'm telling you, this is what they call covert greatness!"
He proudly raised his head, announcing to the two with his nostrils flared:
"Yu guided us. She left us hints, not you. She cares about us—she arranged everything before she left!"
"I'm telling you, with just a little trick, I could have gotten you expelled! Thank me, Potter! I gave you a chance to sacrifice for Yu!"
But instead of seeing the hatred he expected on Harry's face, Draco saw an expression of realization and gratitude, which made him shiver.
"Thank you, Malfoy," Harry said sincerely, "You're a good person. I never knew you were this kind, sending me to Yu."
Seeing Draco's reaction, Harry, who had observed everything, finally understood—the mysterious confiscation of Muggle items, his wrongful expulsion...
It turned out Jane Yu had indeed arranged everything!
Externally, she passed information through the portraits, creating the opportunity for Parents' Day!
Internally, she guided the Slytherin students to use those Muggle items to rise up in resistance!
She even had Malfoy send him away to keep him from Umbridge's torment, bringing him to her side!
She must have known how much he missed Sirius, which was why Phineas had delivered his godfather's words to him!
Just thinking about it made Harry feel so moved he could hardly breathe!
"What?" Draco was shocked, his proud expression vanished as he pointed at Harry in disbelief. "You... Potter... You've been with Yu all along?"
"Yes!" Harry smiled, feeling light and exceptionally good. "Thank you. You're truly selfless, Malfoy."
Draco turned ashen gray, looking as though he would never be happy again.
Leaning against the wall outside the Gryffindor common room, he slid down to the floor, sitting there dazed.
For a moment, the only sound around was his repeated muttering of "I was so foolish, truly foolish," like a mantra.
But the crowd, now aware of the truth, wouldn't forget this disheartened Draco Malfoy. After the enthusiastic celebrations, a dejected Draco was lifted up by Cedric, who had been watching everything.
"Thank you for your great contribution," the student council president sincerely thanked him. "We misunderstood your hints earlier, and we're very sorry. I heard you like Muggle items and have been searching for them. Our Hufflepuff students prepared some gifts for you."
He handed a sack filled with hastily gathered Muggle books and snacks to the stunned Draco.
"No! I don't like them!" Draco jumped three feet high like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, flinging the sack away. "You're insulting a Malfoy!"
He ran down the corridor at a speed that left everyone in awe, disappearing from sight.
It seemed that Draco, repeatedly beaten down, had lost all color in his life.
"Well, I don't quite understand Malfoy," Cedric scratched his head in confusion. "He seems a bit... uh... conflicted."
Turning around, he spotted the equally pale Jane Yu. His eyes lit up as he quickly shoved the sack of Muggle items into her hands:
"This is for you, Yu. We apologize for misunderstanding the Slytherin students earlier and thank you for planting the seeds of rebellion. You're a giant in thought, a pioneer of revolution, the herald of dawn; under your leadership, their actions were indeed covert and great."
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