At the Quidditch pitch.

The Slytherin students had arrived early.

Most first-year snakes were excited about flying lessons, thanks to Draco's promotion - constantly bragging about his daring broomstick adventures in the common room.

More importantly though, sharing class with Gryffindor brought their competitive spirit to a peak.

This manifested in arriving earlier than the little lions and raising hands more frequently in class.

Unlike them, Jane was solely focused on causing trouble.

She carefully observed the pitch layout and surrounding buildings.

The field was oval-shaped with a small circle in the center, about twenty broomsticks laid out on the ground. The spectator stands were thoughtfully designed to completely encircle the pitch.

She noticed the headmaster's office was quite close.

If she cast Diffindo from here, it should be able to break that window.

But how to ensure Dumbledore knew she did it?

This puzzled her.

Soon, the Gryffindor first-years arrived at the pitch.

Draco and his cronies immediately began taunting Harry and Ron.

Both sides were at daggers drawn.

But Madam Hooch's arrival broke the tension. Being impatient, she got straight to business.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. Her hawk-like yellow eyes swept over each student.

"Stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up!"

"Stick your right hand over your broom," she commanded sharply, her grey hair bristling.

"And say 'UP!'"

When the broom jumped into Jane's hand, inspiration suddenly struck.

Of course - if she carved her name on the broom, then used Wingardium Leviosa to send it to the headmaster's office window, then cast Diffindo at the window and throw the broom in - this would clearly tell Dumbledore who was responsible!

But she needed an opportunity... one where Madam Hooch wouldn't stop her.

That opportunity came quickly.

"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted.

The boy called Neville rose straight up, sweating profusely. The broom wouldn't obey him, seeming to have a mind of its own as it carried him toward the castle walls - once, twice, three times he crashed, his terrified face watching the rapidly receding ground.

Finally he slipped off the broomstick, his robe catching on a castle spire, leaving him dangling helplessly in mid-air, limbs flailing. The broom continued rising higher and higher before drifting toward the Forbidden Forest and disappearing.

The Slytherins had already started whispering and snickering at Neville's predicament.

Seeing Madam Hooch too preoccupied to watch this side, Jane immediately cast her spell.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The broom she'd secretly carved her name on shot skyward like a rocket, zooming to position outside the headmaster's office window.

"Defodio!"

Another red spell shot from her wand - but oh no, the aim was off!

Considering the parabolic trajectory, she'd aimed the spell higher, forgetting that magical spells don't follow Newton's laws but travel in straight lines.

The spell hit Neville's robe. With a ripping sound, he screamed as he plummeted straight down.

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Fortunately, the broom bearing Jane's name was positioned below and caught him.

Neville grabbed the broom with all four limbs, feeling like he'd been given new life.

Having come this far without achieving her goal, Jane immediately cast a second Diffindo at the headmaster's window.

Direct hit.

"Crash!" The window shattered, glass shards raining down.

The broom carved with Jane's name, finding itself with a new rider, immediately began fighting Jane's levitation spell, thrashing violently in the air before executing a 360-degree roll and diving through the broken window hole, disappearing into the headmaster's office with Neville.

Jane was dumbfounded.

Madam Hooch was speechless.

The Gryffindor and Slytherin students' jaws dropped.

Seconds later, thunderous applause broke out.

Harry and Ron clapped until their hands were sore, while Hermione's face flushed with excitement.

...

Dumbledore was brewing a pot of honey tea.

He liked adding lots of sugar cubes to make it sweeter. Paired with some lemon drops, it was perfect.

There seemed to be some commotion outside the window.

He stretched lazily, thinking with amusement that it must be the Quidditch team practicing again.

These children always made such a racket - being around young people made him feel young again.

How nostalgic...

Hmm... the noise seemed to be getting louder, as if coming from the roof.

Must be a Bludger or Quaffle that a Beater accidentally hit out of bounds, striking the wall.

I've seen it all, he thought.

But suddenly there was the sound of shattering glass, startling him into casting Protego.

"Crash!"

The headmaster's office was in chaos - broken glass everywhere, a broomstick snapped into pieces scattered across furniture, with one piece even stuck in the Pensieve. Fawkes, startled, was flying around the room screeching, dropping feathers everywhere. All the portraits had awakened and were chattering away.

The office had never been so lively!

Neville, face covered in blood, struggled to his feet, trembling and cowering as he sat sobbing "woo woo", his body covered in cuts from the glass.

"Cough cough cough..."

Dumbledore choked on his tea, coughing violently.

This was indeed a sight he hadn't seen before!

Madam Hooch arrived at the headmaster's office at her twenty-year-old running speed.

"Sorry, Headmaster Dumbledore, this child's broom went out of control," she panted heavily.

Together with Dumbledore, she helped Neville up. All three faces were pale.

"Thank Merlin you didn't break any arms or legs!"

Just then, the sharp-eyed Dumbledore spotted something among the glass debris.

He picked up a piece of broomstick and examined it closely through his glasses, finding a name carved on it.

"Yu, Jane?"

Madam Hooch also saw the name carved on the broomstick piece, but after this incident, her previously balanced opinion had completely shifted in Jane's favor.

After all, without Jane's intervention, a serious student accident would have resulted in complaint letters from parents flooding in like snowflakes!

Her beloved position as flying instructor would have been at risk!

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I believe this shows Miss Yu's enthusiasm for flying lessons."

"You don't know - she bravely cast spells to save Neville with this broom!"

She then explained everything that had happened on the pitch to Dumbledore.

She earnestly spoke well of Jane, trying to cover up the offense of carving into and damaging school property.

"To encourage her, I had said I would reward her with a broom if she flew successfully."

"Caring for classmates, eager to help others, excellent spell work!" she emphasized.

"I believe she has broken down house barriers and changed my preconceptions about Slytherin."

This was her conclusion.

...

After Madam Hooch took Neville to the hospital wing, Dumbledore began casting Scourgify.

Everything returned to normal, except for the broomstick piece bearing Jane's name that remained as evidence of what had occurred.

He placed it on his desk, staring at it deep in thought.

Something felt off...

After a moment, he had Fawkes deliver messages to several professors.

"Minerva/Filius/Severus, please come to the headmaster's office."

They arrived quickly.

Professor Snape swept into the office with a dark expression, immediately hissing venomously:

"I hope you have something urgent. Fourth-years are in class, and in a few minutes the entire room will be blown up by cauldrons."

Dumbledore smiled wryly at his old friend, offering a steaming cup of honey tea:

"Sorry, Severus. Perhaps you'd like some honey tea?"

Before Snape could reply, Professor McGonagall interrupted seriously:

"Albus, look inside - I'm afraid this tea is undrinkable."

Dumbledore looked closer and found the tea was full of glass shards!

His heart seized as he had to wave his wand to clean away the freshly brewed tea he'd only taken one sip of.

Leaning back in his chair, his blue eyes twinkling, he said:

"It's nothing major - I just wanted to ask about Jane Yu's recent classroom performance."

At these words, Professor Snape radiated cold fury:

"Perhaps you can put aside those baseless suspicions. She's perfectly normal, couldn't be more normal."

Dumbledore crossed his hands, his blue eyes peering at Snape through his half-moon spectacles with obvious doubt:

"But I hear her performance in all subjects is quite extraordinary?"

Before Snape could react, Professor Flitwick stepped forward to defend Jane:

"Oh Albus, I don't think we should treat an 11-year-old student this way."

"She's creative, loves Charms, and just saved my head in the last class."

The usually stern Professor McGonagall nodded and smiled upon hearing this:

"Her Transfiguration is excellent, and she saved a student in my class."

"An evil person could never do such things."

"Jane has a heart of gold, Albus. I don't think we should continue monitoring her."

"It's disrespectful to this child's wonderful qualities."

Dumbledore hadn't expected that in just two weeks, his trusted lieutenants would all switch sides.

He began to wonder if he had done something wrong.

Standing up, he walked to the window overlooking the Quidditch pitch:

"Minerva, I've always trusted your judgment..."

He suddenly fell silent, his expression growing serious as he stared intently at the pitch.

Following Dumbledore's gaze, Professor McGonagall also looked outside and couldn't help but gasp.

"By Merlin! What are they doing!"