HP: The Dropout Who Saved the World

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The Flamels let out a simultaneous gasp of surprise.

"How extraordinary! Muggle things can make images move in this tiny frame!"

Nicolas continued exploring the other buttons - two red ones labeled 'B' and 'A' on the right; a directional pad on the left; and 'START' buttons at the bottom.

He tried pressing 'SELECT' and the screen changed, displaying a list.

"Super Mario Land?"

With boundless curiosity, he pressed the button.

He wanted to see what this land was all about!

The screen showed a small man named Mario wearing a cap and overalls with a mustache, rendered in monochrome, bouncing around the screen.

"The land of Sarasaland has four kingdoms, but the alien Tatanga wants to conquer this land. He uses hypnotic beams to control the residents and kings, and kidnaps Princess Daisy who rules the four kingdoms. Mario embarks on an adventure to save the princess and the kingdom, and defeat the alien Tatanga."

Nicolas read the game's plot, understanding that he would be controlling this little man called Mario.

"How interesting!"

He quickly figured out the controls - directional pad for movement, red buttons for jumping and crouching.

Nicolas enthusiastically guided the character to the right - successfully jumped over a pipe-like object, good - collected a coin, excellent - hit a wall, no harm done - a mushroom, let's try eating it!

The character started flashing - oh no! Lost a life! Back to the start!

This successfully ignited his competitive spirit. Merlin knows how long it had been since he'd felt such emotion!

Everything went smoothly this time until he encountered a turtle and tried to greet it.

— Back to the start again!

Perenelle stood beside him with her cane, watching her husband's foolish attempts, desperately wanting to whack him with it.

Finally, after the nth time the character died, she burst out.

"Let me try!"

She snatched the device from her husband's hands.

Her usually trembling elderly hands were now remarkably steady as she easily cleared Level 1-1 and moved on to the second level.

During this process, she discovered many challenging moves, like stepping on turtles to kick their shells, jumping on mushroom heads to squash enemies... but she met her Waterloo at Level 1-3, with the character returning to the level's starting point.

Nicolas anxiously tapped his cane beside her.

...

The next morning.

When Jane and Dumbledore came downstairs, they found the elderly couple sprawled across the dining table, sound asleep, their canes scattered on the floor, with the Nintendo Game Boy resting on Nicolas's belly.

Hearing movement, the couple raised their heads.

Jane was startled by their appearance - the previously spirited pair now had bloodshot eyes with dark circles underneath, their skin clinging to their bones, looking like two skeletons!

Dumbledore was clearly shocked by their appearance as well:

"Merlin's beard—"

He felt uneasy, wondering if the loss of the Philosopher's Stone had already affected them this severely.

Nicolas shakily stood up, swaying slightly. Steadying himself with one hand on the table, he spoke weakly:

"Good morning... children..."

His mind instantly cleared when he saw the game console, and he looked at Jane with excited anticipation:

"Child, your gift is the best thing I've received in a hundred years."

"However, it seems to consume energy rather quickly - it's already depleted after just one night."

Dumbledore was dumbfounded.

He never imagined these two six-hundred-year-old elders would—

Spend an entire night playing a Muggle game console!

Now Jane understood why they looked so terrible.

It was just like when she had pulled all-nighters gaming in her previous life!

She checked the device and found it had run out of battery.

When the Flamels learned that the game console wasn't consumable and only needed regular battery replacements, their mood visibly improved.

They asked Jane to help buy another console and some batteries.

The silver-haired elderly couple smiled as they patted her head, giving her two large bags of hundred-pound notes:

"Keep the extra money for yourself to buy sweets, dear child, don't worry about saving money for us."

"We've never cared for money, we have no interest in it."

— Is this what it's like to be wealthy?

Jane's inner self wept with envy, biting her handkerchief.

After she returned with the items, the Flamels became completely absorbed in the game again, forgetting about their visitors' presence.

Dumbledore watched the couple argue red-faced over getting stuck in the game, feeling utterly bewildered:

Were these really the same wise, composed elders he knew?

Perhaps he needed to go back to sleep and wake up again.

Several hours later, the game console ran out of battery again.

The Flamels finally came to their senses.

They repeatedly apologized to the neglected Dumbledore and Jane:

"Sorry, children, but this is truly a magnificent invention!"

"Joy and achievement - we haven't experienced such feelings in hundreds of years!"

"I feel like I'm back in my youth, when I first succeeded in alchemy!"

Then Perenelle began casting food-conjuring spells, with eggs and bread landing on plates.

She made large portions, as she and her husband planned to eat with them. She explained:

"We're too old and thin to hold the game console properly, we need to eat more to gain some strength."

"After all, the people of Sarasaland and Princess Daisy are waiting for us to save them."

During the meal, Nicolas kept asking Jane about techniques for throwing Super Balls, high jumps and long jumps, how to get more lives for Mario... She demonstrated and explained everything in detail to the alchemist.

The Flamels praised her highly, giving thumbs up to Dumbledore:

"This child has a strong spirit of research, just like we did when studying how to turn mercury into gold!"

"Albus, you must nurture her well, she will achieve great things."

Dumbledore accidentally pulled out several strands of his beard.

He smiled bitterly, feeling something was amiss, with ominous premonitions ringing in his mind.

His premonitions soon came true.

Nicolas Flamel spoke earnestly to Jane:

"Child, forget what I said yesterday!"

"As long as there's enough joy and goals to pursue while living, what's wrong with living a bit longer?"

"I've already lived for over six hundred years, a few more years to play these games won't be a problem."

Dumbledore nearly fainted.

His carefully planned lesson about life and death for Jane had completely backfired!

He held his forehead with one hand, speaking in a trembling voice:

"Oh— Nicolas— I'm glad to see you've cheered up— I hope you have enough Elixir of Life left."

Nicolas smiled, his white beard and silver hair quivering:

"Don't worry, Albus, I've stored enough potion to live another hundred years or so."

"We'll spend our remaining time playing every game console in the world."

Dumbledore looked at them in disbelief, suddenly feeling a stomach ache.

He had thought that without the Philosopher's Stone, the Flamels would only have a few years left to settle their affairs.

But he never expected it to be a hundred years!

This meant the Flamels could not only outlive him but possibly even Jane!

Having them teach her about life and death was completely paradoxical.

How was this any different from a billionaire saying they had no interest in money?

Hearing this would only make people think they were being pretentious!

Truly French indeed!

He deeply regretted bringing Jane here, feeling it was a massive mistake.