HP: The Dropout Who Saved the World

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A few minutes after she left, Harry and Ron caught up with her from behind.

Ron, panting heavily, ran in front of her with his freckles standing out more prominently than ever, blocking her path like a flustering mother hen:

"Merlin's beard! Thank goodness for the Freezing Charm! We would've been thrown out the window otherwise!"

"Too bad Malfoy wasn't thrown out, though he did lose quite a chunk of hair!"

He continued grumbling to Jane Yu about Lockhart:

"I don't understand why you and Hermione fancy him so much. She even drew his timetable into a heart shape!"

"If you ask me, I don't believe he can teach properly at all!"

Harry nodded vigorously beside him:

"He hasn't got a clue what he's doing—"

Jane had no patience to continue listening to the protagonist and his sidekick's bickering about Lockhart and Malfoy. She only wanted to distance herself from the main characters to avoid repeating the incident from the start of term.

"Excuse me—if there's nothing urgent, I'll be heading back now."

Ron suddenly slapped his forehead as he remembered the real reason:

"Oh right, I came to warn you about Fred and George. I think they've set their sights on you."

"Ever since they found out about you driving to Hogwarts at 160 kilometers per hour, they've been bombarding me with questions about you—"

What's there to be careful about? It's not like being targeted by the noseless bald boss!

Jane thought to herself.

But Ron noticed her indifference and hastily emphasized:

"You must be careful! They love pranking people more than anything else. Filch has an entire drawer full of their disciplinary records!"

Seeing Jane was about to brush it off, he urgently shared his personal experiences:

"When I was three, they turned my toy into a living spider; at five, they nearly tricked me into making an Unbreakable Vow—Dad had never been so angry before—"

His words were suddenly cut off as the very subjects of his warning appeared, one on each side of him, each placing a hand on his shoulders. Ron's face contorted instantly.

The two tall redheaded boys spoke in mischievous tones:

"Speaking ill of us in front of a lady—"

"An elegant lady, no less—"

"That's not very nice, Mummy's little Ronniekins—"

Jane recognized them as the pair who had escorted her to the Gryffindor table during the Christmas feast, as identical redheaded twins were quite unmistakable.

They then performed an exaggerated bow, removing their hats, and one of them—either Fred or George—said:

"Little lone snake—George at your service—"

His twin elbowed him, and he quickly corrected himself:

"Just kidding—I'm Fred—"

The brothers began curiously inquiring about how she managed to drive the car at 160 kilometers per hour, as they hadn't expected a Slytherin girl with no prior experience with magical cars to drive their brother halfway across Britain.

"It's simple, accelerate, clutch, shift gears—the Muggle way of driving," she explained.

Remembering the car's lack of seatbelts and airbags, she sincerely suggested:

"Why not add some safety features? If it weren't for the Hovering Charm, we'd all be dead."

The Weasley twins exchanged glances and high-fived each other, with one of them whistling:

"Excellent suggestion—we sincerely—"

"Most sincerely—"

"Invite you to join the Weasley Pranking Research Group—"

They had heard about Jane's classroom antics last year and had a feeling they would get along well, but due to her being an "evil Slytherin," they hadn't approached her.

This year was different, though. Jane had driven to school with Ron and Harry in a modified Muggle car, which at least showed she had no prejudice against Muggle items or Gryffindor students, qualifying her as "one of their own."

"Sorry, I'm not interested," Jane said coldly, stepping back to return to her dormitory.

But the Weasley twins clearly weren't giving up, their Beater advantages coming into play. They swiftly blocked her path and continued their persuasion:

"Don't you want to throw a dungbomb at Filch during night wanderings?"

"Or blow up toilets and put the seat around Malfoy's head—"

She had to admit, it was quite tempting.

She could already envision the professors' faces turning iron-gray with anger as they deducted massive points from Slytherin.

That wasn't bad at all.

These twins could definitely help accelerate her path to dropping out!

Seeing her agreement, one of the twins—either Fred or George—quickly pulled out a small box of biscuits decorated with canaries, offering it as a "new member welcome gift."

"Honeydukes' new product, for our lovely snake lady," he said with a grin.

Then one twin covered Ron's mouth as he tried to "mmph" something to Jane, while holding him in a headlock and dragging him away; the other twin tipped his hat playfully as he bid farewell:

"See you around, little snake—"

Back in her dormitory.

Jane carefully examined the box of canary biscuits.

She didn't believe for a second that these were new Honeydukes products—they were most likely some kind of pranking device.

Perhaps they could be used against troublemakers.

With this thought, she tossed the biscuits into her bag.

She didn't expect these biscuits would come in handy so soon.

...

The second afternoon class was Herbology.

Professor Sprout had them repotting Mandrakes.

These plants could restore petrified or transfigured people to their original state, but hearing their cry could be fatal.

Fortunately, these Mandrakes were still immature, in their infant stage.

Professor Sprout provided them with about twenty pairs of differently colored earmuffs, warning them about safety:

"Make sure your earmuffs are securely in place—even young Mandrakes can knock you out for several hours."

Jane followed the instructions, but as she put on her pink earmuffs, she noticed Crabbe and Goyle whispering to each other nearby, occasionally casting malicious glances in her direction.

She quietly raised her guard.

The Mandrakes pulled from the soil weren't ordinary roots, but rather extremely ugly babies. Jane strongly suspected they were the legendary ginseng spirits from her previous life. However, they were clearly not as cute as the rumored ginseng babies—their skin was pale green with spots all over, and their wrinkled faces resembled tiny old men.

She and Theodore worked together smoothly. Their Mandrake was still sleeping when pulled out, merely pursing its lips in displeasure and making a small cat-like sound before being tucked back into the soil.

"Miss Yu and Mr. Nott have finished—one point to Slytherin!" Professor Sprout announced.

Crabbe and Goyle shot envious looks. Their Mandrake showed no cooperation, swaying and struggling in the soil, dodging their hands as if holding a deep grudge against them.

Others were clearly having similar difficulties.

Draco yanked out his Mandrake, and the baby twisted its body, kicking its legs and swinging its fists, mouth wide open in piercing screams. When he stuck his finger in the Mandrake's mouth, it bit down, causing him to panic and shake his hand frantically; Pansy and Millicent couldn't control their struggling Mandrake despite using all their strength—it jumped to the ground, causing Professor Sprout to deduct one point in anger.

While Professor Sprout turned to check on the Ravenclaw students' progress, Crabbe and Goyle made their move. Jane couldn't fathom how they moved so quickly given their weight—they rushed behind her and yanked off her earmuffs, throwing them to the ground.

She only managed to cover her ears with her hands—oh no, she heard the Mandrake's sharp cry!

But something strange happened.

She didn't faint, nor did she feel even slightly dizzy or nauseous!

—This completely defied logic!

Theodore quickly picked up the earmuffs and put them back on her, gesturing to ask if she needed to go to the hospital wing.

Jane shook her head, suddenly forming an outlandish theory.

But before testing this theory, she had to deal with these two stupid oafs, Crabbe and Goyle.