HP: The Dropout Who Saved the World

Several hours earlier, second floor of the Hog's Head.

The floor was covered with worn carpets, with a small fireplace above which hung a large oil painting of a blonde girl gazing dreamily and gently into the room.

Jane guessed this must be Dumbledore's sister he had mentioned before.

She turned and entered the room, finding all the lamps already lit.

"Dobby," Jane called softly to her excellent employee while sitting on the small bed.

With a soft pop, the house-elf with huge bat-like ears and tennis ball-sized eyes appeared beside her:

"Dobby is here to serve, Miss Jane!"

He quickly organized Jane's belongings and cleaned the entire room thoroughly. The eagle owl, well-fed with owl treats, was lazily playing a game of hide-and-seek with the grass snake.

"Where do you live?" Jane asked curiously. "I never arranged staff quarters for you."

Hearing her question, Dobby instantly burst into tears, wringing his hands:

"Oh my—Miss Jane asks where Dobby lives! No wizard has ever cared where Dobby lives before!"

"You are so great—so kind—"

After a long string of praises, Dobby finally explained excitedly, his ears flapping:

"Dobby always follows you! When you're at Hogwarts, Dobby secretly lives in a room. Dobby hears other house-elves call it the 'Room of Requirement,' they use it as a temporary rest area."

This piqued Jane's curiosity.

"What's the 'Room of Requirement'?" she asked.

"It's a room that changes," Dobby explained seriously. "It only appears when Dobby needs it. When he thinks of it, it prepares a house-elf sized bed for him..."

"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" Something triggered Dobby's sensitive nerves and he began banging his head against the wall. "Dobby wanted to prepare gifts for Miss Jane, but they cannot be taken away!"

A room that changes according to people's thoughts?

How interesting!

"I'd love to see it," she mused.

"Dobby will take Miss Jane there!" the elf squealed. "It's Dobby's honor to serve you!"

Jane took Dobby's hand, not forgetting to bring her eagle owl and grass snake.

Though just as Dobby apparated with her, something gold and scarlet seemed to burst into the room?

With a crack, the girl and elf appeared inside Hogwarts.

They landed on the eighth floor, opposite a tapestry showing trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy.

"When Dobby thinks of what he needs and walks past three times, he can go in!" Dobby demonstrated how to enter, and a very smooth door appeared before them.

Jane pushed open the door but found it full of socks and huge balls of yarn—knee socks, crew socks, ankle socks of all kinds, like a sock museum. In the center stood an enormous pair of socks nearly as tall as Jane herself, one red and one green, looking very Christmas-like.

"Dobby wanted to give these to you! But they cannot be taken!" Dobby shrieked, covering his face and bursting into tears.

"Just showing me this place is already a wonderful gift," Jane consoled him while enthusiastically exploring the room.

Such an amazing place—wasn't this much more fun than Hogsmeade?

She went in and out repeatedly, the room alternating between piles of Galleons and Sickles.

Unfortunately, none could be taken out.

If it could fulfill both house-elf and human wishes, what about an owl's wishes?

As the eagle owl flew three circles by the door, that smooth door appeared again.

Jane entered curiously.

—And promptly walked right back out.

Because it was full of mice and snakes!

She could guarantee she'd never seen so many varieties of rodents and serpents in either of her lives, suddenly feeling quite unclean.

But she still wanted to see the grass snake's wish.

So she held the small snake and rubbed it across the floor three times, and that smooth door appeared again.

Once more she regretted her curiosity.

Because "plump" mice appeared again inside!

Her eagle owl gave her a lordly look and began hooting "goo-goo-goo" quite fiercely, as if scolding her.

If Jane could understand it, she would have heard:

"Silly child, with a room full of food before you, why won't you eat? Must I feed it into your mouth?"

But Jane couldn't understand and mercilessly held its beak shut.

It could only shake its head helplessly, ruffle its feathers, feeling a sense of responsibility to provide for the family.

Calming herself, Jane decided to end this adventure.

If she wanted to return directly to the Hog's Head, could it fulfill that wish?

Jane entered again but found the room completely empty except for a single door.

It really could achieve her goal!

She pushed open the door and entered the passage.

Inside was a short stone staircase leading down, the passage stretching onward with brass lamps on the walls.

After walking quite a distance, an identical door appeared before her.

...

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was nearly frantic!

"Nothing! Nowhere!" Aberforth slammed the Hog's Head door shut, holding up a lantern. "I've turned all of Hogsmeade upside down! Even checked the Shrieking Shack! Not even a ghost to be found, let alone her!"

Dumbledore furrowed his brow dejectedly, putting down his quill:

"I've sent letters to the Malfoys... Greengrasses... all those families. No news of her."

This was terrible!

If he'd known she would be driven to run away, he would have agreed to her request!

Her spirit had already suffered such trauma, and yet he had refused her rare request to visit classmates...

"Perhaps I shouldn't have..."

He couldn't help feeling regret.

"What about all your advanced spells, Albus?" his brother mocked mercilessly. "Writing letters to find someone? Are you still 'the greatest wizard of modern times'?"

Dumbledore smiled bitterly, raising his hands in surrender:

"Her location is hidden, tracking spells cannot pinpoint it precisely."

Aberforth's expression changed.

He knew those spells that could hide a wizard's location were often used in wizarding households.

This meant Jane had likely been kidnapped by a wizard after running away and was being held somewhere.

To blackmail Dumbledore.

At this point, he would have preferred Jane had secretly gone to visit classmates rather than learn she'd been attacked by dark wizards.

"I told you you'd pay the price! Driving her to run away, are you satisfied?"

Aberforth paced anxiously by the fireplace, then declared firmly:

"This must be a plot! Think—who did you tell about adopting a child?"

"The Ministry." Dumbledore fell silent for a moment, barely containing his fury. "I'll go to them now. If she was attacked, she would have fought back with magic. The Trace on underage wizards can determine the area."

He was about to apparate to the Ministry to shake awake a sleeping Cornelius Fudge when Fawkes swooped down to his head, crying urgently.

At the same time, a strong grip on his hand made his spell falter—at one hundred and ten plus years old, he nearly splinched himself apparating.

Aberforth was gripping his hand tightly, gesturing for him to look above the fireplace.

"Merlin's beard—how did she... how did she know about this secret passage?"

Dumbledore followed his brother's gaze puzzledly, but saw Ariana in the painting smiling softly as she walked along a long tunnel painted behind her. Her slender figure grew smaller and smaller, gradually disappearing into the darkness.

Fawkes circled the painting, spinning, as if trying to fly into it.

Then a small white dot appeared at the tunnel's end, and Ariana walked back toward them, getting closer and closer. But beside her was another person, slightly shorter than her, with black hair and black eyes, expressionless yet visibly relaxed.

—It was Jane!

Both men were stunned.

The scene before them was as if their sister had come back to life, leading Jane toward them...

Though Dumbledore had long known about this secret passage connecting the Hog's Head to the Room of Requirement, no one ever used it. This was also the first time he'd seen his sister's portrait act as a guide, leading a child even younger than herself...

He felt dizzy with nostalgia, as if back in Godric's Hollow.

By the time he came to his senses, his face was already wet with tears.

Aberforth also stared at the painting transfixed, almost reaching out to touch the two of them.

The two figures grew larger and larger until they filled the entire painting.

The painting swung open, and Jane climbed out.