HP: The Dropout Who Saved the World

~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones

~ Every 400 PS = Bonus Chapter!

Feel free to leave your comments—they mean a lot to me!

—————————————————————————————————————

The collision left her dizzy. Jane struggled to recover and get up from the ground.

"Hermione?"

She was surprised to recognize who had crashed into her.

Hermione was also badly hit, with a large bump on her head and tears in her eyes, but her voice was urgent:

"Jane, sorry, I need to save Harry!"

"Snape is trying to kill him!"

As she spoke, she tried to support herself and walk around Jane to reach the steps to the teachers' stands.

But her ankle seemed twisted. With a sharp "hiss," she collapsed helplessly to the ground.

It seemed the little lion wouldn't be able to walk, Jane thought.

"How were you planning to save him?"

She asked Hermione. If it involved causing trouble in the teachers' stands, she figured she could do it herself.

This was a perfect opportunity.

After all, pranking a professor in public, in front of Dumbledore and other teachers, would surely shatter her good student image.

Maybe Dumbledore would even give her a suspension or something similar!

As expected, Hermione's eyes first showed hesitation - after all, Professor Snape was the head of Slytherin.

But her trust and closeness with Jane made her decide to take a chance and tell the truth:

"Harry's broom is cursed, it keeps rolling, trying to throw him off."

"Snape keeps muttering curses at him, I was planning to set his robes on fire!"

She had a resigned look, waiting for Jane's judgment.

Would she support her?

Or report her to the professors?

Then she heard Jane's clear, calm voice:

"Leave it to me."

Hermione stared blankly at Jane's retreating figure as she climbed the steps to the teachers' stands, biting her lip as tears of gratitude streamed silently down her face.

...

Jane strode confidently toward the stands, marching as if she wasn't about to cause trouble but rather do something noble and righteous.

She walked calmly along the back row, searching for Snape's figure.

She quickly found her target, directly in front of Professor Quirrell.

Aiming her wand at Professor Snape's robes, she incanted:

"Incendio!"

However, at that moment, a faculty member she didn't recognize suddenly spoke to Professor Quirrell, who turned his head to respond.

Her spell hit Quirrell's turban instead!

"Ah—"

The turban began to burn, engulfing Professor Quirrell's entire head in fierce flames as he let out a piercing scream.

He clutched at his turban, desperately batting at the flames, trying to extinguish them.

But the turban was wrapped too tightly, and he refused to remove it.

Jane was also startled and quickly stepped forward, trying to pull off the large turban.

Under the combined force of her tugging and the flames, the turban came loose.

In that instant, she saw something that would haunt her forever and drive her to madness:

Inside Professor Quirrell's turban was a face without a nose!

The face, seeing itself exposed, transformed into a black spectral form and lunged at Jane with claws extended.

As the spirit passed through her body, she felt as if she'd been plunged into ice water, and everything went black.

Before losing consciousness, one thought flashed through her mind in large letters:

Oh no, this went too far!

...

According to the professors who witnessed it, the Quidditch match was immediately stopped that day.

A Dark wizard had been possessing Professor Quirrell in spirit form!

In the teachers' stands, Quirrell was immediately subdued by Professor Snape beside him, who disarmed him with an "Expelliarmus" and relentlessly fired Stunning Spells, Petrification Charms, and Binding Curses at him.

When the black spirit fled through the air, Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, and others quickly responded, firing spells of red, gold, black, and green, including "long-lost advanced magic," trying to trap the dark soul fragment.

Unfortunately, all those powerful spells couldn't harm the spirit at all.

The black spirit, screaming and roaring, escaped quickly, breaking through Dumbledore's magical cage, diving sharply at the edge of the stands into the Forbidden Forest, disappearing into the dense foliage.

And Jane, the heroic student who discovered Professor Quirrell's possession, was directly attacked by the black spirit and remains unconscious in the hospital wing.

The professor recounting these events dabbed at their eyes with a handkerchief:

"Oh! Jane Yu! What an admirable student, what a great person!"

...

News of Jane's deed spread quickly through Hogwarts, and all students learned of her brave fight with a Dark wizard and subsequent hospitalization.

The hospital wing entrance was crowded with visitors until Madam Pomfrey drove them away, citing the patient's need for rest. They left behind various gifts and bouquets that filled the space outside the door.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron sneaked into the hospital wing every midnight to visit Jane, but to their disappointment, she lay in bed like a jade statue, completely motionless.

If not for her steady breathing, they might have thought she was already dead.

Hermione broke down crying uncontrollably when she first saw Jane in the hospital bed:

"It's all my fault—she was trying to help me—that's why Quirrell attacked her."

The trio now knew Quirrell's secret, understanding that Snape had been protecting Harry with his spells, while the Dark wizard possessing Quirrell was Harry's destined nemesis.

Harry was also consumed by guilt, feeling more remorse than he'd ever experienced:

"No, Hermione, it's not your fault, it's all mine."

"Jane risked herself to prevent me from breaking my neck."

Ron looked helplessly at his two crying friends, trying to comfort them, but failed.

Their crying attracted Madam Pomfrey, who chased them out and deducted 5 points from Gryffindor.

Now Ron was about to cry too.

...

The Slytherin snakes were immersed in an atmosphere of panic and depression.

Many students wrote home about a Dark wizard infiltrating the school and injuring a first-year student, leading their parents to demand their children's return.

Letters flew into Dumbledore's office like snowflakes carried by owls.

But Dumbledore rejected all these requests.

"Hogwarts is safe now, the Dark wizard has been driven away," he replied.

This did little to ease the snakes' fears, as Jane still lay there motionless.

How terrifying must this Dark wizard be to have injured their strongest member so severely?

That day in the common room, Draco sat with his two followers and Blaise.

"What did your father say, Draco?" Blaise inquired.

Draco frowned, not seeming too alarmed:

"My father told me to stay here and not neglect my studies."

Then he checked the clock, jumped up from his seat, and tossed back:

"If you don't have anything else, go to bed."

Blaise watched his retreating figure in astonishment, asking Goyle and Crabbe:

"Where's he going?"

The two exchanged glances and pointed toward the hospital wing.

Meanwhile, Draco sneaked to the hospital wing under cover of darkness. He approached Jane's bed to check on her condition but was startled by a dark figure sitting beside it.

"Theodore?"

He raised his voice, startled enough that it cracked.

His shout was so loud it immediately attracted Madam Pomfrey, who stormed over furiously, followed by Headmaster Dumbledore and their Head of House, Professor Snape!

The two boys' hearts sank.

Professor Snape glared at them darkly, words grinding through his teeth:

"Well, how unexpected to find the young heirs of the Malfoy and Nott families sneaking into the hospital wing at night."

"This truly brings honor to our house, doesn't it?"

Dumbledore studied them carefully, then looked at Jane in the bed, but suddenly smiled.

"All right children, I don't think you should be here at this hour."

After sending the two students away, Dumbledore and Snape's expressions immediately grew grave.

They stood side by side at Jane's bedside.

Snape poured potion after potion into her mouth while Dumbledore waved his wand, casting detection spell after detection spell.

"These soul stabilizing potions... they're not working," Dumbledore said heavily as his wand hand dropped limply, "The impact from that soul fragment separated her soul from her body, leaving just an empty shell."

Professor Snape's face was stern, the lines around his mouth deepening:

"That's impossible, besides the Killing Curse, I've never heard of any spell that could completely remove someone's soul."

Dumbledore shook his head, his body seeming more hunched, and spoke gravely:

"Severus, no wizard fully understands the mysteries of the soul."

He stared out the window, the moon reflected in his blue eyes:

"I misjudged many things... I told you to watch Quirrell... but I didn't expect her to be more perceptive."

"Their connection was Albania, but history has never recorded how a fragmented soul exists in this world... I think I know now."

Snape stood like a marble statue, his voice hoarse:

"So, you're saying there's no way."

Dumbledore didn't answer, and they fell into silence.

After a while, his white beard trembled slightly:

"No... there might be one way... though I'm not sure if it will work."

The old man's withered hand shook as it reached into his robe pocket and pulled something out—

Snape looked closely - it was bright red - the Philosopher's Stone!