Jane Yu felt that the journey had been smooth and uneventful, seemingly without the slightest abnormality.
To ensure the mission's success, no one had any possibility of launching a sneak attack—
Tonks had even produced a personally signed leave note from Dumbledore, excusing Jane Yu from her patrol duties.
It had to be said, her professional abilities were truly solid. She kept the compartment under strict surveillance, ensuring no one could possibly approach.
Everything remained normal right up until the Auror responsible for protecting Harry brought him to this carriage just before disembarking.
What wasn't normal was Harry's condition: one eye was swollen and purple-black, his nose was broken, blood smeared all over his lips, only one arm of his glasses remained dangling, he was soaked through, his hair clinging to his forehead in strands, and he reeked of toilet fragrance.
He hadn't even had time to change into his school robes, still wearing Muggle clothes.
Out of embarrassment, the thoroughly disheveled Harry twisted his body away, as if this could somehow prevent them from seeing the bruises on his face.
Jane Yu felt he was using his actions to demonstrate what it meant to "cover one's ears while stealing a bell."
"Who did you fight with?" she inquired.
Harry forced his lips to move and spoke:
"Ma—Malfoy..."
He fell silent, even forcibly suppressing his final groans of pain, letting the worried Tonks turn his face and cast Episkey on him.
The moment she heard his voice, Jane Yu understood why he'd stopped talking—
His front teeth had been knocked out, and every word was whistling through the gaps.
But the most dejected person present wasn't Harry, but the Auror responsible for his security.
He looked like he'd suffered the Waterloo of his career. Under the glare of Tonks, who was also an Auror, he shrank smaller and smaller, finally crouching in the shadowy corner of the compartment, looking like he'd taken root there and sprouted mushrooms.
"What's the use of learning all that stealth and tracking? What's the point of earning a pile of 'Outstanding' grades?"
His face was almost turning gray-white along with his hair:
"Still can't compete with Mr. Potter'sInvisibility Cloak and Mr. Malfoy's smoke bombs. These bizarre things turned me into a headless fly. By the time I finally found them, Mr. Potter was already headfirst in a toilet bowl."
"Thanks for the explanation, but you can spare us the details!"
Harry, finally mostly recovered under Episkey, felt like his dignity had been completely flushed down the drain.
He desperately wanted to find a hole to crawl into, but still bravely covered his aching mouth and spoke:
"Yu, as soon as I got on the train, I saw Malfoy acting suspiciously—he didn't even go to prefect duty. So I found an opportunity to put on my Invisibility Cloak and followed him to their compartment, climbed onto the luggage rack, and heard Crabbe and Goyle saying they wanted to teach you a lesson. After the train arrived and everyone left, Malfoy dragged me down... I won't mention what happened after... so you need to be careful!"
Hearing this, Tonks immediately became highly alert, as if she wanted to rush over and give Goyle and Crabbe a couple of slaps.
Jane Yu wasn't surprised by Goyle and Crabbe's plan. After all, when Draco was personally involved, there was no reason for his watchers to stay out of it.
She looked at Harry's colorful face, and intuition told her that Draco had deliberately lured him over to let him hear that conversation, while also completing his annual fixed plans of "fighting with Potter" and "making Potter miserable."
In any case, Harry's bloody disaster bore a striking resemblance to his godfather's black eye and swollen face in Knockturn Alley.
Learning from one mistake, then making another?
Harry hesitated, then answered her speculation:
"I can't be sure, but I feel like Malfoy deliberately led me over... he specifically looked in my direction..."
"So you just went?" Tonks could hardly believe her ears. "Harry, you take the bait at the slightest provocation—you really—you really—"
"Really are brave," Jane Yu picked up her words and voiced her own confusion. "Though thanks for the intelligence, I can't shake the feeling I've seen this scene somewhere before..."
Harry's expression suddenly became tense. He was probably operating his barely-passing Occlumency, because Jane Yu could visibly see his eyes change from "Save me" to "I'm fine."
Seeing him like this, a doubt suddenly leaped into Jane Yu's mind:
"Wait, so who exactly was the first person to rush into Knockturn Alley that time?"
Harry's brain seemed to completely crash. His shift from "I'm fine" to "I'm doomed" said everything.
Inadvertently exposed, he showed a face full of guilt and nervousness, shrinking into the corner with Dudley.
"Uh... actually Sirius and I rushed in together that time... I originally wanted to say it was me, not wanting to expose Sirius, but he covered my mouth and insisted on taking responsibility, and Remus also covered for me... They didn't want me to leave a bad impression on you all..."
Under Jane Yu's glare, Harry's voice grew smaller and smaller, until he quietly shrank into a mushroom.
But before Jane Yu could speak, Tonks changed expression first. Her nose once again became an angry beak, her hair turned fiery red, looking like she could peck Harry directly. The wand casting Episkey nearly lost control and poked Harry's face.
Fortunately, her professional standards as an Auror still allowed her to restrain herself, though her words were quite displeased:
"I see, Harry—truly brave! Just next time when you father and son are competing to rush into Knockturn Alley, remember to have the other kids come back and report! So we won't have nowhere to look when you all disappear together!"
"At the very least, when you're covering for each other in front of Headmaster Dumbledore and Yu, remember to include Remus! Cover for him too, so he won't be personally caught by the boss and leave a bad impression!"
"Save him from being sad for days because his perfect attendance bonus was deducted and his hard-earned excellent employee award was lost! And save me from having to come specifically to Yu to put in a good word so Remus won't get a bad reputation with his superiors!"
Harry nodded frantically, curling up even smaller and apologetically saying sorry to Tonks.
Seeing him like this, Tonks couldn't stay angry anymore. She felt she should be more tolerant toward underage children.
"Don't be impulsive anymore, Harry!" she advised. "I heard you say last time that you want to be an Auror. You certainly have the necessary quality of bravery, but you're still lacking a lot in composure! You need to train your psychology more—at least don't rush over just because Malfoy provokes you."
Tonks, whose anger came and went quickly, restored her face to its original appearance, then smiled apologetically at Jane Yu, who had heard the entire exchange:
"Well, sorry for delaying your time, Yu. Let's quickly get off the train and go to school."
Tonks put away her wand and waved it. A wolf-shaped Patronus flew from her wand tip and leaped into the night.
"I need to inform Professor Snape—he's responsible for closing the school gates. I think he's probably waiting there for you two right now. You're the only two who haven't arrived at school—"
"Sorry." Harry suddenly felt he'd rather have drowned in the train's toilet bowl. "Tonks, did you just say—Professor Snape?"
Tonks suddenly laughed softly. With a hint of successful mischief in her expression, after her anger faded, she'd returned to being that joke-loving witch. She asked knowingly:
"Yes, Professor Snape. What's wrong, Harry?"
Harry let out a choking sound like a flushing toilet.
He deeply understood the price of impulsiveness and realized why Dumbledore had warned him and Sirius against being impulsive—
Because impulsiveness brought Snape.
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