Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 161 Tutoring

As the new semester began, Thea and several others felt the pressure the professors placed on their studies this semester.

Even the ever-generous Professor Sprout assigned everyone the task of squeezing pus from the tubers of the Babo tuber during the first class.

Hagrid brought them their first magical creature of the semester—a Blasttail, though few would be interested in such a terrifying-looking creature.

Even Trelawney assigned them a lot of homework—requiring them to study in detail the planetary movements that would affect them next month, and to submit it by Monday of the following week.

Fortunately, Professor Victor took pity on her and didn't assign any homework, otherwise Thea might have had to stay up all night doing homework right after the start of the semester.

"Hey! Potter, it seems Weasley has stolen all your thunder as the savior!"

When Draco, as always, made a sarcastic remark to Potter, Potter retorted, "Then didn't Thea steal your thunder?"

The mere mention of Thea caused Draco to instantly explode, “What business is it of yours whether Thea steals the spotlight or not!”

"Shh!"

"Squat down!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Draco instinctively crouched down.

A beam of white light streaked across Harry's cheek and then struck the wall directly behind Draco.

Everyone saw that if Draco hadn't dodged, that unknown curse would have definitely struck him.

"You should learn to be more polite! The Malfoy family..."

Before Moody could finish speaking, Thea interrupted him rudely, "Compared to Draco's lapse in composure, I think Professor, your crime of casting a spell on a student without permission is far greater!"

A terrible silence fell over the foyer.

When Thea saw the spell heading straight for Draco, she felt a cold wind rush into her body, making her shiver, but she could also vaguely feel sparks flickering inside.

Faced with Thea's questioning, Moody chose to ignore Thea, unlike the puzzled look on the faces of the other young wizards.

"Potter, did he hurt you?"

Faced with the professor's question, Harry wanted to bury himself in the ground for the first time in his life, but he couldn't bring himself to ignore the professor, so he could only stammer, "No... we were just... joking..."

"Are you kidding me?" Moody looked skeptical, clearly not believing that Malfoy would have any good intentions towards Potter.

"Tch!" Draco, having narrowly escaped death, let out a loud snort and muttered, "I'll tell my dad..."

"Oh, really?" Moody limped toward Draco, his cane clicking, and said menacingly, "Kid! Are you threatening me?"

Seeing Moody getting closer and closer to Draco, Thea stepped in front of Draco without hesitation, her voice sharp, "Professor!"

Moody then looked at the little witch properly, his eyes gleaming with an unconscious excitement...

Just as his hand, which was resting at his side, twitched slightly, Professor McGonagall arrived.

The witch, who was known for her seriousness, twitched her eyelids involuntarily when her gaze fell on Moody's hand, and shouted sharply, "Professor Moody!"

"Hello, Professor McGonagall."

Moody turned around and spoke calmly, as if he wasn't the one who had just been about to use the wand.

McGonagall glanced around at the young wizards who had gathered there: Potter, Weasley, Malfoy, and Black...

"What happened? Why are you all gathered here?"

Faced with Professor McGonagall's question, the young wizards all lowered their heads like quails, but Thea calmly said, "Professor Moody and Malfoy had a misunderstanding just now, but it has been resolved now."

"A misunderstanding?" Professor McGonagall was a little puzzled, but since Thea didn't want to talk about it, she had no reason to interfere.

Just as McGonagall was about to leave, Moody suddenly said, "I heard that Miss Blake's grades have always been among the best?"

Thea didn't speak, but turned around and looked at the other person coldly.

What kind of trouble is he trying to cause?!

Thea was getting impatient.

"Then I presume Miss Blake would be willing to accept my 'tutoring'?"

Although Moody asked a question, his tone was full of certainty, and his demonic eye kept darting around.

“This…this is not in accordance with procedure…” McGonagall tried to dissuade Moody from his idea, after all, everyone had witnessed the conflict between him and Black.

"I'm willing to accept Professor Moody's tutoring!"

McGonagall looked at Black in astonishment. She had initially thought that he might have acted on impulse, but when she saw Thea calmly shake her head at her, she realized that he was not acting on a whim.

McGonagall was silent for a moment before saying, "I will tell Dumbledore and Snape about this."

The implication is that Moody should be mindful of his behavior when tutoring.

Moody replied noncommittally, "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."

Thus, an incident caused by a "conflict" between Draco and Harry was finally brought to an end by Thea attending Professor Moody's tutoring session.

"Thea, you shouldn't have agreed! He clearly has ill intentions!"

Daphne looked indignant, and the others' expressions also weren't good.

"Why did Dumbledore hire him as a professor? To torment us?" Theodore couldn't help but say indignantly.

Thea's gaze swept over the group.

Gella... she seems to have become much quieter lately...

It seems like this has been going on ever since the opening banquet...

Could it be because of... Durmstrang?

Thinking of this, a hint of interest flashed across Thea's lips.

------

"Professor Moody, I'm here for tutoring."

On Wednesday evening, Thea knocked on Professor Moody's office door.

"Come in!"

Hearing muffled sounds coming from inside, Thea pushed open the door.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows not to knock on the door of a magic master, especially if the other party is a retired Auror.

"Leg pain?"

Thea looked at Professor Moody, who was sitting in the chair with a pained expression, with a puzzled expression.

"Stop dawdling! The stuff is over there, hurry up and help me!"

As the other person's voice grew more urgent, Thea's smile widened, but she remained rooted to the spot.

"Blake!"

Moody growled through the pain.

“Mr. Crouch, please watch your tone!” Thea’s expression turned cold. “When you’re asking for a favor, you should have the proper manners!”

Crouch's face darkened for a moment, but his tone quickly softened. "Please, Miss Black, can you help me this once?"

“Remember, I didn’t like your attitude during the day. I know you’re trying to gain Potter’s trust, but I don’t want you to be targeting Slytherin.”

While brewing the potion, Thea warned Little Barty again.

"Are you referring to all of Slytherin, or just... Malfoy?"

Even though honorifics were used, Barty Jr.'s question was still quite malicious.

"I just think you've chosen the wrong person. Malfoy's relationship with Porter isn't as bad as you think."

When faced with Barty's probing question, Thea responded casually.

“Oh…” Little Barty said, his meaning unclear.

Thea didn't care whether the other party believed her or not, but the potion she brewed tasted much worse than before.