Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 251 Fear

"hiss--"

Having finally mustered the courage to make an effort, Thea couldn't help but gasp as her fingers suddenly touched the still chilly lake water from her warm pocket.

She had originally planned to grit her teeth and swim all the way to her destination, but the sudden drop in temperature of her fingers made Thea completely give up on the idea.

The moon was high in the sky, and its pale light made the lake surface shimmer. It was a beautiful scene, but when Thea saw it, her face grew even paler.

The deep lake surface resembled a giant black hole, and the monsters hidden inside seemed poised to burst out of the lake at any moment.

"No, no, no..."

Thea shook her head, trying to shatter all the unpleasant memories and assumptions in her mind.

"Don't worry... there's an octopus in the lake, won't it save the little wizard who fell into the water?"

But what if the octopus is asleep right now?

Besides, this wasn't a normal fall into the water!

"...And Dumbledore! He can't just watch me die in the water, can he?"

That's hard to say. What if they want to eliminate you as a variable in advance so that Porter can follow his script?

Despite her intention to overcome her fear of water, a voice inside Thea kept contradicting herself.

Thea squatted by the lake, torn between her inner turmoil and her own thoughts. An old man on a rooftop was so worried about Thea's strange behavior that his beard was no longer as smooth as before.

“Fox…”

"What do you think she's trying to do?"

"Is she really not sleepy? Or is there a mistake in Snape's test results?"

"Logically speaking, the sleep she took in the medical wing shouldn't have been enough to make up for the damage to her body before, right?"

Fawkes, who was standing on the shelf, was speechless at Dumbledore. He gave Dumbledore a look with a slight lift of his eyelids and then flew out of the window.

It's just a phoenix, not an omniscient being! And it needs to sleep!!!

Thea was completely unaware of the drama unfolding in the principal's office until she felt a protesting tingling and numbness in her legs, at which point she shakily stood up.

Looking at the still bright moon in the sky, Thea made a decisive decision—the moon was too bright today, she had to come on a day when it wasn't bright!

Thea, who was very good at backing down, said: It's not that she didn't try, it's just that the enemy was too strong!

The moon is too bright; it's not good for her to perform!

Five minutes later, Thea returned to her Slytherin bedroom, and Dumbledore, after hearing the portrait's report, went back to his room to rest.

After returning to her dormitory, Thea washed up and went to bed, still thinking about what other methods she could use to quickly familiarize herself with the layout of Black Lake and reach the island in the center of the lake in the most discreet way.

Apparition?

—Hogwarts is off-limits.

A flying broomstick?

—The patrolling professor might shoot her down immediately.

After much thought, diving was the best solution Thea could come up with.

The movements were discreet enough not to alert anyone else.

The information was accurate enough because Thea could see it for herself.

But... there's just one bad thing.

Thea is afraid of water.

I'm so scared.

------

Perhaps Merlin couldn't bear to see Thea's weakness any longer, because more and more news was being posted on her desk.

"It is understood that the mysterious man has shifted his target from Hogwarts to Durmstrang!"

"Although Durmstrang is a great school, ... they don't have a Dumbledore as their headmaster!"

"Principal Karkaroff has publicly declared his identity as a Death Eater... It won't be long before Durmstrang becomes the next Death Eater training base!"

The tone of these messages hardly qualifies as a report; they sound more like excerpts from a newspaper, which in fact did come from a newspaper.

"These rumors wouldn't have gotten out without a few facts to back them up."

Gella held a piece of paper covered in writing, her tone unusually serious.

Even though she initially only wanted to stay by Thea's side as an observer, it wasn't until the facts were laid bare that she clearly realized how much blood and tears were behind those few lines in the history book.

“He won’t let Hogwarts go,” Thea said calmly, not sharing Gella’s melancholy. “The Durmstrang students have complex backgrounds, which are extremely time-consuming to unravel, and besides, his base of operations has always been in England…”

Thea blurted out everything she could think of, which almost made Gella miss the point.

"So, for him, Durmstrang was at most a dessert, dispensable, while Hogwarts was the main course?"

“That’s right.” Thea nodded in affirmation. “Rather than calling Hogwarts the main course, it’s more accurate to say it’s a bridgehead for Britain…”

"Once he has mastered Hogwarts, he is not far from success."

At that time, he will be only one step away from both immortality and power.

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard the whistle signaling the start of a Quidditch match.

Gellar then realized that today was Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

“Sigh,” Gella said with some regret, “I was planning to go cheer for Slytherin…”

As they talked, Gella couldn't help but lean on the railing. The sunny weather and perfect sunlight made Thea slowly lean on the railing as well.

Neither of them spoke; they were both completely absorbed in listening to the cheers coming from the Quidditch arena, as if they could analyze the situation of the battle just from that.

"Thea".

Gella called out to Thea without warning, and Thea responded.

"...Come to think of it, it seems like it's been a long time since we've had such nice weather."

"Ah."

"By the way, I've been wanting to ask you, what year at Hogwarts did you like the most?"

Thea was momentarily stumped by Gellar's question, but she quickly began to recall.

"Which year was my favorite? Hmm... probably second grade!"

Meeting Gella's eager gaze, which urged her to "tell me more," Thea spoke again.

"First year was actually not bad. The courses weren't difficult. Although there were some harmless accidents, it was still relatively easy..."

Gella was a little confused, but Thea's next words suddenly made her feel sorry for her.

"But besides that, I need to build an image in Slytherin and win over the younger wizards... I must always keep the mask of gentleness on."

Gellar suddenly fell silent.

Thea didn't seem to mind, casually saying, "Compared to my awkwardness in my first year, by my second year I could at least keep this gentle face in check, and I even started to have a say within Slytherin..."

"That same year, I led Slytherin to the Quidditch Championship with 15 goals."

At this point, Thea smiled with rare gusto, which startled Gella.

"And then what? Why didn't they fight Kuiqi anymore?"

As soon as Gella spoke, she regretted it, feeling that her words might have reopened old wounds.

Fortunately, Thea didn't seem to mind, and simply replied casually, "Because I'm too busy."

They were so busy that those brand-new time converters were worn out and couldn't be put back together.