Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 319 "The Holy Mother"

As Hermione finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Hermione's words were so clear that even Ron, who was usually the one who kept the atmosphere lively, fell into an eerie silence.

Can they really defeat Voldemort, along with his famously intelligent daughter?

"now that……"

"Since outsmarting them won't work, why not try force?"

"If the three of us go together, we should have a good chance of winning, right?"

Harry spoke casually, with an air of nonchalance that suggested "the enemy's ships and forts were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye," but Hermione poured cold water on his enthusiasm once again.

"Yes, there's a chance of winning—"

Before Hermione's approval could rekindle Harry's confidence, the stern-faced little witch continued speaking.

"But compared to going it alone, the probability difference is only about 10% to 30%!"

"It has at least tripled our chances of winning!"

Upon hearing this, Harry couldn't help but blush, but he still stubbornly insisted,

"You've never even played a proper match against her, so how do you know the win rate so well?"

I at least beat her in our dueling practice back then!

Even Ron's expression became complicated.

After carefully exchanging glances with Hermione, Ron then spoke.

"Harry, do you still remember that swift and unseen attack?"

The Divine Sword Vanishes Without a Trace?

It was Ronte who pointed it out again.

Harry didn't think of anything else besides the one in the bathroom that year.

He nodded with a stiff face.

Seeing his expression, Ron became more careful with his words.

"You probably didn't know what we saw outside when you were inside..."

"Your commotion was so loud that almost half the school's young wizards came out to see what was going on..."

"A few minutes later, the professors arrived too..."

"...Theodore and Zabini only managed to stop the professors for a short while...but just as the professors were about to break in..."

"Another spell emanating from within has strengthened the outer defenses—"

At this point, Ron couldn't help but swallow hard.

That's a professor from Hogwarts!

Aside from one position that changes hands frequently, the rest, even the worst, are still among the top-tier warriors in the wizarding world.

But this very group of people was blocked by a spell cast by a young wizard who hadn't even graduated yet!

What kind of hellish joke is this?!

But it's not a joke.

Seeing Ron pause, Hermione added, "Harry, do you remember how long it took Black to cast that spell?"

"........."

Harry's mind went blank. He tried hard to recall the chaos of the moment and earnestly asked himself,

"Did Blake pause when he cast that spell?"

No.

Her movements were so effortless and natural that even his memory of the spell became hazy.

Seemingly sensing something from Harry's face, Hermione's heart sank, and her bitter smile spoke words that were like knives:

"Harry, she used to be able to hold off the professors for a full eight minutes with a single spell. Guess what her power level is now?"

Even if the three of them team up, they might not have a 30% chance of winning.

Harry answered in his mind, expressionless.

------

Thea, far away in St. Mungo, was unaware that the terror described by the "savior trio" was approaching that of a berserk boss.

At that moment, she was having breakfast with the most seriously injured and unlucky guys.

When news of the Hogwarts Train hijacking arrived, almost everyone present witnessed her distraught state as she accidentally dropped and shattered her teacup.

The atmosphere in the ward instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Gella tried to dodge, but couldn't, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and whisper her report into Thea's ear.

"Those two madmen from the Carlo family... and those other notorious ones... they're very quick..."

"Daphne and the others did their best... but they couldn't stop it..."

"Those incompetent people haven't achieved anything in so long...they must have lost their minds..."

Despite Gella's careful attempts to comfort her, Thea couldn't suppress the rising anger within her.

She abruptly stood up, and just before stepping out of the ward, I faintly heard her unusually uncharacteristically mutter a curse:

"Are they all dead?! Are they just going to stand there and watch?!"

Gella understood that Thea was truly angry this time. As the person closest to Thea, she skillfully smoothed things over while extracting the information Thea wanted from the complex data.

Perhaps driven by a survival instinct, in a split second, Gella blurted out...

"That Hufflepuff is alright!"

"……it is good."

Seeing that Thea's fur had been soothed, Gella couldn't help but feel a tightness in her chest, as if someone had forced her to swallow a large stone.

"Why do you value that girl so much? She's just a Hufflepuff."

Gella didn't want this to cause a rift between her and Thea, so she asked directly.

"For no reason,"

Thea paused, and when she spoke again, her voice was as light as a fleeting breeze.

"It's probably because when she looked at me, she was only looking at me."

She is not anyone's daughter, nor anyone's enemy, and certainly not the future Minister Black who will stand at the pinnacle of power in the wizarding world.

Gella knew Thea so well that she naturally understood the hidden message in those three short words.

Her face turned deathly pale, and her lower lip was bitten so hard it was bright red, as if it would bleed at any moment.

"Isn't that right—"

No need to apologize.

Thea's tone regained its former calm and forceful tone.

“This is an opportunity for us to find common ground, you don’t need to apologize.”

Gella felt something was off about what she was saying, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Before she could even ask, Thea's next question disrupted her train of thought.

Thea only relaxed after Gella was sent away.

At least they weren't crazy enough to capture all those little wizards and send them to Azkaban.

[Actually, I also want to ask, why are you so concerned about that... Daisy?]

Don't try to fob me off with those empty platitudes!

[Although that is one of the reasons.]

The voice rang out again. Thea didn't want to pay attention, but she couldn't resist how annoying it was.

[Perhaps I'm a saint? Unable to bear seeing innocent people suffer before my eyes?]

[Stop pretending! 〕

[Putting everything else aside, just look at the lives you've taken over the past few years—do you really think you deserve the title of "saintly"?!]

The sound came quickly and urgently, like a sharp knife stabbing straight into the heart.

For a moment, Thea felt as if even her breath carried the smell of blood.

[Just consider me a saint!]

Thea's voice was light and quick, vividly portraying her shamelessness.