Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

The children slowly walked out of the office and headed towards their dormitories, with Thea and Jennifer lagging behind.

Watching the children ahead jumping and skipping happily, Jennifer seemed to have made up her mind and walked quickly forward, but her arm was suddenly grabbed.

Jennifer looked at Thea with confusion, but Thea remained calm and said, "I know what you want to do, but don't go forward now. I'll explain why when we get back to the dorm."

Jennifer was pulled along by her, and out of trust in Thea, she obediently followed behind Thea without doing anything more.

As soon as the two stepped into the dormitory, Jennifer couldn't wait to ask Thea why she had stopped her. Thea didn't hide anything from her and went straight to the point: "Because even if you had rushed up to them and told them what Mrs. Green was really like, they wouldn't have believed you."

"Why? We clearly have evidence to prove it!"

"Because what lies before them now is a road to heaven, a road that can completely get them out of this quagmire, so even if you present them with irrefutable evidence, they will not believe you; instead, they will think of you as an obstacle in their way."

Thea looked at Jennifer with calm eyes.

But deep down, I thought: He's still just a child, fearless and reckless. Even if there's a wall in front of him, he probably won't turn back unless he tries to break into it.

Thinking of this, Thea continued, "If you don't believe me, you can try it now and see if they believe you."

Jennifer didn't move when she heard this, and stood there blankly.

Thea had said everything she needed to say, and handed the decision over to Jennifer. Then she sat down at her desk and continued writing and drawing.

After a long silence, Jennifer finally asked in a muffled voice, "Thea, did you already know they wouldn't believe you? Then why did you tell me before?"

"Because you're useful," Thea thought to herself. "If I had the ability right now, I would never tell anyone about this. The fewer people who know about this, the safer it is."

"But she still said it because she was incapable of surviving after escaping the orphanage. The orphanage was a quagmire, but the outside world could be hell."

"So she chose her ally: an ambitious, though not very smart, but obedient enough ally."

From Jennifer's perspective: the girl's body is obscured by the increasing number of books on the table, her hair hangs down, and her face is not visible.

The sound of rain suddenly began outside, and in the increasingly tense atmosphere inside, she heard the girl's reply: "Because you are my good friend."

Jennifer didn't say anything more, turned and walked towards her bed, inwardly scoffing, "Little liar!"

Time continued to move forward, and soon Mrs. Green brought news that the ladies had arrived in London and were hosting a tea party, hoping that the children could attend.

Although the original plan for the other party to visit the orphanage turned into the children attending a tea party, it still couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the children.

Besides Thea and Jennifer, the other children are Belle, Claire, Dolly, and Zira.

After Mrs. Green called the children to her office, the four children often got together to play.

Because Mrs. Green revealed that there were several wives, the four-person group led by Bell was the first to show goodwill to Thea.

However, Thea assured that if Mrs. Green meant there was only one lady, Bell would not show any goodwill; instead, she would immediately eliminate all the other children to ensure that the spot was hers.

When Bell first expressed his goodwill, Thea did not want to appear "ungrateful" and cause unnecessary trouble later, so she accepted Bell's kindness.

When news of the tea party spread, several girls immediately ran to their dorm rooms, took out their favorite clothes and jewelry, and put them on. They tried to imitate adults by applying lipstick to their faces, but the more they dressed up, the stranger it seemed.

Even though Thea wasn't interested in participating in their dressing up, she was still conscripted by the four girls. Seeing that she couldn't escape, Thea decisively dragged Jennifer into the mess.

Mrs. Green's arrival ultimately saved Thea and Jennifer.

Seeing the girls dressed up in bright colors, Mrs. Green couldn't help but chuckle and greeted them with a smile, "Girls, dressing up is a real art. Come with me, I'll give you a lesson."

Upon hearing this pleasant surprise, everyone happily followed Mrs. Green outside.

To be honest, Mrs. Green's crash course did have a lot of effect. At least some of the children have developed a ladylike demeanor. Even though they still give themselves away when they open their mouths, their age makes up for it.

Since no one else in the orphanage objected to the children going out to attend the tea party, Thea gradually developed a worse suspicion than before.

Because Mrs. Green had been keeping a close eye on things these past few days, Thea hadn't had a chance to ask Darcy and Windsor for information, which meant that Thea was unaware that the staff at the orphanage were secretly gossiping about this.

When Mrs. Green suggested taking the children to the tea party, the first person to object was Windsor, the usually stern woman who unusually lost her temper—directed at her most respected headmaster.

"I don't understand, how old are they? Why do they want to get involved in these interactions between adults?"

Windsor's statement was supported by most of the orphanage staff.

In response, Mrs. Green offered her prepared explanation: "Of course, Windsor, I know this is unfair to the children, but I have no choice. Those ladies specifically requested to see the children, and I couldn't refuse them..."

"No one loves these children more than I do..." Seeing that the crowd's expressions were softening, Mrs. Green unleashed her trump card:

“The orphanage has been experiencing cash flow problems for a while now, and we urgently need some money to tide us over… Windsor, you know, not long ago, several children developed fever symptoms…”

“I know those ladies; they’re always very generous… and it’s just taking the children out for a quick look, nothing will happen…”

Mrs. Green wiped away her tears, revealing a haggard face, and continued to assure everyone. Helpless, the crowd had no choice but to agree.

Money makes the world go round, and funding is always the biggest problem for orphanages. When Mrs. Green gave this reason, almost no one could object.

And so, with everyone's tacit approval, Thea and the other six children boarded the carriage heading to the tea party.