Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

On December 23, there were 3 hours left before the escape operation.

Thea finalized the operation plan with her partners: the specific start time was midnight.

According to Thea's observation, the servants in the villa have been busy preparing for Christmas these past few days and are all exhausted. Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve, so the servants will definitely rest early tonight and be well-rested for the Christmas dinner tomorrow night.

Ironically, Christmas is supposed to be a time for family reunions, yet these demons roam freely among us, appearing noble on the surface but actually utterly filthy.

To Thea's surprise, the percentage of girls who wanted to escape during the chaos was 100%, totaling more than 20, but their ages varied, ranging from 18 or 19 years old to only 7 or 8 years old.

The first step of the plan was to set fire to the kitchen on the west side of the villa to attract the patrolling guards and servants to help, and then take advantage of the chaos to climb over the side door or the lower garden wall.

In order for everyone to escape, Thea decided to split into three groups. The oldest group would climb over the low garden wall and then look for help.

One group of children, mostly 12 or 13 years old, were responsible for setting fire to the kitchen and creating chaos. They then scattered in the confusion, looking for an opportunity to escape. This group was led by Iris.

For the last leg of the journey, since the girls were too young, aged 7 to 11, they could only hide in the attic of the villa. It was a secluded place, and as long as they had food and water, hiding there for the time being wouldn't be a problem. Thea handed the two girls over to Daisy.

Thea and Jennifer, on the other hand, need to take advantage of the chaos to break into the safe or get cash from elsewhere. It's not difficult for more than 20 people to escape; the challenge lies in how to survive. And money is always the most useful thing for survival.

The six children who came from the orphanage can't go back for the time being, so enough money is crucial for the 20-plus children. At least they can stay at the police station for a few more days, and if they're lucky, they might even meet some truly kind foster parents.

After agreeing on a meeting point for leaving, the 20-plus children quietly waited for the clock to strike twelve.

The invisible pressure caused tears to stream down the faces of several children with weaker mental resilience. Thea had no choice but to comfort them one by one.

Time passed by, and after an unknown amount of time, the clock struck twelve. After Thea embraced all her companions, Iris led the first team to begin their operation.

Soon, thick smoke and flickering flames began to rise from the kitchen roof, and a shrill cry of "Fire!!!" rang out, particularly jarring in the quiet night.

Thea and Jennifer exchanged a glance and headed straight for the study on the second floor. Fortunately, they didn't encounter anyone along the way and entered the study without incident.

Jennifer quickly pulled out drawers one by one, trying to find cash in the shortest amount of time, attempting to fill her pockets. Thea, on the other hand, vigilantly observed the movements outside the door and the girls' actions.

The commotion outside grew louder and louder. Inside the villa, the servants, forced to get up, cursed the little devil who had stolen the food while frantically carrying water to put out the fire.

Outside the villa, the noise of the fire woke up the nosy neighbors, who offered their help by calling the police.

In an instant, curses, suggestions, and footsteps, along with thick smoke from the fire, filled the villa, forming a huge dark cloud that completely enveloped it.

Seeing that the plan was going smoothly, Thea was slightly relieved. She originally planned to take advantage of the chaos to come down from the second floor, then take a detour and go out through the small gate in the back garden to meet up with Iris and the others.

An unexpected incident occurred. Thea and Jennifer were about to go downstairs when they almost bumped into the butler, who was planning to go upstairs to wake up the master. Fortunately, Thea reacted quickly and grabbed Jennifer, pulling her to the corner of the wall in an attempt to avoid the butler.

But things didn't go as planned. The housekeeper noticed some noise at the bottom of the stairs and assumed it was the lazy servant who hadn't gone to put out the fire, so he decided to go up and drag the lazybones out.

Seeing the housekeeper approaching step by step, in a moment of desperation, Thea threw the vase in the corner at the housekeeper, then grabbed Jennifer and ran downstairs.

The butler was startled by the vase that was thrown at him. He narrowly avoided it and saw the backs of the two little devils running away in a panic.

In a flash, the butler connected the dots: arson, theft, escape—all done by those brats!

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have sold all these brats to those shady brothels in the first place!" the butler roared in fury.

Everything went smoothly from then on. Thea and Jennifer successfully escaped the villa and reunited with Elizabeth and Daisy.

Thea forced herself to stay alert and emphasized to Iris and the others the issue of distributing the money and the subsequent reporting process.

The next second, Thea collapsed to the ground as if all her strength had left her.

Iris was startled and instinctively lunged towards the direction where Thea had fallen, intending to catch her.

Just then, a bizarre scene unfolded.