Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Behind a desk adorned with silver ornaments, Headmaster Dumbledore held several letters from the Muggle world, his expression unusually grave.

"Albus, have you thought of any solutions?" A female voice began to speak in the principal's office, and immediately the portraits began to chime in, creating a noisy atmosphere.

"Albus, in my opinion, that child should be thrown straight into Azkaban!"

As "Hogwarts' most unpopular headmaster," Phineas said with a look of disdain.

“Blake!” said the headmaster with platinum blond hair, raising his chin arrogantly at Phineas, his haughty demeanor resembling that of a platinum peacock.

"What are you saying? You empty-headed, white-feathered peacock!!"

"Shut up, all of you!" a stern-looking old witch suddenly roared, then softened her voice: "Albus, what do you think should be done?"

“I’m going to check on that child.” No sooner had he finished speaking than the phoenix, which had been standing on the shelf, suddenly flew toward Dumbledore. The next second, a red light flashed, and the bird and the man vanished without a trace.

When Dumbledore appeared on the street where the orphanage was located, looking at the orphanage's gate, some unpleasant memories involuntarily surfaced in his mind. Dumbledore sighed almost imperceptibly, and then stepped into the orphanage.

Lady Windsor came to greet Dumbledore. Upon meeting him, Dumbledore went straight to the point: "Do you know anything about Dorothea's background?"

“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know.” Windsor looked at Dumbledore with some wariness.

Seeing this, Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it in front of her. Windsor's eyes glazed over for a moment, then she said, "Thea came to the orphanage when she was about a year old. It was snowing that day. The headmistress... Mrs. Green had just gone out when she saw a package at the door. When she opened it, she found a girl inside..."

Windsor paused, then continued, "Many children in the orphanage come in this way. We didn't suspect anything and just brought her in. As for her name, we found it on her blanket; it was just the four words 'Dorothea.'"

Dumbledore listened patiently, then asked, "What is Thea usually like?"

Upon hearing this answer, Windsor smiled and said, "Thea has been very sensible and intelligent since she was little. She would help adults with chores, and many children liked her very much..."

Windsor's voice gradually lowered, and she covered her face with her hands: "But such good children, and I pushed them into the fire... If I had known... I should have gone with them..."

Seeing that Windsor was getting agitated, Dumbledore waved his wand in front of her, and Windsor calmed down.

"How is she usually behaving? Has she ever had any conflicts with the children?" Dumbledore asked again.

Windsor thought about it carefully, "Thea has always been very obedient since she was little. Apart from the fight with John before, she has never had any conflicts with other children... But that incident was because John called Thea a monster and wanted to hit her, so Thea hit John first."

“A monster?” Dumbledore seized on the key point. “Why would John say that about Thea?”

“I don’t know either, but John said Thea can talk to snakes… How is that possible? John is obviously lying.” It was clear that Windsor had a very good impression of Thea.

However, Dorothea can talk to snakes!

Dumbledore's heart sank completely. The child was Voldemort's offspring, the worst possible outcome Dumbledore had ever envisioned.

But what is the "fire pit" that Windsor is talking about?

With a "snap," Dumbledore appeared in front of a building called the Police Station. He didn't specifically seek out someone to answer his questions, and instead used the Invisibility Charm to enter the Police Station directly.

After a long while, Dumbledore went straight back to the headmaster's office. As for the question of why Dumbledore didn't go to see the girl, the portrait on the wall wisely chose to remain silent, simply watching Dumbledore's actions quietly.

Use the tip of the cane to press against the temple to pull out the silver thread of memory, and place it into the meditation basin.

He stirred the Pensieve with his wand, and figures emerged from the silver vortex within it.

“Those kids are really lucky to have managed to escape from that villa…” said a red-haired man in a police uniform.

"The bureau chief must be very happy now. That villa is so big, and there are those 'big shots'..." The short, stout man pointed upwards with his finger at the end, giving a knowing look.

"Hey, I heard that fire... was started by those brats!" a tall, thin man said.

"What nonsense are you talking about? How old are those kids? How dare they set fires?"

The man was clearly unconvinced when the other man retorted, but when his gaze fell upon the other man's epaulets, he could only awkwardly shut his mouth.

The scene ends there, but Dumbledore stares at the Pensieve in deep thought.

Even the portraits on the wall dared not utter a sound, for fear of disturbing Dumbledore's contemplation.

Dumbledore thought for a long time before finally taking out a piece of stationery from the drawer and beginning to write a letter to Thea.

Instead of guessing in the office, Dumbledore felt it was better to go see the girl directly. He had a feeling she could give him a satisfactory answer.