Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

When Thea received Dumbledore's letter, she was having a pleasant chat with a little boy. The boy probably rarely interacted with people and spoke somewhat haltingly. Fortunately, Thea had spent a lot of time with the children in the orphanage and didn't mind the boy's shyness.

The meeting between Thea and the little boy was quite interesting: Thea had been lying in the ward for almost a whole day, and apart from the nurse who brought her food, only the portrait could talk to her.

In order to maintain her childlike persona and to gather as much useful information as possible, Thea sneaked out of the ward when the nurses weren't looking.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Thea slipped out of the ward, she found a shiny candy wrapper in the corridor. It was the first time Thea had ever seen a candy wrapper from the magical world, so she couldn't help but examine it closely.

Just then, a timid voice rang out: "Excuse me... could you please give me back that... candy wrapper?"

Thea looked in the direction of the sound with some confusion, and saw a little boy standing about two meters away from her, his hands behind his back and his face incredibly red. It seemed that if Thea said no, he would run away.

Thea was amused by the boy's evasive behavior and couldn't help but have a mischievous idea, so she decided to tease him.

"You're saying this candy wrapper is yours?" Before the boy could speak, Thea asked again, "Do you have any proof? I clearly found it."

The poor boy didn't know how to answer, but he still mustered up his courage and said, "That candy wrapper was originally mine... it just got blown away by the wind..."

Thea saw that the boy was clearly very scared, but he still chose to fight against the "evil forces" for a candy wrapper. It seemed that the candy wrapper was indeed very important to him.

Worried that she might make the boy cry, Thea's dwindling conscience compelled her to return the candy wrapper to him, and she asked with a smile, "What's your name?"

The boy received the candy wrapper and immediately beamed, saying, "My name is Neville, Neville Longbottom."

Thea's smile froze on her face, but she quickly recovered and smiled even more sincerely than before. Just as she was about to get more information from Neville, a sharp sound of something knocking on the glass suddenly came from the corridor window.

Both looked over in confusion, with Neville being the first to react: "Is that a Hogwarts owl? Is it here to see you?"

Upon hearing the words "Hogwarts," Thea's eyes flickered, but her expression remained one of confusion: "I don't know either..."

As the two were talking, they opened the window so that the owl could deliver the letter.

As soon as Thea received the letter, she saw the words written on the envelope in circles: St. Mungo's Hospital, fifth floor corridor, for Dorothea.

Thea marveled at the magical world's method of sending letters, then opened the envelope and took out the paper inside.

The handwriting on the letter was still in that circle-within-a-circle style. She read it carefully from beginning to end and was somewhat surprised that Dumbledore was simply informing her of his visit.

Thea then noticed the curiosity in Neville's eyes and promptly handed him the letter.

Neville was a little surprised and was about to refuse, blushing, when he heard Thea say, "Just look if I tell you to, it's not a big deal anyway."

Neville then took the letter, but unfortunately, Neville was only eight years old. Even though there were no obscure words in Dumbledore's letter, Neville still read it with difficulty.

Thea keenly sensed this and naturally changed the subject: "Neville, do you still have any candy wrappers? Can I see them?"

Neville was embarrassed by his ignorance, but when his new friend not only didn't expose him but also changed the subject, Neville's affection for Thea grew even stronger.

Through Thea's tireless efforts, Neville and Thea have become good friends, and Thea has also won the favor of Mrs. Longbottom.

In response, Mrs. Longbottom said: It's so rare to see her grandson make a friend of the same age, especially since this friend is a smart and beautiful little wizard. She was even hospitalized because of a magical outburst, which made Mrs. Longbottom feel even more sorry for Thea.

Back in the ward, Thea first explained to the nurse why she had gone out and expressed her apologies. Taking advantage of her age and cute smile, the nurse's initial complaints about Thea vanished instantly. Under Thea's enthusiastic flattery, the nurse even promised to bring Thea a book to help her pass the time.

Thea was the only one left in the room—the portrait had been temporarily taken out by Thea after she tricked the nurse into thinking she wasn't used to having other people in the room.

Thea began to examine her plans and persona while holding the fairy tale book that the nurse had given her.

When Dumbledore knocked on the door and came in, this was the scene he saw: a girl in a large hospital gown was looking at a storybook with a smile on her face. She only looked up when the knocking sounded.

From Dumbledore's perspective: the large, bulky hospital gown made the already thin girl look even smaller and more harmless, and thinking of this, Dumbledore felt a little relieved.

Seeing that the uninvited guest who had disturbed her reading hadn't spoken for a while, Thea took the initiative: "Are you Headmaster Dumbledore?"

“Yes, Thea,” Dumbledore said gently.

"Can you let me go back? I've spoken to the nurse, but she insists on not letting me leave the hospital."

Dumbledore was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Thea to insist on returning to the Muggle world even after the magical upheaval.

So Dumbledore cautiously asked, "Thea, do you know you're a minor wizard?"

Seeing Thea's confusion, Dumbledore continued, "Wizards possess a power within their bodies, and young wizards, being too young, cannot control this power, resulting in a magical outburst."

Seeing that Thea still seemed a little confused, Dumbledore simply took out his wand, turned the book in Thea's hand into a cup, and then turned the cup back into a book.

"Don't be afraid, this is a wizard's ability, and you are a little wizard too."

"...So, can you talk to snakes too?"

The question was so abrupt that Dumbledore didn't react in time.

He paused for a few seconds, then said cautiously, "...Talking to snakes is indeed a special ability, and one of the special abilities of wizards."

"Is this ability special among wizards?" Thea keenly noticed Dumbledore's choice of words.

It was only then that Dumbledore truly realized the child's intelligence, even though he had previously heard praise of Thea's intelligence from Windsor.

He didn't want to tell Thea about the meaning behind this ability at the moment; it would be too cruel for this eight-year-old child.

But he couldn't help but answer: "Yes, this ability is special even among wizards; you have a very high talent."

Dumbledore gave Thea the assessment that she was talented, hoping to get away with it, and then he asked, "When did Thea discover this ability?"

Dumbledore's question was clearly not difficult to answer, but Thea lowered her head, demonstrating through her actions that she did not want to answer.

Her unusual behavior also puzzled Dumbledore.