Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

"Huff, huff..."

"Shhhh-"

The whistling wind in my ears gradually subsided, but the heavy breathing became crystal clear.

On a dark and windy night, murder and arson are committed.

bah bah bah!

She's a law-abiding citizen, how could she possibly kill someone!

Gella spat twice in her mind before straightening up to rest her aching back.

Before she could catch her breath, the sound of a tree branch snapping underfoot reached her ears. In a flash, Gella grabbed a shovel and leaped out of the grave. The instant she regained her footing, a red flash struck the creature that had made the sound.

A squirrel.

The wariness in Gella's eyes subsided, and she walked over, picked up the squirrel, and examined it: "Not bad, breakfast for tomorrow is sorted!"

In a good mood, Gella quickly jumped back into the grave and became more talkative, like a stand-up comedian.

"...The Ministry of Magic has been quite lively lately, and Hogwarts hasn't been idle either. Both sides are eyeing the things you left behind, they've really gone all out!"

"You're the same, entrusting everything to me, aren't you afraid I won't be able to protect it?"

Although it was a complaint, Gella's lips curled up, making her look like a close friend making a fuss.

She continued rambling on, her shovel never idle, wielding it with impressive skill.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone in so long, I’m afraid you’ll find me repulsive. But then I thought, who else but me would dare to come to your grave and talk to you this much?”

"They all have something to hide. When you were here, they were hiding it, and now they're even more so. They all act as if revealing their secrets would affect your reincarnation, so of course they don't dare to say a single word to you!"

When those troublemakers were mentioned, Gella became even angrier, and her shovel accidentally smashed a hole in the ground.

Gella quickly looked down and, seeing that nothing was wrong, breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a wave of sadness washed over her.

She simply plopped down on the ground, her tone remarkably similar to that of the famous song "Little Cabbage"!

"Thea! You have no idea! Draco doesn't have a heart!"

"I was his classmate for many years and we fought side by side!"

"in the end--"

Gella's voice suddenly increased, startling a flock of birds in the tree.

"—He's wanted me!!!"

Honestly, if Gellar's voice hadn't been so loud, it would have been quite touching.

Amidst the seemingly real but actually fake wailing, Gella wished she could cry her eyes out, determined to utterly destroy Draco's image in front of Thea!

“Those guys like Theodore have no conscience either, they just watched me drift aimlessly, unable to have a home—”

"Bang!"

Before Gella could finish her last words of crying, a dull thud followed by a sharp crack as a branch struck the back of her head, and she fell straight down, revealing the shadow behind her.

"Crying! Are you crying at a grave?!"

The shadowy figure's tone was unmistakably irritable, but it sounded like the voice of a girl in her early teens!

As soon as the words left her mouth, the shadowy figure realized the inappropriateness of her words, her face flushed slightly, and looking at Gella, who had been knocked unconscious by her, she could only dutifully drag him out of the grave.

Recalling the other's wailing, the shadowy figure murmured, "Hogwarts? Ministry of Magic? That sounds familiar..."

She tried to recall carefully, but her mind remained blank.

With a swift movement, she hoisted the person onto her back and made a delightful decision: she was going to interrogate her!

------

For Gella, it was a day of mixed emotions.

Gella never dreamed that her reunion with her old friend would end in such a confrontational situation!

Ahem, to be precise, it was a one-sided confrontation from Thea…

What's your name?

"Gella Rozier!"

Before uttering the surname "Rozier," even Gellar was a little dazed; she couldn't remember the last time she introduced herself.

People's joys and sorrows are not shared.

Faced with Gella's frankness and honesty, Thea... remained unimpressed, and even Gella sensed her wariness.

In an instant, the joy of reunion was overwhelmed by an overwhelming heartache.

"What are you doing here? Why are you digging up graves?"

Thea didn't know where the tenderness in the other person's eyes came from, but that didn't stop her from ignoring the inexplicable surge of emotions in her heart and taking advantage of this strange tenderness.

Gella had been with her for so many years, through thick and thin, how could she not see through her manipulation?

Feeling both amused and exasperated, she prepared to give a proper answer.

But the other party's second question stumped her.

Why am I digging up graves?

How should I know why?!

You decided to go to your death without saying a word, and I couldn't stop you no matter how hard I tried!

You're dead and carefree, but I was tricked by your few casual letters and ended up digging up your grave in the middle of the night!

Now look what's happened. First you knocked me unconscious with a tree branch, and now you're asking me why I dug up the grave?

Where am I supposed to find the answer for you?!

Or... I could make one up on the spot to liven things up for you?

Gella: Testing...

The thought of lying was finally dispelled by Thea's expressionless face.

Seeing the familiar expression on that familiar face again, Gella almost burst into tears.

It's been almost five years.

Nearly two thousand days and nights.

Even the snow at Hogwarts fell one snowfall after another, completely obscuring my chance to see you again.

You have no idea how much grief I felt to have the courage to step into your grave again, or how much mental preparation I had to make before I swung that shovel.

I'm so afraid, afraid of disturbing your peaceful dreams.

I fear that one day I will wake up and find that the letter in my arms is just a few blank sheets of paper, and that everything was an illusion.

But what I fear even more is that my lateness will cause you to "die" again.

However, in the end, the gods and Buddhas still favored me.

I saw you again.

Even if you don't remember me, it's okay, we can get to know each other again.

Gella had been silent for so long that Thea couldn't help but look around for something convenient. She decided to knock her out again; maybe that would make her behave.

"I came here because of a letter you gave me."

A word stirred up a thousand waves.

Gella looked directly into Thea's shocked eyes and said softly:

"Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Gella, and I'm your friend."

"You are Dorothea Black, the 'savior' of the wizarding world—"

The moment the words "savior" were uttered, Thea's brain went blank.