Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Thea's purpose in expanding the study group was simple: she wanted to use the study group as a platform to fully showcase her value and thus attract investment from others.

Thea doesn't need to hide her talents, nor can she!

Because countless eyes are watching her, speculators need to see value in her, and avengers need to assess her strength.

She had no choice but to raise her price in the shortest amount of time, so that at least she could gain the strength to fight to the death before those upright people tried to take action against her.

Thea knew from the moment she entered the wizarding world that it was a world where strength reigned supreme, so she worked hard to increase her value in hopes of attracting investment from other speculators.

After all, she couldn't live in Malfoy Manor forever, nor could she forever rely on Dumbledore's mercy.

Saints like Dumbledore are ultimately few and far between in this world; people are more focused on their own tangible interests.

"Thea, why are you drinking this stuff again?" Draco asked, looking puzzled.

He simply couldn't understand Thea's taste. Was the honey tea not sweet enough? Why would she want to drink such a bitter liquid?

Thea looked up from a pile of thick books and met Draco's scrunched-up face.

She smiled slightly and said, "Actually, coffee isn't that bad! It tastes much better than energy drinks."

Draco glanced at the pile of terrifying-sounding books surrounding Thea, and to avoid being dragged away by Thea, wisely moved to the other side to start reviewing for his final exams.

Amidst the fear of countless young wizards, the final exams arrived as scheduled.

The final exam consists of two parts: a written exam and a practical exam.

The former is to take a test. The little wizards just need to use a pen that has been enchanted with an anti-cheating spell to answer the questions on the test paper.

The latter involves casting spells or making potions in front of the professor.

For example, Professor Flitwick, who taught Charms, had them line up and enter the classroom one by one, and then chanted a spell to make a pineapple tap dance across the desk.

In the Transfiguration exam, Professor McGonagall asked them to transform a mouse into a snuff bottle, and their exam score was determined by the exquisite detail of the snuff bottle.

The Potions exam involved concocting a potion of forgetfulness. Professor Snape walked around the young wizards almost the entire time, causing countless of them to nearly make mistakes in the dosage of the potion ingredients.

The last exam was on the history of magic. Although Professor Binns' teaching style was somewhat unusual, almost no young wizards could stay until the end of get out of class.

However, since many young wizards joined Thea's study group, they achieved satisfactory results by highlighting key points and memorizing them.

What's especially gratifying is that after the exams, the young wizards have a full week to relax and wait for their results.

As Thea watched Harry and the other two rush towards Professor McGonagall's office on the second floor, a slight smile appeared on her lips. She then pulled a few curious people beside her and walked towards the grassy area by the Black Lake.

She had no desire to get involved in the Savior's annual extra final exam.

She was absolutely certain that if she were to walk up the stairs to the fourth floor now, the portrait on the wall would notify Dumbledore within three seconds.

So she wanted to go to a crowded place to avoid unnecessary trouble and suspicion later. After all, if something happened to the savior, she would be the prime suspect!

Many young wizards like to relax by the Black Lake after their exams, and when Thea and her friends arrived, there were already quite a few young wizards there.

Seeing Thea and the others approaching, many of the young wizards instinctively stopped playing around and stared at Thea with shining eyes.

The next second, countless little wizards rushed towards Thea and her friends, chattering excitedly as they told Thea about the nervousness before the exam and the ecstasy when they received the exam questions.

Thea was not surprised. She accurately called out the name of each little wizard, listened patiently to their joy, and then showed a friendly smile.

Thea also abandoned her aristocratic reserve and sat down on the ground without any hesitation. Before long, she was surrounded by little wizards in yellow, blue and red wizard robes.

Theodore and several other boys were also completely squeezed out.

"Thea is becoming more and more popular," Draco remarked with some emotion.

Upon hearing this, Theodore and Zabini turned their heads to carefully observe Draco's expression, only to see a look of utter sincerity.

“Indeed, she’s very likable, isn’t she? Even the little lions are willing to be near her.” Zabini picked up where Draco left off, saying something cryptic.

Draco, as if sensing something, looked at Zabini, only to find that the other's expression was neither sad nor happy, but completely calm.

Thea sat in the center of the crowd. Instead of giving a long speech about the help she had given them, she listened more to the other young wizards venting their frustrations.

Some of the young wizards began to talk about their holiday plans, such as going to Egypt to see the pyramids, going on vacation to a certain country, or visiting their relatives in the countryside.

By piecing together the conversations of these young wizards, Thea could learn about their relatives' political stances, dietary preferences, and lifestyle habits.

These seemingly insignificant things will definitely come in handy in the future.

Thea did not deliberately hide the fact that she had lived in a Muggle orphanage.

She spoke candidly about the interesting things that happened at the orphanage, even making a simple outing sound fascinating.

Thea's candid attitude earned her even more respect from the young wizards around her. Even the young wizards from other pure-blood families began to wonder about the Muggle lifestyle after hearing Thea's story.

With Thea's lead, many Muggle-born wizards started talking, sharing their own family stories with the wizards around them.

The sunlight seemed particularly fond of this scene, quietly hiding in the shade of the trees.

At this moment, whether they were Muggle-born, pure-blood, or half-blood wizards, they all sat together happily, discussing their experiences and sharing their interesting stories.

If Dumbledore were here, he would be astonished to find that the scene resembled Thea's in the orphanage:

Everyone seemed to genuinely trust her, surrounding her in the center of the crowd, and that's how it is now.

It seems that all leaders possess this charisma: they seem to effortlessly become the center of attention, and it's hard to imagine such charisma appearing in a child who has only been in school for a year.