Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

The room was quiet, and neither of them spoke first.

In order to maintain her image as an ordinary little girl, Thea decided to speak first.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Green acted even faster. She got up from her large, comfortable chair, slowly walked to a wall covered with photos, and gestured for Thea to come over as well.

Thea looked up at the photos, a hint of confusion in her eyes. Mrs. Green then asked, "Thea, do you know what these are?"

Thea: "..."

Mrs. Green was not disappointed and continued in a nostalgic tone, "I established this orphanage in 1972, and it's been more than ten years now. I still remember that year, I first lost my husband in a car accident, and then I lost my child, my poor little Orly, she was only seven years old then..."

Thea: "..."

Thea expressed her sympathy and patted Mrs. Green's arm with her short little hands... Well, Thea was just too short.

Mrs. Green was amused by Thea's words of comfort and almost couldn't continue her performance, but fortunately she reacted quickly and suppressed her laughter.

“From that time on, I founded this orphanage, hoping that those unfortunate children could grow up safely here.”

After saying that, she turned her gaze to Thea, as if she wanted Thea to say something.

Thea went along with her wishes and said sincerely, "Mrs. Green is the best dean in our eyes. You have provided us with food, clothing and shelter. We will always remember your kindness."

After Mrs. Green finished her opening remarks, she got to the point: "These photos on the wall are of children from our orphanage who have been admitted to prestigious universities and have bright futures; and their success is inseparable from the help of many people..."

Upon hearing this, Thea understood that this photo wall was essentially the school's honor roll!

Thea looked at the photos with some curiosity, but the more she looked, the stranger it seemed, so she asked directly, "Why are most of the photos on the wall of girls?"

Mrs. Green, seeing Thea's curiosity, thought her goal was about to be achieved and was mentally rehearsing her next lines.

Caught off guard by the question, Mrs. Green hesitated for a moment, but quickly explained, "Because there are more girls here, and naturally there are more girls among the successful people."

Upon hearing this explanation, Thea nodded. Indeed, based on her observations over the past few days, there were far more girls than boys in the orphanage. Of the more than 50 children in total, nearly 40 were girls.

Thea had just begun to relax when she heard Mrs. Green continue, "Girls are generally smarter and more focused than boys. Besides, the road to success is always much easier for girls than for boys..."

Thea: "!!!"

"Thea, can you understand what I mean?"

Mrs. Green deliberately slowed her speech, her eyes fixed on Thea's expression like those of an eagle.

Thea stood frozen in place, surrounded by silence. She could hear her heart pounding faster and faster, yet her mind remained remarkably calm. She heard her own voice: "Mrs. Green, how can I achieve success?"

The girl's voice was clear and sweet, but to Mrs. Green, it sounded just like Eve being tempted by a serpent.

Mrs. Green smiled with satisfaction, as if she had seen a fish foolishly taking the bait. Her tempting voice rang out again: "You are indeed a clever child. If you want to know, you can come to my office next Wednesday night, and I will tell you the answer."

Thea didn't know how she got back to her dorm. Jennifer wasn't there; she must have gone out to play. Normally, Thea would be curious to guess where Jennifer was, but she didn't care today.

A surge of immense anger welled up in Thea's heart, almost bursting forth, but she managed to suppress it with her reason.

If Thea were just an ordinary eight-year-old girl, she wouldn't have thought too much about it; she would only be overjoyed that the headmaster had stood up for her and severely punished Andrew.

No wonder, no wonder the dean concluded that it was Andrew's fault after only hearing Windsor's one-sided report. It turns out that it wasn't because she trusted Windsor and herself, but simply because in her heart, her own value far exceeded that of Andrew.

In her previous life, Thea had heard far too many opinions that girls didn't need to work hard, and whenever she heard such remarks, it would always inspire her to continue studying hard.

That's why Mrs. Green's words made her realize so quickly that Mrs. Green wasn't praising the girl at all, but pushing her into a fire pit. Imagine if a girl really believed her words and decided to stop trying, what would happen to her?

Wait! No, that's not right! Darcy!!!

She also came from this orphanage, she went to university, she was also considered a successful person, so...

Thea stopped thinking about it and quickly flipped through the information Jennifer had collected, then took out her own notebook and compared the two...

Finally, Thea placed her hand on the table, pinched the bridge of her nose, and felt a chill in her heart.

If her guess is true, then it would explain all her doubts about Darcy:

No wonder she went to university but didn't go to work;

No wonder she always avoids mentioning Birmingham;

No wonder she's always so moody and always wears loose clothing;

No wonder Mrs. Green treated her like porcelain.

All the previous oddities now have an explanation.

The thought of the photo wall in the dean's office made Thea feel nauseous. It wasn't a wall of honor at all; it was a living proof of human trafficking!

Out of the corner of her eye, Thea glanced at Jennifer's bed and recalled the legend of the wishing house. It turned out that the wishing house really existed, but unfortunately, it didn't contain Aladdin's lamp that could grant wishes; instead, it contained Satan, who lured people into darkness.

Thea couldn't help but sigh at her luck again. She thought it was bad luck, but she was supposed to be dead, yet she was able to live again.

You could call it luck, but I started out as the public enemy of the wizarding world, and now I'm stuck in an orphanage that also deals in human trafficking!

Well, what's done is done, there's no point in thinking about it anymore. Let's just focus on making the next plan.

First, there's the date. Mrs. Green has agreed to meet next Wednesday, so there are five days to prepare.

Thea recalled what Mrs. Green had said: "Their success was inseparable from the help of many people..." From this, she could conclude that:

The so-called "girl's success" was not solely due to Mrs. Green; there was another person behind her... or an organization... or even an entire supply chain...

Take Dalsey as an example. She was supported by sponsors so that she could go to university. This special sponsor could very well be the "buyer" behind Dalsey.

Thinking back to that entire photo wall, the orphanage didn't have many visitors. Apart from donors, only adoptive parents would come. The problem was very likely with the adoptive parents. Thea highlighted the words "adoptive parents".

The question remains: did the staff at the orphanage know about this?

If anyone in the orphanage was assisting Mrs. Green in her crimes, Thea's first suspect would be Windsor. Thinking this, Thea hesitated for a moment, but then continued writing:

"Windsor was the person who knew the orphanage best besides Mrs. Green, and was also deeply trusted by Mrs. Green (she managed the orphanage when Mrs. Green was away)."

The more Thea wrote, the more she felt that Windsor was the most likely candidate to manage the orphanage. In ancient China, that would be like the crown prince overseeing the country.

Thea had a headache, but she continued to analyze the other people.

Mary the cook, Jim the doorman, Conna the accountant, Ella the cleaner...

Thea's analysis continued until Jennifer pushed the door open and came in, but the news Jennifer brought made Thea's heart sink instantly.