Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

"What did you say?" Thea's face was full of disbelief.

Jennifer was startled by Thea's expression and stammered, "Well... the headmistress just ran into me... and asked me to go see her with you next Wednesday night..."

Thea heard clearly this time and didn't ask Jennifer any more questions.

Jennifer was startled by Thea's silence. She forced a smile, but stammered, "Thea... is something wrong...? Is it bad news that the Dean wants to see us?"

Thea stood up, looked directly at Jennifer, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this is absolutely a terrible thing for us!"

Jennifer tried to remain calm, but her voice trembled slightly: "What are the chances that it's something bad?"

"Eighty percent."

Upon hearing the number, Jennifer's smile vanished completely, and she froze on the spot.

After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Thea, I believe you. You never exaggerate. When you say there's an 80% chance that something is bad, it's basically true."

Jennifer stared intently at Thea's expression and asked firmly, "So, what is it? Don't worry, as long as you give me a reason, I will absolutely believe you."

Thea pursed her lips, carefully choosing her words before slowly saying, "I saw a photo wall in the dean's office; you probably remember it, right?"

Jennifer nodded, but she didn't know why Thea brought this up.

Thea continued, "I noticed that one of the people on that photo wall looks very familiar—Darcy."

Before Jennifer could ask any questions, Thea quickly said, "When we went in, the headmaster was filling out this month's shopping list. I spotted a long list of nutritional supplements and fabrics that pregnant women need."

“But we know that the orphanage only has one person of suitable pregnancy age right now…”

"Darcy!"

Before Thea could finish speaking, Jennifer exclaimed in surprise, then immediately covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Thea didn't blame Jennifer, but continued, "We know that Darcy went to university and has a high level of education, but she didn't work. Even when she got pregnant, she rushed here as if she were fleeing a disaster."

Thea paused to take a sip of water and continued, "But her husband didn't show up at all. Instead, Mrs. Green was busy taking care of her. That's not right."

Seeing that Thea hadn't reached a conclusion, Jennifer asked anxiously, "Thea, you've given us so many clues, so what's your final conclusion?"

"Therefore, I suspect that Mrs. Green sent us to her to discuss adoption, but this isn't an ordinary adoption; it's more like..."

Thea couldn't continue speaking, and her expression turned ugly.

Jennifer quickly understood from Thea's expression: "She wants to sell us?"

Seeing Thea nod, Jennifer's emotions exploded instantly. She started pacing back and forth, her footsteps clattering on the floor, muttering to herself:

"How could she treat us like this? I trusted and respected her so much before, and in the end, she plans to sell us off like livestock..."

Thea didn't stop her, letting Jennifer vent her emotions.

After Jennifer calmed down a bit, she slowly said, "There's no use venting our emotions now. The key is how to handle the conversation next Wednesday."

Jennifer also realized that the most urgent thing was to think about how to deal with the dean.

After thinking for a moment, Jennifer suggested, "How about I go and find out if anyone else is going to see the dean besides the two of us?"

Thea thought for a moment and agreed, "Okay, then you go and inquire first. I'll go to Darcy's place in the next few days to see if I can gather any useful information."

After discussing it, the two began to take their own actions.

Wednesday arrived quickly, and as agreed with the dean, we were to go to his office after dinner.

The thought of facing the dean soon made Jennifer so nervous that she couldn't eat anything, even though the two of them had made ample preparations.

Seeing her like this, Thea comforted her, "Don't worry, there are four other people besides the two of us, right? When there are more people, the dean's attention will definitely be distracted, so you don't need to worry too much!"

Hearing Thea's comforting words, Jennifer finally calmed down and took the bread Thea handed her, starting to chew it heartily.

Seeing that Jennifer was in much better condition, Thea breathed a sigh of relief. But then, thinking about how six people were going to see the dean tonight, she became even angrier.

Thea truly hadn't expected that the dean would be so audacious as to attempt to deal with all six "goods" at once.

Thea had secretly looked through the orphanage's personnel roster before; even if the director wanted to destroy it, there was nothing he could do.

Moreover, even if the orphanage's items were destroyed, there were backups within the community, which gave Thea an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Perhaps Mrs. Green was too busy lately, or perhaps she believed no one would think of this, so she left the entire list of personnel in the archives. Taking advantage of her child's health, Thea went all out and climbed over the ventilation shaft in the archives to find the list.

Judging from the list, Mrs. Green's handling of the "goods" was irregular, but the quantity was always one or two at a time, which was naturally explained to the public as adoption.

Trusting Mrs. Green and with the airtight information, no one suspected that the children's whereabouts were suspicious.

Unfortunately, this time they encountered Thea, who doesn't play by the rules.

Having a large number of people isn't necessarily a bad thing. With more people, things can easily get chaotic, and mistakes are bound to happen. What Thea needs to do is seize that opportunity when things go wrong and completely tear off Mrs. Green's mask!

Looking at the six people standing neatly in front of her, Mrs. Green actually regretted it a little. She should have known better than to make such a boast to that person.

Look at these six little girls, their faces beaming with innocent smiles, their eyes sparkling, just like little lambs waiting to be released from the pen.

Thea felt nauseous seeing the undisguised greed in Mrs. Green's eyes, but still managed a sweet smile as she said, "Madam, didn't you want to tell us something?"

"Yes, yes, I do have something to discuss with you today."

Upon hearing this, apart from Thea, the other children whispered among themselves, speculating with those around them about what had happened.

Mrs. Green looked at Thea, who was standing in the middle, not saying a word but staring intently at her, and couldn't help but admire her in her heart, "She really is the child I value most. She is clever, intelligent, and quick to understand."

Mrs. Green clapped her hands to quiet the children, and then said, “I went to Birmingham last month, where I met several very kind ladies, all of whom graduated from prestigious universities and whose husbands are all successful in their careers.”

"The only downside is that they've been married for many years but don't have any children of their own." At this, the children immediately became excited, and Mrs. Green smiled with satisfaction, confirming the children's guess.

"It's just as everyone thinks. These ladies plan to come here and hope to meet the child they are destined to meet."

The children were overjoyed to hear the accurate answer, except for Thea and Jennifer, who had already guessed as much. To avoid Mrs. Green's suspicion, the two put on an act, just like the children next to them.

Mrs. Green didn't say anything more and told them to go back to sleep. Before leaving, she reminded the children not to tell anyone about it and to rest well for the next few days in preparation for the arrival of the ladies.