Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

"Where are you at in terms of progress?" Thea asked, flipping through a stack of documents in her hand.

“We’ve compiled a list up to 1920, and so far, we haven’t found the person most likely to discover the murderer and open the locked room.” Hermione was somewhat frustrated; they had searched for so long but hadn’t found any clues.

Thea wasn't angry. She patted Hermione on the shoulder and then said to everyone, "I know how much effort everyone has put in during this time."

"Hermione, you not only helped everyone find information, but you also didn't forget to continue searching for information about that mysterious creature in the library. You did a great job, so don't be discouraged!"

Hermione blushed slightly as she listened to Thea's praise.

"Potter, you and Weasley did a great job too. You risked being discovered to get these lists for us, and you deserve credit as well."

"Daphne, Pansy, you two are amazing too. You were able to compile all the questionable awards right from the start. That's something not just anyone can do."

“Zabini, Theodore, you have sacrificed your rest time and spent all day immersed in the data, making a great contribution to our activities.”

"Draco also contributed many ideas when the defensive ring was being made..."

Thea praised everyone in the team, making their eyes slightly red. The pride in them made them eager to finish analyzing the data that very night.

“However, our top priority is to produce this batch of defensive rings. I’ve calculated that if each of us makes 10 a day, and I find a few helpers from the study group, we can distribute them throughout the school in a week at most,” Thea slowly offered her suggestion.

"What about all this data? Are we not going to analyze it for now?" Hermione was the first to ask, which made Daphne frown slightly.

Thea didn't hesitate and continued in a gentle tone, "It's not that we're not going to analyze it, but we need to put it aside for a few days. After all, protecting everyone is probably more important than finding the culprit."

Hermione lowered her head and thought for a moment before agreeing to Thea's arrangement.

Thea saw Hermione nod before turning her gaze to the others.

Daphne and the others naturally had no objections. They had always followed Thea's arrangements, doing whatever Thea said.

Harry and Ron, who were also getting a headache from reading the materials, readily agreed when they heard they could take a break and make a defensive ring.

Merlin's beard!

Those documents are much drier than the history of magic!

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Soon, Thea and her group produced the first batch of defensive rings.

Thea immediately delivered the rings to the offices of the professors in each department.

“Miss Black, is this the result of your hard work these past few days?” McGonagall picked up the exquisite ring on the table and examined it.

She had been teaching for many years and had seen countless gifted young wizards, but to be honest, Thea was the most special and hardworking child she had ever met.

Geniuses aren't scary; what's scary is someone who is more talented than you but works even harder.

With such talent and temperament, she will undoubtedly become one of the most dazzling stars of this era.

The young wizard who lived in the same era as her felt both fortunate and desperate.

I am grateful to be able to witness the rise of this star, yet I am also desperate to be overshadowed by her.

The more McGonagall admired Thea, the more she felt sorry for her, if only Thea hadn't had that kind of background...

Thea pretended not to see the admiration and regret in Professor McGonagall's eyes and politely corrected her, "This is not my achievement alone. Draco also contributed a lot, and the professors gave me a lot of help."

“That’s still quite remarkable. To be able to create these defensive items at such a young age is an impressive achievement for both you and Mr. Malfoy.” McGonagall’s smile deepened upon hearing Thea’s words.

"By the way, this is the contact information of a student I taught before. If you plan to continue your in-depth study of alchemy, you can write to him to communicate."

Thea was somewhat incredulous. She knew that Professor McGonagall had mixed feelings about her, but now the professor was suddenly pointing her to a bright future. This made Thea suspicious, wondering if this was a trap set by Dumbledore for her.

But when Thea saw the name on the business card, she made a snap decision to accept it.

That person is too valuable; even if it's bait set by that old bee, Thea has to venture in.

Even though Thea immediately and respectfully accepted the business card, McGonagall still noticed Thea's pause.

This made McGonagall feel a pang of heartache. Had they really gone too far all these years, making this child wary the moment she received kindness from others?

"Professor McGonagall, I'll be going now," Thea said politely.

Thea, clutching the business card in her hand, strolled slowly toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office (Lockhart) on the third floor, when she caught a glimpse of a green hem in the distance, followed by a rumbling sound.

Thea raised an eyebrow. "Professor McGonagall is going to the principal's office?"

Could this business card really be a trap Dumbledore dug for himself...?

Thea always couldn't help but assume the worst about others, and she would anticipate the worst possible outcome for everything, just so she could be prepared when misfortune struck.

However, Thea guessed that Dumbledore might have dug another hole for her, and she didn't have time to worry about it.

Because now, she needs to go to the secret room.

Since Dumbledore and Snape had taken over Thea's nightly solitary confinement, Thea could only choose to go to the Chamber of Secrets on Wednesday afternoons, avoiding everyone else.

Thank goodness her father left her an uncle, Lucius, who's like Doraemon!

Thea decided to write to her Uncle Lucius on Saturday, explaining that she needed a few secondhand wands.

Unexpectedly, Lucius didn't ask any questions and sent Thea a bunch of second-hand wands on Monday!

Furthermore, the letter stated that most of the owners of these wands were dead and they were now ownerless.

Thea looked through them and found that most of the wands were made of cedar, ebony, and walnut.

What pleased Thea even more was that Lucius had a good eye; there were a total of 16 wands, and Thea could use almost every one of them, with only differences in their compatibility.

Ultimately, Thea chose a wand made of ebony wood because it was a perfect fit for her and had almost no drawbacks except for being a little awkward to use.

Thea packed her gear in her dorm room: two wands, a pistol, all the bullets, including incendiary bombs, and various defensive items.