Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

"Clear Your Thoughts?"

"Thea, why did you start reading this book?"

Daphne walked by with a cup of honey tea and looked up to see Thea with a book upside down over her face, radiating an aura of world-weariness.

"You know this book?" Thea asked instead of answering Daphne's question.

Daphne, unsuspecting, casually said, "Zabini borrowed it the day before yesterday, and I glanced at it."

"Zabini?"

Thea murmured to herself, “He’s always been a smart man. Could it be that he’s noticed something wrong with me?”

Before Thea could think any further, Daphne urged, "Thea, are you ready? Draco and the others have arrived!"

“Coming!” Thea replied to Daphne, casually stuffing the book into her pocket. Since Zabini had also read it, perhaps she could ask him for some advice.

"Hey! Did you hear? Old Bee got kicked out of school!"

As soon as the group settled into their private room, Draco couldn't help but share loudly.

"Didn't he send that Ravenclaw over to deliver a message last night?" Daphne asked, puzzled.

This question stumped Draco. He had only learned of the news this morning from a letter from his father, and he didn't know the specific details. He scratched his head and looked at Thea with pleading eyes.

Thea lived up to expectations, saying, "Perhaps Dumbledore only remembered my confinement right before he left!"

Upon hearing this, everyone smiled.

"Alright, let's not dwell on this topic anymore," Thea raised her hand to indicate that they should move on to today's main topic, "What do you have to say about your performance last night?"

The group immediately wiped the smiles off their faces and fell silent.

Seeing that the group remained silent, Thea's temper flared. She glanced down and successfully selected an unlucky fellow, "Draco!"

Sensing Thea's displeasure, Draco immediately jumped up from his seat.

“…to,” Draco stammered.

"If I'm not mistaken, those spiders that broke into the encirclement last night escaped from your spell, right?"

"Yes." Draco's face turned pale, but he still readily admitted his mistake.

Seeing that Draco's attitude was fairly sincere, Thea's expression softened considerably, and her tone became more gentle than before, "Practice the Petrification Charm and the Fire Charm a thousand times. I will check on you in a week!"

After saying that, Thea, seemingly oblivious to the shock on Draco's face, continued calling out the next unfortunate person's name, "Daphne!"

Over the next 40 minutes, Thea pointed out the problems that had arisen among the group the previous night, provided corresponding solutions, and then announced the next time they would practice their duel in the secret room before concluding the meeting.

"Zabini! Wait a minute!"

Thea stopped Zabini, who was about to leave the room, ignoring the flirtatious exchange between him and Daphne, and suggested that she and Zabini talk by the Black Lake.

Knowing he couldn't refuse and understanding why Thea had brought up the idea, Zabini glared angrily at Daphne, who had such a big mouth, before resignedly following in Thea's footsteps.

When did you find out?

Thea didn't waste any time and got straight to the point.

"The day before yesterday."

Zabini knew what Thea was asking and answered without hesitation.

Upon hearing this answer, Thea frowned and began to think.

Zabini knew that the other person was not in a good mood, so he didn't say much and waited quietly for Thea's next question.

Sure enough, "What did you gain from reading this book?"

Thea handed the book from her pocket to Zabini.

“This involves a lot of practices related to resisting the Confusion Charm,” Zabini said without hesitation, since Dumbledore wasn’t around. “This is my personal favorite.”

As he spoke, Zabini turned to a page in the book and pointed it out to Thea.

“Build a memory palace?” Thea couldn’t help but utter the words.

"Yes, if we compare a person's memory to a book, then the Confusion Spell is more like replacing the contents of that book. Due to the different levels of spells, the level of precision in the replacement method also varies."

The memory palace is more like a comprehensive review of the book's content, identifying inconsistencies and making corrections.

Thea flipped through the methods proposed by Zabini, considering their feasibility.

A little while later, Thea decided to go to the escape room to put it into practice that night.

"Thank you, Zabini, this method looks very good."

In response to Thea's thanks, Zabini reverted to his usual carefree grin and joked, "How about I give up on writing that paper about the eight-eyed giant spider?"

“Impossible!” Thea refused Zabini’s request righteously. “However, I can lend you my notes on the Fire Charm and the Petrification Charm.”

"Really?" Zabini exclaimed in surprise, not expecting such a good thing.

"Of course! I'll go to your dorm and find it for you right now."

Thea knew the importance of splitting money quickly, so she immediately offered the other party a reasonable price.

Although Thea now has a way to counter the Confusion Charm, Tom's actions this time have once again increased Thea's wariness of him.

Fortunately, the semester is about to end, and Thea no longer needs to play games with him. She decides to give him the cold shoulder for a few days before catching him off guard.

What Thea wanted was definitely not a master-servant relationship, but to re-enter his field of vision as a partner.

Thinking of this, Thea unfolded the letter paper, picked up her pen, and wrote:

"...Uncle Lucius, thank you so much for telling me all the details of last night. You also fulfilled my request and successfully lured Dumbledore out of the school..."

...Since our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year is really unreliable, I plan to study the "Boggarts" course on my own to prepare for the upcoming final exams.

But I don't have the right teaching tools, so could my exceptionally capable Uncle Lucius help me out?

Additionally, I need some hallucinogenic herbs...

...I hope you can tell me the answer before Dumbledore returns.

Your dearest niece, Dorothea Black.

The letter was written in one go, and Thea sealed it away.

"Daphne, could I borrow one of the owls you keep at the owl pen?"

The girl's smile was sweet and obedient, showing no trace of the stern demeanor she had displayed in the letter.

Daphne was once again captivated by the girl's smile, and even though she knew the girl wasn't as obedient as she seemed, she couldn't help but agree to her request.

"Of course!"

As the owl flew towards Malfoy Manor, Thea stood on the empty balcony, a satisfied smile on her face.

The semester is coming to an end, and she should prepare the grand gift for the savior in advance. She can't let down the old man's painstaking efforts in nurturing the savior!