Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 361 Farewell

Gella held Thea tightly, so she could easily feel the sharp shoulder blades beneath the fabric of Thea's clothes.

She was about to say something when Thea pushed her away.

It's strange, even though her eyes were red, she still spoke steadily.

In the dim light, Gella heard Thea's words, each one a farewell:

“These words are dangerous, but also important. They shouldn’t be scattered throughout the river of time. Help me, help me pass them on to Dumbledore, to Hogwarts—”

"It may be impolite to say it like this, but they are the most capable force I can think of to protect these things."

"And my room in the Riddle House, which contains some of my essays and diaries. If there's still time, please remember to destroy them for me."

"Also, that laboratory is of utmost importance. It absolutely must be blown up. I've already planted the explosives; all I need is a tiny spark..."

"Don't leave Hogwarts for a while. You'll be safer here. I have a few letters to give you..."

"And Draco and the others..."

Thea spoke urgently and quickly, as if she were fleeing for her life.

Gella remained silent, keeping her head down and listening quietly.

She only looked up when the other person gradually stopped, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Have you confessed everything?"

Gella's serious demeanor made Thea start to recall if she had overlooked anything.

Seeing that the other party had actually started to think, Gella couldn't bear it any longer. She threw a punch, but it landed lightly on Thea's shoulder.

At this moment, tears finally broke free.

Gella wanted to get angry, wanted to hit someone, wanted to wake up the person in front of her who was determined to die.

But the next second, she was pulled into a not-so-warm embrace.

She heard her choking back tears, her voice trembling:

"Gella, don't be sad for me. This is the path I chose for myself, and the ending was predetermined."

"No one wants to spend time listening to a criminal's confession; they'd rather hear about the rise of a hero or the end of a villain."

"We will all have a bright future, I swear."

Gella struggled to look at her, but only saw the other's curved lips.

"—You're lying to me again."

After a long silence, Gella slowly revealed the truth.

No one knows how heated the argument was that followed, but the outcome was obvious.

Thea won.

She stood quietly, watching her friend embark on that road with a bright future.

Galahad went to Draco and the others to convey her final arrangements, and then... waited for dawn.

Thea didn't stay in the secret room for long. After confirming that there were no mistakes in the orders given to Got, she took one last deep look at the data she had compiled over the years, and then plunged into the pipes.

As soon as Thea stepped out of Hogwarts, the parts of the war fortress began to slowly turn.

Someone donned a large cloak and hurried into the dungeon—

Some carefully slipped away from the patrol team and quietly sent a message from the shore of Black Lake—

That night, some were gathering, some were taking action, some were sleeping peacefully, and some were—

Dealing with mental illness.

Thea had just tucked herself into the quilt, still feeling the chill, when a communication alert jolted her awake.

Shaking her aching wrist, Thea quickly dressed and went out.

The message was very brief; it was clearly a mass message.

"Meeting room, let's start the meeting."

It seems that Voldemort has received the communication.

Thea jogged down the corridor, silently guessing what was going on in her mind.

After she knocked on the door and entered the conference room, she finally saw that the conference table was packed with people.

Don't they ever sleep?

With this deep question in mind, Thea sat down in the seat closest to Voldemort.

"I just received a message that Bella's second offensive has begun, so I wanted you to come and report on the latest situation, including military supplies, mission allocation, and speculation about the setbacks at the front—"

Upon hearing Voldemort's last words, Thea's heart skipped a beat. She looked up and met Old Nott's indifferent glance.

She immediately lowered her head, pretending to be nothing more than a decoration.

"Master, regarding Blake's defeat, I think there are mainly the following points that need attention..."

"Mr. XX's statement is not entirely accurate. As everyone knows..."

"...Stop just talking the talk, show me what you've got!"

As they talked, the tension at the table grew, but then a single, angry remark from one of Blake's die-hard supporters instantly froze the tension in the conference room.

Even with his head down, Thea could tell how ugly Voldemort's expression was.

The Death Eaters varied greatly in quality, and what was even more frightening was that each of them had their own ulterior motives.

Everyone wanted to stand out from Voldemort, but no one wanted to be the first to declare war on Hogwarts.

Even a broken boat has three pounds of nails; they only want profit and don't want to lose their lives!

Voldemort understood this principle, which is why he always practiced fighting to sustain his war effort, until now when they are facing Hogwarts head-on.

Without sufficient incentive or fear, they won't want to go to war.

The latter was the first to be eliminated by Voldemort, because he could not be a figurehead commander.

As for the former…

They need a great victory, a victory that will ignite the Death Eaters' deepest desires.

As if on cue, both Voldemort and Thea had thought of this.