Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 354 Infiltration

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up tonight?"

On the way back to their room with Thea, Hermione asked.

"I just remembered, and I also wanted to ask for your opinions."

Thea smiled, but Hermione could tell she didn't want to say anything more.

"You want to reform the wizarding world?"

Hermione's insightful observation surprised Thea.

After a while, Thea suddenly burst out laughing.

"Reform the wizarding world? I'd love to—"

This wizarding world suffocated me, making it hard to breathe. Compared to the Damocles' sword hanging over my head like the Earthshakers, the wizarding world was more like a pool of water that was neither too deep nor too shallow, just the right depth for Thea to stand on tiptoe so as not to drown.

The longer Thea survived here, the more she missed her beloved who had only briefly appeared in her dreams.

If I had never seen the light, perhaps I would have been content with mediocrity, but alas—I have seen it.

"Don't overthink it. Before the big battle, just treat these words as daydreams."

"And what happens after the great battle is won?"

Hermione's confident anticipation made Thea smile involuntarily appear on her face in what could be described as "kindness".

"The first thing to do after the victory is definitely to celebrate properly. As for those troublesome things, I can't be bothered to do them."

Listening to Thea's words, Hermione also thought about Thea's health condition. That's right, Thea's health wasn't very good, so they had to let her get better before talking about anything else.

"Too!"

Hermione was eager to continue talking about the future with Thea, but her words trailed off when she saw the faint trace of weariness on Thea's face.

"Then you should get some rest tonight. I'll go over and keep an eye on the locks again."

"OK, good night."

"Good night."

As Hermione's figure gradually disappeared into the distance, Thea finally stopped smiling.

[Aren't they going to pay you for the lessons? After all, it's Miss Blake teaching you personally—]

The voice in her mind was drawn out in a strange, sarcastic tone, but Thea found a hint of sweetness in it.

[It's just a few words, be sensible and don't be jealous.]

[Jealous?!]

[You actually said I was jealous!!!]

The voice in her mind suddenly amplified, making Thea's ears hurt.

Sometimes I really don't understand you, like right now—

[You're clearly pushing them step by step towards their doom, you've mastered the art of sweet talk and treacherous intentions, yet tonight you're talking to them about financial issues...]

[You wouldn't really be so soft-hearted as to risk your own life for them, would you?]

[Where is it?]

Faced with the other party's probing, Thea smiled and spoke in a low, enigmatic tone—

[Don't you know? The closer someone is to you, the more painful it is when they stab you...]

[Yes, yes, yes! You're the best; you almost stabbed someone to death—]

[The most venomous heart is that of a woman...]

The voice sighed one last time and then went offline. Thea went about her usual routine of washing up and going to bed, as if she hadn't taken the other person's complaints to heart at all.

I woke up the next day.

After breakfast, the four of them did a final check of their equipment to make sure they had all the ammunition. Harry then gave Thea an extra wand.

"Give it to me? I don't need it—"

Thea instinctively tried to push it away, but Harry forcefully shoved the wand into her hand, his tone uncompromising:

"Take this carefully! Just in case."

Seeing that Thea's expression softened, Harry continued:

"Also made of cedar wood, a new creation by Ollivander."

"You actually managed to buy it from him?"

Didn't that old man always insist that "the wand chooses its master"?

"At least I'm now considered one of the top wanted criminals in the wizarding world—"

Harry winked mischievously.

If a wanted criminal comes to a wand shop, do you think he's there to get his wands serviced?

Thea was amused by Harry's self-deprecating humor and lowered her head to observe her new companion.

The wand is 13 and 1/2 inches long, smooth all over, with only a slight protrusion at the handle, simple and elegant.

Thea was satisfied with what she saw and casually placed it on her waist.

"Is it almost time?"

"1 o'clock in 13 minutes."

As Hermione announced the time, she also gave Harry a "disappointing" look, and Harry, having anticipated this, simply lowered his head and remained silent.

Thea found the exchange of glances between the two amusing.

"Review the plan and procedures and the emergency drills one more time. We will depart in 8 minutes."

The three of them should be.

Finally, when the group stepped out of the room, they had completely changed their appearance.

The once vibrant and beautiful young men and women have now become ordinary middle-aged people that can be seen everywhere on the streets.

Their sharp eyes were obscured by either square or round-framed glasses, and their greasy hair and rough skin instantly made them unappealing to scrutinize.

Where's the latch?

"Don't worry about him. We've already used truth serum to get all the information we needed to know in the past few days."

"Won't he starve to death here?"

Ron was a little worried.

"The bar owner will be coming to collect the rent by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Besides, I left him some bread."

Ron was relieved to hear Thea's words and followed Harry briskly toward Gringotts.

Gringotts remains unchanged, standing there majestically, but a closer look at the goblins inside reveals that not one of them is not listless.

It seems my dear father has been quite busy at Gringotts these days.

Thea thought to herself.

The four entered Gringotts Hall safely, but before they could even get close to the counter, a loud commotion erupted from the other side.

"This is clearly my grandfather's vault, why can't I enter?!"

"Excuse me, sir, because you do not have any supporting documentation, we cannot allow you to enter according to regulations."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

The fairy manager's explanation clearly failed to satisfy the middle-aged man, and even added fuel to the fire.

"Regulations, regulations!"

"You're always spouting this useless nonsense!"

"You need proof, right? Then why don't you just go to Merlin and ask for our grandfather-grandson verification?!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man became increasingly agitated, and he grabbed his wand, intending to charge forward.

Now, even the fairy manager couldn't stay calm.

While trying to calm the middle-aged man down, they also called for thugs to come in and maintain order, keeping them extremely busy.

While things were in complete chaos, Thea and her three companions watched the spectacle with great interest, secretly observing Gringotts' security situation.

Seeing that the scene was about to end, Harry quickly grabbed a passing employee and said:

"I'm in a hurry to withdraw money to go to St. Mungo's. Could you process the paperwork for me first?"

When the name St. Mungo is associated with being in a hurry, it easily evokes images of something extremely urgent.

The junior clerk didn't dare delay, fearing that Harry would also become one of those troublemakers over there, so he gritted his teeth and led them to the counter.

"Name?"

"Hugh Langton."

"Vault number?"

"643."

The number made the teller look up at Harry. Although this vault wasn't as important as the few that received special attention, it wasn't far away.

"...Is there a problem? I'm really in a hurry!"

Despite Harry's strenuous performance, the teller eventually managed to send out a goblin to guide them.