Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 132 First Group Mission

When Harry found Hermione and Ron, he noticed that both of them looked rather worried.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Faced with Harry's question, Hermione and Ron hesitated for a moment, but in the end they repeated what Draco and Gellar had just said to Harry.

So, the number of people with furrowed brows increased to three.

"Ron, is the Black family really that powerful?"

“Great!” Ron answered without hesitation. “I’ve heard my father and the others say that decades ago, the Black family was actually the leader among the pure-blood families! The Malfoys and the like couldn’t compare to the Blacks!”

As he spoke, Ron glanced at Harry hesitantly before stammering, "As you know, since the First Wizarding War... many families have declined, including the Blacks... but they still have power..."

Harry and Hermione understood: "Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse!"

Hermione's summary.

With Hermione's confirmation, Ron became even more enthusiastic and continued, "Actually, I overheard Dad and the others talking. Thea's situation doesn't seem to be very good, especially this year... Black even escaped..."

"If it weren't for the magical protection of Black's old mansion, the Auror would have rushed in and searched it!"

As he finished speaking, Ron looked around before whispering to the two of them.

"So, according to Rozier, Buckbeak's situation isn't the fault of Thea and Malfoy?"

Harry listened for a while but still didn't quite understand, so he finally asked Hermione.

Seeing the confusion in their eyes, Hermione pursed her lips, then cast a silencing spell before slowly speaking.

"First of all, this is just my guess, so please don't tell anyone!"

The two nodded hurriedly.

"First, I think there's one thing Rozier said that's true: the matter of Buckbeak was only triggered by Malfoy and Thea; the Ministry of Magic was the mastermind behind it all!"

The reasons are as follows: First, this matter has blown up too much; almost all the parents know about it, and they've all sent letters to Hogwarts! This was completely unnecessary; a single official document from the Ministry of Magic would be enough to kill Buckbeak. Therefore, I have another guess!

"The Ministry of Magic plans to use Buckbeak's story to reduce the hype surrounding Black's escape!"

“But almost everyone knows about Blake’s prison break!” Ron questioned.

"That's precisely why everyone knows, and the Ministry of Magic needs an even bigger news story to cover up their negligence!"

Hermione's indignation startled Ron, who instinctively looked around to see if anyone else was there.

"Hermione, keep your voice down..."

"Sorry, I got a little excited just now."

"Actually, I have another guess. Malfoy just said we should be glad Buckbeak didn't attack Thea, and considering Thea's precarious situation..."

Hermione took a deep breath and said heavily, "I suspect the pure-blood families are involved too. They're cooperating with the Ministry of Magic, planning to use this to hurt Dumbledore!"

Ron and Harry were utterly shocked by Hermione's guess.

The two exchanged a surprised and uncertain glance, then tried to use their knowledge to refute Hermione, but ultimately failed to find a point to refute.

Because Hermione's statement was completely flawless!

While Harry, Daphne, Gellar, Pansy, Theodore, and Zabini were making various guesses, on the other side of the woods, Draco, Daphne, Gellar, Pansy, Theodore, and Zabini were sitting around a transformed table in a clearing.

On the table was a palm-sized metal object with several earphone-like wires attached to it. Several people had placed one end of the wires to their ears, as if they were listening to something.

If you look closely, you'll see they're all holding headphones in one hand while scribbling something on a piece of paper with the other.

They only put down their headphones after a long silence from the other end.

"Ha! Thea is amazing! She guessed Potter and the others' reactions perfectly!"

Draco's face was filled with undisguised excitement and admiration.

"Gella, you're amazing!"

Daphne praised her sincerely. She had initially been somewhat dissatisfied with Thea's task assignment, but now it seemed that Thea's arrangement was the best.

When Gella received Daphne's praise, she blushed and said modestly, "Actually, I just benefited from arriving late, so they weren't too wary of me."

“Zabini! When did you hide that retractable ear?” Pansy asked.

"While Draco was talking to them in front, I used Theodore as a shield to bury my extendable ears in the snow."

Zabini's face also flushed with excitement.

"Alright, it's getting late. Thea is waiting for our results."

Draco stood up and reminded the others to organize the papers so they could give them to Thea later.

Just to be on the safe side, each of them wrote down what they heard, so that if anyone missed a detail, someone else would fill in the gaps.

Thea only found out that Draco and the others had returned through the bracelet.

She packed her things and then returned to the Slytherin common room the way she came.

When Thea pushed open the door to the private room, the bright eyes of the group immediately fell on her.

Thea knew then that her plan had succeeded.

Thea took the documents from Daphne and read them through one by one. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Thea's final judgment.

"You did a great job!"

As soon as Thea's praise landed, the group couldn't help but cheer.

Thea raised her hand to signal everyone to calm down.

"I am delighted that this was your first event, and that it was a resounding success."

“Pansy, your Transfiguration skills have improved a lot. I’ll give you my Transfiguration notes later.”

"Thank you, Thea!"

"Theodore, Zabini, you two worked together very well and successfully hid the retractable ears without attracting anyone's attention. That's impressive."

"Daphne, you carefully brought up the ideas that everyone had written down, which largely prevented mistakes."

Daphne smiled shyly, "Thank you, Thea."

“Gella, you did a great job too. You not only used your strengths to dispel their wariness, but you also adapted to the situation and successfully implemented my plan.”

"Also, Draco, you were very capable. You drew their attention ahead and provided cover for Zabini and Theodore's actions, and you also completed the task I assigned to you."

"Given the success of this operation, I will share all my recent notes, and from now on, whenever I don't have classes, I will organize spell training sessions for everyone in the secret room!"

"Great!"

The crowd cheered in unison.

"However, the training time will be allocated according to your contribution to this event."

The group immediately realized Thea's plan, but there was nothing they could do. After all, what Thea offered was just what they wanted, and it was hard to refuse!