Chapter 220 Career and Dissatisfaction
Although Durmstrang was covered in snow and ice, the students were very enthusiastic. On the way to the East Tower, through the quaint stone windows, Della and her companions saw countless students gathered on the frozen ice, brandishing their wands and dueling.
I don't know if it was because of excitement or cold, but their faces were red, and everyone made an excited expression. They were so emotional that some people even threw away their wands and engaged in a physical duel.
Della looked at the people fighting each other and raised her eyebrows. She thought that Durmstrang's habit of fighting over a disagreement was very interesting.
Sadolin on the side also looked at those people with her eyes wide open, envious of the intimacy of the Durmstrang students.
They hurried past every stone window that shone with enthusiasm, and walked towards the second floor with a clear goal. When they turned a corner facing the stairs, Della paused and subconsciously looked at the activity room with the mahogany door wide open beside the stairs.
There were several full storage baskets at the door, and those people in simple clothes at the opening ceremony were counting the contents of the storage baskets. They were talking in Russian. Della couldn't understand what they were saying, but from their expressions and tone, she could tell that they were distressed.
Above their heads, there was a bright red flag. Della knew that it was the flag of the Muggle world. It was composed of a five-pointed star, a hammer and a sickle... a wand?
"Want to come in and take a look - huh?" When Della was frightened by the flag that slightly exceeded her understanding, a brown-haired young man at the door habitually called her over. He just raised a smile on his face, but when he saw that it was Della Riddle, his smile froze on his face.
The brown-haired young man's unfluent words made the black-haired boy who was counting supplies nearby look at him strangely. He muttered something to the boy in Russian and looked at Della. Before he could say anything, his face, which was halfway through smiling, froze.
Della had no intention of embarrassing them. She took another look at the flag with wizard elements on it, then nodded and smiled at the two embarrassed people, "What are you doing?" As she spoke, Maggie raised her snake head on her shoulder and looked around the place.
Just like in Beauxbatons, when people had a preconceived notion that Della was the daughter of a cruel Dark Lord, the politeness she displayed due to her good upbringing immediately shattered other people's stereotypes of her.
The embarrassment on the two boys' faces eased, but after looking at each other, they still didn't know what to say.
"What's wrong?" The atmosphere was tense when Dmitri's highly recognizable high-pitched voice squeezed in. He walked out with a book in his hand, and when he saw Della, he opened his eyes.
"Would you like to come in and take a look?" Dmitri reacted a little faster than the other two.
"No, I have something else to do," Della politely declined, "I'm just curious about what's at your door."
"These are materials donated by classmates," Dmitri picked up a leather coat from the basket. "We are just a spontaneous organization and don't have a stable source of funds."
Della glanced at the very new dress, and saw from the corner of her eye that the other things in the basket showed little signs of use. She realized that the students' actions were actually donations, and she had a rough estimate of the financial situation of the organization.
"It's really not easy," Della said, and she searched her pockets. She was somewhat curious about Isaev's career, and her own politeness made her think that she should give something at this time. However, there was nothing in her pocket except two Galleons.
Do you want to pay? That's not good.
Della wondered if she had anything else on her, but she couldn't take off her clothes, and she didn't like to wear jewelry. The only valuable thing on her was the book that she couldn't give away.
"Don't force yourself." Demetri saw Della's confusion through her slightly furrowed brows and immediately spoke to comfort her. "Are you coming to the East Tower to look for the professors on the second and third floors? You go first, Riddle."
"..." At the same time, Maggie had been critically evaluating Dmitri, who had a muscular body and was perhaps two meters tall. He thought about Della's style again and knew that if he left a beginning today, Della would politely make up for it. He didn't want Della to waste her energy on others, so he looked at the well-behaved Sadolin behind him.
Sadolin almost immediately caught Maggie's gaze on her neck. She tentatively reached out for the gleaming gem necklace around her neck. After getting a slight nod from Maggie, she took off the necklace and walked to the front carefully holding it.
Della and Dmitri both looked at Sadolin and the necklace in her hand.
"Are you interested in them, Sadolin?" Della reacted and made excuses for Sadolin's behavior.
Sadolin opened her eyes and glanced at Della, then actually looked at Maggie. After receiving the instruction, she nodded vaguely, hummed slightly, and stuffed the necklace directly into Dmitri's empty hand.
"This..." Dmitri pushed his arm subconsciously. It was obvious that he wanted to refuse, but suddenly, his movements froze again. He just looked at Sadolin and asked in a low voice, "Miss, are you really willing to dedicate the necklace to our cause?"
Sadolin looked up at him, not understanding the strange emotion in Dmitri's dark eyes. She nodded casually and retreated behind Della.
"Then we'll go first." Della finally realized at this moment that she had been delayed here for too long. When she had a clear camp, it was a bad habit to be overly polite to people she admired regardless of the time, but she could not change it.
"I wish you all the best." Dmitri clutched the necklace, his face still solemn. He said goodbye to Della and glanced at Sadolin out of the corner of his eyes.
That wasn't actually peripheral vision. Dmitri might have thought he just glanced briefly, but he was so tall that everyone could easily see the movement of his eyes when they looked up at him.
But it was just a glance. Sadolin was very beautiful now, and many people looked at her every day. Della and her group did not take it seriously, but Maggie had some preconceived dissatisfaction with Dmitri.
"Ha-Sisa (Why talk so much to them, there's no point anyway)." Maggie and Della started talking as they went up to the second floor to look for the Black Rose office.
"Hees-ha (Just a few words)."
"Ha-hi-ya (You kind of admire him, don't you? That's not nice, Della)," Maggie continued, "Ha-sah-hi (Just as nice as what you just said, Sadolin shouldn't be interested in their careers)."
"Hai-(what)?" Sadolin didn't understand.
Maggie didn't answer Sadolin right away. After a brief silence, Della answered her with a faint expression: "Because your last name is Slytherin, Sadolin, getting close to those people casually will bring us trouble."
Della said this to Sadolin, to herself, and to Maggie.
Professor Cockrell said today that she was not firm enough in her desires, which was a very true statement. Della wanted a family, and Maggie was what she considered her family, but Maggie was obviously unfriendly to everything around her, and Maggie was quite uncontrollable, which went against her principle of stopping at the right time, so Della was a little hesitant about letting Maggie grow up.
"Ha-sa (Be a good girl, Sadolin)." Maggie's tone was gentle, but to Della, the suggestive meaning in his words was too strong.
Ever since Della saw Maggie's desire for control manifested in Sadolin, she recalled the questions she had thought about in the past - what kind of person is Della Riddle, what kind of wishes does she have, and whether she is what Maggie expected.
The last question was quite crucial, and she currently had no positive answer to it.
The dissatisfaction with being controlled that had long taken root in Della's heart broke out at this moment.