Chapter 268 Cynthia's Suffering
Cynthia's panic did not hinder any progress tonight. Alastor Moody came in, exhausted, and Professor McGonagall raised the Sorting Hat again. The students began to look forward to sitting under the Sorting Hat that would decide their fate.
"Cynthia White!"
Cynthia's name was called, and she walked over leisurely. Before she sat on the stool, Dumbledore spoke.
"Before this beautiful Miss White officially joins Hogwarts, I think I need to explain her arrival to you," all eyes were focused on Dumbledore, who said naturally, "Miss White has just experienced a disaster and lost her relatives and memories."
The unaware students at the long table began to exclaim. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, then looked worriedly at Harry who had been staring at Cynthia. Dumbledore was still speaking, "I'm not saying this to ask you to pity her. I think you can tell from her calm expression that White is a strong lady with a strong sense of self. Considering her current state of amnesia, I just hope you can understand her cognitive gap in the future."
Cynthia felt that some of Dumbledore's words seemed to have hidden meanings, pointing directly to the situation of her first serious entry into human society. She was no longer anxious about it. After all, Della couldn't completely deceive Dumbledore, let alone her.
Cynthia was not competitive in this regard. She politely smiled at Dumbledore to express her gratitude, then sat on the stool with a smile.
Harry looked at Cynthia, frowning, and muttered to himself, "Gryffindor... Gryffindor... Gryffindor please..."
Maggie, who was specially invited, silently snapped her fingers on her knee, thinking that this would be a Slytherin.
Snape, sitting in the teaching chair, looked away, not knowing which college he should hope Cynthia would enter.
"Ravenclaw!"
The answer that surprised everyone in the know was shouted out. Harry opened his mouth with a dazed look on his face. Maggie stopped tapping her fingers. Snape looked at Cynthia's back as she calmly walked towards the Ravenclaw table, and his heart was split again.
The event that the three of them were most concerned about tonight came to an end. Their moods went through ups and downs, which made them lack interest when they heard the news about the Triwizard Tournament.
Oh, no, Maggie's ability to act does not stop there. With him, Cynthia still has a way to stay up tonight.
At the end of the banquet, when the prefects were taking the students back to the common room and Maggie was going to Dumbledore's office for an interview, Cynthia, who was originally following a friendly senior upstairs, heard unusually prominent "tapping" footsteps. She subconsciously turned her head and found nothing unusual, but when she turned her head back, the ginger light disappeared, and the senior and classmates in front of her also disappeared.
“Tap—tap—”
The footsteps sounded again. Cynthia turned her head, but before she could see who was around, a hand grabbed her throat and pushed her against the wall.
"What's wrong with your face?" Maggie came closer, staring at Cynthia's eyes that were filled with fear of death, and suddenly felt that he was a little hasty. He was so surprised to hear Ximena's voice just now, and there was an uncontrollable anger in his heart that made him do such an impulsive act.
It's not that she thought he shouldn't have done this, it's just that he did it too quickly, making it difficult for Maggie to see other information because there was only fear in the puppet's eyes.
"I, cough - I don't know," Cynthia leaned against the wall with her back, her silver hair shaking violently. She clasped the big hand that was tightly stuck in her throat with both hands, trying to take back the air, coughing rapidly, "You...you let go!"
Maggie listened to the voice belonging to Ximena, and the strength in his hands relaxed for a moment, and then he squeezed it more violently, as if this could make the voice that he had destroyed with his own hands disappear again.
"You don't know? Don't take me for a fool!" Maggie yelled, the silver mask on her face flashing a gloomy light, "The shameless thief will only panic when he sees the owner!"
However, he did not give Cynthia a chance to speak. He still held her tightly, pinching her until her face was red from lack of oxygen. Her green eyes rolled up slightly. She was about to die. Maggie kept asking questions, "What do you remember? How dare you show up so openly? How dare you use her things!"
Just when Cynthia was about to be strangled to death, a cracking sound was heard, and Maggie's blatant illusion was broken by Dumbledore. The two returned to the ginger light. Maggie turned her head to look at Dumbledore and Snape, Harry and Hermione who were nervous behind him.
Even though he was caught by so many people, he still didn't let go. He just reduced the strength to allow Cynthia to breathe rapidly. At the same time, he raised his index finger, slightly tilted Cynthia's neck, and showed the black snake mark hidden by the silver hair to the crowd.
"Why do you care about her so much?" No matter how warm the light was, it couldn't cover up the weirdness of the silver mask. Maggie even sneered strangely, "Can't you see that she is a hateful thief?"
"I don't know how you saw Miss White's file, Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore heard Maggie's screaming question just now and guessed something. "Since you have seen it, you should know that Miss White is just a physical and psychological victim."
"Now, please let my student go," said Dumbledore. Suddenly there was a bang in the air, and Maggie was shocked and took a few steps back. Miss White broke free from her restraints and ran away panting. The palm print on her neck was frightening. Snape and Harry both stepped forward and supported her as she staggered.
Maggie stood not far away. He watched Cynthia stand firm and then jump behind the two people who were most affected by her appearance. He could see that this doll was quite afraid of death and knew very well under what conditions her face would be more useful.
Even though he acted indifferent, didn't he still subconsciously hide behind the two people who loved Lili?
"The strong Miss White?" Maggie said sarcastically, "She is nothing more than a shameless thief. It is not a wise decision to give such a double-faced person the title of victim based on insufficient evidence, Professor Dumbledore."
"Mr. Riddle, do you have any new insights into the traces left behind by Miss White after she was victimized?" Dumbledore looked at Maggie, whose figure was familiar, with a dark light in his eyes.
"There are many possibilities for speculation when there is insufficient evidence, such as the scars of the survivors, the guilt of the perpetrators, and the injustice of the unrelated people," Maggie said slowly, without responding to Dumbledore's words. "Like the Ministry of Magic, I just gave my reasonable guess."
Cynthia was supported by Hermione, and looked at Maggie calmly from behind with fear and apprehension. For a moment, she equated him with the "one who really wants to endanger your life" in the Eastern prophecy. She had always thought that person would be Snape or Harry, because it was obvious that she had touched upon the irreplaceability of Lily in the hearts of these two people.
But she never expected that just one voice could make Maggie so crazy and reckless!
"Are you still applying for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Dumbledore's blue eyes behind the half-moon lenses were fixed on Maggie's silver mask.
"I have no doubt about my ability," Maggie responded to Dumbledore's gaze and took off the mask with one hand, revealing a face that was very familiar to both Dumbledore and Harry. He put on a gentle smile, "But I don't think you will let me apply for that position, Professor Dumbledore."
"Professor Moody is secondary." Harry inhaled sharply, and then quickly turned into angry gasps. Dumbledore glanced and saw Hermione holding Harry tightly, who was full of hatred. "We will not hire anyone who will hurt students as a professor."
"In my eyes, she is not a student, but a thief. I didn't send her to Azkaban because of you, Professor Dumbledore. Ah..." Maggie said as if she suddenly realized something. "Do you want to send me to Azkaban, Professor?"
"Then you have to work harder, Professor. I will be returning to Country D soon." Maggie looked at Dumbledore, who had no expression on his face, and tilted her head slightly towards him. There was a flamboyance on her face that Tom had never shown during his student days. "If you find evidence of Maggie Sereno Riddle's crimes, you are welcome to hand it over to the court and complete my trial and extradition."
"Also, although I'm a little unhappy, I'm still very grateful that you made an exception and allowed me to attend the opening ceremony on behalf of my sister." Maggie put her masked hand on her chest and bowed gracefully. "If there is nothing else, I will go back today. The Hogwarts Express has reserved a car for me."
"You can't leave!" Harry's anger finally broke through the cage. He broke free from Hermione's hand and rushed towards Maggie amid Hermione's screams.
"It seems that the Savior is quite dissatisfied with me," Maggie easily stopped Harry and sealed his mouth. He reached out to Harry's head, brushed away the messy black hair in front of Harry's forehead, and gently stroked the lightning scar with his fingers, while looking at Dumbledore, "I think you still need to train him."
"You are undoubtedly an excellent wizard, Riddle," Dumbledore's eyes fell on Maggie's hand, which could easily touch Harry, and his brows furrowed. "But many times the growth of strength does not mean the maturity of the mind. There are many powers in this world that cannot be matched by magic."
"I'm a practical person and never care about what others say about power, Professor Dumbledore," Maggie shook her head and ignored them. He was polite enough and could turn around and leave. "Goodbye, we'll see you again at the Triwizard Tournament."
When I returned to the manor in the middle of the night, Della was not asleep as expected. She was half lying with her head tilted to the side and her eyes closed. When she heard the door open, she immediately sat up.
"You still need to rest." Maggie hurried over and pushed Della back to the bed. Then he sat on the bed and apologized first. "I didn't do well enough tonight. Cynthia White's voice is very similar to...hers, so I was a little impulsive."
Della frowned. Perhaps it was because she had been taken to the guillotine for trial, with the axe hanging over her head about to fall, that she was unusually calm at the moment. "What's your evaluation of her?"
Maggie and Della put their foreheads together, and the heat and memories were transmitted together. Della saw everything that happened tonight.
"Cynthia White, a shameful thief, is a hypocritical and duplicitous woman," Maggie concluded, and he said to Della, "I respect your opinion, and now she is yours, but I strongly suggest that she disappear so that everything can get back on track."
Cynthia has a look that others long for, and she clearly has gained a new life in the light through it, but she is only troubled by being seen as a bystander.
Maggie found the most appropriate way to become an adult through Della's experiment. It was obviously them who caused Cynthia to be in a situation where she could only respond to the thoughts of others, but they kept accusing them of being "shameless thieves."
When two very selfish people become hostile to each other at this moment, conflict is inevitable.
The outcome of this dispute is in Della's hands.