Faced with Roy's lion-like way with words, Dia's brain simply crashed. For a moment, she had no idea how to respond. The spoon she had just picked up fell straight back into her bowl, and she struggled to find something to say.
The others at the table all helplessly raised hands to their foreheads, silently sighing, This unlucky kid still knows exactly how to say the most inauspicious things.
Connor shook his head helplessly, set down his spoon, and hurriedly tried to smooth things over for Roy.
"Uh, what he meant was... well, you know, most Defense Against the Dark Arts professors haven't ended up very well lately. I'm actually curious too. You don't seem to be a Hogwarts graduate, Professor, so why did you choose to come to Hogwarts to teach?"
Hearing Connor's attempt to cover for him, the corners of Dia's mouth twitched upward with some difficulty. She still did her best to keep her expression from cracking. After a pause, she slowly began recounting her background.
"I was born in Britain, but when I was very young, my parents and I moved to Egypt. Later, under my parents' arrangements, I studied magic under a very capable teacher for many years. As it happened, my teacher was the vice president of Egypt Gringotts. After I came of age, he arranged for me to work in the Curse-Breaking Office at Egypt Gringotts."
Hearing Professor Dia's story, everyone nodded together. No wonder hardly anyone in Britain knew her—she was not British-born and raised at all. Roy looked at the glittering gemstone necklace hanging from Dia's neck and silently thought, Does this count as some stinking outsider coming to our old London to beg for food? A barely noticeable wicked smile crept onto his lips.
All right, regional discrimination was wrong,