The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 111 Snake Soup, Braised Lion's Head Meatballs, and a Round-Faced, Fat Scottish Chicken! (Please subscribe to the official version; the author also wants to eat chicken!)

Surprisingly, before Moriarty could go to Keith, Keith arrived first.

During dinner, Moriarty used a silver fork to pick at a plate of Angus roast beef. The meat of this noble breed of beef did indeed taste more delicious, tender and juicy than usual.

But Moriarty was not in the mood for enjoyment. A student insulting a professor—how could such a thing happen in Slytherin!

This student was actually his roommate, and the person he was insulting was the dean of their college!

For the first time, Moriarty had the idea of ​​using Legilimency on Keith to see if his mind was truly filled with slugs, as the Church claimed.

At this moment, Keith, supported by Ralph, entered the hall, timidly glancing towards the Slytherin table, taking a step forward but then shrinking back.

The atmosphere at the Slytherin table seemed to freeze. The little snakes glared at Keith with hostility. News of what happened in Potions class had already spread, and it would probably be long before Headmaster Dumbledore dealt with the matter.

Moriarty noticed that Keith's right arm was wrapped in thick bandages, making it appear less swollen, but the panic in his eyes was unmistakable. Moriarty instructed Marcus to bring him over, and Keith was then able to reach the dining table without any trouble.

"Sir, please help me!" Keith sobbed softly as soon as he sat down, tears and snot streaming down his face. "I can't be expelled, sir. Professor Snape sent a letter to my grandfather, he'll be furious. Please help me—only you can help me."

The little snakes listened silently to Keith's lamentations, their eyes filled with contempt, devoid of sympathy.

Jericho wanted to pat Keith on the shoulder to comfort him, but his outstretched hand was pulled back by a look from Moriarty.

"I heard you call him 'Professor Snape'? That's not what you call him in class."

Moriarty put down his fork and looked into Keith's eyes. He was indeed very panicked, his eyes darting around nervously.

"Oh, sir!" Keith covered his face with his left hand, wiping away tears and snot from his eyes down. "I swear, I swear to Merlin, to the Four Greats, to you! I don't know what's wrong with me! I don't know why I said those things—Lalpo told me how awful I was, but I have no recollection of it!"

Keith shook his head sadly, gritted his teeth, and cried again.

Leon saw this as an act and laughed mockingly: "You think you can just make up an excuse to explain your stupid behavior and get the master's help? Get everyone's forgiveness? What a naive idea! Mr. Keith, I don't think you belong in school. Your brain is only fit to unclog the sewers in the Muggle world."

"Don't say that, Prefect Leon," Jericho glanced at Keith and spoke up for him, "I don't think Keith is lying."

"Oh Jericho!" Keith grabbed Jericho's hand holding the knife as if it were a lifeline, and cried out, "I really didn't lie."

"Whether you're lying or not, I can tell at a glance," Moriarty said quietly. "Look me in the eyes, Jericho, relax."

He patiently guided her: "Yes, let your guard down. If you want me to help you, relax. This is fine."

Keith stared blankly at Moriarty, his gaze fixed on Moriarty's grey eyes, as if he were about to sink into the universe.

During their eye contact, Moriarty glared at Keith with lightning speed, and he entered Keith's mind!

This place feels like another dimension—white, clean, and bathed in sunlight.

Moriarty saw images flashing before his eyes: he saw Keith guarding the door for him—once when the cultist came to see him but Keith refused to let him in, he saw Keith eating, he saw Keith walking into the potions classroom, he saw Keith crushing ingredients and then pouring them into the cauldron.

Then, the crucible exploded, and Keith jumped up, pointing at Snape and cursing him!

Moriarty knew what happened afterward. He ended Legilimency and slowly said, "Keith did not lie."

Keith breathed a sigh of relief and uttered a string of thanks, but Moriarty instructed Larpo to take Keith back to the school hospital.

Leon sensed something was amiss and was somewhat surprised: "Keith wasn't lying? That proves he didn't really mean to insult Professor Snape, yet he did!"

"That's the absurd point!" Moriarty left the table. During Legilimency, he hadn't found anything wrong; it was as if it were a crazy act without any warning.

Keith was not under the Imperius Curse, nor was he lying; his body and mind were perfectly normal.

One by one, the little snakes left and followed Moriarty back to the Slytherin common room. Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Moriarty got up early as usual and went into the Room of Requirement to find that Tonks was not there.

"Congratulations, host, on successfully checking in. You are hereby rewarded with Wizard Chess skill (Mastery)."

Note: The House of Requirement is a location where you can check in repeatedly; the host can check in once per day.

"Wizard Chess." Moriarty gladly accepted it. Wizards have few recreational activities, and Wizard Chess has become half of the entertainment activities in the magical world.

Lockhart loved playing Wizards Chess, even though he was terrible at it.

Moriarty waited for Tonks for ten minutes, but she still hadn't arrived. She was late—perhaps she hadn't recovered yet. Moriarty knew that Tonks had been staying up until one or two in the morning for the past three days.

Moriarty began practicing spells, using transfiguration to transform some old books into an eight-row, eight-column grid chessboard. He decided to practice the wizard chess technique he had just learned.

After playing for an hour, Moriarty left his room and went to the auditorium for breakfast.

Upon reaching the first-floor corridor, they encountered Soldaya and a young wizard dressed in Hufflepuff robes, with a black and yellow scarf around his neck and a worried expression.

His name was Cedric, whom Moriarty had met at the Sorting Ceremony.

"Sir, sir!" Soldaya smiled upon seeing Moriarty. "Great, I've finally found you. Cedric of Hufflepuff has something to say to you."

After Moriarty nodded slightly, Cedric began to speak: "This morning around six o'clock, I was woken up by a commotion in the common room. I went out of my dorm and saw Senior Tonks standing on the sofa with a book in her hand, surrounded by most of the students—I later learned that it was a cookbook, and Senior Tonks was taking them to the kitchen to cook!"

"That sounds interesting. Everyone knows Tonks loves a good time." Moriarty smiled faintly, now understanding why Tonks hadn't come.

Soldaya's eyes darted around. It sounded like the master really doted on Tonks. What if this happened in Slytherin? Try having a senior student lead students to cook in the dining hall. But Tonks just happens to be able to do it.

Cedric didn't think much of it; his anxiety turned to confusion, and he shook his head slightly, saying, "But when I went into the kitchen, I saw snakes crawling all over the floor!"

"snake?"

"Yes, not only snakes, but also a whole flock of owls flying around! They were screaming in terror. I saw an owl in a pot with all its feathers plucked out. Senior Sister Tonks was trying to keep the poor owl in the pot so she could add water."

"Nonsense!" Moriarty shook his head, changed course, and headed towards the kitchen. The two first-year students quickly followed. Cedric said somewhat embarrassedly, "Sir, I'm afraid it's too late now. I even saw several owls already being stewed in a pot. Judging from their plumage, they were the messenger owls from the West Tower owlhouse..."

Moriarty quickened his pace. "Didn't you stop her? Just let her run wild? Owls can be cooked!"

"The upperclassmen almost all cooked with Tonks. At first, Tonks said she just wanted to make a Chinese dish, the braised lion's head from that cookbook."

Then, for some reason, Senior Tonks took out a sharp knife and said she was going to make snake soup for you. "Cedric stammered, "The senior prefects used the spell 'Dragon Emerges from its Cave' to summon a whole bunch of snakes, which terrified us. We ran away, and they went to find Dean Sprout. I know that Soldaya can talk to you, so I came with him to find you."

As for the owls—I think it's because Senior Tonks wanted to make you chicken soup, but there weren't any chickens in the castle, so she went to the west tower and caught a few, saying that owls are Scottish chickens.

Just as Cedric finished speaking, they rushed into the auditorium, which was in complete chaos, like a bustling market.

It was breakfast time, but no one was eating breakfast. The little lions, the little snakes, and the little eagles were making a lot of noise!

Strangely, the professor's seat was completely empty!

Moriarty shouted, "Quiet!"

The voice, amplified by its loudness, reverberated throughout the auditorium. The students calmed down a bit, shut their mouths, and looked at Moriarty.

Moriarty spotted Leon in the crowd and called out, "Leon, you tell me what happened?"

Leon strode up to Moriarty, took out his wand, and waved it at the table, sending three dishes flying towards him.

"Look, sir! Snake soup, braised lion's head meatballs, and roasted owl! This is breakfast today! And those damned house-elves said today's dishes were made with the Hufflepuff students!"

Moriarty picked up a fork and lifted a piece of snake meat. It was dark and the nerves inside were still twitching!

Another lion's head was forked in, but it was obviously not a real lion's head. It was just a large meatball, but it was raw inside, and the blood foam had not been cleaned off.

As for the final roasted owl...

The fur was plucked clean, but a letter was tied to its paw; the red envelope indicated it was a roaring letter.

God knows how the person who roasted the owl managed to roast the howling letter along with it!

The students were now furious. Charlie grabbed a bench and smashed the food on the Gryffindor table to pieces, roaring like a lion, "Hufflepuff!"

The little snakes were more direct; they drew their wands and chased after several badgers in the Great Hall, and Soldaya quickly shielded Cedric.

The eaglets were relatively calm. Although owls are eagles, they are not ravens, which symbolize wisdom. However, one owl seemed to be undercooked. It struggled to climb out of a plate, dragging half of its burning body and wing, and jumped onto the Ravenclaw dining table...

The eaglets were in an uproar!

At that moment, Moriarty opened the Howl Letter with his wand, and an old and angry voice roared out!

"Keith!!! How dare you? Look what you've done! Snape wrote to me saying you're going to be expelled! Expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

You've caused me so much worry! If you get expelled, you'll be the first pure-blood to be expelled from Hogwarts!!! You've shamed me to death, you've brought disgrace upon the family, Keith!!! I have to beg Snape, beg the Head of State, beg Dumbledore! Beg everyone!"

The shouting ended weakly, as if the voice was crying. The angry students seemed to be touched, thinking of their parents, and stood there in a daze.

(End of this chapter)