The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 158 Trouble Comes Knocking

The professors laughed, and a glint of amusement flashed in Professor Snape's eyes as he gestured for Keith to hurry up and leave.

After Keith left, the kind-hearted Professor Flitwick said, "Shouldn't we do something about it? I'm worried that this severe involution will cause trouble; the students are already under a lot of pressure..."

"It's alright, Felius." Dumbledore stood up. "I think Moriarty will guide everyone onto the right path. It's nothing to him. It's us who should be thinking about how to deal with the trouble ahead."

The professors were puzzled: "Trouble?"

"Hogwarts closes for a week, school trustee Malfoy is murdered, the Hogwarts pure-blood army invades France, Moriarty freezes the Eiffel Tower, the Hogwarts pure-blood army exterminates the Quinlan vampires—"

Dumbledore rattled off some of the information, some of which the professors already knew, and some they didn't. They stared in astonishment, waiting for Dumbledore to finish his sentence.

"If these aren't considered troublesome, I think the British Ministry of Magic could unify the world."

Can we expect the soon-to-retire Minister of Magic to resolve the power struggles within pure-blood families, the accountability issues with the French Ministry of Magic, and the threats from the underworld?

Today isn't April Fool's Day, think about it carefully.

Dumbledore left the room and walked slowly toward his headmaster's office, looking preoccupied.

Hogwarts was out of danger, and laughter returned to the castle, but outside, countless undercurrents were surging.

However, Dumbledore did not expect that Gilderoy Lockhart would arrive in France in the early hours of the day before yesterday, and on the night Moriarty was having a good time, he would visit the Marquess of Judah on Moriarty's behalf.

The old Jew frankly stated that he could quell the dissent within the vampire ranks, implying that with him present, the vampire leadership would not pursue the matter of Quinlan's clan being wiped out by Moriarty.

Upon hearing this, Lockhart became extremely wary.

In the magical world, there are no unsolicited gestures of goodwill; every gesture has an ulterior motive.

There is a powerful force behind the old Jewish family. What do they have in mind about the young master that makes them willing to offend another force behind the Quinlan family in order to befriend him?

Lockhart had dealt with foreigners before, but this was the first time he had ever discussed cooperation with the vampires, the giants of the underworld.

He deeply felt Moriarty's high regard and cultivation of him, and he dared not be careless, negligent, or make hasty decisions.

The old Jew saw Lockhart's caution and laughed. He reassured Lockhart that he simply wanted to befriend Moriarty, implying that he hoped Moriarty would one day reject the werewolf's advances.

Lockhart sensed something unusual, but no matter how he probed the old Jew, he couldn't get any more information.

"I will convey your message to Master Moriarty." Lockhart said with a forced smile; unable to make a promise, this was all he could say.

The old Jew nodded understandingly, looking at Lockhart with a glint in his eyes: "Who would have thought that the renowned English writer was Mr. Moriarty's servant?"

Lockhart's smile remained unchanged, and the old Jew continued, "It seems Mr. Moriarty is setting up a grand scheme, but rest assured, I will not say anything."

In terms of trust, you can always trust Jews—whether they are vampires or humans.

In fact, our promises are very valuable, but most people don't receive them. Regardless of whether Mr. Moriarty grants our request, we will keep our promises.

"Don't worry, Mr. Lockhart, as long as you can handle the French Ministry of Magic, the vampires won't cause any trouble."

And so, Lockhart was sent out of the Jewish Marquis's Castle in a daze. The problem with the vampires was solved, but the French Ministry of Magic was in big trouble.

Lockhart arrived at Provence Airport in Marseille without stopping. A news report was playing on a television in the waiting area.

A fat man with black hair and a bald head sat at a large, luxurious desk, smiling as he delivered a speech.

A tall man sitting next to me sneered, "Look, our president is at it again."

The others nodded, smiling without saying a word.

Oh, so this pot-bellied man is the French president.

Lockhart was somewhat looking forward to what he would say. With such a big incident at the Eiffel Tower, surely the French president wouldn't ignore it?

As expected, the French president spoke up.

"Since the Eiffel Tower incident, a total of 1,832 scientists, including meteorologists, physicists, and geographers, have gathered at the Élysée Palace in two days."

Our scientists conducted a detailed investigation into the unusual condition of the Eiffel Tower and made a sound judgment!

We have reason to believe that three days ago, an unprecedented cold front descended on Paris.

However, it encountered warm winds from the Mediterranean, which created a massive convective warm air mass. At the same time, a large meteor shower from Sagittarius affected Venus's trajectory.

Ultimately, this created a skewed cold wave. The Eiffel Tower, being the tallest building in Paris, shielded us from the impact of this new cold wave, which is why it looks the way it does now.

I urge the public not to believe rumors; there is neither magic nor wizards in this world.

The strange phenomenon at the Eiffel Tower is either a joke played by nature or a warning from Mother Earth.

This may be related to recent global warming, with the accelerated melting of the poles causing cold air to flow everywhere...

But don't worry, our researchers are investigating every day, and they will soon return the Eiffel Tower to us.

The French president, with a smile on his face, ended the video news segment, but his expression immediately darkened, becoming terrifyingly grim.

Three days ago, he was sleeping with his wife in his arms when he was awakened by an Auror sent by Minister of Magic Von Weasley Capet.

God knows how he felt at the time—he thought the world was ending, but what the Auror told him was worse than the end of the world: the Eiffel Tower was frozen into an ice sculpture!

The president initially thought it was a prank, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he fainted on the spot.

Later, von Weil Capet told him that the Eiffel Tower had been enchanted to look like that.

"Then quickly cast a spell to restore the Eiffel Tower to normal!" the president said matter-of-factly.

Feng Wei glanced at the president with pity, then said with hatred, "This is powerful dark magic! We don't know who did it, but in England, we've found a suspect! I think it's him—no other wizard could cast such a powerful freezing spell!"

The president waved his hand: "Wizards are not under my jurisdiction. I just want to know when the Eiffel Tower will be back to normal?"

"My president," Feng Wei suddenly said, "look me in the eye. From now on, you must learn to wear a mask, and you'd better keep it on until we find the way to break the spell."

The president was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Next, Feng Wei gave the president a long speech, basically telling him to deceive the public, as the Ministry of Magic had already prepared a set of excuses for the president.

In just three days, the president repeated the same rhetoric 17 times!

Now, the president has had enough.

He knocked all the papers off the table and roared angrily at a portrait hanging on the wall, "To the Minister of Magic, when are you going to undo that damned spell? Answer me immediately!"

He seemed to feel that using the word "please" was a bit too humble, but he had to do it because it was magic—he had to do it to notify the Minister of Magic.

Magic, it's magic again! All magic must die!

The French president, his stomach bulging with anger, glanced at the portrait and added, "Quickly!"

"Ding~"

A black telephone on his desk rang. He answered it, listened to three sentences from the other end, and then slammed the phone down.

"Fuck!"

The president slammed his hands on the table, his fierce eyes fixed on the long, framed window, as if he could see the gloating face of his political enemies through it.

The phone call I just received was from a political enemy. This enemy accused him of inaction—damn magic! How could he possibly do anything?

A president is a human being, not a wizard!

"The whole country is laughing at you," the opposition concluded, and the president, without even looking, could tell that he made no attempt to hide his smug smile.

As the president stood with his back to the fireplace in front of the table, he heard a soft cough behind him.

He recognized the cough; he had heard it before.

He slowly turned around, facing the empty room.

"Come in, Minister von Wee Capet."

Suddenly, bright green flames burst forth from the empty grate beneath the marble fireplace.

Von Wei Cape appeared in the middle of the flames, spinning rapidly like a top. A few seconds later, he stepped over the grate, a black pointed hat in his hand, and stood on the antique, exquisite carpet, dusting the ashes off the sleeves of his grey cloak.

"Mr. President, we meet again." Feng Wei said with a smile.

The president waved his hand impatiently: "I expect you to give me a definite answer, or at least a specific deadline."

"No problem, my president!" A cold glint flashed in Feng Wei's eyes: "At dawn, on behalf of the French Ministry of Magic, I lodged a diplomatic protest with the British Ministry of Magic and filed charges with the International Federation of Magical Societies and the European Wizarding Association!"

The president's face lit up with joy: "You've identified the target? Who is it?"

"Moriary Slytherin!"

(End of this chapter)