The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 168 The Aura of Love (Recommended to read with your partner)

Moriarty agreed, and Penelope naturally had no objections. The four of them walked together toward the library.

They spent the entire afternoon reading in the library, and by evening, news of Moriarty and Penelope's planned meeting at the library had spread throughout the entire castle.

Everyone was very interested in Moriarty's love life, and the older students at the four dining tables were discussing it animatedly.

In their first year, Moriarty and Tonks became very close, and Lilith often stayed by Moriarty's side, interacting with him.

By the time he was in second grade, Moriarty had continued to grow taller and looked like a fourth or fifth grader.

This led many upperclassmen to have inappropriate thoughts.

Tonks was surrounded by upperclassmen from four different houses, all chattering away, trying to find excuses to ask Moriarty about his love life, and more importantly, to distance themselves from the situation.

"The wizarding world is very small!"

"You wouldn't want to marry a Muggle, would you?"

High-quality male wizards are rare.

"The competition is fierce!"

Tonks waved his hands like he was shooing away flies, shooing them away: "Don't explain, you're just lusting after men!"

The female students weren't annoyed at all, and smiled sweetly: "Her junior is now everyone's target, and our Tonks is jealous."

"Ha, jealous?" Tonks laughed as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "Let me tell you, I've tasted everything—bitter, spicy, salty, sweet—but I'm never jealous!"

"You dare swear to Merlin?" the upperclassmen persisted, seeing Tonks as their biggest rival!

"Of course I dare!" Tonks slapped the table, as if encouraging herself. "I...I..."

It's such a simple sentence, but I can't say it.

Fortunately, Tonks saw Moriarty and Penelope walk into the hall side by side. Before she could blush, she hurriedly turned the faces of her female classmates towards Moriarty: "Look, he's back!"

Everyone looked toward Moriarty, who was discussing Quidditch techniques with Penelope.

Behind them followed Jericho and the Ravenclaw girl, walking slowly and looking like a couple.

Seeing that everyone's attention was drawn to Moriarty, Tonks breathed a sigh of relief, patting her rather large chest with lingering fear. Her heart was pounding—it pounded even faster when she saw Moriarty walking with Penelope.

Tonks swallowed hard and ate two more pieces of mango pudding, but the strange feeling of his heart racing still didn't subside.

Frustrated, she turned her hair black, at which point a cheer erupted from the Slytherin table.

Jericho took the Ravenclaw girl's hand, lifted them up together, and then happily sat down at the Slytherin table.

Tonks' gaze remained fixed on Moriarty. With the confirmation of Jericho and the Ravenclaw girl's romantic relationship, Penelope also took her seat at the Slytherin table, right next to Moriarty.

She had sat in that seat before—Tonks couldn't contain her irritation, stood up, and walked out of the hall.

Images flashed through her mind intermittently: the duel at the Room of Requirement, the serpent coiled around her, the Quidditch match, researching the Solidification Charm, and flying to Paris, France.

She now knew why she was upset.

She and Moriarty went through so much together.

She misses the time she spent hanging on Moriarty.

Her guardian spirit, Michelle, was able to be released only by recalling Moriarty.

She wanted Moriarty to eat the roasted rabbit she made.

But now, another girl is with Moriarty.

They shared their joy and found common ground...

"So I'm jealous?" Tonks blushed like a dragon fruit, quickly pulling her wizard robes tighter around her. She couldn't let anyone see her like this; it wasn't her style!

But what can we do?

"That bad junior, all he does is flirt with girls."

Tonks pouted and walked back to Hufflepuff Dining Hall with a resentful air. On this lonely night, only food could relieve her worries.

Hufflepuff has a small dining hall to fill Tonks' stomach when he leaves early, but Ravenclaw doesn't have a Midnight Diner to reward Penelope.

Penelope recalled a famous quote from Muggle writer Maxim Gorky: "If a wall full of books could be considered bread, then Penelope would be willing to go back to the Ravenclaw public library and eat it."

The reason was that she couldn't stand the scrutinizing gaze of the little snakes.

The boy's gaze held only a faint curiosity.

In Marcus's words, everyone wanted to see what kind of charm Penelope had after spending an afternoon with her husband—last year, Penelope didn't have as much time alone with Moriarty.

But the girls' gazes were different; they stared at Penelope with predatory eyes, making her feel as if she had entered a tigress's den or a she-wolf's lair.

Perhaps they felt they were not worthy to sit with Moriarty.

Penelope silently tried to cut off a small piece of steak and put it in her mouth. She was not used to eating medium-rare beef and ate very slowly.

Across from her, Jericho and the Ravenclaw girl were feeding each other.

Penelope stared in surprise, and Moriarty whispered to her, "By this time tomorrow, you'll see them cupping each other's faces and kissing."

"Ah!" Penelope cried out, realizing the gazes directed at her were growing increasingly hostile. She quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "Nip? I didn't know couples nibble on each other's faces?"

She looked like a kitten that had fallen down, bewildered and a little scared, with an endearing clumsiness.

Moriarty laughed and whispered in her ear, "Biting someone's cheek is like kissing them."

"Eh? Kiss... kiss!" Penelope's face flushed red instantly, as if blood had rushed to her head, her eyes watered, and her whole body seemed to go limp.

"Kiss? Lips? Lips?"

The little snakes cried out in surprise, their gazes towards Penelope and Moriarty becoming ambiguous, and the atmosphere at the dinner table became lively.

Jericho released the girl's hand and grinned mischievously at Moriarty and Penelope, "I overheard your conversation!"

"Tell me, tell me!" A mischievous smile flashed in Leon's eyes; he was one of the many onlookers.

"Sorry, I don't need to answer a single person's question!" Jericho gave Leon a smug look.

Leon shouted angrily, "I am the head of the boys' council, the Slytherin prefect, the most powerful student in the entire school besides Mr. Leon!"

Is it so hard for me to find a partner? Let me tell you, I just don't want to. I'm going to rebuild the glory of the Mincherm family.

"The strongest student besides you, sir?" Jericho remained noncommittal: "You can say that after you defeat the girls' chairperson."

"Don't mention her to me!" Leon said irritably. He didn't know when he had offended that woman, but she had been giving him trouble lately.

"You forgot that they specifically asked you for pudding, and you flatly refused them," Moriarty explained to Leon. "We all saw it; they embarrassed themselves in public, so naturally they wanted to embarrass you too."

"Uh..." Leon scratched his head. "She loves pudding. Oh damn, how come I didn't know sooner?"

"So, is there a problem with not telling you?" Jericho shrugged, chewing on the pork chop his girlfriend had fed him, his expression nonchalant. "No problem! By the way, where did Miss go? I was thinking of showing off in front of her."

Jericho looked around but couldn't find Lilith. The girls said, "Gema is gone too. It seems they didn't come."

"The two of them have teamed up." A gleam of interest flashed in Moriarty's eyes. "Who knows what they're plotting."

"Two horrible girls have gotten together," Jericho muttered, then turned to his girlfriend and grinned, "but they combined can't compare to a single hair of yours. Let me smell your brown hair, okay, baby?"

Ravenclaw blushed and nodded. Jericho leaned in, "Suck, oh, ah! Hiss, so good!"

Penelope once again found Jericho to have redefined her understanding of love: "Is he really only 12 years old? How come he looks like a 32-year-old seasoned lover?"

"Don't look at them," Moriarty said, forking a piece of ice cream cake and waving it in front of Penelope. "That American cowboy, you'll be corrupted by him."

Penelope smiled sweetly: "And what about you? Jericho's always around you, haven't you been led astray by him?"

It would be better if Diana answered this question; she knows best whether I'm bad or not.

Moriarty smiled without saying a word and placed the cake on Penelope's plate.

(End of this chapter)