The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 177 Marauder's Map

The filing cabinets were arranged in categories on the floor, with each of the four houses occupying one of the four spaces. Moriarty noticed that Gryffindor occupied twice the space of the other three houses combined.

"An astonishing number of mistakes." Lilith walked over to Moriarty, looked at the file folders in the Gryffindor filing cabinet, and smiled with a hint of sarcasm. "Everyone here is a hero in Gryffindor's eyes."

Moriarty casually pulled a file folder from the cabinet, opened it, and glanced at it.

"These are the names of the students who made mistakes, with detailed records. Old Filch will definitely use these as evidence against them."

Moriarty put the file folder back in the cabinet, which contained Gryffindor students from 1965, not his target.

What are you looking for?

As Lilith walked forward, she gently ran her fingers along the rows of cabinets, her movements elegant and her expression serene, like a nun taking inventory of her followers.

Moriarty, however, did not see this scene. Without looking up, he replied, "The Gryffindor archives from 1971 to 1978."

Lilith thought about it for a moment and was quite certain that nothing major had happened between 1971 and 1978, which puzzled her.

"Oh? Look what I found. The Weasley twins should see this." Moriarty looked up and beckoned Lilith over. He was holding a piece of parchment.

"By November, those two lads had committed 226 crimes!" Moriarty calculated. "Excluding the days when Dracula's viral magic invaded the castle, you'd find they'd committed 188 crimes in just one month of school!"

"Heh," Lilith sneered, "they really left a deep and colorful mark on Hogwarts! You won't find any more mischievous children in all of Hogwarts."

"You never know," Moriarty smiled at Lilith, his gaze falling on a metal cabinet a meter away, marked "1978".

Moriarty walked up to the cabinet. It was very heavy, and just by looking at it, you could tell it was crammed full of things, about to burst out of the cabinet.

"Moriarty, his name is written on the back," Lilith whispered as she went around behind the metal cabinet.

"James Potter."

Sirius Black.

"Remus John Lupin".

"Peter Pettigrew".

Lilith read the name on the back, and her expression subtly changed.

"Potter? Black? Two pure-bloods have entered Gryffindor? I know who they are now, one is the father of the Savior, and the other has been sentenced to Azkaban. How interesting."

Are you looking for them? Moriarty?

Moriarty nodded to Lilith's gaze, walked to the front of the cabinet, and placed his hand on the drawer corresponding to "James Potter".

"Stand back, Lilith. This senior's file may contain reproductive capabilities, like a multitude of goblins that keep multiplying."

Moriarty reminded Lilith before pulling out the drawer.

Lilith was overjoyed by his description and walked over to Moriarty with a smile.

Moriarty pulled the drawer open with a swish, and countless files, cards, parchment, and prank toys spilled out like a burst dam, bouncing wildly everywhere!

Moriarty and Lilith retreated, with James Potter's files scattered all over the floor.

They exuded a strange, old smell, seemingly bearing the happy marks of the "Robbery Quartet," masking the rotten odor of the paper.

Lilith twitched her small nostrils, raised her right arm, and fanned the air in front of her with a look of disdain. "Old Filch wouldn't have any unusual fetishes, would he? A nostalgia? A fetish?"

"Filch was a non-magical old Squib who spent most of his life recording these things," Moriarty said with a slight smile, drawing his wand and pointing it at the files. "Now he's free for me. So, Marauder's Map, fly here!"

"Whoosh!"

A piece of parchment folded into a rectangle flew out from among the various documents on the ground and landed precisely in Moriarty's outstretched left palm.

Lilith leaned closer. "Is this what you're looking for? I just heard you mention 'Marauder's Map'?"

"That's right, Marauder's Map."

Moriarty repeated himself, fully opened the parchment, and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I have done nothing wrong."

Lilith chuckled. "Have you ever seen a bad person say something like that?"

"This is the spell to unlock the map." Moriarty held the map up to Lilith, so she could clearly see that the ink lines on the originally blank parchment began to extend, revealing a map of Hogwarts!

Lilith's eyes widened instantly: "Our names are here: Moriarty Slytherin and Lilith Pilliwick!"

"You've hit the nail on the head. This map not only shows secret passages, but also the location of everyone. It's a rare and valuable item, and it shouldn't be used to help troublemakers play pranks. Its value should be fully utilized."

Moriarty took in the names on the map and affirmed with satisfaction the usefulness of the Marauder's Map.

"This has been imbued with a sophisticated Human Footprint Charm! Wizards who can use it are rare these days." Moriarty smiled at Lilith, who returned a congratulatory look, blinking admiringly. "Moriarty, would you like to learn the Human Footprint Charm?"

"To be precise, it was an improvement." Moriarty recalled Salazar's diary, in which spells included the Human Trace Spell.

"The Human Trace Charm is an indispensable spell in the structure of Hogwarts - the four great masters used the Human Trace Charm extensively during the school's founding."

You know that through Slytherin family magic, I have the right to investigate the castle. I can clearly see the level of magic power of wizards, but I cannot match names with their magic power.

I think the Human Trail Charm would solve this flaw, so I need the technology to create Marauder's Maps. Perhaps I can publish another paper on Charms—on combining the Human Trail Charm with alchemical items for real-time map navigation.

Moriarty spoke in a deep voice, telling Lilith his idea: if he could realize his vision, he could create a dynamic model of Hogwarts.

Lilith stared intently at Moriarty's profile until a soft meow startled them both.

Moriarty opened the Marauder's Map and found several dots rushing from the History of Magic classroom on the second floor toward the marble staircase. The names were none other than George, Fred, Cedric, and Lee Jordan.

Then Little Dot, representing Filch and Mrs. Lorris, ran out and chased after them. The two sides ran all the way up the marble staircase and were now running down to the first floor.

Lilith tensed up: "Filch will be back soon. He has those alchemical shoes! He must have discovered that someone broke into the office."

"It's alright, we have the Marauder's Map, let's go." Moriarty waved his wand, cast the Disillusionment Charm on them, and restored the filing cabinet, leaving behind Mrs. Lorris's dung footprints.

"The Weasley twins are in for it, aren't they? Filch will be furious when he gets back and sees his office." Lilith curled her lips into a smile.

Moriarty smiled faintly: "Let them fight Filch. They're born pranksters, but Cedric hangs out with them too—well, an unpredictable friendship."

They walked out chatting and laughing, and when they reached the marble staircase, they saw four first-grade students running down the stairs.

George, panting, leaned against the stair railing. "Stop running, guys! Filch isn't chasing us!"

"Did that old guy's...shoes break down? Those...shoes almost killed us," Fred said, breathless.

Lee Jordan peered nervously behind him, whispering, "Shh! Listen carefully, guys, Filch might just disappear and appear right in front of us! Who knows, huh? Right?"

Cedric quickly looked around, while George covered his forehead and sighed, "Don't scare yourself. When I ran to the second-floor corridor, I thought I heard a boy's voice."

The voice said, "Quick, Helena! Quick, I'll distract Professor Snape!"

The sound was very close to us, coming from the Transfiguration classroom next door. I wondered if Filch had been drawn away by it.

Moriarty and Lilith stopped abruptly after walking up most of the marble staircase and hearing the name "Helena".

"Isn't that Blanche's girlfriend's name?" Lilith said solemnly.

Moriarty opened the Marauder's Map and his gaze fell on the second-floor corridor, where three names were clearly written.

Severus Snape.

"Argus Filch"

Jericho Branch.

(End of this chapter)