The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 178 Stuns Gryffindor!

"Jellicoe has been captured. It seems we need to find some time to speak with Professor Snape," Moriarty said to Lilith.

"It's all because of love," Lilith said with a look of disdain.

In her view, it was foolish for Jericho and Helena to have a secret rendezvous in the classroom, it was foolish for Jericho to be arrested while covering for Helena, and it was utterly foolish for Jericho and Helena to be in love.

The next morning, the young wizards arrived at the Great Hall and all noticed that the emeralds in the Slytherin hourglass were missing.

The number of emeralds that have decreased is about 30. As we all know, one emerald represents one house point, which obviously means that Slytherin has lost 30 points!

Students from the other three colleges were discussing the matter.

Although the 30-point reduction cannot close the gap between them and Slytherin House—the Slytherin hourglass is still full of emeralds.

But at least they saw a glimmer of hope that they could surpass Slytherin.

Under Leon's organization, the little snakes began to investigate the culprit behind the point deductions!

"Less than two months into the semester, Mr. Moriarty, Pilliwick, and Blanche have added 180 points to our tally!" Leon exclaimed. "They'll win the upcoming Quidditch match on Thursday morning and continue to earn more points for the House!"

Leon stood up angrily from his seat next to the long table. "Even though the gentleman is constantly adding points, there are still some ungrateful people who squander the hard-earned points!"

He lost 30 points in one night? How could he do that! Jericho's hard-fought victory over Professor Snape only earned him 30 points.

Don't let me find that guy, or all the seventh-year students in Slytherin will use their wands to make him go through all the spells the professor taught us!

Leon, his face turning ashen with rage, strode past the snakes' seats, scrutinizing each Slytherin student with a critical eye.

He walked from one end of the long table to the other, then back again, pacing back and forth aggressively several times.

The Slytherin seventh-year students shared the same expression as him. This was their last year in the castle, and this year's House Points would determine whether they could win the House Cup for the seventh consecutive year!

William Romötter achieved this feat last year, and Leon wants to try it this year too!

One of the henchmen ran up to Leon and whispered, "Mr. Moriarty, Pilivik, and Blanche are not here. We've checked everyone else, and they all stayed in their dorms last night."

"Could it be that they got caught going out at night?" Leon frowned. He remembered that Lilith and Moriarty had talked about going out at night last night.

The henchman said with a strange expression, "Are you sure the master will be caught? I don't think the master will let the professor or Filch find him. Pilliwick and Blanche are with the master, so they naturally won't be discovered either."

"That's true, but it's strange..."

Just as they were pondering this, a girl stood up from the Ravenclaw table and, accompanied by Penelope and the other Ravenclaw girls, went straight to the Slytherin table.

"She's Helena Monique," Leon said, looking at her. "Jellicoe's new girlfriend."

As Helena approached, Leon's heart skipped a beat. Could Jericho be the reason for the point deduction?

The Ravenclaw girl came over, and as soon as she said "Jellicoe—", she burst into tears.

Penelope said helplessly, "Last night she went on a date with Jericho in the Transfiguration classroom on the second floor. Jericho was caught by Professor Snape while covering Helena's retreat. Oh, and Mr. Filch was there too."

The little snakes let out a pitying sigh as Jericho was caught by both Spellcaster and Filch. Jericho's luck was truly terrible, utterly absurd.

Leon didn't know what to say either; he had just been using Jericho as an example.

Helena burst into tears!

"Don't blame Jericho. Everything was fine last night, but suddenly there were shouts outside the classroom. Filch was chasing a group of people past the classroom, and they made such a commotion that they alerted Professor Snape, who came out of the potions pantry."

Leon exchanged a thoughtful glance with the other snakes: "It sounds like Filch was lured to your hiding place..."

He then stared intently at Helena: "Do you know who Filch is chasing?"

"I heard Filch call out a few names, like, like George, Fred, and Lee Jordan," Helena said, sniffling.

Oh open?

It turns out Gryffindor was behind it all!

The snakes' gaze shifted to the Gryffindor table, where they saw the Weasley twins sitting upright beside Charlie and Percy.

The twins ate their breakfast with their eyes closed, noses focused on their mouths, and mouths focused on their hearts, feeling as if they had needles stuck in their backs.

They were actually filled with regret, because they had no idea that Jericho and Helena would be hiding in the Transfiguration classroom!

And Professor Snape, why is he still working at 11 o'clock?!

Despite feeling sorry for Jericho, they didn't come forward to admit that they might have been caught if it weren't for Jericho.

It was all just a twist of fate, the twins sighed silently, and became even more determined to pull off the perfect prank.

Charlie's face darkened; he looked ready to reprimand his two younger brothers again.

Lee Jordan trembled, clearly unable to bear the snake-like gaze.

Cedric, the last of the four night-wandering companions, was incredibly grateful that his name was long enough that Filch hadn't had a chance to remember it, otherwise he too would have been subjected to the same treatment of being stared at by snakes.

The atmosphere in the Great Hall gradually became strange. It seemed that a major battle was about to break out between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and the Eagles were more supportive of Slytherin because of Helena.

The little badgers kept stuffing various delicacies into their mouths and leisurely watched the show.

As Tonks sipped her English tea, she glanced at the stairwell every now and then, knowing that Slytherin and Gryffindor had another feud to settle.

The person who can decide how the two academies will resolve their feud has not yet arrived!

Leon clearly realized this as well, and despite being the boys' president, all he could do was send Helena back to the Ravenclaw table.

Everyone was waiting for Moriarty. About ten minutes later, a commotion broke out at the top of the marble staircase.

Professor Snape walked over in a black robe, his expression as if someone owed him millions of Galleons.

He walked extremely fast, and Filch, who was following behind, had to activate the "speed-up" function of his alchemical shoes just to barely keep up with the pace of the cult.

"Professor Snape, Blanche has violated more than 20 rules of the school, and his punishment is too lenient! It shouldn't be as simple as just deducting points. We need to talk."

Filch's eyes were sunken and bloodshot; he hadn't slept all night.

Last night, in the middle of the night, four lion cubs broke into Filch's territory, scaring his old cat half to death.

He had to run all over the castle to catch lions.

Fortunately, Merlin had a keen eye and caught Jericho—although Snape caught Jericho a step ahead, he insisted that Jericho wouldn't have run out on his own if he hadn't run past the Transfiguration classroom door.

If Jericho hadn't run out, how could Snape have caught him when he went up to the second floor?

Therefore, the greatest credit still belongs to Filch!

However, after Snape caught Jericho, he did not punish Jericho severely as Filch had hoped.

Snape forbade Filch from punishing Jericho, saying that Slytherin students should be punished by him, the headmaster.

This infuriated Filch, but he dared not disobey Snape. He sullenly returned to his office, only to find that the lions had left him with a foul-smelling office!

Filch spent the entire second half of the night cleaning and tidying up the office, and he felt it necessary to ask Nicolas Flamel to make an alchemical tool specifically for cleaning.

Filch narrowed his eyes, preparing to recall what had happened that morning, when Snape's deep voice cut him off.

"Listen, I'm saying this one last time."

Snape whirled around, nearly bumping into Filch. Snape said with a stern face:

"Jellico Blanche was sorted into Slytherin by the Sorting Hat, although his impulsive mind and attention-seeking personality made me deeply skeptical of the Sorting Hat's decision."

but!

His foolish actions have tarnished Slytherin's reputation, and I will undoubtedly punish him! Furthermore, you have no right to interfere with any decisions made by the Headmaster of Slytherin regarding Slytherin students!

Filch was bewildered by the barrage of "Slytherin" shouts. He stammered, "This...but...but I also caught Blanche, he...I..."

"No buts." Snape ended the conversation, leaving Filch behind as he walked toward the professors' table, glaring fiercely at his students, especially the Quidditch players like Leon. That look made them feel like Snape was going to devour them.

Professor Si calmly began eating breakfast from his professor's chair, but the students were not so calm. Was this the end of the matter?

Jericho got 30 points deducted? And Slytherin and Gryffindor didn't even fight?

At that moment, Moriarty entered the auditorium, Lilith walked to his right, and Jericho trailed behind with his head down.

"Jellico!" Helena ran towards Jericho like a gust of wind, and everyone looked at them.

Moriarty noticed that Jericho's face, which had been gloomy all night, suddenly brightened, and he opened his arms, waiting for his girl to rush into his embrace.

In the instant they embraced, Helena buried her face in her boyfriend's shoulder and cried, "Why were you so foolish?"

"Because of love." Jericho's lips curled into a wild smile.

Moriarty and Lilith exchanged a glance, then left them alone and walked toward the Slytherin table.

"Leon, Marcus, gather the team together after class this afternoon."

Moriarty said calmly, "In the first match on Thursday morning, we not only want to win, but we also want to completely overwhelm Gryffindor!"

The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for all the students in the auditorium to hear.

Here it comes!

The little badgers burst into laughter. Was a battle between Slytherin and Gryffindor inevitable? But resolving their feud through Quidditch would be a good solution.

Another good show is about to begin.

Charlie became serious. Moriarty had never said he wanted to stun Gryffindor before; he had only said he wanted to defeat them.

This shows how much Moriarty values ​​Thursday's game; their opponent will only be more formidable!

Leon and Marcus assured him that no one would be absent, but in reality, Moriarty would not allow any players to be absent.

Stunning the Gryffindor team was one of the conditions for Professor Snape to give Jericho a lighter punishment.

Jericho brought Helena over. He first solemnly apologized to the snakes, then looked up and said, both to the snakes and to Professor Snape, "Slytherin will defeat Gryffindor by a large margin, at least 200 points!"

I will personally send them to hell. Even if they get the Golden Snitch, nothing can stop me, I said it!

This was another condition Professor Snape used to give Jericho a lighter punishment.

(End of this chapter)