The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 187 The Competition Begins (Please Subscribe!)

Looking at Moriarty's outstretched left hand, Roman remained expressionless, but secretly gritted his teeth and puffed out his cheeks.

It's like playing Wizards' Chess; Moriarty's knight has already reached his king! He's been checkmated by Moriarty.

Roman is not a timid wizard. Although he is young, he dares to fight on the field. He may be limited by his talent and can never turn the tide against the odds. But he has a passion in his blood.

He stared intently at Moriarty, thinking resentfully: Why should Moriarty join the team just like that? Why should Moriarty take control of the entire team as soon as he arrives?

A 12-year-old child representing the country in a competition—let alone whether the rules allow it.

If the competition is not performed well, who will bear the responsibility for the world's questioning of the British magic community and the decline of Britain's international standing?

Put Moriarty in charge? Can he even handle that?

As captain of the England team, Roman will not allow such a thing to happen, so he must win this game, and win it cleanly and decisively!

He originally wanted to go easy on the Dream Team, to have a back-and-forth match, and for both sides to end the game gracefully.

It now seems that going to the battlefield with real weapons is perhaps the last resort.

They ruthlessly won the game, nipping Moriarty's hopes of joining the national team in the bud and completely cutting off his path to Quidditch.

Roman adjusted his facial expression and said seriously to Moriarty, "I am going to return 'this opportunity' to you exactly as it is."

You're oversimplifying the world.

The world is like a constantly rolling Quaffle, always in motion. Superior strength might make the rules make way for you, but that's undoubtedly temporary; no one can guarantee they'll be strong forever.

These are Roman's honest words. Over the years of struggling in professional competitions, he has seen one genius after another rise and fall, and has also witnessed one superstar after another go from obscurity to shining in the spotlight, and then fade into obscurity.

The world is helpless, the world is strange.

Roman disagreed with Moriarty's point of view, so he grasped Moriarty's left hand and shook it vigorously.

"Moriarty Slytherin. I have to use this match to change your mind—while you're still young."

Moriarty tightened his grip, squeezing Roman until his face turned red: "Then it's settled, Captain Roman. If the Dream Team wins, you and your teammates cannot stop me from joining the national team."

"Fine, very well." Roman gritted his teeth. "And if we win? You'd better stay right here at Hogwarts!"

"It's a deal!"

Moriarty released Roman's left hand, glanced at the afro-haired men, and turned to walk into the castle, with the Dream Team players following him.

Seeing Moriarty's unprecedented assertiveness, none of the students dared to stop them.

Dumbledore smoothed things over, saying, "Please come in. Would you like to rest for a bit? Hogwarts is happy to provide you with pre-match services."

"No, no need, Principal. Let's go to the field to warm up." Roman's complexion gradually returned to normal, but he put his left hand behind his back and shook his wrist, muttering, "This kid's got some strength."

"I felt like I was being watched by a venomous snake just now—he's no good," the man with the afro muttered. "He's got a lot of bad ideas up his sleeve."

Dumbledore sent Ms. Pines to lead Roman and the others to the Quidditch pitch, with Professor McGonagall and her students following behind.

And they were waiting for a special group of guests.

About six minutes later, twelve carriages lined up like a flock of geese and flew toward the castle, with a peacock perched on the roof of one of the carriages.

Ludo clicked his tongue: "Look at this peacock, I already know who they are."

Dumbledore's eyes crinkled with amusement: "Madame Malfoy generously sponsored this competition, and she persuaded the other board members to award the winner a prize of 5 Galleons."

"Was the referee Peteris also someone she invited?" Ludo asked casually, and Dumbledore nodded slowly.

"She's a wise woman," Ludo said, pursing his lips.

Twelve carriages landed on the lawn, and twelve school board members stepped out, each with their families.

Mr. Greengrass, on behalf of the board, exchanged a few words with Dumbledore and Ludo, and then they went into the castle together.

At 8:30 a.m., the Quidditch pitch was packed—Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had more than doubled the size of the stands to ensure everyone had a seat.

Everyone connected to Hogwarts was there, including the children of Draco Malfoy and several of the school board members, including Theodore Nott. They ran wildly in the stands, thinking that doing so would attract attention.

This included Hagrid and Filch, and even Mrs. Lorris occupied a seat and obediently lay down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and children, the competition is about to begin!"

Ludo's voice rang out from the highest professor's stand. He held a golden microphone in his hand and used the "loud voice" setting to ensure everyone could hear him.

"I'm your commentator for this match: Ludo Bagman! Before the match begins, let's take a look at the condition of both players."

Ludo said excitedly, "First and foremost, it's the host dream team!"

Where are they? Aha, look there—on the left side of the pitch!

We can see the Dream Team players dressed up, just waiting to hop on their brooms!

Captain and Seeker Moriarty Slytherin is making his final tactical adjustments.

Jericho, Tonks, and Leon stood beside him, indicating that Moriarty had entrusted the task to the chaser.

Charlie and Marcus are the batters; look at the muscles in their arms!

Oh no~ don't cripple our Captain Roman! Haha, am I talking too much?

Ludo pretended to be a gossipy person, and he looked nervously toward Roman, which made the students burst into laughter.

"Ahem," Ludo stopped joking and said seriously, "The Dream Team looks incredibly motivated, not like an amateur team at all. The national team must be wary. Alright, let's take a look at Roman and his formidable teammates!"

When Roman heard Ludo call his name, he waved to the audience. He was now dressed in his England jersey, and many boys cheered.

Draco and Nott shouted and waved their fists, "Just you wait, Captain Roman will teach Moriarty a lesson!"

Lady Malfoy patted Draco on the shoulder because many of the little witches were staring at him with hostile expressions.

"Mr. Moriarty and Roman are both captains, sisters! We can't let Roman steal the spotlight; Mr. Moriarty's name must resonate throughout this stadium!"

A fifth-grade girl stood up and shouted to the girls around her.

Soon, chants of "Moriarty wins," "Shining forever, shining forever," and "Dream Team will win" rang out, and the girls' delicate voices floated in the air above the stadium, lingering for a long time.

"Did you hear that deafening cheer? I thought I was at the World Cup final," the red-nosed man said with a grin to the man with the afro.

"Thanks for reminding me, but I'm not deaf." The man with the afro shook his head and smiled wryly.

Roman gave a sour snort, remaining silent, but inwardly he knew something was wrong; the Dream Team's home advantage was too great.

In a real competition, every little detail will be magnified infinitely.

The chanting continued until nine o'clock, and many girls' voices became hoarse from shouting.

"Don't worry, ladies! I brought throat lozenges beforehand." Gemma Farley walked over carrying a large bucket. "One sip each, no one can drink more, not even the mint flavor!"

"Toot—", the referee, Peteris, blew his silver whistle, and fifteen brooms flew into the sky, then scattered, faithfully performing their respective tasks.

A total of six chasers from both sides rushed towards the Quaffle!

Marcus swung his bat and slammed it into the wandering ball with a "bang," sending it hurtling toward the guy with the afro and the red nose!

Leon discovers that two of the national team's batters have done the same thing, except their target is Jericho!

"Want revenge? Looks like that Max really thrashed you guys." Charlie laughed as he flicked the ball away from in front of him, the target clearly the Magician!

"The two sides are facing off, they're going to go all out! My Merlin!" Ludo jumped up at the sight and shouted, "The Dream Team and the National Team have sent out all their chasers to fight for the Quaffle - neither side wants to give the first goal to the other, they're not testing each other, they're holding nothing back!"

But Jericho needs to be careful, he's being closely watched by the national team!

What about the other side?

Charlie's ball-running was weak and seemed to pose no threat to Magic Johnson. Marcus's ball-running had already caught up with the guy with the afro!

And also, let's see what the two captains are doing!

Ludo shaded his eyes with his hand, swaying his head as he looked up at the sky. Suddenly, he pointed sharply towards the horizon.

"Oh, look there! Moriarty and Roman flew out together, their speeds were almost the same!"

They soared into the sky, and they kept flying, and flying... They haven't stopped since the start of the competition!

The audience looked in the direction Ludo was pointing, and hundreds of heads turned in the same direction at the same time, creating a spectacular scene.

(End of this chapter)