The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 3: Encounter with the Black Wizard During the Adventure (Revised)

After walking for about half an hour, we arrived at a dense forest. By then, it was completely dark.

Moriarty whispered to Lockhart, "There's a Yeti tribe hidden in this forest. Every evening, the little Yetis come out to roam."

"Excellent, I'll wait for him here!" Lockhart drew his wand.

Moriarty glanced at the wand a few more times; it was almost too exquisite. Lockhart probably wouldn't even be able to cast a disarming spell.

"Hey," Lockhart whispered excitedly, "did you hear that? Screams, howls—is that the sound of a snowman?"

Moriarty frowned. The Yeti's cry was always rough; he had never heard such a shrill scream before.

Lockhart, as excited as if he had discovered a new continent, pointed to a spot in the woods and showed it to Moriarty: "That white shadow, look! It's moving! Isn't that the little snowman coming out!"

But soon, his face darkened, and a flock of fiery red crows appeared out of nowhere in the sky above the forest, their bodies ablaze with scorching flames, screeching as they swooped down on the snowman in the woods!

The forest was set ablaze by sparks. Several snowmen sprayed snow water to extinguish the fire, but in the blink of an eye, they were attacked by a swarm of fire crows.

Three beams of white light shot into the sky, summoning three gusts of wind that crashed into an adult snowman, knocking him out of the woods.

Lockhart stared blankly at the broken tree and the injured snowman.

Those three beams of white light were magic; the Yeti tribe had been attacked by a wizard!

Moriarty also received a system notification at this time.

"Mission issued: Stop the dark wizard from taking the Ice Moon Necklace and save the Snowman family! Reward: Ten years' worth of magic power and one alchemy item. Failure to complete the mission will result in the host running naked for one thousand meters!"

Originally, he only wanted to use Lockhart to take revenge on the Yeti and, incidentally, subdue Lockhart.

Unexpectedly, I got caught up in the dark wizard incident!

Moriarty gripped his staff tightly, pondering whether he could defeat a dark wizard.

Hopefully, the Slytherin staff is sturdy enough!

Automatically ignoring system penalties makes running without any protection impossible.

"Lockhart, come with me! We must sneak into the woods."

"What did you say? You're crazy!" Lockhart shook his head in disbelief, finding it utterly absurd. "We should leave as soon as possible before they find us and never come back!"

Lockhart put the violin and wand back in the box, turned around decisively, but was stopped in the back by the tip of the wand.

Moriarty gripped his staff, his tone icy: "You only have two choices: First, kill me now! Second, come with me to save the Yeti!"

Lockhart swallowed hard. "Don't joke around. You're still a child. You can't kill me."

"Are you testing me? Very well, the Killing Curse!" Moriarty growled, "Avada Kedavra—"

"No, no, please, don't utter that spell!" Lockhart broke out in a cold sweat, pleading with Moriarty, "Don't kill me, I'll go with you."

"Follow me, we'll sneak in. Whenever we see the black wizard, we'll cast a spell on him, understand? The snowman isn't stupid; he won't attack us if he sees us attacking their enemies. Be careful, move quietly!"

Moriarty gently released Lockhart, knowing that Lockhart was just talking and would run away if things went wrong, but if a fight broke out, Lockhart only needed to buy himself a few seconds.

The two bent over and jogged into the woods, where they saw a large lake. On the lakeshore, more than a dozen snowmen were fighting four wizards shrouded in black robes.

The Yeti tribe was severely damaged. The fire crows were completely unaffected by the snow. Four Yetis had already fallen to the ground, and Lockhart saw a little Yeti being chased by a swarm of fire crows.

Lockhart now realized that the little snowman wasn't out having fun, but was running for his life.

"Save the little snowman first!" Moriarty rushed forward, brandishing his staff: "Yugadimur Leviosa!"

The levitation spell caused a broken tree to float into the air, and Moriarty manipulated the tree to descend from the sky, scattering all the fire crows chasing the little snowman.

The little snowman, finding himself safe, jumped up happily towards Moriarty, making squeaking noises.

The adult yeti on the other side responded quickly, but unfortunately Moriarty couldn't understand them.

Moriarty observed the battle and saw that the dark wizard who controlled the fire crows was a dwarf. He was carrying a large bag and was fighting against six adult yeti single-handedly without being at a disadvantage.

The storm was summoned by three other dark wizards, each of them tall and fighting against an adult snowman.

Moriarty made a shrewd decision: "Lockhart, you deal with that dwarf. I'll help you after I've taken care of those three over there."

Lockhart was furious, jumping up and down: "You handed me the most powerful and evil dark wizard! But I'm no match for him!"

Moriarty had already run off, shouting without turning back, "You couldn't even cast a disarming spell on him from behind without me telling you to finish him off?!"

Lockhart gritted his teeth, his gaze toward the dwarf gradually hardening, but when the dwarf glared at him fiercely, he immediately revealed his true colors, his wand slipping from his grasp.

"I...I surrender! I had no intention of harming you!"

However, the dwarf had no intention of letting Lockhart go. He waved his wand, and a large flock of fire crows flew towards Lockhart!

The dwarf also informed his companions, and even though they were not far apart, Moriarty still heard the dwarf speaking Japanese.

"Is he a black wizard from Japan?" Moriarty was fluent in five foreign languages ​​in his previous life, including Japanese.

The dwarf's words translate to: Don't let anyone find out, eliminate everyone!

"Lohart has run away. They're determined to wipe us out; they won't let us go!"

Moriarty didn't expect Lockhart to defeat the dwarf, but Lockhart could still use a disarming spell to buy some time.

After hearing this, Lockhart finally made up his mind to ambush the dwarf. He scrambled towards the dwarf and cast a disarming spell.

At the same time, Moriarty released a glowing flash so that he could see the distance between himself and the three dark wizards.

He quickly scanned the magical heritage of the Slytherin family in his mind, and finally selected a few simple spells.

"They'll all be petrified!"

A surge of magic power erupted from the staff; Moriarty's control over the petrification spell was still incomplete due to his first incantation.

The spell slowly shot toward a dark wizard, who easily dodged it and gave Moriarty a thumbs-down gesture.

Moriarty, still savoring the spell he had just cast, raised his staff and aimed it at the dark wizard who had mocked him.

"They'll all be petrified!"

The second spell landed swiftly on the dark wizard's chest, petrifying him so fast that his thumb remained pointing downwards.

Moriarty ran to the dark wizard in one breath, pointing the tip of his staff at him: "Tear him apart! Tear him apart! Tear him apart!"

Three consecutive spells blasted the dark wizard into pieces with a "crack".

"Ding-dong~ Host has been detected to have killed a dark wizard. 300 points have been awarded."

Moriarty was overjoyed; with points, he could exchange them for all sorts of magic.

With his rich experience, he can always find the most suitable point of exertion for himself and unleash terrifying power.

Moriarty was now even more confident in dealing with the group of dark wizards.

Seeing their companion so brutally killed, the remaining two dark wizards realized how terrifying Moriarty was. They immediately abandoned the snowman and raised their wands at Moriarty.

"Disarm you!"

"Extremely painful!"

The two spells revealed the dark wizard's identity; they spoke English.

Moriarty didn't have time to think about why the British wizard was involved with the Japanese wizard. The two spells, one after the other, formed a chain of spells.

Once Moriarty is disarmed and then struck again with a piercing blow, he will be completely at the mercy of others.

"Armor for protection! Armor for protection!"

Learning from the lesson of turning everything to stone, Moriarty cast the Ironclad Curse twice.

An invisible shield appeared in the direction the Slytherin staff was pointing, acting as a protective barrier in front of Moriarty.

When Moriarty saw the rebounding red light, he knew he had blocked the dark wizard's disarming spell.

However, the Cruciatus Curse is one of the three Unforgivable Curses, and the Ironclad Curse cannot resist the Unforgivable Curse.

With Moriarty's current level of magic, he couldn't use the powerful magic of the Slytherin family; he could only summon a large tree from a short distance to provide some protection.

"A broken tree branch flew in!"

Moriarty cast another little spell on himself: "Swift as the wind!"

With the increased movement speed, Moriarty rolled, buying himself a little time. A flying broken tree blocked the piercing bone-splitting attack and shattered into pieces.

Instinct was on full display at this moment; Moriarty realized he could use the slippery snow to further increase his speed.

He charged toward the dark wizard who had cast the Crucifixion Curse, sliding in to close the distance quickly.

Many spells passed down in the Slytherin family flashed through my mind, and finally I settled on one that could be cast instantly!

"The sword's edge is sharp!"

The black wizard's black robe was cut into pieces, and the exposed skin bled profusely as if it had been cleaved open by an invisible sword.

"Oh no, my Merlin! Help me!"

The dark wizard who cast the disarming spell watched in shock as his companion lay dying, blood gushing from his writhing body like a burst dam.

Moriarty squinted, the blood starkly visible against the snow. This was a curse invented by Salazar during his long duel with Godric Gryffindor, with maximum damage!

"Host detected killing the dark wizard, 500 points gained."

Moriarty opened the shop; a bottle of mana restoration potion (basic) costs 500 points.

"System, redeem one bottle for me."

Moriarty hid the potion he had exchanged in his left hand, and stood up, leaning on his staff with his right hand. He could see the dark wizard's face and hair color clearly.

He was a genuine British wizard!

So, of the four dark wizards, the dwarf was Japanese, and the other three were British dark wizards.

Moriarty didn't want to be hunted down by dark wizards in the future, so he raised his staff, pointing the tip at the last dark wizard.

"Have you seen what happened to your two companions? Do you want to die like them in a foreign land? Or tell me everything, and I'll give you some money so you can leave and never come back."

Moriarty spoke with barely moving lips, attempting to break down the dark wizard's psychological defenses with a tone of disdain for death.

The dark wizard wasn't fooled. He pointed his wand at Moriarty: "The sweat on your brow gives you away! Casting that spell that killed Neil must have taken a lot of your magic. Your posturing is useless against me!"

Just as the dark wizard said, the sharp sword had consumed too much magic power, and Moriarty had been having a headache since earlier.

But he couldn't afford to show weakness; instead, he glared back with even fiercer eyes: "Stupid mudblood! Die!"

The black wizard's eyes were filled with humiliation; clearly, Moriarty's words had deliberately stung his sensitive heart.

He involuntarily took a few steps back, putting on several layers of armor to protect himself, only to find that Moriarty had already run far away.

"Fuck!" The dark wizard, realizing he'd been tricked, angrily raised his wand: "Shatter into pieces!"

"Armor Protection!" Moriarty suddenly turned around, pointed his staff at the dark wizard, and a surge of magic erupted, deflecting the shattered object back.

While the dark wizard retreated, Moriarty ran and swallowed a potion to restore his magic power, and now his magic power was back!

Moriarty even felt his magic power increase as he used magic.

"Burning Flames!" Moriarty had long wanted to try this spell.

A flash of fire streaked across the tip of the staff, and a large ball of flame rushed toward the black wizard, moving so fast that the black wizard didn't have time to cast the Ironclad Spell.

"No!"

The dark wizard rolled in the snow, hoping it would extinguish the fire, but Moriarty casually summoned a broken tree, ending the dark wizard's sinful life.

"Host detected killing the dark wizard, 300 points gained."

Based on the number of points, Moriarty deduced that the three British wizards were led by Neil, who was also the strongest among them.

Eliminating three dark wizards earns you 1100 points.

At this moment, the dwarf dark wizard was like a gold bar with legs in Moriarty's eyes.

"Moriarty! What are you standing there for! Come save me!"

Lockhart's roar echoed from the lakeside; his legs had been burned by the fire raven, forcing him to submerge his lower body in the lake.

Two adult yetis that could spray water saved Lockhart; otherwise, the dwarf's Cruciatus Curse would have already struck Lockhart.

However, the snowmen were not in good condition either. In order to finish the battle quickly, Moriarty remembered a large-scale magic spell passed down in his family.

"A branch flew in."

Moriarty manipulated twelve branches to stick into the snow, and then manipulated more than ten branches to shake continuously, as if he were painting.

Lockhart was furious: "What kind of time is this to be drawing?!"

Upon hearing this, the dwarf looked at Moriarty, then took a deep breath: "Where did this brat come from? He can actually inscribe magic circles!"

Lockhart: "..."

It's no wonder Lockhart was ignorant; magic circles are rarely used in modern magic anymore. People who can draw magic circles are either from ancient families or reclusive old monsters.

Thinking of the many hidden talents in China, the dwarf realized he had gotten himself into big trouble.

The dwarf waved his wand: "Undead Fire Raven!"

The fire crows in the woods flew toward the dwarf, forming a fiery red halo. A crow, easily five meters tall, flew out of the halo, its target none other than Moriarty!

"brush!"

The crow spread its wings, which stretched for ten meters, and clusters of black flames ignited on its wings, emitting a foul stench.

It's the smell of a corpse!

Moriarty frowned. This must be the dwarf's trump card, a forbidden technique for summoning the undead.

Once the scent of death appears, it will surely take a life.

However, it has one weakness: the Fire Raven Aura.

The dwarf's magic was clearly insufficient to summon a true undead fire raven; he could only use the power of the smaller fire raven to nourish the larger one.

Eliminating the Fire Raven's aura will weaken the undead Fire Ravens.

Moriarty was still drawing the magic circle and couldn't concentrate, so he yelled at Lockhart, "Shoot every spell you know at that circle!"

Lockhart did as he was told, but Moriarty could see that his spells were limited. He had the Disarming Charm, the Cleansing Charm, but not Lockhart's best spell, the Forgetfulness Charm.

This suggests that Lockhart is dishonest, holding back, and may have ulterior motives.

Fortunately, Lockhart's interference caused the aperture to shrink slightly, and the undead fire crow paused for a moment, but quickly returned to normal, rushing over with flames.

Moriarty felt the burning of the undead flames, and at that moment, his magic circle was completed!

"Speak to me, Slytherin! The greatest of the Four!"

Moriarty planted his staff in the ground, and a green light rose up, followed by silver light that filled the snow.

The rudimentary magic circle was activated, spinning rapidly, and more than a dozen tree branches turned into green pillars of light that stretched straight into the sky.

"Ice Serpent Dance!"

Moriarty drained all his magic power and poured it into the magic circle.

The air suddenly turned cold, and a large storm, mixed with ice and snow, appeared above the magic circle.

The falling ice crystals and snow chunks kept hitting the undead fire crows, giving them no time to retaliate.

The storm arrived quickly, sweeping away the fire crows, and the undead flames vanished without a trace.

"Bang!" The fire raven's halo exploded, and the dwarf, suffering a backlash of magic, coughed softly.

Moriarty guessed he must have coughed up blood, and although he hid it well, the two snowmen wouldn't let the opportunity pass.

Two streams of snow water spurted from the snowmen's mouths, and the dwarf cast a protective spell on himself.

"You little bastard!" The dwarf was furious, glaring at Moriarty, wishing he could cast another curse on him.

But Moriarty gave them no chance; he killed them without delay, a principle he upheld as a secret agent in his previous life.

He leaned on his staff with both hands, making hissing sounds: "Hiss! Hiss hiss hiss, hiss!"

Lockhart's mouth dropped open; even someone as ignorant as him now knew the answer.

"Parsleyan voice!?"

Lockhart suddenly understood why Moriarty wanted to talk to Slytherin.

After Moriarty spoke in Parseltongue, the twelve green beams of light instantly transformed into giant green snakes!

The giant serpent rushed into the storm above the magic circle, and when it emerged, it had become twelve ice serpents!

The ice serpent slowly approached the dwarf, who was already terrified.

A large green snake, several meters long and three meters wide, toyed with the dwarf as if he were a small mouse.

The twelve snake heads took turns staring at the dwarf, licking his face with their tongues. Each time they licked, the dwarf's face would freeze.

Strange and ominous!

The oppressive force of the ice serpent kept the snowmen from moving until the dwarf was completely frozen, forming an ice coffin, at which point the ice serpent gradually dissipated.

Moriarty collapsed to the ground, his magic nearly exhausted; he could hold on no longer.

"Lockhart? Lockhart! If you can still move, bring me the dwarf's backpack!"

Moriarty ordered Lockhart around like a servant, and the latter walked blankly toward the dwarf, the image of the twelve ice serpents lingering in his mind.

"Bang!"

Lockhart placed the large backpack in front of Moriarty.

Four or five snowmen rushed over, but they glanced at Moriarty with great fear and dared not approach any further, only whimpering towards the backpack.

Not long after, a low whimpering sound came from inside the backpack, as if it were crying.

Moriarty remembered the system's mission; it seemed the backpack contained a baby snowman.

"Lockhart, open the backpack and give the baby snowman back to the snowman."

Lockhart, as if to verify its authenticity, opened the backpack with trembling hands and his eyes widened instantly.

He blankly picked up the baby snowman and handed it to the snowman.

"How...how did you know there was a baby snowman inside?" Lockhart collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon.

Moriarty's immense power, endless spells, and terrifying forbidden techniques nearly crushed Lockhart's pride.

The only thing Lockhart could maintain his dignity in front of Moriarty was his Oblivion Spell.

Now, could Moriarty possibly have some kind of precognitive ability?

Doesn't that mean the other party also knows about my forgetting spell?

Moriarty was too busy staring at a necklace at the bottom of his backpack to pay any attention to Lockhart.

He picked up the necklace; nothing seemed amiss.

But the mission was accomplished, right?

"Host has completed the mission. Reward: Ten years' worth of magic power and an alchemical item, the Philosopher's Stone."

Philosopher's stone?

The Philosopher's Stone by Nicolas Flamel!

I will definitely visit this alchemy master when I have the chance.

Moriarty had Lockhart help him up, and he carried his staff to the dwarf, putting the dwarf and the Ice Moon Necklace into his system space.

He didn't know what the Ice Moon Necklace's function was, but there must be a huge secret hidden behind the dwarf.

Moriarty couldn't let this secret slip through his fingers; he would wait until he was settled before properly interrogating the dwarf.

(End of this chapter)