The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 34 Centaur

"You've come to help my students, haven't you?" A deep, resonant voice rang out, and Moriarty and the others saw a tall figure emerge from the nearby woods.

He was a burly man. His face was almost completely covered by disheveled long hair and a tangled thick beard. He wore a large brown coat and carried two bundles of hay in his hands.

"I am Rubeus Hagrid. Mr. Filch told me about you, um... Slytherin House, well, well, come with me. Aww, let's go!"

Hagrid appeared somewhat aloof as he walked toward another part of the woods. Larpo and Keith were clearly not satisfied with Hagrid's attitude and reluctantly followed behind Moriarty.

On the way, Jericho said, "Mr. Hagrid, what do we need to do?"

"Good question. I almost forgot to mention," Hagrid stopped, released his hands, and two bundles of hay fell to the ground. He pointed to the hay and said, "This is sage on my left and mallow on my right. You need to collect a lot of sage and mallow in this forest and then give it to me. It's that simple."

"It's that simple?" Larpo said casually. "If it's so simple, why can't you collect it yourself?"

Hagrid glanced at him, then quickly looked away with obvious disdain.

"Mallow grows underground, while sage is not easy to pull out. If the demand weren't so high, I still have some in stock, but the horsemen need far too much this time, and they've asked me for help... Oh!"

Hagrid covered his mouth; he had let it slip.

The young wizards laughed, and Jericho nodded: "Ah, so centaurs are involved here."

Moriarty picked up a sage, and a faint fragrance wafted over. He said to Hagrid, "Centipedes are skilled at stargazing. To further interpret the results of their stargazing, they usually burn sage and mallow."

So the centaurs must have encountered some complex and difficult-to-understand astrological changes, right, Hagrid?

Hagrid shook his head: "I don't know. Ferenze just asked me to find this hay. Let's get moving. Oh, and we'd better split into two groups."

Jericho, Percy, and the others stood behind Moriarty, while Hagrid awkwardly pursed his lips, and Tooth stood at his feet.

"Marcus, you're paired with Mr. Hagrid," Moriarty winked at his henchman. "You help Mr. Hagrid collect mallow, and we'll collect sage."

Marcus nodded knowingly, and after everyone had formed teams, the two teams went in opposite directions.

Moriarty heard Marcus say to Hagrid in a somewhat awkward tone, "Mr. Hagrid, I've heard there's a herd of hippogriffs in the Forbidden Forest. Those big guys are really adorable, I mean, I like them. Yes, I'm even planning to take a course on the protection of magical creatures next year."

Jericho heard it too and whistled, "When did Marcus become interested in magical creatures?"

"I suggested he study magical creatures, so he could at least learn something," Moriarty said casually, glossing over the matter.

As they ventured deeper into the woods, they came across clumps of sage. Moriarty tapped the ground with his Slytherin staff, and the sage, which was difficult to pull out, flew out of the soil on its own.

Keith chuckled and said, "It's really too easy. Professor Dumbledore was right. Traveling with Mr. Moriarty is like going on a picnic."

More and more sage piled up on the ground, forming a haystack. Moriarty said, "I think this should be enough."

"No, child, not enough." A gentle voice came from the nearby woods, followed by a rustling sound, and a centaur emerged from the shadows.

Jericho and the others drew their wands. The words they had just heard were spoken by the centaur, though his words were gentle, he was holding a bow and arrow.

Moriarty took a few steps toward the centaurs and said, "We are students of Hogwarts, searching for sage with Hagrid to perform divination for you."

The centaur's unusually blue eyes scrutinized Moriarty without blinking: "I know, the stars told me you might come these days, so I've been looking for you. I am Ferrenze, I mean no harm, it's a pleasure to meet you, Slytherin."

"Did the stars also tell you my name?" Moriarty asked, looking at Ferencze.

This centaur has platinum blonde hair, but his lower body is reddish-brown, with a shiny horse-like body and a long, silvery-white tail trailing behind him.

Ferenc hesitated for a moment, then said, "Well... the stars always tell us a lot..."

Then, he adopted a more serious tone: "The centaurs have spent centuries uncovering the mysteries of the universe's celestial movements. Our research suggests that we may be able to glimpse the future from the sky above us."

This is different from the future you imagine. What will I eat tomorrow morning? Will I get extra points for the class the day after tomorrow? How many excellent grades will I get on the final exam? These aren't the future; perhaps they are fate…

We observe the night sky, using an objective and impartial perspective to record the significant developments of disasters and upheavals. Perhaps it will take more than a decade to prove our accuracy.

Moriarty understood, and his curiosity grew even stronger. He vaguely remembered that Frenze was close to Harry Potter, and that the centaurs had divined that Voldemort would start the Second Wizarding War.

But what does this have to do with Moriarty?

Ferenczek seemed to sense Moriarty's confusion, and he gently looked up: "Have you noticed? There's no moon today."

"So what?" Jericho hadn't lowered his wand; instead, he gripped it even tighter. "No moon? What does that prove! To me, all this talk of the future and destiny is just a pretentious farce!"

Ferenczek ignored Jericho; from the beginning, his eyes were only on Moriarty.

"One day in December 1987, the moon suddenly disappeared, not even at night. We have recorded that since that day, there have been occasional moonless nights," Ferenc said calmly.

Percy took a breath, as if remembering something, and exclaimed, "December 1987? Charlie told me during summer vacation that ghosts were partying, Peeves was laughing, and the murals were dancing... What did they call that day again? The Hogwarts Riot?"

Ferrenze gave Percy a proper look: "This is a very obvious sign. Perhaps the Hogwarts riot you mentioned and the moonless night are on the same day."

"Wait a minute, you mean the so-called Hogwarts riots affected the celestial phenomena?" Moriarty was no stranger to the "riots" because he had read the Daily Prophet for the entire year of 1987.

The above records that the so-called great riot was just a bunch of ghosts, murals, armor, and stone pillars running around, without a single wizard participating.

Moriarty thought it was just another publicity stunt.

Ferencze did not give a definite answer, but only gave an ambiguous evasion, and Moriarty seriously suspected that he did not know either.

Moriarty had to rephrase his question: "Mr. Ferrenzer, you believe that the Hogwarts riot and the moonless night are related to me, is that right?"

Meeting Moriarty's bright gaze, Ferrenze slowly nodded: "Yes, Slytherin. You may not know this, but several years ago, we observed the stars and predicted that the British wizarding world would face a wizarding war within the next decade or so, and the course of the war was related to two people."

Moriarty knew he was referring to Harry Potter and Voldemort.

"But—" Ferenczer continued, "Since the first moonless night, the celestial configurations have changed; the trajectories, the speeds of motion, the connections between planets and stars… everything has changed. So we are re-divining…"

"So you need a lot of sage and mallow." Moriarty understood.

"That's right," Ferenczer circled Moriarty, "and you came in September. Slytherin, Slytherin!"

This surname destined you to be extraordinary. Our ancestors never had the experience of using astrology to divine information about the Four Great Leaders or their descendants, and neither did you. However, I believe this is not a coincidence.

Suddenly a wind picked up, and everyone felt a chill. Moriarty's voice sounded particularly deep in the wind: "I also believe this is no coincidence!"

Ferenc extended a hand: "I'm glad you agree with me. There's some disagreement within our organization about the new divination, and they've forbidden me from revealing it to you beforehand."

"So, what is the new divination?" Moriarty extended his hand and gently shook his.

Ferenczek's face showed hesitation and panic. After a long pause, he finally said, "It was a state of chaos, not just war, but also change, fear, and something else—I don't know what it is, but it seemed like opportunity? Or, choice?"

I didn't make it to the second round of recommendations. Thank you all for your support. I will work even harder to write in the future.

(End of this chapter)