The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 39 The Battle on the Field

Moriarty soared into the sky on his broomstick, the system's voice ringing in his ears: "Mission issued: Lead the Slytherin team to victory over the Gryffindor team! Reward: 200 points. Mission time: one hour. Mission failure: Penalty - Host will be forced to ask Filch's cat, Mrs. Lorris, about her heat cycle in front of the entire school!"

"Splash—"

Moriarty nearly fell off the broom, his body lurching slightly. Why did something so strange always happen whenever he rode the broom to do something important?

Last time it was Lockhart, this time it's the system.

Moriarty flew upwards with his broom in hand, but the broom, affected by his movements, plummeted into the air.

Tonks then provided timely commentary: "Oh, we see Moriarty making a move right at the start of the game, which is unusual for a Seeker!"

I think he might be making a feint, but Charlie wasn't affected. The experienced man remained motionless, looking around the field, searching for the Golden Snitch.

Look, he's moving! Charlie is flying towards the Slytherin formation! He's creating an opportunity for Gryffindor's Chaser, Mandy Finney; he's really not afraid of accidents.

A gasp rippled through the crowd as Moriarty caught a glimpse of a red figure flying alone toward the Slytherin team.

Moriarty was certain there were no Golden Snitches there!

So Charlie wasn't after the Golden Snitch; he was as fast as a lion at full speed, flying over the heads of William, Leon... every Slytherin player.

Chaser Leon yelled, trying to get the batter to knock Charlie down, and Charlie clearly succeeded.

The two batters swung their arms wide, hitting two wandering balls at Charlie, but with that, no one could stop Gryffindor's Chaser.

Tonks exclaimed, "While we're focused on the clash between King Weasley and the Everlasting Shine, King Weasley shows us another side of himself—the responsibility of a captain!"

As a veteran captain, he charged headlong into the Slytherin team, drawing fire from the three Gryffindor Chasers, and single-handedly disrupted Slytherin's strategic deployment!

Now, the challenge is our first-year chaser, Jericho!

We see him trying to steal the ball, but he faces attacks from two Gryffindor batters and is surrounded by three chasers!

"Oh look, Moriarty has moved!"

Moriarty used his signature move, a modified version of the sloth roll.

As he gripped the broom handle tightly with both hands and feet, he spun the broom so that it began to spin rapidly, and Moriarty flew towards Jericho like an arrow released from a bow.

"Moriati is going to help Jericho? Let's see how he does it?" Tonks' commentary this time didn't elicit cheers; the entire room was completely silent, with teachers and students craning their necks and their eyes fixed on Moriarty.

"Jericho! Use the eagle head attack formation!" Moriarty shouted.

"I can't do it! I'm being marked!" Jericho was surrounded by Gryffindor Chaser in front of him and to his left and right, with two crazy runners following behind and two Gryffindor batters lurking overhead.

"You descend, I'll take your place!" Moriarty flew to the sky parallel to Jericho. After Jericho descended while holding onto the broom handle, Moriarty filled Jericho's vacancy!

Now Moriarty faces a situation similar to Jericho's, but the difference is that Moriarty is facing the opposite direction from Jericho; he is facing two wandering balls!

"Oh no!" Tonks covered his mouth. "There wasn't enough time. Moriarty tried to dodge, but it was too late."

"There really wasn't enough time to dodge, so I didn't even try to dodge!"

Moriarty wrapped his legs around the broom, covered his chest with his hands, and lay flat on the broom! He looked as if he had become one with the broom, greatly reducing the space, and with a "whoosh," he passed through the gap between the two wandering balls!

"Wow!" The whole place cheered, and the little snakes, led by Lilith, shouted the slogan "Eternal Radiance".

Tonks couldn't contain his astonishment: "How did he do that! How could he make that move! Now, the wandering ball is ineffective, and the two Gryffindor batters have to re-hit the ball."

But Moriarty didn't give them that chance; he yelled at Leon, "Parkinson's Claw!"

Leon instantly understood and rushed toward Mandy Finney, the Gryffindor Chaser who was holding the Quaffle.

Moriarty, on the other hand, circled around the second round of the ball's attack in mid-air before heading straight for Mandy Finney.

Leon and Moriarty formed a pincer movement from above and below, but unnoticed by everyone, Jericho charged in from the right, laughing loudly!

Now, Mandy Fanny faces threats from three directions: above, to the left and right, and these three Quaffles could snatch her away at any moment!

She thought Jericho was the most threatening, but Jericho suddenly fell. Taking advantage of Mandy's distraction, Leon stretched out his right hand and slammed it down hard on the Quaffle in her arms!

"Bang!" The Quaffle was knocked down, and Gryffindor's other two Chaser flew over to try and save it, but how could they be faster than Jericho, who was already waiting for the ball in the air below!

Jericho caught the ball smoothly and zigzag forward at high speed, shaking off the three goals heading towards Gryffindor!

Tonks saw through the tactic: "When Moriarty called for the Parkin Claw, Slytherin's plan to steal the ball began. With Jericho surrounded, Leon unable to keep up, and both batters tied down by Charlie, Moriarty played the role of the chaser, forming a triangle with Jericho and Leon, easily stealing Gryffindor's ball!"

But when she saw Moriarty, Jericho, and Leon forming an arrowhead formation and flying towards the Gryffindor goal, she straightened her hair.

"Ahem, I think I wasn't quite right. Look at Slytherin's formation now, that's the eagle-head attack formation Moriarty shouted out when he made his move! Moriarty has temporarily replaced the Chaser!"

Oliver Wood is in danger! He's about to face his first test!

We see Charlie organizing a defense, and he himself is constantly flying around. Has he spotted the Golden Snitch?

Leon quickly asked, "Moriarty, do you want to go take a look?"

"No need, that's a feint!" Moriarty had been keeping an eye on the Golden Snitch, but it hadn't appeared. "Charlie's trying to force me back. Let's keep going!"

Moriarty began flying in an "S" pattern, adding another layer of three-dimensional, confusing trajectory to the Eagle Head formation, because Wood was unsure whether Jericho or Leon would launch an attack from behind Moriarty under his cover.

As it turned out, he was overthinking things. He focused his attention on Moriarty but forgot that Jericho could also be a sloth, clinging to a tree and rolling around.

Jericho was like a flying dagger; he rushed to the goal and threw a Quaffle!

Wood reacted too late and could only watch helplessly as the ball went into the goalpost!

"Nice!"

"Well done!"

"That was a fantastic play, guys!"

Cheers erupted from the Slytherin stands as they scored the first goal!

"I've never seen such a thrilling first ball fight! Charlie went first, Gryffindor controlled possession, and Moriarty single-handedly disrupted Gryffindor's formation and orchestrated multiple attacks!" Tonks exclaimed excitedly. "After twenty minutes of intense play, Slytherin has made it 10-1. How will Charlie respond?"

After the second kickoff, Leon got the Quaffle. Instead of interfering with Leon, Charlie closely followed Moriarty, leaving the other Gryffindor players to defend Leon and Jericho.

Moriarty began to ascend and descend, but Charlie's flying skills were clearly excellent. He not only kept up with Moriarty but even managed to get ahead of him and block his flight path.

"Interesting." Moriarty's lips curled into a smile as he plummeted even faster, the whistling wind filling his ears. Charlie followed closely behind, unsure if Moriarty had discovered the Golden Snitch, and he dared not gamble.

"Whoosh!"

Four whooshing sounds rang out as the batters from both teams simultaneously hit the runners at the two seekers!

"We've been tricked!" Moriarty shouted, grabbing his broom and soaring into the sky, shaking off the stray ball. Charlie's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly grabbed his broom, hoping to catch up with Moriarty.

But Moriarty changed his flight path and began to fly erratically—that's what Charlie thought. But when he realized that Moriarty would cleverly appear in front of the Gryffindor players every time, he realized something was wrong.

"How did he appear?" Charlie asked incredulously. "Seeing the flight path isn't difficult, but could he possibly calculate everyone's flight speed?"

However, before Chali could come up with a solution, Moriarty saw a golden light first!

It's the Golden Snitch! The sunlight reflecting off it makes it even more dazzling, and it's actually flying over the edge of the court!

Moriarty flew back to the ground, as fast as a beam of light.

Charlie, having learned from his previous experience, initially thought it was another feint by Lansky. But when he saw the Golden Snitch, Moriarty had already pulled away by five body lengths!

"Oh no!" Charlie exclaimed.

After Moriarty flew close to the Golden Snitch, he stood up on his broom and extended his right hand!

Tonks shouted frantically, "Look, look! That's Moriarty's signature move! He's only an inch away from the Golden Snitch! Charlie caught up by two body lengths but it was too late! Moriarty caught the Golden Snitch! Match over~ Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, 160-0! Only one goal scored in this match! In just thirty-five minutes, Moriarty ended the game!!!"

A deafening roar of cheers and shouts erupted from the Slytherin stands, and Lilith conjured a silver snake with her wand, which flew through the air.

As soon as Moriarty and the players landed, they were grabbed and tossed into the air by the little snakes.

"Let's call out the most valuable player of the game, who is it?" Tonks said ingeniously.

Immediately, the entire stadium erupted in chants: "Shining forever! Moriarty! Shining forever! Moriarty!"

The shouts lasted for a full five minutes before subsiding. Tonks nodded and said, "While celebrating the winner, we must also pay tribute to Gryffindor. Charlie and his team put on a fantastic match for us! Alright, the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match is now over. I'm Tonks, see you next time!"

(End of this chapter)