The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 4 The Great Himalayan Avalanche

"Woo~" The snowman leader, who could spray water, looked up and let out a mournful cry. The surviving snowmen limped toward their leader.

The snowman leader led the snowmen to kneel down before Moriarty, their eyes filled with gratitude, making "gurgling" sounds, and gesturing back and forth between Moriarty and the baby snowman.

Lockhart scratched his head: "Um, I think the snowmen are thanking you for saving their child."

Moriarty stared at them for a while before looking away. If he hadn't taken the Ice Moon Necklace, he probably would have used these snowmen to practice the Killing Curse.

Of course, the fact that the black wizard killed a large number of Yetis is also crucial, and the Yeti tribe has already paid a heavy price.

Moriarty was simply vengeful, not a serial killer.

The snowmen wanted to ask about the Ice Moon Necklace, but they were frightened away by the snake language emanating from Moriarty's mouth.

The terror brought by the twelve ice serpents was far more terrifying than death itself.

Lockhart was so frightened by the hissing sound that he wet himself. He collapsed to the ground, staring at Moriarty in disbelief.

"You...you've never told me that you have a parsnip voice!"

And you killed three people! Are you a dark wizard?

And...and those curses? Oh Merlin...who exactly are you?!

Lockhart let out a scream and lay stiffly on the ground, his vivid imagination leading him to believe that Moriarty would kill him to silence him.

Moriarty snorted and pointed his staff at Lockhart.

"Oh God! Please don't kill me! I won't say a word about what happened today!" Lockhart knelt at Moriarty's feet, weeping bitterly. "Please, I'll tell you all my secrets, just please don't kill me!"

"Your secret?" Moriarty chuckled mockingly. "Does it mean you're actually a fraud, and all your books are plagiarized from other people's adventures? Or does it mean you don't know any profound magic at all, and your best skill is just a forgetting spell?"

"How do you know everything!"

Lockhart looked at Moriarty as if he were an alien, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"That's talent, Mr. Lockhart!" Moriarty smiled and lowered his wand. "It's normal that you don't understand. But what I'm curious about is why you didn't use a Forgetfulness Charm on me while I was resting?"

"I was very weak at the time and might not have been able to withstand your powerful Oblivion Charm." Moriarty analyzed for Lockhart: "Think about it, Mr. Lockhart, as long as you wave your wand, you will get yet another bizarre story!"

Rescue the baby snowman from the evil dark wizard and gain the friendship of the snowman tribe! I'm sure this book will be a hit!

Moriarty stared down at Lockhart's lifeless eyes: "Then why didn't you do it?"

"I dare not," Lockhart said with a wry smile. "You are too powerful and too mysterious. I told you before that I'm afraid you'll kill me."

"That's right," Moriarty said knowingly, smiling at Lockhart. "Years later, you'll be incredibly grateful that you didn't cast a spell on me today."

Lockhart sensed a glimmer of hope for survival, but he was quickly startled when Moriarty raised his staff once more!

Lockhart closed his eyes...

"Completely cleaned up."

"Huh?" Lockhart came to his senses and found that there were no signs of fighting on his body, and his pants were dry.

"Moriarty, why don't you kill me?"

"What good would it do to kill you! To me, you are far more useful alive than dead."

Moriarty changed his tone to make him sound less frightening.

Lockhart nodded slowly: "What do you want me to do?"

"What? It's not that simple!" Moriarty used his staff to lift Lockhart's chin. "I want you to submit to me and pledge allegiance to me!"

"You...you want to be the third Dark Lord?" Lockhart asked timidly.

"The Dark Lord?" Moriarty's laughter was full of disdain. "Don't be intimidated by Grindelwald and Voldemort; they are unfit wizards!"

Moriarty said seriously, "The sky of magic is vast and boundless, and a qualified wizard must spend his whole life pursuing magic."

The European magical world produced two generations of Dark Lords. With their talents, they had the potential to become Archmages, but what happened to them?

One is delusional about elevating the status of wizards, while the other is obsessed with ruling the magical world.

When they become entangled in worldly affairs, they are no longer simply wizards.

But I am different. I can clearly see the magical sky and want to soar freely in it.

Power, status, money, fame... these are merely platforms that helped me take off smoothly.

Moriarty grabbed Lockhart, looked him into the eyes, and said, "Think about it, Lockhart. You are serving the future God of Magic."

"I admit I'm drawn to your words." Lockhart's blue eyes welled with tears. "Following you, perhaps I too can glimpse the magical sky! Just a glimpse would be enough."

Moriarty nodded in understanding, while Lockhart repeatedly expressed his envy of Moriarty's incredible talent.

Deep down, this conman longed to become stronger, and Moriarty's appearance gave him hope.

"We can make an unbreakable oath," Lockhart knelt down, extending his right hand and looking earnestly at Moriarty, "I swear my loyalty to you!"

Thinking of the complicated spell of unwavering loyalty, Moriarty shook his head slightly.

"I have a spell more secure than an unbreakable one. I will make you prove your loyalty when the time comes. I hope you will not back down."

Lockhart stood up without complaint and said matter-of-factly, "Yes, Master. What do you need me to do next?"

"Don't call me master, call me young master!"

Moriarty suddenly laughed: "I remember I only told you your first name, and not my last name, didn't I?"

“Yes, young master,” Lockhart said, his eyes wide with excitement, “you speak Parsley, you must be a descendant of Slytherin.”

Moriarty nodded slightly: "My surname is indeed Slytherin! The only direct blood relative of Salazar Slytherin, one of the four great masters of Hogwarts."

Next, I need to return to England and retrieve the castle that old Salazar left behind.

Lockhart knelt down for the third time and kowtowed to Moriarty twelve times. He didn't know why he kowtowed twelve times, but he felt that the number suited Moriarty well.

But these actions displeased Moriarty.

He shook his head: "Oh, Lockhart, true loyalty is never about form. I am not a tyrant. You don't need to use gestures to prove your loyalty."

"You're too kind, young master," Lockhart said, unusually insistent. "Now that I've decided to serve you, I should be a proper servant. I'll speed up my studies on servants when I return to England."

"No, no, no," Moriarty waved his hand and said seriously, "After you return to England, you must continue to publish books. I've already thought of a name for you: 'With Slytherin in Tibet'."

"You mean you don't intend to expose me to the British wizarding community?" Lockhart was overjoyed, which meant he could still enjoy the attention and cheers of the wizards.

"Leave everything to me, Lockhart."

Moriarty left the audience in suspense, choosing Lockhart as the one to draw attention to himself, for which he had already prepared a series of plans.

"boom!"

A sudden, earth-shaking tremor occurred. Lockhart, his timid nature unable to change in an instant, was terrified: "Young Master, is this an earthquake? Or is there a landslide somewhere?"

"I think someone is fighting."

Moriarty narrowed his eyes, sensing fluctuations of multiple magical forces in the air.

Following the magic, Moriarty fixed his gaze on a snow-capped mountain not far away.

Moriarty realized something: "Oh no, there's another Yeti tribe on that mountain!"

As if to confirm his words, clusters of flames lit up on the mountain, standing out conspicuously in the night.

A seven-meter-long fire crow cackled and circled in the air, followed by two, then three!

Even if Lockhart were slow on the uptake, he would understand now: "They're accomplices of those dark wizards! Young Master, is your magic circle still working?"

"I'm more interested in who the other side of the battle is than that." A glint flashed in Moriarty's eyes. The Ice Moon Necklace had actually sparked a contest among three wizards. He was becoming increasingly curious about the Ice Moon Necklace.

The battle on the snow mountain broke out quickly. When the undead fire crows tried to attack the enemy, a dragon's roar struck them down!

Moriarty heard it clearly, and now he somewhat understood who the third party was.

Chinese wizards.

"Lockhart, are you familiar with the wizarding world in China?"

Lockhart answered honestly, "I don't know much. Chinese wizards rarely have contact with foreign wizards, and wizards from Europe, America, and Africa are also reluctant to come to China. I've heard it's because their magic is weakened after coming to China. There's also another explanation—"

Lockhart's story abruptly ended as he pointed to the sky and cried out, "Oh no! Master, those fire crows are coming at us!"

"They're after the Yeti tribe! They want to wipe out the Eastern Tibetan Yetis."

Moriarty looked behind him, and the snowmen panicked.

"Lockhart!" Moriarty said to him, "Go and evacuate the Yetis, and give me the flying broom!"

"What?"

"Idiot! Don't tell me you forgot your flying broom and Floo Powder on your trip! Think about it, you must have put them in your suitcase, right!"

Moriarty kept his eyes fixed on the fire crows flying overhead; he couldn't let the Yetis be wiped out.

It seems that the Ice Moon Necklace hides a big secret. Before Moriarty prepares to launch an investigation, it's best if no one connected to the necklace dies!

Lockhart remembered that his suitcase had been knocked away by the dwarf, and hurriedly pulled out his wand: "Suitcase, fly here!"

After pulling a flying broom from the box, Lockhart did not immediately hand it to Moriarty.

"Young Master, whatever you intend to do with the flying broom, I must advise you to think carefully..."

Before he could finish speaking, Moriarty snatched the flying broom, gripped the handles tightly with both hands, and with a push of his feet, he took flight!

"Be careful, young master! You should know that flying brooms are forbidden in China!" Lockhart's words came from the ground.

"What rule!" Moriarty nearly fell off his broom, but he still managed to ride it high into the air.

Drawing magic circles is a troublesome task, but the undead fire crow won't wait for him to finish drawing them.

Moriarty, lacking ranged magic, could only approach the two fire crows using his flying broom.

The first takeoff went surprisingly smoothly. Moriarty maintained his balance and tried to use his magic to make the broom go faster.

The two fire crows spotted Moriarty and, in a more human-like manner, sped up their pace.

Moriarty fired several petrifying beams from the air, but found it difficult to hit the fire crows; they were too fast.

Moriarty gritted his teeth and shouted at the ground, "Lockhart! Don't evacuate the snowmen! Run! Run! Get out of here!"

"What?" Lockhart sensed something was wrong and covered his mouth. "Oh, young master, what are you going to do?"

Moriarty ignored him, watched the fire crows' flight path, and pointed his staff at a mountain peak above them!

"Torn apart!"

The surging magic transformed into immense force, striking the mountaintop.

"Boom!"

The snow on the entire mountaintop rolled down like ocean waves, and the entire terrain collapsed due to the avalanche. The two fire crows had long been buried in the snow and ice.

The snowman no longer had to worry about being burned to death, but it ran even faster. Moriarty's attack caused a chain avalanche, sending down huge chunks of snow and ice.

However, the ancestors of the Yeti lived here for thousands of years, and their bloodline contains a method to deal with avalanches.

At least Moriarty heard their cries, which didn't sound as pitiful as when he was being chased by dwarfs.

Moriarty was relieved; as long as one Yeti survived, he could question him later.

Moriarty turned the broom handle around and swooped it down to the ground. Lockhart was running frantically, but he was clearly about to be swallowed up by the snow behind him.

"Lockhart! Grab my hand... Good, I've got you!"

Moriarty put Lohart on the broom, and the speed noticeably decreased. Seeing that the snow was about to cover the broom, Moriarty tried to apply a speed boost to the broom, and it actually worked.

"Whoosh!"

The broom became incredibly fast, cutting through the snowflakes swirling in the air and shaking off the massive, relentlessly pursuing snow.

Lockhart was overjoyed, as if he had won a battle: "Ha ha, yeah! We won! We defeated the avalanche!"

Moriarty looked toward the hilltop of another Yeti tribe, hoping that the people there were alright.

"Thump thump thump..."

A series of avalanches resounded through the sky, even triggering an earthquake!

Countless snow-capped mountains collapsed with a deafening roar!

Moriarty noted that this included the hilltop of another Yeti tribe.

The flying snowflakes and ice blocks obscured the night sky, and the deafening roar made Lockhart realize that this was no ordinary avalanche or earthquake.

He asked uneasily, "Young Master, it seems you hit a snow-capped mountain in the Himalayas?"

Moriarty did not answer; he simply watched the avalanche that blotted out the sky.

After a long time, everything fell silent.

Moriarty, perched on his broomstick with his arms crossed, glanced at Lockhart behind him: "Look, nature is merciless. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, would you believe that this unprecedented avalanche was caused by a splitting curse?"

Lockhart's eyes darted around a few times, and he thought he had grasped the hidden meaning in Moriarty's words.

"Ah, I understand, young master. You mean that apart from the two of us, no one saw you hit the snow mountain with the Split Spell? So as long as we don't say anything, no one will know that you did it!"

“No, Lockhart,” Moriarty said softly, “Why should I admit to not doing it? I saw it clearly. One of the undead fire crows crashed into the snow mountain, preparing a suicide attack to wipe out the Yeti tribe!”

Lockhart paused for a moment, then realized what he meant and clapped his hands in agreement, saying, "Yes, that's right! It's all the fault of the evil dark wizards!"

Moriarty didn't bring up the topic again; there were some things Lockhart should know, so he simply shook his index finger.

"What I want you to know is something else. Perhaps such natural disasters need to be triggered by humans, but as long as I have room to grow, it won't be long before I can use even more terrifying natural disaster-level magic."

Back then, I was the sole protagonist of that ice and snow ball!

Moriarty never misses an opportunity to learn magic. On his flight, he projects magic into the air, meticulously sensing the elements of ice and snow.

Unfortunately, the magic could not be taken back, and Moriarty could only get close to nature in this crude way.

He didn't glance at the snowdrift again, even though it might be the burial place of a Chinese wizard who had fought against a dark wizard.

Moriarty had no other choice at the time: he had only been exposed to magic for less than 24 hours, he did not know powerful ranged magic, and he could not fly.

Using an avalanche to stop the undead fire crows is the only way to protect the Yeti.

It can only be said that geographical factors are both an advantage and a disadvantage.

It both helped Moriarty fight the dark wizard and caused him to cause a massive avalanche.

Lockhart is right. This place is located in the Himalayas, and it is perfectly normal for a series of avalanches and earthquakes to occur. Moriarty was just a behind-the-scenes manipulator.

Compared to the unfortunate Chinese wizard, Moriarty felt that the Yeti was more important.

The reason is simple: the snowman is still useful, but the Chinese wizard is useless against him.

Lockhart realized this, and he stared fearfully at Moriarty's back, his mind filled with thoughts of how to prove his worth.

The flying broomstick beneath Lockhart suddenly made a creaking sound, and Lockhart cried out, "Oh no, young master, the broomstick is going to explode!"

Moriarty quickly maneuvered the broom to land, and thankfully, the broom cooperated, exploding as soon as Moriarty and the other man landed.

Moriarty swung his staff to bury the broken parts of the broom, the poor broom carrying the two of them through the avalanche, and then he added a little magic to it.

The Flying Broomstick is undoubtedly the hero among broomsticks!

However, remembering the speed-boosting spell he had added to the broom, Moriarty realized he needed to learn alchemy.

Lockhart watched silently from the side, puzzled: the young master showed no sympathy for the buried people, but instead sympathized with a broken broom?

Fortunately, after Moriarty identified the target, he found a way out of the snow-capped mountains and led Lockhart out. Otherwise, Lockhart would have had to consider whether to learn the Animagus technique.

Moriarty walked at a leisurely pace, the system's voice echoing in his mind: "Detected that the host buried three dark wizards alive, gaining a total of 2000 points."

After calculating his points, Moriarty had a total of 2600 points, which he planned to use in a suitable place.

When the two emerged from the snowfield, dawn was breaking. Lockhart was so exhausted he could barely walk, but Moriarty didn't feel anything particularly special.

During the journey, Moriarty learned that Lockhart was able to come to China thanks to the cruise ship "Isabella," and that he was able to come to Tibet thanks to a Chinese wizard codenamed "Wild Dog."

"Lockhart, go find the stray dogs, we're going back to England!"

The cabin had been destroyed by an avalanche, and the black box had long been taken into the system space by Moriarty. He had nothing else to cherish.

(End of this chapter)