The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 436 Hermione Granger's Accidental Encounter in Knockturn Alley (Part 2)

"Ouch!"

The girl bumped her head, and after regaining her balance, she rubbed her forehead and kept apologizing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Moriarty sized up the girl; she wasn't tall and looked like a freshman.

Her thick, fluffy brown hair and the way her front teeth were faintly visible when she spoke had already given Moriarty a clue as to her identity.

Hermione Granger.

Why is the good girl Hermione in Knockturn Alley?

Moriarty saw that Hermione looked panicked and her princess dress was slipping down, obviously because it had fallen off while she was running.

Is this... trouble?

Moriarty's idea was confirmed as soon as it appeared: an old witch rushed out of the shop diagonally opposite and chased after him.

When she saw Hermione stop, she assumed Hermione was in trouble again, as the probability of encountering a dark wizard in Knockturn Alley was much higher than the probability of Dumbledore not eating sweets.

"Hehehehe..."

The old witch's smile was utterly sinister. She held her wand and walked towards Hermione step by step.

"Little girl, you can't escape," the old witch said, staring at Hermione's lips with satisfaction, her eyes gleaming. "Look at those adorable front teeth, just like my babies'. Come here, come to me!"

Hermione was terrified when she heard the old witch's sweet voice and frantically hid behind Moriarty.

Hermione was clearly terrified of the old witch and couldn't even think straight—what if Moriarty was also a dark wizard!

But Hermione doesn't think that way now; she just wants to get away from the old witch.

As the old witch approached, a swarm of large black rats darted out of the shop, squeaking and running toward Hermione's feet.

"ah--"

Hermione screamed in fright.

It almost deafened Moriarty.

"stop!"

Moriarty used a silent spell on Hermione, and Hermione's mouth opened and closed, but she couldn't make a sound.

"You! You're a bad person too!?"

Hermione looked at Moriarty in horror. Before, she had only thought Moriarty looked like a normal person—compared to the other people in Knockturn Alley.

But seeing Moriarty use magic, Hermione felt as if she had just escaped one danger only to fall into another...

Moriarty deduced Hermione's words from her lip movements, but before he could speak, the old witch walked up to him.

"Sir? You'd better hand that girl over to me..." The old witch held up her wand, smiling maliciously.

But upon recognizing Moriarty, the old witch's smile froze. "Uh—Mr. Slytherin, I didn't know you were here..."

The old witch sheepishly put down her wand and slowly backed away.

Moriarty looked at her calmly, without saying a word, but the old witch dared not move.

"She's a new student at Hogwarts this year," Moriarty said, breaking the spell on Hermione. "If you did anything to her, you'd better tell us, or Hogwarts will have to do something to you."

The old witch waved her hands repeatedly. "I didn't do anything—I didn't even have time to do anything to the girl. Oh well, I just liked her front teeth and wanted to put them in my child, Shuo Shuo—but the girl ran away before I could. You might like them, though?"

The last sentence is Moriarty explaining her child, and for some reason, she pulled her child, Slug—a large Scottish rat—out of her clothes.

Moriarty blinked in disgust, and a small snake suddenly emerged from the ground and devoured the mouse in one gulp!

"Get out of here with your stinking rat!"

The old witch yelled and ran back to the shop in a panic, slamming the door shut behind her.

Several other shops nearby quickly closed, fearing Moriarty's wrath.

In the blink of an eye, only Moriarty and Hermione remained in the alley.

Hermione looked dazed, still reeling from the series of events that had just happened.

Moriarty raised an eyebrow at her: "Do you still think I'm a bad person?"

Hermione blinked and smiled sheepishly. "Um... I'm so sorry, sir, I... I... uh, I..."

She stammered for a long time without explaining herself, because what had just happened was a bit hard for a little girl who had just entered the world of magic to understand.

Moriarty turned and walked away, saying, "It's only natural for an 11-year-old girl to get into trouble in Knockturn Alley. Don't worry about it."

"But your parents need to take responsibility for this. This isn't a fun amusement park; they need to be with you at all times."

These words brought Hermione back to her senses a little, and she stamped her foot: "Oh no! My parents! I've gotten separated from them, how worried they must be!"

"Did you get separated?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded, then launched into a long explanation: "Today was supposed to be a happy day—our family came to Diagon Alley out of curiosity—is that what it's called? But there were just too many people, and my parents and I got separated!"

"Then I stumbled here, and there—that witch? Yes, that's her! She complimented my…front teeth. Nobody's complimented my front teeth in 11 years, not even my parents! They're dentists, and they're always grumbling about my teeth… Oh, and then, that witch tried to kill me! It was horrible, a swarm of rats came running up from underground!"

"I bumped into her and ran out, and then I met you! Oh, how lucky! By the way, I haven't told you my name yet—my name is Hermione Granger. What's your name?"

Hermione asked Moriarty, who seemed to have fully recovered.

Moriarty had witnessed Hermione's eloquence firsthand. Among the first-year students, there might be some who were more capable than Hermione, but there was definitely no one who could talk as well as Hermione!

"Moriarty."

Moriarty said it casually, without telling Hermione his last name.

Hermione found it strange and pressed, "Don't you have a surname? Oh, I'm sorry, can't you tell me your surname?"

Seeing Moriarty remain silent, Hermione coughed awkwardly twice: "Ahem, well, it's alright—are you also a Hogwarts student? You look much older than me, are you an upperclassman?"

They were almost at Diagon Alley when Moriarty suddenly turned to Hermione and said, "Your courage and thirst for knowledge are admirable, Miss Granger, but if I were you, I'd better find your parents first."

Hermione nodded repeatedly, her front teeth clearly visible as she spoke: "That's right, but I can't just rush to look for them, or they'll get lost again. Perhaps you could give me some advice?"

"At least you're using your brain now."

"Ahem," Hermione said, a little embarrassed, pursing her lips. "Thank you."

Moriarty led Hermione back into Diagon Alley, where people were still coming and going as usual.

Finding someone here is very difficult for strangers, but easy for people who know each other, since this is just one street.

Without even looking for him, Moriarty had already spotted Old Tom from the Leaky Cauldron, accompanied by a gentleman and a lady, asking around at each shop.

"Look there, Quidditch boutique." Moriarty pulled Hermione aside and gestured for her to look to the side.

"Daddy~"

"Mommy~"

Hermione cheered and ran over there.

He turned back to wave goodbye to Moriarty, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Moriarty!"

Moriarty nodded slightly in response, and Jericho's voice came from behind him, "Sir?"

"Why are you all out here?"

Moriarty turned around and saw Jericho and Soldaya, along with a group of his usual friends.

This year, their group has shrunk in size. Charlie Weasley graduated, and a large group of young lions who had a good relationship with Slytherin left.

Percy had brought the Weasley twins to Diagon Alley a few days earlier, so he didn't come.

As agreed, Jericho and his group waited for Moriarty at the Leaky Cauldron.

Jericho took a few steps forward and gestured towards Hermione, who was embracing her parents, with his chin: "Old Tom helped that girl's parents look for someone, so we came out with them. It looks like they've found the person they're looking for."

"That girl seems to know you, sir?" Jericho leaned closer to Moriarty, winking and making faces. He had just seen Hermione and Moriarty walking together. "But I must say, that girl is the least attractive of all the girls around you."

Hermione in first grade is indeed not to most people's aesthetic standards; the little girl hasn't fully matured yet.

Moriarty smiled and changed the subject: "Where's Marcus? Hasn't he arrived yet?"

Soldaya said, "Some classmates said that Marcus has arrived and he took Harry Potter to Gringotts."

Gringotts?

Moriarty narrowed his eyes slightly, and Jericho, thinking he was thinking about Harry Potter, said, "Shall we go to Gringotts to see the savior? I haven't met him yet!"

"Interesting. I'd like to meet him too," Soldaya's eyes flashed with a fierce light. "My greatest skill is stifling geniuses!"

"Come on," Jericho laughed. "I heard that after you said that at a pureblood family gathering, you got a beating from the master."

Soldaya blushed. "Damn it, who leaked the information? It must be that brat Draco!"

"Stop fooling around, let's go to Gringotts."

Moriarty made a decision, not to see Harry, but to ask the goblin a question.

He wanted to verify his guess again: had William returned to the country?

(No updates on Wednesday and Thursday, same on Friday)

(End of this chapter)