The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 438 Hermione and Moriarty on the Train (Long Chapter, Please Subscribe)

Moriarty boarded the Hogwarts Express with Tonks and Violet, and the young wizards greeted him along the way.

Marcus has reserved a boardroom for Moriarty, as he does every year, and the young wizards are used to it.

Moriarty entered the private room, where Lilith, Penelope, and Gemma sat together, smiling sweetly at him.

Marcus closed the door and tactfully went to the adjacent private room, where Jericho and the others were waiting for him.

Now only Moriarty and five girls were left in the private room.

Moriarty started chatting with them, and soon the private room was filled with laughter and conversation.

With a whistle, the train slowly started moving, and as it pulled out of the station, Moriarty saw Mrs. Weasley waving goodbye through the window, her arm around her daughter.

Ron Weasley, the youngest son of the Weasley family, also enrolled in school this year.

If I remember correctly, there's going to be a good show on the train later.

Moriarty was referring to the conflict between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy in the original books, and Hermione Granger taking Neville Longbottom to find the toad.

It's also possible that it isn't.

After all, apart from Hermione, whose personality remained unchanged, the personalities of the other three had changed to varying degrees.

Especially Draco, after experiencing so many tragic things, he probably won't remain childish anymore.

And then there's Neville; the Neville we know now might surprise everyone.

Moriarty smiled slightly. Neville was someone he had personally mentored and was the most promising student in this cohort.

Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter both met the criteria for being the "Child of Prophecy," but Voldemort prioritized killing the Potters, which resulted in Harry being the one who killed Voldemort.

Moriarty believed from the beginning that Neville's potential was no less than Harry's, and Neville, after seeking revenge in Azkaban, fully unleashed the magic within him.

Perhaps his reactions are still slow, but he's not that little crybaby anymore.

"Knock knock...knock knock."

Marcus knocked on the door from the outside and said softly, "Sir, there's some news you might be interested in."

"Oh?"

Without even looking up, Moriarty said, "If you're referring to the news in The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, don't bother me while I'm enjoying the view."

The train is speeding along fields dotted with cattle and sheep.

Moriarty watched the fields and meadows pass by.

On the table in front of him were two newspapers spread out.

One of them is the Daily Prophet, which reported Moriarty's comments about fairy names made yesterday at Gringotts.

Another book is "The Quibbler," in which editor Lovegood once again describes Moriarty as a cunning wizard who is convinced that Moriarty will take action against fairies.

Tonks noticed that his junior was not very interested, so he played "Sing the Divergent" with his knuckles.

"Should we warn Mr. Lovegood? He's always stirring up trouble with baseless accusations; he's a master at riding the wave of popularity."

The other women were also indignant and said that a warning should be given.

Only Lilith remained silent. She stared at Moriarty's profile, blinking her eyes. Unlike other girls, she wasn't love-struck.

Lilith thought Lovegood was a genius; he always got to the point, just like this time—Lilith also felt that Moriarty would eventually target the fairies.

The girls inside the private room were having a lively discussion, while Marcus, standing outside, touched his nose.

Finally finding an opening, Marcus awkwardly said, "Sir, it's not about that. Do you remember that freshman named Hermione Granger from yesterday?"

Yes, it's her. Now everyone on the train knows that a girl named Hermione Granger is constantly looking for you.

Moriarty was slightly surprised. Hermione was looking for him? What was going on?

He finally looked away from the scenery, stood up, walked out of the box, and said to Marcus, "Let's go take a look."

The girls in the private room all had expressions that said, "This is going to be a good show."

Only Violet looked unhappy. "Another one! My master is going to be stolen away!"

Moriarty walked through the carriages of the board of directors' box and found a large group of people already gathered in the aisle.

Hermione wanted to go into the boardroom, but the snakes stopped her from entering.

Moriarty hadn't even gotten close when he heard Hermione's voice.

"Why won't you let me in? How many times do I have to tell you before you believe me? I really do know him—Moriarty Slytherin!"

"Look, I've said his full name, and I bet no other freshman knows it except me!"

Hermione had already changed into her Hogwarts robes and was wearing them. Her brown hair was fluffy, and as she spoke, her head bobbed up and down, her hair swayed slightly.

"Tell her to go back to her own box. It's really inappropriate for her to be making noise here," Moriarty instructed Marcus.

Marcus quickly found several Slytherin upperclassmen and persuaded Hermione to return to the regular box.

Moriarty then stepped out from behind the crowd and went into Hermione's box alone.

This is the last compartment at the very end of the train, and Hermione is the only passenger there.

Today was a busy morning for Hermione.

Last night, she went home and looked at magic books for a long time. Finally, among the books she had bought, such as "A History of Modern Magic," she found the full name of "Mr. Slytherin," which she had been longing to know.

The thought that the person who saved her was the famous wizard Moriarty made Hermione eager to see Moriarty again.

One factor was to express gratitude, and the other was Hermione's competitive spirit.

She desperately wanted to tell Moriarty to his face, "You wouldn't tell me your full name, and now I know it myself!"

With this feeling in mind, Hermione arrived at the platform early and searched the entire train but couldn't find Moriarty.

She was currently fuming in the private room, chewing on the chocolate frog she had bought from the car, lightly kicking the bottom of the seat opposite her with her feet, and complaining indignantly: "Why won't they let me in? Are there ranks among wizards? Humph."

But then Moriarty arrived. He gently pushed open the door and quietly appeared in Hermione's sight.

Hermione was so surprised that the chocolate frog she had been chewing fell out of her mouth.

"Oh no!" Hermione exclaimed, hurriedly throwing away the snacks and pulling her leg back. She thought: Moriarty saw everything she just did.

This made her feel embarrassed. She lowered her head and sat down obediently, completely losing her previous eloquence and imposing manner.

Moriarty sat down opposite Hermione, sizing up the young girl: "I heard everything you said in the hallway..."

Hermione immediately looked up.

"You're right, but very few wizards would make a scene in a train aisle."

"Really?" Hermione immediately retorted, "But when I walked over, I saw a pair of red-haired twins running wildly down the hallway—they almost knocked me over!"

She was referring to the Weasley twins.

Moriarty smirked. "Yes, that's true. But those two are exceptions—unless you want to spend the whole day playing pranks like them, inventing all sorts of weird and wonderful gadgets, okay, then I suggest you go home early, but that would be a huge disappointment."

My impression of Hermione Granger is that of an obedient, studious, and excellent student.

Hermione looked surprised and disappointed when Moriarty talked about what the Weasley twins had done, but she became excited again when she heard the last sentence.

"You have a good eye for people—no wonder those books say that. Of course, I bought some extra books."

Includes "A History of Modern Magic", "The Rise and Fall of Dark Magic", "Important Magical Events of the 20th Century", "Hogwarts: A History", "A Directory of Famous Contemporary Wizards", "European Assessment of Magical Education", and "World-Class Quidditch Players".

Hermione rattled off a long list of book titles, her eyes shining like stars.

"You're mentioned in all of these, especially in 'Hogwarts: A History' and 'World-Class Quidditch Player'! The former introduced me to your full name, and the latter showed me your keen eye!"

"One of the four pillars of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is Slytherin—no wonder you didn't tell me your last name!"

"And, you're a Quidditch superstar! Oh my god! They say you never pick the wrong teammates, who was it again? Roman? Jeremy? I can't remember, but anyway, you guys won the championship!"

Hermione recovered and excitedly recounted the information she had gained after a whole night of hard work.

Moriarty didn't interrupt her, waiting for Hermione to finish before saying, "Very few first-year students buy extra books; they can't get into them, and those books aren't cheap."

"Yes, yes," Hermione nodded slightly, then sighed, "Dad hesitated for a long time but still went to the dentist to buy it for me, so I definitely can't end up like those red-haired twins. I want to learn all the magic and become a wizard I can be proud of!"

Hermione spoke loudly as if to encourage him, her lips pressed tightly together, her eyes shining.

With a "whoosh!" the door to the private room was pulled open from the outside.

The Weasley twins' heads popped out from the outside.

"I heard someone here mention the red-haired twins."

"Who is calling us?"

Want to try our latest prank?

The two of them kept talking back and forth, leaving Hermione completely confused.

"Get out!" Moriarty snapped at them. "Don't you know it's impolite to just open a private room door like that?"

"Ah, it's Mr. Moriarty."

"I'm sorry, sir, we didn't know you were inside."

Bye-bye~

"See you at Hogwarts!"

"Whoosh!" The door to the private room was slammed shut again.

The Weasley twins came and went quickly, giving Hermione a vivid lesson.

"Do you want to be like them?" Moriarty asked, staring at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head vigorously, as if trying to avoid it.

Moriarty said meaningfully, "You will make the right choice, Granger."

Hermione clearly didn't understand. She looked at Moriarty and said, "People respect you so much. I never imagined that I would be saved by the most famous wizard on my first day in the wizarding world."

“Speaking of the most famous wizard,” Moriarty chuckled, “it would be Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart.”

"Yes, yes," Hermione said as if she remembered something, "I saw Mr. Lockhart's name in two books, 'Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century' and 'Directory of Famous Contemporary Magicians.' It's a pity he was a professor last year."

"Speaking of books, some books are both pretentious and impractical. Don't buy that book 'World-Class Quidditch Player' too often. If you want to understand Quidditch, just read the Daily Prophet."

Moriarty and Hermione started chatting, but there was another knock on the box door.

"Hello, may I come in?"

Moriarty realized it was Neville's voice.

When Hermione opened the door, Neville walked in.

He was quite surprised to see Moriarty and explained, "Oh, sir—I didn't know you were here. I had intended to visit you, but I lost my toad, so I had to find it first."

Moriarty hadn't expected that Neville's toad would still be lost!

(End of this chapter)