The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 477 The Influence Spreads to the World

"You're saying Ron might be Voldemort!" Lilith exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise.

"Keep your voice down," Moriarty glanced at the student sitting at the front of the classroom. "I'm just speculating; I need more evidence... There's never been a precedent for Horcruxes made using a human as a vessel."

During Charms class, Moriarty, Lilith, and Jericho sat alone at a table at the back of the classroom.

Lilith leaned closer to Moriarty, who could smell her delicate fragrance. She said, "Ron wasn't home on the day of the Azkaban breakout. I also suspected Ron was involved, but you're saying he's Voldemort's Horcrux, which is a very serious accusation."

Lilith, who was familiar with the law, frowned. Wizards were quite particular about human rights, and even the most heinous criminals would not be sentenced to death.

For example, the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange was even more wicked than the criminals Professor Binns recounted in history.

But she wasn't sentenced to death, which is a signal—wizards are rarely sentenced to death, and even when they are, it's usually just for show.

Horcruxes are a form of black magic that violates human rights, not to mention using a living wizard as a vessel to create a Horcrux.

Even if Moriarty testified, no one would believe him.

Professor Flitwick transformed into many soft cushions and placed them on the ground. The spell they were to practice today was the exact opposite of the summoning spell—the banishing spell.

Because flying objects around in the classroom could easily cause accidents, Professor Flitwick gave each student a large number of soft mats for practice, so that even if they strayed off course, they wouldn't get hurt.

This is a good idea; it gives Moriarty and Lilith space to chat privately.

"So? If Ron can expose himself, it will save us a lot of trouble," Moriarty said casually as he flicked away a box of matches.

Lilith casually flicked away the flying match, winked, and said, "Then you'll focus your attention on me and my justice and laws, because Percy Weasley can legitimately get close to Ron."

"I need to clarify this point. When the mutual aid foundation and insurance were mentioned, I didn't suspect Ron," Moriarty said thoughtfully. "You reminded me, and then I realized a detail I had overlooked."

"What?"

"Sirius is dead!" Moriarty's eyes gleamed. "If Voldemort finds out that he killed Sirius and also created a fragment of his soul, wouldn't it be less surprising that Ron became a Horcrux?"

Lilith understood and nodded, saying, "That makes perfect sense."

"What troubles us more than Ron is," Moriarty sighed, "that once Voldemort discovers he has the ability to turn living people into Horcruxes, who do you think will be next?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

The match flew out of the window with a bang, and Moriarty had expelled it from the classroom.

Moriarty had always focused on the Immortal Organization, but Voldemort was like a disgusting centipede.

Even a centipede that has died does not stiffen.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lilith took action that afternoon.

Members of the Justice Law, clad in pure white wizarding robes, promote mutual aid foundations at Hogwarts.

"We are a purely non-profit organization!"

"We don't make a profit; it's you, not me, who makes the profit!"

"For just one copper coin, you'll receive plenty of Galleons to help you out of trouble when you need it."

By nightfall, more than 7% of the young wizards had joined the mutual aid foundation.

Percy used three large boxes to carry away the coins that each person paid a penny as membership fee.

"Merlin, I've never seen so much money!"

In an empty classroom, Percy stared blankly at the box.

Lilith led the female members in; they were going to count the money, exchange it for Galleons at Gringotts, and then deposit it back in.

But Lilith waved her hand dismissively.

"Wait, we're not going to deposit this money in Gringotts," Lilith told the members. "I have a safer place. The Ministry of Magic will set aside a room for us specifically for storing donations raised by the Foundation."

"Wow!" Percy's voice trembled with excitement. "The department supports our mutual aid foundation? I swear this is the best news I've ever heard!"

Lilith said to the career-minded member, "I was just about to tell you that promoting the Mutual Aid Foundation to the wizarding world will be your focus going forward."

"We want to go global, we want to unite wizards all over the world." Lilith's eyes gleamed with ambition.

Percy, preoccupied with his ambition to become an official, failed to see Lilith's aspirations. He excitedly imagined himself negotiating with officials from the Ministry of Magic.

Percy patted his chest and assured him that there would be no problem handing it over to him.

This was also Moriarty's choice; in fact, Moriarty would have felt more at ease having Gemma do it.

However, Percy has one advantage over Gemma: he is a purebred.

The Weasleys may be poor, but they are a pure-blood family, more genuine than gold.

Otherwise, the pure-blood school board members in the original story wouldn't have urged Dumbledore to return to Hogwarts as soon as they heard that the Weasleys' daughter had been murdered.

Because they knew that if members of the Weasley family were attacked by the Basilisk, it meant that purebloods would also be attacked, so they certainly had a chance of being attacked.

Even if you don't respect the monks, respect the Buddha.

It's clear that Percy would face fewer obstacles than Gemma in promoting the Mutual Aid Foundation at the Ministry of Magic.

Lilith's grandfather, Old Pilivik, also used his influence to secretly negotiate with several directors.

The room where the foundation's funds are stored was also arranged by old Pilivik.

Moriarty also shared a vision for the future with Lilith: the Ministry of Magic would establish a new department specifically to manage the finances of the magical world.

Of course, the establishment of the new department not only requires the efforts of the ruling family, but also Lockhart's involvement.

These are all Moriarty's future plans, such as establishing a financial system managed by wizards themselves, according to his ideas.

This is tantamount to stripping Gringotts of its status; it's a policy entirely aimed at fairies.

So far, with the ruling families secretly colluding, and with the Galleon offensive from the Flint and Foley families under Moriarty's command, the Mutual Aid Foundation has truly taken off!

In just one week, mutual aid foundations became the hottest topic among British wizards.

Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are filled with wizards talking about mutual aid foundations.

The entry threshold is too low, only one copper nut is needed!

This made it possible for even the poorest wizard to afford a single copper coin.

Some people were just there to watch the show and see what these kids could do.

Because the law does not publish specific rules for obtaining donations.

There's also the question of how "dilemma" is defined.

For example: I encounter a dark wizard, does this count as a predicament? If so, how can the mutual aid foundation help me? If I contribute money, how much will I receive?

For example: I drank a substandard potion, and my body underwent strange changes. I went to St. Mungo's Hospital for treatment. Would that be considered a predicament?

Countless doubts were sent as letters, like snowflakes carried by owls, to the members of the righteous law enforcement team.

"My Merlin!" Lilith sighed, touching her golden hair. "My team and I receive an average of 3500 letters a day—at this rate, I'll go bald sooner or later!"

In the Slytherin common room, Lilith had a sofa all to herself, and no one approached her because it was piled high with letters, and no one was afraid of knocking them over.

Meanwhile, Moriarty was not idle either. He wrote down some of the rules of the foundation from his previous life to help Lilith improve the mutual aid foundation.

Moriarty's motto was that if you're going to do something, you have to do it perfectly and flawlessly!

Another week later, Justice Law published the specific rules and details on how to define "dilemma".

Lilith publicly stated that the mutual aid foundation is a non-profit, purely charitable organization, and every donation raised will be provided to wizards in need in accordance with the law.

It's inevitable that some malicious sorcerers will slander the mutual aid foundation, secretly misappropriate assets, and allow managers to line their own pockets.

Lilith directly addressed the issue in the Daily Prophet: "I and all the administrators of the Mutual Aid Foundation are willing to allow representatives from Wizengamo and the International Magical Association to inspect the accounts and publish detailed information about every donation and beneficiary."

All sound was immediately silenced.

Percy also achieved a small success at the Ministry of Magic—the Ministry allowed the Mutual Aid Foundation to set up an office within the Ministry, although it consisted of only a cubicle and a small desk, Percy was quite satisfied.

Percy, who had never seen such a large amount of Galleons before, became envious. He subtly suggested to Lilith that she could take some without anyone noticing.

Lilith firmly rejected him: "The mutual aid foundation isn't about making money. You need to think long-term. This is only a small amount; the real money is yet to come!"

Percy was confused and didn't bring it up again; he was determined to stick with Pillivik.

He was unaware that Moriarty was the mastermind, and Moriarty soon assigned the insurance business to Percy.

Percy, somewhat bewildered, found Lavender Brown and, following the script Lilith had given him, successfully made Lavender Brown the first beneficiary of the insurance policy.

"Miss Lavender Brown was groped by Ron the Pervert, but luckily, she purchased our insurance—Self-Defense Insurance!"

"She purchased ankle insurance, and we must compensate Miss Lavender Brown for that!"

"We first took her to St. Mungo's Hospital for a full check-up at our own expense. After confirming that Ron the lecher had not caused her any harm, we bought Miss Lavender Brown a new outfit and provided her with brand-new ankle protection—"

"We compensated her with a anklet made by the master Nicolas Flamel—with a wolves-proof charm that would protect Miss Lavender Brown from being groped by lecherous men again."

Percy promotes his work wherever he goes.

Completely disregarding the fact that Ron was his own brother, he kept calling him a pervert.

It caused a great stir at Hogwarts, especially when Lavender Brown appeared in a new outfit from the Outerwear store, which made some girls both envious and jealous.

More importantly, the ankle and wrist guards have proven effective in protecting against wolves through practical experience.

This also made Moriarty think that insurance brings policyholders something that money can't buy: vanity.

However, the amount paid for insurance varies depending on the coverage, and young wizards are rarely willing to spend large sums of Galleons on insurance.

This also spurred Percy to continue his tireless promotional efforts.

Upon witnessing this scene, Lilith smiled at Moriarty and said, "You really see through him. When I first met him, I only thought he was opportunistic, but I never expected him to disregard family ties."

Moriarty shook his head and said, "Percy is just too focused on money and power; he's not someone who neglects his family."

It's worth mentioning that insurance is not a public service, but a profit-making activity. As more and more wizards bought insurance, Percy also earned commissions.

Because of the nature of insurance, its implementation is slower than that of mutual aid foundations.

On Saturday at the Three Broomsticks bar, Moriarty, Lilith, and Jericho were discussing how to resolve this issue.

Moriarty smiled and looked at Jericho.

"It's your turn to make a move this time."

“Of course,” Jericho raised his butterbeer to the two of them, “how could I miss out on such a good thing?”

(End of this chapter)