The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 50 Hunting the Vampire and the Old Witch (Please add to your favorites!)

A large black cabinet in the Boginbock shop creaked open, and Moriarty stepped out.

Moriarty quickly looked around. The dimly lit and spacious shop was deserted, and nothing here could possibly be on the Hogwarts shopping list.

To the right of the vanishing cabinet is an old stone fireplace, next to which, on a cushion in a glass box, lies a withered human hand, a stack of bloodstained playing cards, and a lifeless glass eyeball.

"The Hand of Glory. Only the one who holds it can see the light of the candle." Moriarty walked gently to the hand. Ingo had wanted to buy it, but Mr. Bogin refused to sell it.

Moriarty should leave before Mr. Borgin discovers him. Although Mr. Borgin is also a dark wizard, Moriarty has no intention of harming him.

As he walked past the glass display case, Moriarty noticed two dead beetles on an opal necklace—poor little creatures.

The tag on this necklace should now be changed to: "Caution: Do not touch, it has been cursed—it has already taken the lives of nineteen Muggles and two insects."

"Heh heh," Moriarty chuckled as he walked out of the shop. Before the doorbell could ring loudly, Moriarty had already reached a dirty alley.

Moriarty looked around. On both sides were shops selling dark magic. In front of a shop selling poison candles, there was an old wooden street sign with "Knockout Lane" written in blood.

The wizards in Knockout Lane were all ragged, hooded, and glaringly evil-looking black wizards. They stared intently at Moriarty and whispered amongst themselves.

"System, how many points will I get if I kill those two dark wizards?" Moriarty turned his gaze to a shop whose window displayed some shrunken human heads in a sinister manner, and two men stood at the door.

52 points.

Moriarty instantly lost interest in killing them; he couldn't have come to Knockturn Alley just to deal with two small fry.

Perhaps the two dark wizards noticed Moriarty's disdain, because they swaggered over.

"He's a new face, buddy!"

These words seemed to send a signal, and more and more dark wizards approached Moriarty, their faces bearing malicious smirks.

Moriarty, disdaining to get entangled with these lowly thugs, strode into the depths of the alley.

"Are you lost, darling?"

Suddenly a shrill voice rang in his ears, and an old witch appeared before Moriarty, holding a dish that looked exactly like a whole set of dead man's fingernails.

"A werewolf's fingernails? These are quite rare." Moriarty glanced at them a few more times and silently asked the system how many points he would get for killing this old witch.

300 points.

Moriarty smiled with satisfaction, his gaze towards the old witch taking on a strange look: "You look just like my Aunt Patty. Can you take me out of here?"

The old witch instinctively sensed that something was wrong with Moriarty, but she had lived in Knockturn Alley for decades and had seen all sorts of people!

Then she glanced at Moriarty, revealing moss-covered teeth: "Come with me, I'll take you out. You look at least forty years old. Is this your first time in Knockturn Alley?"

In order to gain Moriarty's trust, the old witch took the lead and walked ahead.

Moriarty followed, replying, "I'm Italian. I came to Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley to accompany my wife to buy Mr. Lockhart's novels, but somehow we got separated. Oh Merlin, there's nothing more difficult to use than Floo Powder! I'm lost! Actually, I've been wanting to use the Portkey, but my wife won't allow it—she's always so unreasonable!"

Moriarty acted like a clueless child, yet he seemed to genuinely believe the old witch to be his so-called Aunt Petty, pouring out his troubles.

Judging from his attire, he didn't seem like the nice guy he was supposed to be.

This eeriness caused the dark wizards who had wanted to follow to retreat, but a tall, thin man wrapped entirely in a black cloak still followed Moriarty at a distance.

The old witch led Moriarty into a cold, damp alley. The walls were covered in black blood and reeked of a foul stench. The old witch suddenly stopped and turned to look at Moriarty.

"Why did you stop walking, Auntie? Are you tired and want to rest?" Moriarty seemed quite engrossed in his role.

The old witch chuckled and said, "This is a dead end, why are you still going?"

Moriarty shrugged. "So you're ready to take me down? Ha, I'd love to see what's inside your withered brain."

The old witch was furious, glaring fiercely at Moriarty, but dared not make a move. Then a tall, thin man appeared behind Moriarty, and the old witch revealed her ugly teeth, laughing loudly, "Barlor, come with me and kill him! I'll buy back your werewolf nails for a high price!"

Upon hearing the old witch's terms for her companion, Moriarty turned to look at the tall, thin man behind him. It turned out that the werewolf's fingernails the old witch was holding were provided by him.

"Host detected encountering vampire. Mission issued: Kill the vampire! Reward: 500 points. Penalty: If the host falls into the hands of a vampire, he will grant the host an Embrace."

Moriarty drew his cedarwood wand. "Vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies, no wonder there's a supply of werewolf nail polish! Come, let me witness some vampire magic!"

The vampire Balor lifted his cloak, revealing his true face: a pale face with long black hair obscuring the corners of his eyes, whose pupils, like rubies, gleamed with a bloodthirsty, evil light.

He opened his mouth, revealing long, sharp fangs, stretched out his pale arms with protruding claws, and pounced on Moriarty!

Moriarty noticed that Balor was wearing a formal suit and a small black cloak underneath, and immediately recognized him: "So you're a viscount. No wonder you dare to come out in broad daylight. But your magical skills don't seem very high. Did you think I was a werewolf? Trying to fight me hand-to-hand?"

With a faint chuckle, Moriarty pointed his wand at the vampire: "Faint!"

"Snap!" The vampire's body transformed, and a swarm of bats let out strange cries, dodging the spell and continuing to pounce on Moriarty.

"This is getting interesting." Moriarty observed the situation while creating an ice wall to block the blood bats.

He remembered that vampires were born with good shapeshifting abilities; they could turn into bats, crows, and some could even become werewolves.

"Out of body!" The old witch seized the opportunity while Moriarty was observing and insidiously released an Imperius Curse from behind!

"Super armor protects you!" Moriarty first erected a protective barrier, then turned and pointed at the old witch: "Crush to pieces!"

The old witch threw down the bowl in her hand and leaped to the wall with the agility of a monkey. "Dispel your weapon! Stunned! The dragon has emerged from its cave!"

The way Moriarty unleashed three spells in quick succession impressed him. The first two spells shattered Moriarty's super strong armor, and the black snake summoned by the old witch was transformed into a giant snake by the old witch. Its eyes, as big as beer barrels, stared at Moriarty, and its fangs gleamed with venom as it lunged at Moriarty.

"Capture him quickly, Balor!" the old witch shouted to her vampire accomplice. "If you catch him, I'll allow you to make him your servant!"

"The blood of an 11-year-old boy doesn't taste very good," Balor's voice came from among the swarm of bats. "If it were a girl, I might consider it."

The old witch realized she'd been tricked and roared angrily, "A boy? Eleven years old? Using a different face to wreak havoc in the alley at such a young age, you're no better than him!"

Moriarty scoffed: "The reason why a nobody is a nobody is because no matter how much nonsense you spout, it won't change the fact that you're a nobody."

"As for you—" Moriarty glanced at the vampire with interest, the swarm of bats breaking through the ice wall and flying over again, "Since you've seen through me—I don't want to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet, so the game ends here."

A chilling aura emanated from Moriarty's wand, "Weeping Under the Snow."

Moriarty pronounced the name of the spell with a heavy tone, and surging water elemental magic surrounded him, expanding in concentric circles like the rising tide.

The old witch and Balor blinked uncomfortably, their vision blurring as they saw a vast expanse of ice and snow, from which the faint sounds of a little girl's sobs and mournful cries could be heard.

The two cries were not loud, but they were extremely penetrating. The old witch and Balor felt like their heads were about to explode. The old witch fell to the ground, rolling around, and muttering names that Moriarty could not understand.

As for the giant snake that the old witch conjured, it had already frozen into an ice sculpture and would turn into a pool of blood in just a few minutes.

Moriarty noticed that Balor had turned back into human form. Vampires might have slightly higher magic resistance, but they would still suffer mental torment. Balor covered his head with the small cloak, sobbing as he stumbled toward the alley entrance.

The first use of "Crying Under the Snow" was quite taxing for Moriarty. Seeing Balor escape, he simply released a knockout spell.

With a thud, Balor fell to the ground, hitting his head and bleeding, and several gold coins fell out.

Moriarty ignored this; he had no penchant for scavenging corpses, nor did he believe that a vampire and an old witch could possess any rare items.

Even if there were, could they compare to the collection in Slytherin Castle?

With absolute confidence, Moriarty coldly swept his gaze over the old witch and Balor, turning the werewolf fingernails scattered on the ground into greatswords.

In order to kill the vampire completely, Moriarty specially transformed one of the swords into a silver sword. With a wave of his wand, the silver sword fell and pierced Balor's head!

With a whooshing sound, several more silver swords pierced his heart and limbs.

Blood splattered everywhere, and Balor's skin quickly dried up. The old witch on the other side also became covered in blood, and the two greatswords nailed her to the ground like a cross!

"Ding-dong~ Congratulations on completing the mission, reward 500 points! The host has successfully killed the Black Witch in Knockout Alley, gaining 300 points."

"I'm just 200 points away from unlocking the blind box lottery. Maybe I can take another stroll around Knockover Alley?" Moriarty narrowed his eyes, his gray pupils reflecting the bloodstains on the ground.

Looking up at the sky, Moriarty knew it would be dinnertime soon. He abandoned his plan to continue hunting the dark wizard, cast "Blazing Flames" on the two corpses, and then went back to Borginborough. He chose a time when Mr. Borgin was not around and used the Vanishing Cabinet to return to the castle.

(End of this chapter)