The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Hermione and Moriarty were together at this time.

They were at the House of Requirement.

Lilith and Fleur were also present here.

After the trial, Hermione reiterated her desire to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts to Moriarty.

So Moriarty took Hermione to the Room of Requirement.

Meanwhile, Hermione was very curious about the Gryffindor sword, but Lilith told her that she had only pulled the sword out, not that she owned it.

"The Gryffindor sword and the Sorting Hat disappeared after the trials," Lilith shrugged and said. "I suspect they can fly away."

"Well, that's a shame," Hermione pouted regretfully, but her eyes lit up again. "Lilith, your shapeshifting is amazing! When can I reach your level?"

"Maybe...perhaps...who knows," Lilith murmured, "it might take another three to four years?"

Transfiguration is a very difficult form of magic, and Hermione's Animagus training is one branch of it.

Only a very few wizards can master Animagus in a few years, but Hermione has the guidance of Professor McGonagall and Lilith.

Moriarty's heart skipped a beat. Lilith's control over time was extremely precise. Didn't that mean that in another three or four years, Hermione would be able to become a cat-eared girl?

Hehe, I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Moriarty's mind began to wander. He knew that since Tonks graduated, he had been missing a Playboy Bunny.

Little Hermione, grow up quickly!

Moriarty gave Hermione a meaningful look.

Hermione subtly squeezed her legs together and pursed her lips upon contact, her tongue involuntarily moving inside her mouth, struggling to keep herself from blushing.

"So, this is the classroom?" Hermione looked around the Room of Requirement, steer the conversation back on track, "We can learn Moriarty's magic here from now on?"

"Call your classmates to the Magic Item Shop on Saturday afternoon. Let's discuss this," Moriarty nodded slightly. "We need to confirm the study time, contact information, and the list of participants."

"Okay, Moriarty, brother." Hermione nodded happily, her dark eyes sparkling.

Moriarty's words conveyed a sense of trust, which made Hermes feel valued and as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

"I'll head out now, bye-bye~"

Hermione sensed that Moriarty had something to say to Lilith and the others, so she said goodbye and left happily.

After the door to the Room of Requirement closed, Lilith took out the Sorting Hat from behind her back.

"Here you go," Lilith handed the hat to Moriarty. "Didn't you want to talk to the hat?"

Lilith lied to Hermione just now, but it was also to cover her tracks.

The Gryffindor sword did indeed disappear after Lilith used it, but the Sorting Hat did not; Lilith kept it.

Because Moriarty had something to say to the Sorting Hat.

Moriarty took the Sorting Hat, lifted it up, and looked straight up at the eyes on it.

"Hey, Slytherin, should I say that's polite or rude?" said the hat with a stern face.

"You'll get used to it," Moriarty smiled, then became serious. "I might be leaving Hogwarts for a while..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Sorting Hat interrupted him, yelling, "What? You're leaving? Didn't you hear the Sorting Song I sang? You're leaving!"

"It's over, it's over, Hogwarts is doomed!"

The hat seemed to have originally been a hunched old man, but after hearing Moriarty's words, he became furious, straightened his back, and shouted loudly and relentlessly.

Moriarty gently shook his hat. "Let me finish."

"When Slytherin left Hogwarts, did Hogwarts split up? Did it collapse?"

"So you have to believe in Hogwarts; even if one Slytherin leaves, it won't break apart."

"Because the students are all heirs of Slytherin!"

"Hogwarts will never end."

The hat was tilted to one side, as if lost in some kind of memory.

Moriarty added, "Perhaps it really comes to that, and my leaving Hogwarts will be for the sake of Hogwarts' unity."

"Alright," the hat-wearing man sighed heavily, "what do you need me to do?"

"I want you to tell the portraits, statues, armor, ghosts, and oh, Peeves in the castle, to wait for my return."

Moriarty smiled and said that these were all indispensable parts of Hogwarts, and that they were a force to be reckoned with.

"No problem," the hat agreed. "It's rare that you still remember Peeves; he seems to have disappeared lately."

"Haha, maybe it's plotting a big prank somewhere."

Meanwhile, Hermione quickly found Hannah after she came out.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you for ages," Hannah said sullenly.

"Hmm..." Hermione's eyes darted around. "I was so hungry, I drank some milk first."

"Oh, let's go eat." Hannah naively believed her; she knew Hermione especially loved drinking milk and drank it almost every day.

Back in the Great Hall, Hermione immediately began her operation.

She was a woman of action and managed to unite a large group of young wizards.

On Saturday, Hermione gathered a group of young wizards together.

Everyone was chattering excitedly and curiously, which made Hermione's head spin.

"Can you guys be quiet for a second?" Hermione said sternly. "You don't want to leave a bad impression on Moriarty, do you?"

The crowd quieted down, and Harry raised his hand: "Granger, everyone's talking about how to get to Hogsmeade."

"Only students in their third year or above who have signed the consent form are allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

"Yes, yes, I'm only in second grade this year."

"Me too."

Many younger students stepped forward from the crowd.

They lack a solid foundation and are the ones most eager to find a good teacher.

Hermione was stunned, and broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

She forgot about that!

When Moriarty said to go to the Miracle Shop, she assumed that they would walk there, forgetting that many of her classmates couldn't go to Hogsmeade at all!

Faced with her classmate's question, Hermione completely panicked.

"Merlin, what have I done?!"

"Did I ask Moriarty for help because I wanted to learn magic, or because I wanted to make contact with him?"

Hermione realized that she cared too much about Moriarty, and that she became a little fool whenever Moriarty was involved.

"Look at my dear little darlings~ What are you all doing, sneaking together like this?"

A sweet, cloying voice rang out from behind the group.

Hermione and her friends were on high alert, their eyes filled with fear.

They all recognized the voice; it was Umbridge!

Sure enough, when they turned around, they saw a person standing in the shadows behind them!

However, to Hermione and the others' surprise, Filch's voice came from behind them again!

"It's Saturday, you guys aren't planning on sneaking out to play at Hogsmeade, are you?"

"I'm going to hang you all up!"

"Snapped!"

There was also the sound of whips cracking!

"Filch!!!"

"Waaaaah..."

The little wizards were so frightened they cried.

One of the lion cubs, a first-grader named Colin Crevey, was so frightened that he dropped his newly bought camera.

Umbridge and Filch have them cornered here!

Hermione's heart pounded. She regained her usual wit, but all she could think about was how to protect Moriarty after being exposed.

So much so that Hermione didn't see the person hiding in the shadows, who didn't resemble Umbridge at all.

Fortunately, some of the students in this group were upperclassmen.

Wood Oliver saw the person in the shadows and curled his lip: "Can you guys look closer? He's clearly a boy!"

"And he's tall and thin, clearly an imposter—only the Weasley twins would do something like this to scare students!"

As soon as he finished speaking, "Umbridge" and "Filch" burst into laughter at the same time.

Then George and Fred emerged from the shadows.

"Wood, what brings you here?"

"Shouldn't you, a training fanatic, be sweating it out on the court?"

"If it weren't for you, our disguise could have lasted a few more minutes."

At this point, Hermione and the others also realized what was happening.

A false alarm!

Wood said with a smile, "I missed out on the Hogwarts pure-blood army back then, and I don't want to miss out again now."

"Well said."

George and Fred approached Hermione in a coordinated manner.

"Granger, we have been sent to help you and take you to Hogsmeade."

"Did Moriarty make arrangements beforehand?" Hermione looked up, both surprised and delighted.

"Of course, who do you think he is?" George said casually as he walked, leading the way.

Fred picked up the broken camera from the ground, fixed it with a restoration charm, and returned it to Colin Crevy, saying, "Take this; you're a Gryffindor, after all."

"Yes! Senior~" Colin nodded vigorously, his eyes blurry with tears.

"Senior Weasley, do you have any way of getting so many of us to Hogsmeade?"

George and Fred turned around at the same time; it was Harry.

"Come with us."

"I didn't want to tell you."

"However, since Mr. Moriarty has spoken..."

"Then I'll show you our latest discovery."

"A secret passage!"

"A direct route from the castle to Hogsmeade!"

Under the adoring gazes of the students, the Weasley twins led them toward Hogsmeade.

On the way, Neville said to Harry, "I dare say my teacher has figured out all the secret passages in the school. I'm determined to learn them."

"Huh?" Harry asked in surprise. "Don't you like reading in the library?"

"But don't you want to become a warrior?" Neville clenched his fist. "Even if you can't become a warrior, don't you want to pass the headmasters' tests?"

Harry lowered his head and didn't speak, but a voice kept telling him in his mind.

Yes, I think so.

Yes, I think so.

Yes, I really, really want to!

(The Chinese New Year is almost here! The Chinese New Year is almost here!)