The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 563 At the Miracle Item Shop

Since arriving at Hogwarts, Harry has dreamed of becoming a highly skilled wizard.

All the young wizards at Hogwarts knew that, apart from the Hogwarts professors, only by following Moriarty could they learn real skills.

However, Harry struggled to complete the assignments and study tasks given by the professor.

Not to mention taking the extra time to consult Moriarty.

"Perhaps there's a place for me at Larpo's?"

Harry suddenly had this thought.

The wizards of the Gamp lineage had been writing to him.

Fudge even promised Harry that he would become an Auror as soon as he graduated.

Harry shook his head.

"Let's talk about it after I see Moriarty."

He still had feelings for Slytherin; he was one of the ones who received special attention on the Quidditch team.

Jericho, Marcus, and the other players taught Harry many ball skills.

Harry couldn't help but recall the scene of himself flying through the air on a flying broomstick.

"Harry, are you spacing out?"

Neville's voice rang out, startling Harry awake. The group turned left and entered Hogsmeade village, with Harry lagging behind.

"Are we here already?" Harry caught up with Neville, looking around with curiosity.

"Of course," Neville said excitedly, "I've memorized this secret passage, so we can come out and play often in the future."

"Good idea." Harry huddled up, and a gust of wind blew, making their hair obscure their eyes.

"Where are we going?" Neville asked Hermione. "The Three Broomsticks?"

"Oh—no," Hermione, interrupted and startled, glanced at Neville. "Of course not. It's always packed and incredibly noisy there. Let's go to the Miracles Shop."

Neville felt uneasy being seen like this; why did Hermione's aura resemble that of her teacher?

"So it's the Magic Item Shop," Neville said knowingly. "That makes sense; that's the teacher's territory."

Knowing their destination, no one asked any more questions. The Weasley twins led the group past the Three Broomsticks Bar, the Joker Joke Shop, the post office, and to the Miracles Shop.

As expected, Marcus greeted the team, saying, "Come with me."

The Weasley twins didn't go in; they were going to buy some ingredients from Joko's joke shop—there were more and more students skipping school lately, and the supply was a bit insufficient.

Inside the shop, Moriarty had cast a spell on it.

The shelves were placed against the wall, and a large open space was filled with chairs, making it look like a discussion forum.

Moriarty, Lilith, Fleur, Jericho, Krum, and Soldaya sat in the center area.

"Everyone, please sit down and let's talk," Moriarty said kindly. "Marcus, could you please get everyone a drink: beer, soft drink, anything is fine."

The shop has an underground wine cellar where Narcissa keeps a collection of fine wines.

Wood clapped his hands and walked over: "Then I won't stand on ceremony, I'm old enough to drink."

Several upperclassmen from Ravenclaw nodded in agreement, while the lowerclassmen let out a few regretful sighs.

"We can only drink beverages now, how about Coke? Have you ever had Coke?" a Muggle-born wizard asked his friend.

The young wizards chatted and sat down. Neville wanted to sit next to Moriarty, but Hermione beat him to it and squeezed him to the side.

???

Neville was completely bewildered. "You stole my teacher?"

Hermione pretended not to see and rummaged through a small bag.

Lilith was thoroughly amused, and she also noticed that there were fewer girls than boys in this group.

This is quite a rare thing.

"Someone's charm seems to have faded," Lilith whispered to Moriarty.

"Who said that?" Moriarty looked himself over a few times as if he were looking at himself. "Didn't you see Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley?"

"And Gabrielle!" Fleur chimed in. "She gets along really well with the Gryffindor junior."

As the older sister, Fleur said her younger sister enjoyed herself at Hogwarts.

A meaningful glint flashed in Lilith's eyes. "You've changed, Moriarty. Didn't you used to like Senior Sister?"

Marcus brought over drinks, and after downing the beverages and beer, the conversation gradually quieted down. Everyone's eyes were on Hermione.

"Um," Hermione said, her voice slightly higher than usual because of nervousness, "um—uh—hello everyone."

Moriarty gave her a thumbs-up, and Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Well... cough, you all know why we're here. It's because I've come up with an idea—if anyone wants to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts—I mean, learn the real stuff, not the garbage that Umbridge taught us—"

Hermione got into character, and her voice suddenly became much firmer and more assertive.

"Nobody cares if that thing is called Defense Against the Dark Arts; she just applies the Ministry of Magic's bullshit theories by rote. I think we might as well, well, solve the problem ourselves."

She paused, glanced at Moriarty, and continued, "What I mean is learning how to effectively protect yourself—practicing real spells, you understand, right?"

These words elicited agreement, and Hermione happily continued, "That's the plan. If you want to join, we'll need to figure out how to do it, how often to meet, where to meet... and other such questions."

After Hermione finished speaking, Wood immediately chimed in, "Of course I want to join! Mr. Moriarty ran a similar organization, the Hogwarts Pureblood Army, which is very famous."

The older students nodded in agreement, while Jericho and Soldaya proudly raised their heads.

The Hogwarts Pureblood Army was founded by Moriarty in his second year, and its main force at the time consisted of older snakes.

Moriarty is now a third-year student, and the older Aurors have graduated—they went to Lockhart's Black Auror Squad. The current Hogwarts pure-blood team needs to be replenished.

Wood's eager eyes said it all; he wanted to join.

The older students all had the same goal, but it was the younger students who showed signs of unease.

"I said, you can join the Pureblood Army even if you're not a pureblood?" Zacharias Smith raised his hand; he was a second-year student at Badger Academy.

Soldaya was disappointed to see that Cedric was not among the Badger House students.

"Nobody forced you to join," Soldaya muttered.

Moriarty noticed that there were quite a few half-blood wizards among them and smiled gently.

"I don't care about bloodline, and many people know that."

"I'm not recruiting for the Hogwarts pure-blood army today."

"If you absolutely must give our group a name, then call it the Hogwarts Army."

Some students, including Zacharias Smith, relaxed. Wood scratched his head and said, "Whatever the name, Mr. Moriarty is our teacher, right?"

Everyone looked at Moriarty; more than the name, learning magic was their true desire.

Moriarty met everyone's gaze and nodded without hesitation: "Umbridge is not a competent professor. What she can teach, I will teach; what she cannot teach, I can also teach."

Hermione immediately said, "I can attest that I am learning Animagus from Moriarty and Lilith."

Several girls immediately started asking Hermione questions, chattering away, with Ginny being the loudest.

Hannah's eyes were as wide as Galleon's.

So every time you disappeared, it was with Moriarty?

Although Hannah didn't say anything, Hermione felt that was what Hannah meant.

Hermione had to pull a parchment scroll and a pen from her small bag.

“I want everyone to write down their names so we know who’s here today. I also think,” she took a deep breath, “that we should all agree not to publicize what we’re going to do. So once you sign, you’re agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anyone else about what we’re doing.”

"Of course, no problem." Wood snatched the paper and pen, seemingly unable to wait any longer.

He quickly signed it and then passed it on to the next person.

Hermione seemed surprised and delighted that things went so smoothly.

Finally, the paper and pen were passed back, and Moriarty took them from Hermione. "I'll add a few more men; they're absolutely reliable, don't worry."

"They must be Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's friends," Hermione replied quickly.

"Regardless of who his opponent is, Mr. Moriarty's reputation remains strong," Soldaya said meaningfully.

"Alright," Moriarty said after finishing writing, "The class will be once a week. This frequency is acceptable to everyone. I will use this to inform you of the specific time and place."

Jericho took out the badges he had prepared beforehand.

The group realized that it was just an ordinary Hogwarts badge, exactly the same as the badge in the letter that invited them to enroll.

"Well then, I'll take my leave," Wood said to Moriarty with a satisfied and respectful smile. "I'll go buy some protective gear while the Quidditch boutique is still open."

Moriarty nodded slightly, and the others got up and left one after another.

(End of this chapter)