The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 59: End of the Semester (Please continue reading!)

Moriarty stayed in the Chamber of Secrets for an hour before emerging, followed by the students. As they walked out of the underground passage, they saw the Sorting Hat hanging on the Slytherin staff, Fawkes standing on the brim, Peeves floating beside Fawkes, and a large group of ghosts, including Barrow the Blood, floating quietly in the air.

Sunlight refracted through the ghosts' bodies, turning them grayish-white, and flickered as they drifted.

A ray of sunlight shone on Fawkes, making him appear as if he were on fire, his radiance mirroring the silver light emanating from the Slytherin staff.

"Magical creatures and humans live in harmony and peace—this is Hogwarts! I would call it the most beautiful painting of the year!" Tonks exclaimed suddenly.

Moriarty suggested, "I think we should be included in this painting. We brought stories and light to Hogwarts."

The young wizards nodded in agreement, and Bill shouted from the end of the line, "I know there's a kind of camera in the Muggle world that lets you see the picture immediately after taking it. I wish we had one of those cameras so we could have a group photo."

Bill was the only student not wearing a suit, but that didn't diminish his good looks at all. His words resonated with William and the other seventh-graders, who graduated a few months later.

Moriarty and Dumbledore noticed the seventh-year students' low spirits, their eyes flickered, and at the same time, an idea came to them.

After the Chamber of Secrets incident, the students plunged into an intense review period, with a large amount of homework taking up all their spare time. However, Moriarty still took the time to write a letter to Lockhart, asking him to publish the matter of the Chamber of Secrets and the Slytherin heir in the Daily Prophet.

Three days later, on the front page of The Daily Prophet.

Article 1: The Truth of the Chamber of Secrets – Told by a Slytherin Descendant!

"The Chamber of Secrets, left behind by Salazar Slytherin, is a thousand years old. For a thousand years, we have regarded the Chamber of Secrets as a legend. However, Moriarty, a descendant of Slytherin, proved the existence of the Chamber with his actions and led the entire Hogwarts school into the Chamber!"

Moriarty, as always, is not photogenic; the accompanying photos are of a secret room and a basilisk.

Article 2: Is the Age of Magical Revival Coming? The Slytherin Heir Tells You the Answer!

"It is reported that all the teachers and students of Hogwarts have become Slytherin heirs! We all know that Slytherin House has had a very bad reputation in recent decades, and Moriarty Slytherin's actions are, to say the least, extremely audacious."

Albus Dumbledore, President of the International Confederation of Wizards, Head Wizard of Wizengamor, and Headmaster of Hogwarts, stated that Moriarty might dispel wizards' misunderstandings about Slytherin House.

Article 3: Exclusive Report: Moriarty Slytherin Exposes the Mask of the Person Whose Name Cannot Even Be Mentioned!

"Yesterday, the only direct descendant of Slytherin, in the name of the head of the Slytherin family, revealed that Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago, murdering a Ravenclaw girl, Myrtle Elizabeth, and framing Rupert Hagrid."

All the professors and all the ghosts of Hogwarts are willing to testify to this.

Although the man whose name could not be mentioned was dead, few knew that his real name was Tom Riddle, a member of the Gaunt family, a branch of the Slytherin family…”

At the dining table in the auditorium, Lilith unfolded the newspaper and read the entire contents to Moriarty without missing a single word. After reading, she curled her lips into a smile: "I really don't know how much money you bribed the Daily Prophet. They used to be unwilling to report anything about the Dark Lord—not even a single word!"

"Just a number enough to feed those parasites," Moriarty said dismissively. To him, wealth was just a string of useless numbers, but some people just bought into that.

Even with money paving the way, those people at the Ministry of Magic still refused to admit that Voldemort wasn't dead, but that's fine with them...

Most importantly, if Voldemort in the Albanian forest saw this newspaper, he would be furious.

Perhaps it will be so eager that it will attach itself to the back of some unlucky soul's head and sneak into Hogwarts to settle scores with Moriarty.

It was only then that Moriarty realized he had completely altered the plot, and wondered how Old Man Dumbledore was going to train his savior.

At least Harry Potter's Philosopher's Stone from his first year is gone—no matter how ruthless Voldemort was, he wouldn't dare to steal the Philosopher's Stone right under Nicolas Flamel's nose.

Moriarty made this statement because of a news article on page two of the Daily Prophet: "Hogwarts is expected to invite alchemy master Nicolas Flamel to be its alchemy professor next year! Nicolas Flamel: How come I didn't know?"

Many students laughed when they saw the news, wondering how Professor Dumbledore would manage to invite that centuries-old man.

However, Professor Dumbledore humorously remarked that that was a matter between old men, and the only thing the young children needed to do was prepare for their exams.

As June arrived, the weather became extremely hot and humid, making the large classrooms used for exams even more unbearably hot.

Several exams, including those in herbalism and astronomy, required handwritten answers. The professors gave students new quill pens specifically for the exams, which were said to be blessed with anti-cheating spells.

Moriarty was always the first to finish answering questions. Penelope and Lilith were at odds again during the exam, but this time Penelope was the first to leave the exam room.

There is also a practical skills test.

Professor Flitwick asked the students to come into the classroom one by one and see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk.

Most students could do this, and Moriarty even had Pineapple perform acrobatics by tossing his desk in the air. Nobody knew how he did it, and Professor Flitwick gave him full marks on the spot.

Professor McGonagall asked the students to turn a small stool into a cat bed—the softer the cat bed, the higher the score; if the hard stool surface remained in the bed, points would be deducted.

Moriarty not only became a comfortable cat bed, but also transformed other chairs and desks into a complete set of cat furniture.

Professor McGonagall's eyes lit up. Moriarty thought to himself that if she were alone, she might turn into a tabby cat and try out the cat tree and play with the cat toy.

When it came time to take the Potions exam, Moriarty was also the first student to concoct the potion of forgetfulness. After he left the classroom, Jericho was still desperately trying to recall the concoction process.

Fortunately, he had been sitting next to Moriarty for a whole year and saw Moriarty's potion notes. In fact, Lilith had done the same; she was the second to complete them.

Lalpo, however, was not so lucky, as he was closely watched by Snape standing at the back of the classroom.

The students felt his breath on the back of their necks as he looked like this, which made them very nervous, and Penelope's eyes reddened again.

The last exam was on the history of magic, and most students complained bitterly, except for Moriarty and Professor Binns, who chatted enthusiastically.

They talked about the goblin rebellion and the old wizards who invented the automatic stirring crucible—Professor Binns said he knew one of the inventors and asked Moriarty if he wanted the automatic stirring crucible from hundreds of years ago.

A week later, the exam results were released.

Moriarty unsurprisingly achieved perfect scores in all subjects, becoming the top student in the first year.

All the students agreed that Moriarty deserved the title.

Penelope came in second, with perfect scores in all subjects except Potions.

Lilith came in third. She had no interest in astronomy or the history of magic, and losing to Penelope made her unhappy for a long time. She was only happy when Moriarty invited her to visit Slytherin Castle during the summer vacation.

Percy's perennial third-place ranking was no longer secure; he became fourth, while Jericho came in sixth. Everyone did well on the test.

It's worth mentioning that William and Bill both achieved excellent grades in six subjects of the ultimate wizarding exam! This means they can apply to become Aurors at the Ministry of Magic at any time.

Moriarty invited William and Bill to the castle, and it was at this time that Lilith learned that Moriarty had not only invited her, but also Jericho, Tonks, Charlie, Percy, Gemma, Penelope, Leon and others, which made her look at Moriarty resentfully all day.

The third week of June marks the last school-wide banquet of the 1988-1989 school year, and tomorrow the Hogwarts Express will take the students back to London.

The spacious Great Hall was packed with people, newly decorated in Slytherin's green and silver to celebrate their fourth consecutive House Cup victory.

When Moriarty entered the auditorium, he was greeted with applause from the little snakes.

Slytherin House scored 910 points this year, more than the combined scores of the second-place Gryphon House and the third-place Raven House! Of those 910 points, Moriarty scored them all!

A moment later, Dumbledore arrived, and the noise in the Great Hall gradually subsided.

"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Before we enjoy these delicious dishes, I must trouble you all to listen to an old man's cliché. What a wonderful year it has been! Your little minds must be a bit richer than ever before."

Yes, yes, I think this year has been an unforgettable one. We witnessed Moriarty's arrival, saw Slytherin and Gryffindor apologize, were pleasantly surprised to discover the miracle of the Quidditch match, witnessed the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk, and together became the heirs of Slytherin!

Therefore, I have every reason to add 50 points to Gryffindor! 50 points to Ravenclaw! 50 points to Hufflepuff! 100 points to Slytherin! And I have even more reason to believe that this year is a special one!

If someone were standing outside the auditorium right now, they might think there had been an explosion, as cheers from the four tables were rising in waves.

As if by prior arrangement, Moriarty released a silver snake with his staff, Tonks conjured a badger, Penelope conjured an eagle, and the three Weasleys at the Gryffindor table conjured a red-haired lion. They gathered in the air above the Great Hall, forming the shape of the school emblem.

Poseidon flew into the Great Hall and brought Moriarty a magical camera—this was the idea Moriarty had come up with after emerging from the underground passage.

Hagrid took a group photo of the entire school with his camera, and the Hogwarts emblem above the Great Hall shone brightly.

Please continue reading on Thursday to help me advance!

(End of this chapter)