The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 60 Cockroach Pile (Please add to your favorites!)

Suddenly, the students' wardrobes were empty, their belongings packed into suitcases, and notices were sent to each student, warning them not to use magic during the holiday.

Hagrid led the students onto the ferry to cross the lake. Moriarty watched the students depart from the tower. Instead of traveling back to London with them on the express train, he stayed behind.

He had something to discuss with Dumbledore, and Strange told him that the password to the Headmaster's Office was the Cockroach Monster.

With a gentle tap of his staff, a staircase leading to the principal's office on the eighth floor appeared automatically. Moriarty walked all the way to the principal's office door, where the gargoyle Palo greeted him with great delight.

"A cockroach-stacked monster!" Moriarty said clearly.

The gleaming oak door opened, and Dumbledore sat at the enormous table, which was set with his collection of silverware—all of which Moriarty had seen before.

This time, there was also a pile of candy and a shallow stone basin on the table, with runes and symbols carved on the rim.

Moriarty recognized the Pensieve at a glance, but why did Dumbledore bring it out?

Good morning, Moriarty.

Dumbledore noticed Moriarty enter and pointed to the candy on the table. "Want some cockroach swarms? Professor Randy just brought them back. He's always so thoughtful."

Moriarty conjured up a down chair with armrests, sat opposite Dumbledore, reached for a pile of cockroaches, and examined it closely.

Why would anyone like a pile of cockroaches?

Moriarty looked at the food in his hand—it looked just like a real cockroach, with tiny legs crawling rapidly, two antennae flapping erratically at a chilling frequency, and wings emitting a tiny buzzing sound, as if it were about to take off at any moment.

Dumbledore picked up a pile of cockroaches, looked at it, and then put it in his mouth as if it were a matter of course. He said with a smile, "People know it's food, but they still fear it. If you ask me, overcoming fear is simple: just eat it."

"It's rare for an ordinary wizard to have your mindset," Moriarty said, biting off the head of the pile of cockroaches. Fortunately, no sticky juice splattered out. The taste was indeed quite good. After tasting it, Moriarty continued, "The wizard who invented this candy must have hated cockroaches so much that he wanted people to be able to chew cockroaches anytime."

"An interesting explanation." Dumbledore put a few more cockroaches in his mouth. He didn't eat them, but just held them in his mouth, as if he wanted to experience the process of the cockroaches crawling in his mouth.

Dumbledore looked at Moriarty: "Our two views on the 'cockroach pile' represent two different kinds of people."

“One type is those who hold firm to their beliefs,” Moriarty said softly. “The other type is those who harbor hatred.”

Dumbledore swallowed the food in his mouth, adjusted his glasses with his right hand, and carefully examined Moriarty. The office suddenly fell silent.

Moriarty felt no discomfort, nor did his brain show any signs of invasion; Dumbledore simply looked at him.

"I'm sure you know that the Sorting Hat is a magical hat. As the headmaster, I can see some of the freshmen's... inner thoughts through the Sorting Hat every year."

Dumbledore said calmly, as if he weren't talking about himself.

Moriarty smiled slightly: "But you didn't see me, does that worry you? Make you nervous?"

Dumbledore nodded in agreement and said sincerely, "If I have made any mistake in my life, it must be Tom's fault! I raised a dark devil."

"Yes, yes, that's right. You were his Transfiguration professor back then," Moriarty's tone became mocking. "So whenever there was a Slytherin student who excelled, you were always wary of him, and I was no exception."

"Just as you told Severus, it's hard to keep what's happening in this castle from my eyes either." Dumbledore raised his voice: "I'm glad to see that you've taught Mr. Blanche and guided Mr. Flint. I've also seen your superb skills on the Quidditch pitch, the talent and strength you've shown in the Duel Club, and what surprised me even more is your willingness to share the Chamber of Secrets with others."

"Of course, I also saw you out at night with your friends." Dumbledore said, winking at Moriarty. "A Hogwarts life without nighttime strolls is incomplete."

For some reason, Moriarty suddenly wanted to use Legilimency on Dumbledore, wanting to see Dumbledore's student days, but it seemed that Dumbledore was with GG.

"Your surname destined you to be different, but I hope you can enjoy life like the other young wizards in this school, make many friends, and have a romance. I don't think Hagrid and I would mind if you went to the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore said gently, his eyes full of smiles.

"That sounds tempting, but I have more important things to do," Moriarty shook his head.

"Can you let me know?"

“There’s nothing I can’t tell you,” Moriarty told Dumbledore about the Hogwarts riot and the centaur’s divination, adding, “We can’t stand idly by when something this big happens at Hogwarts.”

"You?" Dumbledore's expression turned serious, and he looked at Moriarty with the same eyes he would use to look at Voldemort.

"We," Moriarty repeated, then said nonchalantly, "me and the ghosts, armor, and murals of the castle."

For a moment, Dumbledore thought he had misheard. His eyes widened, and he stammered, "Hmm, hmm, that's really good. Most students talk about Hogwarts with nostalgia and longing. Very few students have such delicate feelings for Hogwarts."

To cover his lapse in composure, Dumbledore glanced at the shelf behind him—where the phoenix Fawkes was.

Do you remember that afternoon when we came up from the underpass?

Fox told me that Peeves said to him, "When you used Parseltongue to move the stone blocks, armor, and murals in the castle, there was one mural that didn't guard the castle with the others. What was that mural again?"

Dumbledore looked at Fawkes, and the phoenix let out a soft cry. Dumbledore nodded and said, "Ah, yes, Peeves said that portrait is called the Headless Horseman!"

This time, it was Moriarty's turn to have a serious expression.

All four of the Headmasters possess spells that command Hogwarts, and the Parseltongue he spoke before opening the underground passages was a spell left by Salazar's ancestor. Even the portraits of the Headmasters throughout history must obey the commands of the one who recites the spell and guard the castle.

And now Dumbledore is saying that a portrait has disobeyed the spell's command!

If Dumbledore were the source of the information, Moriarty would suspect that Dumbledore was deceiving him, but since the information came from Peeves, it must be true.

While Moriarty was pondering, Dumbledore was also observing him. From the moment Moriarty opened the underground passage, Dumbledore knew that the castle held many secrets.

Faced with these secrets, even someone as powerful as Dumbledore is nothing more than a primary school student.

Dumbledore may have intended to have Moriarty decipher the information when he told him, but when he saw that Moriarty was completely unaware, he tactfully changed the subject.

"Moriarty, I think you must know it." Dumbledore looked at the Pensieve.

Moriarty nodded casually, and Dumbledore seemed quite pleased: "Very good, then things will be much simpler from here on out. You have successfully won my trust, and I am willing..."

Moriarty waved his hand to interrupt him: "Trust is always mutual, so? When you said that, did you consider whether you had earned my trust?"

"I knew you'd say that," Dumbledore said, even more pleased. "That's why we use the Pensieve!"

I want to show you a memory, a memory about Harry Potter! I'm sure you know about Harry Potter, but you probably don't know that I have a plan—a plan to completely destroy Voldemort. I believe we can work together to perfect this plan!

Dumbledore hoped to see surprise on Moriarty's face and that Moriarty would ask him questions such as "Why didn't Voldemort really die?" But to his disappointment, Moriarty just squinted and stared at him, his gray eyes like an endless dark universe, unfathomable.

In fact, Moriarty did not expect that Dumbledore's way of showing his sincerity would be through Harry Potter!

Poor Potter had no idea that his fate had already been decided before he even enrolled in school.

Moriarty fell into deep thought, considering the benefits Harry could bring him: he already had a well-known figure like Lockhart with a positive image, and he also had the loyalty of a pure-blood family that was expanding its business.

So what is he lacking?

Harry Potter?

A strange light flashed in Moriarty's eyes; perhaps he had thought of something!

"If your plan is enticing enough, you can gain my trust," Moriarty replied to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore agreed, placing a wisp of memory into the Pensieve and leading Moriarty into his memories—starting with James Potter and Lily Potter, Moriarty saw many stories about Harry.

After reading the flashback, Moriarty and Dumbledore had a heated discussion about Harry Potter's fate.

They talked for a whole day, and when they got hungry they ate piles of cockroaches!

The next morning, Dumbledore was finally persuaded. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and said, "Harry Potter is in your hands now. I hope you can train him to become a great wizard."

Moriarty extended his right hand to him and smiled faintly: "As you wish."

Dumbledore slowly extended his right hand and shook hands firmly with Moriarty.

From this moment on, Moriarty and Dumbledore's working relationship entered a "honeymoon period".

Moriarty seemed to suddenly remember something: "Oh, right, there's one more thing..."

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(End of this chapter)