The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 76 The Origin of the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans

"Honorable Mr. Moriarty, my dear friend!" Lucius greeted him, bowing deeply. "On behalf of the Malfoy family, who have been the Slytherin House of Hogwarts since the eleventh century, I salute the great Slytherin!"

Lucius Malfoy showed Moriarty considerable respect, and Moriarty replied solemnly, "As the current head of the Slytherin family, I accept the Malfoy family's respect on behalf of Salazar Slytherin."

Lucius arrogantly raised his head, his grey-blue eyes coldly fixed on Moriarty, but his words were sweeter than honey: "Mr. Moriarty, I haven't yet congratulated you on winning the All-Europe Wizarding Duel Tournament. Mr. Fudge said you terrified the purebloods of France."

Moriarty glanced at him, then swept his gaze over the other purebloods: "In fact, after receiving your letters, I rushed back from Paris immediately. I found records about the Twenty-Eight Holy Races in the notes and documents left by my ancestors."

"Ingo!" Moriarty called out, and the fairy lazily snapped his fingers, and twenty-eight black boxes lined up in front of everyone.

Moriarty waved his hand, and all the boxes opened.

"Here you have proof that your ancestors studied at Hogwarts, your family genealogy dating back to the Middle Ages, and your family crest."

The children walked up and looked at the box with curiosity, while the adults were more wary and remained indifferent.

Ingo thought with disdain: What a cowardly wizard!

However, he still took the opportunity to introduce, "After Hogwarts was founded, Bloody Barrow was among the first Slytherin students, and after Bloody Barrow advanced to the seventh year, a Black became a first-year Slytherin student!"

At this point, he was pleased to see that the Black family had not sent any representatives; he was happy that the pure-blood wizard was in trouble.

"Since then, children from the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans have continued to enter Slytherin to study. Although Headmaster Salazar has left Hogwarts, he will never forget these things." Ingo pursed his lips.

Narcissa ran into the Black family's box and rummaged through it; she was a married daughter of the Black family.

When she saw the Blake family genealogy, she held it above her head and shook it, making a rattling sound.

Tears of joy and pride welled in her eyes: "The oldest and noblest Black family! It's true! The Black family genealogy at the ancestral home was incomplete, which had cast doubt on the Black family for a long time. Now we see that the first Black was studying at Slytherin as early as 1013!"

Draco pulled the Black family crest out of the box—the main element being a shield with two dogs on either side, and a ribbon below the shield bearing the family motto in French: Forever Pure.

The purebloods looked enlightened; the claim that the Black family was the oldest and noblest had been passed down for hundreds of years.

Blake, born in the 17th century, is the oldest ancestor in the Blake family genealogy. This is obviously not ancient, but not only England recognizes Blake's status, but the whole of Europe does.

Now they understood that the ancestors of the Black family were the seventh group of Slytherin students!

Lucius, with his wife in his arms, also took out a thick stack of parchment from the Malfoy family box—it must have been enchanted to ensure it hadn't rotted—and became as excited as his wife after looking at it.

"It's clearly written here that the first Malfoy entered Slytherin at the end of the 11th century! We are the first pure-bloods from the Black family to go to Hogwarts!"

To show their respect for Salazar Slytherin, the ancestors designated the family coat of arms as a black, green, and silver tricolor emblem with a serpent pattern, and inscribed the Latin phrase Sanctimonia Vincet Semper on a silver ribbon, meaning pure and everlasting.

With this, let's see who says the Malfoy family's ancestors were Muggles!

Following the example set by the Malfoys, pure-blood wizards stepped forward and found all sorts of family trees and documents in the box.

To everyone's surprise, aside from the Weasley family, most of the Twenty-Seven Holy Families entered Slytherin during the 11th century.

Even the House of Abbots and House of Macmillan, which are famous for producing Hufflepuffs, and the House of Longbottom, which is famous for producing Gryffindors, had their earliest ancestors as Slytherins!

"We are the original Slytherins! Perhaps that's why, despite so many pure-bloods, only we are called the Holy Twenty-Eight!" Draco straightened his back even more, his face flushed an unnatural red.

"Good son, well said!" Lucius rarely praised Draco, and his gaze toward Moriarty gradually warmed. Moriarty had given the purebloods a great gift!

Arthur, however, remained indifferent; the Weasley family had been Gryffindors for generations.

Moriarty noticed Arthur's expression and smiled slightly at him: "Perhaps Mr. Arthur is unaware that there is a reason why the Weasley family, which has been Gryffindor for generations, is still listed among the Twenty-Eight Sacred Families."

All eyes were on Moriarty, awaiting his response. They all wanted to see what the purest and noblest purebloods thought of the "pureblood traitor."

Moriarty said to them, "There's a legend that the Weasley family has a trace of ancient dragon blood! Perhaps that's why the Weasley family has so many descendants. I suspect even your family's red hair is related to dragons."

The last sentence was spoken by Moriarty as he looked at Arthur. He wasn't joking; the Weasley family truly was one of the most unique pure-bloods.

Arthur, however, knew nothing of this. Instead, his wife Molly approached Moriarty and gave a slight bow: "Charlie and Percy told us a lot about your deeds and thanked us for their help last year."

Mori Prewitt Weasley, the representative of House Prewitt, recalls the information old Flint told her about the pure-blood family—she originally had two older brothers, but they were both killed by Death Eaters.

"Charlie and Percy may be Gryffindors, but there's no doubt they are outstanding Hogwarts students, and no one can argue with that." Moriarty gave the Weasley brothers a very high evaluation in front of Arthur and Molly.

"Mr. Moriarty, I hope you'll turn your attention to my son," Lucius said, pushing Draco in front of Moriarty with a smile. "Draco Malfoy! A fine Malfoy, I guarantee he'll become one of the greatest Slytherins!"

Pansy's father, Mr. Macmillan, and several other pure-bloods with children all pushed their own children toward Moriarty. Anyone who didn't know better would think Dumbledore had arrived!

No, even if Dumbledore came, these purebloods wouldn't be this enthusiastic.

The reason why pure-bloods would entrust their children to Moriarty is entirely due to Moriarty's relationship with Hogwarts.

Emotionally, the children's parents are willing to entrust their children to the descendants of the four giants.

Of course, emotion and reason are always opposites, and when it comes to interests, purebloods will not back down.

Hogwarts isn't just about the four leaders, nor is it a one-man show run by a certain White Mage Headmaster; it also has twelve school board members!

Moriarty understood this better than the purebloods, so he simply lowered his head and glanced at Draco indifferently, then slowly raised his head and said meaningfully, "Mr. Lucius, Cornelius Fudge must be getting impatient."

"Ah, that's right," Lucius blinked rapidly, quickly realizing what was happening, and didn't mention his son again.

He seemed even happier, laughing, "Mr. Fudge has been in the drawing room all morning, he's so nervous, haha! Mr. Moriarty's reminder is very timely, we should go in!"

Lucius took a step back and extended his hand toward the villa entrance: "Please take your seats, distinguished guests. The pureblood gathering will begin shortly."

Most purebloods would say, "Mr. Moriarty, please go first."

Moriarty did not refuse and went into the manor first. Seven or eight pure-blood patriarchs gathered around Lucius and whispered, "Just as the rumors say, this Slytherin treats all young wizards equally and does not show any favoritism to Draco and the others because of our status."

"The emergence of a Slytherin descendant at Hogwarts is both a blessing and a curse for pure-bloods," Lucius said coldly, staring at Moriarty's retreating figure. "Didn't we befriend him precisely to turn this curse into a blessing? Tell them to cooperate with me during the conversation."

"What about the Weasleys and the Longbottoms? They're always getting in the way."

Lucius declared matter-of-factly, "That's why we need Fudge as Minister of Magic!"

Moriarty paid no attention to the petty schemes of some purebloods; instead, he admired the scenery of Malfoy Manor.

An elaborately designed garden surrounds the area, complete with fountains and free-roaming white peacocks. The exquisite wrought-iron gates give Moriarty the feeling of passing through a mist as he goes through.

"Luke, did you see that?" Moriarty said to his butler with a smile, "You should learn more from the Malfoy family's house-elves."

Upon hearing this, Lucius shouted from the back of the crowd, "Dobby? Dobby! Dobby, come out!"

A very short house-elf apparated and appeared at the manor gate. He looked cautiously at Lucius with his protruding green eyes, which were the size of tennis balls: "Master, please give your orders."

Lucius picked up Dobby, strode over to Moriarty, and placed Dobby next to Luke: "Mr. Moriarty, please allow me to recommend Dobby to you, so that he can explain to your house-elves the techniques of decorating a modern manor and the luxurious life that pure-blood nobles should enjoy."

Moriarty readily agreed, and Lucius took the opportunity to accompany Moriarty on a tour of the estate. Five minutes later, they entered the drawing room of the Malfoy mansion, where Fudge had been waiting for some time.

"Mr. Moriarty, it's nice to see you again!" Fudge greeted him warmly, looking at Moriarty with even more affection than he would at his son.

(End of this chapter)