The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 79 Dividing the Wealth (Part 1)

Old Foley winked at Moriarty: "I saw you from afar in Diagon Alley two years ago, and Mr. Lockhart has been talking about you a lot. You know, he always says you're the greatest treasure he's ever found."

As he spoke, he walked over and sat down next to Soldaya, giving Moriarty a friendly smile.

The Foley family's monopoly on the book industry gave them an unparalleled status. It seemed that as long as there were no internal problems, the family would be worry-free forever. However, the family was small in number, and the only heir died in the First Wizarding War, leaving behind the lonely old Foley.

Seeing Moriarty's rise to prominence, old Foley considered joining him, thinking that with Lockhart's connections, Moriarty would be more likely to accept him.

Old Foley's idea was exactly what Moriarty wanted to hear. The two exchanged a knowing glance and smiled with satisfaction.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Moriarty." Garrick Ollivander, the representative of the Ollivander family, sat down next to old Foley, his eyes fixed on Moriarty. "Two years have passed. How is your wand?"

"It's my close ally." Moriarty placed the cedar wand on the table and said to Ollivander, "I've noticed that wizards always spend too much unnecessary time drawing their wands, which undoubtedly affects casting speed! Have you considered this issue?"

Ollivander shook his head: "Every wand I make is the lightest possible, so that the wizard can draw it in the quickest way."

"I'm not talking about the wand itself, but an alchemical tool related to the wand—the wand set." Moriarty threw out a series of obscure terms: "The set's components are very simple. It only requires wood that corresponds to the wand wood to make the shape, mithril for the main structure, magical materials that can conduct magic for the core, and more than a dozen magical effects such as permanent solidification charms and large memory charms, as well as the most important thing, a trace of alchemical knowledge."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

This can greatly reduce the time required to draw a wand. With a wand set equipped, a wizard might only need two seconds, or even less, to draw their wand.

Ollivander took out a piece of parchment and a quill pen, and he wrote down everything Moriarty had said.

He frowned and looked at it, then said, "I admit it's a Merlin-esque idea! You know, my ancestors also considered creating a set for wands, something that would both protect them and make them easier to draw, but they never succeeded. Do you know why?"

"Because of the cost of making a wand." Moriarty nodded slightly in understanding, then looked around at the various purebloods and said slowly and deliberately, "The cost is divided into economic cost and knowledge cost. The economic cost is actually easy to solve. If it can be solved with Galon, is it even a problem?"

The biggest obstacle is the knowledge required. Crafting a wand requires at least a master wand maker, a professor proficient in spells, and a scholar knowledgeable in various magical materials. Most importantly, it requires alchemy—a skill often closely related to runes and Latin runes, making it difficult to find a suitable master alchemist.

Ollivander agreed, saying, "For centuries, alchemists have been a scarce resource."

“Now there’s a perfect opportunity,” Moriarty said, looking at him. “Nicolas Flamel will be coming to Hogwarts next school year.”

"Is the source reliable?" Lucius raised an eyebrow. The news that Nicolas Flamel was coming to teach at Hogwarts had spread all over the world, but he was a Hogwarts board member. How come he didn't know?

"I guarantee it, I swear on the honor of Slytherin, Nicolas Flamel will definitely come. And Mr. Lucius, you should know that your position as a member of the Board of Trustees is useless to Nicolas Flamel, so you don't need to worry about it."

This time, Moriarty showed Lucius no mercy whatsoever. The latter squinted and remained silent. Moriarty continued, "With Nicolas Flamel's arrival, the biggest obstacle has been overcome. So, I think the candidate for the wand set is Mr. Ollivander—"

Moriarty nodded to the old man selling wands.

"—Mr. Horace Slughorn? Perhaps I should call you Professor? I recall you were Professor Snape's teacher, the current Head of Slytherin House."

Moriarty glanced at the large, fat wizard who had rarely spoken since the start of the banquet. He was now leaning back in his chair, sipping his drink.

"Your Slug Club is quite famous, when are you going to invite me?"

"Cough cough cough, cough cough!" Horace choked, coughing until his face turned red and his neck thick. He waved his hands repeatedly at Moriarty. Was he kidding? His slug club was just a small fishpond. How could it accommodate a real dragon like Moriarty?

From the moment he met Moriarty, Horace tried his best to avoid contact with him. Years of experience told him that Moriarty would either become the Dark Lord or the White Lord in the future, and Horace only wanted to keep his distance from such a person. He had already made a mistake in dealing with Tom Riddle, and he had no further contact with Dumbledore. He did not want to cause any more trouble.

Unexpectedly, Moriarty set his sights on him!

“Speaking of Severus,” Horace cleared his throat, “he is an excellent Potions Master, and I believe he knows the materials needed to make the wand set by heart and will not make any mistakes. Why not entrust this task to him? I mean, Snape and Nicolas Flamel are both professors at Hogwarts.”

"No, no, no, you can't lump Hogwarts in with us!" Moriarty tapped the table. "This is the purest and noblest gathering of pure-bloods in England! Not the headmaster's office at Hogwarts. The wand set is my idea, a pure-blood family's business, and only we can complete it."

After hearing these words, Fudge's expression gradually returned to normal. Now, he was most afraid of Hogwarts achieving something, because everyone knew that Hogwarts was practically Dumbledore's one-man show.

"Mr. Ollivander provided the wood for the wand sets, Mr. Horace provided the main structure and materials for conduit, and I personally applied the magical effects! Nicolas Flamel provided the alchemy!" Moriarty declared confidently. "This is my plan: three pure-blood families will take the lead, and the twelve school board members will contact the Ministry of Magic in the name of Hogwarts to provide the Ministry with wand sets for its Aurors!"

The purebloods began to whisper among themselves, surprised that Moriarty intended to link the wand set with the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic.

Anything related to the Ministry of Magic is profitable!

Fudge jumped to his feet: "Where's Dumbledore? Won't Dumbledore object to you using the name of Hogwarts?"

The purebloods all glanced at Fudge as if he were an idiot, and Fudge quickly understood why—if Dumbledore were the Minister of Magic, he naturally wouldn't object.

Ultimately, Moriarty's plan had nothing to do with Fudge or Dumbledore, but with the Minister of Magic!

He's waiting for Fudge here!

As a contender for Minister of Magic favored by many pure-bloods, Fudge was no fool. He could see that equipping the Aurors with wand sets would rapidly elevate the prestige of the British Ministry of Magic to its peak.

The prerequisite is that the Minister of Magic can offer Moriarty a sufficiently generous reward.

Fudge secretly glanced at the purebloods, feeling as if they had all turned into hungry wolves, eager to tear a piece of flesh from him.

The purebloods on Lucius's side were very satisfied with Moriarty's suggestion; they could only think, "Is this for real?"

The purebloods on Arthur's side had indifferent expressions; compared to Fudge, they supported Dumbledore more.

Augusta questioned, "Mr. Moriarty, how can you guarantee that Nicolas Flamel will provide alchemical knowledge for the wand set?"

"Because he is Nicolas Flamel, and I am Moriarty!" Moriarty smiled confidently and said no more.

Ollivander laughed and said, "That's alright. If we can't win, we'll give Nicolas Flamel some concessions."

"Easy for you to say," Lucius scoffed. "I won't hand over the Malfoy family's interests to a Frenchman!"

The purebloods nodded in agreement, but Moriarty said, "If it were me, I would give the agency rights for the wand set to Nicolas Flamel. Of course, the old man certainly wouldn't want it, but he might pass it on to Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! This is precisely the joint education plan I'm about to propose!"

"A joint education program?" the twelve school board members exclaimed in unison.

"As is well known, Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons are the three top magic schools in Europe."

Then, in the world, the United States has the Ilvarmani School of Magic, Russia has the Kodosdoriz School of Magic, India has the Vagado School of Magic, Japan has the Magic Institute, and Brazil has the Casturbushe School of Magic.

As the most prestigious school in the world, Hogwarts, I think the board members should take a longer-term view.

Moriarty leaned back in his chair, picked up his wine glass, and took a sip.

Rowling has said that there are 11 magic schools in the world, and in addition to the eight mentioned in this chapter, there are three more that have not yet been revealed.

(End of this chapter)