The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 8: The Novel Becomes a Hit (Seeking votes and investments)

Luke straightened his back and said loudly like a soldier, "I assure you, young master, you will have firsthand intelligence!"

After he finished speaking, he dispatched all the house-elves in the castle as if he were commanding a military operation, and they clamored to surround the headquarters of the Daily Prophet.

This method was clearly very efficient; Moriarty received the latest edition of the Daily Prophet after his morning tea.

The title, in bold black, reads: "How many secrets of the wizarding world remain unknown in Gilderoy Lockhart's new book, *With Slytherin in the East*?"

Moriarty unfolded the newspaper and read: "Gidero Lockhart, one of the most popular bestselling authors, returns to Diagon Alley with his new book, holding a launch event at Flourish and Blotts..."

Below was a photo of Lockhart, and The Daily Prophet had copied his entire speech from the book launch.

Moriarty read it with great interest, as if he were watching a live broadcast.

Today, Lockhart wore a colorful and gorgeous robe and styled her hair in golden waves.

"I, Gilderoy Lockhart! Three-time winner of The Wizarding Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—though I don't want to say it out loud, did you know? Even Salazar Slytherin's last direct blood relative praised my smile!"

Oh, oh! Wizards, I know you must find this incredible, and you may think I'm a fraud, but no one would dare joke about Slytherin—I mean, Salazar Slytherin, one of the four great wizards of Hogwarts, has descendants who are still alive and have returned to the British wizarding world!

Quiet! Wizards, don't act like naive Muggles. Although my reaction was similar to yours when I first heard the news, haha.

Lockhart mocked himself, which resonated with most of the wizards. He flashed his gleaming teeth, which drew screams from several witches.

"But we are wizards! Take out our wands, ladies and gentlemen!" Lockhart was the first to take out his wand. "Oh, don't point your wands at me, let's use our wands to call Slytherin!"

Yes, that's right, you heard me correctly, it's calling for Slytherin!

I know that many of us did not come from Slytherin House, but Salazar Slytherin played a crucial role in enabling us to learn magic and attend Hogwarts!

When the Gaunt family died out, we thought Slytherin was extinct; and when there were fewer and fewer wizarding families in Godric's Hollow, we thought Gryffindor would never be born again.

But when I saw the descendants of Slytherin in China and Tibet, I was absolutely certain that a new era was about to begin! Lockhart's cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Yes, yes, you guessed it, the Age of Revival!"

Please note that it is a magical revival, not a wizarding revival!

Believe me, in just a few years, people all over the world—Europe, America, Africa, Asia—will be cheering!

"Do you think I'm going to say that the name the whole world is cheering for is Slytherin?"

No, no, the name we're cheering for is magic!

Slytherin belongs to magic, and so do we! And Moriarty Slytherin is the one who will lead the world towards magic!

Lockhart raised his wand above his head and shouted to the crowd, "Now, let us call Slytherin!"

"Slytherin!!!" The wizards shouted, waving their wands as if performing a ritual.

A small group of wizards also called out "Moriarty," clearly recognizing that the Slytherin descendant was named Moriarty.

"Very good, excellent!" Lockhart clapped his hands in satisfaction. He took out his latest novel from the bookstore. The novel was of moderate thickness, and the cover featured a beautiful picture of a gray-haired boy riding a flying broomstick, carrying Lockhart through the snow-capped mountains.

"You can come and buy books now. This time, 'With Slytherin in the East Tibet' is a limited edition. Each book costs twelve Galleons and twelve Sickles. I will stay here for three hours to sign autographs for my fans."

Lockhart winked at the group of witches, but the wizards paid no attention to him. They rushed madly into the bookstore, and the crowd became crowded and chaotic.

In order to squeeze into the bookstore, the wizards behind had to cast spells on the wizards in front. Two Slytherin students even chanted the spell: "Dragon out of its cave," summoning two black snakes.

Lockhart stood on a chair and added fuel to the fire, saying, "Anyone who bought the novel can see if what I said is true. I'm willing to stand by my word!"

The crowd grew even denser. The first male wizard to grab the novel tossed a money pouch to the shopkeeper, wrapped the novel tightly in his robe, and vanished in phantom form.

Many wizards do this, fearing that someone might snatch the novel from their arms.

But many wizards, especially the young wizards of Slytherin, bought the novel and started reading it in Diagon Alley.

"Oh, Merlin!" a wizard who had only read a few pages of a novel exclaimed, covering his mouth. "Parsleyan, the Slytherin staff! It's real! Moriarty really is a descendant of Slytherin!"

A group of wizards immediately rushed forward to see, and then exclamations of surprise echoed through Diagon Alley.

"Look here!" a wizard pointed to a passage in the novel and read aloud: "Moriarty brandished the Slytherin staff, manipulating the branches to draw magic circles on the snow. Lockhart realized that it might be Slytherin family magic, and to cooperate with Moriarty, Lockhart bravely charged at the dark wizard..."

Lockhart was facing the dark wizard's wand, and a Cruciatus Curse was about to strike him when Moriarty roared, "Ice Serpent Dance..."

The wizard brandished his wand wildly, roaring as if he were drawing a magic circle: "Moriarty defeated the dark wizard with a magic circle! I bet it was Salazar Slytherin's magic!"

Many wizards chimed in, "That's right, it's not surprising at all that Moriarty summoned the ice serpent, considering he's a Parselmouth!"

A witch's voice came from the side: "Oh Moriarty~ He looks so cool riding his broomstick! He saved Lockhart! They're my two favorite people!"

She had already seen the part nearing the end and tilted her head, imagining, "Oh my god, I really want to see Moriarty riding a broomstick and playing Quidditch."

Several wizards, holding the novel, analyzed, "Now I believe what Lockhart said. Who would believe Moriarty is only ten and a half years old?"

"If it weren't for the abundance of detailed descriptions and battle scenes in the novel, I would have questioned its authenticity without hesitation! But unfortunately..." A tall, well-dressed sorcerer shook his head. "The description of Moriarty inscribing the magic circle is too realistic. You know, even the magic circles recorded in my family's magic book aren't this detailed."

Several wizards frowned upon hearing this, and as they looked at the novel in their hands, they suddenly had an indescribable feeling.

At this moment, the group of wizards who had Apparated with the novel returned. They forcefully pushed through the crowd and entered the bookstore. Their eyes were fixed on "With Slytherin in the East," and they made no attempt to hide their fanaticism. They took out a box and started stuffing the book into it!

"Oh no!" The impeccably dressed wizard suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "They've been sent by various powerful families! The pure-blood families want to divide up the novels in order to learn Moriarty's magic circles!"

"Put that book down!"

The wizards erupted; they finally realized what that indescribable feeling was. Although they couldn't speak Parsley, they might be able to learn magic circles!

After discovering the value of "With Slytherin in the East," some wizards began to believe Lockhart's words wholeheartedly, but many more wizards once again rushed into Flourish and Blotts.

Lockhart shouted, "Hey, hey! Mind your manners! I don't expect you to be able to read the whole story calmly, because I was the same way. When I was writing this story, I couldn't control my hand; it kept shaking."

But I hope you can maintain the demeanor of wizards and not fight and tear this treasure apart like monsters!

Look, now that you've realized its value, you shouldn't destroy it.

Oh damn it, you stepped on my shoe...

Lockhart bent down to put his shoes back on, and couldn't help but laugh where no one could see. The wizards who stole the book were hired by the Foley family; it was something they had planned.

When the Foley family saw the manuscript, they did want to learn Moriarty's magic circle, but after realizing they couldn't learn it no matter what they tried, they gave up and obediently cooperated with Lockhart in holding the press conference.

Lockhart looked up and scanned the crowd. More and more wizards were arriving. There were no customers left in the other shops in Diagon Alley, and even many shopkeepers were scrambling for books.

Suddenly he saw Rita Skeeter, and the two of them smiled at each other.

Lockhart knew the novel was a hit, while Rita remembered the gold bar she had received a few days earlier and knew she had to write a proper report about it.

(End of this chapter)