The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 81 Gathering of Those in Power (Please, please, please!)

"Mr. Fudge," old Flint said kindly, bringing Fudge a plate of lemon pie, "have some."

"Oh? Oh, oh!" Fudge hurriedly pulled his hands back into his suit sleeves, then reached out to take the lemon pie, giving old Flint a grateful look. "You are? Mr. Flint! You seem to have had some business disagreements with Lucius lately... Oh, I'm sorry! Did I say something wrong? Oh, Merlin..."

Fudge was clearly bewildered by Lockhart, and he bluntly revealed the conflict between old Flint and Lucius, drawing hostile stares from a large group of purebloods!

Old Marcus calmly stated, "Regardless of any conflicts between us, the Flint family will always be your supporters!"

"Are you telling the truth?" Fudge couldn't believe his ears, his hands trembling with excitement, the plate and spoon holding the lemon pie clattering together.

Old Flint, like a kind elder, said, "Of course it's true, the Flint family never lies!"

His expression immediately turned serious: "Lockhart is just a novelist, what right does he have to run for Minister of Magic? It's time for pure-bloods to step forward! The Flint family hereby issues a public statement: We firmly support Mr. Fudge's candidacy for Minister of Magic!"

The purebloods' expressions changed slightly, and they began to whisper among themselves. Old Flint had barely spoken since attending the banquet, and his declaration of his stance was both sudden and shocking.

After Flint finished speaking, he sat back down in his seat, without exchanging any words with Moriarty.

Old Foley slowly stood up: "Just now, old Flint said that Mr. Lockhart was just a novelist? I cannot agree! I have worked closely with both Mr. Lockhart and Mr. Moriarty."

Old Foley smiled and winked at Moriarty, then said, "I think Mr. Lockhart's opinion is very valuable, so on behalf of the Foley family, I publicly support Dumbledore's candidacy for Minister for Magic!"

"What?" Lucius's eyes widened as he stared at old Foley, his gaze seeming to say, "You've betrayed us."

You should know that the Foley family are all Death Eaters!

So what if they're Death Eaters? So what if the Dark Lord?

Old Foley thought to himself with disdain.

He sat back down, glancing discreetly at Moriarty. Years of experience told him that Lockhart and Moriarty were close, and he wanted to curry favor with Moriarty. His current gesture of goodwill towards Lockhart was merely to gain more favor with Moriarty.

With the two pure-blood families making their respective statements, the banquet came to an end. Fudge walked out of Malfoy Manor in a daze. He wanted to go home and write to the Pilliwick family immediately!

Lucius and the others were keeping a close eye on old Flint, because according to the Slytherin students, Marcus had become Moriarty's henchman, so they all believed that the Flint family should obey Moriarty. However, old Flint's behavior at the banquet made them realize that the Flint family did not seem to be on Moriarty's side.

Lucius quickly confirmed this.

The reason is that the Hogwarts Board of Governors received a letter from Marcus Flint!

The letter reveals Marcus's admiration and worship for Dumbledore. He publicly expressed his hope that Dumbledore would become Minister for Magic and called on all teachers and students of Hogwarts to support Dumbledore!

"Have these students' brains been eaten by winged demons?" Lucius slammed a stack of parchment onto the ornate wooden table in his study, furious. "They're all letters from students! Even from Slytherin students! What were they thinking?!"

Narcissa covered her forehead, looking distressed, and said, "Marcus is Moriarty's henchman. Marcus must be doing this on Moriarty's orders! So the Slytherin students aren't supporting Dumbledore, but rather they don't want to offend Moriarty!"

Lucius was furious: "Very well! Moriarty knows we can't choose Dumbledore, he's forcing us to pressure Fudge! Foolish Fudge, why can't he just agree to Moriarty's demands!"

"This may be good news," Narcissa said thoughtfully. "It means that old Flint is still on the side of the purebloods, and only Marcus is loyal to Moriarty."

Lucius nodded silently, then sighed helplessly as his gaze shifted to the student's letter.

When Fudge learned what had happened at Hogwarts, he couldn't sit still any longer and immediately went to Pilliwick Manor in London!

However, Fudge was turned away. He didn't know that Justus Pilivik, the head of the Pilivik family and the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was meeting with Moriarty!

Just like the chain reaction brought about by the butterfly effect, after Marcus's actions, Moriarty made the same decision as Fudge: to meet with the ruling family.

Lilith eagerly introduced her grandfather to Moriarty, who then visited Pilivik Estate and had a pleasant conversation with Justus.

No one knows what the two discussed, only that Moriarty and the Pilivik family came to Fudge Estate at the "Gathering of Power" held at the end of July.

Upon seeing this scene, Fudge, who was greeting guests at the manor entrance, struggled to take a step forward and forced a smile. However, before he could speak, Moriarty said lightly, "Mr. Fudge has lost weight and looks haggard in the past two weeks."

Fudge opened his mouth, then heard Justus say meaningfully, "Mr. Fudge reminds me of my internship in the Department of Justice. Young people shouldn't be afraid to do more work."

"I've lost weight from working so hard in politics," Fudge said, following Justus's words with a broad smile.

"Lilith, did you hear that?" Moriarty teased. "Why don't you go and intern at the Ministry of Magic for a while?"

Lilith immediately understood: "You mean, I'm fat? So I need to work hard and lose weight?"

She was wearing a pure white lace princess dress today, and she wasn't fat at all, so she narrowed her eyes and looked Moriarty up and down, revealing a dangerous look in her eyes.

"I didn't say that, you're just overthinking it." Moriarty shrugged and walked into the manor, Lilith following relentlessly behind. Suddenly, they heard Jericho's laughter: "Mr. Moriarty, Miss Pillivik, I knew you'd come!"

I haven't seen Section Chief Jerry for a month, and he's grown a bit taller.

The three of them huddled together. Lilith was puzzled as to why this American cowboy would be at a gathering of British rulers. Jericho gestured with his chin toward one of the burly wizards among a group of wizards talking in the hall.

Lilith responded with an "Oh," and then said, "James Branch, the current Director of the Sports Department of the Magical Congress of the United States!"

“That’s right, my father!” Jericho said with a grin. “I received a letter from Marcus informing me that a political reshuffle was about to take place in Britain. I advised my father to come to Britain in the name of the Quidditch World Cup and meet with your Director of Magical Sports, Ludo Bagman.”

Mr. Fudge invited my father after hearing that he had arrived in England, so it was only natural that I appeared before you both.

"This was all planned by you, wasn't it!" Lilith looked at Jericho suspiciously. "You knew Fudge would definitely invite your father to save face."

"Well," Jericho smiled slightly, "who knows?"

Then he looked at Moriarty, his tone serious: "Sir, how's it going? Will Fudge behave?"

"He had no better choice," Moriarty said indifferently. "Accepting my gifts and giving me a generous reward was his only option."

"I understand." Jericho lowered his voice. "Actually, my father came to England not only because of my persuasion, but also because he wants to meet with you. Sir, I request that you speak with my father."

“No problem.” Moriarty nodded slightly. “Jellico, my friend. I would be very willing to cooperate with your family on some projects, such as the Quidditch World Cup starting next year. If our two families cooperate, we can definitely make a lot of money, and more importantly, we can increase our influence.”

"Great! Great!" Jericho excitedly pumped his fist, which made Lilith give him a disapproving look. "You and I were thinking the same thing!" he laughed.

"Jellico, how many times have I told you not to show your wild side?" a strong voice rang out.

James Branch walked over. He was a purebred white man, spoke fluent American English, and was a good 1.9 meters tall.

He immediately outshone Ludo Bagman next to him, and Ludo is not short at all—he used to be a batter.

As for Bertha Joggins, the staff member of the Department of Magical Sports who followed behind them, she appeared even shorter, like a dwarf.

James gave Jericho a reproachful look, then extended his hand to Moriarty: "James Branch, it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Moriarty."

Moriarty shook hands with him and noticed that James had many calluses on his hands, marks left from holding broom handles for a long time.

"Mr. Moriarty, Jericho told me about your four games at Hogwarts. Would you be interested in joining the U.S. Quidditch national team?" James' eyes lit up. "I guarantee you, with my family's honor, that if you join the national team and train a little, you'll be playing in next year's World Cup!"

"Invite me to the World Cup?" A smile flickered in Moriarty's eyes; it sounded quite amusing.

Ludo quickly said, "Mr. James!" He gave James a disapproving look. "How could you poach someone right in front of me? Mr. Moriarty is a descendant of Slytherin; how could he represent the United States in the war? Right?"

To confirm, he eagerly approached Moriarty and said with a smile, "I trust Mr. James's judgment. You are absolutely qualified to represent the British national team in the Quidditch World Cup. If you would like to give me a chance, please wait for me to visit you after the banquet!"

Upon hearing the word "visit," James remembered the purpose of his trip to England and hurriedly interjected, "Me too! I've long wanted to visit Slytherin Castle, Mr. Moriarty, please grant me this small request."

A new week begins, and I'm asking for your help! This week, our book won't be recommended on the app anymore, and the growth rate of bookmarks and readers has obviously slowed down. But I haven't given up yet, so here's another 3,000 words. Also, our book is now getting a strong recommendation in a website's category. Please help me out by voting, giving tips, and sharing so more people can see it and help me get it to the next round of recommendations. I would be extremely grateful.

Also, thank you to Old Flash and Laughing at White Robes for the donations! My computer had a problem yesterday, so I couldn't thank you right away. Please forgive me.

(End of this chapter)