The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 89 Monday Morning (Please continue reading!)

On Monday morning, when the students arrived at the auditorium, they were surprised to find a young Black man hanging from the ceiling, with Filch berating him incessantly. Judging from his expression, he seemed about to pick up a whip and give the poor boy a good whack.

"Oh no!" Charlie shouted angrily, "That's Lee Jordan! What is Filch doing! He picked up a whip?"

"Go find Professor McGonagall!" The little lions recognized their new students. Filch was too audacious; he was going to openly whip a student!

Of course, the whip never fell; Professor McGonagall arrived just in time: "Argus! The castle abolished the punishment of caning students long ago!"

Professor McGonagall was furious. She put Li Jordan down, and Charlie quickly helped the limp Li Jordan to his seat.

Li Jordan huddled up, trembling. Professor McGonagall frowned at his appearance, but then Filch said smugly, "Professor McGonagall, the Gryffindor freshman went out at night on his first day of school! I caught him red-handed, right there in the basement corridor!"

Moriarty learned the Oblivion Spell from Lockhart, and Filch perfectly forgot the Weasley twins and Lilith.

However, Li Jordan did not run away during the moment Filch was stunned, which led to Filch catching him red-handed!

"Is what Filch said true?" Professor McGonagall glared at Li Jordan, her voice icy. "A freshman going out at night on the first day of school? That's quite an eye-opener, Mr. Jordan. Because of your actions, the entire house must be punished! I have to personally deduct fifty points from Gryffindor!"

The lion cubs stared blankly at the hourglass filled with rubies, which was empty.

On the first day of school, Gryffindor students lost fifty points before they even earned any house credits!

Professor McGonagall noticed this too, and she scoffed, "Mr. Lee Jordan, your solitary confinement will begin next Monday night. Now, Charlie, take him to the school hospital."

Filch seemed quite dissatisfied with this arrangement, feeling the punishment was too lenient, but dared not disobey Professor McGonagall, so he could only warn, "Don't let me catch you again!"

But the students scoffed at his words. What could an old Squib possibly do? They watched with disdain as Filch, carrying his kerosene lamp and his cat, slowly walked away.

When Li Qiaodan saw the kerosene lamp light up again, he looked at Charlie with trembling hands as if he had seen a vicious criminal.

The students laughed when they saw this. Apart from the little lions, the students from the other three colleges had no sympathy for Li Jordan. They thought he was too stupid to be caught by an old Squirrel!

Only Lilith, who knew the inside story, understood that it wasn't Li Jordan's fault.

Clearly, the Weasley twins thought the same thing; they carried Lee Jordan on their backs, wanting to get him to the school hospital as quickly as possible.

Charlie stared suspiciously at his two younger brothers, always feeling that the nighttime outings were related to them.

"Didn't you guys notice that Li Qiaodan didn't return to the dorm last night? Or were you guys not in the dorm either?" Charlie asked sternly.

The Weasley twins didn't reply, only lowered their heads guiltily. After parting ways with Moriarty last night, they were too afraid to go back to their dorm, so they sneaked into an empty classroom and slept under a table.

George wanted to say something in defense of Lee Jordan, but Fred stopped him. The twins exchanged a glance and saw a flickering flame in each other's eyes: to oppose Filch!

Jericho watched the twins' hurried departure and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "I was quite optimistic about them, but I didn't expect they couldn't even protect their own companions. I dare say they were part of the group that went on the night patrol last night. What do you think?"

"It's not that simple," Lilith said calmly, casually finding a seat to sit down.

"Oh?" Jericho's interest was piqued. "It seems the young lady knows some inside information that none of us do?"

Realizing Lilith wasn't going to answer, Jericho shrugged and asked Marcus beside him, "Where's Mr. Moriarty? He missed a good show! Gryffindor got a fifty-point deduction right at the start of the school year, and the House Cup is ours again."

This time, Lilith answered him: "You mean Moriarty? Have you forgotten that he spends every morning with Tonks?"

"Aha!" Jericho gave Lilith a meaningful look, seemingly discovering the reason for her coldness, but he was wrong. Lilith's mind was now filled with alchemy.

Jericho, believing his assessment to be correct, joked, "If I remember correctly, we're taking alchemy class with Hufflepuff. So, who will Mr. Moriarty be sitting with? I bet it's Senior Tonks! What do you say, Pilliwick?"

"I'm more concerned about alchemy class than seating arrangements." Surprisingly, Sordaya's voice came from the end of the table, his voice cool and calm: "What preparations do we need to make before class? What should we bring? Senior Jerry doesn't seem to have considered these questions. I noticed you only brought one wand, and as far as I know, alchemy isn't something you can learn by simply waving a wand."

"Soldaya," Jericho said, narrowing his eyes with displeasure, "you seem to have ignored what I said."

"Absolutely not, Senior Jerry." Sordaya looked at him earnestly and said, "I have carefully considered your instructions, but after much thought, I feel that keeping a low profile is not my style. I can clearly become the sharpest blade on a sword, why should I hide myself?"

"Really?" Jericho chuckled. "I'll be watching."

"We can look forward to something." Soldaya smiled and nodded at him.

The little snakes looked at them strangely. What was going on with these two? It seemed like there was a sudden tension between them.

At that moment, Moriarty and Tonks arrived, Tonks carrying a thick stack of parchment covered with runes.

"Is everyone here?" Moriarty looked at the little snake and the badger. "Today is the first alchemy class, let's go early."

The students from the two houses obediently followed Moriarty toward the secret chamber. Jericho hurriedly stuffed a few slices of bread into his mouth and ran to Moriarty's side: "Sir, aren't we being a bit too formal?"

Sensing Jericho's somewhat dismissive attitude towards alchemy, Moriarty said earnestly, "This is a course that will influence your entire life. Cheer up, Jericho."

Moriarty proved to be right. When they entered the secret room, they found that Nicolas Flamel and Perenel had already arrived. The secret room had been decorated as a large classroom.

The stone tables and chairs, arranged in rows of six, are laid out in dozens of rows, providing ample seating for students to sit down and study properly.

Below the Salazar statue, there was an open space about the size of a basketball court. A large lectern and two deck chairs were placed on the ground, and the new professor was leaning against them. At their feet were a large pile of boxes covered with black cloth.

The students recognized the alchemical tools from the train, and their eyes lit up with excitement.

"Who are they?" Tonks pointed to a dozen or so adult male wizards sitting in the back row of the secret chamber, who were rapidly jotting something down with shorthand quills.

"Officials from the Ministry of Magic, and a reporter from the Daily Prophet."

Moriarty narrowed his eyes slightly; he had just finished checking in.

"Congratulations, host, you have successfully checked in and obtained alchemy materials: corn candles."

Note: The Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin (now an alchemy classroom) is a repeatable check-in location; the host can check in once per day.

Another place where you can check in repeatedly. Moriarty had just checked in at St. Petersburg's office that morning and received a gill sachet.

I'm going to be busy from now on.

Moriarty shook his head. Perhaps he should get his hands on the Marauder's Map?

While planning how to complete the sign-in task quickly and efficiently, Moriarty found a suitable seat to sit down. The people sitting in the same row as him were Tonks, Lilith, Marcus, and Leon.

Everyone wanted to sit next to Moriarty, but Soldaya snatched the last seat, and Jericho, busy eating bread, fell behind.

After a brief commotion, the students sat down quietly, watching Nicolas Flamel without making a sound.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore led several professors into the Chamber of Secrets. The students were surprised to find that all the professors were there, except for Strange, who was teaching Gryffindor Potions.

They sat at the back of the classroom, while the Ministry of Magic officials eagerly stood up to shake hands with Dumbledore, and the reporters enthusiastically recorded everything that happened.

Once everyone had arrived, Nicolas Flamel slowly rose from his chaise longue and softly uttered a single word: "Candle."

With a "whoosh," a metal ball the size of a basketball flew out from under the black cloth. It spun and floated in front of each student, spitting out a small white candle from its bottom, which landed on the table.

Please read on Friday and add this to your favorites! There's still half a day left before the recommendation ends, I want to advance to the next level!

(End of this chapter)