The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 94 Racing with Nicolas Flamel

"Well," Nicolas Flamel sighed deeply, "we know you have your own ideas and many methods."

"But!" He fanned the plan in his hand like a fan, "Now that I've seen the plan for the wand set and grasped the concept, how long do you think it will take me to build it?"

Moriarty suddenly realized that the old man before him had transformed into a businessman who was three parts shamelessness and seven parts shrewdness. "So, we're competitors now?"

"Of course," Nicolas Flamel said with a smile. "For hundreds of years, my life has been dull and boring. Today, I've encountered something interesting, and I have no reason to miss the opportunity to enjoy it."

"You seem to have the victory firmly in your grasp. But I'm not far behind either, and you're well aware of the gap between us," Moriarty said pointedly.

"If you're referring to the conveniences provided by the British Ministry of Magic, the supply channels offered by the pure-blood families, and the assistance provided by Ollivander and Sgrahorn... that's not a problem for me." Nicolas Flamel walked slowly across the platform, a long-dormant aura emanating from his steps, which made Moriarty focus.

Nicolas Flamel paused, extended a finger to Moriarty, and gently shook it, a meaningful smile on his face: "With just one word from me, people from all walks of life, and even the entire French magical world, will be at my disposal, and there are plenty of people willing to be arranged by me."

A strong sense of self-confidence emanated from Nicolas Flamel's every move; who wasn't once a boy?

Perenel seemed to see Nicolas Flamel at the height of his confidence when he was two hundred years old.

It was during the Age of Discovery in the 16th century. In the Muggle world, European powers were developing large-scale overseas colonies. Nicolas Flamel traveled the world during this period, accumulating a great deal of wealth and experience, and taking countless lives.

Perenel thought Nicolas Flamel would never show his talent again, but he never expected that Nicolas Flamel would take things seriously in front of Moriarty today!

However, Moriarty was not intimidated by Nicolas Flamel's imposing manner. He smiled calmly and said, "I'm not referring to our connections, but to our talent!"

"Talent?" Dumbledore finally spoke, having remained silent until now suddenly becoming interested. "That's a very interesting point. How about we make a bet?"

"bet?"

Nicolas Flamel and Moriarty both looked at Dumbledore.

"That's right, whoever makes the wand set first wins!" Dumbledore's eyes gleamed with an indescribable light.

"I disagree!" Perenel's voice rose several octaves. "Nico has the support of the French wizarding community, while Moriarty has the support of the British wizarding community. If the two of them make a bet, it will be detrimental to the diplomacy between the wizarding communities of both countries."

"I think the two of them can drive the development of the magical world in both countries and also handle the relationship between the two countries well," Dumbledore pointed out.

"Alright," Nicolas Flamel made his decision, "I'm willing to take the bet with you, Moriarty! What's your opinion?"

"Nico—" Perenel said unhappily, "It's not a good thing for the French and British magical communities to be at odds!"

We are now professors at Hogwarts, but we were once students and professors at Beauxbatons. How are the students supposed to cope with being caught between two magic schools? What are they thinking?

"These are not problems," Moriarty said firmly. "The two professors agreed to teach at Hogwarts because of the space magic circle. This was agreed upon beforehand, and it will not change no matter what our relationship is like."

As for the students' attitudes, this is both a challenge and an opportunity—as news of our bet spreads, more people will pay attention to and be willing to learn about alchemy, which is a good thing.

"Very good," Nicolas Flamel laughed, "I'm glad we're on the same page on this point, which means you agree?"

Moriarty nodded, and Nicolas Flamel immediately extended his right hand: "If I win, it will be the same as before—you will become my apprentice and contribute your talent to alchemy."

Dumbledore's eyelids twitched; he didn't think the topic of becoming an apprentice had been mentioned before.

Moriarty also extended his right hand: "If I win, you must continue to use the elixir of immortality and assist me in creating the next alchemical artifacts."

Dumbledore's lips twitched. Goodness, you're even more ruthless.

But Moriarty and Nicolas Flamel said simultaneously, "Deal!"

"Snapped!"

Two hands clapping loudly, the bet is settled!

Nicolas Flamel took out a strange pen from the pile of alchemical tools covered with black cloth, and Perenel kindly brought him a parchment scroll. At the same time, Nicolas Flamel began to write more than a dozen letters!

Moriarty, looking equally serious, couldn't resist joking as he left, "Every second counts, Professor!"

Without looking up, Nicolas Flamel replied, "A race against time!"

Dumbledore and Perenel both shook their heads with amusement as they watched Nicolas Flamel's hurried manner and Moriarty's departing figure from the Chamber of Secrets.

"You knew it all along, Dumbledore," Perenel said calmly, "Moriarty won't agree to our demands."

"If you had made a bet with him earlier, he would have agreed." Dumbledore's eyes were deep. "Now I'm starting to look forward to it. How wonderful it is to have an unknown destiny."

After leaving the Chamber of Secrets, Moriarty went straight to the Room of Requirement and began writing letters—to Lockhart, to old Flint, to the pure-bloods, to his classmates and followers…

As letters were carried by owls to various places, just past noon, the details of the bet between Moriarty and Nicolas Flamel were revealed to everyone.

Tonks, Marcus, Lilith, Leon, Jericho, and Penelope are invited to the Room of Requirement.

Jericho's first words to Moriarty were: "To bet with the greatest alchemist of the last six centuries—that's cool, sir!"

He shook off his frustration from the alchemy class and exclaimed enthusiastically, "We have to do something! We have to get moving! Sir, what do you need us to do?"

"In fact, I do need you to do a lot of things," Moriarty quickly assigned tasks: "Tonks, you stay and be my assistant. Let's start with condensing runes."

Marcus, I entrust the pureblood and Ministry of Magic letters to you. Find out which ones are still willing to support me—I want to see how they treat me after learning that Nicolas Flamel refused to cooperate.

Leon, I need you to gather information about the students' wands.

Jericho, write a letter to your father and ask him to help you gather information about the wands of American wizards.

Lilith, take your people to Hogsmeade. I have already sent Mr. Ollivander with his research on wands to Hogsmeade, and Sglahorn and Lockhart will also be arriving in Hogsmeade soon. I hope you can become a communication bridge between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

"If she doesn't know how to get to the secret passage, Leon! Send someone to take her there."

Those whose names were called sprang into action. Penelope watched everyone bustling about, her eyes wide with excitement, yet also feeling a little lost. It was the first time Moriarty had summoned her, and she was somewhat at a loss.

"Oh, Penelope Rivat!" Moriarty seemed to remember her. "Hmm... let me think about it. You can stay with me for now, and I'll trouble you if I need anything."

"No trouble at all," Penelope hurriedly said, but Moriarty had already left. He went back to his dormitory, rummaged through a large pile of potions, and gulped down several of them that could enhance brainpower and replenish energy.

Despite his seemingly calm demeanor and even his willingness to point out the gap between Nicolas Flamel and himself, he was actually quite unsure of himself!

"Talent, talent!" Moriarty rubbed his temples, a look of anxiety appearing on his face for the first time. "Think, think! There must be some way to bypass the formulas and runes and directly achieve the desired state! Just like Nicolas Flamel's alchemical tools, it's impossible that every single one of them was created by Nicolas Flamel through a lot of trial and error. There must be some method!"

What is it? What exactly is it? Mysticism? Mystery? Magic Moon, Three-State Transformation…”

Moriarty muttered a few academic terms over and over as he walked out of the dormitory. The little snake in the common room was terrified when it saw him and quickly ran to tell Professor S.

Before Slytherin could even reach the common room, he ran into Dumbledore, who was accompanying the twelve school board members toward the Slytherin dungeons, followed by a large group of Ministry of Magic officials and reporters!

It turns out that after receiving Moriarty's letter, Lucius and the board members decided to publicize the bet to everyone. They joined forces with the board of directors of the Daily Prophet to launch a marketing campaign.

Within just a few hours, the wizarding community in Britain was stirred up and expressed their support for Moriarty's bet against the French!

Seeing the growing public outcry, the Ministry of Magic had no choice but to issue an official statement through the Daily Prophet, representing the British magical community in supporting Moriarty.

For Dumbledore, this was a scene he was happy to see, so he readily agreed to let the school board, the Ministry of Magic representatives, and the journalists meet with Moriarty.

Of course, this wasn't an interview; it was simply a statement of support from the British magical community for Moriarty, nothing more.

After learning the whole story, Moriarty realized something was wrong. What did he mean by "that's all"?

He was initially at a disadvantage in his bet with Nicolas Flamel. Flamel was certain to develop the wand set; it was only a matter of time. Moriarty, on the other hand, not only had to ensure the development was successful but also to shorten the timeframe to guarantee victory.

So what he lacks most is time!

But now?

Although he had considered the sensation this would cause before he agreed to the bet, the sensation came too quickly—the whole of Britain knew about it before the afternoon's Defense Against the Dark Arts class even started!

Then it won't be long before the French magical community finds out about this.

Damn purebloods! Moriarty glared at Lucius inwardly. The pureblood family had made a fortune this time, but had unintentionally tricked Moriarty.

Sure enough, the system's cold voice rang out: "The system has detected that the host's current actions are extremely detrimental to the ultimate mission. The host is requested to immediately quell the controversy and reduce the attention paid to the host by the magical communities of both countries."

(End of this chapter)