The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 95 Focus on Hogsmeade (Votes needed!)

Moriarty took the Daily Prophet from Lucius's hand; the headline was a string of large magical characters: "Moriarty vs. Nicolas Flamel! Which will win, the British wizarding world or the French wizarding world?"

With both public opinion and official attention on the matter, The Daily Prophet dispatched professional reporters to compile this reliable report, which conveys a message between the lines: our British Slytherin descendants are geniuses, hundreds or thousands of times better than the old French geezer!

Moriarty closed the newspaper and said to the reporters, "I grant you permission to conduct an exclusive interview with me."

Everyone was stunned, as it was common knowledge that Moriarty never gave interviews!

Soon, everyone realized the significance of the interview. The reporters were overjoyed, Dumbledore seemed thoughtful, while Lucius and other board members looked gloomy.

"I hope he doesn't cause any more trouble," Lucius worried to himself. He had made a fortune from this big news and didn't want anything to go wrong.

Reporters swarmed around Moriarty, trying to take him to an empty classroom, but Moriarty refused, calmly stating, "To better integrate alchemy into wizarding life, I will reveal this alchemical technique after successfully developing the wand set!"

After Moriarty finished speaking, he turned and left. Lucius quickly jogged after him, a fake smile plastered on his face: "Mr. Moriarty, making the technology public doesn't seem to be in accordance with our agreement..."

"Don't think I don't know you've made a killing off my bet with Nicolas Flamel," Moriarty warned, giving him a warning look. "Now you've elevated me to a pedestal, and you dare question my decision? I don't want to fall from that height and be smashed to pieces!"

Lucius stopped in his tracks, his eyes flickering. To be honest, he understood Moriarty's actions. People live for themselves—there's nothing wrong with that, especially since he and Moriarty were both excellent Slytherins, and it was perfectly normal for them to scheme against each other.

"Mr. Moriarty, I completely agree with your point of view!" Lucius adjusted his mindset and made his decision.

He adopted an excited and eager demeanor, a smile of admiration on his face, and strode forward to catch up with Moriarty: "Please tell me more! I want to hear your insights on the integration of alchemy into wizarding life!"

The reporters also realized that, compared to the bet itself, the public disclosure of technology was undoubtedly more attractive in every aspect.

They ran to catch up with Moriarty, but Moriarty locked himself in his dormitory and wouldn't see anyone!

The reporters were deeply disappointed; the interview ended just like that, and they didn't even have time to take a single photo.

However, the diligent journalists wrote a new article in less than an hour, and the Daily Prophet was republished, reporting that Moriarty was willing to disclose the technology.

Nicolas Flamel followed suit, also expressing his willingness to reveal the alchemical techniques behind the wand set!

With the statements from both parties involved, Moriarty's popularity has waned, and wizards have begun to imagine what alchemy would look like in everyday life; the future seems to be just around the corner.

On Monday afternoon at 2 p.m., Lockhart arrived in Hogsmeade and delivered a speech entitled "The First Change Is Coming," which was met with great enthusiasm.

At 3 o'clock, the newly appointed Head of Slytherin, Horace Slughorn, entered Hogsmeade. This renowned wizard, also a Potions Master, brought with him most of the members of his Slug Club.

When the pure-blood families delivered tons of magical materials, the Ministry of Magic had no choice but to send Aurors to protect them.

Horace erected a shed—in fact, all the major shopkeepers at Hogwarts offered to give up their shops to provide Horace with a potions room for identifying materials.

However, Professor Snape appeared, and with a grim face told everyone that some materials needed to be exposed to fresh air to retain their magic.

"Severus, I'm glad you came to help me. It seems you received my letter. I thought Pineapple was too old to find his way to Hogwarts." Horace loved pineapple preserves, and his owl was named "Pineapple." He wanted to give Severus a hug, but Severus remained unmoved.

"There are no classes this afternoon, that's all," Snape said casually, his hands never stopping. He deftly put on his dragon-skin gloves and began sorting through some dangerous active materials.

At 3:30, Mr. Ollivander walked into the Three Brooms Bar alone.

Ten minutes later, Rosmerta, the bar owner, announced a promotion: "Every guest who simply hands their wand to Ollivander for one minute will receive a free butterbeer. (This promotion is sponsored by the Malfoy family.)"

Wizards flocked into the bar, and almost instantly, Mr. Ollivander's front was filled with wands.

People were amazed to discover that Ollivander remembered the time and details of each wand's sale!

At four o'clock, Lilith and Leon led a large group of students into Hogsmeade through a secret passage from Hogwarts. The guide was none other than Charlie Weasley.

The students compiled the information they had gathered about the wands and handed it over to Ollivander.

Then, he brought back to the Slytherin dungeon the magical materials that the two Potions Masters had sorted out and that were compatible with the wands, so that Moriarty could experiment with them at any time.

This action angered another new professor.

Diana looked at the few remaining young wizards in the classroom, her pretty face frosty, and announced the end of get out of class, instructing a second-year Gryffindor boy to write down the names of the students who had skipped class.

The little lion, unwilling to betray his classmates, ran quickly out of the classroom. Diana, fuming, picked up the second-grade student roster and began checking each name against the list.

"Moriarty, you're the first!"

At 4:30, several heavyweight theoretical masters of the British magical world entered Hogsmeade. They frequently publish papers in academic journals such as Transfiguration Today, including Bathilda Bagshot, the author of The History of Magic.

They engaged in heated discussions about the similarities and differences between alchemy and other academic disciplines, often arguing fiercely over trivial details. More often, they were writing furiously, jotting down their viewpoints, hypotheses, and reasoning on parchment.

"The children of the Pilivik family!" said an elderly man dressed in fine clothes—he was the oldest among these masters, but still over 80 years old.

He summoned Lilith and tossed her a large handful of white parchment covered in writing. "Give these to Moriarty; perhaps they'll give him some fresh inspiration and help him defeat that old bastard Nico!"

Lilith's arms trembled as she held the parchment; she truly felt the weight of knowledge!

Seeing that parchment was about to become a scarce commodity, old Foley arrived and announced that he would provide parchment for the masters present.

Seemingly feeling that this sponsorship was not worthy of the Foley family's reputation, old Foley announced that dinner would be provided free of charge to the wizards present!

At five o'clock, old Flint led more than twenty Romanian wizards, pulling a fire dragon into Hogsmeade!

God knows how they brought the dragon from Romania to England; all that is known is that old Flint looked incredibly wealthy.

"If Mr. Moriarty needs any materials from the dragon, kill it on the spot!" Old Flint waved his hand, signaling the dragon tamer to use chains to put the dragon on.

"What? Someone says the Norwegian Spinosaurus isn't suitable for alchemical experiments? What about the Ukrainian Ironbelly, the Hebrides Black Dragon, or the Australian White-Eyed Dragon?" Old Flint put on a show. "None of them are suitable? No problem, the Flint family's dragon farm has all sorts of dragons! They'll definitely help Mr. Moriarty!"

Lucius, who was in the Three Broomsticks bar, looked gloomy when he heard these words. The Malfoy family's dragon farm had been driven out of business by old Flint!

And Lockhart! Lucius's face involuntarily tightened as he recalled Lockhart helping old Flint suppress him.

Lockhart, completely unaware, had arrived at Horace's hut.

"Hey, hey! Professor Snape! Do you remember me?" Lockhart greeted Snape warmly, only to be met with Snape's distant and cold response: "Hand me that piece of bark, and don't spill the cauldron like you did in your first Potions class!"

Lockhart waved his wand, and two identical pieces of brown bark flew to Spellbinder. The next second, Spellbinder roared, "Is your brain filled with slugs so much that you can't tell one from two? I only need one piece of bark!"

"Come on, sir." Lockhart strolled around the professor cheerfully, circling him, and explained with a hint of pride, "African snake tree—a favorite of termites. Those little insects hide under the bark and devour the snake tree, which makes some of the bark highly acidic, like this one."

Lockhart threw a piece of bark on the ground, and a yellow sap oozed from it, corroding a small pit in the ground.

Lockhart added matter-of-factly, "And some bark isn't acidic, and since you didn't specify which kind you wanted, I'll just have to give you both."

"You've improved quite a bit compared to before." Spell glanced at Lockhart, picked up the non-acidic bark, crushed it, and then roared, "You flashy, useless fool, you've ruined the acidic bark!"

"Well, go get another one then." Lockhart quickly fled the scene before Scharnhorst's next roar could be heard.

At 5:30, Jericho's father, James Branch, arrived at Hogsmeade with Ludo Bagman.

James is representing the U.S. Ministry of Magic in cheering for Moriarty!

Ludo, however, stated that he was a sentinel from the Ministry of Magic, and that the French Minister of Magic had already arrived at the headquarters of the British Ministry of Magic, with the ministers of magic from both countries about to arrive!

The wizards realized that the arrival of the Frenchmen meant that the French magical community was also starting to exert its influence; anything involving a "nation" instantly became complicated.

But this was Hogsmeade, and the wizards watched the students strolling through the streets—no one cared about the students' ages anymore—and seeing their vibrant energy rekindled their longing for magic.

The atmosphere in Hogsmeade grew increasingly festive, like Christmas. The wizards were in high spirits. If a foreign wizard saw Hogsmeade now, he would surely think it was the Quidditch World Cup final.

Please vote and add to your favorites on Monday!

(End of this chapter)