The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 96 Another Night Stroll

At six o'clock, a large group of Ministry of Magic officials, including British Minister of Magic Millison Bagnough and French Minister of Magic von Weycapet, arrived.

The two ministers entered Hogwarts together, where Dumbledore greeted them. After polite greetings, von Wycombe asked, "Headmaster Dumbledore, where is Nicolas Flamel? I am here on behalf of French wizards to bring good news for our national treasure."

Feng Weikape emphasized the word "national treasure," his tone both proud and stern, as if he feared Hogwarts might imprison Nicolas Flamel.

"I suggest you try the food at Hogwarts first. The journey across the borders using the Portkeys is quite tiring," Dumbledore smiled warmly, but a hint of impatience appeared on Von Wyman's face, and his gray eyes gradually turned cold.

Dumbledore continued to persuade him, "Nicole is in the alchemy classroom with Perenel. Nicole doesn't want anyone to bother him. You have to listen to me on that point."

And that's the safest secret chamber at Hogwarts, perhaps the safest place in all of England. I assure you they're perfectly fine, nothing will happen to them."

Feng Wei's expression gradually relaxed. He swallowed hard, and finally smiled. "Please bring me a Wellington steak and a shepherd's pie, double the portion. Hmm, and a little foie gras, that's my personal preference. Is that alright?"

"Everyone can find their ideal food at Hogwarts, and our house-elves are the most capable," Dumbledore said, inviting Feng Wei to sit in the professor's seat. "I suggest you try some Chinese cuisine; the house-elves have put in a lot of effort to learn these dishes."

Feng Wei's expression turned serious. He seemed quite interested in China. Bagno also joined the conversation, and so they started chatting in the auditorium.

The students relayed the news to the Slytherin common room, and everyone understood that with von Wee's arrival, Nicolas Flamel's prime time had arrived, which was bad news for Moriarty.

But the message couldn't get into the common room. Keith and Larpo stood guard outside Moriarty's dormitory, telling everyone who wanted to find Moriarty: "Moriarty doesn't let anyone in."

No one dared to disobey Moriarty's orders, so the students went to Tonks for help. But Tonks was too busy to do anything else. She and Penelope were on a sofa in the corner of the common room, surrounded by piles of papers taller than a person.

Several older snakes shook their heads: "This is terrible! Is Mr. Moriarty going to miss dinner after missing lunch? How can he go two meals without eating? Besides, he has to conduct high-intensity alchemy experiments. I'm really afraid his body will collapse!"

Soldaya emerged from his dormitory and announced loudly, "We must find Chairman Leon, Flint, Blanche, and Pilivik! They are Mr. Moriarty's friends and subordinates; only they have the guts to break in! Go find them now!"

When the little snakes rushed into Hogsmeade, it was already dark. At seven o'clock, the free dinner provided by old Foley arrived, and people from all walks of life gathered with the young wizards. The little snakes found Lilith at the Hog's Head Tavern.

She was engrossed in reading a large stack of Transfiguration manuscripts, so engrossed that she forgot to eat and wouldn't look away no matter what the little snakes said.

The little snakes hung their heads in dejection. "It's all over! Mr. Moriarty is like this, and Lilith is like this too! Merlin, who can save them!"

"What did you say?" Lilith jumped to her feet, parchment fluttering in the air like feathers. "What's wrong with Moriarty?"

The little snakes quickly told Lilith, who stomped her foot and hurriedly left, forgetting even to take her Transfiguration manuscript.

At 7:30, the men Moriarty had sent out returned and, led by Lilith, blocked the dormitory entrance.

Keith looked worried: "Don't make things difficult for me. The master has given us a strict order: no one is allowed to enter—if we still agree with him."

"But you know, Moriarty has locked him up for eight hours! I'm so, we're so worried about him!" Lilith paced back and forth in front of the dormitory. "Aren't you two worried at all?" She looked at Tonks and Penelope, but the two witches seemed lost in their own world, their eyes fixed on the paper in their hands.

Jericho cried out anxiously, "No, you have to get out of my way! I need to get back to my dorm!"

Keith and Lalpo exchanged a glance and drew their wands: "Turn your ears and plug your ears!" The two immediately felt that the world was quiet.

"You guys—" Jericho seemed to choke, his eyes widening.

Just then, a little snake darted into the common room, excitedly shouting, "The eccentric sisters have come to Hogsmeade! They're willing to perform for free to support Mr. Moriarty! The wizards are ecstatic!"

"Hehe, I'm really happy," Jericho said dryly.

"Go and go see for yourself, don't bother us." Leon dismissed the classmate, then looked at the dormitory door with a worried expression. "What should we do? Should we tell Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"That guy's decisions are irreversible!" Lilith sighed. "Even if you bring Merlin here, it won't make a difference!"

"I truly admire you, sir!" Jericho scratched his head in frustration, seemingly making his short hair grow longer. "Are you planning to stay up all night? Even Nicolas Flamel couldn't have developed it in one night!"

"Sigh!!!" The group sighed heavily, huddled on the sofa, filled with worry for Moriarty.

In fact, if Lockhart were here, he would definitely laugh and tell them not to worry, Moriarty is fine—he has experience stirring neutralizing potions for fourteen hours straight without interruption, so eight hours of research is nothing to him.

It was 11 o'clock, eleven hours after Moriarty and Nicolas Flamel made their bet.

The dormitory door was opened from the inside, and Moriarty walked out. He closed the door gently, but through the crack, one could see that the dormitory floor was covered with manuscripts.

Moriarty looked at the scene in the common room and felt a warm feeling well up in his heart.

Keith and Larpo were dozing off against the wall, their heads nodding off.

Lilith's head was buried in a roll of parchment, but Moriarty could still tell her by the scent of shampoo.

Leon and Marcus were fast asleep on the floor of the common room, exhausted from running back and forth between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade all afternoon.

Tonks and Penelope were surrounded by mountains of parchment and books in a corner, but they clutched a few manuscripts tightly in their hands.

Moriarty picked up the manuscript and looked at it, narrowing his eyes. It contained all the information about the "wand" in runes and Latin.

It seems that Tonks and Penelope's next step is to condense magical runes.

"Runes..." Moriarty exhaled a breath of stale air, "Still can't escape runes and formulas!"

For a full eleven hours, Moriarty was thinking of a quick and easy method, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake off his existing knowledge.

No, that knowledge is a shackle for Moriarty now!

Every magical rune and every alchemical formula, like the branches of the Willow of Men, firmly locked away Moriarty's talent.

Moriarty also inquired about alchemy from the system, but was told that "alchemy is not within the services provided by this system."

In other words, Moriarty had to develop the wand set on his own!

Moriarty used magic to gently lift Tonks and the others and carry them back to their dormitory. When it was Lilith's turn, perhaps because she was a light sleeper, she opened her eyes with a "whoosh" as soon as she floated up.

"Hmm? Moriarty? You're out!" Lilith rubbed her eyes and smiled. "That's great news! Have you made any progress?"

Moriarty put her down, helped her to her feet, and shook his head with a wry smile: "I have no clue what to do, and my mind is filled with all sorts of disordered and chaotic spells, like birds flying around making strange noises in my ears."

Lilith tried to come over and massage his temples, but Moriarty dodged her: "Go back to sleep, I'm going for a walk by the Black Lake."

"I'll go with you," Lilith said matter-of-factly. "You promised to take me with you next time we went out at night."

Mentioning the last nighttime stroll, Moriarty thought of Jericho, "Where's that Jericho kid?"

"Who knows where he went?"

Moriarty and Lilith walked out of the common room while talking, but unexpectedly ran into the bloody Barrow!

"Moriarty, Peeves is waiting for you up ahead," Barrow explained his purpose.

Moriarty understood; the ghosts had heard about the bet and couldn't sit still anymore.

He walked towards the front of the corridor, and Lilith wanted to follow, but then Barrow said in a deep voice, "Peeves only wants to see Moriarty."

"My lord, did I hear that right? When did you ever listen to Pikachu?" Lilith asked incredulously.

"Peeves just told me he could help Moriarty win the bet. If that's true, what's wrong with me passing on his message?" Barrow watched Moriarty walk around the corner and disappear. "Oh, and by the way, that American kid went to the library."

(End of this chapter)