The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 98 Mr. Armor

"A headless horseman?"

Moriarty stared intently at the silver corner of the mural, his voice unusually loud in the quiet office, yet not abrupt.

Because the portraits of past principals have awakened from their slumber, uttering discontented grumbles.

As expected, Dumbledore was not there, nor was Fawkes the Phoenix on the shelf. This was the conclusion Lilith and Jericho came to after looking around. They had no idea who Moriarty was talking to.

However, Moriarty was certain that his target had moved; in his line of sight, Principal Black's mural was gradually being taken over by a knight's armor.

Moriarty examined the armor, which was about 1.85 meters tall and very neat. Small strings of mysterious characters were engraved on the wrists and ankles, and the surface of the chest was polished. The silver light that Moriarty had seen earlier was reflected from here.

The only thing it had was a large patch of blood on its neck; it was headless—Moriarty was already prepared for this, after all, it was called the Headless Horseman.

However, the wound on his neck still made Moriarty's eyelids twitch. The wound was not a normal horizontal cut, but a circular blood hole on his neck, about the size of an adult's fist.

"Hiss—" Lilith gripped Moriarty's arm tightly, while Jericho, beneath his robes, gripped his wand tightly, forcing a smile: "This thing is even more intimidating than Nick the Nearly Headless, huh?"

"Nearly headless Nick? No, no, no, how can you compare me to a ghost?"

The armored figure waved its arms repeatedly, making a series of clicking sounds, seemingly emanating from its belly. Its tone was extremely arrogant: "I am a noble Knight of the Round Table under King Arthur. And you compare me to that ghost, Nicholas de Minsie-Poppington? What's wrong with you? Are all young wizards these days so narrow-minded?"

The armored creature twisted its body toward Jericho, and although it lacked a head, Jericho could sense its gaze.

Jericho was startled by his own thoughts. Instead of loosening his grip on the wand, he tightened his grip even more, as if he could pull it out at any moment to cast a spell on the armor in front of him.

"You say you're one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table?" Lilith's tone was full of sarcasm. "What a joke! Did King Arthur even know he had a headless knight under his command? Did Merlin know? Huh? At three in the morning, a headless suit of armor tells us he's a Knight of the Round Table? How ridiculous! Is it April Fool's Day?"

"Haha!" The armor laughed, its shoulders shaking wildly and making a "clattering" sound, which made Moriarty feel that it was not a serious and shrewd person... well, armor.

Jericho, sensing its youth and vigor, laughed heartily: "King Arthur and Merlin know, of course they know! The first Knights of the Round Table had twelve, and I am the unknown thirteenth Knight—the Headless Horseman!"

"Really?" Lilith remained skeptical. "Are you sure you're not just making up a name to fool us? Otherwise, why didn't you agree when Moriarty shouted 'Headless Horseman'?"

"Who? Moriarty? Him!" The armored figure twisted toward Moriarty, but dodged away as if stung by a bee. "Oh dear, I don't want to talk to him. His mind is infested with fly gnats! His thoughts are so chaotic that even flies wouldn't bother with them—so why do you think I'd answer him!"

Moriarty and his two companions were dumbfounded. For so long, no one had dared to look down on Moriarty. Even Dumbledore and the Ministers of Magic of England and France treated Moriarty with utmost respect.

"You're not allowed to speak ill of the master!" Jericho was the first to react, angrily drawing his wand and aiming it at the armor.

Moriarty pressed Jericho's arm down. "Don't destroy Principal Black's mural." Jericho angrily put down his wand.

"That reminds me of something," Lilith approached the armor, her black eyes full of mockery and sarcasm. "You're still a thief! Peeves said you don't have your own murals, so you can only run around in other people's murals and occupy them after they leave!"

How is this any different from a thief or a petty thief? Did King Arthur know this? Did Merlin know this?

"What do you know, little girl?" the armored figure said dismissively, uttering a surprising statement: "Of course they know! This is the mission they gave me! Otherwise, I wouldn't have lost my head! And I wouldn't be stuck in someone else's mural!"

Lilith remained silent, Jericho continued to watch the armor warily, and Moriarty quietly walked up to the armor, which surprisingly retreated repeatedly.

"Stay away from me. I don't want you or your harassing fly near me, seriously! If you come any closer, I'm leaving!"

"I've been wondering ever since, what exactly is a harassing fly?" Jericho approached the mural, and judging from his expression, if the mural weren't hanging on the wall, he would have poked it with his wand.

"It's a tiny, invisible creature that floats into people's ears and messes up their brains." The armor seemed to particularly like Jericho, and it moved closer to him.

"You think I've lost my mind?" Moriarty's voice sounded very displeased, and he flashed a strange smile at his armor—a smile that neither Lilith nor Jericho had ever seen before.

"Mr. Armor? If you don't say something, I'll take down all the murals in the castle and replace them with a new batch." Moriarty held his cedarwood wand in his hand, his tone indifferent: "Think about it, then you won't be able to go anywhere."

"Who do you think you are? The headmaster of Hogwarts?" the armored figure said arrogantly. "Sorry, even the headmaster of Hogwarts doesn't have the right to change the murals, much less to order me around! This was agreed upon by Merlin and Salazar/Slytherin!"

Lilith followed up, saying, "Who do you think he is? Sorry, he's Moriarty Slytherin! It's perfectly fitting that another Slytherin would break the pact between Merlin and Slytherin, isn't it?"

Lilith's tone was also very smug. She was quite pleased to see the armor look like it had been hit by a hammer, and although it had no head, its belly was now bulging.

"Are you a descendant of Slytherin?" The armored figure's tone became thoughtful. "No wonder the portraits in this castle looked like they'd gone mad a few months ago. I saw their solemn expressions and thought the castle had been attacked... That's not a good thing."

Okay, I admit it, the descendants of Slytherin could remove the murals…”

"Ahem, if I may ask, since you don't have a head, how do you see?" Jericho asked seriously. "Don't tell me your eyes are in your stomach."

"Haha!" The armored figure laughed again. "Short-haired boy, I like you! You're finally so straightforward, which is a good sign. It shows that you're quite simple-minded."

"I sound like a simple-minded, muscle-bound little troll, haha." Jericho said expressionlessly.

"Don't interrupt, Mr. Armor? Mr. Knight? Or the headless portrait?" Moriarty walked slowly in front of the mural, a huge magical power surging around him, proving that he wasn't just trying to scare the armor. "Whatever you're called, you've gotten yourself into big trouble now. No one has ever dared to say that I've lost my mind."

"I already told you, so what?" the armored figure said impatiently. "Your brain is stuck on such a trivial matter. It's just alchemy, isn't it? Merlin disdained to do something so mysterious, and now you've turned it into a problem?"

Moriarty's eyes widened, Lilith looked incredulous, and only Jericho blurted out, "How did you know?"

"Of course I know, the harassing fly told me everything you've been thinking!" The armor seemed to snort. "That wizard kid named Slytherin, don't worry about alchemy. I'll help you solve this problem. You promise not to remove the murals in the castle, okay?"

Oh, I'm not negotiating or betting with you, I'm just making an equal exchange.

Look, I'll solve your problem right now—a method even simpler than alchemical formulas and magical runes is the matrix! The Alchemy Matrix! By building a matrix, you can easily bypass complex formulas and unpredictable magical runes.

If you are learned enough, you will find that the languages ​​of elves and dragons are close to the mystical; don't expect humans to study the mystical.

Merlin once told us that everything in nature has its own role, and anyone who tries to replace another will pay a price. That's what makes a real thief or robber!

(End of this chapter)