A Conversation with Marcus

Lilith drew her wand, cast Sonorus, and shouted, "Moriarty has scored his second goal—and in such an incredible way! Look at the players' faces!"

William, Leon, and the other players sat dumbfounded on their brooms, their faces filled with confusion and shock. Moriarty's play had completely overturned their understanding of the game.

It took William a long while to recover. As if he had found a treasure, he shouted at the goalkeeper, "Get the ball back in play! Hurry!"

Then he yelled at the little snakes in the stands, "Starting with the next goal, all of you must record every single movement Moriarty makes! Every one of them! Do the same in every match from now on!"

What followed became simple. The tryouts turned into Moriarty's personal scoring show, and the students erupted into cheers with every goal.

Marcus flew about in a daze. Having witnessed every one of Moriarty's spectacular goals, he knew he had lost for certain and silently shed tears.

There was no longer any suspense in the tryouts. Over the remaining forty minutes, Moriarty scored eighty goals at a rate of one every thirty seconds, bringing their final tally to eighty-two to one!

Some students let out exaggerated exclamations and began calling Moriarty the "Goal Machine."

Lilith objected every time. "He's the Shining Meteor! Shining!"

Meanwhile, dozens of players from other Houses clutched their heads and wailed, including Gryffindor's Charlie and the newly promoted second-year goalkeeper, Oliver Wood.

The tryouts ended. The moment Moriarty landed, he was surrounded by admirers. The other players landed one after another, and Leon dragged Marcus over, roughly hauling him before Moriarty.

Marcus did not resist at all. With tears streaming down his face, he collapsed onto the ground. The little snakes showed him not the slightest sympathy, instead jeering and mocking him.

"Hey, it's him!"

"Don't forget your promise, big guy!"

"I bet he regrets it now. Why did he have to pick a fight with Mr. Moriarty?"

Marcus suddenly raised his head and glared angrily at the crowd. Finally, his gaze settled on Moriarty. He closed his eyes and forced several words through clenched teeth. "Mr. Moriarty... Marcus Flint... will serve you loyally for the rest of his life!"

After saying that, it was as though all the strength had been drained from Marcus's body. He sprawled on the ground, curled into a ball, and buried his head in the grass. Moriarty saw tears the size of soybeans fall from his face.

"Everyone, disperse. I'll stay and have a talk with Marcus." Moriarty stopped the little snakes who were still jeering. They all looked at him curiously, but he said nothing more.

After the crowd dispersed, Lilith came over and gestured at Marcus with her chin. "A verbal promise isn't very binding. Why not make an Unbreakable Vow?"

Moriarty shook his head. "I never use that thing to coerce people. If they aren't like-minded, even the strongest vow will be broken."

"So you intend to win him over with gentler means?" Lilith said meaningfully. "For example... having a heart-to-heart with him?"

"You're being awfully proactive about this. What are you after?" Moriarty implied something with his words, and the atmosphere between them suddenly became a little strange.

Lilith looked at him for several seconds, seemingly trying to discern something. But those gray eyes were as unfathomable as ever, and she had no choice but to give up.

"All right, all right, I admit it." Lilith tied her hair into a ponytail, and her whole demeanor changed. "I used these tryouts to set up a betting pool. I did borrow some of your fame, after all. Here are one hundred Galleons—half of what I made. They're all yours."

She pulled an exquisite leather wallet from her pocket, then joked, "So how did you know? Do you keep a Niffler? Or have you picked up the Goblins' love of money?"

Moriarty accepted it, weighed it a few times in his hand, then returned it to Lilith with a smile. "Next time, keep them somewhere safe. I could hear the coins clinking together from a mile away."

"Thank you. You've made me laugh." Lilith snorted expressionlessly and walked away. She and Jericho waited for Moriarty at the far end of the pitch.

"Now that everyone has gone," Moriarty said, turning back to Marcus, "tell me why you were crying. That is an order."

"My mother died when I was born. From the day I was born until now, I've never seen my father smile even once. Ever since I can remember, he's been selling off everything valuable in the house."

Marcus sounded as though his soul had been hollowed out. His voice was dry and lifeless, though his face had turned bright red. After pausing, he continued.

"I wanted to make my father happy, but I found that I couldn't do anything. I have no talent, I'm not smart, and no one likes me. Whenever I attended balls hosted by the Malfoy family or the Greengrass family, no one was willing to play with me.

"After entering Hogwarts, my grades in every subject were terrible. The only thing that gave me any comfort was that I was bigger than everyone else. I wanted to join the team. It was the only thing I could do. Then I met you and Blanche. I was jealous of you two. You know the rest."

"That does sound rather pitiful." Moriarty gave a cold laugh. "But it still doesn't change your flaws of character or your shameful maliciousness!"

Marcus trembled but said nothing. Moriarty continued, "But compared to magic, that is nothing. You still have time to save yourself.

"Do you know, Marcus? I possess a great deal of wealth. I could casually give you enough to restore the Flint family to its former glory. But is money what you truly need?"

"I think it is, sir." At the mention of money, Marcus sat up and answered stupidly. Combined with his tear-streaked, crimson face, he nearly made Moriarty laugh.

"What a naive idea. As if the Flint family had never been wealthy before. So where did all that wealth go?" Moriarty snorted. "What you should consider is not how to obtain money, but how money was lost."

Marcus seemed to understand a little. He muttered, "It was all because of the Dark Lord."

"Voldemort? Just as people dare not speak his name, he could take your family's wealth because he was stronger than you—stronger than most people. Think about it. Increasing your strength is what you need most."

"But I can't do anything." Marcus looked as though he was about to cry again.

"Don't worry. I've devised a plan for you to grow stronger. Next year, when you enter your third year, you are to take Care of Magical Creatures class as an elective!" Moriarty said seriously. "You must devote everything you have to studying that class, because from this moment onward, magical creatures will be tied to your entire life."

Marcus blinked in partial confusion. "Sir, that's all? I thought you would order me around and make me do bad things..."

"Rest assured, Marcus." Moriarty smiled. "If you serve Voldemort, he will teach you fear and evil. If you continue associating with the Pure-blood families, the Flint family will be swallowed until nothing remains. If you turn to Dumbledore, he will teach you his so-called courage and kindness.

"But I am different. I will lead you forward on the path of magic and help you become a qualified wizard. I do not need you to do anything for me, because as long as you become stronger, you will already be helping me."

After hearing so much, Marcus suddenly felt that his mind could no longer process it all. Scratching his head, he said, "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't understand."

Moriarty raised an eyebrow. At that moment, he gained an intuitive understanding of Severus Snape's demeanor during Potions class—and found himself sympathizing with it.

"When I say becoming stronger, or increasing your strength, I do not merely mean learning a few Spells or defeating a certain number of enemies—I do not require you to do those things." Moriarty explained patiently. "In fact, I have a dragon egg. Once it hatches, I plan to establish a dragon farm."

Marcus's mouth fell open, but he could not utter a word. Moriarty's expression turned solemn as he said, "You heard me. I will give you work to do. It may even be possible for the Flint family to manage my dragon farm—but only if you possess the ability, Marcus."

"I-I heard you, sir." Marcus nodded excitedly. However, Moriarty leaned close and whispered in his ear, "No one besides you and me knows about the dragon egg. Before you complete your studies, you had better not tell anyone a single word. If I find out that you told your old father, or let the news spread everywhere, what do you think will happen to you?"

Marcus hurriedly shook his head. Before he could declare his loyalty, Moriarty said, "I trust that you will not tell anyone, but you must also guard against others prying maliciously into your mind—for example, Legilimency."

"Leon can use Legilimency! And so can Professor Snape!" Marcus cried out, then quickly explained, "I only support Leon. I haven't sworn loyalty to him."

"I know, I know." Moriarty's calm voice soothed Marcus, and he wiped away his tears. "Professor Snape will not pry into your mind. As for Leon, I'll find something for him to do, so you can focus on your studies without worry. Go to the library in the evenings and borrow some books to read."

"Yes, sir." Marcus regained a little of his spirit and asked, "Other than studying Magical Creatures, what else should I do? I mean, what more can I do?"

"In that case, remain calm and brave," Moriarty suddenly said with a smile. "Next, I will open the Chamber of Secrets and release the Basilisk inside. Hmm, that is another secret no one knows about, so it will also be a test for you—to see whether you can pass it."

"What did you say? A... a Basilisk!?" The mood Marcus had only just recovered shattered in an instant.

"Yes." Moriarty sounded quite relaxed. "You heard me, which is why I told you to remain calm and brave."

"Yes, sir." Marcus looked at Moriarty with utter fear in his eyes.

"Very good. Let's go." Moriarty headed toward the Castle first, with Marcus following behind. Along the way, Moriarty instructed him, "Don't do those unpleasant things again in the future. You should understand that from the moment you swore loyalty to me, you became different from the others."

Marcus answered loudly, "I promise, sir!"

At that moment, Lilith and Jericho approached. Seeing Marcus's respectful demeanor, Jericho immediately understood what had happened.

"Follow Mr. Moriarty, and you'll learn a great deal. You'll realize that soon enough. Tsk, why does it feel like you lost, but actually came out ahead?"

Grinning, he rose onto his tiptoes and draped an arm around Marcus's neck, easing the awkwardness of Marcus's recent arrival as though he were Marcus's upperclassman.

Moriarty glanced at him, his tone turning somewhat stern. "Jericho Blench, come with me."

Noticing that Moriarty had called him by his full name, Jericho's expression changed. He lowered his head and followed.