Moriarty: "Progress Is Going Smoothly!"

Thud!

Moriarty heard the sound of both a body and a book hitting the floor. The person who had fallen scrambled up and ran, abandoning the book without a second thought.

"Lilith!" Moriarty called softly. The person froze, then slowly turned around, revealing a delicate face framed by blond hair and dark eyes. It was Lilith.

Jericho walked over, visibly astonished. "Peverell? What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Lilith stared fixedly at Jericho, avoiding Moriarty's gaze. It seemed her aggressiveness only worked when she faced Jericho.

"Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells. The pages on the Disillusionment Charm are creased." Moriarty picked up the book Lilith had dropped and said teasingly, "It seems we came here for the same reason."

Jericho opened it and looked through it as well, then stared at Lilith in surprise. "You've read this book several times already. When did you start?"

Lilith rolled her eyes at him. "Listening to you, anyone would think you were Madam Pince from the library."

"Tsk, tsk, how impressive," Jericho said, a trace of mockery at the corner of his mouth as he imitated Lilith's tone. "I'm afraid no one but Mr. Moriarty and I know that you sneak into the Restricted Section every midnight! Applause for our outstanding Miss Peverell! Like a nimble little snake, she slipped past everyone's eyes. Aha—just like a snake."

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Blanche," Lilith replied casually. Then she turned her gaze to Moriarty. "So you came to learn the Disillusionment Charm too? How about... I mean, we could learn it together."

Moriarty nodded. "This isn't a place to talk. Let's copy down the Disillusionment Charm and leave."

Afraid of being discovered, Jericho and Lilith fell silent. The three of them quickly copied down the spell, exchanged glances, and nodded in tacit agreement. "Let's go back to the dormitory."

After returning to the Slytherin Common Room, Lilith suddenly asked, "Mr. Moriarty, how did you know that person was me?"

Moriarty's expression changed slightly. "When we collided, I smelled Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo. It was the same scent you had when we first met."

"Oh, is that so?" Lilith awkwardly brushed back the blond hair that had fallen over her shoulders. "But that scent could have been yours too, couldn't it? I remember we use the same shampoo."

Moriarty looked at her strangely. After saying it, Lilith realized she had asked a foolish question, and her face instantly flushed red.

Both of them felt a little embarrassed, and they soon parted ways.

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Moriarty went to the Room of Requirement as usual. Tonks had come up with a preliminary idea for the Space Magic Array.

"Listen, Moriarty. I think we need to inscribe a permanently solidified large-scale Memory Charm onto the magic array together with Runic Runes. The number of runes will vary depending on the weight and quantity being transported."

Tonks rubbed her temples with both hands, her brows knitted tightly. "And we don't know how the Runic Runes should be combined to best suit spatial magic. We also don't know whether we'll need Latin runes or some other strange things besides Runic Runes!"

At last, Tonks looked up at Moriarty with a pitiful expression. "Five months is too little time. I'm worried we won't be able to complete the task you gave us."

Moriarty thought seriously for a moment. "Leave the runes to me. You focus on learning the Solidification Charm first. I'll have Jericho learn the Memory Charm. As for inscribing the magic array, I'll find someone else to help with that."

Tonks pouted and nodded. Having her workload shared should have been a good thing, yet she somehow felt disappointed.

Moriarty did not notice. His mind was completely occupied by Runic Runes, and he only emerged from his thoughts when Marcus spoke to him at the dining table.

"Sir, I told my father everything that has happened recently. He is more than willing to lead the family in pledging loyalty to you. He sent you the family crest and genealogy."

Marcus discreetly handed Moriarty a triangular crest. He tried to give him the genealogy as well, but Moriarty refused it.

Did Moriarty need to study the Flint family's domestic affairs? No. It was not the Slytherin Family genealogy.

The crest felt rough to the touch. Perhaps the Flint family's decline had left it tarnished; several scratches marred its jet-black surface. Yet the symbol of the Flint family—Winter Solstice Flint—shone brilliantly upon it like a tiny fireball, seemingly illuminating the family's last hope.

Moriarty took Marcus's restrained, tightly clasped hands, then retrieved a letter he had prepared long ago from the System Space and placed it, along with the crest, into Marcus's palm.

"Remember today—January 16th. The day the Flint family rose again! Send this letter to your father. He'll know what to do."

Just as Moriarty had said, after Old Flint received the letter, he followed the address provided that very evening. Taking the family's remaining funds with him, he headed for a small town in Romania.

There, Old Flint met Lockhart. At first, he thought Lockhart had come to Romania to gather material for his writing. But when Lockhart warmly led him into a villa and he saw the young dragon, Christmas, the expression on his face became utterly spectacular.

"Merlin's beard!" Old Flint pointed at Lockhart. "You have the young dragon, so you're the person the young master sent to meet with me?"

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Lockhart smiled casually, then turned serious. "Time is short, so let's get straight to the point. The young master sent you here to develop the dragon-breeding industry. As for me, officially we're partners, but in reality, I'm responsible for providing you with money, introducing you to local dignitaries, and smoothing out the connections..."

When business was mentioned, Old Flint straightened his slightly hunched back, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "The young master wants me to first establish a dragon-breeding farm, then open a dragon-viewing park, a dragon rider experience center, and a dragon valley that provides materials from precious dragon breeds!

"As far as I know, there is no dragon-breeding industry this comprehensive anywhere in the world. If all the young master's ideas are realized, we won't lack money for centuries.

"But we only have one dragon? To be honest, the Flint family's remaining money can't afford another one."

Old Flint glanced at Christmas. The young dragon was in the middle of a growth spurt and bared its sharp teeth at him.

"No matter how many dragons we have now, I believe that within days, we'll have dozens—hundreds—of dragons!"

Grinning, Lockhart drew his Wand and pointed it at the floor. The wooden boards revealed their true form—gold bricks upon gold bricks, radiating a blinding golden light.

Old Flint sucked in a sharp breath and collapsed onto the floor paved with gold bricks.

"Haha, old friend, Romania is rich in fire dragons. We begin tomorrow!" Lockhart helped Old Flint up, picking up two bottles of Butterbeer as he did so.

"Cheers! Hahaha!"

That same night, Moriarty lay in bed tossing and turning. Tonks had a point. Even if he brought Ingo over, they would still be unable to set up the Space Magic Array in five months.

"System, what rewards do I still have unclaimed?" Moriarty thought of the system, hoping it would bring him some good news.

"Detected: Host has accumulated six Exploration Draws and one Achievement Draw!"

"Draw!"

Less than a minute later, the system announced the rewards. Aside from four worthless filler items, he had drawn an Indian Flying Carpet and a pair of Vanishing Cabinets!

"Vanishing Cabinets!" Moriarty snapped his fingers, a glint appearing in his eyes. He had thought of a way to speed up the construction of the magic array.

And if he remembered correctly, there was one Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin and Burkes, while the other was in the Room of Requirement.

That meant he could use the Vanishing Cabinet to travel to Knockturn Alley without anyone noticing.

"System, can I earn points by killing Dark Wizards?" Moriarty thought of Knockturn Alley's specialty—Dark Wizards.

"You can earn points, but not every Dark Wizard killed will grant points. Additionally: if the Host wants to earn points, why not try random missions?"

Moriarty asked curiously, "Random missions? You've never mentioned them, and there wasn't any information about them."

"That is because the Host must pay 300 points to unlock random missions, so they were not introduced proactively."

So it was paid content.

With the thought that paid products had to be premium products, Moriarty paid 300 points, leaving him with only 100 points.

Information about random missions instantly entered Moriarty's mind: the system would provide one or two random missions each day, with varying levels of difficulty. Completing them would reward a small number of points, while failing to complete them carried no penalty.

"A guaranteed profit, no risk. Not bad." Moriarty felt that he could finally sleep well.

"System, are there any other paid features like random missions?" Moriarty tried asking.

"Yes. The Host may pay 1,000 points to unlock the Blind Box Lottery."

Flint was "Flint" in English, meaning flintstone, so I used that as the basis for the Flint family crest.