Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 201 Death or Life

"Not interested in."

Sherlock remained motionless on the bed and said lazily.

"You're not going?"

Harry was somewhat surprised by Sherlock's answer.

"My friend, whether in the Muggle world or the magical world, there should be boundaries between the dead and the living."

It's just that in the Muggle world, the living cannot directly communicate with the dead.

"Uh... I thought you'd be interested in something so novel!"

“What you said makes sense… but since you’ve already agreed to go and see for yourself, just tell me what you see and hear when you come back.”

"All right……"

Although somewhat surprised, Harry didn't think much of it and stood up to walk towards the door.

As he walked, he said, "I'll go ask the others."

"I think the reason you agreed to Nick so readily is because you had a very pleasant chat with Miss Zhang, right?"

Just then, Sherlock suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Yes, looking back now, I realize I made a rather hasty decision... Sherlock!"

Harry instinctively answered, only then realizing what Sherlock had just said.

He abruptly stopped, turned around, and looked at his older brother with a shocked expression, stammering:

"H-how do you know?"

Seeing Harry's state, Sherlock finally sat up in bed:
"Now, my dear Harry, you have to admit you're surprised."

"I was genuinely surprised."

Harry sat down again and slowly spoke, looking confused.

He did meet with Cho Chang before meeting Nick, who was almost headless.

Although he hadn't intended to hide it from Sherlock, he was genuinely surprised to have it all out in front of him before he could even tell Sherlock.

"I should have you write this down and sign your name."

"why?"

"Because after five minutes, you'll say it's too easy."

"I definitely won't tell."

"You should know, my dear Harry."

Sherlock stood up abruptly and paced around the dormitory, speaking in the tone of Professor McGonagall lecturing her class:

"Making a series of inferences, and making each inference dependent on the one preceding it, is in itself a simple and straightforward thing, and not difficult at all."

But if I remove all the reasoning in between and simply announce the starting and ending conclusions to my audience, I can achieve a stunning, perhaps even flamboyant, effect, just like you are now.

Sherlock spoke, his gaze sweeping over Harry from head to toe:
"So when I saw you walking in with a clean team uniform and a happy face, I figured you must have just met with Miss Zhang. It wasn't hard to deduce that."

"Sorry, I really don't see any connection between the two."

"Yes, it may not seem so on the surface, but I can tell you about this close relationship right away."

"Tell me quickly!"

The key missing link in this very simple chain is:
First, your clothes were unusually dry and free of any mud when you returned. This contrasts sharply with the other Gryffindor Quidditch players who returned from training with you half an hour earlier, who were soaking wet and covered in mud.

Secondly, there are extremely faint traces of magical energy remaining on your collar. Combining this with the first point, I speculate that this is likely a trace of a spell cast with the abilities 'Cleanse' or 'Sweep Away,' but this spell is not one you typically use.

Third, the warming spell still lingers on you. This is also not your usual method, further confirming the first two inferences while also leading me to a new one.

Fourth, you've never been good at hiding your emotions. When you came in just now, you radiated a different kind of energy than usual. Although your face showed some fatigue, the corners of your mouth unconsciously turned up, and there was still a hint of joy in your eyes.

Fifth, your pupils dilate slightly and facial capillaries dilate, which are typical physiological responses resulting from the combined action of adrenaline and dopamine.

Sixth, after being with Ghost Nick for so long, you still retain the scent of jasmine perfume, which forces me to point the clues to a specific person.

Finally, when all the coincidences point to the same inevitability, the answer becomes as clear as a solved Rubik's Cube:

You bumped into Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw girl from the East, in the hallway, and her kindness and magic saved you from becoming a moving quagmire.

"That's too easy!"

Harry couldn't help but blurt it out.

"See, I knew this would happen!"

Sherlock looked a little unhappy. "Every problem becomes very simple once it's been explained to you."

"Cough cough..."

Harry's expression couldn't help but show some embarrassment.

Just five minutes earlier, he had indeed told Sherlock that he would never say those words.

Clearly, he broke his promise.

With things having come to this point, he had no choice but to force a change of course:
"Uh, I'm planning to go to the common room to find Ron and Hermione. Do you want to come with me?"

"No need. Just tell them that I'm not going to Sir Nick's birthday party, which is almost headless."

"It's a death anniversary celebration!"

“My friend is holding a party in a spacious underground classroom and hiring a ghost band to perform—to me, there is no difference between the two.”

"Uh, okay."

Sherlock's words made perfect sense, and Harry was speechless.

Harry quickly found Hermione and Ron in the common room and told them about Nick's nearly headless 500th birthday celebration.

"A death anniversary party?" Hermione immediately became excited when she heard the news from Harry:

“I bet very few living people can say they’ve ever attended a party like that—it must be a very strange thing!”

Only in situations like these does Hermione's adventurous spirit come alive, making her act like a true Gryffindor.

Otherwise, she would normally give the impression of being a well-behaved and exemplary student.

Ron was doing his Potions class homework, or more precisely, copying Sherlock's homework.

This is a very troublesome thing.

Because Sherlock's ideas for assignments were always unconventional and imaginative, Ron always had to spend a lot of time trying to understand what he had written.

Hearing Harry and Hermione talking, they looked up excitedly.

"A death anniversary party, dancing with ghosts, that sounds so cool!"

However, he hesitated for a moment and looked at Hermione again, "But Sherlock isn't planning to go... Even so, are you still going?"

"Of course I want to go!"

Hermione said, both embarrassed and angry.

She glared at Ron fiercely. "What does it matter to me whether he goes or not?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and shrugged.

it is more than words.

"Hey, what's with those expressions you two are making?!"

Hermione saw the expressions on their faces and immediately became furious.

"It's nothing, I'll go ask the others."

Harry realized things were going badly and immediately ran away.

Ron still had homework to do, so he turned to Hermione and said with a forced smile:
"What I mean is, you're absolutely right, that's a brilliant insight!"

Hermione turned her head away in annoyance, ignoring him.

Ron, on the other hand, quickly got to work on his potion-making assignment.

He doesn't have much time left.

On the other hand, while Harry is indeed the savior of the wizarding world, the idea of ​​"giving up the Halloween party to attend the ghosts' death anniversary party" is definitely entirely voluntary.

After asking around, only Neville and Ginny agreed to go with them.

Neville did this to repay Harry, Hermione, and others for their help in recent lessons.

In addition, like Harry, he is not good at saying no.

Ginny said it was to keep Sixth Brother company.

But judging from the way she kept glancing at Harry, you could tell she had ulterior motives.

Time flies, and Halloween Eve is here as scheduled.

When the moment actually arrived, Harry couldn't help but start to regret it.

I shouldn't have so hastily agreed to let Nick, who was almost headless, attend the death anniversary party.

Because at that time, the other students in the school were happily attending the Halloween party.

The auditorium was already decorated with live bats, as usual.

The giant pumpkins that Hagrid planted earlier were also carved into lanterns, large enough for three people to sit inside.

There were even rumors that Dumbledore had booked a skeleton dance troupe to entertain everyone.

In short, the festive atmosphere is much stronger than last year.

Compared to that, dancing with ghosts and watching a ghost band perform doesn't seem like anything to brag about.

“Once a word is spoken, it’s hard to chase it back!”

Seeing that Harry seemed to be having second thoughts, Hermione arrogantly reminded him:
"You promised to attend the anniversary celebration. Since you've already made a promise, you should keep your word."

Seeing that he was in a bind, Harry looked at Sherlock with a pitiful expression and hopeful eyes:

"Sherlock, are you really not going to come with us?"

"No need. I'd rather attend a dinner party for the living than for the dead."

Hearing Sherlock's unwavering refusal, Harry couldn't help but sigh, looking at Sherlock with a resentful gaze.

What a heartless person!

But just before they were about to leave, Sherlock suddenly said, "I suggest you bring some food with you."

Harry was taken aback. "W-why?"

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

Ron, looking completely dumbfounded, said:

"Sherlock, are you worried that the ghosts won't entertain us?"
Nick, who almost lost his head, isn't that kind of person, hahahahaha…

Sherlock ignored the grinning Ron and turned his gaze to Harry:
“My dear Harry, you should remember that I once told you that there should be a boundary between the dead and the living.”

A ghost's banquet would most likely not include food for the living.

Then he turned to Ron, “My friend, even if they invited you, based on my understanding of those ghosts, they probably wouldn’t have thought of this at all.”

Harry and Ron's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

Ron, in particular, had his smile frozen on his face.

(End of this chapter)