Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 206 The Study of Scarlet (Part Two)

Nick, who was almost headless, invited living people to the Halloween Eve party because he wanted to prepare a grand feast for himself.

Although the idea of ​​a 500th death anniversary sounds a bit strange, it really is true for ghosts.

Therefore, he specifically instructed Harry, who was attending the banquet, to say something to another ghost.

That is, the living people all found Nick particularly scary and left a very deep impression on them.

Unexpectedly, it was this very ghost, Sir Patrick, and his team of headless hunters who disrupted the anniversary celebration.

When Harry solemnly declared that Nick was terrifying, Sir Patrick immediately saw through Harry's lie.

You can't really blame Harry for that.

They're all ancient ghosts, why are you trying to play third-person narrative with me?

After that, they played a game of head-to-head hockey – Sir Patrick and his headless knights’ heads flew back and forth in the air.

To the living, this game might seem rather bizarre, but to the ghosts, it was far more interesting than Nick's dry, uninspired speech.

The result was that the supporting character overshadowed the main character, and Nick gave up after his unsuccessful attempt.

The little lions had no idea what happened after that.

Because at that point they simply couldn't stay any longer and left.

Halfway there, Ginny suddenly said she needed to use the restroom, so the three of them waited for her where she was.

Just then, Harry suddenly heard that mysterious voice again—still, only he could hear it.

As a result, he followed the sound and led the three of them on a wild run, eventually arriving at the third-floor corridor.

Sherlock knew the rest.

After listening to Hermione's words, Sherlock pondered for a moment, then spoke:
“Dear Hermione, if I were you, I would have left with Ginny right then and there.”

"Yes, I regret it a little now."

Hermione sighed. "If I had been with her then, perhaps only Harry and Neville would be the suspects today."

Harry: (ー`ー)
"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way..."

“Dear Hermione, what I mean is, if you had been able to leave with Ginny, this might not have happened.”

As soon as Sherlock finished speaking, his three friends were stunned.

Ha looked at Sherlock with disbelief: "Sherlock, you...you mean..."

"Yes, that's what you think. In this matter alone, I think Ginny is highly suspicious."

"why?"

Hermione blurted out, "Professor Dumbledore already said that this is a very advanced form of dark magic—a second-year student couldn't possibly do it!"

Her meaning was clear: even a second-year student couldn't do it, let alone Ginny, a first-year student who had just entered the school.

“My dear Hermione, it certainly wasn’t Ginny who petrified Mrs. Lorris.”

But hanging a petrified cat on a torch stand and leaving a few words on it was not a difficult thing for her.

I think you probably remember the message Quirrell left in blood last Halloween, right?

"of course I remember!"

It was that incident that made Hermione truly realize Sherlock's analytical and reasoning abilities. Hearing Sherlock say this, Hermione couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion:
"Are you trying to say..."

"Yes, just as you imagined, I've deduced some clues:"
The person who hung Mrs. Lorris on the frame and wrote those words was the same person. Judging from the traces left at the scene, it should be a young girl, about five feet tall.

For her figure and normal proportions, her feet were a little small, and she was wearing a new pair of boots.

She was a little nervous at first while doing all this, but then she became very organized.

Of course, based on this alone, I cannot be certain that Ginny did it.

But based on the clues I've deduced, she is indeed quite suspicious.

At this point, Sherlock's three friends were already stunned.

Just then, a bell rang out from somewhere.

"It's twelve o'clock."

Hearing the voice, Sherlock winked at his three friends. "I think we can go to bed now."

"But……"

“Don’t worry, Hermione,” Sherlock smiled, “after all, this is just my deduction.”

Actually, there are still some questions that haven't been clarified. You can ask Ginny directly tomorrow.

Of course, it would be even better if you could get your hands on something like Ginny's class notes with her handwriting.

"Ginny, where is she? I mean, is she alright?"

"She's fine, didn't you notice just now?"

Sherlock will suddenly have a look of realization on his face:
"Oh, right, you were all so focused on the cat that you didn't notice her..."

However, I happened to see Ginny right next to Ron, so regardless of whether she was involved or not, it at least means she's not in any immediate danger.

Despite having many questions in his mind, Sherlock insisted on returning to the dormitory, and his three friends had no choice but to agree.

In fact, they are much more tired than Sherlock now.

As Hermione just said, attending the Ghost's Death Anniversary party is already a very torturous thing.

Not to mention that they had just experienced such a shocking event.

It's definitely time to get some rest.

Because Sherlock, Harry, and Neville returned to their dormitory so late, Ron had already fallen asleep.

The next morning, Ron got up and couldn't wait to ask about what happened the day before.

Harry omitted his speculations about Sherlock regarding Ginny and told him what had happened. Ron listened with amazement and also told Sherlock and Harry that Ginny had returned to the Halloween party some time after Sherlock left with Gemma.

After the banquet ended, he witnessed the entire process of Harry, Hermione, and Neville being caught red-handed.

She and Ron arrived at the scene even before Sherlock and Gemma.

"I'll just say it!"

Ron chuckled and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Something must have happened to you guys, otherwise why would you have let Ginny come back alone?"

Harry managed a weak smile.

Neville remained completely silent.

"Hey, why do you all look so serious?"

The two's unusual behavior naturally aroused Ron's suspicion.

"It's one thing for Neville to be timid, but why are you like that too, Old Ha?"
This little scene scared you?
You faced a mysterious figure last semester! Hahahaha!

Upon hearing Ron's words, Harry almost couldn't help but tell Ron the truth for a moment.

But I still forced myself to endure it.

Neville, on the contrary, performed better than him; he's always been slow to react.

On their way to class, the students talked about nothing but the attack on Mrs. Lorris.

Filch's performance made it difficult for them to forget about it.

He paced back and forth where Mrs. Lorris had been murdered, as if he thought the attackers would come again.

Not only that, he was also holding something and trying to wipe off the writing on the wall.

"Mrs. Skoll's All-Purpose Stain Remover".

Sherlock, with his keen eyesight, immediately recognized the tool Filch was using.

Unfortunately, this stain remover was a disappointment and failed to remove the stains—the words remained brightly gleaming on the stone wall.

"Perhaps the stain remover doesn't consider that thing to be a stain."

Ron said with a grin, "So stain remover can't do anything about it."

Seeing Ron's carefree attitude, Harry felt for the first time that ignorance could be a kind of happiness.

However, Ron's appearance strengthened his resolve not to tell him about it for the time being.

Let him continue to be happy like this.

Around noon, Hermione gave Sherlock and Harry a wink, then walked over to Ron's side:
"what happened?"

Seeing Hermione's aggressive demeanor, Ron couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"You have the nerve to say so!

Ginny has been sullen since this morning.

"If you hadn't backed out last night, she wouldn't have been so terrified!"

"what?"

Ron pointed to himself in surprise, "Is it my fault?"

"if not?"

Hermione retorted sharply, "If you had been here yesterday, at least there would have been one more person with her, and someone could have stayed there to wait for her when she went to the bathroom."

"But……"

Ron felt something was off, and wanted to refute it but couldn't find a reason.

Before he could even process the logic, Hermione had already unleashed her ultimate weapon: "You're her brother!"

Ron: (-﹏-`；)→(ω)

After his expression shifted several times, Ron said weakly, "It's...it's my fault..."

"You'd better try to comfort her again, you know she's always loved cats."

"Okay, okay..."

Watching Ron leave dejectedly, Hermione turned to Sherlock and said somewhat awkwardly, "This is the first time I've been so unreasonable."

Sherlock didn't seem to care: "As far as the results are concerned, it's quite good."

Harry nodded. Since he couldn't do this himself, he should leave it to someone who was better at it.

The three of them shook off the others and hurried to the empty classroom on the fourth floor from the previous night.

This was Sherlock's third time visiting this classroom.

Gemma brought him here the first time.

Because Gemma said that this classroom is usually not very popular, he naturally thought of it last night.

Today is no different.

“I’ve already asked Ginny. She said she didn’t see us when she came out of the bathroom and went straight to the party. Later, she and Ron saw the whole process of us being caught.”

As soon as the door closed, Hermione couldn't wait to speak.

Harry sighed. "Ron said the same thing today."

Hermione then pulled out a notebook from her pocket. "These are Ginny's class notes. I told her I wanted to know what Professor Lockhart talked about in his first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and she didn't suspect anything and just handed the notebook to me."

Harry glanced at Hermione but didn't say anything.

Unlike Ron, he didn't have to say something like, "Actually, you genuinely want to know what Lockhart's lectures are about."

Sherlock took Ginny's notebook, opened it, glanced at it, and immediately frowned.

　Thank you to reader 20230501190818347 for the 100 Qidian Coins reward! Your support is my motivation to update! ヾ(o)ヾ
　　
　
(End of this chapter)