Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 208 Ouch, what are you doing?
Harry, Hermione, and Ron had a heated discussion about who they should ask for information about the Chamber of Secrets.

In the end, Hermione gave a relatively fair suggestion:

"I think we should go see Professor Binns first."

If there are no results, then go to Professor Dumbledore.

Sherlock, what do you think?

“Good choice.”

Sherlock closed the thick, heavy school history book as he spoke, then turned to say, "Watson, I'm sorry to trouble you again."

Hermione was taken aback: "Sherlock, what do you mean by this?"

"Let Watson return the book to Gemma."

"What? But we haven't even seen it yet!"

"It's fine not to read it. Anyway, Sherlock just said that this book most likely doesn't record the legend of the locked room—Old Sherlock, you agree, right?"

"That's not how it works. Sherlock also said there's a second possibility, maybe it's because the others haven't seen this yet!"

"No, dear Harry, this time Ron is right. The book really doesn't contain anything about the Chamber of Secrets."

"I'll just say it!"

"But...Sherlock, why are you so sure? You can't have already finished reading the book, can you?"

Harry himself found it somewhat amusing as he recounted this.

What am I even saying? It's only been a short hour since Sherlock got the book.

To his surprise, Sherlock nodded: "Yes, I have finished reading this book."

"What did you say?"

The three, who were still arguing back and forth, looked at Sherlock in unison upon hearing this, each with a surprised expression.

Although it's true that Sherlock had been quickly flipping through the book ever since Watson brought it to him.

But the question is, if you keep flipping through the book at such a high speed, can you really memorize all the contents of the book?

"You seem quite surprised?"

Seeing the shocked expressions on his three friends' faces, Sherlock revealed a clear smile.

He pointed to his head and said, “I remember telling you before that for me, the brain is just an empty attic.”

When I need something, I can put it inside and take it out when I need it again.

That's exactly what I just did—cram everything from the book into it, only to find that there was nothing we needed in it.

Although they had heard Sherlock's theory of the memory loft more than once, the three friends were still amazed by him.

Ron, who didn't believe in superstitions, even took the book and found a few passages to ask questions.

As a result, Sherlock was able to recite the content in less than three seconds each time.

Ron looked at Sherlock with admiration and said:
"Old Xia, I'm truly impressed this time!"
I used to think only Hermione could eat textbooks, but I never thought you could too… Ouch!

At this point, Ron suddenly looked at Hermione with a pained expression:

"Ouch, what are you doing?!"

Hermione stomped hard on Ron's foot and then ignored him, turning to Sherlock and asking in confusion:

"Sherlock, why don't you usually read this way?"

“I’ve been using it.”

"Huh? You've been using it all along?"

"Yes... Oh, I understand what you mean. Actually, this method also has limitations—I can't achieve true photographic memory."

Sherlock tapped the thick book gently with his long, slender fingers and slowly explained:
"Even my memory attic cannot defy objective laws and still conforms to the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve."

"What curve?"

"Einstein?"

"It's the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve."

Hermione sighed and explained with a hint of helplessness, "Once information enters the brain, forgetting begins."

The rate of forgetting is initially rapid and then slows down over time, especially in the short period immediately following learning, when forgetting is fastest; this is the famous Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

"Famous? Why don't I know anything about it?"

"That's common sense, my friend."

"It's only common sense for you! Uh... right, and Hermione too—hey, this time I'm praising you, don't put me down again!"

"In fact, my understanding of the magical world is not comprehensive enough, so there are some parts of this book that I still cannot fully understand."

In this situation, I had no choice but to forcibly move them into my memory attic.

I'll probably forget about this part in about three days.

If I want to permanently store them in the attic of my memory, I need to follow the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and repeatedly read and deepen my memory.

However, there is obviously no need to do that now. I just need to know if the book records any legends about the secret room.

The answer is no.

Shock.

I was shocked, utterly shocked.

"But there must be a considerable amount of content in this book that is still useful to us. Wouldn't it be a shame to just forget about it?"

After a moment, Hermione was the first to recover from her shock and asked the question.

"Hermione, you've discovered a blind spot."

Sherlock smiled at Hermione:
“I feel that the useful content has been specially categorized and placed in a separate location in my memory loft, where its storage time has been extended.”

As for the other content that I found useless, I have selectively forgotten it. This time, it wasn't shocking.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked at Sherlock with envy.

How do we describe the ability to freely choose what to remember and what to forget?

This is absolutely outrageous!
However, they did not know that for Sherlock at this moment, the Memory Attic was not yet complete.

One day, this attic will evolve into a true temple of thought.

Of course, this is a later story, so let’s put it aside for now.

Hermione is a decisive person, so in the afternoon's History of Magic class, she took the initiative to raise her hand and ask Professor Binns a question about the Chamber of Secrets.

The results were mixed.

The good news is that Professor Binns, who has taught the history of magic since the school's founding, does indeed know the legend of the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts.

The bad news is that Binns dislikes myths and legends; he only accepts facts, real and reliable facts.

A thousand years ago, after successfully establishing the school, the four founders of Hogwarts searched far and wide for young people who showed signs of magic and brought them to the castle to nurture them.

Initially, their relationship was very harmonious.

However, as time went on, disagreements gradually arose between them.

The rift between Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin House, and three others grew wider.

Because Salazar Slytherin wanted Hogwarts to be more selective in its student admissions.

The core argument is that magical education should be limited to families with only wizards.

He was unwilling to accept children born to Muggles, believing that such young wizards were unreliable.

There's a sense that those who are not of our kind must have different hearts.

The other three naturally disagreed with his view.

Gryffindor values ​​courage, Ravenclaw values ​​wisdom, and Hufflepuff values ​​loyalty, but these are all aspects of a person's character and qualities, and have nothing to do with bloodline.

As the saying goes, those who walk different paths cannot make plans together, and the rift between the two sides has only widened.

Ultimately, Salazar Slytherin and his best friend, Godric Gryffindor, had a fierce argument over this issue.

Salazar Slytherin left the school after that argument and never returned.

For Professor Binns, only the above-mentioned content constitutes factual, reliable, and documented historical information.

As for the secrets Slytherin made when they left Hogwarts... that's pure nonsense.

However, since Hermione had already asked the question, how could she give up so easily?

Under her persistent questioning, Professor Binns finally revealed the legend of the secret room.

The legendary Chamber of Secrets was built by Salazar Slytherin, who also placed a special creature inside.

Before leaving the school, Salazar Slytherin sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that no one could open it.

When his true successor arrives at the school, the secret room will be able to be opened and the terrifying things inside will be released.

As for why the secret room was opened and the monster was released, it was naturally to purify the school and eliminate all those who were not worthy of learning magic.

This person who is unworthy to learn magic naturally refers to a non-pure-blood wizard, someone who "is an enemy of the successor."

Although reluctant to tell everyone about the rumors surrounding the locked room, Professor Binns repeatedly emphasized that it was a legend without any evidence and a ridiculous story.

When the whole class was not paying attention in class and instead became engrossed in this vague legend, and when he asked him to talk more about related topics, Professor Binns became very annoyed and forcibly steered the conversation back to the 1982 International Convention on Wizardry.

His actions caused everyone to fall back into their usual drowsy state during the History of Magic class.

"Sherlock, what do you think?"

As soon as get out of class ended, Ron couldn't wait to ask.

Sherlock smiled and shook his head:

"History is written by the victors. What Professor Ron Binns considers 'true, reliable, and recorded historical facts' is not necessarily all true, and vice versa."

"You mean the secret room really exists?"

"Since there are such rumors and reports, then this matter is just baseless."

"My God!"

"Merlin's beard!"

Harry and Ron looked at Sherlock in surprise.

Sherlock's meaning is quite clear: the Chamber of Secrets truly exists!
Hermione remained silent with her head down, as if deep in thought.

A moment later, she suddenly raised her head:

"Sherlock, you must have derived this conclusion from more than just Professor Binns' description, right? You probably already knew something before this happened, didn't you?"

"Obviously, my dear Hermione."

Sherlock's gray eyes narrowed slightly, his fingertips tapping lightly on the table as he spoke in a languid manner:
"Let me connect the clues—first, Professor Dumbledore did not show any surprise when he saw the petrified Mrs. Lorris, but instead accurately judged the existence of the Mandela Herbal Potion."

This indicates that this was not the first time he had encountered such an event, and that he already possessed knowledge of the petrochemical mechanisms and solutions.

At this point, Sherlock stood up, walked to the window, and the sunlight outlined his profile.

Professor McGonagall's rare outburst of anger when Professor Snape questioned Harry could certainly be explained by her love of Quidditch, but she remained tacitly silent when Dumbledore mentioned the Chamber of Secrets.

The unusual attitudes of these two veteran Hogwarts educators reveal that they share an unrecorded part of the school's history, a real threat that, beyond the textbook tales, once befell Hogwarts.

Sherlock turned and stared at the three of them, his speech becoming increasingly rapid:
"More importantly, although Professor Binns dismissed the secret room as nonsense, the details of his description closely matched the writing on the wall."

Prior to this, most people at the school were unaware of this matter.

Even if someone used the Chamber of Secrets legend to commit the crime instead of actually opening it, the answer is already obvious—the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts does indeed exist.

At this point, Sherlock suddenly stopped, his eyes sharpening:
"The real mystery lies in—who inherited Slytherin's will, and who will turn the page on this dark chapter at Hogwarts?"

(End of this chapter)