Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 238: Innocent until proven guilty.
Harry thought it didn't matter even if Sherlock didn't know who opened the Chamber of Secrets.

Because once Dumbledore knew that the culprit who attacked the students was the Basilisk, he would surely be able to find the location of the Chamber of Secrets and the real culprit, given his understanding of Hogwarts and magic as a whole.

To everyone's surprise, when Dumbledore asked him about it, Sherlock said a name that he never expected.

"Voldemort."

"what?"

Harry's glasses almost fell off.

Dumbledore's fingers tapped lightly on the table:

"Sherlock, I think you should know very well that Voldemort was driven away by you last year."

According to my intelligence, he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania.

This was the first time Harry had heard of Voldemort since last year. Hearing this, Harry shuddered, but Sherlock remained unmoved.
“The headmaster is right, but the Voldemort I’m talking about is someone else.”

Dumbledore and Harry both looked at Sherlock in surprise.

However, the reasons for the two are not entirely the same.

Harry couldn't help but say, "Sherlock, you mean... there's more than one Voldemort?"

After saying that, he shook his head repeatedly, finding it absurd even to himself!

Unexpectedly, Sherlock chuckled and nodded: "In a sense, you could say that."

"hiss--"

Harry gasped.

Dumbledore sighed deeply, his gaze behind his semi-circular spectacles becoming even more complex: "It seems you understand."

"I don't know."

Sherlock stared intently at Dumbledore:

"You could have just told me last time, but you insisted on making me find the answer myself."

Is it because the Hogwarts headmaster has a natural quirk and likes to artificially increase the difficulty? Or... is this a test of my abilities?

"Sir, Sherlock, what are you talking about?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore and Sherlock in surprise.

The content of their conversation was beyond Harry's comprehension.

"It's very simple. Tom Riddle, the outstanding student who received the Special Contribution Award to the School fifty years ago, is none other than Voldemort, the Dark Lord who strikes fear into the hearts of wizards and whose very name is not uttered."

A collective gasp filled the entire principal's office.

This startled Harry; he knew one of them was his, but the others…

He suddenly realized what was happening and looked towards the wall.

Sure enough, the portraits of all the past principals turned their heads and looked at Sherlock with a shocked expression.

After a moment, Dumbledore spoke: "How did you figure that out?"

“It’s not difficult, Principal.”

Sherlock then pulled his wand from his pocket and drew a few lines in the air, writing three glittering names:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Then he waved his wand again, and the fifteen letters of the alphabet automatically switched positions, becoming:

I am Lord Voldemort.

"It's just a trick of rearranging letters, even simpler than the Mirror of Erised."

Harry froze.

He stared blankly at the line of words, the terrifying face that had appeared in his dreams for days on end flashing through his mind.

Scarlet eyes, no nose, crooked lips, stuck to the back of someone's head...

Even if he unconditionally believed Sherlock, he simply couldn't connect a bright and handsome student with the murderer who killed his parents.

The difference between the two is simply too great!

Sherlock glanced at the dumbfounded Harry, put away his wand, and continued:
"Of course, this is just one piece of evidence."

After all, there isn't much information about Voldemort's past in various sources.

However, you once said that you personally brought Voldemort from the orphanage to Hogwarts, and he was sorted into Slytherin, becoming an outstanding student in every aspect.

As for your previous statement that you didn't want to talk about the Chamber of Secrets being opened fifty years ago because of Hagrid, that's true.

Another reason is that you don't want to face the fact that you personally brought Voldemort, the future Dark Lord, into Hogwarts.

If you had told me Riddle's full name last time, I believe I would have come to you sooner.

Harry looked at Dumbledore in surprise, who remained silent for a moment before slowly saying:
"Sherlock, you have resolved a question that has been bothering me the most, and it is also the thing I regret the most..."

I did suspect Tom back then, but I had no evidence. Ultimately, after a hasty investigation, the Ministry of Magic concluded that Rupert had opened the Chamber of Secrets.

"This is slander! They have no evidence, so why are they convicting Hagrid?"

Harry retorted, "Sir, after Mrs. Norris was attacked, you and Professor McGonagall both said that without evidence, no matter how many doubts there are, we cannot make such a conclusion."

“Harry, you’re absolutely right. I’ve always maintained that unless someone is proven guilty, they are innocent.”

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic doesn't see it that way. To this day, they still believe they've solved a truly brilliant case.

The reason is that no attacks occurred after Rupert was dismissed.

I suspected Tom back then, but again, I had no evidence… However, now I know.

Parsleyan, a true Slytherin successor.

“Your approach is correct. When the existing evidence is neither sufficient to prove a person’s guilt nor to prove their innocence, they should be presumed innocent.”

Sherlock said quietly:
"It would be a great tragedy if one day a person were convicted based solely on suspicion and confession, rather than on sufficient factual evidence."

Dumbledore and Harry nodded at the same time.

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic doesn't see it that way.

"As the one who reported Hagrid, Tom had everything he needed to commit the crime: motive, ability, and method."

Heir to Slytherin, knows how to speak reptilian language, believes in bloodline, and despises Muggles...

One can imagine that when he heard that Hogwarts might be closed, he, who was unwilling to return to the orphanage, was eager to find a scapegoat and stop attacking the students.

This way, those idiots at the Ministry of Magic would be convinced that Hagrid opened the secret chamber.

It must be said that Tom from fifty years ago was much smarter than Voldemort, whom we encountered last year.

I even started to suspect that he might have been cursed for killing too many people, which is why he became mentally disabled.

Hearing Sherlock's sarcasm, both Dumbledore and the portraits of past headmasters on the wall were speechless.

That's the Dark Lord!
The most powerful dark wizard in history, who has personally killed hundreds of people over the years!
That was a being who once ruled the magical world, and whose name people still dare not mention to this day.

Is it really okay for a second-year wizard like you to look down on him like this?
"It was indeed Tom who opened the secret room fifty years ago, but it's not necessarily him who will open it now."

After regaining his senses, Dumbledore gently shook his head: "He did indeed possess Quirrell and enter the school last year, but he ran away after you and Harry defeated him."

As I just mentioned, he's currently far away in Albania and has no chance of going back to school.

"Headmaster, how long do you intend to continue testing me?"

Sherlock's tone suddenly became somewhat impatient, which surprised Harry.

Based on his understanding of Sherlock, he knew that Sherlock would only be so rude when his train of thought was interrupted.

"Do I need to remind you again that Harry almost didn't make it to school this semester?"

"You mean... that dark magic item Lucius had, or one that ended up in the school?"

"When you put all the clues together, you will find that the truth is actually quite obvious."

Fifty years later, Tom, who was not yet Voldemort, opened the Chamber of Secrets, released the Basilisk, and attacked the students.

Fifty years later, the secret chamber was opened again, the basilisk appeared once more, and the students were attacked again.

In order to allow the basilisk to carry out its crime smoothly, the person who opened the secret room deliberately killed a rooster near the school.

Before the start of the school year, old Malfoy planned to bring a dark magic item left to him by Voldemort into the school.

If this still doesn't explain the connection, then we might as well just hand the case over to the Ministry of Magic. They don't need evidence anyway; they can just arrest Hagrid again.

"But...but didn't Dobby say this had nothing to do with Voldemort?"

“My dear Harry, the house-elf gave you a hint—before Voldemort was called Voldemort, his name could be used freely.”

"what?"

"Don't be surprised, his suggestion was indeed a bit presumptuous."

"But the teachers checked everyone carefully when school started!"

"This is also easy to explain."

Sherlock held up two fingers. "First, the dark magic item Voldemort left for the Malfoys is no ordinary item; it was able to evade the teachers' and the instruments' detection."

Second, the dark magic item is in the hands of someone who wasn't checked.

Hearing this, Harry gasped. "Sherlock, all the students passed the check. Do you mean one of the teachers...?"

"Is there even a need to mention who it is?" Sherlock laughed. "There's only one new teacher this year!"

"Gilderoy Lockhart."

This time, Dumbledore finally uttered the name.

His gaze toward Sherlock grew increasingly complicated. "Before the Christmas holidays, you asked me about Gilderoy. So you already had this in mind back then?"

"As I said before, the most prominent characteristic of this person is contradiction."

They are enthusiastic about those useless spells they make up on the spot, and they strongly resist truly effective magic, even though that is the real magic.

But once you connect him to Voldemort, things make sense.

Sherlock looked at Dumbledore. "Before school started, Ron's father had a fight with Lucius."

At the time, Hermione and I both suspected that Lucius was planning to use this opportunity to give some dark magic item to one of the Weasley children.

I had suspected Ginny at one point, but her subsequent behavior cleared me of suspicion.

Lockhart, on the other hand, had the same advantage – he was present at the scene where Lucius and Ron's father were fighting.

In that chaotic situation, it wouldn't have been difficult for Lucius to find an opportunity to throw the dark magic item at him.

(End of this chapter)