Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 312 Why is it purple?
Ron has an unbreakable habit of betting on his girlfriend, who is still far from being a real prospect.

If that were all, it wouldn't matter; he's happy with it, and no one else would care.

The key thing is that every time this guy says something like that, the good things always come true, but the bad things always do.

Sherlock didn't care, and Hermione was still having a cold war with Ron, so she didn't bother with it either.

However, Harry was never a simple materialist warrior.

So when he heard Ron was about to spout nonsense again, he quickly stopped him.

Hermione, somewhat exasperated, turned her gaze away from the two of them and to Sherlock beside her, asking seemingly casually:

"Speaking of which, Gemma didn't come looking for us this Halloween... Ouch!"

She was so engrossed in talking to Sherlock that she accidentally bumped into the student in front of her.

"Sorry, Parvati."

"It's ok."

At this moment, the group was following the usual route of the other Gryffindor students toward the tower, so if someone suddenly stopped, a collision was inevitable.

Why did it suddenly stop?

Seeing this, Hermione forgot about Gemma and asked a puzzled question.

“I don’t know,” Parvati Petil shook his head in confusion. “Everyone in front of us has stopped.”

Sherlock grew very tall during the holiday. Looking over the heads of the students in front of him, he noticed that the corridor leading to the Fat Lady's Corridor was already crowded with Gryffindor students.

He frowned, realizing that things were not so simple.

"What's going on? Why isn't anyone going over there?"

The speaker was Percy Weasley.

As usual, he asked questions in a serious tone while pushing his way forward:

"I'm the student council president, please let me through—excuse me, I'm the student council president, please let me through first!"

Ginny also took the opportunity to squeeze in and stand next to Harry.

She glanced at Percy with a hint of helplessness, then looked away and said to the others, "Don't mind him, he's always like this... What are you all doing?!"

"nothing."

Harry, somewhat embarrassed, released his hand from Ron's mouth and stood on tiptoe to look ahead.

He noticed that the opening to the portrait of the fat lady seemed to be closed.

Finally able to speak, Ron instinctively asked, "Have you forgotten the password?"

"Come on, there are so many people here, surely they all remember the password!"

Ginny was speechless.

My brother hangs out with Sherlock and Hermione every day, how come he hasn't become any smarter?

Just then, Percy, who had already reached the front, suddenly turned shrill:
"Someone go and call Professor Dumbledore, quick!"

Percy's shout silenced the crowd instantly.

Sherlock then looked at Ron.

"What, what's wrong?"

Noticing Sherlock's gaze, Ron panicked.

"Your prediction has come true again, my dear Ron."

Harry, Hermione, and Ginny all looked at him.

"W-what?!"

Ron's face turned deathly pale as he recalled what he had just said to Harry: "I... I was just joking."

Just then, Headmaster Dumbledore appeared.

The Gryffindor students quickly pushed their way through.

"let's go!"

Sherlock immediately seized the opportunity to call his friends and follow them.

"Oh no—!"

When they saw what was happening in front of them, Hermione and Ginny both gasped and instinctively reached out to grab the arms of the people next to them.

The Fat Lady, the guardian of the Gryffindor Tower, has disappeared from her portrait.

This time, even without Sherlock's analysis, everyone could see that the portrait had been brutally hacked.

Fragments of the image were scattered on the floor, and a large section of the image had been torn off.

In this situation, Gryffindor students naturally have no way to access the common room.

With Hermione holding his arm, Sherlock quickly glanced at the damaged portrait, then began to scrutinize everyone present.

He quickly ruled out the possibility that the murderer was a student.

Harry, who was being held tightly by Ginny, felt a chill run down his spine and straight to the top of his head.

Although he couldn't explain why, he instinctively felt that this matter must be related to him.

At the same time, other professors also rushed over.

"We need to find her."

Dumbledore said with a serious expression, "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch immediately and tell him to search every painting in the castle and find the Fat Lady."

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to wish you good luck!"

Before Professor McGonagall could answer, a voice chuckled.

Everyone present looked in surprise toward the direction of the voice, wondering who dared to be sarcastic at a time like this.

As expected, they encountered Mischievous Ghost, who loved playing pranks the most.

Even though the scene before it was very sad, it seemed unaffected and remained cheerful.

Professor McGonagall frowned, about to speak, when Dumbledore's voice rang out first: "What do you know, Peeves?"

For the vast majority of students, they were more afraid of Professor McGonagall than Dumbledore.

But Peeves, being a ghost, is different.

Even though Dumbledore's voice was calm at that moment, it immediately stopped smiling. "She's shy, Headmaster!"

Peeves spoke to Dumbledore in a fawning tone:
"She was in a terrible state and didn't want anyone to see what she looked like."

Coincidentally, I saw her bump into the landscape painting upstairs and hide in the bushes.

Oh, she was crying so bitterly—oh, what a poor thing!

Everyone present could hear the insincerity in its last sentence; it was essentially gloating.

Dumbledore did not comment on its behavior, but simply said in a low voice:

Did she say who did it?

"I already said it, Professor!"

Mischievous Ghost has changed its name again. It did a somersault in the air and made a gesture as if it were holding something in its arms:
"He was angry because she wouldn't let that guy in."

I mean, he had a really scary temper—you know, Sirius Black.

When Peeves revealed that Sirius was the culprit, the area in front of Gryffindor Tower fell silent in an instant.

You could hear a pin drop.

Ginny, who was holding Harry's arm, felt Harry's body trembling slightly.

Dumbledore's gaze grew increasingly serious.

He immediately made arrangements, requiring all the Gryffindor students to return to the Great Hall.

About ten minutes later, the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin classmates returned.

By this time, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had already closed the auditorium doors.

Apart from the Gryffindor students, the young wizards from the other three houses all looked bewildered.

"I will conduct a full search of the castle with the teachers."

Facing the gazes of the group of young wizards, Dumbledore stated decisively:

"For your own safety, you will have to spend the night here."

I hope the prefects can guard the entrance to the auditorium, and the male and female student council presidents will be responsible for managing the situation during this time, in case of any issues..."

Dumbledore then said to Percy and Gemma, who were standing beside him, "Send a ghost to report to me immediately."

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Percy puffed out his chest, revealing a smug look on his face.

Compared to Percy, Gemma, the student council president, remained calm and nodded slightly.

"Oh, right, you also need this..."

Just as Dumbledore was about to walk out of the Great Hall, he waved his wand lightly, and long tables flew to the side of the Great Hall and automatically stood up against the wall.

This levitation spell left the entire school speechless.

Then, with another wave of his wand, hundreds of soft, purple sleeping bags appeared on the ground.

This move once again astonished the young wizards.

As expected of Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time!
The choice of this color is somewhat puzzling.

Why purple?
"Sleep well."

After saying this, Dumbledore led the way and closed the Great Hall doors.

As soon as he left, a cacophony of chatter erupted in the auditorium.

Does anyone know what happened?

"Ask the lion cubs, it seems something happened to them!"

The Gryffindor students didn't keep anything to themselves and told the students from the other houses about Sirius Black's appearance at Hogwarts Castle.

"What?! Black actually got into Hogwarts!"

"Are those people in the Ministry of Magic incompetent?"

"How did he manage to evade the Dementors?!"

"What did the fat lady do wrong? She's just a painting."

At this moment, Percy shouted loudly:
"Everyone get into your sleeping bags, quick! No more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

Gemma frowned and glanced at him, but ultimately said nothing.

“Sherlock, shall we go there?” Harry pointed to the corner.

Sherlock glanced at them and nodded: "Okay."

So the four of them grabbed their sleeping bags and dragged them to the corner.

Hermione placed the sleeping bag next to Sherlock, then glanced at Harry with concern and asked, "Sherlock, do you think Black is still in the castle?"

"We have too few clues to make any deductions," Sherlock shook his head.

Ron said quietly, "But Dumbledore seems to think he's still here."

"Luckily he chose tonight, as we weren't in the tower."

Hermione glanced at Harry with lingering fear as she spoke.

She had previously advised Harry against going to Hogsmeade, but now it seems that if Harry had actually listened to her, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
The other students didn't know, but they were very clear that Black was there for Harry.

“I think he’s lost track of time because he’s been on the run,” Harry said slowly as he pondered. “He may have forgotten that it’s Halloween Eve.”

Sherlock: "Given his ability to escape Azkaban and his methods of evading capture, he shouldn't make such a mistake—of course, we can't rule out that possibility..."

"Hey, so you guys are here!"

Just then, Ginny also came over with her sleeping bag.

She had already heard that Harry had spent the entire afternoon at the Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade with Cho Chang.

Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared; I can no longer be as shy as before!
Her brother was Harry's best friend. If she didn't take advantage of such a huge advantage, her house would be stolen sooner or later!

"What are you doing here?"

Ron frowned upon seeing this and said, "The second-year students are all over there."

"I'm your sister, Ron, why are you always trying to get rid of me!"

Ginny was furious.

(End of this chapter)