Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 327 Why Should We Show Off Here?

Although Professor Lu Ping returned to the classroom, he was not in good spirits and looked as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

This made his classmates, who cared about him, somewhat worried, and they all began to offer their concern and comfort.

Professor Lu Ping smiled and said that he had just had a minor illness and was much better now.

Sherlock clearly saw more than his classmates.

From the moment he entered the classroom, his eyes were fixed on Professor Lu Ping.

The worn-out robe was clearly ill-fitting due to the emaciated figure, with the fabric sagging and wrinkling at the shoulders. Below the eyes, there was a bluish-black tinge resembling ink stains, with a deep weariness that differed in color intensity from ordinary, unhealthy dark circles.

At this moment, Sherlock's conjecture was completely confirmed.

Professor Snape is quite cunning!
However, apart from himself, there probably aren't many people who can understand his true intentions.

Sherlock only needs to deduce based on the clues, while the other students have to think much more.

When Professor Lupin announced the start of class, they immediately began to complain about Snape's appalling behavior while he was filling in for Professor Lupin:

"We didn't learn anything about werewolves at all!"

"He even gave us homework—two whole rolls of parchment!"

"What gives a Slytherin student who's just a substitute teacher the right to act so arrogantly here?!"

Professor Lupin, who had been smiling, frowned slightly after hearing these words. "Did you tell Professor Snape that we haven't covered that part yet?"

"I told him, but he wouldn't listen at all!"

He also said your teaching method was completely disorganized!

"He wants homework? Dream on, he doesn't have any!"

Upon hearing this, Professor Lu Ping's face broke into a smile again.

Looking at the indignant faces, he said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Don't worry, I'll talk to Professor Snape, and you won't have to write that paper anymore."

"Long live!"

"Great!"

"Professor Lupin is the best!"

The classroom erupted in cheers.

Hermione's somewhat disappointed voice was completely drowned out—"Oh, don't say that, I've already finished writing!"

Harry and Ron stared at her in shock.

Dude, this is way too outrageous!

Professor Lupin's triumphant return has made Defense Against the Dark Arts class enjoyable once again.

He naturally didn't continue Snape's teaching progress from the previous lesson to teach everyone about werewolves, but instead took out the Hinkpunk that he had prepared beforehand.

This magical creature has only one leg and hides in remote areas at night, emitting a misleading glow to lure travelers astray.

Once pedestrians take Hinkpunk's misleading image as their destination or another traveler, they will be drawn in and fall into the swamp.

As for what will happen next, it's self-evident.

Happy times always seem to pass too quickly.

When the bell rang to signal the end of get out of class, the little lions looked at the creaking Hinkpunk sticking to the glass wall, still looking like they hadn't had enough.

However, most people had classes later, so they could only leave reluctantly.

"Sherlock, Harry, please come with me. I have something to tell you."

Amidst the surprised gazes of nearby classmates, Sherlock and Harry caught up with Professor Lupin.

Professor Lupin covered Hinkpunk's trunk with a cloth, picked it up, and led the two of them to his office on the third floor.

Harry came here last year.

At the time, the office was used by Gilderoy Lockhart, and the entire office was covered with photos of Lockhart. The room itself was filled with letters and gifts from Lockhart's fans.

Now that the office has a new owner, these things have naturally disappeared.

The current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office has a very simple layout, even somewhat rudimentary.

Sherlock glanced at him and immediately gained a deeper understanding of Remus Lupin.

[Composed and capable, kind and intelligent, living a frugal life. In her youth, she had a mischievous and naughty personality. Now she is calm and composed, but has a complex about her identity and a deep-seated inferiority complex.]

Professor Lupin was unaware that Sherlock had seen through him. After settling the box containing Hinkpunk, he tapped the teapot with his wand, and a puff of steam suddenly shot out from the spout.

"All sit down."

As he spoke, he opened the dusty jar and winked at Harry. "I only have tea bags here, but I suppose you're tired of tea by now?"

Harry looked at Professor Lupin in surprise. "Sir, how...how did you know about this?"

"Professor McGonagall told me."

After saying this, Professor Lupin looked at Sherlock again:

"Sherlock, I think you can guess why I kept you here, right?"

"It's an inference, not a guess."

Sherlock first corrected Professor Lupin's statement, and then said:

"I think it must be Mr. Dumbledore who chose to have you teach us how to fight the Dementors."

"It's amazing!"

Professor Lupin smiled and gave Sherlock a thumbs up. "Could you tell me how you guessed... uh, deduced it? I'd be very interested."

Sherlock: "It's very simple. Defending against Dementors is part of Defense Against the Dark Arts, so it's only natural that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would teach us."

Of course, I also considered the possibility of having Professor Snape in charge of teaching.

However, it now seems that Mr. Dumbledore still has some reservations about this.

Harry and Lupin looked at Sherlock in surprise, neither of them expecting him to think of Professor Snape.

"Well, to be honest, Professor Snape is indeed more suitable than me."

Lu Ping frankly stated, "I would never presume to call myself an expert in fighting Dementors."

“But you made that Dementor on the train back,” Harry suddenly said.

Professor Lupin shook his head and pushed the two teacups toward Sherlock and Harry respectively.

"There's only one Dementor on the train—Harry. You should know that the more there are, the harder they are to deal with."

"Of course, since Headmaster Dumbledore has entrusted this task to me, I will do my utmost to help you achieve your goal."

Harry was very happy to hear Lupin say that.

He clearly preferred Professor Lupin to Professor Snape.

Harry picked up his tea and took a sip, finding it tasted much better than the tea in Divination class. He wondered if it was the tea itself or the person who brewed it that was the problem.

Just as he was pondering this, he heard Sherlock suddenly say, "Professor, do you seem to have other worries?"

Harry quickly looked at Lupin and, sure enough, saw a fleeting look of worry on Lupin's face.

“Sherlock, you are very perceptive.” Professor Lupin looked at Sherlock with some surprise, clearly not expecting him to have noticed such a detail.

However, what surprised him even more was yet to come. Sherlock chuckled and directly stated the specifics of his concerns:
"Are you worried about the lack of an effective training environment?"
Mr. Dumbledore said that it was a very advanced form of magic, far beyond the level of ordinary wizards.

Even if you can cast that spell in your daily practice, it doesn't mean you can do it successfully when facing a Dementor.

Professor Lupin stared at Sherlock, speechless for a moment.

Even though he was in a state of turmoil these past two days, Harry still found this scene somewhat amusing.

Thinking back to when I first met Sherlock, I often had this kind of expression on my face.

It's quite interesting to see other people now, especially a professor, who was just like I was back then.

"Sherlock, you are absolutely right."

After a while, Professor Lu Ping finally came to his senses.

He sighed deeply and looked at Sherlock with a complicated gaze. "If I didn't know this was impossible, I would even suspect that you used Legilimency on me."

"Since I came to the magical world, more than one person has said the same thing to me."

Sherlock looked at Professor Lupin's slightly pale face with a meaningful gaze:

“Professor Flitwick once told me that everyone at Hogwarts has secrets, and as long as his secrets do not harm others, I don’t need to delve into them.”

Hearing Sherlock's pointed remark, Lupin felt a chill run down his spine.

Recalling what Snape had taught in the previous lesson, he looked at Sherlock again.

All he saw was the other person's gray eyes staring intently at him, as if they could see right through him.

"Well, you were right, Sherlock."

Professor Lu Ping coughed, somewhat abruptly changing the subject:

"To achieve the best results and truly expel the Dementor, it is best to confront it directly in your daily practice."

But that's obviously unrealistic. You see, Dementors won't just cooperate with us willingly..."

"Professor, you've overlooked a blind spot."

"What? Blind spot?"

"Why not use Bogut for practice?"

"Boggart?"

Professor Lupin was taken aback at first, then realized what he meant, "You mean, what you fear most is... Dementors?"

"It's Harry, not me."

Lupin looked at Harry in surprise.

Harry was a little embarrassed, but he nodded anyway. "Yes, Professor."

"what!"

To Harry's surprise, Professor Lupin actually laughed.

"Looking at it this way, I was wrong."

"Excuse me, Professor, what did you say?"

"In that class, I took it for granted that if you put Boggart in front of you, it would turn into the image of Voldemort."

Harry was stunned.

He never expected Professor Lu Ping to say that.

Sherlock noticed another detail: Lupin directly mentioned Voldemort's name.

This is extremely rare in the magical world.

Aside from those of Muggle origin who knew nothing about Voldemort, almost no one dared to utter his name directly.

Even someone as courageous as Professor Minerva McGonagall could only do this after being reminded by Dumbledore.

Professor Remus Lupin is more interesting than I imagined; it seems I need to strengthen my contact with him further.

"It's obvious I was wrong."

Lupin smiled and shook his head. "I made an empirical mistake. I subconsciously thought that if Voldemort appeared in the faculty lounge, it would terrify everyone. I didn't expect that what you were most afraid of was Dementors."

At this point, Professor Lu Ping's smile faded, and his gaze became profound:

“You’re afraid of Dementors, which means you’re most afraid of fear itself—Harry, you’re wiser than I thought.”

"So, you didn't believe I wasn't capable of dealing with Boggart..."

Harry murmured.

He suddenly realized what was happening and looked at Sherlock, only to see the latter looking at him with a half-smile.

Harry blushed immediately.

If Professor Lupin could think that way, then Sherlock, who had stopped him along with Professor Lupin, must have thought the same way.

Damn it! I was overthinking things.

From now on, no matter what happens, you must tell Sherlock.

Subjective assumptions are unacceptable!
"Haha, so that's what you've always thought?"

Professor Lupin patted Harry on the shoulder. "That makes things easier. Finding a Boggart is much easier than facing a Dementor head-on."

Having finished discussing the Dementors, Professor Lupin didn't end the conversation but instead brought up the weekend's match:
"I'm really sorry for your flying broom. Is there any way to fix it?"

"It's impossible now. That tree smashed it to pieces—just like Malfoy's flying broom."

Upon hearing this, Lupin couldn't help but sigh: "The Whomping Willow was planted by them the year I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game where they would try to touch the trunk."

Later, a boy named David Gergean almost lost an eye, and the school stopped letting us go near it.

No flying broomstick could withstand it…

As he said this, he suddenly sensed something, turned his head, and found Sherlock smiling at him.

Upon seeing this, Professor Lu Ping frowned, vaguely sensing that things were not so simple.

He had a feeling that Sherlock had seen through his seemingly casual conversation.

It seems I need to further reduce my contact with this student in the future.

"I may have to apologize to both of you; the lesson on fighting Dementors will have to wait until next semester."

At this point, Professor Lu Ping seemed somewhat ashamed, "I still have a lot of things to do before the holiday."

Harry quickly replied, "It's alright. Gryffindor's next match won't start until the second half of next term. We have plenty of time."

Sherlock began, “It is more important for you to always be in good health, sir.”

Professor Lupin gave Sherlock a deep look. "You're right, Sherlock, I've fallen ill at the worst possible time."

Sherlock smiled slightly, "It's alright, you'll get used to it."

Lupin: '(°ー°〃)'
(End of this chapter)