Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 340 Justice Delayed Is No Justice at All

"Sherlock, you were able to identify Peter Pettigrew because of the Marauder's Map, weren't you?"

Harry turned his gaze away from Neville Longbottom, who was sweating profusely as he practiced his thrusting, and asked Sherlock.

"Harry, you've discovered the blind spot."

Sherlock smiled with satisfaction:
"Although I said yesterday that the last piece of the puzzle was the miniature peephole, the real puzzle is actually the Marauder's Map that you gave me."

You own this map, and I won't reveal it without your permission.

"Thank you, Sherlock!"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't bear to hand over such a good thing to the school.

"We should really thank Fred and George. If it weren't for the Marauder's Map, I would never have imagined that things would turn out this way."

Harry's voice lowered slightly as he said this.

Peter Pettigrew, overnight, went from being a martyr who defended his parents to the murderer who killed them.

"That's not necessarily true, Harry."

Sherlock's voice was full of confidence:

“Even without the Marauder’s Map, I can still discover Peter’s true identity through known clues—just like I said yesterday—it will only take a little longer.”

However, when I saw Peter Pettigrew's name clearly marked on the map, and that he was in our dorm with Ron, I decided to take immediate action.

The evidence is conclusive; there is no need to wait any longer.

Otherwise, given his cunning, he could very well pull off another escape, making it difficult to find him again.

"The golden cicada escapes from its shell?"

"Yes, he bit himself, leaving some bloodstains on the sheets."

Add some other evidence that could mislead people, like cat hair from Crook Hill.

At that point, everyone will probably think that Crookshank ate the rat.

Given Crookshan's past attitude towards 'Spotted,' this was simply a logical step.

Harry thought about it in the direction Sherlock described and was surprised to find that Sherlock was absolutely right.

If this happens, everyone, including myself, will definitely think that Crookshan ate Spot.

Peter Pettigrew would certainly be capable of doing the same thing—after all, he's done it before.

“Harry, what you need to know is that in this matter, the victims are not only your parents and Sirius Black who suffered twelve years of injustice.”

Sherlock grew serious, and his gaze became increasingly profound:

"And then there were the thirteen innocent victims, and the thirteen families behind them."

For this reason alone, Peter deserves the death penalty.

In my view, justice delayed is justice denied—unfortunately, all we can do now is expose Peter as quickly as possible.

If the Ministry of Magic had been more responsible twelve years ago, they might have discovered the truth, but they didn't.

"Hmph, they're just a bunch of useless food-wasting idiots!"

At this point, Sherlock changed the subject, "Now I just hope they can accept this reality, otherwise there will be more twists and turns in this matter."

"what?!"

Harry looked shocked. "The facts are so obvious, would the Ministry of Magic really...?"

"Never underestimate the depths of a bureaucrat's limits, Harry."

Sherlock shook his head. "Sometimes, those gentlemen would rather go along with their mistakes than admit them."

Still in his ivory tower, Harry clearly lacked sufficient understanding of British society, and upon hearing this, he exclaimed in astonishment, "How could that be..."

"I also hope that I'm overthinking it, after all, the person who classified this case twelve years ago was the previous Minister of Magic."

If it's the current minister, Cornelius Fudge, then I have no doubt.

"Sherlock, you don't seem to like Minister Fudge?"

Doesn't his name say it all?

Cornelius Fudge's name initially suggests a predicament, but later implies a refusal to acknowledge it.

"what?"

"Just kidding."

Seeing that Harry couldn't keep up with his train of thought, Sherlock explained:
"However, judging from his words and actions, his personality traits are still very obvious."

On the surface, he appears to be a kind and irritable person, but at most he's a bit of an exaggeration.

But in reality, he was an arrogant, cowardly, incompetent, and selfish person.

It's obvious that he'll display a sinister and aggressive side once he feels his position is threatened.

"It's obvious..."

Harry shook his head and decided not to discuss the matter with Sherlock anymore.

In any case, what he calls "obvious" is like what Hagrid calls "cute little thing," something that is incomprehensible to everyone else.

"Sherlock, my father, and Professor Lupin and the others... were the ones who created the Marauder's Map?"

“Obviously, Harry.”

"..."

Come again.

Fortunately, Sherlock continued to explain:
"After your father James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew discovered Lupin's secret that he was a werewolf, they learned the Animagus."

Professor Snape told us that werewolves, after transforming, are only dangerous to humans.

Therefore, as long as they transform into animals, they can coexist peacefully with Professor Lupin in his werewolf form on the night of the full moon.

Three Animagus, disguised as animals, accompanied the werewolf on a nighttime trek across the entire campus, thus creating the Marauder's Map, and each of them was given a nickname.

Lupin the werewolf has a moon face, Peter the mouse has a wormtail, Sirius Black, who turns into a big black dog, has big feet, and your father has a fork.

Ever since he learned of this nickname, Harry has been wanting to ask this question:
"A pointed fork, what kind of animal is that?"

"A creature with horns, such as a deer, cow, sheep, or a large animal like a unicorn."

"Why must it be a large animal?" "Because Peter turned into a rat, and in order to control the werewolf, the other two would better be able to turn into large animals."

If you're interested, you can ask Professor Lupin or Sirius Black later.

So both times I saw the big black dog, it was Sirius Black?

"Obviously, my friend."

Sherlock smiled and said, "Sirius had already escaped from prison when you left Privet Drive. He probably wanted to come and see you that morning."

The first Quidditch match was after Halloween, you know, by which time he had already been to school.

He went to the Quidditch pitch because he wanted to see you play.

In some ways, Professor Trelawney's divination wasn't entirely wrong.

“It really is him…” Harry murmured.

"Don't think about that, bro!"

Sherlock chuckled and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Speaking of which, aren't you curious?"

The Marauder's Map had been in the Weasley twins' hands for so long, yet for three years they hadn't noticed that their own brother had always had a man named Peter Pettigrew by his side.

"Yup!"

Reminded by Sherlock, Harry slapped his forehead. "This is just too strange!"

"The most likely reason is that it's because the light is blind to what's under the lamp."

Sherlock said slowly, "They know their Gryffindor house too well, and they know Ron, their younger brother, even better, so they haven't paid much attention to Ron."

Even if they occasionally saw him, it just so happened that it wasn't during the time when Ron and Peter slept together at night.

After all, it's a bit strange to be paying attention to your younger brother's behavior in the dormitory late at night.

Furthermore, based on my daily interactions with them, I can conclude that they are unaware that I once took you to the Forbidden Forest.

Incidentally, this Marauder's Map doesn't show all the locations in the school as they claim; at least, it doesn't show the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin.

Harry looked at Sherlock with admiration.

I was just saying I discovered a blind spot, but compared to my friend, I'm nowhere near as good.

Sherlock has made so many discoveries in just one day since he got the Marauder's Map.

"Alright, these things aren't important. We'll have a holiday the day after tomorrow, so I think you can consider going back to Privet Road for the festival!"
Perhaps when you return, you'll be able to meet the godfather who has been quietly caring for you all along.

Yup!

Harry's eyes lit up immediately.

Previously, the Ministry of Magic wouldn't let him leave Hogwarts, but now that the truth has come out, does that mean he can go back?
But he immediately shook his head. "No, Ron stayed at school because of me. If I go back, wouldn't I be leaving him all behind?"

“And Ginny,” Sherlock reminded him.

"Ah, she just didn't want to spend two weeks with Percy, it has nothing to do with me."

Sherlock gave Harry a meaningful look. "Is that really what you think, my friend?"

"Yup!"

Seeing Harry's nonchalant expression, Sherlock chuckled:
“Okay… actually, that’s not a problem. If you want to go home, Ron and Ginny can go home too. There’s still time.”

"But we've already registered on the list of people not going home..."

"Dear Harry, I didn't know you had become so law-abiding?"

After saying this, the two looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?"

At this moment, Neville, covered in sweat, finished his practice and walked over carrying a wooden stick.

Seeing their happy smiles, I couldn't help but ask curiously.

"We're about to have a holiday," Harry said, looking at Neville holding a stick, somewhat eager to try. "Neville, wanna spar?"

"Okay!"

For Neville, this was exactly what he wanted.

Sherlock's fencing skills were too high; every practice session felt like a self-inflicted humiliation.

Next, Harry started fencing with Neville.

Sherlock watched from the sidelines, occasionally pointing out their flaws.

The three of them only returned to their dormitory after a thoroughly enjoyable fencing match.

Next up was breakfast in the auditorium.

Two days before the holiday, there were fewer classes, so everyone subconsciously slowed down their pace while eating.

After the meal, Professor McGonagall found Sherlock and Harry and took them to her office.

"Please sit down, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Potter."

Professor McGonagall got straight to the point, “I have something to tell you about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.”

Is it time to reveal the truth?

Upon hearing this, Harry immediately asked with great joy:

"Professor, if that's the case, does that mean I can go home for winter break, and I can go to Hogsmeade on weekends from now on?"

"I'm very sorry, Potter."

Harry's heart skipped a beat when he heard McGonagall's words.

This was Professor McGonagall's opening line when she told herself she couldn't go to Hogsmeade or go home for winter and spring break.

She came like this again, could it be...?

With Sherlock looking thoughtful and Harry looking worried, Professor McGonagall delivered some unfortunate news to the two of them:

"Dumbledore handed Peter over to the Ministry of Magic last night, but he did not mention your leading role in this matter to the Ministry of Magic."

He knows the Ministry of Magic all too well. Those people have deep-seated prejudices against Muggle ways of thinking and logic. Your deductive reasoning, which we find incredibly ingenious, is considered heresy by them.

Therefore, telling the truth might be seen as a non-magical means by the Ministry of Magic, and thus belittled as lacking weight.

At this point, Professor McGonagall's voice suddenly turned serious:
"As it turns out, he was right."

(End of this chapter)