Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 353 In the name of father
Sirius Black smiled when he heard Harry finally call him godfather.

For the first time, such a bright and radiant smile appeared on that haggard, thin face, which had been ravaged by long-term malnutrition.

Since they first met, Sirius has actually laughed more than once, and each time it was genuine.

However, the change brought about by the smile that came from finally resolving his inner conflict was so astonishing that it was as if someone ten years younger than him had emerged from behind a gaunt mask.

At this moment, Harry could finally recognize Sirius Black as the one who had laughed at his parents' wedding.

"I'm sorry, but I have to pour cold water on you two."

Just then, a slightly discordant voice rang out.

Amidst their astonished gazes, Sherlock said quietly:
“Mr. Sirius, Harry can’t live with you permanently yet, at least not until he’s an adult.”

"Why?"

Sirius immediately retorted.

His voice was filled with immense anger and resentment, "Who is refusing to agree? The Dursleys, Dumbledore, or..."

"Unfortunately, neither is true."

Sherlock, looking at Sirius's face which seemed to want to devour someone, gave the answer directly:

"It's Voldemort."

"Voldemort?"

Sirius was stunned. Wasn't Voldemort being a bit too nosy?
Besides, hasn't he already disappeared? How can he still have any say in my affairs?
Wait, that's not the problem, is it?

Even if Voldemort comes back, he won't stop me from being with Harry!
"Ah, I'm sorry, Godfather..."

Once he started speaking, Harry found himself getting more and more comfortable calling Sirius by his name. "I forgot to tell you, because of that curse, I have to stay with Aunt Petunia for at least a month every year."

Sirius shook his head in confusion.

"I don't know."

"Harry's mother released an ancient protective spell at the cost of her own life as she died."

Sherlock quickly explained, "It can protect Harry from Voldemort until he is an adult, but the magic will only work if he is with someone who is related to him by his mother's blood."

Harry's aunt is the only person in the world who fits the bill.

"A spell cast at the cost of one's life... I understand."

Sirius Black was originally a powerful wizard, but being imprisoned for twelve years caused him to become somewhat confused.

But ever since he escaped from prison and was freed from the Dementors' influence, he has begun a slow recovery.

Seeing Harry again now, he was in high spirits, and his reactions became much quicker.

So when Sherlock said that, he immediately understood.

Although he genuinely wanted to take on the responsibility of caring for and raising his son, Sirius Black also understood the importance of prioritizing things after being imprisoned for twelve years.

If Voldemort really returns, he certainly can't protect Harry on his own.

At that time, the magic a great mother left for her son will come in handy.

A look of regret crossed his face: "In that case..."

"That's okay!"

Seeing this, Harry quickly said, "Our summer vacation is very long. I only need to stay on Privet Drive for one month every summer."

I've been doing this for the past two years, staying for a full month each time and then leaving:
I stayed at Ron's house for the first summer vacation, and I'm staying at Sherlock's house this summer.

Besides summer vacation, there's also Christmas, Easter...

Except for that one month, I can live with you whenever I'm not at Hogwarts.

Hearing Harry's anxious explanation, Sirius laughed genuinely once again.

"Then it's settled, my dear Harry."

Being able to openly and honestly take on the responsibility of caring for Harry made it less unacceptable for him to continue feigning compliance with the Ministry of Magic.

They didn't speak again on the rest of the journey, and Sirius quickened his pace.

Even Harry felt that it took him less time to return than he had come, and it wasn't as strenuous as the journey there; he simply attributed it to the joy of good fortune.

"I'll go up first and make this guy stop."

When they reached the entrance to the tunnel, Sirius stopped, listened to the sound of the willow branches whipping around, and turned to Sherlock and Harry, saying something.

“I’m sorry, Harry, there’s one more thing I want to apologize for.”

"On the day you participated in the Quidditch match, I just wanted to see you flying through the air, but I didn't expect you to be so frightened when you saw me."

"No, that's all because of the Dementors, it has nothing to do with you!"

Sirius shook his head, and in front of Sherlock and Harry, transformed into the big black dog that Harry had seen twice before, and nimbly jumped onto it.

"Despite its large size, it is very agile. No wonder it was able to travel across the ocean to see you."

Sherlock looked thoughtful as he watched this scene.

“Sherlock, thank you,” Harry’s eyes welled up with tears. “Without you, I can’t even imagine how things would have turned out…”

"There's no need for further thanks, my dear friend—but it seems you can go to your new home this winter break."

"Yes, the new home..."

At this moment, Harry began to fantasize about his wonderful future life.

The sound of the willow branches whipping around stopped, and Harry and Sherlock climbed up one after the other.

The three of them moved out of the attack range of the Man-Beating Willow.

Sirius, who had regained his human form, looked up at the sky and felt as if he had been transported to another world.

When he escaped from Azkaban, he thought he was free.

However, the dual wanted status of the magical world and the Muggle world, along with the immense pressure from the Dementors, made him restless and unable to eat or sleep every day.

Sherlock was right; he had indeed included herbs to relieve anxiety in the food.

He was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold on if he didn't do this.

But today...

Only then did he truly gain freedom.

This freedom comes not only from the body, but more importantly from the mind.

The sun had not yet completely set, but a faint light was already shining through the windows of the distant castle.

The three of them looked at each other.

"Where to?" Sirius asked.

Harry looked at Sherlock.

"Let's go find our old headmaster first. I wrote him a letter before I came... Ah, it seems we don't need to. The people who are here to pick us up have arrived."

"Who?"

Sirius noticed Sherlock and Harry's gazes and immediately turned away.

When he saw that familiar face, his body froze, and then he began to tremble.

“My old friend, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I really would have found it hard to believe you would look like this.”

Professor Remus John Lupin stood quietly not far from the three of them, his eyes fixed on Sirius Black.

He smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "It's just like me on a full moon night." "Remus..."

Sirius Black quickly walked to Professor Lupin's side and firmly grasped his hand.

Immediately afterwards, the two embraced each other tightly, like brothers.

“Oh, forgive me, Remus…”

Sirius's tears kept flowing down, dripping onto Lupin.

"I had my doubts about you, which is why I didn't tell you that James and Lily had switched secret agents. I'm so sorry!"

When Sirius saw Professor Lupin in his tattered clothes, he realized how much harm his actions had caused to many people.

"Not at all, Bigfoot, old buddy."

Lupin seemed unconcerned, gently patting Sirius's back:

"Then please forgive me for once thinking you were a spy, okay?"

"Of course!"

A faint smile flickered across Sirius's haggard face. He released Lupin, and the two locked eyes, then burst into laughter together.

At this moment, all the slight estrangement between the two remaining members of the team disappeared, and the two men finally reached an understanding.

"They actually suspected each other at one time?"

Harry was stunned by what he saw.

Before coming to see Sirius, Sherlock had said that Sirius did not trust Professor Lupin as much as Hermione had said.

But Harry didn't expect that Professor Lupin also didn't trust Sirius.

Why is this happening?

"Obviously, my friend."

Sherlock looked at Harry, who was staring in shock, and patted him on the shoulder:

"Great friendships stand the test of time. During the Wizarding Wars, some werewolves sided with Voldemort."

Because of Professor Lupin's special status, Sirius had some doubts about this.

This is precisely why you would suggest your parents change their secret keeper to the seemingly unassuming Peter, rather than the docile werewolf Lupin.

It was precisely because of this suspicion that he did not tell Lu Ping about it.

Conversely, Lupin also had doubts about Sirius Black – after all, he was a member of the Black family.

In fact, their suspicions were not unfounded.

Because there really was a traitor in the Order of the Phoenix.

Unfortunately, they all targeted the wrong people.

In this respect, Wormtail is really successful.

He not only fooled the members of his small team, but also the entire Order of the Phoenix.

Even the cunning and shrewd Dumbledore was fooled by him.

And this deception lasted for a full twelve years.

Harry remained silent after hearing Sherlock's words.

One betrayal can cause permanent damage.

Peter Pettigrew, you deserve to die!
Professor Lupin then turned to Sherlock and Harry and explained to them:
"After receiving the letter, the principal sent me to pick you up—he also guessed where Bigfoot was hiding."

I originally intended to go down to find you, but then I decided to wait for you here, since the air is better here.

After making a joke, Professor Lu Ping immediately became serious and said:

"Mr. Dumbledore said that if you are prepared, you can go directly to see him."

Oh, right, Minister of Magic Fudge is here too.

"Fudge, did Dumbledore notify him to come?"

"No, it's because of other things."

At this point, a strange look appeared on Lupin's face, giving off a somewhat tense yet composed feeling:

"He came to ask Dumbledore for help."

"Help?"

“You’ll find out when you meet him,” Lupin waved his hand, not wanting to waste time on the topic. “Sherlock, shall we go now?”

Sirius was somewhat surprised.

It's easy to see from Lupin's performance that he values ​​Shylock.

He knew Lupin's character—aside from that shameful suspicion—but it was still hard to imagine that a teacher would show such respect to a student; it was indeed somewhat unusual.

But then he thought about it again, and realized that it was Sherlock who had solved this mystery that had been sealed for twelve years, and he immediately felt relieved.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that he and Lu Ping cleared up their misunderstanding was enough to make them extremely grateful.

Not to mention that he did far more than that.

He looked at Harry with a doting gaze.

My son is truly a divine being!
"Leave now."

When Lupin asked for his opinion, Sherlock replied without hesitation, "If we're fast enough, Harry can go home with Mr. Sirius tomorrow."

Upon hearing Sherlock mention this, Sirius immediately felt better – his backache, leg pain, and he felt more energetic.

On their way to the principal's office, Sirius and Lupin walked ahead. They hadn't seen each other for many years and had so much to talk about.

"So, you're planning to bring Harry to live with you?"

"Yes, this was originally James and Lily's idea, but unfortunately I messed it up."

"Don't do this, old man, we never expected this to happen, Peter..."

"I'd rather die than betray a friend! He absolutely deserves to die!"

"Yes, yes, so his fate was worse than death."

"All I can do now is take good care of this child, in the name of his godfather..."

Remus, tell me, what kind of person is Harry in your eyes? Isn't he a lot like James? Brave, willing to risk everything for his friends…”

"He also possesses kindness, tolerance, and a childlike heart. In my opinion, he's actually more like Lily..."

Sherlock and Harry were not far behind them, but they did not pay any attention to the conversation between the two.

Sherlock shrugged at Harry. "Well, that's great. We've solved the biggest problem in the first term this year—you can imagine how bored I'll be for a long time to come."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. "Sherlock, you're making it sound like you're hoping something unusual will happen at Hogwarts every year."

“My dear Harry, before your godfather escaped, I even thought Azkaban was safer than Hogwarts.”

"How could..."

Harry was originally planning to refute it.

Hogwarts is a place for teaching and nurturing, how can it be compared to the world's most terrifying prison?
But thinking back to when they were in first and second grade, Voldemort would come to teach them practical lessons on Defense Against the Dark Arts at the end of each semester, and suddenly he realized that he really didn't have the confidence to refute him.

Oh no, it seems that's really the case!
(End of this chapter)