Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 431 The First Prophecy of Sybil Trelawney
"Does it have to be this way?"

After Hermione and Ron left the office, Sherlock looked at Dumbledore.

“If it were just a matter for Professor Trelawney, it wouldn’t hurt to put in a good word for your two friends.”

Dumbledore shook his head, glanced at Harry, and then looked at Sherlock:
"The problem is that this matter also involves another person."

Sherlock, I think with your abilities you've already guessed who it is.

You can call me a coward, but the truth is, until now, only he and I know about that matter.

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

Upon hearing Dumbledore's response, Sherlock replied without hesitation:

“Mr. Dumbledore, now that things have come to this, I think you should tell us what role Professor Severus Snape played in this whole affair.”

Harry was stunned.

What's going on? Why is Professor Snape involved in this?
Could it be that he and Professor Trelawney...

Wait, didn't Sherlock say he loved his mother?

"Harry, don't overthink it."

Sherlock looked at Harry and said with a hint of helplessness.

"Oh, sorry."

Harry didn't ask Sherlock how he knew what she was thinking.

Anyway, he never intended to hide it, and he couldn't hide it anyway.

After saying something to Harry, Sherlock turned to Dumbledore:
"So, the prophecy that forced Voldemort to target Harry was also made by Professor Trelawney under those circumstances, right?"

"You really do know."

Dumbledore nodded. "From the moment you brought Harry to me, I knew you must have guessed, oh, deduced, that this was the case."

Sherlock smiled slightly, clasped his hands together to support his chin, and leaned back slightly.
"Then I'm all ears."

"Let's start with the Sibyl story."

Dumbledore's gaze drifted into the distance, as if lost in memories of the past.

To Dumbledore, Sybil Trelawney was a truly remarkable person.

On the one hand, it's because her behavior resembles that of a crazy, charlatan, but on the other hand, she can make genuine prophecies.

The reason for this lies in the unique nature of divination as a form of magic.

Sybil Trelawney was a great-great-granddaughter of the real prophet Cassandra Trelawney.

Although Cassandra's talents have been greatly diminished over the generations, Sybil has still inherited them.

At the age of 11, Trelawney entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Ravenclaw House.

As a descendant of a famous prophet, she was chosen by Professor Horace Slughorn and became a member of the Slughorn Club.

She was married in her early years, but the marriage ended unexpectedly due to various reasons, and she had no children.

When Dumbledore said this, Harry couldn't help but glance at Sherlock.

Sherlock pointed this out in detail during the very first divination lesson, through his observation of Professor Trelawney.

The famous scene of "You can predict the future, I can deduce the past" also occurred in that class.

That's why Professor Trelawney was so wary of Sherlock.

At this point, Dumbledore finally got to the point.

Since graduating from Hogwarts, Trelawney has been wandering around the wizarding world.

She tried to find a job by virtue of her ancestors' reputation, but was unwilling to accept professions that she felt were unworthy of a prophet's status.

In summary, they were all talk and no action.

Finally, in 1980, the gears of fate began to turn.

Trelawney had an interview with Albus Dumbledore, then headmaster of Hogwarts, at the Hogshead pub in Hogsmeade Village.

She hoped to get a position as a Divination teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In her view, this position was a good match for her status as a prophet.

"In fact, I had already decided not to continue offering divination classes at that time."

At this point, Dumbledore couldn't help but show a hint of embarrassment on his face.

Because from that time onwards, Sybil Trelawney had already been using false prophecies to deceive and swindle people.

However, considering that she was a descendant of the famous prophet, Dumbledore decided to meet her first out of courtesy.

To Dumbledore's disappointment, Trelawney did not display any prophetic talent during their conversation.

Just as he had done with Harry's Aunt Petunia, he told Trelawney in a polite tone that she was not suitable for the position.

"But just as I was about to leave, Sybil entered a trance-like state, a state that Harry had seen before."

At that time, she also made a true prophecy—that a boy about to be born would have the power to defeat Voldemort.

Harry couldn't help but gasp when he heard that.

It turns out that Professor Trelawney made this prediction about himself?
In other words, the person who truly influenced his life was actually her?
"Harry, just as you witnessed yesterday, she remembers nothing after making this prophecy."

But I know that this is a true prophecy.

At that time, the entire magical world was shrouded in Voldemort's shadow, and I must say, her prophecy brought me hope.

To protect her, I changed my mind, accepted her application, and allowed the divination classes to continue.

"So what exactly is the complete prophecy?"

Sherlock suddenly asked.

"Oh?"

Dumbledore pushed up his glasses and looked at Sherlock with some surprise.

"At first, I thought the prophecy meant that the person who could end the Dark Lord's rule would be born into a wizarding family at the end of July."

When I was in first grade, you told me that the prophecy was correct, but not accurate.

The full description is: 'Born into a boy who had defied the Dark Lord's family three times, born at the end of the seventh month, the Dark Lord personally marked him as a formidable enemy, who would appear and defeat Voldemort.'

When you were in second grade, I told you that this was by no means the whole story of the prophecy.

Although you acknowledged this, you said you couldn't tell me about this issue yet.

Now, can you tell me the full content of the prophecy?

Dumbledore watched Sherlock quietly, his gaze containing both admiration and helplessness.

"What, you still can't say it?"

Sherlock frowned.

Dumbledore didn't speak; he answered Sherlock with his actions.

He stood up, walked to the black cabinet next to Fox's perch, bent down, unfastened the latch, and took out the shallow stone basin with runes engraved on the side.

Harry had never seen it before, but Sherlock knew it was the Pensieve.

He had witnessed firsthand the meeting between Dumbledore and Tom Riddle fifty years earlier through this device at Dumbledore's invitation. Now, Dumbledore has brought it out again, seemingly intending to reveal the mystery.

Dumbledore walked back to the table, placed the Pensieve on it, and then raised his wand to his temple.

The next moment, strands of silver, spider silk-like threads were drawn from his temples.

He put the thoughts stuck to the wand into the basin, sat back down behind the table, and watched his thoughts swirl and float in the meditation basin.

Sherlock and Harry just watched him show off quietly.

After a moment, Dumbledore sighed, raised his wand again, and poked the silver substance with the tip of the wand.

A figure wrapped in a shawl then emerged from the basin.

Her eyes were magnified many times by the lenses, making them frighteningly large.

Sherlock and Harry recognized her immediately; she was Professor Sybil Trelawney, whom the three of them had just been discussing.

Her feet remained in the basin, but her body began to slowly rotate.

The next moment, Sybil Trelawney spoke.

Harry was surprised to find that she wasn't using her usual mysterious and ethereal voice.

It was exactly the same deep, hoarse voice I had heard just yesterday:

"The one capable of defeating the Dark Lord is approaching... born into a family that has resisted him three times, born at the end of July..."

The Dark Lord will consider him his formidable rival, but he will possess powers unknown to the Dark Lord...

One of them must die at the hands of the other, for not both can live; only one must survive…

The one capable of defeating the Dark Lord will be born at the end of July…

Professor Trelawney's words spun slowly with her figure, sinking into the silvery substance below and disappearing.

There was dead silence in the office.

Sherlock, Harry, Dumbledore, and all the portraits on the wall remained silent.

Even Fox News remained silent.

After a moment, Sherlock was the first to speak:
"So, you're not going to tell us how Voldemort knew about this prophecy?"

Dumbledore didn't answer, but looked at Harry.

"Since you let Hermione and Ron leave, but kept Harry behind, haven't you already made a decision? What are you hesitating for?"

"Because I care about Harry too much."

Dumbledore looked at Harry and said directly to him:

"I care more about your happiness than I want you to know the truth."

I care more about your peace of mind than about my plans.

I care more about your life than about the lives I might lose if the plan fails.

In other words, my actions were exactly as Voldemort had predicted for us fools who understood love.

Sherlock chuckled dismissively, while Harry shook his head.
“Mr. Dumbledore, I still don’t understand.”

"I never intended to tell you the whole story when you were eleven."

I told myself, eleven years old, too young to know.

Knowing these things at such a young age is unbearable.

Even if you faced Voldemort in first grade, it still didn't change my mind.

Soon, it was your second year at Hogwarts.

I never imagined that you and Sherlock would encounter a challenge that even adult wizards have never faced before.

Furthermore, your performance has once again exceeded my wildest dreams.

What surprised me even more was that Sherlock had already seen through this at that time.

Dumbledore remarked, looking at Sherlock with admiration:
"As he just said—in fact, when he asked me at the time, I felt that perhaps I should tell him all this."

But soon, I dismissed the idea again.

Because I feel that twelve years old isn't much different from eleven years old, and I can't accept such a thing yet.

Sherlock laughed again. "Thirteen years old isn't much different from twelve, fourteen years old isn't much different from thirteen, fifteen years old isn't much different from fourteen..."

Mr. Dumbledore, you can fool others, but never fool yourself.

Hearing Sherlock's sarcastic words, Dumbledore let out a long sigh:

"Yes, it's such a simple principle, but I just can't understand it."

I watched you enter the third grade, watched you find Sirius and Little Pettigrew, watched you figure out who they really were, and watched the good people be rewarded and the bad people be punished.

This time, you are thirteen years old, and you have uncovered the truth that has been buried for twelve years.

Peter Pettigrew fooled everyone, including me, but he couldn't fool you.

So this time, I've run out of excuses, and I'm going to tell you the whole story.

Dumbledore took a deep breath and finally answered Sherlock's question directly:

Voldemort's understanding of this prophecy was incomplete.

Sybil chose the Pig's Head Bar because it was cheap.

It has long attracted some more interesting regulars than the Three Brooms—cough, let’s put it that way.

I learned my lesson that night: in that kind of place, you can never guarantee you won't be eavesdropped on.

However, when I set off to meet Sybil Trelawney, I never dreamed I would hear anything worth eavesdropping on.

My good fortune—or rather, our good fortune—was that the eavesdropper was discovered halfway through the prophecy.

Then he was thrown outside.

Seeing Dumbledore say these words with feigned ease, Harry realized what was going on:

So all he heard was—

"He only heard the beginning, which was a prophecy that a boy would be born at the end of July, whose parents had resisted Voldemort three times."

Therefore, he could not possibly warn his master that attacking you would transfer power to you and mark you as his formidable rival.

Therefore, Voldemort had no idea that attacking you would be dangerous, nor did he know that you would possess powers that the Dark Lord was unaware of—”

At this point, he couldn't help but look at Sherlock.

Based on his understanding of Sherlock, he knew that the latter should now have a complete picture of the whole affair.

Therefore, a hint of pleading was subtly revealed in his eyes.

Sherlock naturally understood Dumbledore's meaning.

But he smiled and shook his head: "Since you've said it, say it completely."

Dumbledore was still hesitant: "Should we really tell him?"

(End of this chapter)