Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 432 Snape's Secret
Faced with Dumbledore's hesitation, Sherlock decided to press on:

"You've already said it, we're thirteen years old, you've run out of excuses."

In fact, Harry will be fourteen in a month.

Dumbledore paused for a moment, then tapped the table with his wand:
"I'm afraid I'll need you all to leave for a while."

In Harry's memory, it was something Dumbledore hadn't done in a long time: asking the portraits of past headmasters on the wall to be removed.

But he's doing it anyway.

This demonstrates the seriousness of the incident.

It is more serious than Trelawney's prophecy itself.

After the portrait grumbled and left, Harry couldn't help but ask immediately:

"Sherlock, Professor Dumbledore, so what exactly are you trying to say?"

“Dear Harry, I thought you should have already figured it out.”

Sherlock's grey eyes looked at Harry, and he said, word by word:

Severus Snape.

He was the one who overheard Professor Dumbledore and Professor Trelawney's conversation and told Voldemort the first part of the prophecy.

During Peter Pettigrew's public trial, in an attempt to escape the punishment of the Dementors' kiss, he publicly testified that Severus Snape was a Death Eater.

However, Dumbledore pointed out that Snape was indeed a Death Eater before, but he had already turned to the side of justice before Voldemort's downfall.

Dumbledore's testimony was so compelling that everyone believed him.

However, Dumbledore did not reveal why he turned to justice.

People don't seem to be interested in this either.

It's nothing more than justice, justice, justice.

Sherlock deduced early on that Snape was in love with Harry's mother, Lily, and was Harry's father James's rival.

Snape always felt immense guilt over Lily's death.

Sherlock initially believed that Snape's guilt stemmed from not being able to save Lily in time.

Just like Sirius Black.

But as time went on, more and more things happened, and with a deeper investigation into Snape himself, Sherlock gradually discovered that the matter was not so simple.

Today, Sherlock has finally deduced the whole story.

Snape did feel guilty for not being able to save Lily in time.

But what made him feel even more guilty was that he had personally pushed the woman he loved most in his life into the abyss of death.

The eavesdropper Dumbledore mentioned was none other than Snape, who was then a Death Eater.

He heard half of the prophecy and told it to Voldemort.

But he never expected that Voldemort would believe that Harry Potter was the boy the prophecy referred to.

Not only that, he also planned to kill Harry, who was still an infant.

Snape immediately regretted it when he learned the truth.

Even after becoming a Death Eater, Snape's love for Lily never changed.

But because of his act of betraying her, Lily ended up in danger.

Having figured this out, Snape immediately begged Voldemort to spare Lily.

Sherlock deduced that Voldemort had actually promised Snape to spare Lily.

It's easy to imagine that Snape was exceptionally capable among the Death Eaters and was someone Voldemort trusted deeply.

Voldemort, who had personally killed hundreds of people, didn't mind giving his subordinates a little face for this matter.

Even so, Snape felt that this was not enough.

Far from enough!

Because Snape knew Voldemort very well.

He knew that this was a person who could change his mind at any time due to a whim.

Snape knew Lily better than Voldemort did.

He knew that even if Lily had only her last breath, she would protect her son from harm.

So even though Voldemort promised Snape to spare Lily, he still sought out Dumbledore, who was said to be the only person Voldemort feared at the time, hoping that he could also protect Lily.

Dumbledore, of course, wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by.

Moreover, Potter's father was originally a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and protecting them was his duty.

So he took this opportunity to ask Severus to work for him and become a spy among the Death Eaters.

To call him shrewd and calculating, or even cunning and treacherous, would not be an exaggeration.

Snape would do anything for Lily.

Not only did he betray his master Voldemort without hesitation, but he also reluctantly accepted Dumbledore's condition that Lily's husband and children be protected as well.

Over the next period of time, Snape delivered a number of messages to the Order of the Phoenix.

Therefore, Dumbledore did not commit perjury during the public trial.

Snape had indeed switched sides before Voldemort's downfall.

He even provided crucial intelligence—that there was a mole within the Order of the Phoenix.

Unfortunately, although Voldemort trusted Snape, he did not tell him who the traitor within the Order of the Phoenix was.

This news, however, made Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and others suspicious of many people.

This even includes Sirius Black of House Lake and Remus Lupin, a werewolf.

Neither Dumbledore, the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, nor Snape, the Death Eater he recruited as a spy, could have imagined that the spy hidden within the Order of the Phoenix would be the unassuming Peter Pettigrew.

They never expected that James and Lily would switch the Secret Service agent from Sirius Black to this little dwarf at the last minute.

Several unexpected events piled up, and tragedy ensued, needless to say.

Despite Dumbledore's best efforts to protect the Potters, Voldemort obtained information from Peter Pettigrew and came to Godric's Hollow to find them.

Sherlock had previously felt that there were inconsistencies in the scene where Harry spoke with Voldemort when he heard about his mother's death after meeting the Dementors.

Voldemort killed James in a single encounter, which can be explained by the immense power of both men, James not having had time to obtain his wand, and James not expecting to be betrayed by Peter Pettigrew.

However, from Harry's description of the fragments before his mother's death, it can be seen that Voldemort repeatedly asked Lily to leave when she was blocking his way, and did not kill her as soon as they met.

It must be said that Snape's judgment of Voldemort and Lily was absolutely correct.

Although Voldemort promised Snape to spare Lily, he ultimately killed her when she was determined to protect Harry.

Lily was willing to risk her own life to protect her son.

It was precisely because of this brief tug-of-war that Lily had the opportunity to protect Harry and save his life.

And when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the spell bounced back, creating Harry, the boy who miraculously survived.

What happens next is easier to predict.

After Lily's death, Snape became extremely depressed.

Ten years later, when he saw Harry again and saw that his eyes were exactly the same as his mother Lily's, he experienced a surge of emotions.

That's why, when he saw Harry in the first Potions class, he used the language of flowers to express what had always been buried in his heart. After hearing Sherlock's deductions about the whole affair, Dumbledore remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Sherlock, you really are..."

He paused, as if considering his words.

"You remind me of an old friend."

"Nicholas Flamel?"

"No, it wasn't him..."

"Who is that?"

Sherlock immediately became interested; this old man, who had lived for over a hundred years, certainly had many old acquaintances!

It would be very interesting if he could see someone from the past that reminds him of himself.

"Let's put that aside for now—your judgment on the whole matter is correct, there's just one minor, insignificant problem."

"Oh? Tell me!"

Even though I knew Dumbledore was changing the subject, it didn't matter.

Sherlock was also very interested in the shortcomings of his own reasoning.

As for his old friend, there will be plenty of time to find him later.

"Severus's depression after Harry's mother Lily's death was even greater than you can imagine."

He once wanted to leave this world.

"suicide?"

Sherlock raised an eyebrow; this was indeed something he hadn't been able to figure out.

"Yes, but I told him he couldn't die."

Sherlock was speechless. "You used Harry to stop his death?"

"Yes, I told him that if he really loved Lily, he should protect her child."

I think countless people have told you, Harry, that you are just like your father.

But your eyes are exactly like your mother's.

Voldemort is not dead, and he could return at any time, so he needs to protect Harry from Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Severus later came to the school and became the Potions professor and the head of Slytherin.

Harry, please don't be wary of Professor Snape.

In this world, he is definitely the person who least wants to see you get into trouble.

In a sense, he values ​​your life more than I do.

Harry: "..."

"Also, I promised Severus that I wouldn't tell anyone about this."

"Understood, we won't tell Hermione and Ron."

Seeing that Harry was still in a state of shock, Sherlock spoke up.

Dumbledore nodded upon hearing this, then gradually became serious:
"I hope that after today, when you face Severus, you can pretend you don't know anything about this."

“No problem,” Sherlock replied as always.

"Now let's talk about the Sybil's second prophecy. Sherlock, what do you think?"

Sherlock shook his head:
"Even without that prophecy, some things can still be deduced:"
Voldemort will return—that's obvious.

We've already dealt with him personally and with his Horcruxes, and he has more than one Horcrux.

His power will become even greater—that is beyond doubt.

If he can't do that, he shouldn't be called the Dark Lord.

Only that so-called loyal servant and helper is worth paying attention to, but…

Sherlock looked at Dumbledore, a hint of suspicion in his eyes:
"Professor Dumbledore, do you really believe in prophecy?"

"This is a true prophecy, unlike Sybil's usual crazy and mysterious pronouncements."

Dumbledore responded with a serious expression upon hearing Sherlock's words.

"Is there any evidence?"

Sherlock said with a suspicious look, "Voldemort is still alive, but that doesn't mean her prophecies will definitely come true, does it?"

"There's a room in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic that's always locked. We passed by it when we went to hear the trial."

It contains a power, a power more wondrous and terrifying than death, human wisdom, and the forces of nature.

It is probably the most mysterious of the many disciplines there.

Harry possessed a great deal of the power that was locked in that room, while Voldemort had none.

And this is precisely what the prophecy pointed out.

It turns out to be the north.

Sherlock always felt that Dumbledore believed in that prophecy too much, but now it seems that it was indeed unfounded and not without reason.

Just then, Harry, who had been silent all along, suddenly looked up:

"Professor Dumbledore, the last part of his prophecy... seems to be about... two people not being able to both live..."

Only one survived.

Dumbledore looked at Harry and spoke gently.

He still felt that it was a bit too early to tell Harry about it.

"So that means..."

Harry spoke slowly, trying to dig words out of the deep well of despair within him:
"In the end... one of us has to kill the other?"

Dumbledore nodded and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "Yes."

Silence fell over the office once again.

After a moment, Dumbledore spoke again:
"Sherlock, do you think the servant mentioned in the prophecy could be Peter Pettigrew?"

Is it possible for a person's soul to be restored after it has been sucked away by a Dementor?

“Impossible,” Dumbledore said firmly.

"In that case, I do have an idea."

In the past, Sherlock would have scoffed at prophecies.

Even after arriving in the magical world and witnessing firsthand Professor Trelawney's unreliable prophecies, this viewpoint only became more firmly held.

However, Dumbledore pointed out that Professor Sybil Trelawney had made two genuine prophecies and firmly believed them.

At this point, Sherlock would naturally not stubbornly believe that it was impossible.

As Mycroft once reminded him, make bold assumptions, but verify them carefully.

"His most loyal servant has been in chains for twelve years, which sounds like it refers to Peter Pettigrew, but it's not the only possibility."

Professor Dumbledore, I remember you once said that some of the Death Eaters were loyal to Voldemort, and that their loyalty remained unchanged even after his downfall.

"Yes, for example, Sirius's sister Bellatrix, who firmly believed Voldemort would return until the moment she was imprisoned in Azkaban."

(End of this chapter)