Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 491 The Curse is Finally Broken

Hermione noticed Ginny's expression and secretly chuckled, then quickly said:

“It’s alright, Ginny, at least you don’t have to take a boat across Black Lake in this kind of weather.”

As she spoke, she pointed to a huge figure at the other end of the platform and said, "Look, it's Hagrid!"

A giant standing eleven and a half feet tall would undoubtedly be extremely attractive in such a setting.

The first-year students, who were seeing such tall humans for the first time, were all stunned.

However, the older students, who were all used to it, greeted him warmly.
Hello, Hagrid!

"Hello, Professor!"

"Hello, sir!"

After becoming the teacher of the Magical Creatures class, the students undoubtedly became more familiar with Rubeus Hagrid.

As is customary, first-year students are ferried across the lake by Hagrid to enter Hogwarts Castle.

This remained unchanged even after he became the professor of the Conservation of Magical Creatures class.

This may also be related to his appearance.

For young wizards who have never been exposed to magic before, Hagrid's appearance can, to some extent, satisfy their imagination of the magical world.

"Hello!"

Hagrid answered in a gruff voice, waved his hand, and then said in a rather exaggerated tone:
"If we don't drown, let's meet at the banquet—first-year students, come with me!"

After Hagrid took away the first-year students, the remaining young wizards climbed onto the carriage being pulled by Thestrals.

According to Sherlock's observation, currently only he and Luna can see these magical animals.

Everyone else believed that the carriages were driven by magical powers.

At this point, it's impossible for everyone to sit together.

"See you at the opening ceremony, Harry!"

Qiu Zhang and Luna then parted ways with them and boarded another carriage with Qiu Zhang's two roommates.

Sherlock, Hermione, Harry, and Ron rode in a carriage.

Practice makes perfect.

It wasn't the first time they had ridden in a horse-drawn carriage, so they remained silent throughout the journey.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts Castle, the students, not wanting to get soaked, rushed into the Great Hall without hesitation.

Torches were lit in the hall, and the marble staircase was magnificent.

The auditorium remained as magnificent and grand as ever, and as is customary, it was specially decorated for the new semester banquet.

Hundreds of candles floated above the table, illuminating the gold plates and goblets.

At this moment, students began to sit down one after another around the four long college tables, chattering away.

Sherlock and his three companions kept walking as they passed the tables of Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, but still greeted Malfoy, Hannah, Cho Chang, and others.

Of course, the way to greet the trio of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle is rather special: simply make eye contact and look away after about a second.

After the four of them were seated, Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor who was almost headless, also greeted them:
"Hi everyone~ Almost everyone has arrived. The sorting ceremony will begin in a little while."

"I wonder if the Sorting Hat will sing a different song this year?"

"It's the same every year, Harry..."

"Harry!"

Nick, who was almost headless, had just called out Harry's name when he was interrupted by an even louder voice.

Colin Crevy, a third-year Gryffindor boy.

From the year he enrolled, he had always regarded Harry as a hero.

Ron once joked that he and Ginny could form a Harry Potter fan club.

For a time, Harry was somewhat overwhelmed by the little boy's enthusiasm.

To be honest, he was Harry's most loyal fan.

In some ways, he was even more—

Loyal! Sincerity!
Fortunately, Harry later learned a couple of tricks from Gilderoy Lockhart, which gave him some experience in dealing with the situation.

So when he saw the other person greeting him, Harry said very carefully:

"Hello, Colin."

As usual, Colin didn't realize anything was wrong with Harry's attitude towards him, and he excitedly said:
"Harry, guess what?"

Guess what, Harry?

￣△￣

Harry looked at Colin with a hint of helplessness—how could I have guessed if you hadn't told me?
Fortunately, the latter didn't expect Harry to answer, and immediately spoke up after asking the question:
"My brother started school too! My brother Dennis!"

"Oh—that's great."

Harry congratulated him quietly.

He was incredibly excited!

As Colin spoke, he actually jumped up and down on the bench:
"I really wish he had been sorted into Gryffindor!"
Please pray for him too, Harry, okay?

"Uh...oh—okay, no problem."

Harry agreed, and then asked Sherlock:
"Siblings are usually assigned to the same college, right?"

He made that judgment based on the Weasley family's situation.

Because all seven Weasley children were sorted into Gryffindor House.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Sherlock shook his head. “Think of your godfather, my friend.”

After Sherlock pointed it out, Harry immediately remembered.

Sirius Black's younger brother, the late Regulus Black, was sorted into Slytherin, while his older brother Sirius Black was in Gryffindor.

In fact, a division of the House like that of Regulus XIV would be considered correct and in line with tradition for the Black family.

On the contrary, his older brother, Sirius Black, who was sorted into Gryffindor, was the outlier and unconventional member of the Black family.

“And the Petit twins.”

Hermione, hearing Sherlock's words, added, "They look exactly alike."

As a result, Parvati Petit was sorted into Gryffindor with us, while Padma Petit was sorted into Ravenclaw.

I initially thought they'd be grouped together like Fred and George.

“Hermione, I think I heard you talking about us?” Fred suddenly turned around.

"Are you secretly saying we're handsome?" George immediately followed up.

"Yes, yes, you guys have always been handsome!"

Hermione said with a grin.

"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment!"

The twin brothers spoke together.

"Therefore, siblings are not necessarily assigned to the same college."

Given this precedent, Harry then said that he could only pray, as Colin had suggested, that his brother would also be sorted into the same house as him.

He didn't consider that once the two brothers got together, they would form an even more powerful fan group than before.

While Harry spoke to Colin, Sherlock observed the teachers' desk with great interest. The new school year had begun, and the teachers seemed unchanged from before.

Professor Flitwick, the headmaster of Ravenclaw and Charms teacher, sat on a pile of cushions.

Even so, he was still the shortest one.

Beside him was Professor Sprout, the headmaster of Hufflepuff House and herbalist.

Her hat was perched askew on her flowing gray hair as she chatted happily with her astronomy teacher, Professor Sinister.

On the other side of Professor Sinister was Professor Snape, the Head of Slytherin House and Potions teacher, with a sallow complexion, a hooked nose, and his signature greasy hair.

In Sherlock's view, this professor was arguably the one with the heaviest burden and the most forbearance in the entire Hogwarts.

However, judging from the appearance alone, if he could use a shampoo with the Porter family formula, it would definitely improve his hair quality.

Unfortunately, this is not possible.

There is absolutely no way he would use Porter's products.

The seat on the other side of Snape was empty.

That was the seat of Professor McGonagall, the Vice Principal, Head of Gryffindor House, and Transfiguration teacher.

She was currently preparing for the freshmen's sorting ceremony as usual, so she had not yet arrived.

Over there, right in the middle of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts.

His flowing silver-white hair and beard shimmered in the candlelight, and his magnificent dark green robe was embroidered with many stars and moons.

Dumbledore touched the tips of his two long, slender hands together, resting his chin on them.

This pose looked somewhat familiar to Sherlock.

Noticing Sherlock's gaze, he looked through his half-moon spectacles in Sherlock and Harry's direction and nodded with a smile.

He then looked back at the ceiling, as if lost in thought.

As far as Sherlock could see, there was one empty seat besides Professor McGonagall's.

That was Hagrid, the professor of the Conservation of Magical Animals class, who was leading the first-year students across the lake.

Based on the timeline, he should be back in a little while.

However, what interests Sherlock the most is the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Remus Lupin was still sitting there.

A ruthless person who concealed his true identity.

The moment Sherlock saw him, he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

The curse left by Voldemort regarding the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has finally been broken.

Professor Lu Ping became the only teacher in recent years to be re-elected in this position.

This is truly cause for celebration.

Based on his own experience, Lupin was the most competent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor he had ever taught.

Of course, it wasn't just them; even top students like Gemma Farley, Penelope Clearwater, and Percy Weasley, who were four grades above them, held the same view.

However, although the curse has been broken, Lupin still has another matter to consider.

That is, how to keep his ruthless identity from being discovered.

There is no doubt that even though Remus Lupin lived up to expectations last year by winning the titles of Most Popular Teacher of the Year and Most Popular Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor in the last decade.

But once his ruthless nature is exposed, letters of protest from students' parents will definitely come flying in like snowflakes.

By then, not only Lupin himself, but even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to withstand it.

There is nothing we can do about this.

Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain that you can't move no matter how hard you try.

People's views on werewolves are the same as Remus's father's views on werewolves back then.

It has remained unchanged for decades.

Lupin also noticed that Sherlock was looking at him.

So he smiled and nodded in the direction of Sherlock and Harry, just like Dumbledore had done.

After observing the faculty seating area, Sherlock turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

It's unclear whose idea it was, but now that it's been enchanted, it looks just like the sky outside, with black and purple clouds swirling around it.

When a clap of thunder sounded, a forked bolt of lightning even streaked across the ceiling.

It truly is about putting in a lot of effort in seemingly useless areas.

Last year, when school started, the Dementors gave a surprise inspection of the Hogwarts Express.

Because Harry reacted so strongly to the Dementors, Lupin, worried, sent an owl to the school in advance to inform them of the situation.

As a result, Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione were taken away by Professor McGonagall alone.

On the one hand, it was to check on Harry's health, and on the other hand, it was to solve the time problem of the three of them choosing all elective courses.

As a result of that incident, all three of them missed last year's Sorting Ceremony.

However, Sherlock participated in the Sorting Ceremony during his freshman year.

In the second year, I also watched the Sorting Ceremony as an observer.

So even though I missed it once last year, I'm not too bothered by it.

Harry's thoughts were similar to Sherlock's.

Hermione enthusiastically suggested that Sherlock observe and recount the experiences of the new students during the Sorting Ceremony.

"Don't you think doing this is boring?" she asked with some concern.

"On the contrary," Sherlock smiled slightly, "it helps me pass the time."

“That’s wonderful!” Hermione exclaimed happily.

"No matter what, I still hope to start as soon as possible."

Ron couldn't wait any longer, and he sighed as he said:
"My stomach is growling so big, I could practically eat a hippogriff right now."

“A plate of chicken legs,” said Nick, who was almost headless.

"What did you say?" Ron looked at Nick in confusion, not understanding the meaning of his seemingly nonsensical words.

“I mean, around this time last year, you said, ‘Let’s start eating, I feel like I can eat a whole plate of chicken legs right now.’”

Nick, who was almost headless, said with a serious expression.

After a moment of silence, Ron couldn't help but shout:
"Is it necessary to remember this so clearly, Nick who almost lost his head!"
At this time last year, I didn't even know what a hippogriff was!
"I updated the knowledge base this year, is that not allowed?"

"Of course you can, but I still prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Minsey-Popington."

"Ha! I remember now, last year you told me that the Sorting Ceremony was much more important than the meal."

"Yes, I still think so this year."

"What a coincidence, I also think this year that eating is more important than the Sham ceremony."

"..."

(ー`ー)
The human and the ghost locked eyes, gazing deeply into each other's eyes.

Nick, who was nearly headless, was about to say something when the auditorium doors opened, and everyone immediately fell silent.

(End of this chapter)