Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 523 Sherlock and Harry's Midnight Rendezvous

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, everyone, including Harry himself, looked up at Harry's shoulder.

Sure enough, I saw a handprint that wasn't very clear, but it wasn't blurry either.

Very big.

"Okay, you're still the best."

Ginny said with a grin, "We did see Hagrid—and he even asked you and Harry to come see him at midnight!"

Sherlock nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Don't you find it strange at all?"

Seeing Sherlock's calm expression, Ginny pressed on, "He told you to go find him in the middle of the night!"

You see, they had just met Hagrid and he brought this up.

Harry, Cho Chang, and Ginny were all incredibly surprised.

But before they could find out what was going on, Hagrid, who had seen Ms. Maxim, vanished in a flash, leaving the three of them dumbfounded.

Hermione and Ron looked surprised when they heard Ginny's words.

Leaving the castle in the middle of the night is definitely a violation of school rules.

It's important to know that Hagrid is no longer just a simple gamekeeper or key custodian.

He is also a professor, teaching a course on the protection of magical creatures.

What kind of behavior is it for a professor to let his students run around outside a castle in the middle of the night?
But Sherlock's expression showed no surprise whatsoever.

"It's obvious that it's for the three-way championship."

Sherlock succinctly revealed the doubts in everyone's minds:

"At this stage, only this matter necessitates that we go to him at this time."

Only this matter warrants the two of us going together.

"Sherlock is absolutely right—Hagrid is a very trustworthy man."

Sirius Black also spoke at this moment:

"So Harry, remember to wear your Invisibility Cloak."

And Sherlock—if you need one, I can get you one too. It won't be as good as Harry's, but it'll definitely be much better than Crouch's."

As Sirius Black escaped imprisonment and returned to the public eye, he increasingly showcased his financial power in front of the public.

And they often say things like that unintentionally.

Let alone giving Sherlock an invisibility cloak, it would be no problem to give one to each of the young wizards present.

Sherlock shook his head:

"No need, unless a teacher comes specifically to ambush me, I won't be discovered."

Hearing Sherlock's confident words, Sirius smiled and stopped pressing the matter, turning to Harry and saying:
"By the way, if you're unsure about anything, ask Lu Ping."

In many situations, he was calmer than I was.

Lupin was going through one of his unwell periods these past few days, so he didn't come to Hogsmeade with the young wizards this time.

But it's not a big problem.

As a professor, he could leave the castle for Hogsmeade at any time; Sirius just needed to wait for him there.

After finishing talking about Hagrid, Ginny turned to Hermione:
"By the way, Hermione, where did you go this afternoon?"
Did you and Sherlock take Luna around Hogsmeade properly?
She's here for the first time, just like me!

"Of course, we've been to many places..."

As Hermione was talking, she suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Ginny... seems to have been talking a lot today.

Not long ago, whether at the Three Brooms Bar or when they split into three groups to leave, she wasn't like this.
Thinking of this, Hermione glanced at Ginny without showing any emotion, only to find that Ginny's expression was natural and there was nothing unusual about her.

A thought struck her, and she looked at Harry and Cho Chang again, only to find that they were just as normal.

That's really strange...

wrong!

The fact that the three of them are acting so normally right now is the biggest abnormality!
Hermione pondered to herself that perhaps among everyone present, only she knew Ginny's true feelings for Harry.

Ron, as the older brother, only knew that Ginny had liked Harry since she was little.

But in his view, Ginny's affection for Harry was like a fan's adoration of an idol.

Similar to how he used to deal with Lockhart, and Ron used to deal with Krum.

As for Harry himself, he treated Ginny like a younger sister.

Qiu Zhang wasn't familiar with Ginny.

Luna is not a normal person.

Sherlock is a blockhead.

Perhaps Sirius Black saw something.

His decision to make those group assignments this afternoon was likely intentional.

So what exactly is Harry's godfather thinking? It's so hard to guess!

In short, under these circumstances, the relationship between Harry, Cho Chang, and Ginny could never be what it is now.

Something must have happened during our three-person chat this afternoon that no one else knows about.

As Hermione was pondering this, she heard Luna suddenly speak, saying softly:
"Look, those fiery clouds have such long tails, like a phoenix preening its feathers at dusk."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked towards Luna, only to see her gazing intently at the last glimmer of burning orange-red clouds on the horizon, while uttering these words of reflection.

Everyone is used to Luna's current state.

He glanced at the clouds and then looked away.

However, Hermione noticed that Sherlock's gaze once again fell on Luna's slightly upturned face, and the corners of his mouth seemed to be relaxed and maintained at a slight angle.

Hermione's heart skipped a beat.

Seeing Luna engrossed in her own world, and seeing Sherlock once again showing concern for Luna's state.

That subtle, slightly melancholic feeling I had while standing by the wooden barrel that afternoon gently brushed against my heart once again.

Under the setting sun, the shadows of the boys and girls stretched long and thin, their thoughts drifting like dandelions in the evening breeze.

But for Harry and Sherlock, a midnight rendezvous shrouded in uncertainty is quietly approaching.

When the students returned to Hogwarts, everyone felt tired and went to bed early.

Ron knew that Sherlock and Harry were going to find Hagrid, and even brought back butterbeer, intending to get Neville and Dean drunk.

“There’s no need for that, Ron.”

Sherlock said in a tone that was infuriatingly infuriating, "I go out every night, and none of you know that?"

Ron: (*￣︿￣)
"Also, butterbeer is unlikely to get them drunk. You actually want to drink it yourself, right?"

Ron: o(一︿一+)o
No matter how much resentment Ron harbored, what Sherlock said was true.

When Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak, he found that Neville and Dean were already sound asleep.

In fact, Neville's snoring had started much earlier.

"Sherlock, I'm leaving now."

Harry greeted Sherlock in a low voice, then gestured to Ron before quietly slipping out the door.

After a while, Ron noticed that Sherlock hadn't moved and asked curiously:

"Aren't you leaving yet? If you delay any longer, it'll be too late!"

"..."

"Sherlock?"

"..."

"Sherlock!" Ron called out in a low voice several times, but seeing that Sherlock still didn't move, he curiously went to the bedside to take a look.

Gan!
There's no Sherlock Holmes.

The bulge inside the blanket was clearly a pillow and several large books!
Well, Sherlock Holmes, you've given me a live demonstration, haven't you?
While Ron was feeling frustrated, Harry had already arrived at the common room.

To his surprise, there were still several people in the common room.

This includes the Crevy brothers.

Colin Crevey, the older brother, is telling his younger brother about what he saw and heard in Hogsmeade today.

Judging from how excited the two brothers are, they'll probably talk for quite a while before going to sleep.

Harry tiptoed past them, sneaking all the way to the entrance of the portrait cave.

He glanced at his watch, silently waiting for Sherlock to leave the dormitory and meet him.

As originally planned, Hermione would open the portrait of the Fat Lady from the outside for them.

Sure enough, the portrait was opened within minutes.

Seeing that Sherlock hadn't arrived yet, Harry decided to step out first to greet Hermione and give her some instructions.

But to his surprise, the person standing outside the common room was Sherlock.

Harry's eyes widened in an instant.

He was certain that Sherlock had discovered him wearing the invisibility cloak at that moment.

Sure enough, when he saw the portrait open, Sherlock turned and left without saying a word.

Ignoring the fat lady's question from behind, "Hey, aren't you going in?"

Harry had already sneaked into Hogwarts with Sherlock countless times at night, so he naturally understood and followed silently as before, stealthily making his way through the castle.

When they arrived at the pitch-black playground, Harry couldn't help but ask:
"Sherlock, when did you leave the dormitory?"

"Judging from the time, it should be about ten minutes earlier than you."

"What? I didn't notice anything at all?"

"That's normal. At that time, you were staring blankly at a fallen leaf in your hand."

"what--"

Harry instantly felt that Sherlock had seen right through him yet again.

However, Sherlock did not continue on this topic, but instead changed the subject, saying:
"I ran into Hermione and sent her back ahead of time—watch out, there are people over by the carriage!"

Hearing Sherlock's reminder, Harry realized that things were different now.

The road leading to the Forbidden Forest is no longer deserted.

The huge carriage in Beauxbatons was brightly lit.

Outside the carriage, several students were pointing at the sky, seemingly engaged in astrological divination or something similar.

This scene immediately reminded Harry of that night during his first year of high school.

That was my first time visiting the Forbidden Forest.

As a result, they encountered several centaurs on the road.

Because they kept repeating the phrase "Mars is very bright tonight," Hagrid almost developed PTSD.

Looking back now, the horsemen's divination may indeed have come true.

The unusually bright Mars, the planet of conquest, foreshadows Voldemort's imminent return.

While Harry was reminiscing about the past, Sherlock had easily slipped away from the students and arrived at Hagrid's door.

This made Harry feel somewhat ashamed.

Wearing an invisibility cloak, he was actually less agile than Sherlock.

But then I realized that this person was Sherlock Holmes, and I immediately felt relieved.

When he arrived at Hagrid's door, he could even hear Madam Maxim talking inside the carriage.

He was about to knock on the door, but Sherlock, as if he already knew he was coming, did so beforehand.

"Tuk-tuk!"

"You guys... uh?"

Hagrid had barely opened the door when Sherlock darted inside.

He looked around, still searching for Harry's whereabouts.

At that moment, Harry also slipped into the hut and took off the Invisibility Cloak from his head.

“Awesome!”

Hagrid closed the door, turned around, and couldn't help but give Sherlock a thumbs up:
"To get here without using the Disillusionment Charm and without being discovered, Sherlock, you are truly amazing."

Sherlock smiled without saying a word.

Harry thought to himself, "If Hagrid knew that Sherlock had been going into the Forbidden Forest almost every day for the past four years without ever being caught, I wonder how surprised he would be."

However, considering that Hagrid's words were just as unreliable as Neville's memories, he suppressed the idea of ​​telling Hagrid about it and instead asked:

"Hagrid, what brings you here so late?"

"I have something to show you."

Harry then noticed that Hagrid looked extremely agitated.

A fresh flower was stuck in the buttonhole of his clothes, looking just like a particularly large artichoke.

It looks like he's not applying lubricant to his head anymore, but he must have spent a lot of time combing his hair.

Because Harry saw broken teeth from a comb in his hair.

I'm speechless.

"What do you want to show me?"

Although Sherlock had already said that Hagrid had called them over because of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry couldn't help but become wary again upon seeing Hagrid's appearance.

I thought to myself, "Please, please don't let it be a whelk laying eggs."

Or perhaps Hagrid managed to buy a three-headed dog from a stranger in a tavern.

Harry knew it wasn't right for him to think like that.

But... I'm sorry, the moment I saw Hagrid, this thought popped into my head like weeds, and I couldn't stop it.

In contrast, Sherlock was much calmer.

He remained silent throughout, quietly watching Harry talk to Hagrid.

"Come with me, don't make a sound, and cover your body with the invisibility cloak."

Hagrid then looked at Sherlock and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Can you follow us without being discovered by others?
Sigh, it's all my fault. I should have told you to bring an invisibility cloak when I relayed the message to Harry this afternoon.

No, I shouldn't have let you come along—Harry could have just witnessed this alone.

“It’s alright, Hagrid, I promise no one will find out.”

"really?"

"real."

"Are you sure you can really follow me with Harry, who's wearing the Invisibility Cloak, without anyone noticing?"

"Believe me."

Harry noticed that Hagrid was so excited that he was almost incoherent.

This made him even more vigilant.

He said that this kind of thing could be seen only by himself, and Sherlock wouldn't even need to see it.

Does that mean it has nothing to do with the three-way battle for supremacy?

(End of this chapter)