Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 579 Sherlock's Refusal to Help in Times of Die

A strange sound reached Sherlock's ears, a sound that, though mixed with the murmur of the lake's undercurrent, was remarkably clear.

He quickly turned his head, his gaze passing through the murky lake water, and saw a semi-transparent figure slowly drifting towards him.

It was their old acquaintance, the weeping Myrtle.

Two years ago, when they were searching for the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, this ghost had helped them.

Ron later joked that Myrtle seemed to have a crush on Harry, and even invited him to share a bathroom with her after he died. That bizarre invitation still makes people laugh and cry to this day.

"Myrtle!"

Harry's voice was much more excited than Sherlock's; he immediately began to shout.

However, the second stage head of the scuba gear is still in the mouth, and the sound can only be transmitted through the vibration of the air column in the throat, turning into a series of indistinct "gurgling" sounds in the water, as faint as bubbles bursting.

Sherlock remained calm, simply observing quietly.

To him and Myrtle, Harry looked somewhat comical at that moment, except for his bright, sparkling eyes that revealed his excitement.

Seeing this, Myrtle couldn't help but giggle. Her transparent skirt swayed gently in the lake water, and her laughter was perfectly audible in the water.

"You should try it over there!"

She stretched out her slender finger, pointing to a darker patch of water in the distance, her tone slightly playful:

"I'm not going with you... I don't really like them. Every time I get close, those guys chase after me. It's so annoying."

Myrtle, as a ghost, speaks underwater without any hindrance; her voice is as clear as if it were in the air.

Her suggestion was like a glimmer of light in the darkness, surprising and delighting Harry.

This is because the direction Myrtle pointed in was exactly the same as the direction Sherlock had indicated earlier.

This undoubtedly proves that they are on the right track.

"awesome!"

Harry shouted excitedly again, but only a faint "buzzing" sound came out.

He shook his head helplessly, then gave Myrtle two thumbs up, his clear eyes filled with gratitude.

Myrtle's gaze was clearly more directed towards Harry, and she suddenly made a bold move:

Swinging its ghostly body, it quickly swam to Harry's side and gently kissed him on the cheek.

After making this move, her cheeks flushed instantly, as if she had been steamed. Then she hurriedly swayed her skirt and drifted away in the opposite direction.

Harry froze, his eyes wide open, even his breathing slowed, clearly still reeling from the sudden kiss.

Fortunately, Sherlock seemed not to have seen anything, his expression remained calm, and he turned and swam in the direction he had determined.

This greatly relieved Harry, and his tense body gradually relaxed. He was finally free from this embarrassing situation.

The rest of the trip was rather monotonous.

Sherlock swam ahead, using his keen observation skills to avoid the monsters lurking in the water.

But the underwater scene seemed to remain unchanged:
Patches of black aquatic plants intertwined, resembling a tangled jungle, swaying gently in the undercurrent.

On the wide, flat sandy ground, many sparkling pebbles were scattered, reflecting a faint light.

Occasionally, a few small silver fish would dart past, moving as fast as darts, leaving only a fleeting silver shadow.

About twenty minutes later, Sherlock suddenly stopped.

He gently raised his arm, signaling Harry to stop.

Harry immediately sped up, swam to Sherlock's side, and followed his gaze to look around.

At this time, the bottom of the lake was covered with a large area of ​​black silt. The water flow they created as they swam stirred up dark eddies in the silt, making the surrounding lake water even more turbid.

Sherlock made a gesture toward Harry—his palm slightly bent and placed next to his ear.

Harry immediately held his breath and focused.

He knew that this meant Sherlock wanted him to "listen".

Soon, a melodious yet somewhat eerie song entered my ears—it was the song of a mermaid!

[Only one hour]

We must find and reclaim the items we took.

The singing carried exceptionally clearly through the water, and Harry's eyes lit up instantly, his body trembling slightly with excitement.

It was obvious that they were about to reach their destination!

Unlike Harry's excitement, Sherlock remained calm.

He looked around to confirm the direction from which the singing was coming, then nodded slightly to Harry, signaling him to follow, before slowly swimming towards the destination.

To Harry's surprise, even as they were about to reach their destination, Sherlock did not speed up, maintaining a steady pace, as if they were there to admire the scenery at the bottom of the lake rather than to compete.

Even so, it wasn't long before they saw a huge rock standing in the murky lake ahead.

The rock surface is rough and is engraved with many mermaid patterns.

The mermaids, wielding spears, are fiercely chasing after several enormous squid. Though their lines are simple, they exude a sense of ferocity.

Just then, the mermaid's song came again, but the lyrics made Sherlock frown.

Stop procrastinating, half the time is already gone.

[lest what you are looking for rot here.]

Sherlock's control over time is extremely precise.

He knew perfectly well that thirty-five minutes had passed since Bagman blew the whistle to start the match.

The mermaid's song is both a reminder and a distraction.

For people with poor mental fortitude, hearing "half the time has passed" can easily cause them to feel nervous.

Not to mention disturbing phrases like "rotting here."

Sure enough, Harry's expression changed immediately upon hearing the singing.

A flicker of panic crossed his green eyes, and he unconsciously quickened his swimming speed, even overtaking Sherlock to rush ahead.

At this moment, even without Sherlock leading the way, he could find his way by following the song; his eagerness made him completely ignore the rhythm.

Sherlock did not stop him, but simply followed behind Harry, his eyes still carefully observing the surroundings.

Soon, the surrounding environment changed:
Many rough stone dwellings came into view, their surfaces speckled with green algae, some of which swayed gently in the water.

Then, the mermaid finally appeared.

Their skin was a dark, iron-gray color, and it seemed to have a cold texture to the touch.

Her dark green hair was long and messy, like clumps of tangled water plants, swaying freely with the current.

A pair of yellow eyes gleamed sharply as they scrutinized Sherlock and Harry.

The incomplete teeth are also yellow, and when the corners of the mouth are slightly turned up, the gaps between the teeth can be seen.

She wore a pebble necklace strung together with a thick rope around her neck; the pebbles made a soft "tap-tap" sound when they collided.

As Harry swam by, the mermaids revealed malicious smiles, their eyes filled with scrutiny and curiosity.

One or two mermaids even swam out of the cave to get a better view.

They gripped their spears tightly, their thick, powerful silver fish tails gently slapping the lake water, creating tiny splashes.

However, when Sherlock, who was right behind them, swam past them and looked at them with an emotionless gaze, their movements slowed down, and their grip on their spears tightened slightly. They did not take another step forward.

Harry didn't notice the commotion behind him; he just swam forward quickly, constantly looking around for any sign of the hostages.

Soon, more and more stone dwellings appeared, and some of them were surrounded by unique underwater plants, resembling small gardens.

Sherlock continued to carefully observe his surroundings when suddenly his gaze fell upon a door. A small Greenlody was chained to the door, its body wriggling restlessly.

It is clear that these two creatures are not on good terms.

At this moment, more and more mermaids emerged from all directions, curiously looking at Sherlock and Harry, pointing at their scuba gear, and whispering among themselves while covering their mouths.

Neither Sherlock nor Harry paid any attention to the mermaid's actions.

After Harry rounded a bend, the view suddenly opened up before him.

A square resembling a mermaid village came into view.

Several simple houses were situated around the square, and a large group of mermaids floated in front of them.

There were a dozen or so mermaids gathered in a circle, singing in unison.

The song that Sherlock and Harry heard earlier came from here—they were calling for the warriors to return.

Behind the mermaid stood a rough statue, a large mermaid carved from a giant stone.

Despite the uneven surface of the statue, one can still discern the mermaid holding a spear and displaying a majestic expression.

Of course, that's not the point. The point is that three people are firmly tied to the tail of the mermaid statue.

Without a doubt, these three people are the captains of the three schools.

Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum.

However, all three of them appeared to be fast asleep: their heads slumped limply over their shoulders, and their long hair floated in the water.

His lips were slightly parted, and a string of tiny bubbles kept rising from his mouth. The bubbles slowly rose until they surfaced and burst.

Its body remained motionless, only swaying gently with the current, appearing lifeless.

Upon seeing the hostages, Harry panicked and immediately tried to rush towards them.

But when he saw the spears the mermen were holding tightly and their wary eyes, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Only then did he realize that he had unknowingly overtaken Sherlock and surged ahead.

A wave of guilt washed over him—he had promised to cooperate with Sherlock, but in his nervousness, he had acted impulsively again.

Fortunately, he stopped in time at the crucial moment and did not act too recklessly.

Otherwise, if they rush over, the mermaids will likely launch an attack immediately.

To Harry's utter surprise, when he stopped, Sherlock continued swimming toward the hostages.

To his surprise, none of the mermaids surrounding the statue stepped forward to stop Sherlock as he approached.

They simply watched Sherlock silently, their expressions quite complex.

Harry was both surprised and delighted to see this. His worries vanished instantly, and he immediately followed Sherlock, swimming towards the statue.

Sherlock stopped beside the statue, carefully examining the ropes binding the hostages:
It was woven from water plants; the rope was thick and slippery, with a layer of moist slime on the surface, making it look very sturdy.

He tried tugging at the rope with his hand, but it didn't budge.

Even though he was quite strong, he couldn't break the rope with just his bare hands in the water.

Harry noticed the problem too. He immediately turned his head and looked around. His gaze swept over the spear in the merman's hand, and a thought suddenly struck him:
Perhaps we could cut the rope with a spear!
He swam quickly toward a mermaid—a mermaid who was seven feet tall and had a long green beard that floated in the water.

Around her neck was a short necklace made of shark teeth, which gleamed with a cold, icy light.

However, when he gestured and asked to borrow its spear, the mermaid laughed and shook its head.

"We can't help."

The mermaid spoke in a hoarse, low voice.

Seeing this, Harry was filled with rage and his evil intentions were born.

"Bring it to you!"

He shouted—though it was still just a mumbled gurgling sound—while trying to snatch the spear from the mermaid's hand.

Unfortunately, he was not as strong as the mermaid.

With a slight effort, the opponent pulled the spear back.

Seeing Harry's disheveled appearance, the surrounding mermaids burst into laughter.

The laughter echoed in the water, sounding particularly jarring.

Harry gritted his teeth and had no choice but to give up on grabbing the spear, instead searching the bottom of the lake for usable tools.

Before long, his gaze fell on two rather sharp rocks.

The stone's surface was uneven and its edges were sharp, seemingly capable of cutting ropes.

He immediately swam over, picked up the stones, returned to the statue, and handed one of them to Sherlock.

Sherlock gave him an "OK" sign.

This made Harry feel somewhat relieved, as he was finally able to help.

Just as he was about to desperately chop at the ropes binding Cedric with the stone, Sherlock took the stone from his hand as well.

"Gulu (Sherlock)?"

Harry looked at Sherlock with surprise, not understanding what he was trying to do.

But the next moment, Sherlock drew his wand and gently tapped a stone.

The stone quickly turned into a small knife.

"Gurgle (That's awesome!)!"

At that moment, Harry even wished he could give Sherlock a hug.

That transformation technique was used perfectly!
Sherlock turned another stone into a knife, and the two of them immediately set to work, swiftly cutting the ropes binding Cedric.

Logically, they should have just taken Cedric and left, but Harry hesitated at that moment.

He looked at Fleur and Krum with some concern.

What about Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's students?

What are they dawdling about?

Why not hurry up?
Do you really want to let these two die here?

Thinking of this, he immediately pointed to Fleur and Krum, who were tied up, and began gesturing to Sherlock.

Sherlock immediately understood what Harry meant.

He wanted to rescue both of them as well.

All I can say is that Harry is incredibly kind.

However, when Harry returned to Krum and raised his knife to cut the ropes binding her, several strong hands immediately grabbed him.

There were six or seven mermaids.

They pulled Harry away from Krum, shaking the green-haired boy's head and laughing.

One of them even issued a direct warning:
"You can only take your own hostages, don't worry about the others..."

"But they will die!"

Harry was both angry and anxious, and couldn't help but retort, but his voice was still just a muffled "gurgling" sound.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Sherlock.

He knew very well that Sherlock was a kind man.

Even if Fleur and Krum were their opponents, he wouldn't stand by and watch them die.

(End of this chapter)