Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 581 Why Did You Provoke Sherlock?

Due to the organizer's irresponsible behavior, everyone was eager to know what had happened at the bottom of the lake after the second project ended.

Sherlock's habit is to say things only once.

Therefore, Harry and Cedric naturally became the focus of attention.

As Sherlock often said, Harry had a talent for summarizing and retelling.

So he had to explain to everyone again and again the role of the scuba, their battle with Greenlody at the bottom of the lake, and the final confrontation with the mermaid, which resulted in Cedric's rescue.

Cedric's story offers a different perspective—he encounters Dumbledore in Professor Sprout's office.

Dumbledore assured them that there was absolutely no danger and that they would wake up as soon as they came out of the water, and then used magic to hypnotize the hostages.

In any case, after this incident, the three champions of Hogwarts became even more popular.

Whether at the classroom door or outside the castle, you can always see young wizards crowding around for autographs.

The number of people even exceeded that of Krum and Furong at one point.

When Krum passed by and saw the lively scene, he could only shake his head helplessly, while Fleur gave them a friendly smile.

March has quietly arrived, and the weather has finally shed its winter chill and become a bit clearer.

But whenever everyone goes outside, the biting cold wind still howls by, making their hands and faces ache, as if their skin is about to crack from the cold.

Even owls, who are usually punctual in delivering mail, often deviate from their flight path due to strong winds, and are unable to deliver the mail to the recipient for a long time.

The sun was unusually warm on this weekend afternoon.

Everyone gathered again at the Three Brooms Bar.

Gemma smiled at Sherlock and Harry, her eyes full of amusement:
"Did you know that your names have already spread across the ocean? My colleagues in Romania have written to me asking if they can get your autographs."

Harry felt a little embarrassed by Gemma's teasing.

Sherlock remained calm, gently stroking his chin with his fingers: "If you can sell it for a high price, I wouldn't mind signing a few more."

Gemma and Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud when they heard this.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders trembling slightly, her eyes full of laughter, "Sherlock, you really are..."

After laughing, Gemma's smile faded, and she asked curiously, "There's still a long way to go before the last project. What are your plans for the future?"

“Let’s wait until we know the details of the project,” Sherlock said calmly. “Hopefully, this time we can be more grounded.”

The others all nodded in agreement.

The first project is in the air, the second project is underwater, and the third project should definitely be on land.

"Speaking of which, the third project shouldn't be like the second one, right?"

Ron suddenly frowned, his tone tinged with displeasure, "We can't see anything at all, we can only anxiously watch from up there, it's so boring!"

"It's not impossible."

Hermione sighed softly and slowly analyzed, "It seems that the organizers don't care about the audience's experience; they only care about whether the competition can continue..."

“That’s a bit too boring,” Ron muttered, his face full of disappointment.

"As long as safety can be guaranteed, that's fine." Cho Chang looked at Harry with a hint of worry in her eyes.

"It's fine."

Harry smiled at Cho Chang, his eyes full of confidence.

His confidence grew as he successfully gained a leading edge in two projects.

It really proves that saying—as long as I'm with Sherlock, I'm not afraid of anything!
After chatting for a while, the topic gradually shifted to Rita Skeeter.

Hermione suddenly tilted her head and said with some curiosity:

"Speaking of which, why didn't Rita Skeeter write another article this time?"
Before the three-way battle began, she wrote a lot of reports.

After the first project ended, he also wrote an article to hype it up.

Given her personality, she definitely wouldn't have let go of the second project...

Upon hearing Hermione's words, everyone nodded in agreement.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh:
"What, do you want her to write an eye-catching article?"
Just the fact that you kissed Sherlock several times by the Black Lake—who knows how she'll portray that in her writing!

Hermione's cheeks instantly turned bright red when Ginny suddenly brought this up.

I was so excited to see Sherlock return unharmed that I couldn't help but do that.

Looking back now, it was incredibly bold and shameful.

"That was not what I meant……"

Hermione quickly explained, her voice slightly weak, "I just find it strange; given her style, she shouldn't have missed this hot topic..."

Upon hearing Hermione's explanation, the group stopped teasing her and fell into deep thought.

Gemma looked at Sherlock and asked, on a whim, "Sherlock, you must know why, right?"

“Yes, I know,” Sherlock said casually.

Gemma winked at him: "You really know?"

"I really know."

Sherlock picked up his butterbeer, took a small sip, and then said quietly:

“After the second project, Miss Skeeter stopped writing altogether.”

To be precise, from now on, for a long time to come, she will not write anything again…

With a loud crash, Harry, in his shock, knocked over the cup on the table.

He didn't care at all that the butterbeer was spilled all over the floor.

He simply looked at Sherlock with an incredulous gaze, his voice trembling slightly:
"Sherlock, what...what did you do to her? You wouldn't..."

He dared not think any further, and all sorts of terrifying images flashed through his mind.

Seeing this, Cho Chang quickly stretched out his wand and said "Clean and fresh," and the table instantly became clean.

“My dear Harry, you don’t need to be so nervous.”

Seeing Harry's expression, Sherlock immediately understood what he was thinking.

He smiled slightly, and then said something that shocked everyone:
"Rita Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus."

"what?"

Everyone was listening intently to Sherlock's words, so when they heard his statement, they all showed expressions of shock.

Several seconds passed before everyone realized what was happening.

"An unregistered Animagus?"

Harry couldn't help but ask, "Is it like Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew?"

“Not bad,” Sherlock chuckled, looking at Gemma and Cho Chang. “Actually, you two were the ones who gave me the inspiration in the first place.”

"I?"

"I?"

This time, Gemma and Cho Chang were both stunned, and they even made the same gesture—pointing their fingers at themselves.

“Yes, it’s you.” Sherlock tapped his fingertips lightly on the table. “Do you remember what happened that night at the Christmas ball?”

Upon hearing Sherlock bring this up, Gemma couldn't help but recall the joyful times she had spent dancing with him.

Did the inspiration come from dancing with me?

A thought flashed through the girl's mind in an instant.

However, Sherlock's next words shattered her somewhat romantic fantasy:
“I think you should remember that night when you heard Hagrid talking to Ms. Maxim about his mother.”

Gemma and Qiu Zhang exchanged a glance, and the confusion in their eyes gradually faded.

Both girls were incredibly intelligent, and they almost immediately grasped the connection between the topic and the fact that "Rita Skeeter is an Animagus."

"Could it be..."

"That beetle!"

"Absolutely right, my friend!"

As Sherlock spoke, he took a clear glass bottle out of his bag.

The bottle contained a few dry twigs and yellowed leaves, and in the middle of them, a plump beetle was slowly crawling, looking somewhat listless.

“Oh my god—!”

The young wizards all crowded around.

Less than a second later, Hermione abruptly looked up and exclaimed in surprise:

"Sherlock, isn't this the glass bottle you brought with you when the second project ended?"

"Of course, it's not just that glass bottle—even this beetle was taken from your hair."

Sherlock chuckled and flicked the glass bottle lightly with his finger, producing a crisp "thump-thump" sound.

Next, his eyes shone brightly as he stared sharply at the beetle in the bottle:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce you to Rita Skeeter, a special correspondent for the Daily Prophet. She is the beetle in this glass bottle."

Everyone was stunned by Sherlock's words.

They stared blankly at the glass bottle, speechless for a moment.

After an even longer silence than before, everyone finally came to their senses.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Ron was the first to speak.

Harry brought the glass bottle to his eyes and examined it closely with Cho Chang.

Ginny chimed in, "Sherlock, you must be joking, right?"

Gemma, Hermione, and Luna didn't raise any questions; they simply stared quietly at the glass bottle.

Gemma and Hermione had complicated expressions, while Luna's gaze was full of curiosity.

Sherlock smiled slightly: "My dear friends, you might want to take a closer look. The markings around the beetle's antennae are exactly the same as the glasses she usually wears."

"That's really it!"

Harry, who was carefully observing the beetle, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

This also reminded him of some things.

The tabby cat that Professor McGonagall transformed into had the same markings around its eyes as the glasses she usually wore.

"Because she can turn into a beetle, she can fly around all year round, looking for material to make a big deal out of."

Qiu Zhang said as if suddenly realizing something, "After all, few people would suspect a beetle, so she can eavesdrop on other people's conversations and obtain all kinds of information silently."

"It is indeed a pretty good disguise—in the Muggle world, it would be practically flawless."

Sherlock took the glass bottle back from Harry's hand, his gray eyes fixed on the beetle inside, a hint of mockery in his voice:
"I warned you a long time ago, didn't I?"

Don't mess with my friends—but you clearly ignored me.

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, the beetle in the bottle seemed to be enraged.

It angrily buzzed through the glass, its body pounding against the bottle walls, trying to break free.

However, this is of no use.

The glass bottle was incredibly sturdy; its impact was futile.

“I put a simple spell on the bottle so that it could no longer transform.”

Sherlock shook the glass bottle in his hand and said in a calm tone:

"To be honest, if she hadn't voluntarily transformed into a beetle, it would have been much more troublesome to trap her like this."

"Sherlock, you are really... amazing!"

Harry stared intently at his older brother, his eyes filled with admiration.

As Sherlock just said, Rita Skeeter's transformation into a beetle to collect materials is practically undeniable in the Muggle world, and no one would doubt it.

But then again, even in the magical world, very few people would think of this!

Not only did Sherlock think of it, but he also took the opportunity to arrest her, which was truly unbelievable.

At this moment, his admiration for Sherlock was like a surging river, endless and boundless.

The others shared similar thoughts with Harry.

Sherlock Holmes, the great detective, truly lives up to his name.

Ron couldn't help but shake his head and mutter to himself:
"Skeet, Skeeter, why did you provoke Sherlock?"

Seeing his expression, everyone couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The surrounding area was suddenly filled with a happy atmosphere.

Without the distraction of Rita Skeeter's articles, campus life became much more enjoyable.

Almost all the teachers praised Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric for their excellent performance in the second project.

Charms teacher Flitwick was delighted that Sherlock and Harry had successfully used the Summoning Charm in both projects.

They also introduced the Bubble Head Spell used by the warriors of Beauxbatons.

Similarly, there is Professor Bubbaji, the Muggle Studies teacher.

They were highly praised for coming up with the idea of ​​using scuba gear to solve the problem of breathing underwater in the second project.

Not only that, she even borrowed the scuba gear from Sherlock and Harry and gave a thorough explanation of its function in class.

Herbalist Professor Sprout introduced a brand new and amazing plant – Gillbagh.

After ingestion, it can cause humans to grow gills on both sides of their cheeks and develop webbed fingers and toes, thus gaining the ability to breathe and swim underwater.

“If you had used gill sac grass back then, it would have been much faster than it is now!” Professor Sprout said.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Lupin once again led everyone through a review of Greenrody's lifestyle.

Almost all the teachers showed them kindness.

Except for that man.

(End of this chapter)