Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 582 Completely Unprepared
"You've become the center of media attention, which seems to have made your already careless head even more inflated, Potter—Gryffindor minus ten points."

“Miss Granger, I must warn you, no whispering in my class—ten points deducted from Gryffindor.”

“Mr. Holmes, you probably assume that the entire wizarding world is amazed by your brilliant ideas, but I don’t care about that—Gryffindor, deduct ten points.”

"Mr. Weasley..."

“Mr. Longbottom…”

The Potions classroom was filled with a pungent smell of potions. The copper cauldron bubbled and steamed over the flames, and green smoke swirled in the air, making the entire classroom somewhat dim.

Professor Severus Snape, dressed in his signature black robe, moved like a bat among the desks.

Those cold, black eyes scanned each student like a hawk's.

Without any warning or hesitation.

In just one class period, the professor managed to find excuses to deduct more than fifty points from Gryffindor.

Sherlock remained unperturbed and continued to maintain his leisurely demeanor.

It was as if Snape wasn't deducting points from Gryffindor, but rather points that had nothing to do with him.

However, Harry, Hermione, and others who had points deducted didn't have such a good attitude.

Harry was furious, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

However, he forcibly suppressed his strong feelings.

Because he knew Snape was trying to provoke and anger him.

Snape had done this before.

If they fall into the trap, then Gryffindor will become Gryffindor for good.

Hermione also bit her lip tightly, her brows furrowed.

As for Ron and Neville, they looked utterly dejected, like quails.

The other party is a teacher, so it wouldn't be too difficult for them to find fault with you.

Even the smallest mistake can become a reason for him to lose points.

The only one who could possibly stop him, Sherlock, happens to be indifferent to the matter, which is quite a headache.

Fortunately, someone provided an assist at this crucial moment.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

A series of rapid knocks came from outside the classroom, loud and frequent, breaking the oppressive atmosphere inside.

"This person seems to be very troubled."

Sherlock smiled slightly, turned his gaze toward the classroom door, and spoke with great certainty.

"How can you know he's troubled if you haven't even seen him?"

Ron asked with a puzzled look, not understanding how Sherlock could judge the other person's mood from the sound of knocking.

Other students nearby who heard Sherlock's words also looked at him curiously.

"Knock four times when knocking on the door—two knocks are enough for an ordinary person, three at most."

Sherlock patiently explained, while gently tapping the table with his fingers to mimic the rhythm of knocking on a door.

Hermione turned her head sharply, a look of realization flashing in her eyes.

This scene reminded her of three years ago, when Sherlock and Hannah Abbott had the same conversation.

Sherlock also deduced that Hannah was troubled from the knocking.

And indeed, that was the case—Hannah's father had lost an important document and had come to Sherlock for help.

"Come in."

Just as Sherlock and Ron were talking, Snape spoke in his usual cold voice, with a hint of impatience in his tone.

Clearly, the sudden knocking interrupted his plan to deduct points, and he was very annoyed.

Snape's feelings for Harry Potter were very complicated.

On one hand, Harry was the woman he loved most in his life, the boy he would protect with his life.

Despite numerous claims that Harry has eyes identical to Lily's.

But it is true.

Whenever Snape saw Harry's eyes, he couldn't help but think of Lily.

On the other hand, Harry is also the child of Lily and the man she hates most—except for his eyes, he looks exactly like James.

It was this very contradiction that led him to devote all his energy to protecting Harry when Harry's life was threatened.

But during relatively peaceful times, he found fault with Harry in various ways.

In particular, Harry's current prominence in his second project is hard not to remind him of James Potter's triumphant days on the Quidditch pitch.

This is the real reason why he nitpicked and deducted points from me all day.

But this rhythm was suddenly interrupted.

The door was pushed open, and all the students in the class turned to look at it at the same time, wanting to know who was interrupting the Potions class at this time.

Professor Karkaroff walked in and strode quickly toward Snape's lectern as soon as he entered.

The moment they saw him, the students who had just heard Sherlock's analysis all looked at him with admiration.

Karkarov was twirling his goatee back and forth with his fingers, his movements so rapid that he looked anxious and agitated.

Clearly, he was indeed facing some troubles.

His subsequent interactions with Snape further proved this point.

"We need to talk."

Karkaroff had just walked up to Snape when he abruptly said this.

He seemed not to want anyone to hear what he was saying, so his lips barely moved, like a poor ventriloquist.

However, this is of no use.

As long as your eyesight and hearing aren't severely impaired, you should be able to understand what he's saying.

Snape frowned and lowered his voice: "get out of class dismissed. I'll talk to you after class..."

He clearly didn't want to deal with personal matters in class, much less let the students hear their conversation.

However, before he could finish speaking, Karkarov interrupted him:

“I want to talk now, while you can’t slip away, Severus—you’ve been avoiding me all this time.”

His gaze was fixed on Snape, his eyes filled with stubbornness, clearly indicating that he did not intend to wait until the end of get out of class as Snape had suggested.

I said—we'll talk about it after class.

Snape's voice suddenly turned stern, clearly displeased that Karkaroff had disrupted his class.

Seeing that Snape was angry, Karkaroff suddenly became less assertive than before, and instead became somewhat flustered.

Even so, he did not leave the classroom, but stood next to the podium, staring intently at Snape, looking as if he was unwilling to give up.

For the remainder of Potions class, Karkaroff lingered behind Snape's podium.

He seemed determined not to let Snape slip away after class.

"Sherlock, look at this..."

"interesting."

Sherlock took in the whole scene, then turned to Harry and said:
"You can go ahead after class, don't wait for me."

Harry understood immediately.

Sherlock intended to listen to the conversation between Snape and Karkaroff.

"Sherlock, be careful," Hermione said with some concern.

If Snape finds out, Sherlock is definitely in deep trouble.

"Don't worry, they won't find out." Karkaroff's arrival ultimately affected Snape.

For the remainder of Potions class, he had no interest in finding fault with Gryffindor and deducting points from them.

As soon as the bell rang, the whole class noisily headed towards the door, eager to leave the Potions classroom.

It's clear that even Slytherin students aren't very keen on taking this course.

After all, Snape was in a really bad mood today.

"What could be so urgent?"

Snape watched the last student leave the classroom before lowering his voice to ask Karkaroff.

"look."

As Karkaroff spoke, he lifted the left sleeve of his robe to show Snape his forearm.

Sherlock's eyes lit up at the sight.

"How about it?"

"Do you see that? It's never been so obvious since—" Karkaroff said eagerly.

"Hide quickly!"

Before Karkaroff could finish speaking, Snape interrupted him.

He said fiercely, "Do you think you can just show this off like that? Did a troll knock your brain out of you?!"

“Of course I know—” Karkaroff said anxiously, “but you must have noticed—”

"We'll talk later, Karkarov!"

Snape interrupted him again, speaking sharply.

After saying that, he turned around and strode out of the classroom.

Seeing Snape leave, Karkaroff had no intention of giving up and quickly chased after him.

Upon seeing this, Sherlock naturally followed without hesitation.

“Severus, you should understand what this means, he—”

"I said we'd talk about this later!"

Snape strode across the corridor like a bat, giving Karkaroff no chance to speak.

As more and more students gathered around, Karkarov had no choice but to stop, his expression a mixture of worry and annoyance.

As soon as Sherlock returned to the Gryffindor common room, his three friends Harry, Hermione, and Ron immediately surrounded him.

The three men's eyes gleamed with excitement; they had clearly been waiting for him for a long time.

"What's going on, Sherlock?" Ron, the impatient one, asked first.

Sherlock didn't waste any time and immediately recounted everything he had seen.

This includes Karkaroff rolling up his sleeves, Snape telling him to hide, and the conversation between the two.

"I don't know."

Ron touched his nose. "What are they talking about?"

Sherlock looked at Harry, who slowly said, "I think they're talking about Voldemort."

"hiss--"

Ron gasped, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

“Very accurate, dear Harry,” Sherlock said approvingly. “Gemma and Cho had already overheard Snape and Karkaroff’s conversation on the night of the Christmas Ball.”

Hermione said with concern as she pondered, "So, Voldemort's power is really getting stronger and stronger?"

"It's obvious."

Sherlock lifted the left sleeve of his robe. "I think you understand what this gesture means."

Hermione felt a chill run down her spine upon seeing this.

"Dark Mark!"

Ever since this symbol appeared in the Quidditch world, Hermione has put in a lot of effort to research it.

So when Sherlock mentioned this, I immediately understood.

However, Harry and Ron were unaware of this.

Both of them looked surprised.

"What did you say?"

"Professor Lupin said that Karkaroff was once a Death Eater."

Sherlock continued in a calm tone, "Every Death Eater has the Dark Mark on their arm."

He made that gesture toward Snape so that the other man would see his Dark Mark.

Combined with his conversation with Snape, the truth is already quite clear.

Since the beginning of this year, the Dark Mark on Karkaroff's arm has become increasingly prominent.

For a Death Eater, this means only one thing—

When Hermione saw Sherlock looking at her, she immediately said:

"Voldemort's power is growing stronger and stronger."

Ron couldn't help but tremble again: "I said... could you please stop mentioning that name..."

"Sherlock, do you also feel that Voldemort's power is constantly increasing?"

“Dear Harry, haven’t we discussed this many times already?”
"From the moment that Voldemort ally in your dream left the Albanian forest and arrived at Riddle Manor, this was an inevitable event."

"I want to know why his power keeps increasing?"

Hermione, I think you might have overlooked a fact:
Even if a powerful wizard like Voldemort suffers soul-deep damage, his power will eventually recover as long as he lives.

Therefore, it now appears that Professor Trelawney's prediction was an inevitable event.

As long as he isn't completely eradicated, Voldemort will eventually return.

"But didn't you already severely injure him back in first grade?"

"That's right, this precisely demonstrates that Voldemort's power is constantly increasing."

"I don't know."

"I also do not understand."

"When we were in first grade, Voldemort still had to stick to Quirrell's head and share a body with him."

But in Harry's dream last summer, he already had his own body, even if it wasn't complete—he needed someone to help him turn the chair.

At this point in the conversation, Sherlock's three friends fell silent.

Harry and Hermione were thinking.

Ron was simply scared.

He barely heard a word of their conversation.

At that moment, his entire mind was buzzing, completely filled with "Lord Voldemort".

He looked at his three best friends with a pitiful gaze, feeling utterly wronged.

People's joys and sorrows are not shared; I only find their noise bothersome.

Regardless of what Ron thought, to Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione, it was just a normal discussion.

Neither Sherlock nor Hermione would change their tune or avoid the name "Voldemort" just to appease Ron.

Kind-hearted Harry used to do that.

However, ever since Sherlock and Dumbledore said that "the fear of the name of a thing intensifies the fear of the thing itself," he never again referred to "Lord Voldemort" as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-Know-Who."

(End of this chapter)