Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 615 Who says you can't eliminate without weapons?
Hearing Sherlock and Cedric's complaints about Versailles, Harry could only offer a wry smile.

He knew in his heart that Sherlock had no intention of showing off—even though it might seem like he was.

Because that's truly what Sherlock thought—the third project was still a bit too easy for him.

But he didn't expect Cedric to agree.

He thought Cedric was a sunny and cheerful young man!
You really misjudged him!

Harry's own feeling was that the "little trouble" Sherlock and Cedric were talking about was anything but simple.

Indeed, their experience in the maze was less stressful compared to the previous two projects, especially the one involving the fire dragon.

The first project was a direct confrontation with a fire dragon, and looking back now, it really was a near-death experience.

But this does not mean that the experience just now was easy.

For example, those Billywig worms are incredibly fast.

If Sherlock hadn't predicted their flight path in advance and sealed off an area with an ice spell, it would have been different.

Cedric used a barrier spell to create a speed bump, and he almost got hit and floated away.

Thinking of this, Harry shook his hand with lingering fear, as if he could still feel the air currents from the flapping wings of those little blue insects.

He murmured:
"I never want to encounter these things again—"

“At least he didn’t let the giant spider in,” Sherlock patted Harry on the shoulder and chuckled. “Just imagine, what if the descendants of Aragog were weaving their webs behind this hedge…”

"Please, please stop talking!"

Harry couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the scene Sherlock described.

He looked at Sherlock with a resentful expression—although his fear of spiders wasn't like Ron's, he absolutely didn't want to provoke a spider as large as the little elephant.

“Sherlock’s just kidding, Harry—you know that’s impossible…”

Seeing Harry's expression, Cedric couldn't help but laugh:
"The eight-eyed giant spider is a magical creature of the ××××× level!"

They're nothing like the Wicked Bird or the Billywig Bug; even Hagrid would have a hard time finding them.

Hearing Cedric's confident statement, Sherlock and Harry exchanged a glance and then tacitly stopped discussing the topic.

Sometimes, ignorance is a kind of happiness.

However, who would have thought that a third-grade student could create such a massive colony of eight-eyed giant spiders?

"By the way, who is Aragog?"

As Cedric was speaking, he noticed that Sherlock and Harry hadn't responded, and suddenly realized the problem, so he asked.

Sherlock smiled without saying a word.

Harry sighed. "Believe me, Cedric, you don't want to know—wait, what's that?"

As is well known, Harry's eyesight has never been very good, as he wears glasses.

However, his dynamic vision is better than that of some people who don't wear glasses.

So at that moment, Harry, who was talking to Cedric, saw a huge thing outside the hedge on the left, moving rapidly toward them on a forking road.

Cedric followed Harry's gaze.

As an excellent seeker, his dynamic vision is also quite good.

When he clearly saw what the rapidly moving thing looked like, he couldn't help but gasp and exclaim in shock:

Merlin's beard!

It's a spider!
Hagrid really let the giant spider in?!

As Cedric said.

Spiders were rapidly approaching them.

An enormous spider.

They were discussing the giant eight-eyed spider when this thing popped up.

At that moment, Cedric felt an overwhelming sense of agreement with Harry's words!
Screw Professor Hagrid!

This guy is absolutely insane!
I hate you!
"calm!"

Just as Harry and Cedric were beginning to question their existence, Sherlock's timely reminder rang in their ears:

"It's a spider, but not an eight-eyed giant spider."

As he spoke, he raised his wand and cast a spell directly at the charging spider:
"The ground is frozen and the sky is cold!"

The freezing spell immediately struck the spider's dark, hairy body.

However, due to the spider's enormous size, the freezing spell could not reach its entire body.

So even if it was hit by the spell, it only slowed down its speed slightly, but did not completely stop its actions.

Fortunately, Sherlock's teammates weren't just for show, and none of them disconnected.

Seeing that the Freezing Charm had taken effect, Harry and Cedric seized the opportunity and attacked together:

"Collapse!"

"There are many obstacles!"

The Stunning Curse and the Barrier Curse finally worked on this big guy.

Its movements visibly slowed down.

Seeing this, Harry and Cedric didn't hesitate and went all out to fight the giant spider with their magic.

This was the toughest battle they had encountered since entering the maze.

This spider is enormous, possesses abundant magic, is fiercely combative, and is difficult to deal with.

However, it is not without its weaknesses.

Because of its large size, it doesn't require the same level of precision when using magic attacks as the Billywig Bug.

Furthermore, the three of them had already gained the initiative from the start, applying a slowing debuff to it, so in a way, this thing became a sitting duck.

Harry and Cedric also showed their ruthless side, specifically targeting the spider's lower abdomen with a spell.

Under the combined assault of the two, the massive spider held on for a long time, but finally began to sway precariously.

Harry and Cedric, seeing an opportunity, increased their output frequency.

Finally, seeing that the other party could no longer pose a threat to him, Harry noticed that the other party seemed to be trying to raise the sharp pincers, and a plan suddenly came to mind.

"Except your weapons!"

"what?"

Even amidst the intense and fierce battle, Cedric couldn't help but look at Harry in surprise, thinking to himself, "Dude, you must be mistaken."
The opponent has no weapons, so why would you use a disarming spell?
Without weapons, how can I eliminate your weapons?

To everyone's surprise, Harry's spell actually had an unexpected effect:
The giant spider kept using its body to withstand the spells cast by Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric.

It is patient; it is waiting for an opportunity.

However, due to interference from freezing spells, obstruction spells, and stun spells, its attack animation is constantly prolonged.

Just as it finally got ready and managed to lift its pincers with great difficulty after a series of incantations.

Harry's disarming charm worked.

Its raised pincers suddenly drooped weakly.

Like the last straw that broke the camel's back—after lowering its pincers, the spider itself could not hold on any longer and collapsed to the side with a thud, crushing a section of the hedge, its hairy long legs sprawling haphazardly on the ground.

Harry and Cedric breathed a sigh of relief once again.

“We used at least ten Stunning Charms…”

Cedric carefully examined the spider and couldn't help but say, "This guy's magic is stronger than I imagined." "That's because of its enormous size and abundant magic."

Although the outer skin cannot directly deflect the curse like the burrowing snail, it still plays a certain role in counteracting it.

Only those spells that struck its abdomen were truly effective.

As Sherlock spoke, he walked towards the spider, crouched down, and examined it closely:
"Four pairs of compound eyes... um... hairy... the pincers are very sharp."

The secretions are toxic, but not fatal; it's definitely not an eight-eyed giant spider..."

Harry and Cedric were immediately stunned.

The main problem was that Sherlock's actions were so outrageous that the two of them were unable to react for a while and just stared blankly for quite some time.

"Sherlock, what are you doing?"
Harry was the first to come to his senses, rushing over and grabbing Sherlock's arm to pull him back.

Cedric realized what was happening and followed Harry forward, grabbing Sherlock's other arm.

"Merlin's beard, come back quickly!"

With both of them pulling together, Sherlock stopped struggling and let them pull him back.

“Are you crazy? What if it wakes up?” Harry couldn’t help but shout.

“Impossible,” Sherlock said firmly. “With so many stun spells, it couldn’t possibly wake up so quickly.”

"I already said it's just in case!"

"In a single experiment, we can usually treat low-probability events as unlikely to occur, and besides—"

Noticing his friend's anxious expression, Sherlock smiled slightly:
"Even if it still has some strength left, I have ways to deal with it."

"you……"

"Sherlock, this is too risky."

Cedric said sternly, "Why choose a time like this when you can study spiders?"

"Because I need to be sure about one thing."

"What's so important?" Harry asked irritably.

"We are not far from the finish line."

Sherlock's gaze swept over the direction where the spider had fallen, especially the gap in the hedge that its massive body had crushed, and the fresh marks on the ground left by its thick, segmented limbs.

He spread his hands and slowly explained:
"Judging from our experiences along the way, the obstacles and difficulties we encountered gradually increased."

This is very much in line with Hagrid's habits; he saves the cutest for last.

Upon hearing Sherlock utter the word "cute," Harry and Cedric couldn't help but look towards the large spider on the ground.

A massive body, eight gleaming black eyes, incredibly sharp pincers, and venom within its body…

This is so cute!

"Furthermore, based on the spider's direction of movement, speed, and the composition of the hedge debris and soil clinging to it, it should be on patrol."

This means that the central area is in the direction it came from, and it is likely very close to us.

The brief path it created by overturning the hedges, and the traces it left behind, are our most direct signposts to the center.

I want to choose this path with the least interference and the highest efficiency.

Harry took a deep breath. "Even so, what you just did was far too risky."

"Dear friend, thank you for your concern. I promise it won't happen again next time."

Harry opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything.

He knows Sherlock all too well.

This person's adventurous spirit can sometimes be described as crazy.

This isn't the first or second time something like this has happened.

Whenever faced with similar situations, Shylock's attitude towards others' advice was to humbly accept it but never change his ways.

Cedric didn't know Sherlock and thought Harry had actually convinced him.

He looked in the direction Sherlock was pointing.

The passage appeared even more profound and unfathomable in the afterglow of the incantations.

But Sherlock's analysis was like a veil breaking through the fog, giving him a glimmer of hope in an instant, and even his previous worries vanished:

"Great! What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

This time, Cedric no longer needed to cautiously lead the way and test the waters.

Without further hesitation, the three quickly stepped over the unconscious giant spider. Harry and Cedric carefully avoided its hairy legs and stepped into the passage it had come from.

Just as Sherlock deduced, the path they had chosen seemed remarkably smooth.

The hedges, seemingly ravaged by spiders, had not fully recovered their protective function.

The passageway was much straighter, and even the frequent forks that had appeared before had disappeared.

Because of the significant increase in speed brought about by a clear goal, even the tense atmosphere dissipated considerably.

Cedric couldn't help but ask, "Harry, how did you come up with the idea of ​​using the Disarming Charm?"

“I don’t know either,” Harry said honestly, “but when I saw it raise its pincers, I instinctively…”

"I didn't expect the disarming spell to actually work."

Cedric remarked with a sigh, but even while talking to Harry, he remained vigilant.

He carefully surveyed his surroundings, ready to deal with any new threats that might emerge from the gaps in the hedge.

However, apart from the rustling of the hedges in the evening breeze and the hurried footsteps and voices of the people themselves, the passageway was deathly silent.

Harry appeared to be communicating with Cedric, but his little heart was pounding excitedly in his chest.

Three Strong Cup!
The finish line is in sight!

Hogwarts' victory!
Escape this dangerous maze!

These thoughts intertwined and swirled in his mind.

He couldn't help but glance at Sherlock, who was walking briskly beside him.

The latter's expression remained calm throughout.

As expected of Sherlock!

This made Harry admire him even more.

Including the battle with the giant spider just now, Sherlock didn't take action very frequently in the encounters along the way.

In contrast, he and Cedric's actions were always intense, as if they wanted to use up all the spells they knew at once.

But upon closer examination, every move Sherlock made was crucial.

On several occasions, without Sherlock's perfectly timed intervention, they would never have been able to fight their way here unscathed.

"If only the battle against Voldemort could be like this today..."

Just as Harry was thinking this, Cedric, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped.

Not only that, he also quickly placed his arm in front of Harry and Sherlock, making a stop gesture.

"what happened?"

Harry immediately lowered his voice and asked, his wand instantly pointing straight ahead, his alertness at its peak.

Sherlock stopped and looked ahead at the passage, following the light emitted by his wand.

(End of this chapter)