Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts

Hogwarts, underground chamber.

Dumbledore gazed deeply into the Mirror of Erised, his expression complex.

His eyes sometimes revealed a hint of tenderness and nostalgia, sometimes a touch of pain and entanglement, and sometimes regret and helplessness.

Standing beside him, Sherlock, upon witnessing this scene, immediately associated it with Dumbledore's attitude towards prophecies.

GOOGLE搜索TWKAN

He blurted out: "I can see that you have deep entanglements with a deceased acquaintance."

Dumbledore: √

After a moment of distraction, he scrutinized Sherlock, as if trying to ascertain whether the other party had truly used Legilimency on him.

The very thought struck him as absurd.

However, Sherlock was simply too astute!

He took a deep breath, evaded Sherlock's statement, and steered the conversation towards Harry:

"Sherlock, I once told you that Harry is the boy who lived——"

"And was personally marked by Voldemort, correct?"

Sherlock stared at Dumbledore, enunciating each word: "I don't understand why you have such a seemingly morbid obsession with this prophecy.

Hogwarts, and even the entire magical world, believes that you cherish every student in the school, even including the misguided Quirrell.

But in reality, you have a very ruthless side; to achieve your goals, you are willing to sacrifice many.

If necessary, you might even sacrifice yourself."

At this point, Sherlock suddenly smiled, "Voldemort is known as the Dark Lord; I think he's far inferior to you, the White Lord."

Hearing this, Dumbledore, who had been looking astonished, also smiled:

"I must admit, despite repeatedly raising my expectations of you, it is still far from enough. Now I am a little worried that you might go astray."

Sherlock's smile faded:

"So, you've experienced something similar?"

The smile on Dumbledore's face instantly stiffened.

Dumbledore could definitely be considered a veteran, having seen a great deal.

People often think that he can see through people's hearts.

In fact, that is just experience gained after too many vicissitudes.

However, he had never seen anything like being able to see through someone simply through observation, without using Legilimency.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of illusion, that when facing Sherlock, he had no secrets to speak of.

The longer he was with him, the more information was exposed.

Dumbledore could imagine that if Sherlock were an adult, someone like him would definitely not be liked by others.

Fortunately, Sherlock is currently only a 12-year-old boy, and the rejection from his peers is not yet so strong.

"It's Voldemort."

Dumbledore sighed, still telling Sherlock the truth.

Mainly because he felt that he really couldn't hide it any longer.

"I deeply regret not seeing through his true nature, which led to a disaster——

However, we'll talk about this later; let's go to the office first. I estimate Minerva and Severus will be arriving soon."

Just as Dumbledore said, Sherlock and he had just arrived at the Headmaster's office when McGonagall and Snape arrived.

Professor McGonagall, upon entering the office, immediately drew her wand and tapped it on the desk a few times, her gaze sweeping across the walls of the office:

"I'm afraid I must ask you all to leave for a moment; we have some things to discuss."

Some portraits left knowingly, while others mumbled, their movements somewhat sluggish.

Such as former Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black.

"It's always like this—always like this. Are we that much of an eyesore?"

"Hmm?"

Professor McGonagall gave him a look, and the former Headmaster sped away without another word.

Soon, only empty picture frames remained on the walls.

"Albus, now we can talk properly."

Professor McGonagall took the lead in sitting down. She used Transfiguration to create four cups, staring intently at Dumbledore:

"I need an explanation—why would you allow the Dark Lord to enter the school."

Faced with Professor McGonagall's series of actions that could be described as taking over the host's duties, Dumbledore not only did not object but instead revealed an approving look.

However, after hearing McGonagall's words, he calmly corrected her:

"My dear professor, someone as sensible as you should be able to call him by his real name, right?

All this Dark Lord nonsense is just rubbish—it's been twenty-two years, and I've been trying to persuade everyone to call him by his real name: Voldemort."

McGonagall shivered, and Snape, sitting beside her, also raised an eyebrow.

Sherlock, on the other hand, remained unmoved, appearing somewhat different.

As the only student among the four present, he was originally the most out of place.

At this time, Dumbledore waved his wand, filling his cup with lemonade, seemingly oblivious to this scene.

"If we continue to call the Dark Lord the Dark Lord, everything will be a mess. I see no reason to be afraid of calling Voldemort by his real name."

"I know you're not afraid; as everyone knows, you're different."

Professor McGonagall said, half annoyed and half praising, "The Dark Lord—oh, alright, Voldemort—the only person he fears is you."

"You flatter me too much," Dumbledore said calmly, "Voldemort possesses powers that I will never have."

"That's because you're too—oh—too noble, unwilling to use them."

"It seems you've said the same words before? What I mean is—the last time I blushed like this was the last time."

"Professor Minerva, I think meaningless flattery is unnecessary."

Snape suddenly spoke, saying coldly:

"The problem now is that our Headmaster, Mr. Albus Dumbledore, knowingly allowed Quirrell, a follower of the Dark Lord, into the school."

Snape was still relatively polite to Professor McGonagall, even using her first name in private.

Sherlock took all of this in.

Obviously, although McGonagall and Snape were both very dissatisfied with Dumbledore's decision to let Harry face Voldemort directly,

after the brief separation just now, there were subtle differences in their attitudes.

Snape remained stern and uncompromising.

Although McGonagall came on strong, compared to the protective mother lion in the underground chamber just now, she had changed a lot.

In addition, it was the first time Sherlock had heard Snape's name for Voldemort: the Dark Lord.

This was a different title from "the mysterious man."

Implied respect.

Is it pure awe of the strong?

Or are there other reasons?

In any case?

Interesting!

It seems that Snape has more secrets than originally expected.

The next moment, McGonagall said, "Albus, I trust you, always have, so please tell me your reasons!"

This sentence was an even more obvious alignment, and her gaze seemed to be inadvertently looking at Snape. This time, Snape did not speak, but turned his head to the side.

Coincidentally, he met Sherlock's teasing gaze.

Sherlock: ←_←

Snape: (一一)

Fortunately, Dumbledore finally spoke at this time, interrupting this awkwardness:

"When Voldemort was at Hogwarts, he was a very outstanding student. He was promoted to the seventh grade with the best grades in every exam——

At that time, he seemed polite and quiet, eager for knowledge, and almost everyone had a very good impression of him."

"Does that include you, sir?"

Sherlock suddenly interjected.

McGonagall and Snape did not blame Sherlock for interrupting Dumbledore but also looked at him.

Dumbledore was well aware of what the three were thinking and said with a wry smile:

"I have to take a lot of responsibility for this—before Voldemort entered Hogwarts, I found him, who was only 11 years old at the time, in an orphanage and told him that he could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Sherlock revealed a look of understanding, and his deduction was indeed correct: Voldemort was a psychopath who lacked affection from childhood.

"So, not only this time, but you also brought him to Hogwarts back then?"

It was a second time around.

Dumbledore maintained his wry smile: "Yes, but he refused my accompaniment, chose to go to Diagon Alley alone, and was sorted into Slytherin at the Sorting Ceremony.

His performance at school was just as I said back then, almost impeccable.

After graduation, he applied to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher——

Hearing this, Snape's eyelids jumped.

"However, the then Headmaster Armando Dippet declined him because he was young and inexperienced."

"As far as I know, Headmaster Dippet actually favored the Dark Lord very much," Snape said coldly, "He shouldn't have refused."

Sherlock immediately said, "So this matter was actually the result of Mr. Dumbledore's influence?"

Dumbledore nodded, "You're right, Sherlock.

In fact, Armando suggested that he come back in two years, but he didn't reappear until ten years later. Ten years later, I, as Headmaster, refused him again.

Since then, the Defense Against the Dark Arts course has been cursed, and no professor's tenure has lasted more than a year.

Speaking of which—it looks like we'll have to recruit a new professor again next year.

Speaking of this, Dumbledore's voice became somewhat sad.

"This doesn't seem to have anything to do with you letting Quirrell into the school?"

Snape said coldly.

Dumbledore slowly opened his mouth:

"First, even after Quirrell entered Hogwarts, I wasn't sure about the relationship between Voldemort and Quirrell.

Letting Quirrell into Hogwarts, on the contrary, allowed me to observe his every move and better understand Voldemort's plans and actions.

Second, after the incident in the Forbidden Forest, our Mr. Sherlock, although he made the correct deduction, still didn't have substantial evidence.

So I decided to make a pretense of leaving temporarily, to lure the snake out of its hole, testing Harry while also exposing Voldemort and Quirrell.

Third, I have always believed that even if Quirrell is really influenced or controlled by Voldemort, he can be saved."

Speaking of this, he gave Snape a deep look.

Being looked at by Dumbledore with such a loving gaze, Snape only felt uncomfortable all over.

Of course, he understood the other party's subtext.

No one understands turning back to shore better than him.

But then again, is Dumbledore looking down on people a bit, even using Quirrell to compare himself to?

I, Severus, am a good man; how can I be on par with such a person?