Gemma knew that Flint had been beaten up by Sherlock.
Sherlock knew that Gemma knew he had beaten up Flint.
Gemma knew that Sherlock knew she knew Sherlock had beaten up Flint.
Yet she had to pretend she didn't know that Sherlock knew she knew Sherlock had beaten up Flint.
Sherlock and Gemma looked at each other for a moment, both understanding the unspoken truth.
Just as Gemma was about to speak, they suddenly heard a scream.
"No—!"
Both Sherlock and Gemma froze, then spoke simultaneously.
"Argus!"
"Filch!"
After speaking, they looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
Sherlock was surprised that Gemma could identify Filch just from his voice.
Gemma was surprised by Sherlock's way of addressing Filch.
Filch's full name was Argus Filch.
But not many people knew this.
As someone who consistently ranked in the top three of Hogwarts' "most unpopular" list, most people only knew him as the school caretaker Filch.
As a prefect, Gemma did know Filch's first name was Argus, but she would never address him that way.
Yet Sherlock had done exactly that.
"Interesting."
Her gaze toward Sherlock became increasingly intriguing, and she smiled at him.
"I'm going to check it out. Are you coming?"
"Let's go!"
Without any hesitation, they made their decision.
As they walked, they discussed their thoughts on the matter.
"The sound came from upstairs?"
"To be precise, the third floor."
"How could you tell?"
"Experience."
"That's like saying nothing... Oh, there are so many people over there."
The two moved quickly, and by the time they finished talking, they had turned a corner and reached a corridor on the third floor.
Based on Sherlock's experience, this place was usually empty.
However, at this moment, it was packed with people.
With just one glance, Sherlock realized these students were in a state of having just left the feast, well-fed and satisfied.
But now they were clearly attracted by some strange sight in the middle of the corridor, all standing on tiptoes and pushing forward.
"Let's go in!"
Seeing this scene, Sherlock made an immediate decision.
Gemma nodded.
This was when Gemma's prefect status came in handy.
With her help, Sherlock easily made it to the middle of the corridor.
Sherlock took just one look and immediately became excited.
Because this was clearly—the crime scene!
Harry, Hermione, and Neville stood alone in the middle of the corridor, isolated and conspicuous.
The sides of the corridor were already packed with students who had just left the Halloween feast, and the noise was constant.
Sherlock's gaze swept forward and saw a large puddle of water on the ground, gleaming coldly in the dim light.
Most eye-catching was the wall, where something seemed to be glinting.
Sherlock took a few more steps forward.
Between two windows, about a foot from the ground, a line of writing was smeared.
Under the flickering torchlight, it gave off an eerie glow.
THE CHAMBER HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
Sherlock raised an eyebrow and continued looking down.
When he saw the true nature of that dark shadow, Sherlock understood why he had heard Filch's voice earlier.
Because it was Mrs. Norris.
However, her condition was terrible.
Her tail hung from a torch bracket, her body rigid as a board, eyes wide and staring straight ahead with an indescribably eerie appearance.
Although this seemed like a long observation, Sherlock had taken in everything in less than three seconds.
Of course, this was just the beginning.
More clues would require further investigation...
"You! It was you! You killed my cat!"
At that moment, Filch screamed and rushed toward Harry.
"You killed it! I'll kill you! I'll—"
Seeing this, Sherlock didn't hesitate. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Filch's shoulder.
Filch, who had been charging forward with fierce momentum, was forced to stop.
To him, Sherlock's hand was incredibly strong—so strong!
Just one hand was enough to prevent him from moving.
"Calm down, Argus."
"Sherlock!"
When Sherlock appeared like a savior, the eyes of the previously helpless Harry, Hermione, and Neville immediately lit up.
Only they knew how wronged they had felt just moments before.
First, they had attended a thoroughly awful ghost death-day party.
If they hadn't listened to advice and brought food and drink, their situation would have been even worse than now.
At least they weren't starving.
But they never expected to encounter this situation on their way back.
Due to the sudden nature of the incident, their classmates' misunderstanding and Filch's frantic accusations left them helpless and unable to defend themselves.
At this critical moment, Sherlock appeared like a divine intervention, immediately stopping the crazed Filch. The impact on the three was immense.
Especially Hermione, being a girl, found her eyes unconsciously moistening.
Filch, now restrained, turned his head and was shocked when he saw who had stopped him.
"Sherlock, it's you!"
"It's me."
Sherlock said calmly. "Argus, if you want to know who really did this, your best choice right now is to stand still and do nothing."
"Need you ask? It was obviously them!"
Filch glared viciously at the trio.
"I don't think so."
"Of course you'd say that, because they're your friends..."
"Argus—!"
Sherlock suddenly interrupted Filch sternly.
"If you want to let the real culprit, get away with it, then continue making a scene like this!"
All the students present looked at Sherlock in surprise.
Even the older students had never shown such an attitude toward Filch, the caretaker.
What Sherlock was doing now was tantamount to a rebuke.
You had to remember, this was Filch!
The man countless students hated but could do nothing about.
Sherlock actually dared to directly criticize him in public?
And this was when his Mrs. Norris had already been harmed?
He was incredibly brave!
The young wizards could already imagine Filch exploding with rage the next moment.
But what they never expected was that after hearing Sherlock's words, Filch paused, then lowered his head.
After a moment, he raised his head and looked at Sherlock with hope in his eyes.
"Mr. Sherlock, please promise me you'll help me find the culprit, okay?"
He had actually calmed down!
This was unbelievable!
"That was always my intention."
Sherlock smiled slightly, released his hand from Filch's shoulder, then turned to Gemma, who had approached.
"Gemma, please organize the others to protect the scene. Keep them away from here temporarily. I'll be finished soon."
"Don't worry, leave it to me."
Sherlock's sudden action of restraining Filch had completely surprised Gemma.
But now she had recovered and stood beside Sherlock.
After hearing Sherlock's words, her gaze swept through the crowd and immediately locked onto Percy and Penelope.
Not many people knew about these two dating.
Gemma happened to be one of them.
Although she appeared to be at odds with Penelope on the surface, and they often clashed when they met,
In reality, their relationship was more like friendly rivals.
The "enemy" here didn't mean actual enemies, but healthy competition.
Because of this, Penelope had told Gemma about her relationship with Percy shortly after it began.
The three young wizards Filch suspected happened to be Gryffindor students, so Percy, as Gryffindor prefect, was also an ideal choice for handling this matter.
Gemma, Percy, and Penelope—three prefects working together—managed to control the young wizards trying to push toward the center.
Everyone watched as Sherlock began examining the scene.
They watched curiously as Sherlock walked back and forth on the ground.
They saw him sometimes stop in place, sometimes crouch down, sometimes lean close to the wall, sometimes gaze thoughtfully.
However, his attention was mainly focused on the line of writing on the wall and the deceased Mrs. Norris.
Only when observing these two things did he take out a magical magnifying glass and measuring tape from his person.
When they saw his hands touching Mrs. Norris all over, Filch briefly considered stopping him.
But thinking of something, he ultimately restrained himself.
Sherlock's investigation work was shorter than expected.
In less than five minutes, he stopped.
"Alright, there's nothing more to see at the scene. Now I need to ask the parties involved some questions."
Sherlock looked at Filch. "Argus, the good news is—she's not dead."
"Wh-what?"
Filch looked at Sherlock in surprise.
Not just him—everyone present looked at Sherlock with shock.
Especially the trio who had been the primary suspects.
Several students in the crowd wanted to question this, but under the stern gazes of Gemma, Percy, Penelope, and others, they held back.
"I said Mrs. Norris is still alive."
Sherlock calmly repeated.
Honestly, if circumstances hadn't prevented it, he would have liked to dissect Mrs. Norris to see what was inside.
The internal body structure of an animal after petrification would surely be very interesting.
Filch was obviously very excited. He looked at Sherlock, his lips trembling constantly.
"Sherlock, are... are you certain?"
"Although I don't know what caused Mrs. Norris to look like this, her vital signs still exist—I'm very certain of this."
After saying this, Sherlock looked toward the crowd. "Dear teachers, could you provide me with an office?"
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