"That's enough, Sherlock."
As Dumbledore waved his wand, Peter Pettigrew immediately closed his eyes and fell unconscious.
Obviously, he wasn't going to let Sherlock continue questioning.
Enough was enough. If this continued, Snape's entire past would be exposed.
People under Veritaserum don't lie, that was correct.
But if the person only had a partial understanding of the truth, then what he said would only be the truth as he understood it.
The matter concerning Snape was top secret, especially at this sensitive time when Voldemort might return at any moment. Dumbledore had to be more cautious.
Thinking this, he looked at Sherlock somewhat helplessly.
This young man was indeed formidable. With only fragments of clues, he'd parted layers of fog and found the truth that had been hidden for twelve years.
But he also wasn't making things easy for him.
'If only Harry had this kind of wisdom.'
Seeing Snape's eyes nearly shooting curses, Dumbledore took a deep breath and came up with a response.
"Sherlock, I also have a few questions I'd like to ask you. Can you answer them?"
"Without question, Headmaster." Sherlock looked at everyone and showed a satisfied smile. "This case that has troubled us for some time has finally come to an end. Now, I welcome anyone to ask any questions. I will not refuse to answer."
Seeing Sherlock adopt the manner of answering questions, Dumbledore looked at the other three professors and couldn't help but smile.
'Who exactly is the teacher here, and who is the student?'
However, he was broad-minded and didn't mind Sherlock's attitude, and immediately asked his question.
"Although the facts have proven your reasoning correct, I'd very much like to know how you figured out that this rat was Peter Pettigrew.
Relying solely on Peter's missing finger and that Sneakoscope seems rather unsubstantial."
"Of course it's not just those things."
Sherlock said leisurely, "I once told my good friend Harry that beneath all seemingly extraordinary phenomena, there are generally not obstacles but clues.
When solving such problems, the most important thing is the method of deduction—using reasoning to trace back layer by layer.
This ability is very useful and essentially quite easy.
Unfortunately, most people overlook this method in daily life, and even fewer can truly use this method for reasoning."
Professor McGonagall frowned. "Sherlock, perhaps you could explain more clearly."
Sherlock smiled again. "Very well, I'll try to make it more explicit.
For most people, when they know a series of facts, their minds can connect these facts and through thinking deduce possible results.
But conversely, if they know the result, they cannot deduce how these events occurred and this is precisely what I call the method of deduction.
Now let's review this case. It's not difficult to see that Peter actually exposed quite enough clues.
As for that Sneakoscope, as I said before, it was merely the final piece of the puzzle."
Sherlock paused and said in a straightforward tone.
"As you know, Scabbers' age was ridiculously long—this was the first fact before me.
In the Muggle world, a rat's lifespan simply cannot be that long.
After Ron returned from Egypt, he felt Scabbers wasn't quite right, so we went together to the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley.
The witch there told me that in the magical world, a rat like this also couldn't live more than three years.
Later I asked its previous owner Percy Weasley and Mr. Weasley, who told me Scabbers had come to their family very early on.
But at that time my mind had no preconceived notions, so naturally I couldn't make deductions based on this.
Moreover, as Ron said, it could be forcibly explained that the Rat had some magical bloodline and Weasley family had taken very good care of it.
But it was precisely from this year that its condition began to decline rapidly—this was the second fact."
Sherlock looked at Peter, who had lost dozens of pounds, and said coldly.
"After returning from Egypt, this rat's weight began to drop continuously.
Originally Ron thought it was because of the change in environment, but he overlooked one point that the time frame was exactly when Black escaped from prison.
During our first and second years, this fat rat did nothing but eat and sleep, sometimes making a mess of Ron's sheets.
As I once explained to Harry. a person's habits often expose their truest self to the public. In criminal investigation, when someone displays behavior that greatly differs from their usual habits, it often means the case is about to have a major breakthrough.
Although at the time I hadn't realized this rat was transformed from a person, this made me increase my suspicion of this rat.
Until Crookshanks began targeting him again and again: this was precisely the third fact."
Sherlock reached out to stroke the fluffy head of Crookshanks in Hermione's arms, saying quite emotionally.
"It was the witch from that Magical Menagerie who told us this cat had Kneazle blood, and it was precisely because of this that it could identify those with ill intentions!"
Ron's mouth fell open as he looked at Crookshanks in Hermione's arms, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Not long ago, he'd had another fight with Hermione over this very matter.
Until they entered this office, the two hadn't even spoken to each other.
"A Kneazle..."
Dumbledore showed a thoughtful expression.
The other three professors also looked at Crookshanks in Hermione's arms with somewhat special gazes.
"The fourth fact was a detail Professor Lupin told me. Back then, Peter was blown to pieces, and all his mother received of his remains was one finger.
Coincidentally, Scabbers was also missing a claw.
More importantly, Ron told me that when their family got him, he was already like this.
Combined with the Sneakoscope's warnings on three different occasions, and the fact that it itself wasn't damaged, I deliberately borrowed it from Harry, planning to do a final test.
As expected, when I appeared beside Scabbers with it again, the Sneakoscope issued another warning.
This was the fifth fact.
One or two coincidences are one thing, but when countless coincidences overlap, I formed a bold hypothesis."
Sherlock looked at Snape. "Remember that question, sir? What's the difference between a wolf transformed through Animagus and an ordinary werewolf?"
Snape was still holding a grudge about Sherlock's earlier questioning. Hearing Sherlock take the initiative to speak, he naturally showed no mercy.
"Say what you want to say. If you don't want to, then I suggest you shut that mouth of yours that loves to show off, great detective Holmes!"
Regarding Snape's hostile attitude, Sherlock didn't mind at all. He shrugged. "It seems you remember clearly.
An Animagus can freely choose when to transform, but a werewolf has no choice."
Snape felt like his punch had landed on yarn, he had strength but nowhere to use it, making him extremely frustrated.
Professor Lupin, hearing this question, was also quite embarrassed.
He hadn't expected that while questioning, Sherlock would dig out his secret of being a werewolf.
Fortunately, all the staff already knew about this, and as for these four young wizards, seeing their expressions, they weren't particularly bothered by it, which gave him some comfort.
Sherlock continued as if nothing had happened.
"So, my hypothesis was—Peter Pettigrew didn't die back then, but transformed into Scabbers through Animagus. This way, many things could be explained.
A pet rat with a ridiculously long lifespan.
Peter lost a finger; Scabbers was missing a claw.
As soon as Sirius escaped, Scabbers' condition took a sharp downturn.
Crookshanks repeatedly targeted him; Scabbers' state became increasingly wrong.
Every time the Sneakoscope issued a warning, Scabbers happened to be present.
Based on these clues, combined with the information I'd researched during this time, the ins and outs of the entire matter became obvious."
Including Snape, who had just mocked Sherlock, everyone focused intently on Sherlock, listening as he slowly reconstructed the full picture.
"During their student days, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin all entered Gryffindor House.
Due to their excellent talents, they quickly became the top students of that year.
Especially James and Sirius, within just a few years, they became prominent figures in the school.
Because of shared interests, they naturally became good friends and formed a small group.
At that time, Peter Pettigrew's magical abilities weren't as good as the three of them, but he worshipped them like idols and always followed behind them.
Eventually the three decided to let him join this group.
Later, for certain reasons, James, Sirius, and Peter, all taught themselves to become Animagi."
Hearing this, Lupin's lips moved, but ultimately, he said nothing.
Back then, the three close friends had chosen to become Animagi precisely to accompany him in his werewolf state.
Who would have thought that now, with the passage of time, of the four young friends, one was dead, one had betrayed them, one had spent twelve years in Azkaban before escaping, and only he remained, barely surviving.
"They each gave themselves a nickname. Peter's Animagus form was a rat, so his nickname was Wormtail.
However, the three friends never discovered that Peter Pettigrew wasn't as harmless as he usually appeared.
Even his magical talent was stronger than imagined, it was only overshadowed by James and Sirius's brilliance.
This is very reasonable—if he wasn't talented enough, he couldn't possibly have learned Animagus transformation.
Am I right, Professor McGonagall?"
Hearing Sherlock's question, Professor McGonagall slowly nodded.
"Yes, Animagus is the most profound transfiguration. Because terrible errors can occur during transformation, the Ministry of Magic has always strictly controlled it.
Anyone who can teach themselves this on their own can definitely be called extraordinarily talented."
She looked at the unconscious Peter with complex emotions. She had once thought that Peter's talent was never on the same level as the others, so she'd often been quite strict with him.
Later, after learning of Black's "betrayal" and Peter's "sacrifice," she became very regretful.
But now, without her knowledge, she had taught three self-taught Animagi!
Her feelings grew increasingly complex; she no longer knew what to say.
"After their student days ended, it happened to be during the wizard war, when Voldemort's power was at its peak.
Under the influence of his three friends, Peter also joined the Order of the Phoenix and became part of the battle against Voldemort.
But he wasn't willing to do this. Joining the Order of the Phoenix was partly to continue following his powerful friends, and partly to gain the protection of a powerful force.
So essentially, he had little loyalty to the Order of the Phoenix.
Not long after, Harry was born, and the Potter family became hunted by Voldemort because of that prophecy.
At the same time, Voldemort selected Peter from among the Order members.
It must be said, Voldemort was very good at judging people. Under his powerful strength and his skill at manipulating hearts, Peter barely resisted before immediately switching sides.
He began gathering information for Voldemort, becoming the Order of the Phoenix's traitor.
Headmaster Dumbledore had already discovered this, but couldn't determine who this traitor was."
Hearing this, Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "You're quite right, Sherlock.
Severus was beside Voldemort at that time helping us, and he was the one who told me there was a traitor in the Order of the Phoenix.
Unfortunately, no matter what, we never thought this person would be Peter."
Dumbledore brought this up at this moment, clearly to make excuses for Snape.
Because just now when Sherlock had gotten Peter to say that Snape was also an Order traitor, the three young wizards besides him were all shocked.
Even McGonagall and Lupin's expressions had subtly changed.
Snape, hearing Dumbledore's explanation, couldn't help but sneer.
He didn't need such explanations, nor did he care about others' misunderstandings.
In fact, it would be better if people misunderstood.
But Dumbledore cared.
Most importantly, he didn't want Harry to harbor resentment toward Snape.
Sherlock nodded and continued. "Then came what Professor McGonagall told me last time. James used the Fidelius Charm on Dumbledore's suggestion and chose Sirius as the Secret-Keeper.
But none of you expected that at the last moment, Sirius convinced James to change the Secret-Keeper to Peter.
Normally this approach wouldn't be a problem, because compared to the conspicuous Sirius, Wormtail, who had always followed them at school, was the least noticeable and wouldn't attract attention.
To achieve the element of surprise, he didn't even tell anyone about this.
Unfortunately, no one knew at the time that Peter was the one who had betrayed the Order of the Phoenix.
So, he, having unexpectedly become the Secret-Keeper, didn't hesitate to reveal the Potters' hiding place to Voldemort, leading to the Potter family's murder."
Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin couldn't help but sigh softly. Snape looked at Peter, the deep hatred in his eyes was almost overflowing.
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