In the Gryffindor Head of House's office, Professor McGonagall's expression was severe as she addressed Sherlock and Harry.
"Besides the four of you who were in the office yesterday, who else knows about this matter?"
"Ron's sister Ginny, Ravenclaw's Cho and Luna—we just told them during dinner."
"Just those three, Potter? Why didn't you keep it confidential?"
"Professor, no one told us to keep it secret, and besides, I don't believe this matter requires secrecy. After all, everyone will know soon enough."
"But things are not quite as you imagine, Mr. Holmes!"
Professor McGonagall said with a stern face.
"As I mentioned earlier, Dumbledore anticipated the Ministry's reaction. When he handed Peter Pettigrew over to them, he explained that this matter was led and discovered by himself, with crucial assistance from myself, Professor Snape, and Professor Lupin.
Professor Lupin, due to his familiarity with Sirius and Peter from their youth, saw through Peter's disguise.
Professor Snape provided the Veritaserum that made Peter tell the truth.
And I was responsible for restoring Peter from his Animagus form to his original state."
At this point, Professor McGonagall blushed slightly. "I apologize, Holmes. For the reasons I mentioned earlier, we've basically taken all the credit that should have been yours—"
"It doesn't matter, Professor. I don't mind at all."
Professor McGonagall looked intently at Sherlock, as if trying to determine whether his words were sincere.
After a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Holmes. But even so, the Ministry still believes they cannot revoke the warrant for Sirius Black's arrest."
"Why not? Hasn't the truth been revealed?"
Harry couldn't sit still. He stood up, saying excitedly.
"Sirius Black is innocent! Peter Pettigrew was my parents' Secret-Keeper! He faked his death years ago, using his Animagus form to become Ron's pet rat. He's been in hiding for twelve whole years, just to..."
"Easy now, my friend."
At that moment, Sherlock reached out with his strong hand and pressed his friend back into his seat.
"Harry, you do have a gift for summarization and synthesis—you've captured the essence of the entire matter in just a few sentences."
Hearing Sherlock's slightly teasing words, Harry had no mind to respond. "But—"
"Don't rush. Let's first hear what Professor McGonagall has to say."
"All right, fine—"
Professor McGonagall gave Sherlock an approving look for calming Harry down, then slowly continued.
"The Ministry believes that Peter Pettigrew's testimony alone is insufficient to overturn the original verdict. Their reasoning is that all the witnesses on that street at the time insisted they saw Sirius kill Peter."
"But Peter is clearly still alive!" Harry, who had just sat down, couldn't contain himself and stood up again. "Are they blind?"
A person who had been confirmed dead for twelve whole years had appeared right before their eyes and confessed everything under Veritaserum! Yet the Ministry refused to believe it, preferring to trust the testimony of witnesses from over a decade ago?
This was utterly absurd, absurdity opening the door for absurdity—absurdity come home.
"Harry, I must ask you not to interrupt me again."
Harry froze.
In his memory, Professor McGonagall had never spoken to him in such a pleading tone.
"All right, okay—"
This time, without Sherlock's intervention, he obediently sat back down.
He silently resolved that no matter how ridiculous the Ministry's decision was, he would be patient and wait until Professor McGonagall finished speaking.
Professor McGonagall said in a low voice.
"The Ministry's position is that even if Peter Pettigrew is still alive, it doesn't prove that he killed those Muggles on that street. It doesn't prove your parents switched their Secret-Keeper from Sirius to him, and it doesn't prove he revealed your parents' location to... Voldemort.
They claim Peter's truth might be 'his perceived truth'.
Veritaserum antidotes, Confundus Charms, Memory Charms, Occlumency, or even strong willpower can all resist Veritaserum.
On the other hand, Sirius's various actions make him seem far from innocent.
Escaping from Azkaban, breaking into Hogwarts castle, attacking the Fat Lady—"
At this point, Professor McGonagall sighed deeply, seemingly exasperated by Sirius's reckless behavior.
"So, the Ministry insists that only by finding Sirius and having him confront Peter face-to-face will they clear his name."
Seeing that Professor McGonagall had finally finished, Harry momentarily didn't know what to say.
Mainly because Professor McGonagall's words contained so many flaws that having flaws everywhere was tantamount to having no flaws at all.
Sherlock, however, seemed unsurprised, as if he had expected this all along.
Harry took a deep breath and quickly asked.
"Can't even Dumbledore do anything about this?"
"Potter, Dumbledore is not omnipotent."
Professor McGonagall said gently, "Albus cannot dictate the Ministry's decisions, and furthermore, he testified years ago that Sirius was the Potters' Secret-Keeper."
"How can this be?"
Harry was stunned. He stared at Professor McGonagall's stern face, feeling as if the ground might collapse beneath him.
If things continued this way, what was the point of everything Sherlock had done?
He suddenly remembered what Sherlock had told him during morning practice today.
His premonition had come true again!
With this thought, he whirled toward Sherlock. "Sherlock?"
Sherlock clearly understood his friend's thoughts and couldn't help but laugh coldly. "I can only say this is an entirely unsurprising outcome."
Professor McGonagall also turned her gaze to Sherlock, wanting to hear what the person who had uncovered the truth had to say.
"In the Muggle world, prioritizing evidence over confessions—such an approach is beyond reproach, even praiseworthy. But in the magical world, it becomes rather laughable.
Even someone like me, born to Muggles, knows this principle—if Veritaserum can make Voldemort reveal secrets, isn't it worthy of their trust?
Did Professor Snape force-feed Veritaserum to the Ministry official who said that?"
"The Ministry did have someone suggest using Veritaserum to interrogate Peter."
Professor McGonagall spoke slowly, "But this suggestion was quickly rejected. Their reasoning was that Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without trial all those years ago, so interrogating Peter again after he'd already taken Veritaserum would be 'unnecessary procedural duplication.'"
"I see."
Sherlock nodded.
"Setting aside how absurd those reasons for resisting Veritaserum are, even if such resistance were possible, what would Peter's motive be?
When he clearly hasn't committed these crimes, why would he deliberately resist Veritaserum just to speak falsehoods that would send him to Azkaban?
Do they think Peter is some kind of masochistic psychopath?
Of course, the world is vast and full of wonders—I don't deny such people exist but that person is definitely not the cowardly wretch Peter Pettigrew!"
Harry nodded vigorously.
This whole thing was utterly absurd!
Even Fan-Fiction writers wouldn't dare write something like this!
Yet here it was, happening in reality.
"Some even pointed out that even if Sirius was indeed wrongly convicted, he still must be punished for escaping prison.
Their reasoning is that Sirius did nothing during his twelve years in Azkaban and could have followed proper procedures to file an appeal.
But by choosing to escape, he openly declared himself an enemy of magic itself and in opposition to the entire Ministry."
Her Scottish accent carried obvious sarcasm in those final words, something even Harry could detect.
If Professor McGonagall was opening mocking them, how could Sherlock hold back?
But compared to McGonagall's slow pace and subtle criticism, Sherlock was fast and direct.
"When another Black walked straight out the front door two years ago, why didn't they say anything? And that person was even their former colleague!
Professor, I'll bet you a Galleon that if Sirius truly were a murderer who'd blown up thirteen innocents, they wouldn't be making such a fuss.
These foolish goldfish simply need a reason—they don't care how absurd that reason might be!
They've placed three locks on the truth. The first is called procedural justice, fearing that overturning the case would topple the Ministry's banner of 'fairness and justice.'
The second is called traditional authority—they'd rather keep all of Britain's Dementors at Hogwarts than admit years of Ministry incompetence.
As for the third lock. admitting mistakes would damage the bureaucratic system's authority more than letting an innocent person continue bearing false accusations.
They've even invented new spells for bureaucracy.
The Selective Deafness Curse, specifically designed to block out cries of injustice; the Memory Modification Charm, perfect for revising history books; and finally, the Obstruction of Justice gift package for anyone who questions them.
They're using third-rate detective novel logic to perform reality!"
Professor McGonagall looked at Sherlock with astonishment.
She hadn't expected him to articulate her inner thoughts so clearly—it was tremendously satisfying!
But the problem was that however cutting the sarcasm, it still didn't help the current situation.
However, remembering Dumbledore's instructions before she came to find Sherlock and Harry, she asked with a try-it-and-see attitude.
"Mr. Holmes, do you have a solution? If so, then telling others about this matter in advance shouldn't be a problem."
"It doesn't matter even if I don't have a solution."
Sherlock deliberated for three seconds. "However, I believe this matter cannot be delayed. It would be best to resolve it completely before Christmas."
"You actually have a solution?"
Professor McGonagall showed a delighted expression. Sherlock's words gave her hope too. "Have you already found Sirius's whereabouts? In that case, we need only have him confront Peter once more, and the Ministry won't be able to deny the facts!"
Looking at the joyful Professor McGonagall, Sherlock displayed a smile full of mockery.
"With all due respect, Professor, you trust the rules a bit too much."
"But the Ministry explicitly stated that as long as Sirius and Peter confront each other, they'll announce the truth to the wizarding world!"
"They're just saying that. I thought someone like you wouldn't easily trust promises that cost nothing but lip service.
Even if Sirius appears, I can think of at least seven ways to maintain the status quo.
So, there's no point in continuing to play by their rules."
Sherlock looked at the frowning Professor McGonagall and said, word by word.
"We must use magic to defeat magic."
After leaving Professor McGonagall's office, Harry was deeply troubled.
Combining what Sherlock had said during morning practice with Professor McGonagall's description just now, Harry now fully understood why the Ministry refused to acquit Sirius Black.
The core issue was that the Ministry valued its own authority more than the truth.
Once they admitted to a wrongful conviction from twelve years ago, it would be tantamount to negating the Ministry's reliable image in the wizarding world and triggering questions about Ministry officials' competence.
Another important reason was that Peter Pettigrew had received an Order of Merlin, First Class, personally certified and awarded by the Ministry.
Peter had earned it primarily because he had "sacrificed himself."
But once Sirius was acquitted, the hero would become a villain and the traitor a hero, exposing serious dereliction in the Ministry's medal review process—creating an embarrassing situation of one authority contradicting another authority of same Ministry.
So, despite Peter Pettigrew's resurrection and his reliable confession under Veritaserum, the Ministry still refused to re-interrogate Peter with the laughable excuse of "procedural duplication." Essentially, they were avoiding the truth.
As for whether Sirius was wrongly accused? Who cares?
Since they'd already judged him, they'd stick to it.
After realizing this, Harry wasn't even surprised.
After all, in his first year, he'd witnessed the Ministry's miraculous operations in the case of Hannah Abbott's father's missing documents.
Despite numerous suspicious points in that matter, they'd turned a blind eye, merely wanting to hastily close the case and end the controversy.
One word. Brilliant!
"Your summarization and synthesis abilities are getting stronger, my dear friend."
After hearing Harry's analysis of the matter, Sherlock gave him an approving look. "This proves that befriending someone with meticulous thinking will unconsciously influence you as well."
While praising Harry, he also complimented himself, then continued. "What you're describing is actually the Tacitus Trap. When credibility is lost, whether speaking truth or lies, doing good or bad deeds, everything will be perceived as lies and misdeeds.
The Ministry fears falling into the Tacitus Trap, so they refuse to admit mistakes.
Beyond that, the Ministry's judicial system—no, the entire British judicial system has this inertia of one-time conviction, lifetime validity.
So even when new evidence emerges, the bureaucratic system tends to maintain existing verdicts to avoid increased administrative costs.
As for Dumbledore's early misjudgment about Sirius's Secret-Keeper identity, that's been deliberately weaponized by the Ministry to shift responsibility to a third party and evade accountability for corrections."
At this point, Sherlock laughed coldly. "I must admit, I still overestimated them.
I actually thought that since the decision was made by the previous Minister twelve years ago, there might be a chance to set things right.
But I overlooked that most people in this system have long been institutionalized, becoming part of the vested interests."
Harry took a deep breath and looked at Sherlock with hopeful eyes.
"What did you mean when you said 'use magic to defeat magic'?"
You can read more than 40 chapters on:
patreon.com/MikeyMuse