"What? You're saying Crookshanks delivered this letter for Black?"
As Crookshanks' owner, Hermione was utterly astonished after hearing Harry explain what had happened.
How on earth did those two get together?
They were completely unrelated!
Her fourteenth birthday had certainly brought far too many surprises.
"Because there are glowing silver threads hidden in Crookshanks' whiskers."
"What?"
Hermione turned in surprise to see Luna gently twirling her radish earrings, drawing her gaze back from the drifting clouds outside the window.
Luna looked at Hermione and said seriously in that dreamy voice of hers:
"He pressed his paw on Black's shadow and discovered that sliver of light hidden beneath the darkness was just like the threads in his own whiskers. Dawn follows night—their meeting was destined."
Hermione: "..."
'Could you say something I can actually understand?'
Just then, Sherlock finished reading the letter. He handed it back to Harry and stated his judgment directly:
"From this letter and his actions since escaping, Sirius is genuine. Additionally, Peter's confession matches my deductions, which proves he's truly on our side. It's just that his brain doesn't always work properly—something that was already evident before he entered Azkaban."
Hearing Sherlock's assessment of Sirius, Harry couldn't help but look embarrassed. "So, your recommendation is to go?"
"Go! Why wouldn't we go!"
Sherlock smiled at Harry: "My dear Harry, if you agree, I intend to accompany you on this trip."
"That's wonderful!"
Hearing that Sherlock would go with him to meet Sirius, Harry immediately felt he had a reliable anchor, and his previous hesitation vanished completely.
However, Hermione became uneasy. She even temporarily set aside the matter of how Crookshanks had gotten mixed up with Black, asking urgently.
"Won't that be dangerous? Sherlock, shouldn't we call Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall? Or Professor Lupin, isn't he friends with Sirius?"
"Hermione, I've already explained my deductions about this matter—no need to repeat them."
Sherlock smiled. "Please trust your pet. It can keenly detect malice hidden in the deepest parts of someone's heart."
He paused. "Even if you don't trust it, please trust me—your friend Holmes's judgment on this matter."
Hermione's face flushed slightly at his words.
"Of course, caution is a virtue, and bravery shouldn't replace recklessness. So, we should indeed tell them about this, but having them come along is unnecessary."
Sherlock said decisively, pointing to a few lines in the letter.
"From this, we can see that our Mr. Sirius Black very much hopes to spend time alone with Harry. First impressions are extremely important—once formed, reversing them often requires several times the effort. So, if a professor accompanies Harry to meet him, it would signal 'distrust.'"
"Not even Professor Lupin?"
"Remus Lupin is also a professor," Sherlock said calmly. "Besides, Sirius's level of trust in Professor Lupin isn't what you imagine."
"What?"
This time everyone was shocked.
"But they were good friends at school!" Harry couldn't help asking. "Padfoot, Moony, Prongs—"
Harry suddenly stopped. Wormtail had been their good friend too.
"I see you've noticed, my dear Harry."
With a new goal in sight, Sherlock seemed quite patient. "If Sirius had sufficient trust in Professor Lupin, he should have suggested your father make him the Secret Keeper instead of Wormtail."
"But—wasn't that because Wormtail was the least conspicuous?"
"Good question, Ron, but that's only one aspect."
Sherlock said softly. "Even if Wormtail was more suitable than Lupin to be the Secret Keeper, your parents and Sirius didn't tell Professor Lupin about it. In fact, the only person Sirius truly trusted was your father. His feelings toward Wormtail were more contempt. And he didn't trust Dumbledore enough either—in that regard, he was like your father."
"What?"
"From an outsider's perspective, Dumbledore was the most suitable Secret Keeper, wasn't he? Yet your father chose Sirius, and eventually switched to Wormtail, without telling either Dumbledore or his other good friend Lupin."
After a long silence, Harry finally spoke with difficulty. "So that's why you thought of going with me—"
"For Sirius, when you appear in front of him with your classmate, he'll subconsciously place himself in an elder's position, and his original distrust will actually transform into trust and understanding."
Harry hesitated for a moment before asking, "Sherlock, is Sirius... a good person?"
"My dear Harry, the standards of good and bad have always been relative. From Professor Snape's perspective, he certainly wouldn't consider him a good person. However—"
Sherlock smiled at Harry. "By your and your father's standards, he's undoubtedly a good person."
"Alright, I'll go!"
Once Harry decided to meet Sirius, he suddenly found himself filled with anticipation for this meeting:
"Should I write a letter now for Crookshanks to deliver? Should I tell him we're going together? Where should we set the meeting place?"
Sherlock placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Calm down, Harry."
"Sorry—"
"It's fine. Understandable."
Seeing Harry's excited expression, his friends realized that deep down, Harry really did want to meet his godfather.
Sherlock took out a quill and paper and began writing. Soon, a letter was completed under his pen.
But to Harry's surprise, when Sherlock finished the letter, he didn't give it to Crookshanks but handed it to Hermione instead.
"Sherlock, what's this for?"
"Hermione, please have Watson deliver this letter to Dumbledore. I've told him the whole story."
Harry suddenly understood—it was a letter for Dumbledore.
He'd thought it was a reply to Sirius.
Wait, the reply to Sirius should probably be written by himself.
Oh no, the longer he knew Sherlock, the stronger his dependence became. Even though he'd grown a brain, he was reluctant to use it.
Hermione nodded and took the letter from Sherlock.
Luna immediately leaned over. "I want to see it too."
Hermione looked at Luna in surprise. This girl was really direct!
"If you want to see it, go ahead," Sherlock said in a perfectly ordinary tone. "After reading it, deliver it to Dumbledore as soon as possible."
Having said this, he stood up and patted Harry. "Let's go, old boy."
Harry instinctively stood up, then realized, "Go where?"
"To meet your godfather, of course."
"But—don't I need to write to Sirius first? Only Crookshanks knows where he is."
"Ha! That's just his wishful thinking," Sherlock said proudly. "We'll go find him directly and take a look at his living conditions."
"I know—the Marauder's Map! Just like Peter Pettigrew, you must have seen his name on it too, right?"
Harry secretly praised himself for his cleverness, but then sighed.
"Unfortunately, I forgot to bring it when I left. I'll have to go back to the dormitory first."
"Map? What map? I am the map!"
Sherlock chuckled and strode forward. "Harry, keep up!"
Once they left, Ron and Ginny didn't intend to stay in the library either. After saying goodbye to Hermione and Luna, they left as well. Since they'd decided to go home on short notice, they still had things to pack.
Luna looked up from the letter at Hermione.
"You want to go with them, don't you?"
"I don't—fine, I do want to go with them."
Hermione initially didn't want to admit it, but seeing Luna's clear eyes, she thought about it and told the truth.
This girl was different from Gemma; she simply couldn't make herself be guarded around her.
"Then you should have told them just now. They wouldn't have refused."
Sure enough, upon hearing Hermione's words, Luna even began offering advice.
"Thank you, Luna, but doing that—wouldn't be good."
Hermione said quietly, "You noticed too—Harry really wants to meet his godfather, but if too many of us go, it would give Black the impression that Harry doesn't trust him."
Since the Crookshanks incident, Hermione had begun some self-reflection.
Now she was gradually learning to consider things from others' perspectives.
"Who cares what he thinks!"
Luna said in a straightforward tone.
"Just follow your heart in doing things. Don't worry about others' opinions."
"Um..."
Sherlock had told her something similar long ago, but unfortunately, she hadn't been able to do it.
She hadn't expected Luna to say something with a similar meaning now.
In this respect, she really was quite like Sherlock.
"Let's not talk about that. Luna, are you finished reading? Give me the letter back, and I'll have Watson deliver it to Dumbledore right away."
"What, you're not going to read it?"
"I—fine, let me see."
Curiosity ultimately won out.
Plus, Sherlock had already explicitly stated she could look, so Hermione took the letter Sherlock had written to Dumbledore from Luna.
Hermione had thought Sherlock would describe the matter in detail, but the letter was surprisingly brief.
[I will accompany Harry to meet Sirius in the capacity of student and good friend. Everything is under control. Awaiting good news.]
"Everything... under control?"
Hermione looked up, her gaze revealing a complex expression.
But that's another story. Harry's side was quite a different matter.
You can read more than 40 chapters on:
patreon.com/MikeyMuse