"I didn't expect Sirius; my godfather would do that—"
As soon as they left the headmaster's office, Harry began worrying about his roommate Neville Longbottom.
How to put it?
Since the very first day at school, Neville had seemed unlucky.
His poor memory had caused him no end of trouble.
It was fortunate he shared a dormitory with Sherlock; otherwise, his life would definitely be even worse than it currently was.
That said, even sharing a dormitory with Sherlock, his current life was still a mess.
Originally, Harry's plan had been to return the slip of paper to Neville today and remind him not to do it again.
He never imagined his godfather would directly sell him out!
This move was too brilliant!
Thinking about this, Harry looked at Sherlock in confusion. "Why did he have to tell Professor McGonagall about this?"
"Analyzing Sirius's personality, it's not surprising at all that he'd do something like this."
Sherlock wasn't surprised in the least.
"My dear Harry, in fact, not only him—if it were your father, nine times out of ten he would do the same thing.
In that group of four, your father and Sirius had the most similar personalities. They frequently bullied others at school.
Peter Pettigrew was a follower, and the actual werewolf, Professor Lupin, was actually the gentlest one in their group."
"I see..."
Harry nodded with a bitter smile.
At this moment, he had gained a whole new understanding of his father and godfather.
However, this was merely a small episode.
In any case, this matter had come to a perfect conclusion.
The truth hidden for twelve years was revealed to the world, the real culprit Peter Pettigrew was caught, and the wrongly accused Sirius Black regained his freedom.
As for the punishment for Peter Pettigrew, Sherlock wasn't worried at all.
After today's events, the Ministry had no other choice.
Reasoning with politicians was useless, they only looked at interests.
When the cost of doing something exceeded expectations, they would naturally give up.
In any case, compared to the Philosopher's Stone in first year and the Chamber of Secrets incident in second year, the Prisoner of Azkaban affair had come to a satisfactory conclusion in the first term of third year.
Sherlock had finally avoided leaving with unfinished business before Christmas as he had in the previous two years.
This even made Sherlock feel somewhat unaccustomed.
Of course, this was a good thing, but as he'd told Harry, he would inevitably become bored in the coming days.
If only something else would happen...
When the two returned to the Gryffindor common room, they found their friends waiting for them.
Even Cho Chang and Luna were there.
"Quick, quick, everyone's been waiting for you!"
The most impatient one, Ron, immediately pulled Harry over. "Tell us, what happened?"
This time Ron had learned his lesson and claimed a spot next to Harry early.
He knew that if he didn't do this, he'd definitely end up alone again.
Sure enough, Hermione and Luna naturally sat on either side of Sherlock.
Cho Chang sat to Harry's left, and Ginny, seeing this situation, could only sit huffily next to Ron.
Looking at Cho Chang's smiling face, Ginny couldn't help but cry out in her heart.
'Am I your sister or is she your sister?!'
Naturally, the task of retelling the story still fell to Harry.
When they heard that Harry would be going home with Sirius this holiday instead of returning to Privet Drive, Ron couldn't help but exclaim.
"Mate, that's so cool!"
"I think so too."
"Will your godfather, Sirius take the train to London with us tomorrow? Like when Professor Lupin came?"
"Uh—I don't know, probably?"
Harry said uncertainly.
Today had been too exciting; he'd forgotten to ask many things.
For instance, he forgot to ask what form his father's Animagus took, and he forgot to ask where exactly Sirius's house was.
But since Sirius said he was also returning to London tomorrow, his new home must be there.
This time, Harry didn't ask Sherlock.
He was about to live with his godfather, there would be plenty of time in the future. The good days were still ahead!
This excitement lasted the entire evening.
When he woke up the next morning, Sherlock refused to take Harry along for morning training.
"Training like this won't be effective."
Sherlock said this while looking at Harry, who had dark circles under his eyes and kept yawning.
When Sherlock left with Neville, Harry suddenly felt a sense of abandonment.
But he immediately felt it was ridiculous.
What abandonment!
It was just one morning training session.
Besides, Sherlock was clearly doing this for his own good.
It's fine, it's fine.
After finishing morning training, eating breakfast, and boarding the Thestral-drawn carriage to Hogsmeade station—
Throughout this entire process, Harry maintained a cheerful mood.
Until he met Sirius at the station.
"What, you're not coming back with me either?"
At first, when Harry saw Sirius and Professor Lupin at the station, he was very happy.
However, hearing that they were only there to see him off and that Sirius wasn't planning to take the Hogwarts Express back to London with him, Harry froze.
"Yes, Harry, we still have some things to take care of." Remus looked at Sirius, then smiled at Harry.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely arrive before you. When you get to King's Cross Station, I'll be waiting for you there."
Compared to yesterday, Sirius had tidied himself up a bit, making him look less haggard.
"Last night was the first good sleep I've had in years, I promise you, Harry, as soon as you step off the train, you'll see me."
Hearing Sirius's promise, Harry finally felt reassured and nodded.
"Holmes—no, Sherlock."
Sirius looked at the friends beside Harry.
"And Hermione and Ron, thank you so much for helping Harry these past three years.
Seeing you all reminds me of my school days. Back then, we were like you, forming a group of four..."
At this point, Sirius's voice grew lower, and Professor Lupin beside him also looked somewhat somber.
This once warm and tight-knit group had become unrecognizable.
James Potter and his wife Lily died at Voldemort's hands because of Peter Pettigrew's betrayal.
Sirius, to atone, had been imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years and had only just regained his freedom.
Peter Pettigrew had betrayed his friends, lived as a rat for twelve years, and was about to lose his soul, becoming a living corpse.
Remus Lupin appeared to have the best outcome, becoming Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with Dumbledore's support.
But he still faced the risk of being exposed at any time.
Regarding this matter, Sirius was trying to find a solution. He could see that his only surviving old friend cherished this job very much.
He even somewhat regretted speaking harshly to Snape yesterday, since Remus still needed him to brew the Wolfsbane Potion.
But his temper, well...
Sometimes he just couldn't control himself.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall had intervened yesterday, preventing the situation from deteriorating further.
This made him respect Professor McGonagall even more.
"Forget it, you'd better not follow our example," Sirius collected his thoughts and showed everyone a bright smile. "Well then, goodbye! See you soon!"
Sirius and Professor Lupin shook hands with everyone and soon disappeared from the platform.
"Sherlock?"
Noticing that Sherlock hadn't withdrawn his gaze, Harry felt somewhat puzzled.
Sirius was his godfather, right?
Why did it feel like Sherlock was more concerned about him than Harry was?
"He's regretting."
Sherlock said calmly, "He and Professor Lupin both feel guilty about what they did in their youth."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked at Sherlock with astonishment.
You figured that out again?
Just as they were preparing to hear Sherlock continue, he withdrew his gaze. "Let's go."
The three had to suppress their questions for now.
After they boarded the train, they were almost immediately pulled over by Ginny.
She and Luna had already saved seats for them.
Because no one wanted to sit in the same compartment as "Loony Lovegood."
This result satisfied Ginny.
Although she couldn't stay at school with Harry for the holidays, being in the same compartment on the way home wasn't bad either.
Most importantly, Cho Chang wasn't here. After Sherlock and Harry left to find Sirius yesterday, Ginny had immediately and loyally brought Luna to the Gryffindor common room.
She knew Luna was very interested in these kinds of cases and in Sherlock himself.
But she never expected that Luna would leave for a bit and bring Cho Chang back with her.
Since Cho was already there, Ginny naturally couldn't say anything.
So, when she saw that Cho Chang wasn't with Luna today, she was genuinely delighted.
Just then, the compartment door opened, and Cho Chang's face appeared before everyone.
Harry's eyes immediately lit up.
Ginny: =_=
If Cho Chang's appearance made Ginny feel depressed, Ron was even more speechless.
Having lost the initiative last night, Ginny naturally wouldn't let the opportunity slip away today, so she decisively struck first, sitting directly next to Harry.
Cho Chang's speed was equally fast; she sat on Harry's other side as soon as she entered.
Hermione and Luna had long since taken the seats on either side of Sherlock.
Only Ron sat at a table next to them, alone.
Looking at this scene, Ron felt he shouldn't be in the carriage.
Should he go to another carriage to find Fred and George?
But as soon as this thought emerged, his attention was captured.
Hermione had begun carefully asking Sherlock about details of cases he'd handled over the years.
She meant what she said, so she planned to use this holiday to organize some of the cases Sherlock had worked on.
Actually, it hadn't been this urgent originally, but after hearing Harry yesterday talk about Fudge's dismissiveness toward Sherlock, Hermione had gotten angry.
Although she said nothing aloud, she had secretly resolved to publicize the truth of these cases.
If even Gilderoy Lockhart's books could be wildly popular throughout the wizarding world, then someone like Sherlock, a genuine great detective, went without saying.
As long as she wrote about his experiences truthfully and added just a bit of polish, it would definitely attract public attention.
Anyone with even a bit of discernment would know who truly solved the mysteries and caught the culprits.
Previously, Hermione might have worried that the Ministry would use its power to interfere with her publishing a book.
But now...
Big brother Mycroft could even influence Ministry decisions, this kind of thing wasn't even a problem, okay?
Luna sat curiously on Sherlock's other side, eyes wide as she listened to the two talk, occasionally asking questions she found interesting.
However, her questions were usually unrelated to the cases themselves, products of divergent thinking.
Such as "Could the troll released by Quirrell have had Wrackspurts tangled in its brain, which is why it was so easy to deal with?"
Such as "Did that person who spoke many languages but was deceived have little creatures that swallow truths and then spit out lie bubbles?"
Or "After souls are sucked away by the Dementor's Kiss, do they all turn into black ice, sink to the cold ocean floor, and crystallize into a material called Soul Crystals?"
These questions made Hermione somewhat helpless, but Sherlock could actually discuss them with Luna.
However, having already gotten the details she wanted, occasionally listening to this alternative exchange between Sherlock and Luna felt rather nice.
The conversation between the one boy and two girls on the other side had a similar atmosphere.
Harry was narrating while Cho Chang and Ginny listened carefully.
What Harry recounted were also past cases.
But unlike Sherlock, everything he talked about was related to himself.
This was also the content that interested Cho Chang and Ginny.
In first year, Voldemort, stuck to the back of Quirrell's head, had secretly infiltrated the school trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
In second year, a diary Voldemort had left behind controlled Gilderoy Lockhart and reopened the Chamber of Secrets, releasing the Basilisk.
In third year, Sirius, after spending twelve years in Azkaban and learning that Peter Pettigrew wasn't dead, had bravely escaped prison and come to seek revenge.
Just as Sherlock had said more than once, Harry truly had a gift for summarizing and retelling.
Under his vivid description, whether Cho Chang or Ginny, both felt as if they'd experienced these adventures alongside Harry.
Through Harry's efforts, both girls reached climax after climax, and were unable to stop.
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