Hearing Sherlock suddenly mention his wand, Harry instinctively began searching through his coat pocket—that's where he kept his wand. However, the next moment, he looked up with a shocked expression and said, "Oh no, my wand is gone!"
His pocket contained only the omnioculars Sirius had bought him. As for his wand—it was missing.
"You're not joking, are you?" Ron, who was closest to him, couldn't help but say.
Harry became anxious too and began searching around again. Hermione and Ginny also helped him look, but no matter how they searched, they couldn't find Harry's wand.
Only then did Harry suddenly realize something. Ever since he'd learned of the magical world's existence, whenever he came to this side of the world, he would always carry his wand with him.
At this moment, when he suddenly discovered his wand was missing, even though there was no danger around, he still felt weak and helpless. This was also a traditional wizard's mindset.
No, starting this term, I need to learn Baritsu from Sherlock too! But before that, he needed to find his wand first.
Just then, Hermione suddenly had a realization. Even Harry himself hadn't realized he'd lost his wand, but Sherlock had just said he wanted to help Harry recover what he'd lost. So, she immediately turned to Sherlock:
"Sherlock, do you know where Harry's wand is?"
Prompted by Hermione, Harry and Ron also realized this point and looked hopefully toward Sherlock. Of course, not just them—Sirius, Mr. Weasley, and his children all turned their gazes to Sherlock.
In everyone's impression, Sherlock never disappointed. This time was the same.
"Obviously," he said, looking toward Sirius.
Sirius's concern for Harry went without saying. Seeing Sherlock's expression, he walked over without a word and said concisely, "What do you need me to do?"
Sherlock liked dealing with intelligent people. He smiled slightly and slowly turned his gaze behind him. Noticing Sherlock's gaze, everyone couldn't help but be startled.
Because the person Sherlock was staring at was none other than the house-elf Winky, who was still covering her eyes and supposedly had a fear of heights.
Hermione spoke somewhat incredulously, "Sherlock, you don't mean to say..."
She found it hard to believe that such a pitiful-looking house-elf could actually be a thief.
Sherlock didn't directly respond to Hermione but said slowly, "Professor Flitwick once told me that house-elves are all masters of Apparition. Even in a place like Hogwarts with magical barriers, they can still perform this magic with ease."
"That's right, but without their master's permission, they cannot use magic without authorization," Sirius nodded.
"I'm sorry, but I've seen exceptions, and more than once," Sherlock paused. Harry immediately thought of the house-elf named Dobby from the Malfoy household.
"Sherlock, you mean you want me to stop her?" Sirius looked at Winky, somewhat surprised.
"Professor Snape once stopped a house-elf from using this magic. Sirius, you..."
"No problem," Sirius declared proudly before Sherlock could finish. "What Snape can do, I can do as well."
After a year, Sirius's confidence had greatly increased. Even if he were to have a wizard's duel with Snape, he was confident he could fight him to a draw.
Mr. Weasley, listening to the conversation between the two, vaguely felt something was amiss. He looked at Sherlock and Sirius in surprise. "Sherlock, Sirius, what exactly are you talking about?"
Sherlock shook his head, his gaze sweeping over Winky and... the empty seat beside her: "You know, I've always admired one type of person—those who dare to steal things right in front of me."
Only at this moment did Winky seem to realize that Sherlock was actually talking to her. She separated her fingers, peeked at Sherlock, then closed her fingers together again.
"Winky, did you take Harry's wand?" Hermione suddenly asked.
Winky trembled all over, shaking her head desperately, her ears flapping: "Winky has not done it, Winky is not a thief!"
"I never said the thief was you, little elf..." Sherlock said, and under everyone's astonished gaze, suddenly reached forward and pulled.
Before this match officially began, Winky had already said she was saving a seat for her master, Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. But until the match ended, Barty Crouch never appeared.
Because this match had been so exciting, everyone hadn't thought much about it. Even those who had thought about it didn't care much—after all, Barty Crouch seemed like someone who was extremely busy. It wouldn't be strange if he'd reserved a seat but didn't show up.
However, as Sherlock reached out, something unexpected happened. The entire space seemed to shimmer for a moment, and then a human outline appeared on that seat.
"No—!" Winky, who had been watching through her fingers, was shocked.
She understood very clearly what kind of trouble it would bring her master if this person appeared before the public. At this moment, she could no longer care about her fear of heights. She reached out one hand to grab the person who hadn't yet fully materialized, while her other hand snapped its fingers.
Apparition! The house-elf's specialty.
"Do you think I'm dead?" Sirius, who had been warned by Sherlock early on, sneered coldly and waved his wand.
Nothing happened. Yet Winky snapped her fingers several times without any response. Her Apparition had failed.
This was truly when nothing happens. Seeing her trump card magic fail, Winky immediately panicked.
"No—!" She screamed again, her voice shrill and piercing. "Please, no, don't—!"
However, this was useless. As her Apparition failed, a person appeared as if from thin air, pulled to the ground by Sherlock in one motion.
But his condition was strange—his body flickered in and out of visibility, some parts visible, some parts invisible. Harry was all too familiar with this situation and immediately blurted out, "It's an Invisibility Cloak!"
"Obviously, my friend," Sherlock said, reaching out with both hands and fiddling for a moment before easily removing the Invisibility Cloak from this person. He stepped back two paces, and thus that person's figure completely appeared in everyone's line of sight.
"Ladies and gentlemen, now let us take a good look at exactly who this person is who's been wearing an Invisibility Cloak and sitting beside Mr. Crouch's house-elf all along!"
Appearing in everyone's view was a young man with unusually pale, slightly freckled skin. He had light yellow disheveled hair and appeared to be only in his early thirties, yet strangely, he had faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
Looking at that face which bore some resemblance to Barty Crouch, and the wand clutched tightly in his right hand, Sherlock smiled: "Ha, it seems the truth is already clear as day..."
But before he could finish speaking, the young man, who had been somewhat at a loss after Sherlock suddenly exposed his invisible state, suddenly roared and lunged straight at him.
"Watch out!" Hermione screamed a warning while stepping forward, wanting to help Sherlock.
Sirius snorted coldly and directly raised his wand. With him here, no one could harm his own people.
However, Sherlock's reaction was even faster. With a bang, the young man's forward charge stopped, and then he fell backward, crashing to the ground.
"Consider yourself lucky—this is Baritsu I've just recently learned," Sherlock slowly withdrew his fist and said to everyone's astonished gazes. "You're the first to experience it."
Only then did the people in the box react. Sherlock had actually knocked out an adult with one punch? This was simply too incredible!
"Crouch!" Mr. Weasley, recognizing the young man's appearance, was stunned. "Barty Crouch Junior!"
"Master Barty, Master Barty!" Though she could no longer Apparate, Winky still threw herself onto the young man's chest. "You killed him! You killed him! You killed the master's son!"
She looked up at Sherlock with tears streaming down her face, as if accusing an executioner.
"Calm down, I only gave him one punch," Sherlock sighed. "Please move aside."
While verbally asking Winky to move aside, Sherlock's hands moved without delay, directly picking up Winky and tossing her aside. Then he grabbed Barty Crouch Junior by the collar and put him back in the seat.
By the time he walked back, Sherlock had an extra wand in his hand. Barty Crouch Junior, robbed of his wand, glared viciously at Sherlock, his eyes full of defiance... and confusion.
"Next time, don't let someone take your weapon so easily," Sherlock handed the wand to Harry, then looked at Arthur Weasley. "Mr. Weasley, your reaction tells me this person shouldn't be here, correct?"
"He certainly shouldn't be here!" With an angry roar, British Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge strode over.
He looked at the young man, his gaze full of fury, then turned to Crouch's house-elf: "You—speak quickly, what exactly is going on?"
"Winky cannot say, Winky can say nothing, Winky will cause trouble for master!"
"Understood, this matter was authorized by Mr. Crouch," Sherlock nodded thoughtfully. "Things are getting more and more interesting."
"Won't talk? Very well, excellent—then I'll go ask him myself!" Fudge's fury was practically overflowing. He immediately began making arrangements. He didn't even spare Arthur Weasley, who had only come to watch the match.
Looking at this scene, Harry still hadn't fully processed what was happening. "Sherlock, what... what exactly is going on?"
"Obviously, a person who shouldn't have appeared has appeared here," Sherlock chuckled lightly. "Barty Crouch—it seems this Director has bigger secrets than I imagined."
"You're absolutely right." At this point, Mr. Weasley, who had been assigned work by the Minister, walked over with heavy steps. "Sherlock, this time you've really broken through the sky!"
He looked at Sherlock, his eyes full of disbelief. How long had it been since he'd uncovered that truth buried for twelve years? And Sherlock had done it again.
Detective Sherlock—truly deserving of the name.
"I'm sorry, but because of Sherlock and Harry, I'm afraid you'll both have to come with me to the Ministry..."
"You don't need to tell me—I was planning to go anyway," Sherlock asked curiously. "But please first tell me, in your understanding, where should this Barty Crouch Junior have been?"
"He... should have already been dead..."
"The last person you believed had died twelve years ago was named Peter Pettigrew, and he was even promoted as a hero. Yet he turned out to be alive and well, ultimately proven to be a complete traitor," Sherlock sneered coldly. "Your Department is truly full of talented people!"
Arthur Weasley: "..."
Faced with Sherlock's mockery, he had nothing to say. For this kind of thing to happen twice in a row was truly rather absurd.
Not far from the box, the Malfoy family of three took in this entire scene. Draco Malfoy didn't realize what this represented. But his parents, Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy, exchanged glances.
The couple both saw deep surprise in each other's eyes, as well as wariness. After a moment, Narcissa suddenly turned to Draco and said seriously, "Draco, you must stay far away from that Holmes fellow at school from now on!"
"I've been avoiding them already," Draco said sullenly. "Ever since Gemma forced me to apologize to Potter last time."
"Well done. Now it seems Gemma was protecting you!" Lucius took a deep breath, looking at Sherlock who was walking out, and said slowly, "Earlier, Fudge told me that the matter with Black and Pettigrew was discovered by this student named Holmes. He and I both thought Dumbledore was being too naive, actually using such a ridiculous method to create publicity for his student. Now it seems, who's really naive? It's not Dumbledore at all—it's me and Fudge! Sherlock Holmes..."
Lucius repeated the name again, and suddenly his heart chilled. He thought of how two years ago he'd thrown that diary into Hogwarts to cause trouble, only to fail miserably. Now it seemed that matter was probably also related to this Holmes!
While contemplating this, he suddenly shuddered. Because Sherlock, who was about to walk out the box door, suddenly turned back and glanced in their direction.
Though the other party was merely a boy not yet fifteen years old, at this moment Lucius saw in his gaze... a warning.
It was simply absurd!
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