Before they knew it, Harry and Sherlock had known each other for three years.
It was these three years of experience that had formed a conviction in him—no matter what the problem, even when everyone else was helpless, Sherlock could definitely solve it.
So, when Sherlock said "we must use magic to defeat magic," although Harry didn't understand what it meant, he instinctively looked toward Sherlock with hope, waiting for him to provide an answer.
At that moment, the two had just returned to the Great Hall.
Because of this, before Sherlock could answer Harry's question, their friends swarmed around them.
They had good reason to do so.
You see, there were only three days left until the holidays.
With hardly any classes each day, the usually severe Professor McGonagall had suddenly called away Sherlock and Harry after breakfast.
This inevitably caused concern.
Especially Hermione and Ron, who had gone to the Headmaster's office with Sherlock and Harry yesterday—they knew the inside story.
Harry had just thought McGonagall might bring good news, but Hermione and Ron had already seen from her face that something was wrong.
Now that the two had returned and Harry described what had just happened, it turned out as expected.
"Outrageous!"
As always, Ron was the first to lose his composure.
"Truly outrageous!
Do these people even do human things anymore?
A living person is right there before their eyes, and they still refuse to accept the facts?
Even I'm not this bad!"
His statement drew sideways glances from everyone.
Ron realized his words were problematic and quickly tried to clarify.
"What I mean is... someone like me, who was deceived by Scabbers... uh... by Peter for so long, can accept this fact, so they should find it even easier to accept."
"Stop shouting," Ginny elbowed her sixth brother, saying irritably, "Do you want everyone to know about this?"
"Actually... that might not be a bad idea."
Cho Chang suddenly spoke up, saying slowly amid everyone's surprised looks.
"As long as enough people believe this, we can mobilize publics opinion to supervise the Ministry and force them to acknowledge the facts.
From what I know, some reporters would love to find such an opportunity to create big news."
Everyone's eyes lit up at her words.
Worthy of wisdom-renowned Ravenclaw—Cho Chang made sense!
However, Hermione shook her head and raised doubts.
"The problem is that not many people have actually seen Peter Pettigrew.
Even if he stood before everyone now, we wouldn't recognize him.
Moreover, compared to the official narrative that was established twelve years ago, people might not necessarily believe the truth.
On the other hand, everyone saw Sirius break into Gryffindor Tower.
So aside from us, others will probably find it hard to believe he was wrongly accused.
Didn't Professor McGonagall say so? Even the Headmaster can't influence the Ministry."
Hearing this, Ginny said worriedly, "So can we really only wait for Sirius to appear in person?"
"Not necessarily."
Luna suddenly spoke up. Though looking at Sherlock, her gaze was unfocused, as if she'd taken Veritaserum.
But she obviously didn't mind, saying in that ethereal voice of hers.
"Sherlock already has a solution, doesn't he? Just follow his arrangements."
Luna's words immediately silenced everyone. They all looked at her in surprise.
Especially Hermione, who looked between Luna and Sherlock.
'What? I didn't even notice this!'
Sherlock smiled slightly. "Luna, you've spotted the key point."
Hearing this, Harry, Hermione, and Ron couldn't help but exchange glances.
Because this phrase was all too familiar to them!
Especially Harry and Hermione—both simultaneously had the same thought.
'It was me, I was first! I came first!
I should be the subject of that sentence!'
A bit farther away, Gemma Farley watched Sherlock and Harry surrounded by the crowd, shook her head helplessly, and didn't approach.
Penelope Clearwater, standing beside her, couldn't help but tease.
"You waited so long, but now that they're here, you don't go over? Don't tell me... you're worried about those little girls?"
"It seems love truly can change a person." Gemma glanced at Penelope, gracefully tucking her hair back. "Ever since you started dating Weasley, you're like a different person."
"I think you'd better worry about yourself first. Next year you'll be graduating, but he'll still be here for four whole years..."
Penelope looked toward the most conspicuous tall boy in the crowd, shaking her head as she said.
"So, are you really not going to apply to stay on as an apprentice?
Percy said Professor McGonagall asked about it last week. She thinks highly of both Head Girl and Boy."
"I've already told you—my father wants me to go to Greece to get involved in the magical mineral trade there."
Gemma said softly, as if discussing something completely unrelated to herself.
"But you chose to go to the dragon sanctuary in Romania."
Penelope frowned, finding Gemma's choice incomprehensible.
"Since you've already gone against your father's wishes, why not just stay?
I don't think Romania is a better choice than Hogwarts. It's not even as good as the Ministry—at least that's still in Britain."
"I have my considerations, Penelope. I'm very sorry, but I can't tell you right now." Gemma looked apologetic, feeling guilty about not being able to share her thoughts with her friend.
"I don't mind, of course," Penelope said, looking again at Sherlock in the crowd. "I'm just afraid that after you leave, he won't necessarily remain... pure."
Gemma was both amused and annoyed by Penelope's phrasing. "My dear Penelope, please don't judge others by yourself."
"Fine, I'm shallow then!" Penelope said irritably. "Kindness gets me mocked."
"Don't be like that, Penelope. You know I didn't mean it that way."
Gemma said, affectionately putting her arm around Penelope's shoulders and whispering something to her.
Penelope's face reddened. She glared at Gemma, then leaned in to whisper back.
The two beauties whispering in the Great Hall created a striking scene, drawing glances from passersby.
Meanwhile, Sherlock was explaining to his friends.
"Dear friends, you and Professor McGonagall have all fallen into a misconception."
"We and Professor McGonagall... fell into a misconception?"
Hermione repeated Sherlock's words, her eyes showing confusion.
"Yes. This matter really isn't as difficult as you imagine. As long as we see through to the essence of the problem, we can solve it with the simplest method."
Ron looked at Sherlock with that clear yet foolish gaze, obviously waiting for an explanation.
Sherlock didn't disappoint him. Under everyone's expectant eyes, he said at double speed.
"The Ministry has always claimed to represent fairness and justice, yet when facing the truth, they show such cowardice.
Essentially, this is the bureaucratic system's self-preservation survival strategy, ultimately causing what should represent justice to become a tool for maintaining vested interests, rather than a path to achieving justice."
"Uh..."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, hesitant to speak.
Though they didn't quite understand, it sounded impressively philosophical.
Everyone else's expressions were similar, except Hermione and Cho Chang, who looked thoughtful.
Fortunately, Sherlock then explained further.
"As I told Professor McGonagall, negotiating within rules set by the other party is meaningless.
When Voldemort ruled the wizarding world back then, where were these people?
I'll bet you a Galleon that if Voldemort returns someday and attacks the Ministry, those who now invoke procedural justice won't even dare to breathe!"
Everyone nodded.
However, upon hearing Voldemort's name, Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Cho flinched slightly.
Sherlock paid no attention and continued.
"At its root, it's because Dumbledore's years of concessions have given Fudge and the Ministry the illusion that Dumbledore will only present facts and reason with them.
In truth, with Dumbledore's power, there's no need to present evidence like this and wait for their approval.
Yet he's trapped himself in this school because of the past, even becoming his own jailer.
Fearing power, distancing himself from force, adhering to rules, overcorrecting..."
At this point, Sherlock shook his head, clearly disapproving of Dumbledore's choice.
"Ultimately, the Ministry dares to act so brazenly now because Dumbledore is a good person."
"Yes, Dumbledore is indeed a good person."
This time, Harry nodded.
Not just him—all the friends listening to Sherlock felt the same way.
At Hogwarts, whether new or old students, most feared Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.
But they weren't really afraid of the actual Headmaster, Dumbledore.
If Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore's furious expression when Peter tried to attack him, he might have thought Dumbledore was just a kindly old grandfather who never got angry.
"Dumbledore is a good person, but...
Why should good people have to let others point wands at them? What kind of logic is that?"
Sherlock didn't want to dwell on this issue. "Since they don't intend to be reasonable, then we'll beat them at what they're best at!"
Ron was still the most impatient person. Unafraid of others laughing at him, he said, "To be honest, I still don't quite understand what you mean."
"I didn't expect you to figure it out."
Ron: .....
'Did you have to be so blunt?'
"All right, let me try to make it more explicit—December 25th, 1991."
Sherlock turned to Harry. "That day you received a phone call. When you asked me who it was, I told you he was the most dangerous person you know."
Harry thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "You mean... Mycroft, your brother!"
With Sherlock's reminder, he immediately remembered that before the school term started, Sherlock and he had gone to Diagon Alley with Mycroft's help.
He still couldn't figure out how a Muggle government employee could influence the Ministry and even get them to send people and cars to escort them.
"Correct. When bureaucratic systems discover that maintaining an error costs more than correcting it, they suddenly become full of righteous indignation."
Under everyone's gaze, Sherlock smiled. "I think it won't be long before we see results—for these people, we must defeat them using their own methods. That's what makes it interesting."
This time, all the friends looked at each other.
Even knowing that Sherlock would ask his brother, Mycroft Holmes, for help, they still found it all mysteriously impressive, including the smartest ones, Hermione and Cho.
Then Sherlock simply borrowed paper and pen from Hermione and, in front of his friends, wrote the following.
[Mycroft, the Ministry goldfish refuse to acknowledge Sirius's innocence, insisting he confront Peter face-to-face]
[Clearly, they're enjoying the show of treating a hero like a criminal]
Seeing Sherlock write only these two sentences before tying the parchment to Watson's leg, his friends were stunned.
"That's it?"
Hermione looked at Sherlock in surprise. "Shouldn't you write more details? And you didn't even say what you need him to do!"
"If he still needs me to tell him what to do..." Sherlock shook his head. "Then there's no point in telling him about this."
Luna tilted her head. "Self-evident, goes without saying?"
"Exactly, my friend."
All evening, Harry imagined what methods Mycroft Holmes would use to help them solve this problem.
He hadn't forgotten that Sherlock's brother's observation and deduction abilities were even sharper than his own.
Especially after their previous experience, as a participant, he'd witnessed this elder Holmes's methods firsthand.
Since Sherlock was so confident, Harry firmly believed this matter could be resolved.
Harry had already imagined Mycroft's capabilities as exaggerated as possible, yet he never expected the solution to this problem would be so simple, brutal, direct, and effective.
The next morning, when Sherlock, Harry, and Neville returned to the dormitory after another fencing session, Ron who should have been sleeping at this hour was already awake.
Not only that, he was holding a newspaper and reading it with great interest.
"Sherlock, Harry, Neville—you're just in time! Come look at this!"
When he saw the three return, he jumped up like Crookshanks having its tail stepped on.
While speaking, he handed over the newspaper in his hand.
"Quick, come look at this!"
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