Chapter 23: Unexpected Gain
Chapter 23: Unexpected Gain
"Ffff, Professor Forrest."
This was the second student Sherlock encountered tonight who pronounced his last name as 'four f's,' and coincidentally, they were both Weasleys.
George and Fred were now extremely nervous.
They had no idea why Sherlock, who had just started his job today, would be here.
Of course, his presence wasn't the main issue. The real problem was that just a minute ago, they had used their secret treasure, the Marauder's Map, right in front of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
Once they realized their mistake, George quickly hid the Marauder's Map behind his back.
The next second, he and Fred shared a knowing look and forced a nervous laugh.
"Professor Forrest, what a coincidence! You're still out for a stroll this late. We didn't expect to run into you."
"Exactly, exactly. It's so late, and we're surprised to see you. It's getting late, you should head back to rest. We're also heading to bed; staying up late won't help us grow taller."
George and Fred tried to brush off the incident with casual banter and started walking toward the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.
However, their attempt to cover up their actions didn't fool Sherlock.
As soon as they turned, Sherlock grabbed the collars of their robes.
Fred and George's bodies stiffened immediately.
They swallowed hard and exchanged a glance, both seeing the same realization in each other's eyes: they wouldn't be getting away this easily tonight.
"Um, is there something else, Professor Forrest? We need to get back to sleep; Mom says staying up late is bad for our health."
George made a last-ditch effort to resist.
However, Sherlock had already extended his hand and said calmly, "Hand it over."
Realizing they couldn't avoid it, George and Fred reluctantly pulled out the Marauder's Map from behind their backs.
They knew better than to try any tricks in front of Sherlock.
During the summer, Mrs. Weasley had repeatedly told them how formidable Professor Forrest had been as a student.
After graduating, he had served as an Auror for over a year before finding the job too boring and resigning from the Ministry of Magic to focus on magic research at home.
In less than two years, he had already written two books on defensive spells that were highly regarded by many Spell Masters.
Not to mention, at the young age of twenty-something, he had secured a position as a professor at Hogwarts, a thousand-year-old institution, which was no small feat.
They could mess with Filch because they had been at odds with him for three years and had long figured out that he was a pushover.
But Sherlock was definitely not someone to be trifled with, at least not from what they could tell.
Sherlock took the parchment from the twins. The magic on it was still active, and he immediately recognized its incredible utility.
This was a magical map that showed every location and structure within Hogwarts.
Not just inside the castle, but every building and piece of land within the Hogwarts grounds was displayed on this map.
Most astonishingly, the map also showed the real-time locations of everyone within the school.
For instance, Sherlock could see that Dumbledore was pacing in his office, Filch was sprinting toward his quarters, and Professor Flitwick was chatting with Astronomy Professor Sinistra in the staff common room.
With this map, Sherlock would have a complete grasp of the entire Hogwarts, exactly what he needed the most at this moment!
So, he lifted his head from the Marauder's Map and stared at the twins with a rather intimidating gaze.
"Alright, let's discuss how to resolve this matter, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley."
George and Fred looked down, their expressions meek.
They knew very well that although Sherlock was talking about a discussion, they had no room to argue. All they could do was hope he wouldn't confiscate the Marauder's Map and tell their mother about this.
"You set up traps beforehand, got the caretaker Filch into a mess, and then tried to sneak out of the common room during curfew with what appears to be a prohibited item, the Hogwarts map. Any one of these actions is a serious violation of school rules."
As Sherlock spoke, George and Fred had already despaired, thinking he would be unyielding and hand them over to Professor Mcgonagall. But suddenly, Sherlock changed his tone.
"But you know I have a good relationship with your parents. If they found out their sons were doing such things at school, they would be furious. So, I can consider giving you a break."
George and Fred's faces immediately lit up with surprise.
"I won't report your rule-breaking tonight to the school, and I won't confiscate this map. However, to teach you a lesson, I will keep the map for a few days. If I think you've behaved well in the first half of the semester, I'll return it to you by Christmas."
Hearing that they could get the map back, George and Fred immediately made solemn promises.
"We promise to be well-behaved and obedient for the next few months, Professor Forrest!"
"Let's hope so."
George and Fred didn't dare to ask for more. The fact that Sherlock agreed to return the map in the future was already a pleasant surprise.
Besides, they had only promised to be well-behaved for the next few months. What happened after they got the Marauder's Map back was another story.
So, they asked cautiously.
"Can we go back to sleep now, Professor?"
Instead of answering, Sherlock handed the Marauder's Map back to them.
"Remove the magic from this map."
Fred obediently took the map and, in front of Sherlock, raised his wand and pointed it at the Marauder's Map, reciting the spell.
"Mischief Managed!"
The moment his wand touched the map, all the lines on the parchment contracted towards the center, eventually converging into a single ink dot that disappeared completely. The Marauder's Map had turned into a plain piece of parchment.
Sherlock had memorized both the activation and deactivation spells. He took the map back from Fred, nodded, and indicated that they could go back to sleep.
The twins turned and said the password to the Fat Lady's portrait at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, ending their night excursion before it even began.
The quiet castle corridor was now left with only Sherlock.
He looked at the unremarkable parchment in his hand and lightly tapped it with his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
In the next moment, countless dark lines emerged from the center of the parchment, spreading out like snakes, eventually forming a real-time map of the entire Hogwarts.
Looking at his unexpected gain for the night, a small, beautiful smile curved Sherlock's lips.
(End of Chapter)
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