Chapter 400: Outing

Chapter 400: Outing (4k Combined)

After Christmas, the entire wizarding world became somewhat quieter.

The Death Eaters were no longer as active as they had been, having begun to withdraw their forces. Although they occasionally still committed acts of violence, they rarely engaged in direct conflict with the Aurors anymore.

This situation naturally gave Scrimgeour an opportunity to boast, claiming that it was a strong sign of a partial victory for the Ministry of Magic. According to him, even though the Dark Lord had returned, his power was far less formidable than before, and the stability the public craved was just around the corner.

However, how many people actually believed his claims was anyone's guess.

At least within Hogwarts, both Sherlock and Dumbledore were well aware that the actions of the Death Eaters were merely an extension of Voldemort's will. The strength of this force depended entirely on Voldemort's personal power.

True stability would never come as long as Voldemort lived.

To date, the Ministry of Magic had not produced a single Wizard capable of confronting him directly, let alone one who knew how to bring about his death.

Within the castle, Sherlock continued to work tirelessly on this task.

Pushing open the door to the Room of Requirement, he emerged once again with nothing to show for his efforts, his disappointment evident.

After "digesting" the locket, Sherlock's overall strength had significantly increased. The most noticeable improvement was in his control over his domain, which had doubled from a 10-meter radius to 20 meters. The power and precision of his Control Magic had also visibly improved.

Without a wand, he could now cast over 80% of his spells by hand, with only the most demanding ones still out of reach. Overall, this was a substantial enhancement for Sherlock.

Despite this, Sherlock still had not found the item he had previously sensed in the Room of Requirement, which was likely the Horcrux of the Ravenclaw Crown.

As he stared at the wall, pondering whether he had overlooked something, a curious voice sounded behind him.

"Professor Forrest, what are you doing here?"

Sherlock turned to see Harry, who was standing at the bend of the stairs, breathing heavily and looking puzzled.

Seeing Harry, Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you just finished running, Harry?"

"No, it was Quidditch training", Harry replied, sitting down on the stairs and trying to steady his breathing. "The former captain, Wood, graduated, and this semester, Angelina has taken over. She's just as strict as Wood was, and she wants to lead us to the House Cup this year, so the training is quite intense."

Sherlock nodded, having no objections to Harry's extracurricular activities.

There were not many sports that Wizards could participate in outdoors, and Quidditch was by far the most popular.

Just then, Sherlock stared at Harry for a moment, a sudden idea lighting up his eyes.

"Harry, perhaps you could help me with something."

Harry, who was still rubbing his shoulder where a Bludger had hit him earlier, looked up in confusion.

"What kind of help?"

Sherlock grabbed Harry's arm and led him to the wall in front of the Room of Requirement.

"There's a door here."

Harry, of course, did not think Sherlock was joking about the empty wall. He simply blinked and asked, "The door is hidden by magic?"

"Something like that. Behind this door is a magical room called the Room of Requirement. If you stand in front of the wall and think about the room you need, then walk back and forth three times, the door will appear, and behind it will be the room you need."

Harry's face was one of astonishment; he had never heard of such a place in Hogwarts before.

The Room of Requirement was a legendary location, mentioned in various school histories and secrets. However, Harry had never paid much attention to these books. If it were Hermione, she would definitely know about the Room of Requirement.

"I'm looking for something, Harry. This item is hidden in the Room of Requirement, but no one knows in which room it is. I don't have enough time to search through all the rooms by myself, so I was hoping you could help me. When you have free time, could you search for a crown in this room?"

“Crown? The kind of crown with a specific form?” Harry asked.

“Yes, it’s a crown with a gemstone in the center and the overall shape of an eagle.”

Sherlock described the appearance of the Ravenclaw Crown to Harry. This information was obtained by Dumbledore from Lady Gray.

“On the edge of the crown, there is an inscription—‘Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.’”

This semester had been rather uneventful for Harry. Apart from the Dementor attack during the summer, everything since the start of the school year had returned to a normal campus life. However, the members of the Order of the Phoenix, as well as Sherlock and Dumbledore, seemed to be busy with many things.

This made Harry feel a strong desire to help, but also a sense of helplessness. Now that Sherlock could assign him a task, he was more than happy to accept it.

“Just leave it to me, Professor Forrest. I’ll definitely find it.”

Harry slapped his chest confidently, and Sherlock patted his shoulder, officially entrusting the task to him.

Back in the office, Sherlock had barely sat down for two minutes when a knock came at the door.

It was Draco.

Since the Christmas visit when he came to seek advice, Draco had returned several times. During these visits, he did not engage in any suspicious actions, only asking questions about Defense Against the Dark Arts.

However, this time, he wasn’t coming on his own initiative. Sherlock had specifically sent someone to bring him from Slytherin House.

“Professor Forrest, you wanted to see me.”

Even at this moment, Draco still had that arrogant and annoying demeanor, but he at least called Sherlock professor.

When Sherlock saw Draco enter, he stood up again and took a coat from the stand.

Draco then noticed that Sherlock wasn’t wearing traditional Wizard Robes. Instead, he had on jeans and a dark green sweater, with a thick overcoat on top. Compared to a Wizard, this outfit looked more like a Muggle's.

“Didn’t I say I needed your help with something? Today is Saturday, and it’s time for you to assist me, Draco. Come with me now.”

Draco, seeing Sherlock’s ready-to-go appearance, was initially stunned but quickly recovered. His first reaction was resistance.

“I don’t want to go out!”

Sherlock stopped and looked at him, shrugging.

“Are you worried I’ll harm you? Don’t think so poorly of me. If I had any such intentions, I would have acted on the first day you came to me. Why wait until now?”

Although he said this, Draco still felt that the likelihood of Sherlock harming him was low, but he remained vigilant.

“If I refuse, will you not let me come to you for help in the future?”

“Of course not. I told you from the beginning that I wouldn’t force you to do anything. Answering your academic questions is my duty as a teacher, not a favor.”

Draco could tell Sherlock wasn’t lying.

He was now conflicted, avoiding eye contact with Sherlock, and struggled for a long time.

Sherlock didn’t rush him, waiting for him to make a decision.

“I’ll go with you,” Draco said reluctantly, “but you have to guarantee my safety!”

“Even if you didn’t say that, I would still do it. I’m responsible for your safety once I take you out.”

Sherlock spoke as he walked out of the office, with Draco following behind, his face a mixture of coldness and tension.

It was the third Saturday after the Christmas break, and the students had long returned to their regular class schedules.

Sherlock and Draco made their way from the third floor to the ground floor without any disguise. Many students saw them, including Hermione, who had just left the library with a stack of books, heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Seeing the two of them together, Hermione was as surprised as if she had seen Snape inviting Harry to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer.

She changed her course and followed Sherlock and Draco, watching them until they left the Hogwarts gates. Then, still in shock, she returned to the Gryffindor Common Room.

In the common room, Ron was playing wizard chess with Seamus, and Harry had not returned yet. Hermione could only share the news with Ron alone.

Ron's face was full of disbelief.

"The last time we saw Malfoy, he went to talk to Professor Forrest on his own, which was already hard enough to believe. But today, the professor actually took that git Malfoy out of the school?"

"I also find it hard to believe", Hermione murmured. "I remember at the beginning of the semester, we overheard Malfoy badmouthing Professor Forrest. Now they're going out together."

The scene they witnessed on Christmas Day was already strange enough, and now the relationship between Sherlock and Draco only seemed more unusual.

Harry didn't return until close to noon.

He was very dedicated to the task Sherlock had given him and had spent the entire morning in the Room of Requirement, but he had not found anything yet.

"Aren't we done with training early in the morning? Why did you come back so late?" Ron asked, puzzled.

Just as Harry was about to pull them to a corner of the common room to quietly tell them about the Room of Requirement, Ron eagerly shared Hermione's discovery.

Harry was stunned.

"You mean Professor Forrest took Malfoy out of the school today?" He repeated Ron's words as a question, then answered himself, "That's impossible. If Snape had invited Professor Forrest out for drinks, I might believe it, given their good relationship."

Seeing Harry's disbelief, Ron turned to Hermione, who said earnestly,

"I saw it with my own eyes. Not only me, but there were others in the corridor and the entrance hall. Some even greeted Professor Forrest, and he definitely took Malfoy out of the school."

With her confirmation, Harry found it hard to believe as well.

"Professor just gave me a task this morning, and then he went out with Malfoy? What could Professor Forrest be doing with him?"

Ron and Hermione shook their heads.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be discussing it with you."

Harry felt a bit uncomfortable. Although he was 16 years old, the idea that his respected mentor and friend might also have a good relationship with his arch-rival left him with a sense of defeat.

But he found a plausible explanation.

"Maybe Professor Forrest is trying to get information about the Death Eaters from Malfoy. We all know his father is a close confidant of the Dark Lord."

After hearing Harry's theory, Ron agreed.

"We saw Malfoy go to Professor Forrest first. Even we could see something was off about his actions, so the professor must have noticed too. He's probably using a ruse. It might be inconvenient to use Veritaserum inside Hogwarts, but outside, who knows?"

Harry and Ron both thought this was the most likely scenario. They even started discussing the possibility that Malfoy might be forced to reveal all his memories and be expelled from school once the task was done.

However, Hermione had a different opinion.

Given Sherlock's character over the years, anyone who knew him well would understand that he would not use such despicable means against his own students.

Harry and Ron were aware of this, but they were caught up in a more pleasant fantasy and didn't want to acknowledge it.

Meanwhile, as Harry and the others were discussing in the Gryffindor Common Room, Sherlock and Draco had just walked out of Hogwarts' gates.

"Since you came with me, you must obey me no matter what happens, Draco. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to use force, understood?"

Draco seemed to resent the commanding tone, but he still had a natural fear of Sherlock. He avoided eye contact and mumbled a soft "yes."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end