Chapter 53: Human or God
Chapter 53: Human or God
"Weasley!" Filch called out Ron’s last name with a sinister tone.
For obvious reasons, the castle caretaker had a particular dislike for all students surnamed Weasley.
When he spat out the name, it was with a noticeable grit of his teeth.
On any other day, seeing Filch blocking their path like this would have made Harry and Ron nervous, and Hermione would have started to suspect that the two troublemakers beside her had done something wrong again.
But this time, they had none of those thoughts.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all fixed their gazes on Filch, their eyes filled with a mixture of anticipation that even made Filch feel uneasy.
"What kind of look is that? Trying to intimidate me, are you?"
He said this with a wary expression.
Having been pranked by George and Fred so often, he tended to be overly cautious and vigilant at times.
Ron, however, paid no attention to Filch’s words and instead said eagerly, "What do you want, Filch? Hurry up and say it, or we’re leaving."
Filch cast a suspicious glance at the three of them, making sure there were no other issues. Once he was satisfied, he finally spoke.
"Today, while patrolling the trophy room, I discovered, Weasley! The last time you were punished to clean it, there were areas you didn’t clean properly! The trophy at the very back was still covered in dust. I’ve already informed Professor Mcgonagall, and you’re to clean it again today until I’m satisfied it’s spotless!"
Filch expected Ron to argue that he had already cleaned it thoroughly or to try to run away with his friends, refusing to accept the punishment.
So, he was prepared to grab Ron’s arm at any moment.
But to his surprise, Ron showed no signs of resistance.
In fact, Ron and Harry actually jumped up with excitement!
"I haven’t broken any rules! I haven’t violated any school regulations!"
"But Filch found you and is enforcing the punishment!"
Seeing their obvious joy, Filch looked at them as if they were mad.
"You’re happy about being punished?"
But no one paid him any attention. Even Hermione stood there, stunned, muttering to herself.
"This is all real… This is all because of Professor Forrest…"
Her mindset had shifted.
If everything that had happened before could be explained as a coincidence, could this current situation also be a coincidence?
Ron hadn’t broken any rules; he had just failed to clean the trophy room properly the last time, and Filch was making him clean it again.
That wasn’t unusual, but what was strange was that it happened right after Sherlock told Ron that if he didn’t break any rules before Christmas, Filch wouldn’t cause him any trouble!
These low-probability events kept occurring, and each time, they followed one of Sherlock’s jinxes. This was no longer a coincidence.
It was clearly related to Sherlock!
"What are you up to?" Filch said impatiently, looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione as if they were idiots.
"Even if you’re faking madness, you still have to go back and clean the trophy room, Weasley! Don’t think you can escape the punishment!"
Ron said excitedly, "Of course, I’ll accept the punishment! You guys go back to the common room and wait for me. I’ll be back soon!"
He looked even more excited than if he had just received a new wand, and followed Filch, who was looking at him as if he were a lunatic, out of the room.
Harry and Hermione continued on their way to the Gryffindor common room.
"This can't be a coincidence anymore, Hermione", Harry said, his excitement palpable.
It was a kind of excitement that felt like he had accidentally discovered the biggest bug in the world.
Faced with undeniable facts, Hermione could no longer find a reason to disbelieve.
"I really don't understand why he has this kind of talent. No matter what happens, the outcome always turns out the opposite. How did Professor Forrest live all these years? Isn't everything in his life just going wrong?"
Harry suddenly realized something.
"No wonder Professor Forrest's personality is so cold. If I had been living such an unlucky life, I would have gone mad long ago."
"Do you think Professor Forrest himself knows he has this... jinxed constitution?" Hermione suddenly thought of a key question.
Harry scratched his head, guessing.
"He probably doesn't know. If he did, he would have already figured out what our test was about, and wouldn't have let us experiment like this."
Hermione and Harry waited in the Gryffindor common room for Ron to finish cleaning the trophy room and return.
After a long moment of contemplation, she turned to Harry and said,
"We should continue the tests!"
Harry looked at her with confusion.
"What else do we need to test? We already know that Professor Forrest is a 100% jinx, right?"
"It might not be 100%", Hermione said seriously. "The things that have happened so far, like the weather, good luck, and even Ron not being punished by Filch today, are all events that have a probability of occurring, just with varying degrees of likelihood. But what about something that is absolutely impossible?"
"For example, the sun rises from the east every day. If Professor Forrest says, 'The sun rising from the east is the most normal thing in the world,' would the sun rise from the west the next day?"
Hearing Hermione's hypothesis, Harry's mouth opened wide enough to fit Hagrid's fist.
He hadn't expected Hermione to come up with such an incredible theory.
"No, that's impossible! If that were true, Professor Forrest would be a god!"
Harry's face was filled with terror.
"And if Professor Forrest's jinx really has that kind of power, and we conduct the test, and the sun rises from the west the next day, what would happen to the world?"
Hermione demonstrated a perfect scientific hypothesis spirit.
"Of course, we can't conduct an experiment with such severe consequences. So, we can find a similar one with less severe outcomes."
They waited for Ron to return to the common room, and Hermione shared her plan with them.
In the end, the three of them agreed to use this method to conduct another round of tests on Sherlock the next day.
Meanwhile, Sherlock, who was still in his office, laboring over the upper-year students' assignments, had no idea that his students were preparing to test whether he could make the sun rise from the west the next day.
(End of Chapter)
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