Chapter 119: Chaotic Situation

Chapter 119: Chaotic Situation

Sherlock Apparates directly to Diagon Alley.

A week ago, Sherlock knew that Harry was living in the room at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry wrote and asked Hedwig to notify him about his situation. After getting the wand from Ollivander, Sherlock went to the Leaky Cauldron to visit Harry, who had been living there for almost a month.

“I thought I was going to be expelled, but the minister said, ‘We’re not going to expel you just because you blowing up your aunt.'” Harry’s face was still full of disbelief when he told Sherlock about this.

“He was a good person, and I asked him to help me sign my Hogsmeade form, but he didn’t say yes, saying I would be safe at school.”

Sherlock hasn’t seen the true face of Fudge once since he came to this world. But that doesn’t matter, he already knew from all quarters that Fudge was a politically prudent man. Everything he does seems to have to be considered before starting whether this matter will shake his position as a minister.

Just like he didn’t hold Harry accountable for casting spells outside of school, now the whole wizarding world knows that Black escaped from Azkaban, and they are all concerned about Harry Potter’s safety. If something unexpected happens to Harry, Fudge will face intense public pressure.

“The night you came to my house was unfortunate timing,” Sherlock recalled. I was out for some things and didn’t stay at home.”

He didn’t reprimand Harry about it. At that level, he must have been unable to bear what they were saying. He should have erupted a long time ago, so Sherlock didn’t say anything.

“It’s okay, Professor,” said Harry, “I’ve been feeling pretty good the past two weeks at the Leaky Cauldron. Now Ron’s family is back, and so does Hermione. We’ll go to the 9 3⁄4 Quarters together in a few days.”

After Sherlock and Harry chatted for a while, Mr. Weasley called him alone to a corner of the lobby of the Leaky Cauldron, intending to talk to the two of them in private.

“I heard from Kingsley that you’ve changed a lot after being a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for a year.” Mr. Weasley looked at Sherlock in astonishment as soon as he saw him.

“I heard the kids talk about what happened at Hogwarts at the end of last term. Molly and I both were worried for you, Sherlock.”

Sherlock smiled, “Although it’s a dangerous one, thankfully, it ended in a good way. It changed my whole perspective.”

“Yes, we are very happy to think so, or we have all been waiting for this day for a long time.” Mr. Weasley said with relief.

They were just chatting briefly, and Mr. Weasley turned the subject back to the point.

“You should already know about Black’s escape from Azkaban,” he said in a heavy voice.

Sherlock nodded, “In July, I was traveling in France with Harry, and I received a letter from the Ministry of Magic asking me to return Harry to his aunt’s house as soon as possible. I knew at that time that this matter had a lot to do with Harry. Black escaped from Azkaban to find Harry.”

Mr. Weasley lowered his voice deliberately, “It’s not that simple, Sherlock. You have to look after Harry at Hogwarts, and don’t let Black find him.”

Sherlock’s face suddenly became very surprised. He looked around and made sure that no one was paying attention to the chat between him and Mr. Weasley. He knew that what happened next must be a secret that few people knew about.

Mr. Weasley’s face darkened, “Sirius Black was Harry’s dad’s best friend before the incident. He was even invited to be Harry’s godfather when Harry was born.”

Sherlock held his breath and continued to listen to Mr. Weasley’s words.

The next morning, after packing some commonly used daily necessities and clothes, Sherlock used Apparition to come to Hogsmeade directly. He chose the location in the alley where he had returned from the Apparition school.

After walking out of there, Sherlock felt something was wrong. The streets of Hogsmeade are a little too quiet. There wasn’t even a single civilian in sight. As the only wizarding town in the UK, even if there are no Hogwarts students, there are not a few guests who come here every day.

But now, it seems to be an empty town with no one. Just when Sherlock frowned at the situation, an Auror patrol team happened to appear from the corner and found Sherlock.

“Excuse me, sir. Stand where you are and cooperate with our inspection, please.” The three Aurors immediately approached Sherlock, each holding a wand in their hand.

Sherlock did not take any sudden actions but cooperated with their investigation.

“We want to know your name and why you came to Hogsmeade.”

“Sherlock Forrest, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, and I are trying to go to Hogwarts through Hogsmeade.”

One of the Aurors was clearly the leader. He raised his head and took a serious look at Sherlock’s face, “I see, I’ve seen your face in the newspaper, Mr. Forrest. Well, you can go to Hogwarts as soon as possible and try not to stay in Hogsmeade for too long.”

Sherlock frowned at them and asked, “What happened?”

The Auror wasn’t trying to hide it from him.

“There was an attack here last night, targeting the local Quill shop. Coupled with the recent Black incident, Hogsmeade is under martial law, and the Dementors will be stationed soon. They want to get Black here, and this town isn’t safe. If it’s not necessary, try not to come here again until the problem is solved,” he said and prepared to leave with the other two Aurors to continue patrolling elsewhere.

Sherlock suddenly asked them again, “Did the owner of that shop who was attacked look like a Dementor kissed him?”

The three Aurors suddenly stopped, and the Auror captain who had just spoken with him turned his head and stared at him seriously, “How do you know that?”

“Kingsley Shacklebolt in your department is my friend. When a similar case happened in the front-end time, I used to help him about it.”

Hearing him say that, the Auror expression relaxed a little.

“But wasn’t it said at the time that the Aurors from Germany took over this matter? Why do the attacks continue to happen?” Sherlock asked.

After learning that he knew some inside information, the Auror shook his head helplessly and said, “This case has been handed over to the Germans. They are indeed a little capable, and they predicted that the culprit’s next move would be near Hogwarts.”

“But we must deal with the follow-up attack. Director Scrimgeour also asked the three wizards to catch the culprit before the next attack, or they would complain to the German Ministry of Magic.”

Sherlock could hear how helpless Scrimgeour was in those words. They have no clue about the culprit who committed the crime in the UK, and they have to devote most of their manpower to catching Sirius Black at the same time.

Even if another attack happened, he didn’t dare to send the three German wizards out because no one could take over the case later. The situation embarrassed the British Ministry of Magic, and Scrimgeour was under a lot of pressure.