Chapter 125: Another Duel

The straw seems to symbolize the murderer. As long as there is this thing on the ground, it must have been here.

“What is it doing in here?” Sherlock frowned.

Silk didn’t answer his question, but he started to patrol the backyard. Too many messy things were piled up, and it was hard to find anything at a glance. She drew her wand and tapped the air.

The next moment, all the worn wooden barrels, tables, chairs, and benches around were floating in mid-air, and a scene was presented in front of them. Sherlock took Sirius around and found nothing strange. At this moment, the back door of the bar was suddenly opened.

A filthy old man with a long, messy beard glared at them, “What are you doing?”

This is the bartender and the bar’s owner. He was obviously alarmed by Silk’s movement just now.

“Sorry, sir. We have made some discoveries in your yard regarding the attack the other day.”

Faced with this situation, Sherlock and the others didn’t have any good excuses to explain. The old man with the smell of sheep didn’t listen to them at all. He pulled out his wand and yelled at them, “Are you Aurors from the Ministry of Magic? If not, get out of my yard now.”

“Okay, we’ll go now.” Sherlock took Sirius and Silk out of the bar’s backyard together. They stood in an alley and looked at the worn and dirty bar from a distance.

Sherlock rubbed his chin, thinking of something else. Silk was also looking at the building, and she seemed to think of something.

“If there wasn’t something wrong with the backyard, it was the pub itself.”

“This town seems to have been occupied by Goblins.”

Her words reminded Sherlock of something, and he said with a stunned expression, “I remembered that one of the most famous things in Hogsmeade is that when the Goblins rebelled, they occupied it and built a headquarters here. The headquarters location seems to be in this bar.”

The murderer came to the backyard of the Hog’s Head Inn, which happened to be the headquarters of the goblins. Things are a bit too coincidental, and people like to associate two things together.

Sherlock thought, “Maybe what it is looking for has something to do with the goblins in here?”

Silk finally took a deep look at the building and said softly, “I will find someone to verify these things.”

The sky was dark. They didn’t plan to stay here any longer and were going to return to Hogwarts. Before leaving, Sherlock stared at the dog in his hand. He felt that the dog was smart and wanted to take it away and keep it as a pet.

“If you don’t want to continue wandering alone, you can come with me in the future.”

Sirius just thought for a moment and decisively rejected this in his heart. Following Sherlock into Hogwarts seemed to provide him with convenience, allowing him to act freely in the castle. But he didn’t need this at all. He knew every secret passage from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts.

If he follows Sherlock, any of his actions will be restricted, and if he is careless, he will reveal himself. Seeing that he was unwilling to follow him, Sherlock didn’t insist and removed the dog leashes, allowing Sirius to be free.

Sirius ran straight away. He was afraid Sherlock would suddenly change his attention and capture him again, but since Sherlock had let him go, he didn’t care much.

They returned to Hogwarts. During dinner in the Hall, Sherlock also heard about Hagrid’s accident in his first class today. Out of concern, Sherlock went to Hagrid’s cabin to visit him.

When he entered, Hagrid seemed to have just cried. He had red eyes and was blowing his nose with a tissue.

“Protego!”

Invisible shields wrapped Sherlock and Percy, respectively. If Percy was using the Protego Charm in a normal duel, Sherlock could have tried to knock him down directly. But this was a test, and he would back down first. After both cast a spell on themselves, Percy immediately refocused his wand at Sherlock.

“Expelliarmus!” His first attack was still a curse.

Sherlock was not in a hurry. He blocked the spell. But this time, the Protego Charm did not wrap his body to form protection; instead, he directly used the wand tip as the center to form a transparent barrier.

This blocked Percy’s Spell, and the colorless barrier became blood red after making contact with the Disarming Charm. The next second, the spell bounced back directly.

Fortunately, Percy was well prepared. The high-level Protego Charm can reflect the spell coming toward the caster. Sherlock told them about this in the sixth grade. Before his spell was bounced back, Percy rolled to the side. Although it was a bit rough, he managed to avoid the spell that bounced back.

While rolling, Percy started to wave his wand subtly and covertly. A chair behind Sherlock suddenly changed. Five slender snakes spread up along his ankles. They became longer and longer, and when they saw that they were about to strangle him, Sherlock tapped his wand lightly.

The snake was instantly turned back to its original shape and turned back into a chair. The next moment, after using the spell, his wand waved again, but no chant came out from his mouth. Seeing this, Percy’s heart tensed, and he immediately looked around him, trying to see what exactly was deformed by Sherlock.

However, there is nothing around him. At this time, Percy realized that he had been deceived, but when he realized it was too late because Sherlock’s Spell had been cast.

“Expelliarmus.”

The red spell slashed through the space, and Percy could not avoid it. It hit the Protego Charm on him head-on. Invisible ripples swayed in front of him, and a sound like glass breaking suddenly sounded. Percy’s Protego Charm successfully blocked the spell, but Sherlock also managed to break it.

Just when Percy was about to reorganize from the panic and find a chance for himself to cast another one, two chains silently wrapped around his legs. Percy just reacted, and before he had time to raise his wand, the two chains had already wrapped around his arms and were directly tied to the spot.

This duel is over.

All the other students who watched the duel applauded. The duel was exciting. Although Percy lost, no one thought he would win at first, and it was beyond many people’s expectations that he could last under Sherlock that long.

Sherlock’s skillful casting and spell casting left a deep impression on the students. Every swing of his wand doesn’t feel like a fight. It’s more like an artist sculpting the most exquisite masterpiece.

“Very good.” Sherlock removed the Transfiguration from Percy’s body. Only at this time did Percy discover that the thing that was used to transform was a chair.

It’s just that this chair was far away from him before, and he hadn’t paid attention to it.

Sherlock’s silent swing of the wand was not a deception because the object used was far away from Percy, so he didn’t notice it at first and thought it was just a distraction. He was attracted by the Disarming Charm that broke his shield. By the time he found out, it was too late.

“Your performance is good enough. Except for your lack of experience, you are no worse than any adult wizard. If this is a real test, I will give you the highest score.” Sherlock didn’t belittle Percy’s attempt.

Because his performance is the best among the students, there is never a shortage of geniuses among the Weasleys, and Percy is undoubtedly one of them. His strictness is a little too strong compared to his other brothers.

It was an actual combat class, and Sherlock naturally wouldn’t delve into his personal things. His admiration made Percy blush, and he walked back to the student side.

Later, Sherlock began to analyze the entire duel for the students, “The most important thing in combat is to master the flow of the fight and how to use your spells better in certain situations.”