Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts

Sherlock followed Hagrid, continuously heading deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid held Fang on a leash with one hand, while constantly scanning his surroundings and introducing the Forbidden Forest to Sherlock:

"Don't let the Forbidden Forest's mystery fool you. It's filled with so many magical creatures that you can't even count them all, but I'm good friends with them.

Take Aragog, for example. Although he's frighteningly large, and his bite can numb you for half a day, he was actually a little cutie I adopted when I was at school.

If it weren't for the unsuitable timing today, I would have definitely taken you to meet this old friend.

Then there are those holy and beautiful unicorns, all snow-white with horns as shiny as silver. They usually love to graze and wander quietly by the springs in the forest, and they have very gentle temperaments.

But now—alas, this misfortune has befallen them.

The centaurs have also taken root here. They're very clever and know more about astronomy and geography than we do, but their temperaments are a bit unpredictable.

However, if you accidentally run into them, as long as you make your intentions clear, there won't be much of a problem.

Further in, there are also bicorns, bundimuns, thestrals, kneazles, bowtruckles, puffskeins—oh, and werewolves.

Although they're not commonly seen, you still have to be careful at certain times, like on the night of a full moon.

In short, the Forbidden Forest is much more dangerous than you imagine, so you must stick close to me—"

Before he could finish speaking, Hagrid suddenly pulled Sherlock behind a towering pine tree.

At the same time, he quickly drew an arrow, loaded it onto his crossbow, and aimed at the path they had been on.

"Damn it, something's coming!"

Sherlock noticed something was amiss even earlier than Hagrid.

He keenly heard the sound of something dragging a cloak on the ground, but it was drowned out by Hagrid's loud voice—even though he was trying to keep his voice down.

However, Hagrid's reaction wasn't slow. Just as he was about to open his mouth to remind him, Hagrid had already taken action.

Sherlock could even feel that Hagrid's aura was different at this moment.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Hagrid vigilantly stared at the path to the side and shouted:

"Come out now—I'm armed!"

Seeing Hagrid so tough, Fang immediately started running back and forth between Hagrid and Sherlock's feet.

Not only that, but he also bared his teeth in the direction of the sound, really giving off the appearance of a dog relying on its master's power, matching his ferocious appearance.

The creature lurking in the darkness didn't make Sherlock and Hagrid wait too long.

Soon, a strange creature came into their view.

The upper half of this creature was human-like, with red hair and a beard.

However, the lower half, including the waist, was the body of a shiny, brownish-red horse, with a long red tail dragging behind its rear.

At this moment, its tail was swishing back and forth, looking somewhat agitated.

With such obvious characteristics, Sherlock recognized them at a glance.

Centaurs, or rather, half-men, half-horses.

In the sky, they are represented by the constellations Centaurus and Sagittarius, creatures that originally only existed in Greek myths and legends.

But as the doors of the magical world officially opened to Sherlock, he also learned that this kind of magical creature really existed in this world.

It is worth noting that centaurs are a species in themselves, not a hybrid of half-human and half-beast—as some terrible works of literature portray them.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan."

Hagrid obviously knew the centaur who had suddenly appeared. He breathed a long sigh of relief and greeted him, "How are you?"

"Not well, Hagrid."

However, the centaur called Ronan didn't seem very happy. His voice was deep and sorrowful:

"You were going to shoot me?"

"Hey, don't be like that!"

Hagrid ignored Ronan's emotional change and stepped forward to forcefully shake his hand. "Gotta be vigilant, Ronan!"

As if to strengthen his persuasiveness, he patted his quiver. "Look, there's a bad guy running around in this forest."

After saying this, he introduced Sherlock and Ronan to each other.

The centaur named Ronan wasn't interested in Sherlock. After a brief greeting, he raised his head and said:

"Tonight, Mars is very bright."

Hagrid looked up at the sky and then echoed, saying:

"Yes, it is indeed very bright—by the way, Ronan, a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest has been injured. Have you seen anything?"

Even if Sherlock wasn't interested in astronomy, he could be sure that Hagrid hadn't found Mars in the sky.

Ronan didn't answer, but continued to stare unblinkingly at the sky. After a long while, he sighed.

"The innocent are always the first to suffer. It has been like this for centuries, and it is still like this now."

"Yes, yes, yes," Hagrid said somewhat perfunctorily at this point. "I mean—have you noticed anything unusual happening recently?"

"Tonight, Mars is very bright."

Ronan repeated this sentence again.

Hagrid: (一一)

"I know, it is indeed exceptionally bright—but what I mean is, near our area, is there anything abnormal?

Or rather, haven't you noticed any strange movements?"

Hagrid had clearly lost his patience.

However, Ronan still didn't answer.

Just then, there was another movement in the bushes behind Ronan. Hagrid had just raised his crossbow when the second centaur appeared.

The other party had black hair and a beard, and looked more rough than Ronan.

"Hello, Bane."

Hagrid obviously knew the other party as well. After greeting him, he began to ask:

"I was just asking Ronan, a unicorn has been injured. Have you noticed anything unusual recently?"

"Good evening, Hagrid."

Bane walked over and stood next to Ronan, looking up at the sky.

After a moment, he said:

"Tonight, Mars is very bright."

Hagrid: (十益)☆#

"We've already heard that sentence."

Hagrid was very irritable at this point. "If any of you see anything, please tell me quickly, okay?"

However, Ronan and Bane still looked up at the sky, completely ignoring him.

After a moment, the two centaurs spoke at the same time: "Tonight, Mars is very bright."

Hagrid: ()

"Let's go."

When he realized that he could only be impotently furious, Hagrid finally chose to give up.

Leaving the two centaurs there, Hagrid led Sherlock around them and continued to walk deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

"I knew it. Don't even think about getting clues from them—I mean, you never get a straight answer from centaurs."

Hagrid complained as he walked, and you could hear from his tone that he still hadn't escaped from the anger just now.

"They always like to look up at the stars. It's so annoying—they're not interested in anything except things around the moon, and they never say anything directly."

Sherlock had already seen this without Hagrid telling him.

"Yes, they don't speak human language properly."

Understandable.

After all, centaurs are not human.

Hearing Sherlock's evaluation, Hagrid nodded repeatedly.

Yes, yes, yes, they just don't speak human language properly.

"Sherlock, you're the only one who speaks sense!"

Sherlock couldn't help but find it a little funny. This was the first time he had received this kind of evaluation.

Just then, the two reached a fork in the road.

The ground was shimmering with silver light, which was the unicorn blood that Hagrid had just pointed out to Sherlock.

Sherlock bent down and observed for a moment, quickly coming to a conclusion:

"The bloodstains are fresh, proving that it just left here not long ago.

If we're fast enough, we should still be able to help it escape the pain—I mean, that poor unicorn."

Hagrid didn't notice the difference between "he" and "it", but was troubled by the two forks in the road in front of him.

"Sherlock, can you tell which way it went?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Sherlock shook his head. "My suggestion is that we split up."

"What? That's not feasible!"

Hagrid immediately shook his head vigorously.

The Forbidden Forest was so dangerous. How could he let Sherlock act alone?

Sherlock had already guessed that Hagrid would say this before he even said it, so he had already thought of a reason:

"Don't worry, Hagrid. If I really encounter anything, I'll use my wand to release a flame, like this."

As Sherlock spoke, he waved his wand, and a purple firework exploded from the tip of his wand.

It was the same magic that Dumbledore had used on the night the troll appeared.

He had also used it to remind Hermione at the Quidditch match.

Hagrid was still a little hesitant.

He deeply loved the Forbidden Forest—and the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest. He really couldn't bear to see the sacred and noble unicorn being persecuted.

But on the other hand, he was worried that Sherlock would be in danger if he left him.

Sherlock saw his entanglement and simply added fuel to the fire:

"Hagrid, you don't want to see another unicorn being killed because it couldn't get help in time, do you?"

Hagrid: (OD°O)

"Okay, then I'll let Fang go with you."

Sherlock's words finally made Hagrid make up his mind.

"But I have to tell you in advance, he's a coward, but fortunately he's alert enough to warn you in advance if he encounters danger.

Remember, no matter what happens, be sure to send a signal as soon as possible!"

Sherlock knew that Hagrid wouldn't feel at ease if he didn't accept.

Smiling, he took Fang and said:

"Hagrid, you don't have much time left."

Hagrid: =ε=ε=(°°;)

After Hagrid left along the other path, a voice rang in Sherlock's ear: "Sherlock,

what do we do now?"

"Put on the invisibility cloak and continue following me."

Sherlock said without turning his head.

Fang also discovered Harry at this time.

Faced with someone he couldn't see, he suddenly became nervous.

But when Sherlock petted his head and said that the invisible person was not an enemy, he calmed down again.

Next, Sherlock led Fang, as well as Harry, who was still invisible, to continue toward the center of the Forbidden Forest.

After walking for nearly half an hour, Sherlock suddenly said, "It seems we're in luck."

"What's wrong?"

Harry couldn't help but ask.

"The truth has surfaced."