"Though I know asking this will make me seem somewhat foolish, I still have to ask—how exactly did you do that?"
Harry had lost count of how many times he'd asked the same question.
Ever since he'd met Sherlock, things like this kept happening.
"It's really quite simple. Once explained, it's hardly worth mentioning.
First, you just pulled this parchment from inside your cloak."
"Yes, what's wrong with that?"
Harry looked at Sherlock with complete bewilderment, unable to understand what his action of retrieving the parchment had to do with deduction.
"My dear boy, if it were anyone else, perhaps it wouldn't matter, but I know you far too well. This is clearly not your usual habit for storing items.
Combined with your tone and demeanor when you spoke just now, plus the careful way you retrieved this parchment, it all indicates you were following someone else's instructions.
I happen to know that among our acquaintances, only the Weasley twins have this habit of storing items.
So, the moment I saw your action, the first hypothesis immediately appeared in my mind—this was very likely just given to you by the twins. The entire process took less than a second."
Harry was utterly stunned.
Following Sherlock's words, he recalled his own habits and realized he truly didn't normally hide things in his cloak.
As for why he'd just done so, it was indeed because after learning how precious this thing was, he'd subconsciously imitated their actions.
The fact that this behavior was spontaneous and natural made him even more amazed by Sherlock's keen observation and bold deduction.
Sherlock observed Harry's reaction, chuckled lightly, and continued.
"Secondly, although this parchment enchanted with extraordinary magic has left almost no traces behind, its fold lines still revealed a clue.
For a square piece of paper, most people would choose a uniform crisscross folding method.
This way, the final shape would still be a square, one-quarter the original size, like this."
As Sherlock spoke, he demonstrated. Harry nodded instinctively, that's exactly what he would do.
"For a piece of paper, the longer it maintains the same creases, the easier it is to discern its folding pattern.
Fortunately, this parchment is exactly such a case.
Look here. the creases tell us it was first folded horizontally into thirds, then vertically in half.
Coincidentally, I know that among your acquaintances, only the Weasley twins have this distinctive habit.
This folding method results in a size one-sixth of the original—a long strip that's more convenient to tuck into a cloak than a quartered square, which again confirms my earlier judgment.
Therefore, I concluded this parchment is normally kept by the Weasley twins and was given to you just moments ago."
Under Harry's dumbfounded gaze, Sherlock continued at double speed.
"As for the twins not being its first owners, that's actually simpler.
Based on my observation of the parchment's material quality, I can easily determine it's approximately twenty years old.
At that time, the Weasley twins hadn't even been born yet!"
"That's absolutely brilliant, Sherlock!"
Harry couldn't help but express his sincere admiration.
"I never would have imagined you could deduce so much from the fold lines!
But... how do you know Fred and George's habits?"
Harry asked with confusion, "I met them at the same time as you, yet I've never noticed this."
"Observation, Harry, it's still all about observation."
Sherlock explained with a smile. "A person's habits often expose their truest self to the public. In criminal investigation, when someone exhibits behavior significantly different from their usual habits, it often means a major breakthrough in the case is imminent.
That's why I pay attention to the small habits of people around me in daily life. For example.
When you organize books, you like to place heavier volumes on the bottom and lighter ones on top.
Ron will put whichever book he sees first in the spot closest to him.
As for Hermione, she first categorizes by subject, then arranges by the author's surname initial.
But last week, she stacked all the Dark Arts Defense books in a separate pile first.
This behavior, inconsistent with her usual habits, was because Professor Snape assigned an essay on werewolves. She stayed up late searching for information to complete the assignment, which disrupted her normal organizational pattern."
Harry couldn't help but let out a long sigh. "It's always like this, Sherlock. Once you explain the reasoning process, everything seems incredibly simple. I should have more faith in your abilities."
"No, Harry, your trust in me is already enough to make me feel ashamed—in fact, I just used a little trick."
"What?"
Sherlock gazed at the ceiling with half-closed, unfocused eyes. "Ten minutes ago, Gemma told me she saw the Weasley twins call you away.
Just ten minutes later, you found me and told me someone had given you a Christmas present.
This provided the final piece of the puzzle for my deduction."
Hearing this, Harry froze completely.
However, when he saw Sherlock's gaze return from the ceiling, his gray eyes turning toward him with a half-smile expression, he couldn't help but burst into laughter along with him.
"Haha, Sherlock, I really didn't expect this from you."
"Life is always dull and tedious. Occasional diversions like this are what bring us joy, aren't they?"
"I suppose that makes sense."
"Well then, please hurry and tell me the correct usage of this seemingly ordinary yet secretly extraordinary parchment!"
Sherlock rubbed his hands together, his gray eyes sparkling. "Honestly, I can hardly wait."
Harry nodded and got straight to the point.
"Fred and George found this in Filch's office among the confiscated items during their first year.
According to them, Filch never figured out how to use it. Even they only discovered the correct way to open it by chance."
"Oh, that is indeed unexpected."
Harry drew his wand and, under Sherlock's watchful gaze, gently tapped the parchment, saying.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Instantly, thin lines of ink like a spider's web began appearing from where the wand had touched.
These lines quickly spread out, merging and crossing each other, extending to every corner of the parchment.
Then, at the top of the parchment, prominent curved green script appeared.
[Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs]
[Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers]
[are proud to present]
[THE MARAUDER'S MAP]
This parchment, which these four signatories called the "Marauder's Map," showed in detail all the pathways of Hogwarts Castle—not just those known to everyone, but even all the secret passages and hidden rooms.
From Sherlock's current understanding of Hogwarts, the map's various routes were perfectly accurate, with surprisingly high precision.
However, what truly caught Sherlock's attention were the tiny ink dots moving along the map.
Each ink dot was labeled with a name in extremely small letters.
For example, a marked black dot in the upper left corner showed Professor Dumbledore pacing in his office.
Two dots together on the right indicated Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were both in the Ravenclaw Head's office.
Professor Snape was motionless in the Slytherin dungeons—most likely silently weeping over the Christmas gift Harry had given him.
Neville was moving through the boys' dormitories one by one—no need to ask, he must be searching for his pet toad, Trevor.
Besides Hogwarts staff and students, the map even marked that Filch's Mrs. Norris was prowling the third floor; the mischievous ghost Peeves was bouncing around in the trophy room; and Neville's sought-after pet Trevor was quietly sitting in a Hufflepuff girls' dormitory—the room belonging to Hannah Abbott.
Seeing this, Sherlock's heart skipped a beat. He quickly found their current location on the map.
Sure enough, the ink dots representing Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter were together, located in an empty classroom on the fourth floor.
Watching Sherlock study it intently, Harry said with some emotion.
"Fred and George could appear and disappear anywhere in the school thanks to this map. Look, it shows passages I've never even entered.
Among these passages, many lead to Hogsmeade village. There are a total of..."
"Seven," Sherlock said without looking up, "the one behind the mirror on the fifth floor has collapsed. In fact, there are six remaining."
"How do you know?"
Harry was stunned once again.
Seeing from the map that seven passages led to Hogsmeade wasn't strange at all, but knowing that one of them had collapsed was quite surprising.
"Because I've been through all these passages."
Sherlock said calmly, "I think you should remember when I took you to improve your stealth skills. In fact, I've never stopped exploring Hogwarts."
Harry looked at Sherlock with admiration.
The Weasley twins had relied on the Marauder's Map to figure out every passage in the school, but Sherlock had accomplished this on his own. That was truly remarkable!
How should he put it? Fortunately, Sherlock was his friend, standing on the side of justice.
If Sherlock were a criminal...
Just thinking about it made Harry shudder.
He quickly stopped that terrifying thought and hurried to say.
"Fred and George said Filch knows about four of them. Of the remaining three passages, one is the collapsed passage you just mentioned, and another has its entrance right at the Whomping Willow.
So, they suggested I take the last one—the entrance is behind that statue of the one-eyed witch, and it leads straight to the cellar of Honeydukes."
"They gave you this map as a Christmas present to make up for your inability to visit Hogsmeade."
Sherlock's eyes glinted, "But I see confusion in your expression, old boy. You're not planning to go there because you're worried about Sirius?"
"That's part of it, but more importantly, it reminds me of Tom Riddle's diary."
"Interesting."
Sherlock raised an eyebrow, "The Weasley twins didn't take their father's words to heart, but you, an outsider, pay considerable attention to them."
"Sherlock, I don't quite understand what you mean."
"During the summer before second year, before school started, I visited Mr. Weasley and told him that Big Malfoy planned to slip a Dark Arts object into the school.
At that time, he warned his children—never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."
"Uh..."
Harry felt somewhat embarrassed, thinking that not only the Weasley twins but probably even Ron and Ginny hadn't taken those words to heart. Only Percy, the model student, would remember them.
"Although I never heard Mr. Weasley say that, I do have that concern.
However, if I just use it to enter Hogsmeade rather than to ambush or attack anyone, it should be fine, right?"
Harry said hesitantly, "Besides, Fred and George have used it for years without anything terrible happening."
"But you still have doubts in your heart, which is why you came to me, isn't it?"
Sherlock smiled and patted Harry's shoulder, "Thank you for trusting me, dear Harry. Give me a few days, and I'll give you an answer before the holiday."
"Yes!"
Harry nodded emphatically, then added.
"When you're done with it, you just tap it again and say 'Mischief managed,' and it becomes a blank piece of parchment again."
"Thanks for the reminder, my friend."
Harry finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he had this reliable friend Sherlock; otherwise, he really wouldn't know whether he should use this thing or not.
The two parted ways. Harry still had to find Cho Chang to say goodbye before the holiday.
Time spent with Cho was always pleasant. Even just sitting together quietly doing nothing, merely looking at her brought joy to his heart.
Not to mention that Cho shared Harry's interests. Before he knew it, an entire afternoon had passed.
However, what surprised Harry was that as soon as he returned to the dormitory after dinner, Sherlock extended an invitation.
"Dear Harry, if you could come out with me now, I would be most grateful."
"Huh?"
Harry had just returned when he heard Sherlock wanted him to go out again. He was stunned.
"Of course I can, but... where are we going?"
"The Headmaster's office."
As Sherlock spoke, he patted the sleeping Ron beside him, "Time to go, my friend!"
"Ah, Ron's coming too?"
Harry was stunned for the second time. Going to the Headmaster's office had always been the exclusive privilege of him and Sherlock, hadn't it?
"Hey—what do you mean 'too'?!"
Ron, who had appeared to be sleeping, sprang up from bed the moment Sherlock tapped him, looking at Harry with resentment.
"I'm the protagonist today, okay? If we weren't waiting for you, Old Sherlock and I would have left ages ago!"
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