"You've become the center of media attention, which seems to have inflated your already careless head even further, Potter—ten points from Gryffindor."
"Granger, I must warn you not to whisper in my classroom—ten points from Gryffindor."
"Holmes, you probably assume that the entire wizarding world marvels at your clever ideas, but I couldn't care less—ten points from Gryffindor."
"Weasley..."
"Longbottom..."
The Potions classroom was filled with the pungent smell of medicinal concoctions. Copper cauldrons bubbled over flames, and green smoke curled through the air, making the entire classroom appear somewhat dim and oppressive.
Professor Severus Snape, dressed in his signature black robes, moved between the desks like a bat, his cold black eyes sweeping over each student like a hawk's gaze.
Without any warning or hesitation, in the span of a single class period, this professor managed to find excuses to deduct more than fifty points from Gryffindor.
Sherlock remained completely indifferent to this, maintaining his relaxed posture as if Snape were deducting points from some other house entirely, not Gryffindor at all.
However, the others who had lost points—Harry, Hermione, and the rest did not share his composure.
Harry was furious, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. But he forcibly suppressed these intense emotions, knowing that Snape wanted to provoke him, to anger him. Snape had done this before. If he took the bait, Gryffindor would be thoroughly devastated.
Hermione likewise bit her lip tightly, her brow furrowed in frustration. As for Ron and Neville, they looked even more dejected, hunched over like chicks.
After all, Snape was the professor—finding fault was all too easy for him. Any small mistake could become his reason for deduction. The only person who might stop him was Sherlock, but he clearly didn't mind this situation at all, which was extremely frustrating.
Fortunately, at this critical moment, someone provided unexpected assistance.
"Knock, knock, knock, knock!" A rapid knocking sound came from outside the classroom, loud and urgent, breaking the oppressive atmosphere inside.
"It seems this person is quite troubled," Sherlock said with a slight smile, his gaze turning toward the classroom door, his tone absolutely certain. "You haven't even seen who it is yet. How do you know they're troubled?"
Ron asked with a puzzled expression, completely unable to understand how Sherlock could deduce the person's emotional state from the knock alone.
Other nearby students who had heard Sherlock's remark also looked at him curiously.
"Four knocks in succession—ordinary people knock twice at most, three times at the very most," Sherlock explained patiently, while lightly tapping his fingers on the desk to simulate the knocking rhythm.
Hermione suddenly turned her head, a flash of realization in her eyes. This scene reminded her of three years ago, when Sherlock had a similar conversation with Hannah Abbott.
Back then, Sherlock had also deduced from knocking sounds that Hannah was troubled. And indeed he was right—Hannah's father had lost an important document and had come specifically to seek Sherlock's help.
"Enter," Snape said in his customarily cold voice while Sherlock was still speaking with Ron, his tone carrying a hint of impatience. Clearly, this unexpected interruption had disrupted his point-deduction plans, which greatly displeased him.
Snape's feelings toward Harry Potter were complicated. On one hand, Harry was the son of the woman he had loved most in his life, the boy he would give his own life to protect.
Although too many people had already mentioned it, it remained true—Harry had eyes identical to Lily's. Every time he saw Harry's eyes, Snape couldn't help but think of her.
But on the other hand, Harry was also the child Lily had borne with the man Snape despised most—aside from those eyes, everything else about him was exactly like James.
This contradiction meant that when Harry's life was threatened, Snape would use all his energy to protect him. But during relatively peaceful times, he found Harry irritating in every way.
Especially now that Harry had once again shown off brilliantly in the second task—it was hard not to be reminded of James Potter, spirited and proud on the Quidditch pitch.
This was the real reason for all his fault-finding and point deductions today. But now this rhythm had been interrupted.
The door opened, and the entire class turned their heads in unison, wanting to know who was disturbing the Potions lesson at this moment. Professor Karkaroff walked in and, upon entering, strode quickly toward Snape's podium.
The moment they saw him, the students who had just heard Sherlock's analysis looked at him with admiring eyes. Because Karkaroff was twisting his goatee repeatedly with his fingers, his movements were quick and agitated clearly a troubled and anxious appearance.
Obviously, he had indeed encountered something troubling. What followed between him and Snape confirmed this.
"We need to talk," Karkaroff said abruptly as soon as he reached Snape's side.
He seemed to originally not want anyone to hear what he was saying, so his lips barely moved, like a poor ventriloquist. However, this was completely ineffective. Anyone with decent eyesight and hearing could clearly understand what he was saying.
Snape frowned, lowering his voice. "After class. I'll talk with you after class..."
He clearly didn't want to handle private matters during class time, much less let the students overhear their conversation.
But before he could finish, Karkaroff interrupted him. "I want to talk now, while you can't slip away, Severus—you've been avoiding me all this time."
His gaze fixed intently on Snape, his eyes were full of stubbornness, clearly not intending to wait until after class as Snape suggested.
"I said—after…. class," Snape's voice suddenly became severe, obviously displeased that Karkaroff had disrupted his classroom order.
Seeing Snape's anger, Karkaroff immediately became less forceful than at the beginning, instead appearing somewhat flustered.
Nevertheless, he still didn't leave the classroom, but stood beside the podium, his eyes fixed on Snape, looking as if he wouldn't let the matter rest.
For the remainder of the Potions class, Karkaroff lingered behind Snape's podium. He seemed determined not to let Snape slip away after class.
"Sherlock, look at this..."
"Interesting." Sherlock took in the entire scene, then turned to Harry and said, "When class ends, you all go ahead. Don't wait for me."
Harry understood immediately. Sherlock was planning to listen in on the conversation between Snape and Karkaroff.
"Sherlock, be careful," Hermione said with some concern.
If Snape discovered him, Sherlock definitely wouldn't have a pleasant time.
"Don't worry, they won't discover me."
Karkaroff's arrival ultimately affected Snape. For the rest of the Potions class, he had no mood to find fault and deduct more points from Gryffindor. As the bell rang, the entire class noisily headed toward the door, eager to leave the Potions classroom.
Clearly, even the Slytherin students weren't particularly keen on attending this course. After all, Snape's mood today had been truly terrible.
"What matter is so urgent?" Snape asked, watching the last student leave the classroom before lowering his voice to address Karkaroff.
"Look," Karkaroff said, lifting the left sleeve of his robes to show Snape his forearm.
Seeing this scene, Sherlock's eyes lit up with interest. "Well?"
Karkaroff said urgently. "See it? It's never been this clear, not since—"
"Put it away!" Snape interrupted him before he could finish. He said viciously, "Can you just show that around casually? Has your brain been bashed in by a troll?"
"I know that, of course—" Karkaroff said anxiously, "but you must have noticed—"
"We'll talk later, Karkaroff!" Snape interrupted him once more, speaking sternly.
After saying this, he turned and strode out of the classroom. Seeing Snape leave, Karkaroff had no intention of giving up and quickly followed.
Witnessing this scene, Sherlock naturally followed without hesitation. "Severus, you should understand what this means, he—"
"I said we'll talk later!" Snape walked with great strides, gliding through the corridor like a bat, giving Karkaroff no opportunity to speak.
Seeing more and more students gathering to watch, Karkaroff could only stop reluctantly, though his expression showed both worry and irritation.
As soon as Sherlock returned to the Gryffindor common room, Harry, Hermione, and Ron immediately surrounded him. All three pairs of eyes sparkled with excitement—clearly they had been waiting for him for quite some time.
"What happened, Sherlock?" the impatient Ron asked first. Sherlock didn't drag it out and immediately told them everything he had seen in detail, including Karkaroff rolling up his sleeve, Snape telling him to hide it, and the conversation between the two.
"I don't understand," Ron said, scratching his nose. "What were they talking about?"
Sherlock looked at Harry, who slowly said, "I think they were talking about Voldemort."
"Hiss—" Ron couldn't help but gasp, his whole body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Very accurate, my dear Harry," Sherlock said approvingly.
"On the night of the Yule Ball, Gemma and Cho already overheard a conversation between Snape and Karkaroff." Hermione said, thinking and worrying simultaneously, "So that means Voldemort's power is really growing stronger?"
"Obviously," Sherlock said, rolling up the left sleeve of his own robes. "I think you should understand what this gesture means."
At this, Hermione felt a chill in her heart. "The Dark Mark!"
Ever since this mark appeared at the Quidditch World Cup, Hermione had put considerable effort into researching it. So now, hearing Sherlock mention it, she immediately understood.
However, Harry and Ron hadn't realized this yet. Both showed surprised expressions.
"What are you talking about?"
"Professor Lupin said that Karkaroff was once a Death Eater," Sherlock continued in a calm tone.
"Every Death Eater has the Dark Mark on their arm. When he made that gesture to Snape, it was to show him his Dark Mark. Combined with their conversation, the facts are quite obvious. Since the beginning of this year, the Dark Mark on Karkaroff's arm has been becoming increasingly visible. For a Death Eater, this means only one thing—"
When Sherlock's gaze turned toward her, Hermione immediately said, "Voldemort's power is growing stronger."
Ron couldn't help trembling again. "I say... could you please stop mentioning that na..."
"Sherlock, do you also think Voldemort's power is continuously increasing?"
"My dear Harry, haven't we discussed this many times already? Ever since that ally of Voldemort in your dreams left the Albanian forest and arrived at Riddle Manor, this became an inevitable event."
"I want to know why his power keeps growing stronger?"
"Hermione, I think you may have overlooked a fact—for a wizard as powerful as Voldemort, even if he suffered soul-level damage, as long as he's still alive, his power will eventually continue to recover. So, from this perspective, Professor Trelawney's prophecy was an inevitable event. As long as he isn't completely destroyed, Voldemort will inevitably return."
"But in our first year, didn't you already severely wound him?"
"Exactly, which proves that Voldemort's power is continuously increasing."
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I."
"In our first year, Voldemort still needed to cling to the back of Quirrell's head, sharing a body with him. But in Harry's dream last summer, he already had his own body, even though it wasn't complete—he still needed someone else to turn his chair for him."
At this point in the conversation, all three of Sherlock's friends fell silent.
Harry and Hermione were thinking. Ron was simply frightened. During the three's conversation just now, he had barely absorbed anything. At this moment, his entire head was buzzing, completely filled with "Voldemort."
He looked at his three best friends with a pitiful expression, feeling utterly aggrieved. People's thoughts are not the same; he only found them noisy.
Regardless of what Ron thought, for Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione, they were simply having a normal discussion. Neither Sherlock nor Hermione would accommodate Ron by changing their speech and avoiding the name "Voldemort."
The kind-hearted Harry used to do so. But ever since both Sherlock and Dumbledore had said "fear of a thing's name only increases fear of the thing itself," he had stopped calling Voldemort "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-Know-Who."
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