Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts

Just as Sherlock was readjusting to his body and hadn't yet regained his vision, the unique, fresh scent of grass wafted into his nose.

When he fully recovered his sight, a patch of green grass met his eyes, swaying gently in the breeze.

Not far from them stood a wizard, and further away, a person lay on the ground. Large patches of blood had already stained the green grass beneath him a dark red.

Looking around, this seemed to be the hillside of a small mountain.

Sherlock retracted his gaze, understanding that this person had notified Professor Flitwick.

Sure enough, the other party's next actions immediately proved this point.

After hearing the distinctive, ear-piercing "pop" sound of Apparition, the wizard turned his head back nervously.

When he saw that the person who had arrived was Flitwick, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurried towards them:

"You've finally arrived!"

Walking up to Flitwick, he immediately crouched down.

"Dear Professor Flitwick, I didn't expect you to contact me proactively. I'm truly flattered!" Professor Flitwick reached out and patted the other person's shoulder, turning to introduce Sherlock, "This is one of my former students. He works in the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"It's the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad," the other party clarified, then extended his hand towards Sherlock, "Hello, I'm Arnold Peasegood, a graduate of Hogwarts Ravenclaw. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Sherlock Holmes."

Watching the other party crouch down and stretch out his hand towards him, Sherlock silently reached out and shook it.

Do all of Flitwick's students have to squat down when they see him again after graduation?

Is this some strange Ravenclaw custom?

"Ah, I once heard Mr. Abbott mention your deeds—you were able to discern the flaws in the report just by reviewing it, truly remarkable!"

Peasegood remained in a squatting position, looking up as he spoke, "Now that you've arrived, why don't we go take a look over there first?"

Seeing Flitwick and Sherlock nod, he finally sighed in relief and stood up.

After all, he wasn't Asian and couldn't squat on the ground for long periods.

Not far from them lay the body of a tall man on the ground.

Sherlock followed Peasegood closer, squatted down, and began to examine it carefully.

Peasegood then began to explain:

"This morning, the Ministry detected an unusual surge of magical energy in this area.

Because this area is inhabited by Muggles, my colleagues rushed over immediately.

We initially thought that a wizard might be using magic in front of Muggles, but we didn't expect to find this.

After identification, it was discovered that the deceased was a member of the Musgrave family from yesterday's case. This was quickly confirmed.

We've already consulted with the Greek Ministry of Magic, and they sent over the information yesterday—Professor Flitwick also mentioned this matter to me yesterday.

So, after learning the news, I proactively applied for overtime to come and handle the scene.

What I want to say is, whatever you want to do, you need to be quick, I can't delay this matter for too long."

Peasegood stated, while curiously watching Sherlock's movements.

Although he had already learned something about Sherlock from Mr. Abbott and Professor Flitwick, he was still surprised to see it in person.

It was hard to imagine that a wizard who was only 12 years old would be circling around a body, looking here and there.

Not only was there no fear, but his expression was focused, and his demeanor was experienced.

Watching him carefully observe with a magnifying glass, it was as if it wasn't the first time he had done something like this.

What's going on? Are all the Gryffindor wizards this brave now?

Or am I just out of touch with the times?

Peasegood had finished saying everything he could, but Sherlock was still busy around the body.

When he saw Sherlock flipping the body over, seemingly intending to examine the grass underneath it, Peasegood finally couldn't help but remind him:

"Mr. Holmes, you need to be quicker, or my other colleagues will arrive."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sherlock stood up and began to speak rapidly:

"Looking at the environment, the surrounding grass is in a messy, chaotic direction, with obvious signs of being trampled, and left by two people.

The deceased's clothes are disheveled, and a button is torn off from the collar, indicating that there was an argument and scuffle with someone before death.

His hands are clenched into fists, and his fingernails are filled with dirt and grass clippings, left behind from gripping the ground forcefully during the struggle.

His facial expression is twisted, his eyes are wide open, filled with fear, as if he saw something terrifying or experienced great pain before death.

There are multiple external injuries on his body, but the fatal wound is in the chest area, a deep puncture wound.

The clothing around the wound is soaked with blood, and the blood has dried and turned dark red.

Judging from the shape of the wound, the murder weapon should be a sharp blade.

As for the cause of death—"

Sherlock paused, "—is poisoning."

"Poisoning?"

Peasegood revealed a surprised look, "Isn't it a knife wound? You just said that the one in the chest was the fatal wound."

"That wound is indeed a fatal wound, but he didn't die from it."

"But... but we've already found the murder weapon!"

Pিসgood said, taking out a dagger and trying hard to argue:

"Although wizards often use magic to fight, there are precedents for killing with knives."

Seeing the other party holding the "murder weapon" directly in his hand, Sherlock's mouth twitched.

Forget it, there's no point in talking science to these wizards.

He didn't take the dagger, just glanced at it and said, "You're right, these wounds were all caused by this dagger."

"Then how did you—"

"It's actually very simple."

Sherlock squatted down again, pointing out the relevant situation to the two while explaining:

"As I said just now, the deceased's messy clothes and the trampled marks left in the nearby grass can all indicate that he had a fierce conflict with someone before his death.

If it was really a knife in the chest, during the deceased's struggle, the blood should have spurted out due to the beating of the heart and the violent movements of the body.

In that case, the distribution of blood stains under the deceased would be irregular and have a clear direction."

Sherlock gestured with his hand, then pointed to the blood stains on the ground:

"But as you can see, the pool of blood in front of you is spreading out in a perfect circle, obviously seeping out slowly when the deceased was still."

Professor Flitwick and Pিসgood were silent.

They had never seen this method of analyzing cases before.

When wizards handle cases, they often use a simple and crude three-piece set:

First, the Flashback Charm, then Legilimency, and if that doesn't work, there's the Dementor.

Every time they hear that they are going to be locked up in Azkaban, the prisoners often confess everything.

But after all, both of them were from Ravenclaw, so after spending some thought, they finally understood Sherlock's statement.

"Even so, how can you tell that it was poisoning?"

"It's even simpler: purple lips, skin showing a strange bluish-black color, and a faint stench emanating from the surface of the body.

But I can only deduce that it is a fast-acting poison, and I can't determine the specific type."

"Sounds like Devil's Snare, or Acromantula and Runespoor."

Pিসgood sighed, "I will report this matter and have them verify it further."

Sherlock nodded and said, "The temperature of the corpse is lower than the nearby grass, exceeding the normal range. I used a magic magnifying glass to detect the residue of the spell."

"It should be the Freezing Charm."

Pিসgood thought for a while and said, "Maybe the murderer was eager to leave, so the traces of the spell couldn't be completely eliminated."

Flitwick also nodded, this was the most likely possibility.

Sherlock stood up and sighed regretfully.

"Crime of passion."

"Not intentional?"

Pিসgood asked curiously.

"No motive."

Sherlock explained, "He had already successfully taken people away and was looking forward to waiting for the deceased to sign the property transfer contract. There was no reason to do it so quickly.

Whether it's the criminal or the deceased, from the moment they left Knockturn Alley yesterday, they already knew that the British Ministry of Magic and the Greek Ministry of Magic would definitely track them—especially the Greek Ministry of Magic.

The deceased obviously realized this, so when the two came here, he was unwilling to continue to submit and began to struggle, refusing to continue moving forward.

This was unbearable for Smith, so the two had a strong conflict in this area.

Compared to using spells, this kidnapper seems to prefer to use more primitive methods to vent his anger—this can be seen from the previous encounter of our Greek friend and the fresh wounds on the deceased.

Also, judging from the direction of the footprints on the grass, the deceased had acted towards the hillside.

I think the deceased said something that was enough to make Smith lose his mind, which led to Smith finally losing his patience and taking a deadly hand.

Maybe something similar to 'Even if I starve to death, die outside, jump down from here, I will never continue to follow you' and the like.

Once he strikes, it is too late to regret it.

In this case, he can only leave in a hurry after disguising the scene."

After listening to Sherlock's analysis, Pিসgood was stunned.

This ability... is simply more magical than the Flashback Charm!

With Sherlock's description, he seemed to have witnessed everything that happened here not long ago.

"Excuse me, are people in the Muggle world all like you?"

If this is the case, then the Muggle world has long left the wizarding world far behind!

"Arnold, did you lose your mind after going to the Ministry of Magic?

You can understand it with a little thought. How can there be people like Holmes everywhere?"

Being scolded by the teacher, Pিসgood also woke up.

That's right, there should only be one person like Sherlock!