"Are we leaving tonight?" Harry asked in a lowered voice.
"The students won't all arrive until tomorrow night. Filch will be less vigilant tonight than usual, which presents a good opportunity for us."
Harry readily agreed.
After putting on the Invisibility Cloak and watching his body completely disappear from sight, Harry became even more excited.
Before departing, he hesitated for a moment, then pulled the Invisibility Cloak wider: "Sherlock, why don't you come under here with me?"
Harry's reasoning was simple. The Invisibility Cloak his father had left him was large enough to cover both him and Sherlock together. Though walking might be somewhat inconvenient that way, it would be much safer.
To his shame, when Sherlock had first given him the Invisibility Cloak, he'd had a bold idea: to put on the cloak alone and explore the castle by himself. Since this was something, his father had left him, he felt the first use should be alone.
But this thought was quickly cast aside. This was something Sherlock had obtained for him—how could he do such a thing? Without Sherlock, he might not have gotten it at all! Though Sherlock had said Dumbledore would have given it to him as a Christmas present, who could say for certain about things that hadn't happened? Such thoughts were too selfish!
For this, Harry had felt ashamed for quite some time.
However, he never expected that when he offered to share the Invisibility Cloak with Sherlock, the latter would say: "From the moment I gave you the Invisibility Cloak, you should have worn it to explore the castle alone. If you had done so, it would have greatly helped our mission today."
Harry's head snapped up.
"Unfortunately, today is the first time you're using it."
"I—"
"As for now—put it on, don't speak, and walk ahead. Even without the Invisibility Cloak, I won't be discovered."
His refusal was so firm that Harry could only agree, though his mind was in turmoil. So, in Sherlock's view, his somewhat selfish earlier thought had actually been correct? How absurd!
He steadied himself and asked again: "But—where are we going?"
"Wherever you want to go. Don't worry, I'll follow you."
This was Sherlock's true purpose. Tonight's tour of the castle had no specific destination. It was mainly to broaden Harry's experience and knowledge.
As he'd just told Harry, from the moment Harry decided to face Voldemort, Sherlock had resolved to help Harry become stronger. Otherwise, with just that ancient spell and righteous fervor, facing Voldemort with Harry's current inexperienced methods would be nothing short of suicide.
Next, following Sherlock's instructions, Harry carefully put on the Invisibility Cloak and stealthily left the dormitory, descended the stairs, crossed the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole.
"Who's there?" the Fat Lady asked in her hoarse voice, unable to see anyone.
At that moment, Harry's heart raced. He remembered Sherlock's words, remained silent, and hurried through the corridor. He didn't even dare look back to see if Sherlock was following.
Meanwhile, Sherlock, following behind Harry, couldn't help but shake his head. Without the Invisibility Cloak, Harry would probably have been discovered the moment he left the common room. Even with the cloak's help, Harry's stealth technique was riddled with flaws in Sherlock's eyes.
Fortunately, they still had time.
Reaching the end of the corridor, Harry finally had a moment to catch his breath. He stopped, preparing to choose his destination. However, just as he instinctively turned to consult with Sherlock, he was shocked to discover that Sherlock had vanished!
This terrified Harry. He looked around again, confirming Sherlock was indeed gone, and couldn't help but call out softly: "Sherlock? Sherlock!"
No response. The entire corridor contained only him.
Oh no, did I walk too fast and lose Sherlock?
This thought immediately filled Harry with dread. Right, though Sherlock was capable, Harry was currently invisible. He'd been too hasty earlier and should have slowed down to wait for him.
With this realization, Harry didn't hesitate and was about to retrace his steps. He would never abandon a friend!
However, he'd barely taken a step when a strong, powerful hand pressed down on his shoulder. At the same time, a familiar voice spoke beside his ear: "Good evening, Harry."
"Sherlock!" Harry turned around in delight, startled to find Sherlock right beside him.
"Keep your voice down, my friend, unless you intend to attract others."
"I—I thought you were—"
Harry couldn't bring himself to voice the rest. He was the one wearing the Invisibility Cloak, yet not only had he failed to keep track of Sherlock, he'd actually thought Sherlock had lost track of him.
"Where were you just now?"
Sherlock stepped back two paces, positioning himself against the shadow of a massive stone pillar.
"Tracking and concealment are skills in themselves. The Invisibility Cloak prevents others from seeing you, but it doesn't mean you've truly disappeared."
He held a thin, gleaming glass fragment between his fingertips: "A minute ago, you paused by the knight's armor, and the knee guard's temperature rose by two to three degrees Celsius—the Invisibility Cloak doesn't block heat conduction."
Only then did Harry notice that Holmes had a prism embedded in his robe's collar, its refracted light forming a net that faintly covered this section of corridor.
"This is—you've mastered the Disillusionment Charm? That's advanced magic!"
Harry found it incredible.
"You're overestimating my abilities, dear Harry. It's actually much simpler than that."
Sherlock raised his right hand as he spoke. "Look!"
Fine threads dangling between his fingers gleamed pearl-like in the moonlight. "This is spider silk I bought from Diagon Alley last time. When used properly, it can change light's refraction direction. Also, when the Invisibility Cloak brushes against it, it produces a C-major pitch."
After saying this, he stepped forward half a pace.
"Your breathing rate is 17% faster than normal. Though I don't think others would notice this, I still suggest you try to relax. Now, my friend, if you still can't decide, I suggest we head to the library first. It's a moderate distance, spacious, and you're relatively familiar with the environment there. If we keep standing here, I'm afraid our time will run short."
Harry unhesitatingly accepted Sherlock's suggestion.
The nighttime library was pitch black. Whether it was his imagination or not, Harry felt it seemed particularly eerie and terrifying compared to daytime. Under these circumstances, Harry had to light a lamp and carry it as he walked past row after row of bookshelves.
The lamp appeared to float in mid-air. Though Harry felt himself holding it, the sight still sent chills down his spine. When he reached the Restricted Section at the back of the library, this feeling intensified.
Harry carefully stepped over the rope separating these books from the other collections, wondering whether to take out a book for a look, when he heard Sherlock's voice beside him: "If I were you, I wouldn't walk in areas that easily retain footprints."
Harry paused, looked down at his feet, then embarrassedly chose another path.
During the rest of their night tour, Sherlock gave Harry a thorough lesson. Just as in the corridor earlier, Sherlock navigated smoothly with his agile movements and some simple spells. Conversely, Harry, despite wearing the Invisibility Cloak, nearly got discovered by the night-patrolling Filch several times.
Fortunately, Filch was indeed more relaxed than usual tonight, as Sherlock had predicted. Combined with Sherlock's timely diversions at crucial moments, they managed to get by.
What made Harry even more speechless was that several times when Sherlock had to take the lead temporarily, Harry nearly lost track of him. Wearing an Invisibility Cloak and still losing someone—how embarrassing!
In contrast, despite Harry being invisible, Sherlock could find him accurately every time. In a word: incredible!
After Sherlock led Harry around for a while longer, pointing out various stealth precautions and seeing that time was running short, they prepared to return to the dormitory.
On the return journey, Sherlock deliberately chose a different route from their outer path. As expected, Harry didn't disappoint—he got lost.
Watching Harry enter every door and turn every corner he encountered, Sherlock felt somewhat helpless. Training the Chosen One is a long and arduous task. Maybe... I should handle this myself?
Just as Sherlock was contemplating this question, Harry's voice suddenly reached his ears: "Sherlock, are you there?"
Sherlock sighed, taking two steps at once to enter the room where Harry was.
"Sherlock, look—what is that?"
Sherlock didn't immediately look where Harry was pointing, but first surveyed the entire room. Many desks and chairs were stacked against the walls, casting large shadows in the moonlight. Combined with an overturned wastepaper basket, this was clearly an abandoned, unused classroom.
Only then did Sherlock turn his attention to what had caught Harry's notice.
It was a magnificent mirror reaching from floor to ceiling, with an ornate golden frame and a base supported by two claw-shaped feet.
Sherlock quickly reached a conclusion: "This mirror was moved here recently, no more than three days ago, and it will soon be moved elsewhere."
"Tell me quickly, Sherlock, how did you deduce that?"
The current Harry was no longer the Harry who had first met Sherlock. When encountering such situations, he directly gave up trying to figure it out himself, partly because he knew that no matter how much he thought, he'd be unlikely to reach the correct conclusion.
The other reason was that whenever Sherlock explained his reasoning process, he would be delighted, especially when receiving sincere praise—his pride was unmistakable.
In that case, praise was the way to go!
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