Chapter 138 "Before Christmas"

"You answered directly? I thought you would deny it." Sherlock looked at him in surprise.

Lupin and Sherlock looked at each other. Although he was dressed in shabby clothes, with a thin body and pale complexion like a chronically ill person, he was still form.

"I'm also a person who doesn't like to beat around the bush. Snape's words wouldn't let the students notice anything, but it would definitely arouse suspicion. But to be honest, I didn't expect you to find me and ask directly directly."

Sherlock cuts the steak from the plate, "There are some things that are better to ask directly instead of guessing on your own. I didn't expect Dumbledore to recruit a werewolf, but thinking about it, it fits his character quite a bit."

Lupin was relaxed at this time, and he finished the last mouthful of porridge in the bowl, "What are you going to do next? Tell all the students and teachers about my identity?"

Sherlock chewed the steak and blinked, "Why would I do that? Even Snape, who hates you so much, kept this a secret even though he snides you."

"I'm asking you specifically because I'm curious. Since Dumbledore knows your identity and recruits you, it means that he trusts you enough. We've been working together for three months. I feel like you're a good person." Lupin's face showed a dumb smile.

"I always felt sorry for Dumbledore. He knew that I was so poor that I couldn't even afford to eat, so he recruited me into Hogwarts, but I am a werewolf after all."

Sherlock waved, "You need to be more confident. I remember that a wizard created a Wolfsbane Potion not long ago. This potion can make a werewolf stay sane when it transforms. Isn't Snape providing you with one?"

"You guessed that one too?" Lupin looked at him in surprise.

"No. My grades in fortune-telling in school were bad. Harry told me that when he saw you drinking Snape's potion, he was worried that it was poisonous."

"Harry has a bias against Snape."

"To be honest, what makes me more interesting is that Dumbledore asked Snape to give you the potion." Sherlock raised his eyebrows and said, "Snape feels like he wants to expose your identity. It's obvious enough from his behavior. Dumbledore asked him to create a potion for his enemy, and he didn't quite like it."

Lupin looked bitter, "Because the only person in Hogwarts who can create that potion is Snape."

"He didn't give you any chronic poison in it, which proves that he has some morality."

"Yes, because of this, I want to thank him."

Sherlock swallowed the last mouthful of steak, clapped his hands, and stood up from the chair. "Okay, I know what I want to know, and I think we can make things clear now."

After confirming his identity with Lupin, Sherlock didn't want to do anything anymore. He had some doubts that Lupin's personality, coupled with the popularity of the students in the class, made it inappropriate for him to be a professor for a year in the book.

It was now clear that being a werewolf meant he couldn't stay at Hogwarts for long.

Even with the potion, given the danger of a werewolf, as long as Lupin's identity is exposed, it will be impossible for him to continue to stay at Hogwarts. What's more, there is still a Snape in the castle who is secretly prodding him, and it is a question whether Lupin can survive a full year.

However, Sherlock found it easy to have someone help with the professor's task. He wished Lupin could stay at Hogwarts a little longer.

A week passed quickly. On Saturday night, Harry arrived at Sherlock's office as fast as possible after dinner. Sherlock was studying, and Harry came in.

"Who wrote you the letter, Professor?" Harry asked, scratching his head.

Sherlock didn't hide it from him, "Fleur."

"Miss Delacour? What did she say?"

"Nothing. She just asked me if I have classes at Hogwarts now and what she did in school. It seems like she wrote it out of boredom."

Sherlock shook his head, put the letter on the side of the table, and began to seriously instruct Harry on the study of the Patronus Charm.

"Let's talk about it first. How much do you know about this spell?"

Hearing Sherlock's question, Harry recalled, "I saw Professor Lupin use it once on the train. It seemed to shoot some bright silver strands from the wand. Dementors are so afraid of these strands that they dare not touch it."

"On the Quidditch pitch, when I fell from the sky. Listening to Ron Hermione and the others, a silver-white bird suddenly flew out of the sky. It's more powerful than pure silver strands. That bird should also be a Patronus Charm, right?"

Sherlock pulled out his wand and waved it gently, "Expecto Patronum."

Bright silver strands shot out from the tip of the wand, and soon, a silver bird formed in front of Sherlock. It spread its wings and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"This bird is my Patronus."

Harry looked at the bird that landed on his shoulder in surprise, stretched out his hands, and Sherlock's Patronus naturally jumped to his hands. He felt that his palms were slightly cold, and there was no other feeling like lifting an object.

"So it was your Patronus! Gryffindor students are all guessing who summoned it." Harry observed the bird for a long time and said in surprise.

"Yes, mine is a crow." 

After this, he wasn't surprised. The crow fit Sherlock so well, knowing what he could do with his mouth. The crow jumped a few times on Harry's hand and flew back to Sherlock's shoulder, staring at him silently from above. 

Sherlock directed Harry, teaching him the Patronus Charm and correcting his pronunciation before letting him make his first attempt.

"Expecto Patronum." Harry waved his wand as Sherlock said.

But he summoned nothing, not even a silver strand at the tip of the wand.

"The wand should be lifted up more. The movement doesn't need to sway that much. As long as there is a movement, you're good." Sherlock pointed to his gesture and reminded, "Before chanting the spell, you need to find the right memory. This is a very emotionally demanding spell. The more positive emotions you have, the more successful you can use it. So think more about happy things before casting the spell."

Although Harry studied seriously and had a high talent for charms, such advanced spells were not easy to master. Harry failed to release a strand of light with his wand until nearly the start of the curfew.

He was a little disappointed, but Sherlock had long expected such a situation. If Harry could learn anything in just this amount of time, Sherlock should wonder if his talent was exceptional. 

After that, until Christmas, Hogwarts maintained a quiet life.

Sirius Black didn't break into the castle a second time. After the Dementors had gone wild once in that Quidditch match, Dumbledore didn't know what caused them to be like that, and no Dementor dared to enter Hogwarts territory.

It's been more than a month since Silk returned to Germany, and he hasn't heard anything back from her. But during this time, the locket that he has been wearing around his neck has not shown any abnormality. Except that it cannot be taken off, and it is a little troubling when he takes a shower or sleeps.

The last week at Hogwarts before the Christmas break is another Hogsmeade week. The entire castle was covered with a thick layer of snowflakes, and the weather had only recently started to clear up. Everyone in the whole school from this year was Happy, except Harry.

Hermione was planning to bring back some of the Honeydukes candies for Christmas as a present for her parents. Harry was outraged that he was the only one left in school again, but this weekend, for the first time under Sherlock's guide, he used the Patronus Charm to cast some silvery strands out of his wand. 

This excitement heals some of the pain of not being able to go to Hogsmeade. He decides to borrow a copy of a book from Wood and spend the day learning about several things about Broomsticks and how he will pick a good one when he has the chance.

Since Harry's Nimbus 2000 was torn to shreds, he has also tried practicing with the school broom. But those old brooms were slow and wobbly, and Harry was ready to buy a new one.

On Saturday morning, when everyone could go to Hogsmeade, Harry, Ron, and Hermione said their goodbyes at the school gate. Harry then walked up the marble staircase alone and headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

Snowflakes can be seen outside the window, and the castle is very quiet.

Just as he walked to the corridor and turned around, he saw Fred and George peeking at him from behind a statue of a one-eyed hunchback witch.

"Harry, come here!"