Sherlock led Harry and Ron back to Hagrid's hut.
He rekindled the fireplace, filled the kettle with fresh water, and placed it over the fire to boil.
Ron and Harry sat on a bench, while Sherlock reclined in Hagrid's armchair. Waving his wand, he summoned a plate of what appeared to be decent biscuits and calmly fixed his gaze on the two boys.
"Tell me, why did you run into the Forbidden Forest?"
Harry sat stiffly, still hesitating over whether he should tell the truth.
Sherlock didn't rush him and simply gnawed on a biscuit.
It wasn't because he had some strange habit. Only after putting the biscuit in his mouth did he realise that unless someone possessed the bite force of a Giant, the only way to eat the rock-hard thing was by gnawing on it.
Ron whispered quietly,
"Why don't we just tell Professor Cavendish everything? He already knows Hagrid is innocent anyway."
Harry finally made up his mind and told Sherlock everything about the diary and Riddle.
From discovering the diary on his desk, to speaking with Riddle inside it, to being dragged into Riddle's memories and witnessing what happened fifty years ago—he revealed everything.
The more Sherlock listened, the darker his expression became. In the end, he tossed the half-gnawed biscuit aside and simply stared at Harry.
After finishing his story, Harry felt goosebumps rise under Sherlock's gaze and asked timidly,
"P-Professor, why are you looking at me like that?"
"You said the owner of that diary was Tom Riddle?" Sherlock asked darkly.
Harry nodded rapidly.
"He also spoke with you and brought you to witness Hagrid's arrest from fifty years ago?"
Harry continued nodding.
"And then that diary remained in your possession for several months before you somehow lost it again?"
Harry finally stopped nodding. He had already sensed Sherlock's increasingly dangerous mood, so he cautiously asked,
"Professor... is there something wrong with Riddle's diary?"
"Not only is there something wrong with that diary, but the three of you are also a serious problem!"
Sherlock's voice suddenly rose. It was the first time he had ever felt such a strong urge to scold someone.
"After learning about Hagrid's situation from fifty years ago through that diary, why didn't you report it to the school?"
Harry guiltily explained,
"We were worried Hagrid would be misunderstood. We didn't think he was the sort of person who would hurt anyone."
Sherlock was so exasperated he nearly laughed.
"Even you know Hagrid isn't that sort of person. Dumbledore and McGonagall have known him for more than fifty years. Do you really think they wouldn't understand what kind of person he is? You're far too self-important and far too dismissive of adults."
Harry and Ron exchanged awkward glances, feeling both ashamed and confused.
They knew it had been wrong not to report things to the school, but they still didn't understand why Sherlock was so angry.
Sherlock himself felt irritated. If Harry had simply handed over the diary when he first found it, none of the later incidents would have happened.
But after thinking about it again, if Harry and his friends had truly been perfectly obedient children, they probably wouldn't have become the protagonists of this world.
He sighed, gradually calming down, then waved a hand at them.
"The true culprit behind the Chamber of Secrets is not a Hogwarts student. It's that diary. The student named Tom Riddle inside it is the Heir of Slytherin, and he was the one who framed Hagrid fifty years ago."
Harry and Ron's eyes widened enormously.
Neither of them had imagined that the diary itself was the true mastermind, especially considering it had stayed in their possession for two entire months!
Thinking back carefully, there really had been suspicious clues all along.
While the diary had remained with Harry, there had been no further attacks in the castle.
But the moment the diary disappeared, the attacks immediately resumed, which clearly proved something was wrong.
Harry and Ron felt utterly miserable.
They had once had a chance to prevent everything that followed, because Hermione had suggested handing the diary over to a Professor at the time, but they hadn't listened to her.
Indirectly, it felt as though they themselves had caused Hermione to be petrified and reduced to her current state.
Sherlock shook his head.
"There's no point dwelling on it now. Hogwarts is about to close, which may not necessarily be a bad solution. Come on, I'll take you back to the castle."
Completely dejected, Harry and Ron returned to the castle under Sherlock's escort.
Meanwhile, deep within the Forbidden Forest, where Sherlock had started the blaze—
The Centaurs had long since sensed the disturbance and gathered around the spreading sea of fire.
"We must organise efforts to extinguish the fire! The wind is driving the flames towards our territory. If we don't act now, our tribe will burn within a single night!"
Firenze, a rare handsome Centaur with striking blue eyes and platinum-blond hair, was organising the other Centaurs to fight the fire.
Another Centaur, Bane, who had a thick beard, a proud and wild appearance, and a body covered in dark hair, angrily shouted from the side,
"Who caused this?! Winter hasn't even fully ended yet, and the Forbidden Forest is full of dry branches. Is someone trying to burn the entire forest to the ground?!"
It was no exaggeration to say that the fire could consume the entire Forbidden Forest.
Compared to when Sherlock had left, the flames had already spread for over a hundred metres, igniting every tree capable of burning!
And the wind tonight was exceptionally fierce, causing the fire to spread at terrifying speed. Even if the Centaurs organised firefighting efforts, there was no way they could extinguish such a blaze with their numbers alone.
Firenze stared at the overwhelming inferno and shook his head painfully.
"Forget fighting the fire. Organise the tribe to evacuate immediately. We must leave. We cannot extinguish this blaze on our own."
Bane furiously stomped his hooves against the fallen leaves. Just as they were preparing to lead the tribe away, the wind suddenly stopped!
As the powerful gusts gradually died down, both Firenze and Bane showed visible surprise.
The disappearance of the wind meant the fire would stop spreading, giving them hope of containing it!
However, before they could reorganise their people to fight the fire, an even stronger wind suddenly rose once again!
Only this time, the direction had changed completely. The violent gusts swept the sea of flames in the opposite direction, carrying the inferno elsewhere instead.
Bane stared blankly at the magical scene before him.
"So... we don't need to move the tribe anymore?"
Firenze, however, looked up at the constellations in the sky with shock written across his face before turning towards the direction the flames were now spreading.
"The constellations have changed... We are safe now. But judging from the direction of the fire... all those spiders are going to burn to death!"