"Miss Granger, is he always like this?"
Penelope couldn't help but ask.
"Once he becomes immersed in his own world, yes, he's exactly like this."
Having witnessed Sherlock's behavior before, Hermione's reaction was naturally much more composed than the other three.
Actually, she had originally tried to search for clues like Sherlock, but she had barely taken a few steps before being rudely stopped by Sherlock.
Under these circumstances, she could only stand in place with the other three Ravenclaw girls, watching Sherlock busily work.
However, even while standing still, she managed to get a clear view of the dormitory's layout.
This girls' dormitory was located at the top of the castle's western tower. The arched dome was embedded with flowing star charts, and bronze and deep blue curtains hung down from the ceiling, consistent with the common room's design.
The dormitory layout was similar to the Gryffindor dormitories—four-poster beds with hanging flannel curtains. However, the color wasn't deep red but light blue. Starlight filtered through the magical glass windows onto the four four-poster beds, whose posts were carved with raven and scroll motifs. Copper wind chimes hung at the head of each bed, ringing gently in the breeze with ethereal tinkling sounds.
Noticing Hermione's attentive listening, Penelope explained, "These are magical instruments that translate the words of Ravenclaw's founder into musical notes."
In the center of the room stood a round walnut table, its surface covered with graffiti and magical formula scrawls from generations of students. Several self-turning magical books and a steaming honey teapot were piled around the edges.
Cho Chang quietly told Hermione that her bed was the second one by the window.
Hermione glanced over and found this bed was kept extremely tidy. The light blue sheets didn't have a single wrinkle, and though the blanket wasn't folded into a perfect square, it was still neat and orderly. On her bedside table was a small magical plant in a pot, with crystalline dewdrops condensed on its leaves, emanating a fresh fragrance.
This was all Hermione managed to observe.
She tried to analyze things like Sherlock would.
She could only deduce that Cho Chang was a witch who loved cleanliness, maintained good hygiene, and had a cheerful personality.
And then—nothing more.
She sighed inwardly.
Indeed, although Sherlock always said things like "it's common sense," "obviously," and "easy to deduce," those statements only applied to himself.
She simply couldn't do it!
Sherlock was still carefully examining every item in the room, not even sparing the walnut table and copper wind chimes.
When it came time to examine the dormitory beds, he unhesitatingly pulled out his magical magnifying glass for careful observation.
This action made Cho Chang and her two roommates blush.
Strangely, Sherlock didn't ask them who owned which bed.
"Mr. Holmes, do we need to step out—ah!"
Marietta Edgecombe's intended question was cut short by her own scream.
Mrs. Norris had somehow suddenly appeared at her feet.
"Where—where did it come from!"
"Isn't that Mrs. Norris? Filch's cat!"
In fact, Mrs. Norris had entered the dormitory even before Sherlock and his two companions.
While Penelope was introducing the situation to Cho Chang's two roommates, Sherlock had already used the three witches accompanying him to block the line of sight and let the cat into the room.
This was effortlessly easy for him to accomplish.
Mrs. Norris didn't disappoint Sherlock's expectations either.
She remained undetected until this moment.
Sherlock's gaze lingered on Mrs. Norris for a few brief seconds before looking away.
Next, he opened Cho Chang's bedside cabinet, and after careful examination, turned his attention to the other three girls' bedside cabinets.
Marietta Edgecombe and Alicia Kirke's faces immediately changed.
But just then, Sherlock withdrew his gaze.
"Alright, the on-site inspection has concluded. Ladies, you don't mind if I ask you a few questions, do you?"
As Sherlock spoke, he walked over to Mrs. Norris, bent down, and picked her up.
Cho Chang's two roommates both looked toward Penelope, and after the latter nodded, they began accepting Sherlock's questioning.
Their answers were largely similar to Cho Chang's.
They both admitted to having seen Cho Chang use the eyeshadow, and both had tried it along with Lucy, who had already returned home.
The time they discovered the eyeshadow missing was also the same as Cho Chang's—after returning to the dormitory following the last Potions class of Easter term.
Recently, they hadn't noticed anything unusual.
When Sherlock asked Alicia Kirke why she had suddenly thought to check on the eyeshadow after returning to the dormitory from Potions class, her expression suddenly became sharp:
"Mr. Holmes, are you suspecting me? If I had really done this, why would I deliberately bring it up at that time? Wouldn't that make me more conspicuous?"
"Mr. Holmes, Ravenclaw students would never steal, especially not anyone in this dormitory!" Marietta Edgecombe said with righteous indignation.
"Alicia, Marietta, you shouldn't—"
Sherlock waved his hand, stopping Penelope from speaking.
"Ladies, I must say, you're being somewhat oversensitive."
Hearing Sherlock say this, both girls snorted dismissively.
"From my perspective, this kind of behavior could actually be using reverse psychology—acting against type deliberately to deflect suspicion."
This statement instantly stunned all the girls present.
You're really brave!
In their view, this was tantamount to pointing at their noses and saying "you're the criminal"!
Alicia Kirke's chest heaved with anger as she pointed at Sherlock: "Holmes, are—are you insulting me?"
"You're not just insulting us, you're insulting Ravenclaw!" Marietta Edgecombe said coldly, then turned to Penelope. "Prefect, we don't need this person's help!"
"You've misunderstood something."
Facing the two girls' accusations, Sherlock said calmly:
"The client for this case isn't you, or even Miss Chang, but Prefect Penelope standing over there!"
"Holmes, you—"
Sherlock stopped paying attention to the two girls and turned to beckon Hermione: "My dear Hermione, could you help me with something?"
The bewildered Hermione came to Sherlock's side, and he immediately whispered a few words to her.
Hermione immediately showed a surprised expression.
However, after being stunned for a moment, she nodded and quickly ran out.
Penelope couldn't help but ask:
"Mr. Holmes, what are you—"
"Oh, don't mind her. I just asked her to help me with a small favor."
Sherlock stroked the cat with his practiced motions and suddenly spoke:
"Ladies, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you to move to the common room."
"No need for further examination?"
Penelope couldn't help but ask.
The three girls in the dormitory also showed surprised expressions at the same moment.
Sherlock took in everyone's expressions before smiling and shaking his head:
"This case happened too long ago, and many crucial clues have already disappeared. To use an analogy, it's like a formatted hard drive—data can often still be recovered. But if new data is continuously written after erasure, it becomes difficult. Your dormitory perfectly fits this condition—the scene wasn't preserved, and the entire dormitory, including Miss Chang's cabinet, has been in continuous use, with many clues already covered by new traces of use."
At this point, Sherlock suddenly changed direction: "Fortunately, I still found some useful information that should help you."
The four girls looked at each other, and finally all turned their gazes to Penelope.
Watching this scene, Sherlock's lips curved slightly upward.
Ten minutes later, Sherlock and the four girls arrived at the Ravenclaw common room.
Sherlock sat in the center with Mrs. Norris comfortably lying on his lap, purring continuously.
The four girls sat opposite Sherlock, subtly surrounding him.
Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought they were interrogating the criminal Sherlock, who naturally ignored all this. Meeting their curious and scrutinizing gazes, he calmly said while stroking the cat:
"Investigation is indeed physical work, whether in the Muggle world or the magical world. However, I must thank Prefect Penelope for providing me with such an opportunity, making my Easter holiday less boring."
As soon as Sherlock said this, the four girls' faces immediately changed.
After all, they were all Ravenclaws and could understand language of this level.
Penelope was the most eager, immediately asking:
"Holmes, you mean to say—you've already completed the task?"
"That depends on how you define 'task'—whether it's finding Miss Chang's lost eyeshadow, catching the thief who took the eyeshadow, or both."
While saying this, Sherlock's gaze briefly lingered on someone's face.
As soon as he said this, the four girls' faces changed again.
The originally cool-toned Ravenclaw common room seemed to drop by one or two degrees Celsius.
After a brief silence, Penelope was still the first to break the deadlock, though her expression wasn't pleasant:
"So, you're saying it was definitely done by a person?"
Hearing this, Sherlock couldn't help but laugh.
"I thought this point was already beyond question! Surely Miss Chang didn't really forget it somewhere?"
"Very well," Penelope took a deep breath. "Please tell us everything, Mr. Holmes!"
"Wait a minute!"
"You were just using the hard drive formatting example to explain that you hadn't found any clues, so how are you so confident now?"
At this moment, Alicia Kirke suddenly interrupted, looking at Sherlock with suspicion: "You're not just putting on a show, are you?"
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