When Dumbledore clearly said the name "Sherlock Holmes" in his booming voice, the entire Great Hall seemed frozen by an invisible magical force.
The previously lively and noisy atmosphere vanished instantly, as if hit by a Silencing Charm.
Without Dumbledore needing to emphasize it, people stopped their celebratory movements abruptly.
Everyone's gaze focused on Dumbledore, their eyes full of curiosity and anticipation.
Dumbledore straightened his back and spoke with passionate fervor:
"With his extraordinary deductive abilities, he successfully made up for errors I had previously made.
He fought alongside other students against Professor Quirrell... well, perhaps it's no longer appropriate to address him as such...
In any case, under Sherlock's leadership, the Philosopher's Stone remained safe, and evil was justly punished.
Let us add fifty points for this brave and fearless little Lion King!"
"Whoa——!"
Cheers, screams, and applause intertwined, once again drowning the Great Hall in surging waves of sound.
Sherlock immediately turned to look at Snape.
Sure enough, the professor was glaring viciously at Dumbledore, as if he might transform into a venomous snake and bite him at any moment.
Too bad he couldn't.
Compared to Snape's anger, the cheers in the Great Hall were deafening.
Lion King Sherlock!
Since Dumbledore had confirmed it so definitively, this was equivalent to official recognition of this glorious title.
Moreover, with three consecutive fifty-point additions, the Gryffindor lions were so excited their blood boiled, many shouting themselves hoarse yet continuing with enthusiasm.
In this scene, some lions had secretly calculated with paper and pencil:
299+50+50+50=449 points.
Gryffindor's score shot up like a rocket, suddenly leaping to second place, only 46 points behind first-place Slytherin.
Though there still seemed to be some distance, the little lions weren't panicked at all—instead, they were full of confidence and anticipation.
At this moment, everyone's gaze was drawn as if by powerful magnetism, all turning toward Harry.
This let him once again enjoy being the center of attention.
Ron's face had returned to normal, his eyes revealing excitement and anticipation.
Hermione raised her head, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned in a relieved smile.
Even the usually calm and composed Sherlock couldn't help but smile:
"Harry, now it's your turn."
Oliver Wood, who had been sulking over the Quidditch match loss, was so excited his face turned bright red.
He couldn't help but shout:
"It's time!"
"This important moment," Fred Weasley said.
"The moment we've all been waiting for," George Weasley said.
This time, not just Wood—no one told the Weasley twins to shut up.
All the little lions' eyes sparkled—they were closing in on the House Cup championship.
Unless something unexpected happened.
Dumbledore didn't deliberately create suspense, but announced straightforwardly:
"Harry Potter—he showed fearless courage and exceptional bravery. For this, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."
Unlike Sherlock, Hermione, and Ron, Dumbledore didn't specify what Harry had done, instead summarizing with "fearless courage and exceptional bravery."
This was quite normal, since Voldemort's involvement hadn't been made public, so Quirrell had to bear this burden alone.
Since his days were numbered anyway, he presumably wouldn't mind such things.
For others, this wasn't important—they didn't care what Harry had actually done.
With Dumbledore's earlier setup and this description, they began freely imagining, mentally filling in spectacular scenes.
"Lion King!"
"The Boy Who Lived!"
"Lion King!"
"The Boy Who Lived!"
"Lion King and The Boy Who Lived!"
"Lion King and The Boy Who Lived!"
The chanting grew louder and more unified, as if it would break through the Great Hall's roof and soar to the clouds.
If someone stood outside the Great Hall now, they might think an explosion had occurred inside.
Especially at the Gryffindor table, waves of triumphant celebration rose higher and higher.
Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were loudly cheering for the little lions.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron—the three protagonists—all stood up.
Only Sherlock remained seated, steady as a rock.
But he couldn't stay steady for long, as the frenzied little lions swarmed over and embraced him tightly.
The four were quickly swallowed by the excited crowd.
In stark contrast to the jubilant Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses, almost everyone at the Slytherin table wore dark expressions.
How high-profile they'd been before, that's how dejected they were now.
The smugness had vanished, replaced by endless depression and frustration.
Especially the first-year students looked shocked and panicked, completely wearing the dead-fish faces of those hit by a Full Body-Bind Curse.
Only Prefect Gemma Farley and a few others who hadn't been arrogant earlier maintained their previous composed demeanor.
At least they managed to preserve some dignity for Slytherin.
In short, after Dumbledore used his headmaster's authority to add a full two hundred points to Gryffindor, Gryffindor jumped from last place to first place.
But that wasn't all.
"This means..."
Even Dumbledore had to cast a Sonorus Charm on himself to suppress the massive cheers.
His booming voice carried throughout the Great Hall: "...we need to make some small changes to the decorations here."
The next moment, as he waved his wand, the entire Great Hall's decorations changed instantly.
The green and silver hanging banners turned red and gold in a flash.
The giant Slytherin serpent disappeared, replaced by a majestic Gryffindor lion.
Students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff excitedly gathered together, cheering loudly and dancing with joy.
For them, seeing Slytherin—on the verge of a seventh consecutive championship—suffer such a dramatic reversal at the crucial moment was absolutely delightful.
The little lions, eagles, and badgers freely released their inner joy and excitement, as if venting years of suppressed frustration under Slytherin's dominance.
Even Sherlock, who usually didn't care much about such things, smiled.
How to put it?
Compared to green and silver, red and gold were indeed more beautiful.
He looked toward Professor Snape again, finding him shaking hands with Professor McGonagall.
Compared to McGonagall's genuine smile, Snape's smile seemed somewhat awkward.
But no one cared about such details anymore.
People sang, danced, and celebrated freely, turning the Great Hall into an ocean of joy.
Especially the Gryffindor students—Dumbledore's last-minute maneuver had turned the graduation ceremony into the little lions' festival.
The seventh-year students were particularly excited.
For them, this was their last major group activity at Hogwarts.
Though some students might be busy with graduation exams, job hunting, or other personal matters, most had unhesitatingly made time to attend this ceremony.
This was because they knew clearly that this would be their last chance to create complete, beautiful memories at Hogwarts—they didn't want to leave any regrets in their school life.
They weren't disappointed.
After six consecutive years under Slytherin's boot, they could finally hold their heads high at the last moment before leaving school, truly experiencing the feeling of serfs singing liberation songs.
With their departure from school, the story of the "Lion King and The Boy Who Lived" quickly spread through Hogwarts' alumni circles.
Seventh-year students who couldn't attend the graduation ceremony deeply regretted missing this news.
But what was done was done—nothing could be said about it.
Life had to go on, and they could only carry their blessings for the two young wizards as they threw themselves into their careers and lives.
Shortly after the graduation ceremony banquet ended, final exam results were also announced.
Without any suspense, Hermione took first place in their year.
Harry and Ron also passed their exams with high scores, ranking near the top of their class—a result that surprised them both.
They had originally thought they would stumble in one or two subjects.
Seamus and Dean, who were close to them, also performed adequately.
Only Neville barely scraped by.
Mainly because he lost major points in Potions.
However, his excellent Herbology grade compensated for this shortcoming.
But the most surprising was still Sherlock.
His grades in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology were all "Outstanding" (O).
If it were just this, it would be fine—after all, Hermione's grades in all subjects were "Outstanding."
But.
According to rumors circulating among students, Sherlock's scores in these subjects were actually higher than Hermione's.
As everyone knew, rumors were often more reliable than official news.
This was extremely impressive.
Other subjects aside, Professor Flitwick had secretly told Hermione that she scored one hundred and twelve percent on the Charms exam.
Those twelve points were bonus points.
This suggested that Hermione's scores in other subjects wouldn't be bad either.
But now Sherlock was stronger than her?
Didn't this mean he was like this in every subject?
Simply terrifying!
However, while Sherlock performed so impressively in these subjects, he only received "Acceptable" (A) ratings in Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, and Astronomy.
Just barely passing.
The precise scores seemed calculated in advance.
Because of this, his ranking fell behind Hermione's.
But relying solely on the subjects where he earned "Outstanding," his overall performance still ranked near the top of the year.
This left Hogwarts professors deeply regretful.
The professors responsible for those subjects wanted to have a special talk with Sherlock, asking whether they had taught poorly or if there were other reasons for his selective performance.
But they were stopped by Dumbledore, who gave sincere advice:
"My suggestion is not to go—if you don't want to get angry."
Of course, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Quirrell didn't need persuading.
Because he had already left and would never return.
The professors listened to the advice and didn't approach Sherlock.
Thus, the 1991-1992 school year finally ended.
Even the Lion King and The Boy Who Lived had to return to the world without magic at this point.
On the last day at school.
[NO MAGIC IS TO BE USED DURING THE HOLIDAYS]
"I keep hoping they'll forget to give us these."
Fred Weasley held the notice just distributed, looking regretful.
"Even if they forgot, Percy would stop us from doing it—don't forget, he's a prefect... Ow!"
Just as the two were speaking carelessly, Percy appeared from somewhere and kicked George to the ground.
"I'm not just a prefect—I'm your brother!"
After saying this, he looked down at the prefect badge on his chest, finding it even more brilliant.
Watching Percy stride away with his head held high, George sat on the ground rubbing his backside, complaining:
"I don't know what's wrong with him, but he's becoming more and more like the old bat, appearing and disappearing mysteriously all day..."
Fred reached out to pull his brother up: "No worries, the summer holiday is long—you'll have plenty of time."
British summer holidays differed from winter holidays, lasting from June to September, making them particularly long.
Once back home, with the twins' mischievous nature, they'd always find opportunities to deal with Percy.
So, what if he was their brother?
So, what if he was a prefect?
We're hitting brothers (prefects)!
The two brothers exchanged glances, a cunning gleam flashing in their eyes.
Harry and Ron were nearby, finding this scene amusing.
Not far away, Neville grabbed Sherlock's hand with tears in his eyes:
"Sherlock, Trevor's missing again—you have to help me!"
"Neville, how many times is this..."
Before Sherlock could speak, Hermione was already covering her face with her hand: "Every time you come crying to Sherlock as if he took your toad."
"But, but... only Sherlock in the entire school can help me find Trevor."
Neville hung his head, his voice carrying a hint of tears.
Hermione: (╬◣д◢)
"Yes, yes, after all, he's Hogwarts' great detective Holmes!"
Seeing the aggrieved Neville, Hermione looked helplessly at Sherlock: "Detective, where is Neville's toad this time?"
Sherlock examined Neville twice, then directly entered questioning mode: "When did you discover the toad was missing this time?"
"When the exam results came out, it was still with me..." Neville stammered as he recalled.
Sherlock nodded, just about to go through the usual process when a clear girl's voice came from nearby:
"Hey, Granger!"
Hermione turned to see her roommate Parvati Patil and her twin sister Padma Patil from Ravenclaw.
The beautiful twin sisters walked toward them arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder.
"Granger, I heard Mr. Longbottom's toad is missing?"
Parvati Patil spoke while glancing at the anxious Neville with her eyes.
"From the looks of it, he's planning to ask Holmes for help?"
Hermione nodded helplessly. What could she say?
She had become numb to Neville losing his toad.
Seeing this, Padma Patil's eyes immediately lit up, and she raised her hand high:
"Look!"
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