The night of the first day of school after the Christmas holidays.
The students of Hogwarts were all gathered in the Great Hall, with the prefects helping to maintain order and handing out sleeping bags; they were to spend the night in the Great Hall.
The students seemed to find this acceptable.
There were many students like Hermione who could clearly think through the consequences for all the young wizards at Hogwarts after the attack on Malfoy.
Through word of mouth, most students in the castle now knew they were in a very unsafe environment.
"Do you think the professors can find the monster that attacked this time?"
In the area where the Gryffindor students were gathered, Harry asked worriedly.
They all knew that if things continued like this, Hogwarts would be at risk of being closed down.
No one wanted to see that outcome, so they all hoped the culprit would be caught as soon as possible.
Hermione shook her head.
"I don't know, but I feel the hope is very slim."
Ron muttered in a low voice.
"If only Professor Cavendish could say exactly what you just said right now."
Harry and Hermione were momentarily stunned.
They looked at Ron with pleasant surprise, as if they had discovered a new continent.
"That's right! Although hope is slim, we have Professor Cavendish! If we just get Professor Cavendish to say, 'The hope of catching the culprit this time is very slim,' wouldn't that turn into high hope!"
Having only recently discovered Sherlock's jinx, Harry and the other two had spent these past few days merely fearing its bad luck. Only now did they realise that since it could turn good luck into bad luck, it could also turn bad luck into good luck!
The overjoyed trio felt they had found a shortcut to save Hogwarts, so they immediately prepared to sneak out of the Great Hall to find the walking jinx—Sherlock.
However, before they could even sneak to the main doors of the Great Hall, a cat with large, staring eyes blocked their path.
It was the castle caretaker Filch's pet—Madam Norris.
Filch and his cat were inseparable; Madam Norris blocking their path meant Filch was nearby.
Sure enough, after receiving orders to watch over the students in the Great Hall and not let them wander, Filch had been hiding in a corner by the door, waiting like a predator for students trying to sneak away.
Harry and the others were caught red-handed.
"What do you think you're doing!"
He stared with eyes that bulged like a fish's, questioning Harry and the others in a sinister tone.
Harry swallowed hard; he stammered for a long time without finding an excuse.
"We... we... wanted to..."
Hermione spoke up just in time.
"We have a clue to report to Professor Cavendish!"
But Filch had years of experience dealing with the Weasley twins; he wasn't that easy to fool.
He squinted his eyes, looking at Hermione suspiciously.
"If there's a clue, why must it be reported to Professor Cavendish? Why won't Professor Flitwick do?"
This stumped Hermione as well; she really couldn't explain why.
Filch grew increasingly suspicious as he looked at the three of them. Spending every day in the castle, he had clearly heard the rumours about the Chamber of Secrets.
"You wouldn't be trying to sneak out to find that monster, would you? Were you the ones who opened that Chamber of Secrets too?"
As soon as he said this, the eyes of several surrounding students watching the scene changed, and they all looked at Harry and the others with strange gazes.
Faced with such slander, Ron couldn't stand it and shouted,
"We're going to save Hogwarts! Let us see Professor Cavendish!"
Harry also clamoured, "We want to see Professor Cavendish!"
Their voices drew over Professor Flitwick, who was currently organising the prefects and managing the students.
The Charms professor was frantic and chased Harry and the others back to the Gryffindor resting area.
"You'll see Sherlock in a while; he's currently searching the boys' dormitories of each house and will be over soon."
Professor Flitwick left them with those words and hurried off to count the Hufflepuff students.
Harry and the others had no choice but to sit back down together by their sleeping bags. At that moment, Seamus, who loved a bit of chaos, leaned over and whispered,
"I heard you guys wanted to sneak out to find the monster from the Chamber of Secrets just now? Which one of you is the Heir of Slytherin?"
Ron glared at him angrily.
"If I were the Heir of Slytherin, I'd have the monster attack you next!"
"You can't do that! We're roommates!"
Harry and the others ignored Seamus. The three of them put their heads together again to discuss what to do next.
"When we see Professor Cavendish in a bit, how can we get him to say the words, 'The possibility of catching the culprit next is very slim'?"
Harry pointed out the difficulty of getting the jinx to speak.
Ron pondered.
"Maybe we can explain things clearly to Professor Cavendish and have him try saying that sentence. It's just a matter of opening his mouth, after all. I don't think the professor would refuse."
Hermione, however, kept her brow furrowed and did not join their discussion.
Harry noticed Hermione's abnormality and asked curiously,
"What are you thinking about, Hermione?"
Hermione looked up and said thoughtfully,
"I'm thinking about a problem I overlooked earlier."
"When Professor Cavendish blessed us before, those things he said should have been sincere, right?"
Hermione's question stumped Harry and Ron. They said hesitantly,
"Probably. Although the professor seems a bit cold on the surface, he's actually quite good."
"So our test is actually missing a round," Hermione said seriously. "We tested the accuracy and upper limits of Professor Cavendish's jinx, but we failed to test the necessary conditions for the jinx to occur."(TN: Is this some weird Chinese belief? What is the obsession with jinxes? It is driving me crazy while editing the MTL.)
Ron looked at Hermione in confusion; he didn't quite understand what she was saying.
Harry, however, understood. He said with realisation,
"You mean we can't be sure if the professor's jinx activates just by words coming out of his mouth. It might also require him to truly believe it in his heart!"
"Exactly!" Hermione said solemnly. "I'm worried that simply asking the professor to say the words won't work. No one knows whether he actually feels confident about catching the culprit this time."
Ron finally understood this time, and his face went blank.
"Then we're doomed..."
This was not only disappointment at Sherlock's inability to end the crisis, but also the loss of discovering that his originally imagined, incredibly wonderful jinxing ability was not as wonderful as he had thought.