After receiving news from the Centaurs, Hagrid quickly arrived at the territory occupied by the Acromantulas.
Just as the Centaurs had said, it had been burned into a barren wasteland.
Ashes remained everywhere; Hagrid could only see a few burned-to-death small spiders on the edges.
He fell to the ground, stunned, and muttered to himself.
"How did this happen..."
The Centaur accompanying him also said angrily,
"We also want to know who set the fire! The fire almost spread to our tribe; if the wind direction hadn't changed halfway through, our camp would have been the one burned to nothing!"
Hagrid stood before the ashes of the Acromantulas, dazed for a long time before coming back to his senses.
After returning to his hut, he immediately summoned Harry and the others.
Harry and the others had also just learned that the group of Acromantulas had actually all been burned to death.
But then Ron thought of something; he secretly tugged on Harry's sleeve and whispered,
"Do you remember what Professor Cavendish said when we left the Forbidden Forest?"
Harry recalled it a little and remembered what Sherlock had said at the time.
"The Professor said that the Centaurs would put out the fire, and that he would settle accounts with this group of spiders later because their venom could be sold for money?"
"And now, the Centaurs didn't put out the fire, those spiders are gone, and the Professor can't make a fortune..."
After Harry and Ron exchanged thoughts, they were speechless.
Although there were accidental factors involved, the main responsibility lay with Sherlock's jinx.
But the matter had already happened, and they had no way to change anything.
Moreover, judging by Aragog's behaviour that night when he let his descendants attack them, Harry and the others felt that it wasn't a bad thing that the Acromantulas had been burned to death like this.
So afterwards, Harry told Hagrid exactly what had happened at the time.
He told him that Sherlock had set the fire to help them escape, but that the fire ending up burning all the Acromantulas to death was something they hadn't expected.
After listening, Hagrid opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he didn't say it; he sighed, shook his head, and said,
"I don't blame you; this is the retribution Aragog deserved. Besides, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had my name cleared and been released by the Ministry of Magic so quickly."(TN: I don't believe he would be so cool about it myself)
Harry and the others could see Hagrid's sadness; after all, he and Aragog had shared a bond of more than fifty years.
But they could never truly understand Hagrid's feelings toward dangerous creatures.
In his eyes, those creatures were harmless, but that was only for him.
In the eyes of others, dangerous creatures were still dangerous creatures; their inherently cruel nature could not be changed.
After the Basilisk crisis was resolved, the Mandrakes cultivated by Professor Sprout also quickly matured.
Snape used them to concoct the antidote, restoring the four petrified students to normal.
With less than a month left in the semester, the students at Hogwarts also entered the final exam stage of the year.
Sherlock had already determined the practical content for the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, but he still needed to continue writing the theory exam papers.
Fortunately, he had already completed most of them beforehand, so now he only needed to spend a little time finishing the rest.
Therefore, as the end of the term approached, his schedule became more relaxed.
One morning, three days before the final exams began, Dumbledore asked a ghost to help call Sherlock to the Headmaster's Office.
Not only was Dumbledore there, but also a Witch wearing a black robe and hood.
Sherlock couldn't see her face clearly, but through the silver-grey long hair exposed beneath her hood, he could still tell she was a Witch.
"You shouldn't have any classes this morning, right, Sherlock?" Dumbledore asked.
Sherlock nodded.
Originally, he had classes for the fifth and seventh years today, but these two grades had already taken the Wizarding Level Examinations held by the Ministry of Magic this year, so their courses had ended early.
"Then please help me entertain Ms. Hilke from the German Ministry of Magic. She is here to sweep the graves in the Forbidden Forest; take her to find Hagrid, and he will lead her to the grave in the Forbidden Forest."
This Witch named Ms. Hilke seemed somewhat reticent. When Dumbledore introduced her, she didn't speak; she merely stood up from the chair and nodded slightly at Sherlock.
Sherlock had nothing to do today anyway, so he agreed. He took Ms. Hilke out of the Headmaster's Office and headed toward Hagrid's hut.
"My name is Sherlock Cavendish."
On the way, Sherlock only gave a simple self-introduction, and there was no further communication between the two.
When they arrived at Hagrid's hut, Hagrid hurriedly hid something when he saw them knock and walk in.
Vaguely, Sherlock saw that it seemed to be the egg of some animal.
Immediately, he asked suspiciously,
"What strange creature are you preparing to hatch again, Hagrid?"
Hagrid's expression clearly looked like he was hiding something; he stammered and explained,
"No, nothing, Sherlock." Then he saw Ms. Hilke following behind Sherlock and changed the subject, saying, "Oh, I almost forgot, this year it's time for Ms. Hilke to come and sweep the graves again. Please come in, Miss. Would you like a cup of tea?"
Ms. Hilke shook her head, her voice a bit cold.
"Thank you, but no need."
"Alright, please let me prepare..."
Hagrid said this and pulled Sherlock aside, clasping his hands together and begging, "Do me a favour, Sherlock. I have other urgent things to do now. Please take Ms. Hilke to the Forbidden Forest to sweep the graves; I'll let Fang lead the way for you."
Sherlock looked at the black-robed Witch suspiciously.
"Does she come to Hogwarts to sweep graves every year?"
"Yes, it has been going on for nearly ten years."
"Then who is she to them? Why place the graves in the Forbidden Forest?"
"It seems to be her father and her father's friend. I don't know the specifics, but Dumbledore agreed to bury them in the Forbidden Forest at the time." Hagrid continued to plead, "Do me a favour, Sherlock, I really have other things to do today."
Sherlock looked at Hagrid seriously.
"I know you like these large magical creatures, Hagrid, but I still have to remind you: you might be able to be friends with them, but that doesn't mean everyone can."
Hagrid said guiltily,
"I'll be sensible."
Sherlock couldn't do anything about him; Hagrid's personality was simply like that.
He agreed to Hagrid's request, took Fang, and led Ms. Hilke from the German Ministry of Magic into the Forbidden Forest.
The grave was located deep within the Forbidden Forest. Fang led them inward for about forty minutes before they finally arrived at the destination.
On the way, Sherlock had no communication with this Witch; the other party didn't want to talk, and he wasn't in the mood to chat either.
The place Fang led them to indeed had two graves, with tombstones erected in front of them.
Out of curiosity, Sherlock glanced at the names on the tombstones.
The name on one tombstone was "Eddie Butler", and the name on the other tombstone was "John Watson".
Seeing this name, Sherlock couldn't help but complain silently in his heart; he really hadn't expected that there would actually be someone named John Watson in the Wizarding World.
So why wasn't the tombstone beside it Sherlock Holmes?
Ms. Hilke took out two bouquets of fresh flowers from somewhere, placed them before the two graves, then clasped her hands together and prayed silently.
Sherlock tactfully moved away and absentmindedly studied a Bowtruckle nearby.
Just then, a gust of wind blew by, knocking off the hood Ms. Hilke was wearing. Sherlock inadvertently caught sight of her exquisite face and the ribbon covering her eyes.
Ms. Hilke silently pulled her hood back on, and Sherlock also turned his head away as though nothing had happened.
They stayed before the graves for less than an hour before returning the way they had come and leaving the Forbidden Forest.
After tying Fang up outside Hagrid's hut, Ms. Hilke bowed slightly to Sherlock.
"Thank you."
Sherlock waved his hand, indicating that it had merely been a small favour, and watched the Witch leave Hogwarts.
He looked at her retreating figure and muttered softly,
"How strange, doesn't she need her eyes to see the road..."
This matter was merely a small episode in Sherlock's daily life; he didn't take it to heart because the final exams for this year were about to begin.
Even if daily school life was usually relaxed, when the final exams approached, the students at Hogwarts all became nervous.
And on the day of the exam, during the second-year practical exam, Sherlock also transformed the tomcat that they hadn't successfully challenged at the beginning of the school year to serve as the second-year practical exam content.
Of course, the final grade was based on their specific performance, not on whether they could defeat Tom.
After all, for second-year students, defeating Tom was still too difficult.
However, during the exam, Hermione gave Sherlock a surprise.
Although she had been lying in the Hospital Wing for a few days and had missed some Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, she still defeated Tom through the flexible application of Transfiguration, becoming the first student in the entire second year to defeat Tom.
Therefore, Sherlock directly gave her an O grade.
After the Wizarding Level Examinations for the fifth and seventh years ended, they were also extremely excited.
Before the level exams, Sherlock had specially given them several prediction lessons based on the habits of the Ministry of Magic's question setters in previous years.
The senior students gave feedback one after another that Sherlock's predictions were very accurate; he had guessed almost 80% of the questions.
Some students even hugged his arm and burst into tears, saying that their efforts this time had not been in vain, and that they would definitely receive an O grade in the Defence Against the Dark Arts level exam, which would lay an important foundation for their future ideal of becoming an Auror.
Having been a Professor for a year, Sherlock felt very gratified seeing their current performance.