It was a House-elf who didn't seem timid at all; he stood up straight, looking at Sherlock and the other two.
The House-elf named Abby looked at him with disdain, as if he were looking at an anomaly.
Not only him, but all the other House-elves looked at him the same way, as if this House-elf wasn't one of their own.
"It's Dobby, Professor. Did he not clean well enough, or did he break something? If so, please punish him; he's too outrageous. Coming to work at Hogwarts, he actually asked Professor Dumbledore for wages! Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore is a kind man and was willing to pay him, but this still shames House-elves!"
Abby's tone clearly expressed his disgust for Dobby.
But Dobby didn't care at all; under the gaze of rejection from the others, he stood with his chest out and head held high, seemingly feeling no shame, but rather great pride.
Professor McGonagall wasn't here to solve the House-elves' internal problems; she sent Abby and the other House-elves away, leaving only Dobby.
"If Dobby doesn't do his work well, you can withhold Dobby's pay, but you cannot punish Dobby! Because Dobby is a free House-elf!"
Dobby was indeed different from the other House-elves; it was evident from his words and actions.
But Sherlock didn't have time to study the psychological changes of House-elves; he asked directly.
"Your work is done very well; there are no problems. We came to you just to ask if, while you were cleaning the classrooms on the ground floor these past two days, you found a straw in a rubbish bin in an empty classroom?"
Dobby immediately thought of what Sherlock was referring to.
"Yes, Dobby remembers finding a straw. It was something the great Harry Potter threw in the rubbish bin, and Dobby has treasured it!"
Hearing him say that, Sherlock and Professor McGonagall exchanged glances, both seeing a look of pleasant surprise in each other's eyes.
It was for the best that Dobby hadn't simply thrown the straw away, saving them a lot of trouble.
"Can you give us that straw, Dobby? Now, because of this straw, some bad things have happened at Hogwarts, and we need it to find clues."
Professor McGonagall didn't forcefully demand the item from Dobby, and Dobby was very reasonable; he expressed his willingness to help the Professors at the school.
He led Sherlock and the other two to his living quarters, took out a tattered cloth bundle, and opened it to reveal a collection of broken and worn-out trinkets.
Sherlock saw several pieces of parchment with Harry's name written on them, guessing that these were all things Dobby had picked up that Harry had discarded.
This House-elf was clearly a loyal fan of Harry.
And amidst that jumble of miscellaneous items, they immediately spotted the withered yellow straw.
Outwardly, it didn't look special, but Sherlock, who had already dealt with a straw man once, did not let his guard down regarding this straw.
After taking the straw from Dobby and confirming that the straw itself had no special spells, Professor McGonagall, with a serious expression, studied it for a long time in the Deputy Headmaster's Office.
"So how do we use this thing to find that Dark Arts creature?"
Sherlock had no solution for this either; they could only look at Hilke, as she was the true expert, whether it was understanding the straw man's situation or finding things.
Hilke did not disappoint their expectations; she took the straw from Professor McGonagall's hand and calmly said,
"I need time."
Professor McGonagall frowned deeply.
"How long?"
"If its intention is for us to find it, there could be results as early as tomorrow. But if it wants to keep hiding and cause trouble for Hogwarts, it will take at least three days."
Only three days had passed since Harry and the others encountered this thing, and it had already spread throughout the entire Gryffindor House. If they had to wait another three days, they couldn't guess what would happen then, and none of them wanted to know.
"You try your best first. If there are no results tomorrow, we'll think of other ways," Professor McGonagall could only say.
Because the Triwizard Tournament was about to begin, Dumbledore had been very busy during this time, and he hadn't had much time to return to the Castle until the official start in late October.
So now, all major decisions in the school had to be made by Professor McGonagall, as the Deputy Headmistress.
For now, things hadn't escalated, as the most exaggerated event was merely an entire House of students having a nightmare, and no students had suffered any other consequences, so the atmosphere in the Castle wasn't particularly tense.
Professor McGonagall had also specifically instructed Harry and a few other students who knew some of the inside story not to spread the news.
On the eve of an international competition, Hogwarts was currently under the scrutiny of many eyes in the Wizarding World. Even a little bad rumour spreading could be fatal to the school's reputation.
But tonight, things indeed developed as the Professors had anticipated.
Around three o'clock the next morning, all the young wizards in all four Houses of the entire Castle were simultaneously awakened by nightmares.
They all had the same dream: their families were killed, and a strange figure with scarlet eyes was watching!
Now, even if Professor McGonagall was deliberately trying to suppress the news, the students became panicked.
Early in the morning, the Great Hall was abuzz with discussions about the nightmares, and several "reliable" rumours had already spread among the students.
The most widely accepted one was that it was an after-effect of the Chamber of Secrets being opened; although the Basilisk had been killed, the founder's curse had completely spread.
The current nightmares of family deaths were actually testing which students came from Muggle families, and soon, these students would all die suddenly.
The rumours spread like wildfire, forcing Professor McGonagall to stand up before breakfast ended and explain to all the students that their nightmares had nothing to do with the Slytherin Chamber.
Professor Cavendish and Hilke had already found out the cause of the students' nightmares, and this matter would soon be resolved; no one would be harmed by it.
Professor McGonagall's authority, second only to Dumbledore's in the school, played its part, and coupled with Sherlock's previous feat of killing the Basilisk, the young wizards had great confidence in him.
And while Professor McGonagall was comforting the students in the Great Hall, in Hilke's office, Sherlock sat beside Hilke, hearing her announce the success of her night's divination.
"The number eight, white, a hidden room."