Author's note: Don't even comment on the chapter name. Like what the hell?
Honestly, Sherlock did not have much interest in the sport of Quidditch.(TN: For some reason it started showing his name as Shylock which made me reminisce of Merchant Of Venice and I even re-read it due to nostalgia. Aah the good old days when the most boring thing in my life was reading it.)
Because he spent a lot of time in the library, besides enhancing his magical knowledge, Sherlock also read many other miscellaneous books during his free time.
Among them was information about the origins of Quidditch.(TN: Quidditch Through the Ages was such an interesting read.)
To be honest, there was not much to say about this sport, but originally, there was no Golden Snitch, and Quidditch teams did not have the role of Seeker.
It was not until a match in 1269 that the then-Chief of the Wizards' Council, Barberus Bragge, came to watch.
He brought a magical bird called the Golden Snidget and announced that whoever caught it during the match would receive a grand prize of 150 Galleons.
After that, the players naturally forgot about the match entirely, wanting only to catch the poor bird and win the 150 Galleon prize.
Meanwhile, the Wizards in the stands used Repelling Charms to drive the bird back into the pitch, just so they could watch this special spectacle.
It was not until a witch named Modesty Rabnott took pity on the poor Golden Snidget, secretly using a Summoning Charm to hide it in her robes before setting it free.
But this was eventually discovered, and the furious Bragge fined her ten Galleons for disrupting the match.
Although the Golden Snidget was not caught in that match, Quidditch became forever linked to it.
In every match, a Golden Snidget was released, and each team had a player—originally called a "Hunter," later becoming the Seeker—specifically responsible for catching it.
If a Hunter caught and killed the Golden Snidget, their team would receive 150 points, symbolising the 150 Galleons promised by Bragge.
The popularity of Quidditch caused the Golden Snidget population to decline rapidly. By the 14th century, the Golden Snidget was almost extinct, and a single bird suitable for use in a match would be auctioned for an astronomical price.
Finally, a metalworker from Godric's Hollow named Bowman Wright came up with a different idea: he invented a mechanical Golden Snidget, which he called the Golden Snitch.
This is the origin of the Golden Snitch and the Seeker position in Quidditch.
It was quite disgraceful and almost led to the extinction of an entire species. Even now, the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation in Somerset exists to protect this magical bird.
So, from the beginning, Sherlock was relatively indifferent to this sport.
However, he had nothing to do while cooped up in his office, and his mood had improved considerably compared to before. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to go and join in the fun.
The enthusiasm of the teachers and students at Hogwarts for Quidditch was clearly much stronger than his. Almost everyone in the Castle braved the wind and rain to head to the Quidditch Pitch.
The wind was so strong that ordinary umbrellas could not be held up and would simply be blown away.
On his way to the pitch, Sherlock saw Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and others, as well as students like Hermione and Ron.
But he did not go over to them. Instead, he walked alone to the highest point of the stands and sat there with his chin resting on one hand.
Such heavy rain had no impact on the Quidditch match. Sherlock even saw Dumbledore in the front row; even he had not missed this match.
The players from both sides mounted their broomsticks and took off. The referee for this match was none other than the Flying instructor, Madam Hooch.
Sherlock was familiar with the players from both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
Harry, Wood, Cedric, and the Weasley twins—these last few were students he was currently teaching.
The match seemed to be very intense. Although Sherlock was not particularly interested, he knew enough about the rules of Quidditch.
It was clear from the field that Gryffindor was temporarily leading, but Harry was clearly at a disadvantage in his role as Seeker.
Because he needed to wear glasses while Cedric did not, the rain severely obstructed his vision.
Midway through the match, the Gryffindor team called a timeout. Hermione seemed to run over to Harry and cast some magic on his glasses, making them immune to the rain and perfectly clear.
Sherlock guessed it was a Waterproofing Charm, a simple, moderately obscure spell. For a student like Hermione, whose greatest hobby was reading, it would not be difficult to learn.
Just as the timeout ended and the match resumed, Sherlock glanced casually around, feeling bored.
Then, his eyes met those of a large black dog sneaking along the side of the stands.
Sherlock looked at the black dog, stunned for a moment, before quickly realising it was the same black dog that had led him and Hilke to the clue when they first went to Hogsmeade to investigate.
He had not encountered it during his later trips to Hogsmeade and had assumed it had wandered elsewhere. He had not expected to run into it again at Hogwarts.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... come here, Big Black." Sherlock beckoned to the black dog.
Sirius, who had sneaked into Hogwarts to watch Harry play, found himself in a dilemma.
According to his past experience, the highest seats in the stands offered the worst view of a Quidditch match; normally, no one at Hogwarts would choose to sit there.
Yet, as soon as he arrived today, he ran into this young Professor.
And what the hell was "Big Black"?(TN: To be fair, some would take it as a compliment.)
After hesitating for a long time, Sirius decided that running away now would only provoke Sherlock into chasing him. If Sherlock used magic to capture him, it would become a problem whether he resisted or not.
He chose to be proactive, acting like a real dog as he walked over to Sherlock on all fours.
Sherlock felt a natural fondness for the dog. If it had not been for it, he and Hilke probably would not have caught that straw man so easily.
He stroked the wet fur on Sirius's body and could clearly feel the dog's powerful muscles beneath his coat.
Sirius felt his whole body go numb from the petting and had no choice but to stick out his tongue, pretending to be especially friendly.
"You're quite something. With so many Dementors guarding the grounds, you actually managed to get into Hogwarts." Sherlock said thoughtfully. "Could it be that Dementors aren't interested in dogs?"
Dementors certainly had no interest in dogs.
Sirius complained silently in his heart. He had relied on that fact to survive in Azkaban for so long without going mad.
Ignoring Sherlock's wandering hands, Sirius watched Harry's performance on the pitch intently. Seeing him flying through the air on a broomstick reminded him of James in the past.
Meanwhile, Harry, searching for the Golden Snitch through the rain, inadvertently looked up towards the highest part of the stands.
He saw Sherlock, and he also saw the large black dog sitting beside him!
Harry was immediately unsettled.
He still remembered the prophecy Professor Trelawney had made at the beginning of the school year during Divination, saying that he would encounter the Grim.
That so-called Grim was a large black dog!
Harry had already seen this black dog in several places, but he had never expected to see it sitting beside Sherlock!
Just as Harry was distracted, Wood, the Keeper, spotted the Golden Snitch behind him.
He shouted to warn Harry, who immediately noticed the tiny golden ball fluttering rapidly through the rain.
But just as he prepared to lower his broomstick and dive towards it, everything around him suddenly went silent.
It was as though someone had switched off all sound, leaving him completely deaf. Immediately afterwards, a freezing cold spread through his body, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Below him floated at least a hundred Dementors, their faces hidden beneath their hoods as they stared directly at him!
Sherlock noticed the problem the moment the Dementors entered the Quidditch Pitch.
He frowned as he watched them drift in from the distant horizon with the wind and gripped his wand tightly.
Sirius, meanwhile, fled the stands the instant the Dementors appeared, assuming they had discovered his trail and were coming for him.
Sherlock paid no attention to the black dog fleeing with its tail between its legs. His full attention was fixed on the Dementors descending from the sky as he drew his wand.
Dumbledore, seated in the front row, also spotted the Dementors. His expression turned grim—grim beyond anything Sherlock had ever seen before.
Sherlock had never seen Dumbledore wear such an expression, but Dumbledore did not immediately deal with the Dementors because Harry, seemingly affected by something, had fallen from his broom at a tremendous height.
If no one caught him, such a fall would be enough to reduce him to a bloody pulp. In that split second, Dumbledore decided to save Harry first.
The uncontrolled Dementors quickly swept towards the stands, and almost every student felt the bone-chilling cold.
Two Dementors drifted directly towards Sherlock.
Standing in the rain, he gripped his wand and steadied the emotions required to cast the spell.
Fortunately, three days had passed since he drank the sorrow potion, and he was much calmer than he had been at the beginning. He raised his wand and chanted,
"Expecto Patronum."
Silver brilliance flashed at the tip of his wand. Although the process was somewhat slow, a raven composed entirely of pure silver light emerged into the air.
It spread its wings, scattering long trails of silver light, and flew around the entire Quidditch Pitch.
The moment the ravenous Dementors came into contact with the silver raven, they reacted as though they had been dropped into boiling oil. Grey vapour rose continuously from their bodies as they rapidly dissolved.
Sherlock's Patronus completed a full circuit of the pitch, herding the Dementors together like a sheepdog rounding up a flock.
Whenever one attempted to escape, it was mercilessly driven back by the raven.
At that moment, Dumbledore finally lowered Harry safely to the ground.
He looked at the Dementors being herded together and the silver raven circling above them before turning towards the highest part of the stands.
Sherlock noticed Dumbledore looking at him, so he casually raised a hand and waved, indicating there was no need to thank him.
Seeing that Dumbledore now had the situation under control, Sherlock dismissed his Patronus and walked down from the stands.
By then, the entire pitch was in chaos. At the very moment Harry fell from the sky, Cedric, Hufflepuff's captain and Seeker—the same student who had greeted Sherlock in the Castle—caught the Golden Snitch and won the match.
However, he was clearly an honourable person and insisted the result was unfair, demanding a rematch after Harry recovered.
Dumbledore conjured a floating stretcher, placed Harry on it, and had him taken to the Hospital Wing.
The other students naturally seized the opportunity to leave. The oppressive aura created by the Dementors gathering together was simply unbearable for ordinary people.
Sherlock also left the pitch with the crowd. His movements while casting had been extremely subtle; apart from Dumbledore, no one realised that the silver raven Patronus had been summoned by him.
Before leaving the pitch, Sherlock noticed that Dumbledore's negotiations with the Dementors were not going well. Dumbledore had even drawn his wand, bright silver strands of light flickering from its tip.
How those negotiations ultimately ended was not something Sherlock needed to concern himself with.
Since the start of the school year, he had felt that these Dementors were unruly and bound to cause trouble. Sure enough, they had entered Hogwarts without permission.
After casting the Patronus Charm once, Sherlock's mood improved considerably.
Since the time he had released two hundred and one Patronus Charms, triggering emotional feedback, he had not cast the spell again.
The effects of the sorrow potion were slowly fading. This potion, which produced the exact opposite effect of the Jubilation Potion, was quite remarkable.
Sherlock planned to see whether he could obtain the recipe from Madam Pomfrey later so that he could brew a few bottles to keep on hand.
He had no intention of giving up the "Raven Storm" method of casting the Patronus Charm. Many dark creatures in the Wizarding World feared this spell, making it his greatest trump card against creatures such as Dementors.
So Sherlock certainly needed to keep some sorrow potion on hand. As long as he was careful not to consume as much as the large bottle Madam Pomfrey had given him previously, it could completely offset the emotional feedback after the ravens were dismissed.
Making this method of casting almost perfect.