Before the Consulting Detective

Chapter 6

After taking the man to the local police Sherlock was once more invited to the lords house for dinner with his friends.

"Two days! Two! They told me you were good! But." He chuckled. "You are better than good!" Sherlock frowned as he finished his meal.

"I didn't do it all myself-"

"Oh, come on Vulpes. You know you did everything yourself!" Sherlock frowned at James who smiled at him brightly. Sherlock rolled his eyes. Lord Dimpstone grinned.

"I will transfer the money onto your account." Sherlock nodded.

"Very well, I have already told you, I do not usually take money, and this was a relatively easy case but if you insist..." Dimpstone smiled.

"You are a very funny young lad." The marauders snorted and the lord looked at them oddly. Sherlock raised an eyebrow. The lord suddenly stood up as he saw everyone was finished with food.

"Shall we go to the sitting room?"

It was two days later when the marauders were going back to the castle, Hogwarts. They arrived by port key in the great hall and were to report to the headmasters which Sherlock ignored and sent his friends to report for him. As Sherlock was about to walk to the stairs there was a big commotion in the great hall. At that moment he saw his friends running down the stairs.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

"I take it he wasn't there." They shook their heads and Sherlock raised an eyebrow. "Was the room tidy?"

"There weren't any things there, it looked as if someone was moving out." Sherlock smiled tightly and in a grim way.

"That's what all of this is about. Headmaster Dippet is dead." He declared to his friends.

...

That was in fact true, the day after they had gone Dippet had died of old age and Dumbledore had taken his place and McGonogall had taken Dumbledores as deputy headmistress and the post as the transfiguration teacher.

Sherlock and his friends were currently back in the common room in their armchairs. Apparently there had been a burial which they had missed and now Sherlock was slightly worried that Dumbledore was the headmaster because he would watch his movements carefully, he now knew Sherlock was a detective.

...

"And lastly, put that finger there." Said the headmaster of Hogwarts. Sherlock did so and looked up at his music tutor.

"Is that all right?"

"Perfect. Now play the piece." Sherlock did the piece without any emotion at all and suddenly it sounded all wistful and empty. He frowned up at Dumbledore and let the violin drop to his side.

"How- Why?" Dumbledore shook his head.

"You aren't putting any emotion into it." Sherlock frowned.

"I'm not good with emotion." He hung his head. Dumbledore put a hand on Sherlocks shoulder.

"But I am." Sherlock turned his head to look up at Dumbledore who was smiling sadly at him now. "Sherlock, what do you like most of all in the world?" Sherlock shrugged.

"Cases, entertainment. I hate Mycroft and boredom." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"You hate your brother?"

"Yes."

"With passion?" Sherlock thought for a second. "Yes, with passion."

"Very well." Said Dumbledore, his eyes shining. "Think of him as you play and... I've got a new piece for you." He put a piece of paper on the stand and Sherlock quickly analysed it and raised his eyebrows.

"Beethoven, sonata number 5?" He questioned. Dumbledore nodded, eyes shinier than ever. Sherlock took a deep breath and started to play.

This time instead of playing the notes, the code as he called it, he played the emotion that was slowly creeping through his 'empty' heart.

And then suddenly he had finished the end of the dramatic piece. He stared at the last note for a second, contemplating what he had done.

Looking up at Dumbledore Sherlock saw the pride in those eyes and he almost smiled to himself. Almost.

"That was better, much better." Dumbledore stretched. "I think were done for the night. Practice your pieces and put some emotion to it, don't think of your brother al the time because I noticed the piece was rather angry, but yes practice, practice and practice. Good night." That was an obvious good bye and Sherlock found himself going back to his common room.

He needed to think, as usual. But this time, he was desperate. Slowly he climbed up the moving staircases, carefully avoiding the bad steps. He walked through the seventh floor corridor, the one that led to the Gryffindor house, then suddenly stopped.

Slowly his head turned to the right only to see two big, oak double doors. He frowned and slowly walked to them. He cocked his head to the side and rose an eyebrow, then he pushed them open.

The second they opened he gasped. He was staring at a very big room filled with basically... junk. There were huge piles of chairs, books, brooms. It seemed as if the room held all the things that one threw away or tried to hide.

He gazed about and found an armchair. He almost smiled. Just the perfect place to think.

As he walked to the armchair, a tea table caught his eye. He turned his head to the left to see a long thin package placed on it. Dust surrounded it. Slowly Sherlock picked it up and blew the dust off then coughed. The noise echoed through the whole room. Slowly he opened the box.

And he gasped.

He had never seen such a beautiful thing (apart from his violin of course). It was a wand. A long wooden stick. The whole wand was engraved with different designs and runes. Ancient runes. Sherlock slowly picked it up and suddenly felt power radiate through his body. A soft, warm, golden glow surrounded him.

He grinned and suddenly he didn't have to think about those things Dumbledore had told him.

He pulled his first wand out of his pocket and waved it at his new wand. A simple spell to find out what was inside. What happened next was amazing. The information appeared above him in bright blue letters.

Wand made: 1500 BC

Core: Nemean Lion

Made and used By: Herakles(Hercules)

Type of wood:Olive Tree

Sherlock stared at the writing until it disappeared. Then he looked down at his chicken feathered wand and he snapped it, then with one good throw, the pieces flew into the junk.

He caressed the wand and with one quick spin he was gone.

...

Sherlock gazed into the fire with his now dull eyes. His friends had noticed the difference as soon as the case was solved. His eyes had dulled and his shoulders seemed to have slumped down.

Sherlock in fact felt dreadful.

Sherlock could feel his fingers moving to the position of a violin and the thought came to him. He stood up and reached for the violin then went up to his dorm. No one was in the room and Sherlock opened the leather case and pulled the violin out. He moved to the window and gazing out to the frozen lake Sherlock started to play.

As he played he thought of his mother and father. As he played he wished they were alive and well, fit and happy, not dying or dead.

He played for his parents and the melody was sad and lonely.

As he played he didn't notice his friends appear at the door and close it behind them. They stared at the passion he held in his heart behind the mask of coldness he always wore.

As the tune finished Sherlock let the bow and the violin fall at his side. Sherlock continued to gaze out the window.

"I think I'm having a déjà vu." Sherlock said turning. "I had this exact situation with Evans, just we met in the owlery." Sirius was staring with widened eyes and an open mouth. James was gazing at Sherlock as if he had never seen him, while Remus had raised his eyebrows and was watching with widened eyes.

"I-I-I think I've never heard better music." James muttered. Sherlock nodded his thanks.

"Thank you."

"Who were you playing for?" Asked Remus. "My father was a musician he told me that whenever he played he played for someone or something, so who were you playing for what were you playing for?" Sherlock frowned as he turned away.

"My parents and my family."

...

Three days later it seemed the whole school knew the marauders were back partly because Sirius had stood up on the table and yelled, "we are BACK" one breakfast morning and partly because in the last three days the marauders had done more pranks yet.

At Christmas morning Sherlock woke up by Sirius' loud yelling to wake him up for the presents. Sherlock slowly got out of bed and looked at his watch, it was about seven o'clock. Glaring at Sirius Sherlock put on his morning rob and followed his friends into the common room with his violin.

Somehow everyone in Gryffindor seemed to have gone for the winter holidays and the only ones there were the marauders.

His friends were all there already and each one of them was looking at their presents with hungry expressions. Sherlock rolled his eyes as he came in the common room.

James imitated the expression of torture.

"Oh, come on we've been waiting for ages!" Sherlock shrugged and moved to the last armchair on which lay only a small pile of presents.

He looked about and the others seemed to have noticed as well but wisely they said nothing. Sherlock threw a hand through his hair ruffling it in a wilder state than it had been in before.

"Ok, 3, 2, 1, 0!" Yelled Sirius at the top of his lungs and instantly dug into his presents, so did James, then Remus and finally Sherlock.

Sherlock took his first present from the top of the pile. Holding it for a second he deduced it was a Rolex watch from Mycroft. Sherlock neatly took the wrapping off and opened the box.

His friends, who had already finished unwrapping most of their presents turned to look at him. Sherlock rolled his eyes as he took the card.

Dear little brother,

I know you will not want to wear this watch
as it is from me. But I might as well tell you
it was our fathers, and he used it when he
had to go to meetings with muggles-

Sherlock stopped there disgusted, he didn't want to read any more. With a flick of his wrist he threw the letter into the fire. His friends looked at him with raised eyebrows and Sherlock shrugged when he saw them staring at him.

Sherlock dropped the watch into his pocket, he'd send it back to Mycroft later meanwhile he would open his presents.

The next present was a book, Sherlock was sure. He opened it and found it was from Dumbledore, pieces from Beethoven and Bach grinning tightly and turning away so that his friends couldn't see him Sherlock laid the book to the side.

The last present was from the marauders all put together. With wonder Sherlock unwrapped it and smiled. It was a big Chemical set made specially for wizards who studied muggle science. The cool thing about it was that there seemed to be an expanded bag that contained all the stuff.

"Hey thanks, Lupus!" Said Sirius from the other side of the room. Sherlock nodded distractedly.

"You're welcome." He muttered. It was then when he heard a gasp. Turning Sherlock saw James was no where to be seen. Then... He appeared, his head floating in mid-air. Then he took it off, whatever it was and Sherlock saw it was a cloak. An invisibility cloak in fact. Remus was reading a letter out loud.

"Dear Jamie, (Sirius snickered at the nickname) I hope you have a wonderful Christmas at Hogwarts while we are in Australia in your mothers homeland. Of course this letter is coming from me of course. You probably opened the family letter already but this is a private one from me as I have to present you with the most wonderful present you will get this Christmas and probably in all the Christmases you have before you. This is an invisibility cloak that has been handed down our family for generations. You are not to show it to anyone but your friends as I know it will be inevitable for them to find out.
Use this cloak for good and do not, ever, let other people find out or I will personally disown you!

Oh, and merry Christmas,

Your father."

"Harsh." Said Sirius from the armchair he was sitting in. The boys shared a good laugh. "Oh but imagine the things we could do with it..." Muttered Sirius with a dreamy expression. Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"Great, were all happy now... can we go have breakfast?" Asked a hungry James who had packed his cloak back into the wrapping paper. Sherlock shook his head.

"The great hall doesn't open until ten." Everyone stared at him. "What? I overheard McGonogall talking about it." And with that he pulled his violin out once more and started playing a happy Christmas tune. And as always, from the moment he had had that conversation with Dumbledore, it was what he felt that he played.

...

Sherlock felt relieved when classes started off again. It wasn't a very good distraction but it was better than anything. It wasn't as though hanging out with the marauders didn't provide enough distraction but sometimes they were too dull.

As he sank in his seat in potions that day he turned to Lily who he found was smiling at him. He turned away and pulled his stuff out of his bag before turning his grey eyes on Slughorn who had just asked a question.

"Mr Holmes?" Sherlock cursed for his bad luck. Beside him he could hear Lily whispering the answer to him. Instead Sherlock lifted his chin to the professor and with all the dignity and courage he could muster he said four clear words.

"I do not know." Sulghorn frowned and looked over at Lily who was the only one with her hand up.

"Warmweed." She said as he gestured for her to tell the class the answer. "Can be the cause for death in which case you can use that antidote." She added. Sherlock once again cursed his bad luck as he had once done a project about Warmweed for his father and it had been a very thorough edition.

As soon as Slughorn turned away Lily turned to Sherlock frowning.

"Why didn't you tell him the answer, you could have gotten points for your house." She whispered. Sherlock shrugged lightly.

"You didn't get any." He pointed out.

"That's not the point. The point is you could have gotten praise from Slughorn." Sherlock frowned and his eyebrows seemed to connect in one line.

"What's the point then? To get praise for something I didn't do? Bah! That's something for idiots who don't have a life." Sherlock turned back to the teacher to hear the instructions for the class. Lily thought he had missed her offended expression. But he didn't. He never missed anything.

At the end of class Sherlock reunited with his friends at the entrance to the charms classroom.

"...That git!" James was saying. "He added powdered beetles into my cauldron!" He cried. Sherlock raised an eyebrow and put on an expression which clearly stated he did not know what that addition could make to the potion. James looked desperately at his friends, looking from one another trying to see whether anyone knew what happened. They all wore similar looks like Sherlock. "Oh, god! Do I always have to explain stuff to you?" Sherlock raised his eyebrows. "Anyway, that can cause an explosion-"

"And that it did." Muttered Remus. They shared a laugh and suddenly all the tension was gone.

Then the door slammed open but Sherlock winked at James and quickly shot a spell at Snape then followed inside the classroom with his friends as if nothing had happened. Serverus Snape was left outside dangling in the air from his heel and no one inside the classroom noticed he was gone.

...

"That was wicked!" Sirius cried when they were back in the common room.

"Yeah, what was that spell you used? You've used it once before haven't you?" Said Remus who was looking wiry because of the nearing full moon. Sherlock shrugged and slumped down in 'his' armchair.

"Well, its called levicorpus. I invented it in one of those lengthy trips to our summer house in Scotland."

"Oh." Said Remus looking thoughtful.

"Did you invent any other prank spells?" Asked James sinking into the armchairs opposite.

"That was what I was about to ask." Said Remus leaning against the wall near the fire place.

"Well, yes. A couple here and there."

Ten minutes later they were all leaning over a journal that had so many spells scratched out and circled that it almost seemed black with everything.

"A couple here and there." Sirius echoed Sherlocks words as they tried to read Sherlocks usually neat and precise handwriting but which was now a horrible scribble.

"Oh come on, it isn't that bad." Sherlock muttered and everyone laughed.

"What's that spell?" Asked Remus. "I think I've seen it before. Aguamerti?" Sherlock raised his eyebrows.

"My friend, you are thinking of aguamenti, a spell that causes water to shoot out of your wand. But this is aguamerti. I tweaked the spell a bit, instead now it shoots balls of fire which can turn into blades of water if you think of it in your mind." There was a long silence.

"And that is the power of a single letter-oof" Before he was able to finish the sentence James hit him on the head snorting.

"Quit trying to be smart." They all laughed at the comical scene. James was standing over Sirius who lay on the floor moaning while James' hand was still raised. One could almost imagine the baseball bat in his hand.

Several people in the common room turned to watch James saw this and quickly turned to them and waved his hands in the air signifying peace.

"Its alright! Padfoot here is only going to have a concussion and amnesia." A few chuckles flirted throughout the room and most watchers turned back to their conversations.

Sherlock gazed at his friends for a few moments and finally lifted his chin and raised his eyebrows.

"Why am I even friends with you?" He muttered to them.

Ok, so this was a little longer...