If John lived to be a hundred, he didn't think he'd ever feel more proud than he did playing his recording for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

"Have you thought about what you want to do after Hogwarts?" Harry asked when it was over. "Because you have the makings of a fantastic Auror."

"Thank you, sir," said John, blushing.

Actually, he'd often thought that he'd make a good Healer. But if the Boy Who Lived said he was Auror material, maybe that was worth looking into.

"Is this enough to put Moriarty away?" Irene asked.

"That's for the court to decide," said Ron. "But it's definitely enough to take him into custody."

"And release Sherlock," John put in.

"Of course. In fact…" Harry fished a key out of his pocket and handed it to John. "Sherlock is in our temporary office. Why don't you let him out while Ron and I fetch Mr. Moriarty?"

John turned to Irene. He was itching to see Sherlock, but it seemed ungrateful to leave without acknowledging the girl who'd helped him so much.

"Er…thanks," he said.

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine. Besides…" She smiled wickedly. "I have a feeling it will prove useful one day, having Sherlock Holmes in my debt."

John shook his head. He still didn't know what to make of Irene Adler, and he was beginning to think he never would. He was strangely okay with that.

He all but ran to Ron and Harry's office, then froze with his hand on the doorknob. What should he say when he opened the door? Maybe he should think of something really witty or cool, like…er…

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, John!" Sherlock called. "Just open the door."

Sighing, John obeyed.

The classroom looked like any other, except for the addition of a couch, no doubt conjured by Ron or Harry to make their prisoner more comfortable. There lay Sherlock, his pale eyes fixed on John.

"Well?" he asked.

"You're in the clear," said John.

Slowly, an enormous grin spread across Sherlock's face.

"You did it!" he said. "You solved it!"

John had been wrong. This was the proudest moment of his life.

Sherlock insisted on waiting for the Aurors to return with Moriarty. Not that John protested; as much as he wanted to put this whole business behind him, he also wanted to see justice served.

They didn't have to wait long. Minutes later, Ron and Harry came around the corner, dragging a handcuffed Moriarty between them. The latter was strangely quiet, though he looked at John and Sherlock as though he'd like nothing more than to skin them alive.

I guess it's harder to think of witty lines when you're in chains, John thought smugly.

"He came quietly," Ron told them as Harry locked Moriarty in the office. "I guess he's clever enough to know when the jig is up."

John sighed in relief. Then he noticed that Sherlock was frowning.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure yet," said Sherlock, "but I have a few theories."

John chuckled nervously. "What are you on about? We won! We solved the case, and Moriarty is in handcuffs."

"Hm," was all Sherlock said in response.

O0O0O

John couldn't decide which part of dinner that night was the best: the empty chair at the Slytherin table; everyone treating him and Sherlock like heroes; or the look on Sally Donovan's face when Lestrade made her apologize to both of them.

"To John and Sherlock, the Boys Who Deduced!" said Mike, raising his goblet.

"And to Irene Adler, the Girl Who Seduced!" someone down the table added.

That got a big laugh. John joined in, but only after checking to make sure that Irene wasn't within earshot.

"Hey, John," said Henry, nudging him. "Look who's here. Come to congratulate you publicly, I imagine."

Harry Potter had quietly entered the Great Hall. John sat up a little straighter, thinking Henry was probably right about his purpose. But Harry didn't stop at the Hufflepuff table, didn't even pause as he passed John. He went straight to the teacher's table, where he whispered something in Professor McGonagall's ear. The color drained from the headmistress's face.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" she said, leaping to her feet. "We have a situation. If anyone knows the current whereabouts of Jim Moriarty, please tell an adult immediately."

For about three seconds, there was absolute silence. Then all hell broke loose.

"You said they caught him!" a first year shrieked at John. "You said he was locked up!"

"He is!" said John, stunned. "I mean, he was. He must have escaped."

"Everyone, please remain calm!" McGonagall shouted. But it was no use. Half the students were already fleeing towards their common rooms. Most of the rest were frozen in fear. Over at the Gryffindor table, Lestrade seemed to be organizing his Quidditch team into a search party.

"There's seven of us and one of him," John heard him say. "Let's show that little psycho what happens when you mess with one of us!"

John had only one thought: Find Sherlock. He found him halfway between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"You knew something was wrong," said John. "You knew he'd escape. How?"

"He didn't escape," said Sherlock. "He was never caught. Notice who else is missing?"

John looked around the Great Hall, but there was no point in trying to take a head count with everyone running around like this. He tried to think back to before McGonagall's announcement.

"Moran," he groaned. "I knew we should have tied him up!"

Most people would have tried to make him feel better by pretending he wasn't to blame. Sherlock wasn't most people.

"Yes, you should have," he said. "The idiot must have thought Moriarty would forgive him for blabbing if he warned him about you."

"So the kid that Ron and Harry arrested—that was Moran using a Polyjuice Potion."

"And probably under the Imperious Curse. I can't imagine he voluntarily sacrificed himself for Moriarty."

The fact that John didn't even question the plausibility of a twelve-year-old using an Unforgivable Curse said a lot about his life, none of it good.

"So where do we look first?" he asked.

"Nowhere," Sherlock sighed.

"What do you mean, nowhere?"

"Think, John. When Potter went to check on Moriarty and found Moran instead, what was the first thing he did? Check the Marauder's Map, of course. If he didn't see Moriarty on there, then he's not on school grounds anymore. It's too late."

As usual, Sherlock was absolutely, infuriatingly correct. The Aurors and teachers searched all night, but to no avail. Moriarty had performed one final trick: a vanishing act.