Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 223 My Foolish Brother

The young man standing on the Rover was tall and imposing, at least 6 feet tall, and was carrying a black umbrella in one hand.

Upon seeing this, Hermione immediately remembered something and couldn't help but exclaim:

"I know, he's Sherlock's brother!"

"Is he the great Sherlock Holmes?"

The Granger family now has a very good relationship with the Holmes family, so the Grangers already knew that Holmes had an older brother who was seven years older than him.

However, the two had never seen him before. Upon hearing Hermione's words and looking closely, they immediately realized that his features did indeed resemble Sherlock's.

Mrs. Granger said decisively, "Let's go say hello to the two little ones!"

"Isn't that unnecessary?" Mr. Granger said somewhat resistantly. "We don't even know him..."

"Once we greet each other, we'll know each other, right? Are you coming or not? If not, I'll bring my daughter!"

"Go, go, I'll go, okay?"

Mr. Granger sighed helplessly.

With heavy steps, Mr. Granger caught up with his wife and daughter, feeling utterly exhausted.

Meanwhile, the Holmes brothers were also talking.

"why are you?"

"You already have the answer, yet you still ask me. Can I interpret this as a lack of self-confidence, my dear brother?"

"It's rare for me to come back early, but does Mom want us to get to know each other better?"

So my point remains unchanged—Mycroft, the person who worries her has always been you, not me!

“My foolish brother—isn’t it ridiculous for a wizard to say such things to his Muggle brother?”

"Don't think I don't know; you've known about magic longer than I have!"

"So what? Sherlock, you're the one who's become a wizard now, not me! You're the one dealing with magic every day, not me!"

"'So what?' I'll say it to you verbatim: even if I become a wizard, it doesn't mean my situation is more dangerous than yours."

"Ridiculous, there is no Dark Lord in the Muggle world whose name no one dares to utter."

"Heh, you mean that guy who killed hundreds of people? Compared to that Austrian art student who's good at public speaking, his record is really nothing!"

"You have probably forgotten that peace and development are the mainstream of the world today."

“Mycroft, you can fool a child with that kind of talk, but I’m not like I used to be, thinking I’m an idiot.”

Just as the two were about to clash, a voice suddenly broke in:
"Children, are you arguing?"

"of course not!"

"It's just a discussion."

Mycroft and Sherlock almost instinctively did the same thing: took a half step back, regained their composure, and simultaneously denied that they were arguing.

"That's good!"

Mrs. Granger looked at the two Holmeses with delight:

"You must be Mycroft. I've heard of you from Varita. It's a pleasure to meet you."

“Mrs. Granger, hello. I am Mycroft Holmes. Thank you very much, sir, for taking care of my brother.”

Mycroft bowed slightly to Mr. and Mrs. Granger with polite manners, his gaze sweeping over Hermione with a knowing look in his eyes.

Mrs. Granger was even more pleased with Mycroft's performance and immediately pulled her husband and daughter along to chat with him.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger had a pleasant conversation with Mycroft over the rest of the time.

Unlike his straightforward brother, Mycroft was much more tactful in his speech.

After hearing what he said, Granger's whole family felt that he was a good older brother who cared about his younger brother.

He even offered to urge Sherlock to strengthen his connection with Hermione during the holidays.

Only after the Grangers left did Mycroft turn his gaze away, smiling as he said to Sherlock:
"It really surprised me that you have such a good female friend at school."

Sherlock: (ー`ー)
“My dear brother, don’t always look so gloomy.”

On the way back to King's Road, Mycroft said to Sherlock, who was sitting in the passenger seat, "Tell me about what's going on at school."

"I'm so sorry, Mycroft, but because of the secrecy laws, I can't tell these things to anyone outside my immediate family."

"Sherlock, you know very well that thing is just a piece of waste paper to you and me."

"No, I don't know."

"hehe."

Mycroft glanced at Sherlock out of the corner of his eye and said casually, "There's a wizard's chess set at home. My dad and I have already tried it out, and it seems alright."

Of course, if you really don't want to talk about it, I think Miss Granger would be happy to share with me; I can tell she seems to be having some troubles.

"what ever."

Seeing Sherlock's unyielding attitude, Mycroft was also somewhat exasperated. His younger brother was already this unruly before even reaching adulthood; what would he be like when he grew up?

Mycroft knew perfectly well that his brother, like himself, was no ordinary person.

My control over him can only last for a while, it can never last a lifetime.

As Sherlock grows older, he will eventually walk his own unique path.

The problem is that even though he knows the answer, there are some things he simply has to do as the older brother.

Only by truly putting in the effort can one have a clear conscience.

Mycroft was originally confident that he could keep the overall situation under control before Sherlock came of age.

But what he didn't expect was that magic existed in this world.

Although for some reason, Mycroft knew about the existence of magic very early on.

The problem is that, as children of the Holmes family, the eldest son, Sherlock, does not have magical talent, while his younger brother, Sherlock, does.

This makes things complicated.

Ultimately, when the owl brought Sherlock his Hogwarts acceptance letter, he did not stop it.

Professor McGonagall has already made the consequences of the young wizard not studying magic very clear, and Mycroft doesn't want his brother to become an Obscurial.

In contrast, Sherlock only knew that Mycroft had been recruited by the Queen's government before graduating from university and had become one of its members.

But he didn't know that Mycroft did this because he had a wizard brother.

Only by joining the Queen's government and reaching a certain level can one access the magical world as a Muggle and thus protect their arrogant younger brother.

Mycroft glanced at Sherlock, who was unwilling to speak to him, and shook his head.

"My foolish brother..."

So be it. Even if I have to go against the whole world, I will not let my family get hurt!
Mycroft thought so.

Naturally, Sherlock and Mycroft were warmly welcomed back to their parents.

Just as Sherlock had predicted, Mycroft's early arrival for the Christmas holidays delighted their parents, who then offered to drive to King's Cross Station to pick up Sherlock.

Mycroft readily accepted.

In front of their parents, the two brothers tacitly avoided mentioning their differences.

Both men are skilled at disguising themselves, but the difference is that Sherlock is unwilling to do so in most situations.

However, in front of their parents, they presented a beautiful picture of brotherly love and respect.

Under such circumstances, the whole family naturally lived happily together, with everyone getting along well.

And so, a few days later, it was December 25, 1992, Christmas Day.

Just like last year, Sherlock received a lot of gifts on this day, most of which were books.

Harry brought a bound volume of the Daily Prophet.

According to Harry, this was the advice he received from Professor Snape after consulting with him.

Harry himself thought the suggestion was good, but Gryffindor lost ten points because of it.

Ron sent me "Flying with the Artillery Corps".

This is one of Ron's favorite books, which tells some stories about his favorite Quidditch team.

Qiu Zhang sent over a detective adventure book set in an ancient Eastern superpower.

This book tells the story of a historical figure who, as a teenager, solves cases and goes on adventures with his friends.

Gemma also sent a book called "Case Studies of Magical Crimes".

This book collects various crime cases in the magical world and was written by some magical law scholars based on their research and practical experience.

Gemma specifically pointed out that this book is an internal special edition for the Ministry of Magic, which is different from the version sold publicly on the market. It includes some previously undisclosed content about black magic crimes and the smuggling of magical items.

The book Neville sent was "My Squib Life".

It is the autobiography of Angus Buchanan, who is known for playing for the Scottish rugby team in the Muggle world.

Luna's gift was similar to Harry's: a year's worth of The Quibbler magazine, including the latest Christmas special.

In the accompanying letter with the gift, she also suggested that Sherlock should submit articles to The Quibbler magazine, publishing some of his experiences helping his classmates solve cases at school.

Hagrid's gift was rock cakes and toffee syrup. He clearly hadn't realized that Sherlock didn't consider the rock cakes as food and hoped that Sherlock would enjoy the treat with his family.

Rockskin Sherlock naturally stayed behind to continue forging shields.

As for the syrup toffee, after testing its hardness, Sherlock decided to use it as a small throwing weapon.

Just like last year, Mrs. Weasley sent a brand new blue hand-knitted sweater, a size larger than last year, with a large red "S" embroidered on the chest as before.

However, the gummies that came with the sweater were replaced with a large raisin cake, which tasted good and was a real treat that could be shared with the family.

When Sherlock saw that Hermione's gift wasn't among the presents, he knew that the family was definitely coming today.

(End of this chapter)