Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 258 Once the Most Beautiful

In the Middle Ages, people who did not possess magic (more commonly known as "Muggles") were particularly afraid of magic.

However, Muggles occasionally manage to catch male or female witches, and in such cases, they often choose to burn them.

Muggles simply lack sufficient knowledge of magic, because in most cases, burning has no effect on wizards.

When wizards are burned, they often use a basic spell to freeze the flames, enjoying the gentle tingling from the fire while pretending to scream in pain.

According to the eccentric Wendell, she particularly enjoys the feeling of being burned.

She deliberately allowed herself to be caught by people in various disguises, as many as forty-seven times.

"Well, magic that can freeze flames is indeed very powerful... but this Wendelin sounds like a pervert."

"I also have this feeling."

"Huh, I thought you would side with the wizards?"

"Why do you think so?"

"Because you're a wizard too!"

Harry is doing his homework—an essay titled “The Fourteenth-Century Practice of Burning Witches at the Burning Are Utter Nonsense.”

The previous passage comes from Bathilda Baghatt's "History of Magic".

Harry's cousin Dudley was reluctant to do his holiday homework, but he was quite excited about the homework in the wizarding world.

So, after listening to what Harry had just read aloud, the two had this conversation.

Compared to last summer, Harry's treatment with the Dursleys has improved once again.

Having learned from last school year's experience, Harry brought his cousin Dudley even more delicious, novel, and fun snacks when he returned from school this time.

Besides the ever-popular Chocolate Frog and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, there are also Exploding Filled Gummy Candies, Ice Mouse, Pineapple Candy, Mint Toad Candy, and Bubble Bubble Gum...

Many of these snacks are not sold on the food carts of the Hogwarts Express.

But Harry is rich.

He asked the Weasley twins to bring him a lot of good stuff from Hogsmeade.

Dudley was in high spirits after seeing these magical world snacks and promptly shared his Muggle snacks with Harry, even contributing a complete set of "The Adventures of Tintin".

As the two brothers' relationship grew stronger, and the son's weight gradually returned to normal thanks to the special weight-loss drugs, Aunt Penny, who had been holding a grudge about the past, finally let go of it.

She pulled her husband, Vernon Dursley, to approach Harry and opened up about her story with her sister, Lily.

Although Aunt Petunia had recounted this story before at Sherlock's request, this time she spoke in much more detail.

This also made Harry Vernon realize for the first time that Petunia, who seemed to have always hated magic, had actually longed to enter the magical world.

As the eldest daughter of the Muggle couple Evans, Penny and her younger sister Lily originally had a very good relationship.

However, as Lily grew older, she began to exhibit many unusual abilities, such as being able to make the petals of a flower open and close in her palm without touching it.

The Evans kept praising Lily for this, which made Penny, the eldest daughter, feel a mix of emotions—jealousy and disapproval.

At that time, neither Penny nor Lily realized that it was magic. Although Penny was unhappy about it, her relationship with her sister did not deteriorate.

Later, the two sisters met a little boy who had similar abilities to Lily.

Severus Snape.

This is a boy who also lives in Cockworth and is a neighbor of the Evans family.

Penny looked down on Snape because she thought the little boy was withdrawn, gloomy, and obviously not a good person.

However, Lily became good friends with Snape because he had similar abilities to her.

And so, the three children grew up.

Petunia and Snape continued to dislike each other, while Lily acted as a mediator between the three.

If only it was like this.

But everything changed the summer Lily turned 11.

Lily and Snape both received acceptance letters from Hogwarts.

It was only then that the Evans family realized that Lily's incredible abilities were actually magic.

The Evans were quite open-minded and did not reject magic.

Not only did he not reject her, but he was also delighted to learn that there was a witch in his family, and he paid even more attention to Lily.

At that time, Penny was unwilling to become someone from a different world from her sister.

So, with great hope, she wrote a letter to Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore, asking if she could also go to Hogwarts like her sister and Snape.

Dumbledore replied very quickly.

He told Penny that he understood her eagerness, but unfortunately, magical talent was predetermined at birth.

In Britain, the moment a child with magical talent is born, Hogwarts' Pen of Acceptance writes his name in the Book of Admission.

So even though Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts, he couldn't get a Muggle to learn magic, and more importantly, he couldn't learn it anyway.

Dumbledore's refusal was very tactful; he even told Petunia about the Pen of Acceptance and the Book of Admission, which showed his sincerity.

Unfortunately, women are often unreasonable.

Especially for Penny, who was still a young girl at the time.

Dumbledore's rejection made her feel hurt.

From that moment on, Penny made up her mind to sever all ties with the magical world.

“My sister’s abilities make our parents proud, but I can’t…” Penny looked a little dejected as she said this, her body trembling slightly.

Upon seeing this, Vernon quickly reached out and hugged his wife tightly, while also glaring fiercely at Harry.

Harry: "..."

Despite feeling completely innocent, he could only lower his head and avoid eye contact with Vernon, who had transformed into a fiercely protective husband.

With her husband's encouragement, Penny felt a little better and softly called out:
“Harry…”

Harry looked up in shock.

Damn it, this was the first time Aunt Penny had ever called him by his name since he could remember—before, it was either "you" or "hey," and most of the time she would just skip the title and speak directly.

“Your eyes… are exactly like Lily’s.”

At this moment, Penny's memories drifted back to that summer decades ago.

London, King's Cross Station, Platform 9¾.

On September 1st, the Evans family took Lily to Hogwarts.

As they were about to part, Lily gripped Penny's wrist tightly, her fingertips trembling slightly.

“Please listen to me, I’m so sad, Penny, I’m really so sad! Maybe as soon as I get there—no, listen to me, Penny!”

She clung tightly to her sister, who refused to speak to her, her voice trembling with tears: "Maybe once I get there, I can find Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

"I don't want to go!"

Penny abruptly shook off Lily's hand, deliberately putting on an indifferent expression. She knew very well that no matter how much Lily begged Dumbledore, it would be useless.

"Do you think I want to go to some ridiculous castle and learn to be... a..."

Penny hesitated for a long time before finally steeling herself and uttering a word that would deeply hurt Lily: "You think I want to be a freak?"

“I’m not a freak!” Lily’s eyes were red, and her nails dug deeply into her palms. “That’s too harsh to say.”

"That's where you're going, a school specifically for monsters."

You and that boy named Snape...freaks, you're both freaks!

Fortunately, you were separated from ordinary people; that was for our safety.

Penny will never forget the sadness in Lily's green eyes after she said those words.

Coming back to her senses, Lily's eyes gradually transformed into Harry's, and at that moment, Petunia felt as if she had been transported to another world.

As Lily entered Hogwarts, the gap between the two sisters widened.

Every time Lily comes back from vacation, her pockets are filled with toad eggs, and sometimes she even turns the teacups in the house into mice.

When the Evans saw their youngest daughter perform amazing magic, they were naturally both surprised and delighted, constantly calling her "Lily" and unintentionally causing Penny a second blow.

"...Later, I left my home in Cockworth and went to London to learn typing, a skill that helped me find an office job."

I met Vernon there; he was a manager at the company then, and we went on several dates… Later, I accepted his marriage proposal.”

At this point, Penny took a deep breath: "After a date, I mustered up the courage to tell Vernon that Lily was a witch."

Although Vernon was quite shocked, he assured me that he wouldn't distance himself from me because of this.

At this point, she turned to look at her husband.

Vernon felt a jolt when he saw his wife's gaze.

His wife reminded him, and he recalled that scene.

During that date, Vernon bought Penny fried sausages.

Later, the two sat in the car and looked at the fried food shop where they had just bought the fried sausages.

It was around that time that Penny mentioned her sister, Lily Evans, to him.

When Vernon learned that Lily was a witch, he was utterly shocked.

However, out of love for Penny, he solemnly told her that he would never distance himself from her because she had a witch sister.

Upon hearing Vernon's assurance, Penny threw herself into his arms with overwhelming gratitude, causing Vernon to drop the fried sausage he was holding.

Snapping out of his reverie, Vernon looked at Penny before him and felt as if he had been transported to another world.

How could I doubt my wife when she loves me so deeply?

Damn me!

Thinking of this, he tightened his arms around Penny, as if afraid she would leave his embrace.

Harry watched his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia showing off their affection in front of him and didn't know what to say.

He certainly couldn't accept Penny calling his mother a freak, but judging from Penny's current appearance, she clearly regretted treating her sister that way.

After two years in the magical world, he also gained a deeper understanding of Muggles' views on magic.

Furthermore, after learning from Aunt Petunia's description that his grandparents doted on their younger daughter but neglected their older daughter, Harry found it somewhat understandable.

Isn't Gilderoy Lockhart in the same situation?

The difference is that Lockhart's mother was a wizard, while his own mother and Aunt Petunia were from Muggle families.

Then, Aunt Penny's words made him even more certain of this.

　Thank you Qing Shui Zhi Zi for the donation to Qiu Zhang! Your support is my motivation to update (≧≦)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)