Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 266 Read More Books and Newspapers

At the park entrance, the Holmes couple let Sherlock and Harry choose the ice cream and drinks they wanted.

At the zoo, the two men used their extensive knowledge to tell Sherlock about the habits of various animals.

This was also the first time Harry learned that male peacocks can display their plumage, tigers can climb trees, and elephants can swim.

At lunchtime, Mrs. Holmes would remind her two children not to eat too many sugary and high-calorie snacks and to have a balanced diet.

In the afternoon, they went to the amusement park.

The Holmes couple, along with Sherlock and Harry, went through almost all the exhibits.

During this process, Mr. Holmes astutely discovered that Harry preferred thrilling and exciting activities.

So he decisively changed course and chose attractions that better suited Harry's style, such as pirate ships, roller coasters, and log flumes.

This gave Harry an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, and even allowed him to rediscover the feeling of playing Quidditch.

It was already evening when we left the amusement park.

Harry thought that it was all over for today.

Surprisingly, the Holmes couple took them to see a movie again!
As Harry left the movie theater, he once again felt that the trip had been worthwhile.

This was his first time going to the cinema.

The movie-watching experience is definitely different from watching a short film at the Dursleys' house.

This feeling is so refreshing!
Even after leaving the movie theater, Harry was still immersed in the exciting plot.

The story itself is not complicated: a weatherman, after being caught in a blizzard while on duty, is stuck on the same day and can never escape it—and thus begins his repetitive life story from that day.

Harry will be immersed in the story, partly because the film itself is of high quality, the actors' performances are excellent, and the plot is full of tension.

On the other hand, after watching the movie, he couldn't help but have this kind of worry:
What if you woke up one morning and found that time had stopped at a certain day, just like in a movie?
If that day had come after he learned he was a wizard, it would have been better, like in the movies, where he would have known magic existed and could have explored it like in the films.

It would have been even better if that day had come after meeting Sherlock. If I had just told Sherlock about it, he would surely have had a way to solve it.

But if this day were before his birthday in 1991, it would be a tragedy!
Harry didn't think his worries were unfounded.

In the past, Harry would definitely have thought this way:

Anyone who seeks realism in a fictional story must have something wrong with their head.

But now it's different.

Even magic is now a real thing, so seemingly fictional concepts like time confinement and time travel aren't impossible!
However, Harry's worries only lasted a short while.

Because when he returned home after watching the movie, he was surprised to find that the surprises the Holmes couple had brought him were not yet over.

A birthday cake is a perfect example of a simple yet exquisite birthday celebration.

“Mycroft had initially agreed to come back, but then something happened…”

Mrs. Holmes frowned and then patted Harry's head apologetically, "So it'll just be the three of us with you."

"Auntie, this is the happiest birthday I've ever had."

After saying that, Harry realized that he had been in tears without even realizing it.

If my parents were still alive, they would definitely treat me the same way, right?

With Mrs. Holmes's comforting words, Harry gradually calmed down.

"Good child, don't cry. Go and rest early today and get some more sleep."

Mrs. Holmes then looked at Sherlock, "You two should rest at home for a couple of days. If you want to go somewhere else in a couple of days, Tanan and I will take you there."

Oh, and don't forget your homework while you're playing!

Even though she was a gentle Mrs. Holmes, she was still like most mothers, and she would not forget to remind her children to do their homework during the holidays.

Harry thought Mrs. Holmes's words made a lot of sense, so after saying goodnight to Sherlock, he prepared to return to his bedroom.

Just then, Sherlock called out to him, "You'd better wait a while before you go, my friend."

"What's wrong?" Harry stopped and asked, puzzled.

“Look there,” Sherlock pointed out the window.

Harry followed Sherlock's gaze out the window and was stunned.

Under the golden moonlight, a strange, crooked black shadow was flying toward Harry, getting closer and bigger in Harry's sight.

Before Harry, the bespectacled boy, could even figure out what it was, Sherlock had already opened the window and pulled him aside.

The next moment, a dark shadow whistled in through the window.

It was then that Harry realized that the dark shape was actually three owls, two of which were protecting the third.

After they entered through the window, they landed on Sherlock's bed with a thud. The large gray owl that was being protected in the middle fell headfirst and remained motionless.

It had a large bundle tied to its leg, clearly exhausted. Without the help of two other owls, it probably wouldn't have been able to fly this far.

"It's Errol!"

At such close range, Harry gasped in surprise, finally recognizing the unconscious owl as Errol of the Weasleys.

By this time, Sherlock had untied the straps from Errol's legs, taken off the package, and then picked it up and put it in Watson's cage.

With a sigh of relief, Errol opened one blurry eye, uttered a word of thanks to Sherlock, and then began to slowly drink the water.

Of the remaining two owls, the larger, white female owl is Harry's Hedwig.

It was also carrying a large package and looked quite smug, as if it were showing off that it was much better than Errol.

Harry untied its bundle, and it gently pecked him with its beak as a sign of affection, then went to stand with Errol and Watson. Neither Sherlock nor Harry recognized the third beautiful tawny owl.

However, Sherlock recognized its origin with just a glance.

Because it carried two letters in addition to a small package, with the Hogwarts School seal on the envelopes.

Sherlock chuckled softly upon seeing this.

Harry only arrived at his home yesterday, and Hogwarts sent him his acceptance letter today. That's quite efficient.

After Sherlock took the mail from the owl, it solemnly shook its feathers, called out to Sherlock and Harry as a greeting, and then spread its wings and flew out of the window into the night sky.

Apart from the letter from the school's owl that was delivered to Sherlock's acceptance letter, the other two emails, including the last small package, were addressed to Harry.

“A birthday present,” Sherlock glanced at his watch and chuckled. “It’s not too late.”

Sherlock didn't give Harry a birthday present today.

However, this is not a problem.

In Harry's eyes, Sherlock had given him the best gift—his company.

Harry decided not to go back to his own bedroom. Instead, he sat on Sherlock's bed, grabbed the package Errol had brought, and tore open the brown paper covering.

Just as Sherlock had predicted, a gift wrapped in gold paper appeared before the two of them.

It was a birthday card, and Ha opened the envelope with trembling hands.

Two pieces of paper fell out—one was a letter, and the other was a newspaper clipping.

Harry eagerly began reading the letter, while Sherlock picked up a clipping.

He glanced at it only once, then pulled a newspaper from the side and put the two together.

It was obvious that the clipping Errol brought was taken from the Daily Prophet a week earlier, and the figures in the black and white photo were still moving.

The photo shows the Weasley family of nine standing in front of the pyramids, waving enthusiastically at him.

Judging from the photos, Ron has grown taller in almost three months.

He stood in the very center of his family of nine, with his arm around his sister Ginny, and the little mouse named Scabbers perched on his shoulder.

Clearly, this photo was taken during Ron's family's trip to Egypt after winning the lottery.

The title, written in large font, is above the photo:

[Ministry of Magic employee wins grand prize]

The main text is an official announcement about the Weasley family winning the grand prize.

Harry had just finished reading Ron's letter when he turned around and saw the clippings and the complete newspaper in Sherlock's hand. He didn't react for a moment.

"Sherlock, this is..."

“My dear Harry, your expression tells me you have no idea I’ve been subscribing to the Daily Prophet.”

Sherlock pointed to the stack of newspapers on his left: "Whether in the magical world or the Muggle world, reading more books and newspapers is a good habit."

"So, you saw this photo a long time ago?"

"It's obvious."

"All right……"

Harry shook his head helplessly, then opened the package Ron had sent him with the letter, and a small spinning top appeared in front of the two of them.

"Miniature Peeping Mirror"

“Sherlock, you haven’t even read Ron’s letter, how do you know…” Harry asked again in surprise.

"It seems you've forgotten that last year when we were in school, the professors used it to examine our bodies."

"Uh……"

Harry has indeed forgotten.

Thanks to Dobby the house-elf's reminder, last year before enrollment, the Hogwarts professors made a point of checking all the students at the train station.

Among the tools they used was a endoscope, but that endoscope was much larger than this one—as Sherlock said, it looked more like a portable pocket endoscope.

Harry felt a little embarrassed as he recalled the incident. He played with the viewing mirror for a while, then handed it and Ron's letter to Sherlock, before picking up the package Hedwig had brought.

This is Hermione's birthday present to him.

Sherlock reads letters much faster than Harry.

Harry hadn't finished reading Hermione's letter to him yet, but Sherlock had already finished reading Ron's letter to Harry.

To summarize simply:
Ron's family had a wonderful month in Egypt, and Bill Weasley even took them to visit the pyramids.

They will return to London a week before the start of the semester to buy the equipment they need for the new term, hoping to meet Harry there.

In addition, Percy became the president of the boys' student council, and he was obviously very happy to hear the news, and became even more smug.

As for the miniature spyglass that Ron gave to Harry, its function is to continuously emit light and rotate when there are untrustworthy people around.

Bill believed it was a counterfeit product sold to wizards because it kept spinning and glowing during the Weasleys' dinner.

Clearly, in Bill's eyes, the entire Weasley family was honest and reliable.

However, this was actually caused by the Weasley twins having already put beetles in the soup.

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(End of this chapter)