Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 268 The Infectious Deductive Method

Harry unintentionally made a bet with Sherlock, and picked up the last letter, the one from Hogwarts.

He was somewhat surprised to find that the letter was much thicker than it had been two years ago.

Upon opening the envelope, the first parchment, as always, informed him to arrive at King's Cross Station on September 1st, as the Hogwarts Express would depart from Platform 9¾ at 11:00 AM sharp.

Next came the usual reading list for the next semester, which Harry didn't look at because he was drawn to a particular note.

Third-grade students are permitted to visit Hogsmeade Village on certain weekends. Please have your parent or guardian sign the enclosed permission form.

"Hogsmeade!"

Harry exclaimed in surprise and quickly pulled out the Hogsmeade Permit to look at it.

It is precisely because of its presence that this envelope is thicker than those of the previous two years.

The Hogsmeade Permit details the village of Hogsmeade, noting that it is the only village in all of Britain inhabited entirely by wizards.

Students at Hogwarts are only allowed to visit and study there on certain weekends if they are in their third year and have permission from their parents or other guardians.

To put it simply, Hogsmeade Village is the official off-campus activity practice base of Hogwarts School.

The train station that the Hogwarts Express relies on is located near this village.

Harry carefully put away the permission form and looked at Sherlock with envy. "Sherlock, I remember you went there when you were a first-year student, right?"

"I worked with Professor Hagrid once and Professor Flitwick once for the case of the Greek interpreter."

Harry was so focused on Hogsmeade that he didn't notice the change in how Sherlock addressed Hagrid.

"Didn't you go back later?"

"No, apart from investigating the case, there's nothing I need there."

Harry discovered that Sherlock didn't seem to be very interested in Hogsmeade.

But Harry was different; to him, it was a very wonderful thing.

“Thank you, Sherlock. Without your help, my relationship with the Dursleys would still be terrible, and Uncle Vernon and Uncle Petunia certainly wouldn’t have signed the form for me.”

"You're welcome. So, where would you like to go this weekend?"

"Yes!"

Harry's green eyes shone brightly, filled with anticipation for the future:
"Now all I have to do is have Hedwig take the permission form to Aunt Penny, and she'll be happy to do it for me."

"Then I suggest you wait a week."

"why?"

"Dear friend, have you forgotten why you came here?"

"Oh, right, Aunt Maggie!"

Harry slapped his forehead. "I've been having so much fun here that I completely forgot about this!"

You're right, we should wait until Aunt Maggie leaves before writing; there's still plenty of time.

"It's almost midnight, my friend, we should get some rest."

"Uh……"

Harry blushed.

Yes, it's gotten so late without us even realizing it.

Thinking of this, he quickly picked up the greeting cards and gifts his three friends had given him and returned to his room.

Watching Harry's hurried departure, Sherlock shook his head and picked up Harry's acceptance letter from the table—the only thing he had forgotten.

He opened the book list and quickly found what he needed.

"The Monster Book of Monsters" - A textbook for the lesson on protecting magical creatures.

Sherlock sighed, took out a new quill and parchment, and prepared to write a letter.

However, I stopped writing just as I was about to put pen to paper.

After a moment's thought, he put the pen away and went straight to bed.

Because he went to bed too late the night before, Harry was unable to wake up as early as usual the next morning.

When he finished washing up and came to the living room, he found that Sherlock and his family of three were already sitting in front of the television.

“Darling, I was just about to have Sherlock call you!”

When she saw Harry, Mrs. Holmes smiled gently at him and said something.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Harry felt very embarrassed that he had overslept while staying at someone else's house.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mrs. Holmes patted Harry's head affectionately. "It's perfectly normal to sleep in during holidays. Sit down, breakfast is ready, I'll go get it!"

"I am coming too!"

Harry immediately followed Mrs. Holmes into the kitchen.

"Good boy..."

Mrs. Holmes patted Harry's head again.

This action made Harry feel very comfortable.

Besides Mrs. Holmes, only Mrs. Weasley could make her feel a maternal love she had never felt before.

When the two returned to the living room, they found the news anchor on TV reporting on a fugitive:

"The public must be aware that Blake is armed and extremely dangerous."

We've set up a hotline, and anyone with information about Black's whereabouts must report it immediately. Harry noticed the man on the screen had a fierce appearance, a gaunt face surrounded by tangled, foot-long, unruly hair.

Compared to him, my own messy hair could be considered neat.

Mr. Holmes sighed when he noticed Harry watching the television intently.

He knew that Harry never had the freedom to choose television programs while living with the Dursleys.

"How about changing the channel, Harry?"

"No, no need!" Harry quickly said, "It's good to watch the news in the morning."

Sherlock's parents were so good to him that he didn't know how to deal with them.

"The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries announced today—"

Seeing that the story jumped to the next news item so quickly, Mr. Holmes couldn't help but feel a little puzzled:

"Strange, why did they only announce the people and the level of danger, without even saying where they escaped from..."

“Because he escaped from Azkaban,” Sherlock said calmly.

Harry's eyes widened immediately.

Mr. Holmes looked at his son curiously: "Azkaban, what is that place?"

"The name of a prison."

"I see."

Mr. Holmes nodded and did not ask any further questions.

He and his wife had long since stopped being surprised that their son always seemed to know things they didn't.

No, to be precise, they were no longer surprised after discovering that Sherlock possessed abilities approaching Mycroft's.

However, because both of them were looking at Sherlock, they didn't notice the other little boy's bewildered expression.

After breakfast, Harry offered to help Mrs. Holmes wash the dishes.

Although Mrs. Holmes objected, Harry insisted that he had done plenty of cleaning and tidying work at the Dursleys' house and was quite skilled at it.

After he finished helping Mrs. Holmes with these tasks, he went to Sherlock's bedroom.

Sherlock, who was reading the newspaper, heard a knock on the door, looked up at Harry, and smiled:

"I suppose you haven't slept like this for a long time in a long time, Harry?"

“Yes, although my relationship with the Dursleys has improved, I still have the habit of getting up early,” Harry nodded, then asked, “Sherlock, you said this morning that the escaped convict escaped from Azkaban…”

“Before asking this question, I suggest you put your things away first,” Sherlock said with a smile, pointing to the table.

Harry looked curiously at the table and realized that he had left the last letter there yesterday.

"Oh, my brain is really..."

Harry tapped his head lightly, about to put the letter away, when he noticed a line underlined on the book list that was attached to the letter.

Out of curiosity, he looked closely and was surprised to find "The Book of Monsters".

"I see!"

Harry both realized what was happening and breathed a sigh of relief:

"So this book is the textbook for this year's Magical Creatures class. I thought Hagrid would need my help dealing with some scary new pet!"

"Harry, your imagination is a bit too vivid."

Harry smiled somewhat embarrassedly, then put the letter away again.

Just then, he noticed that Sherlock was looking at him with great interest, and a thought suddenly struck him.

That look is...

He immediately began to recall.

After a moment, he exclaimed as if he had just remembered something: "Wait! Just a moment!"

He glanced at his mental reading list again. "Sherlock, didn't you say yesterday that Hagrid assumed everyone who got this book would know how to open it correctly...?"

"Yes, I did say that."

"But even if this book becomes this year's textbook, it has nothing to do with Hagrid!"
He knew this wasn't strange, and it wasn't strange that he gave it to me as a gift, but why was he having a headache because other people couldn't open the book? Unless…

"Unless what?"

Sherlock looked at Harry with an encouraging gaze, as if gesturing for him to continue.

"Unless he personally selected this book!"

Harry suddenly became excited. "I know! After solving the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, it proves that Hagrid was wronged fifty years ago!"

Mr. Dumbledore will surely seize this opportunity to clear Hagrid's name and bring him back to Hogwarts!

Let me think about it...

Harry became more and more excited and certain as he spoke:
"Going back to being a student is definitely out of the question, and as for being a teacher, my qualifications might be a bit lacking, but what about being an assistant?"

I remember Hagrid saying that Professor Sylvanus Kettleburn, who teaches the class on protecting magical creatures, is quite old and in poor health.

With Hagrid's abilities, there's absolutely no problem appointing him as a teaching assistant!
Therefore, there is only one truth!

Harry looked up at Sherlock, his eyes shining, and said:

"Hagrid will be helping Professor Kettleburn teach this course this year. He specifically chose this book as the textbook and even gave it to me as a birthday present!"

Hearing Harry's words, Sherlock finally couldn't help but burst into laughter:
“Dear Harry, I’ve said it before, deductive reasoning is contagious—look, you’re using it to study problems now.”

(End of this chapter)