Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 275 Infinite Alternative Training

Flourish and Blotts Bookstore.

The location of the enormous, gilded magic book, which had been described in previous years, has been replaced by a large iron cage.

The cage contained about one hundred copies of "The Monster Book of Monsters".

Clearly, even the bookstore manager didn't know what to do with these books and could only lock them up together.

The result was that they engaged in a furious wrestling match, biting and fighting like crickets trapped together, with torn pages flying everywhere.

Upon seeing the four young wizards walk in at the same time, the manager hurriedly went to greet them.

"You...you wouldn't all be from Hogwarts, would you? Are you here to buy new books?"

“Yes,” Ron said, “we need…”

The manager first showed a helpless expression, then impatiently pushed Ron aside, "Please move aside a bit."

As he spoke, he put on a thick pair of gloves, picked up a thick, knotted stick, and walked toward the iron cage containing "The Book of Monsters".

"Wait a minute!"

Seeing that the shopkeeper seemed to be getting ready to get the book, Harry quickly said, "I already have this book."

"Does it already exist?"

The manager's face immediately lit up with relief. "Thank God, I've already been bitten five times this morning."

As he spoke, he showed the group his torn gloves and his battered stick.

Just then, a loud tearing sound came from the side.

Everyone looked toward the iron cage and saw that the two copies of "The Monster Book of Monsters" had grabbed the third copy and tore it apart together.

"Stop! Stop!"

Upon seeing this, the manager shouted, and he stuck the stick between the iron bars to open the books.

"I will never keep these books again, never—which teacher chose them as textbooks? It's causing such a fuss!"

The manager screamed hysterically; it was clear he was on the verge of losing his mind, and he began to rant and rave:
"We had previously read two hundred copies of 'The Book of Invisibility,' and I thought nothing could be worse than them."

Those books are so expensive, and we still haven't been able to find out where they are...

Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Do you want any other books?

Ha looked at the manager with a pitying gaze. "Well, although I already have this book, my friends don't."

"Oh no—!"

The manager stared at Harry in shock, with a look that said, "Are you kidding me?"

Immediately afterwards, a look of pain appeared on his face.

However, as a businessman, he had no choice but to face this situation.

He took a deep breath and, with unwavering courage, walked toward the large iron cage.

"and many more!"

Just then, Sherlock suddenly called out to the manager.

"What, you don't want it anymore?"

The manager looked at Sherlock with delight.

Sherlock looked at Harry and pointed to the iron cage. "Harry, go get it."

Harry looked at Sherlock with a surprised expression:
"I?"

Hermione, Ron, and the manager also looked at Sherlock in surprise.

"Are you crazy?"

The manager held out his gloved hand. "I already said, I've been bitten five times this morning, five times! Are you sure you still want to get the book yourself?"

“Of course,” Sherlock said confidently.

Hearing Sherlock's words, Harry understood.

Now only he and Sherlock knew how to deal with these books—if they could just take them out and run their spines along them, these wild books would immediately become incredibly docile.

The key issue is how to extract one book from these hundred books that are fighting each other.

This must be Sherlock's way of testing himself, right?
If you can't even do something like this, how will you face Sirius Black in the future?
Yes, that must be it!
Harry quickly convinced himself.

"Okay, it would be even better if you could get it yourselves."

Seeing that Harry, the person involved, had no objections to the matter, the manager handed Harry the gloves and the stick.

Harry took the task, swallowed hard, and prepared to go forward to retrieve the book.

"no!"

However, at that moment, whether it was a sudden pang of conscience or the kick of professional ethics, the manager suddenly realized:
"I can't let our customers do that. You're still young wizards; it would be terrible if you got bitten!"

As he spoke, he went back to snatch the gloves and stick from Harry's hands.

Harry instinctively took a step back, and then felt his hand lighten.

Just when the manager thought he could get the gloves and stick back, someone was faster than him.

Everyone only felt a blur before their eyes, and then they found that the gloves and stick had somehow appeared in Sherlock's hands.

"So fast!"

The manager was startled by Sherlock. Who was this guy?
Sherlock glanced at the glove, smiled, tossed it back to Harry, and then picked up the stick and walked toward the cage.

Hermione was startled by what she saw and instinctively cried out:

"That...can't be done!"

Harry, Ron, and the bookstore manager all looked at Hermione.

This made Hermione blush.

My words seem to be somewhat ambiguous.

Fortunately, her skin color has darkened now, so it's not noticeable.

Just then, Sherlock walked up to the iron cage and, like the manager had done before, stuck the stick into it.

However, unlike the manager, Sherlock's act of stabbing in was purposeful.

Most of the books were set aside, with only a few books pushed into a corner of the iron cage.

Just then, with lightning speed, he reached his other hand into the iron cage and pulled out a book. Two other books nearby saw Sherlock's hand and immediately opened their mouths to bite it.

Unfortunately, Sherlock was too fast, and they all missed their bites.

After taking out the book, Sherlock ran his hand along the spine from top to bottom.

The book immediately shuddered, just like it had that night, and then quietly opened itself in Sherlock's hands.

Amidst the surprised looks of the others, Sherlock handed the book to Hermione. "It's simple, isn't it?"

"Oh my god!"

"Holy crap, hellish blood mom!"

"Is there still such an operation?"

Hermione, Ron, and the manager once again showed expressions of shock.

Especially managers.

As he himself said, he had been bitten five times this morning alone.

The thick gloves and the stick covered in knots are proof of that.

But he never expected that the trouble that had been giving him a headache for almost a whole month would be solved so easily by the little wizard in front of him!

Harry already knew how to deal with the book, so his surprise was the least.

With Sherlock already demonstrating, Harry naturally knew what to do now.

He took a deep breath, took the stick from Sherlock, and put on his gloves—after all, he wasn't confident he could succeed on his first try like Sherlock.

His caution proved to be correct.

Separating the books with a stick was simple, but as he pulled one out, it seized the opportunity to bite him hard.

Even with gloves on, he felt like he'd been bitten by a dog.

It hurts quite a bit.

But once the book is retrieved, things will be much easier.

Harry ran his fingers along the spine of the book, just like Sherlock did, and it immediately quieted down.

Harry handed the book to a bewildered Ron, and was about to return the gloves and stick to the shopkeeper.

Sherlock stopped him.

Harry looked at Sherlock with a puzzled expression.

The latter, however, said to him, "Continue."

Harry understood immediately and took action again without saying a word.

The manager saw through Harry's intentions, but he did not stop him.

For it, making these books obedient is exactly what it wants.

Next, Harry repeatedly stuck his stick into the iron cage, tapping the books to separate them, and then seized the opportunity to pull one out, smooth it out, and quiet it down.

again and again.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. After being bitten a few times, Harry's movements became more and more skillful, and he was not bitten again.

Hermione and Ron later found it interesting and joined in.

Seeing the three of them enjoying themselves, Sherlock smiled and handed his book list to the manager:

"Prepare three sets according to this list, um, except for 'The Monster Book of Monsters'."

The manager nodded and hurriedly went to find the book.

When he returned, he found that the more than one hundred copies of "The Monster Book of Monsters" in the large iron cage were neatly and quietly laid out on the ground.

At that moment, the manager couldn't help but burst into tears.

God knows how much pain I've been in lately!
Looking at the four young wizards, he felt that they must be angels who had come to redeem him under the spiritual guidance of Merlin!
Out of gratitude, the manager gave all four of them a 50% discount on the books they wanted to buy.

He originally intended to give the meal for free.

However, Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione had a lot of books to buy, resulting in three bulging bags.

He really couldn't afford to pay for it all.

However, a 50% discount is already a pretty good deal.

Ron was the happiest of all.

Because of the annual expenses incurred before the start of the school year, textbooks are always the most expensive item.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have invited Ginny to come along—she wanted to come with me anyway."

Ron glanced at Harry as he spoke.

Sherlock and Hermione exchanged a smile, while Harry looked a little embarrassed.

All four of them knew very well that Ginny's words about wanting to be with Ron were actually not what they really wanted.

Ron continued:

"...But Mother was worried and insisted on going with her, and Percy, Fred, and George went with them too."

Without a doubt, as the youngest child in the Weasley family and the only girl, Ginny was the most pampered.

So it's not surprising at all that he receives such treatment.

Next, the bookstore staff delivered the books the four had bought to the Leaky Cauldron, while they went to the apothecary to purchase the ingredients needed for their Potions class.

After that, it was time to change clothes.

The four children are in puberty, and their height and weight are increasing rapidly, and secondary sexual characteristics are beginning to appear.

Especially the three boys.

Sherlock and Ron were both tall for their age.

Harry was a bit small and thin when he first started school, but he has grown taller and stronger in the last two years.

As a result, the pants and sleeves of the three students' school uniforms were several inches too short.

So the four of them made a special trip to the Madame Malkin robes boutique to buy new ones.

(End of this chapter)