Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 292 First Intimate Contact

"Psychological suggestion is a very simple trick, but it can only be used on specific people."

Sherlock scooped the stew into his plate and, under the watchful eyes of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, slowly and deliberately said:

What kind of person do you think Neville is?

"Slow to react?"

"Bad memory?"

"Cowardly and afraid of trouble?"

Hearing what his three friends said, Sherlock smiled:

“That’s right. Neville is a person who gets nervous easily, and he’s also easily influenced and lacks his own opinions.”

You may recall that I mentioned earlier that Professor Trelawney is a keen observer.

Neville's personality traits are easy to observe with a little attention, which is why she deliberately said that Neville would break the cup.

This so-called prophecy itself constitutes a form of psychological suggestion.

After hearing this prophecy, Neville might subconsciously keep thinking about it, which would inevitably make him more nervous when he takes action, thus increasing the likelihood of breaking the teacup.

Furthermore, Professor Trelawney's identity as a divination teacher and the Neville personality traits I mentioned earlier further reinforced this psychological suggestion.

As you can see, Neville broke two teacups in a row.

Constantly reinforcing the thought 'I absolutely must not do this' in your brain will eventually lead to 'I will do this myself.'

After hearing Sherlock's words, the three friends fell into deep thought.

"well said!"

Just then, a gentle voice suddenly rang out.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked up in surprise.

Qiu Zhang's pretty face came into view.

They then realized that they had been so engrossed in listening that they hadn't noticed when she had arrived.

Sherlock had naturally noticed Cho Chang's arrival long ago and even greeted her with his eyes.

Cho Chang was very polite, waiting until Sherlock finished speaking before speaking herself.

She greeted the four of them with a smile and then sat down next to Harry.

After moving up to fourth grade, Cho Chang became the only girl on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and the Seeker.

Previously, due to the interference of the Dementors on the Hogwarts Express, Harry hadn't paid much attention to Cho Chang.

Looking at her again now, I noticed that she had grown a little taller than last year.

But Harry grew faster, so she ended up being about a head shorter than him.

As for his appearance, Harry's language skills weren't great, and he didn't know how to describe it.

I forgot the beginning, I forgot the middle, but anyway... she was stunningly beautiful.

Especially when she looked at Harry with a smile, Harry felt a strange twitch in his stomach.

Harry knew perfectly well that the twitching had nothing to do with his impending death.

“Harry, I’ve already heard Pettier talk about what happened in Divination class.”

Cho Chang stared intently at Harry and said earnestly:

"In fact, you don't need to worry at all."

Because Professor Trelawney predicts every year that one of his students will die.

Last year, we were also frightened by her.

But later Professor Flitwick told us that, to this day, no one has died.

Under Cho Chang's gaze, which was as clear as autumn water, Harry nodded repeatedly, feeling that everything she said was right.

Hermione chimed in, "Cho is absolutely right! Ron, stop creating anxiety, Harry, just listen to us."

"what!"

Ron, however, disagreed with Hermione's statement. He turned to Harry and, on a whim, asked:
"Hey bro, you haven't seen a big black dog anywhere, have you?"

Harry: ()
Ron: _

"Old Ha!"

Harry, jolted awake by the elbow, finally came to his senses. "Ron, what did you say?"

Ron was somewhat helpless, but he still repeated the question he had just asked.

"I've seen it."

Ron dropped his fork, his mouth agape as he stared at Harry in utter shock.

Hermione frowned upon hearing this.

Only Sherlock remained calm, because he had already heard about this from Harry before school started.

At the same time, Harry felt a soft, almost imperceptible touch brush against the back of his hand, which was hidden under the tablecloth, as if he had touched a feather about to drift away.

He was startled and looked at Qiu Zhang with a look of surprise.

The curve of Qiu Zhang's lips was even gentler than the illusion of her mother in the Mirror of Erised.

At that moment, Harry felt healed by that smile.

Meanwhile, Harry, who was under the table, felt the warmth and softness of the other person's skin and successfully took the initiative to shake hands with him.

Cho Chang shuddered slightly, but her fingers then curled gently, intertwining naturally with Harry's, as if it were a premeditated union.

Harry's mood, which had been shrouded in the gloom of impending death, dissipated as if the clouds had parted and the sun had finally come out.

Looking at the blush on Qiu Zhang's ears, he suddenly realized that this touch hidden under the dining table should be considered his first intimate contact with Qiu Zhang.
"I once saw a black dog on the cover of a book at Flourish and Blotts, and..."

Encouraged by Cho Chang, Harry hesitated for a moment and looked at Big Brother:
“Sherlock, I remember now, on the morning I left the Dursleys for your house, I saw one on the roadside.”

"Oh?"

Sherlock's gaze shifted from under the table to Harry's face, as if he had suddenly become interested in the topic. "Was it the day before your birthday?"

"Yes."

Harry said slowly, "I was already in Uncle Vernon's car, talking to him."

Then, without thinking, I turned my head and saw a large black dog in the shadows at the street corner. But when I looked again, it had disappeared, so I couldn't remember it afterward.

“It’s just a stray dog,” Hermione said calmly.

"It's just a coincidence," Qiu Zhang echoed.

But after she said those words, Harry felt his fingers tighten around Cho Chang's, as if he wanted to lock this brief moment in his palm forever.

"certainly not!"

Ron didn't care about the atmosphere; he looked excitedly at the two girls:

"If Harry saw something ominous, that would be terrible!"

You have no idea, my uncle, my uncle…

Seeing Ron's stammering, Sherlock shook his head: "Your uncle isn't Jules, hurry up and tell me!"

Ron's literary knowledge was clearly insufficient for him to grasp Sherlock's meaning, and he said with some doubt:

“My uncle is not Jules, his name is Billiers.”

What I'm saying is that after he saw a large black dog, which was considered an ominous sign, he died twenty-four hours later.

This is an ominous sign, a harbinger of death!

Sherlock, Hermione, and Cho Chang all frowned.

Ron realized that his words were somewhat inappropriate and quickly explained:
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant Harry needs to be careful!"
Most wizards are terrified when they see something ominous. Sherlock, Hermione, you're both Muggle-born, you wouldn't understand.

Qiu Zhang shook his head. "I don't understand either."

As a half-blood wizard, Cho Chang's words undoubtedly negated Ron to some extent.

Harry couldn't help but look at her gratefully.

At this moment, Sherlock spoke up, slowly saying:

“My dear Ron, you are inferring the process from the result.”

There is no evidence to suggest that your uncle's death was related to that big dog you called an ominous sign.

In fact, if I had been there, I would certainly have been able to determine the true cause of death through an autopsy.

Ron: "..."

The way you persuade people is truly unique and unconventional!
“That’s right, Harry isn’t stupid enough to think he’s about to die just because he sees something ominous, and besides, I don’t think it’s ominous at all!”

Hermione sneered and took out a brand-new arithmetic and divination textbook from her bag.

"I now feel that divination classes are a complete mess!"

"The ominous sign in that cup isn't just a lump of mush!"

"That's right, calling it glue is giving it too much credit. Compared to arithmetic and divination lessons, it's utter garbage!"

"You don't know anything at all. Do you really think you're some kind of know-it-all?"

Hermione and Ron had a heated argument.

Even Qiu Zhang, a newcomer, couldn't help but offer his advice.

However, this is of no use.

Later, when Ron saw that none of the people present supported him, he simply grabbed his schoolbag and stormed off.

Cho Chang was somewhat surprised. "Harry, has he always been like this?"

"Uh……"

Harry was a little embarrassed. "He wasn't like this before. Maybe he's been in a bad mood lately because of Scabbers?"

"Banban, what's that?"

Seeing that Cho Chang was interested, Harry briefly told her about Scabbers.

"If that's the case, then it makes sense..."

Qiu Zhang showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

“It’s alright, he’ll be back soon,” Sherlock said.

"Why?" Qiu Zhang asked curiously.

Sherlock pointed to the plate, “because he hasn’t finished his pumpkin pie yet.”

Qiu Zhang chuckled lightly: "If it's just because of this, then it's a bit too much..."

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Ron storm back, grab the remaining pumpkin pie, and turn to leave.

Waving your sleeves will not take away a single cloud.

Qiu Zhang: "..."

What's going on? Sherlock was actually right!

"It's okay, he'll be fine on his own after a while."

Harry said so.

Qiu Zhang nodded slightly, and the two then began to chat about their experiences during the summer vacation.

During this process, Cho Chang also gently released Harry's hand that was clasped under the table, which made Harry feel a sense of loss.

Sherlock then turned to Hermione: "My friend, you just said that Divination is rubbish compared to Arithmetic Divination?"

“That’s right!” Hermione, still angry, answered instinctively.

"But we haven't taken this course yet."

Hearing Sherlock's words, Hermione suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

No one knew Sherlock's abilities better than she did.

That's someone who can tell what you've done all day just by looking at you.

Even if you are fully focused on defense, you may not be able to escape the other party's eyes, let alone when you were completely unprepared just now.

"I've read the book."

Despite her lack of confidence, Hermione still managed to offer a forced explanation:
"You know, because I was quite interested in this course, and since the content of these two courses is similar, I did some pre-reading."

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(End of this chapter)