Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 324 Give me your glasses
The torrential rain poured down like a burst dam, the wind whipped the raindrops down, and the rumble of thunder echoed through the air.

Even such terrible weather could not dampen the Hogwarts students' and teachers' burning passion for Quidditch.

Even before the match officially started, the stands at Hogwarts Quidditch Stadium were already packed.

After the umbrellas were blown away, the colorful raincoats still wove together into a strange ocean under the dim sky, appearing even denser than when the weather was bright.

As soon as the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff players entered the field, cheers erupted in the wind and rain, fully demonstrating everyone's eager anticipation for the match.

Captains Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory strode in from both ends of the pitch.

Wood's steps were quick and powerful, splashing mud and water that soaked his trouser legs, but he was completely unaware of it.

Cedric walked with a steady gait, a warm smile always on his face.

He walked up to Wood, extended his right hand generously, and said sincerely, "Good luck, Wood."

Wood stared at Cedric's outstretched hand, paused for a moment, then reached out and shook it.

He didn't try to break the hand of Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint, as he had done with him.

But he didn't respond to Cedric's smile; instead, he kept a straight face and nodded seriously.

Seeing this, Cedric's eyes flashed with a hint of helplessness, and he shook his head slightly.

After the two captains shook hands, the team members also got to work.

They struggled to pull their feet out of the muddy ground and mounted their respective flying brooms.

As Ms. Hock's sharp whistle rang out, fifteen flying brooms shot into the air in perfect unison, like arrows released from a bow.

The broom sliced ​​through the rain, splashing up sparkling water droplets, and figures moved across the field, officially kicking off the match.

Harry continued with his usual tactics, staying away from everyone else until the Golden Snitch appeared.

He flew higher than anyone else, using his altitude advantage to avoid being targeted and surrounded by enemy fire.

However, this time he was overthinking things.

First of all, his Nimbus 2000 flying broom isn't as obedient as it used to be.

The gloomy sky felt like a heavy lead plate pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe. But under the influence of the fierce wind, the flying broom, which was originally as easy to control as an arm, carried him erratically through the sky.

Harry had to devote some of his energy to controlling it in order to prevent himself from being blown away by the flying object.

At that moment, he began to understand why Malfoy had fallen off his flying broom during training.

Maintaining stability in the air under such severe weather conditions is already quite an achievement.

Once you start moving at high speed, a moment's carelessness can lead to disaster.

Just over ten minutes into the match, howling winds and torrential rain soaked both teams to the bone.

Harry didn't know how others felt, but he himself felt terrible.

Following the unruly flying broom, other problems also arose.

Before the competition even started, he had already cast a spell to protect himself from water and fire and a warm-up spell.

But in such extreme weather, the curse's power melts away as quickly as thin ice under the sun.

The warming spell quickly lost its effect, and a bone-chilling cold spread through his limbs and bones.

In no time, he was completely frozen.

After a while, the water and fire immunity spell also became ineffective.

The rain lashed against his glasses without obstruction, the dense raindrops blurring his vision and drastically reducing visibility.

He squinted, trying to make out his surroundings, but he could barely make out the figures of his teammates and opponents.

They were completely unaware of the progress of the match.

This predicament made him secretly regret not bringing his magic wand.

But then I thought, even if I brought my wand, it wouldn't make a difference.

In this raging wind and torrential rain, he simply couldn't maintain his balance with one hand while steadily holding his wand and casting spells with the other.

As time went on, the bad weather not only did not improve, but worsened.

The sky gradually darkened, as if night was about to fall early.

This increasingly oppressive atmosphere only made Harry's situation more difficult.

He was momentarily distracted and almost fell off his broom when a stray ball knocked him over.

twice.

"There's been a problem with Harry."

Sherlock, who had been watching the game intently from the stands, suddenly spoke up.

"What's up with him?"

Ginny suddenly stood up, water droplets from her raincoat splattering onto the wooden planks of the stands, her eyes filled with worry and anxiety.

"There's something wrong with him."

Sherlock gestured to Harry's erratic flight path, "It's not surprising that the strong winds would affect his movements."

But it's strange that he's almost been hit by the wandering ball several times.

Luna curiously followed Sherlock's gaze, then her expression suddenly changed to one of realization: "He almost bumped into one of his own men!"

Sherlock nodded. "So I deduce that his vision was very likely impaired."

Ron looked puzzled: "You mean the glasses? But didn't he already cast a water and fire immunity spell on himself before the match?"

"The duration of the spell is not infinite, and in extreme weather like this, the duration will be greatly shortened."

Hermione turned to Sherlock, her eyes resolute. "Sherlock, we have to help him!"

She believed she was far more familiar with the spell than Harry was.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow: "We need to call a timeout to stop the game first."

"What should we do?" Ginny asked anxiously.

Ron frowned as well: "Gryffindor doesn't have any substitutes, otherwise it would be possible..."

Just then, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the entire stadium.

Immediately afterwards, Ms. Hooch blew her whistle, and the players controlled their flying brooms, landing on the muddy ground.

"Wood called a timeout."

A hint of appreciation flashed in Sherlock's gray eyes. "Obviously, he's noticed the problem too."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and followed Sherlock's gaze: "He is a competent captain."

"So what are we waiting for?"

Ron stood up. "Didn't they say Harry's spell had broken? Why don't you go help him?"

At this moment, Ron's worry for Harry finally made him completely forget about his argument with Hermione.

“Because someone else got there to help us before we did,” Sherlock said with a smile, shaking his head. “Look over there!”

Ron and Ginny quickly leaned over to look, and were both taken aback.

Through the rain, a familiar figure was sprinting towards the Gryffindor team.

All the Gryffindor players huddled under a large umbrella on the sidelines of the pitch. Harry took off his glasses and hurriedly wiped them with his robes.

"Timeout is limited, so I'll get straight to the point," Wood said, panting. "We're up by fifty points right now, but if we don't catch the thief, this game won't be over until midnight!"

Harry waved his glasses and said despairingly, "The water and fire immunity spell has failed, and it seems to last even less in this awful weather."

Damn it! I should have brought my wand too!
"If we cast the spell now, we might be able to catch the thief before it wears off."

Wood frowned; this was indeed a big problem. What was more troublesome was that it seemed there was no solution to it at the moment.

Just then, an unexpected figure appeared beside them.

"Qiu, what brings you here?"

Harry looked at Cho Chang, who was wearing a raincoat, with surprise, his gaze unconsciously sweeping over her rain-soaked robes.

Ravenclaw's blue stood out conspicuously among the red and gold of the Gryffindors.

Wood, however, was not as happy as Harry; his already furrowed brows were twisted into a tight knot.

As the captain of Gryffindor, he knew that Cho Chang was not only Ravenclaw's Seeker, but also their opponent in the next game.

“Ms. Zhang, we are discussing tactics, you…”

Before Wood could finish speaking, Cho Chang reached out to Harry and said, "Quick, give me your glasses."

Seeing that Cho Chang was simply ignoring Wood, the Weasley twins quickly exchanged a knowing glance.

Angelina Jolie, Aria, and Katie all wore smiles like onlookers.

As for Harry, after hearing Cho Chang's words, he handed over the glasses without hesitation.

Next, to everyone's astonishment, Cho Chang skillfully tapped Harry's glasses with her wand:

"Impervius!"

"Here you go, it's not afraid of water now."

As a fourth-year Ravenclaw honor student and the teacher who taught Harry to be immune to fire and water, Cho Chang's mastery of spells was on full display at this moment.

Seeing that the immediate crisis was resolved, Wood's gaze toward Cho Chang instantly changed.

However, Qiu Zhang did more than just that.

After casting an invulnerability spell on Harry's glasses, she then cast seven warming spells on the Gryffindor team.

The Gryffindor players, who had initially felt their bodies frozen, suddenly felt the chill quickly leave them, and their whole bodies warmed up.

"Feel sorry."

Qiu Zhang shook the raindrops and hair sticking to his face, and looked at Wood apologetically:
"This spell doesn't last as long as the water and fire immunity spell. If you stay under the umbrella, it's fine, but once the competition starts and you're in a downpour, you probably won't last long."

This time, Wood looked like he was about to kiss her.

"That's enough!"

Cho Chang gave Harry a shy squeeze, said "Good luck" to him, and then ran back to the crowd.

Because Ms. Hooch in the center of the field was already signaling to Wood that the timeout was over.

"Well done! No wonder Ravenclaw is known for his wisdom!"

Wood called out to Cho Chang's retreating figure in a hoarse voice, like sandpaper scraping a crucible, then turned to the crowd and said:

"Alright, everyone, we have the smartest opponent in all of Hogwarts assisting us, so we absolutely cannot afford to lose any more points!"

"Roger that!"

The Gryffindor team's morale soared.

The four Sherlocks in the stands witnessed this entire scene.

"She's really fast!"

Ron couldn't help but slap his thigh: "Ha, I remember now, that spell was originally taught to Harry by Cho!"

Ginny: テ_デ

The timeout ends and the game resumes.

Although the Warm-up Charm, just as Cho Chang had said, quickly lost its effect in the torrential rain, Harry was once again frozen stiff.

However, this time he was finally able to see clearly, which was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Unfortunately, the weather was too bad, so he circled the court several times but still couldn't find the thief.

The thunder grew louder and louder, the wind howled, and bolts of lightning appeared one after another.

The situation is becoming increasingly dangerous.

Just as Harry was worried that the magic Cho Chang had cast on his glasses might fail again, an unexpected event occurred.

Another bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the stands in an instant.

At that moment, Harry's attention was involuntarily and firmly drawn to it.

Big dog!

Big black dog!

A large, black dog with messy fur.

Harry couldn’t be sure if it was the same dog he’d seen on the cover of Flourish and Blotts, but he immediately recognized the big black dog as the one he’d seen when he left the Dursleys’ house for the summer.

On the top row of empty seats, its black outline was made incredibly clear against the sky by the lightning.

Ominous, ominous, death...

Professor Trelawney's words instantly flashed through Harry's mind.

My frozen hand slipped on the broom handle, and the Nimbus 2000 even dropped several feet.

Harry quickly shook off the wet bangs that were blocking his glasses, and when he looked again, the dog had disappeared.

"What exactly is this..."

Before he could recover from his daze, Wood cried out in pain:

"Harry, behind you!"

Wood was in pain because this was the first time someone had spotted the Golden Snitch before Harry in the game.

This means that Harry is not in good condition.

In his view, the severe weather ultimately affected his own Seekers.

Upon hearing Wood's words, Harry immediately turned around to look.

Hufflepuff's Seeker, Cedric Diggory, flew across the field like an arrow.

In the heavy rain between them, a tiny golden dot shone—the Golden Snitch.

Wood noticed Cedric's actions, which led him to discover the Golden Snitch and subsequently alert Harry.

"Damn it!"

Harry jolted with fear and flew straight toward the Golden Snitch.

His legs gripped the flying broom tightly, and he lay flat on the broom, his body almost parallel to it.

During the flight, he kept shouting loudly at his beloved Nimbus 2000:

"Faster! Not enough, faster, faster!"

The atmosphere on the field reached its climax when both Seekers chased after the Golden Snitch at the same time.

The impact of the severe weather was greater than expected, so after being suppressed for so long, people's emotions finally erupted.

The audience could no longer contain their excitement and erupted in deafening cheers.

The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff audiences stood up and cheered their respective teams at the top of their lungs.

However, at the crucial moment that would determine the outcome of the match, a shocking change occurred.

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(End of this chapter)