Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 365: Women are not allowed to stay in college

The atmosphere in the kitchen became even more lively after Mrs. Holmes joined them.

The three ladies chatted away as they prepared lunch for everyone.

"Let them do their work!"

Mr. Weasley waved his hand and pulled Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger to one end of the long table.

His personality was such that he was interested in everything Muggle-related, and coincidentally, his son's two friends were both Muggle-born wizards, so he naturally wouldn't let such an opportunity pass him by.

Despite the many laughs that might arise from his Muggle-related matters, both Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger could sense his sincerity, and the three men quickly became friends.

Their conversation covered a wide range of topics, from automobiles and mechanics to leisurely fishing and international affairs, yet it was surprisingly harmonious.

Sirius apologized to the three ladies once more before turning to Sherlock and asking with a smile:
"How was your holiday? Did you have a good time?"

Sherlock said frankly, "It's a bit boring. If Harry hadn't called, I would have wanted to go back to school."

"Haha, Harry thought so too. He said he wanted to go back to school to try out the Firebolt. Actually, I think he can still test it out here."

“Godfather, I don’t want to get scolded by Mrs. Black again,” Harry said, still shaken.

"Hmph, ignore that wicked old witch, I'm in charge here now."

Sirius showed no respect for his mother in his speech.

This made Harry feel a little embarrassed.

He was kind-hearted and felt that it was really inappropriate for someone living in the Black family's house to speak so rudely.

Furthermore, that lady was Sirius's mother, and by seniority, she was his grandmother.

Using "wicked old witch" to describe her is ultimately a bit of an exaggeration.

He had reminded Sirius several times in the past two days, but his godfather, who was easy to talk to in other matters, was particularly stubborn in this one, and wouldn't listen to anything he said.

Sherlock saw the expressions on their faces and immediately understood.

He looked around. "The others aren't here. They must have all gone to check on the fire crossbows."

"I knew I couldn't hide anything from you."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Sherlock change the subject, and he said with a smile:

“They’re all upstairs. I think it’s not too late to call them down after the food is ready.”

However, before the three could exchange more than a few words, Sherlock was pulled away by Hermione.

Sirius Black and Harry exchanged bewildered glances upon seeing this.

Sirius, in particular, couldn't help but think to himself that it wasn't just the Muggle world that was seeing its little girls becoming more and more proactive; even in the magical world.

Fortunately, she is also good at raising her own children. Judging from the behavior of the Weasleys' youngest daughter these past two days, she is just like Hermione.

Unfortunately, my eldest son seems to be a bit slow-witted.

But it doesn't matter, the two are still young, and now he has regained his freedom and his innocence has been restored.

With a godfather like himself to look after him, Harry has no worries about his future!
A mere fire crossbow bolt was just the beginning.

Thinking of this, Sirius couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

If Lily were still alive, she definitely wouldn't have let herself give the Firebolt to Harry, right?

Meanwhile, Hermione pulled Sherlock to the other end of the table.

She mysteriously took a piece of parchment from her bosom and handed it to Sherlock, looking at him hopefully as she said:
"Take a look, this is what I've been organizing these past few days."

Sherlock took the parchment and saw that it described the troll incident they encountered on Halloween in their first year.

"I was trapped in the basement at the time, and I just felt hungry and tired... First person perspective?"

"Yes, I think describing crime-solving experiences from a first-person perspective makes them more immersive, and all of Lockhart's adventure books do it that way."

At this point, Hermione's face flushed slightly, and she unconsciously twirled her hair around her finger.

Telling a story from a first-person perspective does indeed create a greater sense of immersion.

But this also meant that she needed to express the loneliness and helplessness she felt at the time.

Especially now that they have to show these to Sherlock, the person involved, although he was mentally prepared, he still feels somewhat embarrassed.

"From the perspective of narrative structure, it can be described as barely satisfactory."

Sherlock's gaze swept quickly across the area, and he immediately gave his assessment:
"The reasoning process is quite rigorous; if it can be written along this path, it should be quite good."

"Because what I wrote was based on facts, of course it appears rigorous."

Hermione was overjoyed to receive Sherlock's approval, but then she complained:

“Even though we experienced everything together, I’ve found that expressing it clearly is not a simple task.”

"That's only natural, my dear Hermione."

Hearing Hermione's complaint, Sherlock laughed and said, "Even if the story itself is bizarre enough, it's still not an easy task to tell it in a captivating way."

That's why I said you and Harry both have a talent for retelling and summarizing.

Compared to you, Ron is a little less skilled in this regard.

In fact, simply being able to tell a good story is enough to qualify someone as an excellent author.

Hermione's eyes lit up immediately, and she grabbed Sherlock's hand, urging him on:

"Quickly, tell me in more detail."

On the other side of the table, only Mr. Weasley was fully engaged in a discussion with the other two.

Both Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger devoted some of their attention to their children.

Seeing Hermione pull Sherlock aside to whisper to him, Mr. Holmes's lips curled into a slight smile.

In some ways, my younger son is more successful than my older son!
Mr. Granger couldn't help but shake his head as he looked at Hermione's proactive attitude.

That’s all.

A daughter is like a tree that grows up and cannot be kept at home; Hermione is already fifteen years old this year.

Seeing the radiance on her face as she spoke to Sherlock, Mr. Granger sighed inwardly, thinking that as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.

Moreover, even he, who had been provoking him, had to admit that Sherlock was indeed a very outstanding child.

Aside from being arrogant, emotionally detached, controlling, inarticulate, and eccentric, he has no other flaws. Wait, that still doesn't work!
Even though my daughter is already fifteen, it's still too early.

Besides, judging from Sherlock's appearance, it seems that it has always been his daughter's wishful thinking, which is unacceptable!

In short, we must keep a close eye on it.

At that moment, Ginny also came into the kitchen.

She didn't go to check the fire bolts; instead, she went to the restroom.

That's why they missed Harry and Hermione picking up Sherlock.

This annoyed her, so after greeting Sherlock, she sat down next to Harry.

Seeing this, Sirius immediately and tactfully left, moving to the other end of the table to join the conversation of the three men.

Two wizards, two Muggles.

The wizards were all members of the Twenty-Eight Holy Pureblood Families, a rather strange combination. However, both of these members of the Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families were pro-Mafia, so the conversation among the four was very harmonious.

Time flew by unnoticed, and thanks to the combined efforts of the three ladies with excellent culinary skills, lunch was finally ready.

A large pot of stew and a large iron kettle of butterbeer were served first on the table.

"Ginny, go and call them down," Mrs. Weasley said with some displeasure, her gaze sweeping across the kitchen. "Don't you know what time it is?"

Ginny reluctantly left Harry's side to go upstairs and call her brothers down for dinner.

"Thank you so much, three beautiful and kind ladies."

At this moment, Sirius, as the owner, immediately stood up and went to help.

Harry wanted to go with them, but Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Weasley made him sit down.

“No one has lived here since my dear mother passed away, unless you count the house-elves she left behind.”

Sirius said with some emotion, "But that little elf has gone crazy and hasn't done any cleaning in a long time. As for cooking, forget about it."

“Mr. Sirius, I think you’re being really mean to Kreacher,” Hermione said, unable to contain herself. “You’re so indifferent to him and you always call him a useless piece of trash.”

"It was a useless piece of junk to begin with."

Sirius Black sneered, making no attempt to hide his disgust:
"Can't clean, can't cook, can't take care of people..."

Hermione, I know you have a kind heart, but you must have seen how it treats me—even after it has gone mad, it still doesn't treat me as its true master.

I know it hates me, and I don't like it either.

Because I have no feelings for this family, that guy only makes me keep thinking about all of this.

In fact, I would never have returned to this place if it weren't for Harry.

Everyone could hear the resolute attitude in Sirius's tone, and they couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

Sherlock looked at Harry, who silently mouthed a sentence to him, and Sherlock nodded in response.

No one spoke for the next few minutes until Ginny and her brothers came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Sherlock!"

Ron ran over as soon as he saw Sherlock, excitedly saying, "You really should come upstairs and see the Firebolt! That thing is so cool!"

“Come on, Ron, you’ve said that eight hundred times in the last two days,” Fred Weasley said.

“We’re tired of hearing about it,” George Weasley said.

Ron immediately retorted, unconvinced: "Isn't that what you yourselves are saying?"

"But we won't go on like this, never letting it end."

Fred Weasley turned to Sherlock and said, "You also find our little brother annoying, don't you? So, how was your winter break?"

"Not bad, Fred."

“I am George, Sherlock. You have mistaken me for someone else.”

"No, you are Fred."

“I really am George, right, Fred?”

"Yes, he is George, and I am Fred."

"No, you are Fred, and your tricks don't work on me."

“Okay, okay… I’m Fred.”

Seeing Sherlock's resolute gaze, Fred had no choice but to abandon his feigned ignorance.

"But I don't understand, why are you always able to separate us accurately? Dad and Mom sometimes get it wrong."

"Just observe."

"..."

After greeting the Sherlock family, everyone sat down.

Everyone is very curious about the Holmes couple because they want to know what kind of people the parents who gave birth to the Holmes brothers were.

However, after getting to know them, it was found that the couple was nothing special.

Mr. Holmes was refined and cultured, and Mrs. Holmes was gentle and generous; they were both easy to get along with.

After everyone was seated, they turned their attention to Sirius.

He slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and then he spoke:
"Alright, before we dig into this lunch that smells so good—Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Granger, Mrs. Holmes, I must say something serious first:"
Thank you all for your hard work today.

You were invited as guests, but you've ended up taking care of these kids for me.

"Nothing!"

"This is what we should do!"

"If we wait for you to prepare lunch, we might have to wait until evening!"

Hearing what the three ladies said, everyone burst into laughter.

The kitchen was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)