Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 418 A villain's elaborate schemes are no match for a fool's quick thinking.

Sherlock discovers that Percy has something wrong with him.

After witnessing Percy's various actions, he actually understood Percy's thoughts.

It's actually quite simple.

face.

Gemma led a group of Slytherins to the door, offering neither apology nor remorse, but demanding a truce between the two sides.

In Percy's view, if he agreed directly in front of so many people, it would mean he was afraid and intimidated by Slytherin.

How will he ever be able to establish himself in Gryffindor after that?
More importantly, the opposing team is led by Gemma Farley!

Although both were elected student council presidents this year, for most of the first two semesters, the professors, led by Dumbledore, relied more on Gemma than Percy when handling affairs.

Percy didn't realize that this was his own problem.

He just couldn't accept it.

Everyone here is a student council president, so why should I be?
So now that such an opportunity has come up, I naturally don't want to let it go.

In Sherlock's view, this is a case of how a bad person's elaborate schemes are no match for a fool's quick thinking.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to believe he would do such a thing.

Of course, strictly speaking, Percy couldn't be considered stupid.

He managed to obtain twelve certificates even without a time converter, demonstrating his exceptional abilities.

Although Gemma also earned twelve certificates, she told Sherlock that she barely passed a few courses.

Percy wasn't perfect in every way, but he was much better than Gemma.

Unfortunately, Percy, despite his high IQ, lacked wisdom.

but it does not matter.

Since I was there, I naturally wouldn't let this situation continue.

So after explaining to Hermione, he prepared to speak.

Just then, Penelope, who was standing next to Percy, suddenly whispered in his ear.

Sherlock smiled slightly when he saw her gesture.

Great, it seems I don't need to take action myself.

ten minutes later.

In an abandoned classroom, representatives from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin are holding a tripartite meeting.

The representatives of Gryffindor included Percy Weasley, the student council president; two prefects; Oliver Wood, captain of the Quidditch team; Harry Potter, a team member; and Sherlock Holmes, a house representative.

The situation is similar for Slytherin: Student Council President Gemma Farley, two prefects, Quidditch team captain Marcus Flint, and player representative Draco Malfoy.

Ravenclaw has relatively few members, consisting only of former Prefect Penelope Clearwater and two new Prefects.

Having witnessed Percy's actions, Penelope had already sensed her boyfriend's ulterior motives.

That's why she gave Gemma a wink.

But to her surprise, even after Gemma compromised once more, Percy still wouldn't back down.

Moreover, his insistence only sparked greater controversy, dragging in the four prefects as well, needless to say.

In this situation, Penelope decisively suggested that it would be inappropriate for them to stay there for too long and that they should continue the talks in another location.

Gemma naturally had no objection to this, as it was her original intention.

There was one thing she didn't tell her Slytherin classmates: she had already contacted Percy before she arrived here.

She meant that there was no need to make such a big fuss; she could just have a small meeting with the prefects and the Quidditch team.

Percy refused, saying that nothing should be kept secret and that negotiations like this should be made public.

At that time, Gemma had already vaguely guessed Percy's thoughts.

At that moment, the little snakes joined in on their own, hoping to bolster their numbers.

That's why Gemma, who originally wanted to stop them, gave up.

Percy Weasley, if you want to make a big deal out of this, then I'll play along to the end.

Percy's actions further proved this point when negotiations officially began.

Gemma's view of Percy goes even deeper than Sherlock's.

Besides saving face, there's also bureaucracy.

This person did not directly agree to the ceasefire request because doing so would render him, as the student council president, useless.

Furthermore, in Percy's view, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw already had the advantage of numbers when meeting in public.

In contrast, Slytherin's initiative to visit was a sign of weakness.

Just after Penelope mediated, Gemma backed down again, acknowledging that bringing Ravenclaw into the picture was wrong.

This made Percy feel even more confident that he had the upper hand and should press his advantage.

Even if the two groups were to actually fight, he was confident that most people would be safe and sound.

This will demonstrate the wisdom and prowess of the student council president.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated.

When Penelope suggested a private meeting, everyone except him readily agreed.

And so things came full circle.

At the start of the meeting, Penelope took the initiative and spoke first:
"Everyone, I think we all remember those unpleasant beginnings."

But more importantly, Gemma came here to address the root cause of the problem.

"There's no point in going back to the past. If you keep arguing like this, will you really be able to clarify the reasons from the beginning?" Penelope was originally a Ravenclaw prefect known for her wisdom, and she was highly respected not only by Ravenclaw but also throughout the entire school.

Although she lost to Gemma in the competition for student council president, it was obvious to everyone that this was closely related to her becoming Percy's girlfriend.

It is precisely for this reason that the lion cubs have a natural affinity for her.

So when she spoke, the two Gryffindor prefects nodded in agreement.

After seeing Gemma's gaze, the two Slytherin prefects wisely kept quiet.

Penelope smiled faintly and continued:

"The fact that Gemma was able to personally bring her Slytherin classmates here already demonstrates her stance and determination to maintain discipline."

This is far more important than any verbal reprimand, isn't it?

Percy was about to speak when he felt a pinch on the soft flesh of his lower back, and his body stiffened instantly.

Penelope gave him a sweet smile:

“Dear Percy, Gemma just made it very clear.”

Our goal should be to determine the ultimate winner of this match, not this exhausting war of attrition.

I believe she will definitely demand that Slytherin thoroughly reflect on and eliminate those disgraceful beginnings.

After all, order should not merely remain on the surface of agreements, but should be guaranteed through its implementation.

Sherlock and Gemma exchanged a glance, and almost immediately understood the true purpose of Penelope's words.

She used words like "reflect," "prevent," and "demand" to imply that Gemma would deal with Slytherin's mistakes, while also taking care of Percy and giving him a way out.

Gemma smiled slightly.

Sure enough, having a boyfriend really makes a difference.

The sisters who were once inseparable are now starting to side with men.

However, she didn't seem to mind.

If Percy really backed down, she would be happy to accept it.

Penelope's reaction was exactly what she wanted.

He was able to understand himself while also keeping Percy, who was somewhat power-hungry and wanted to control the pace of negotiations, in check.

Penelope's statement was immediately met with approval.

Not only because what she said made sense, but also because she was too beautiful.

Most people know that judging a person by their appearance is wrong, but the fact is that almost everyone subconsciously judges a person by their appearance.

It's just a matter of degree.

Take Harry for example, he's a pretty serious one, a total looks-obsessed person.

When interacting with people, he uses appearance as a core evaluation criterion.

Before he knew that Tom Riddle was Voldemort, he instinctively thought that the other man was a good person.

In my dealings with Gilderoy Lockhart, I also found him to be a reliable professor.

As for being attracted to Qiu Zhang, it was purely because she was an incredibly beautiful young woman.

Even his close relationship with Sirius Black was partly due to this reason.

However, even if someone is obsessed with appearance, they will still pay attention to a person's character, personality, talent, and other inner qualities, even with appearance as the core evaluation standard.

If problems arise in these areas, the advantages brought by one's appearance will vanish.

So when he learned Riddle's true identity and what Lockhart had done, he immediately lost his fascination with the two handsome men.

A deeper level of judging people by their appearance than simply being attracted to good looks is being a "face-obsessed person."

Such people are completely focused on their appearance and are indifferent to information from other aspects.

In other words, as long as you are beautiful, whatever you say is right.

Even if someone is utterly wicked and commits illegal or criminal acts, there will still be comments such as "beauty is justice," "someone so good-looking couldn't possibly do that kind of thing," and "she must have a reason for being so beautiful."

It's utterly ridiculous that one's values ​​are dictated by physical appearance.

However, at this moment, the beautiful Penelope was speaking the truth in a very skillful way.

She acknowledged the value of Gemma's willingness to compromise, subtly offered Percy a way out, and then smoothly steered the conversation back to the competition itself.

With her top-tier looks, which are widely considered to rival Gemma's at Hogwarts, her calm and eloquent demeanor made everyone feel inexplicably close to her.

That innate and cultivated scholarly air, along with the faint smile that remained on his face throughout, almost melted the hearts of everyone present.

Now that things have come to this, everyone agrees that whatever Miss Penelope says is right.

Harry, who had long wanted to end all of this, immediately seized the opportunity:

“Penelope is right! If this situation continues, our training and rest will be completely disrupted!”

Oliver Wood nodded vigorously beside him.

Nothing in this world is more important than a Quidditch match.

If so, then let's have another round.

The attitudes of the Savior and the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain still carry considerable weight.

With his girlfriend Penelope's prompting, Percy finally realized that the idea of ​​"I have the advantage" was actually a mistake, so he stopped arguing.

But that's not enough.

Gemma knew very well that they needed a key figure who could make the final decision.

(End of this chapter)