Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 436 Gemma: Hermione, come out here for a second.

When Gemma Farley returned to the end-of-term party, the candlelight around the long table was casting a warm yellow glow, filling the room with jubilation.

But Sherlock did not return.

This greatly surprised Hermione, who had been following the matter closely.

Were those two not together?
Her gaze lingered between the long tables of Gryffindor and Slytherin.

But Sherlock did not appear until the bell rang, signaling the end of the banquet.

Unwilling to give up, Hermione simply followed Harry and Ron toward the boys' dormitory.

As everyone knows, Hogwarts has a peculiar rule:

Girls can freely enter and leave the boys' dormitory, but boys are not allowed to step into the girls' dormitory.

This is a rule established by the school's founders and has been preserved to this day.

If a boy tries to enter the girls' dormitory, the stairs become steep and slippery.

Of course, this rule is not immutable. With the dean's special permission, male students can also enter the female dormitory.

Just like when Sherlock investigated the theft of Ravenclaw's eyeshadow, he entered the Ravenclaw girls' dormitory accompanied by Prefect Penelope.

Harry and Ron were already used to Hermione's sudden attacks.

Ron even jokingly elbowed Harry:

"I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up one morning to find Hermione at Sherlock's bedside."

As soon as he said those words, Ron was already prepared and flashed to Harry's side.

Strangely, Hermione wasn't angry this time; she just pursed her lips and quickened her pace.

This amazed Ron.

Harry glanced at Hermione, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Pushing open the door to the boys' dormitory, they indeed saw Sherlock lying on the bed.

He still maintains his signature pose:

He rested his chin on his hands, his eyes wide open, his gaze fixed on the void, seemingly oblivious to the commotion of the group entering through the door.

"Sherlock, where did you just go?"

Harry didn't give Hermione a chance to ask a question; instead, he asked the question first.

Hermes gave Harry a very emotional look.

Sherlock slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over his friends before finally settling on Hermione:
"It seems the banquet is over, Hermione. You should go and rest."

"I don't!"

Hermione stiffened her neck, her tone stubborn, "It's still early, tell me where you just went?"

"My dear friend, I thought you already knew."

Sherlock spoke calmly, as if stating an obvious fact.

"What did you say?" Hermione blinked in confusion, looking at Sherlock with bewilderment.

"When you noticed me leaving the banquet, shouldn't you have immediately looked at the Slytherin table?"

Hermione: "..."

"When you see that Gemma isn't in her Slytherin seat, don't you think I'm with her?"

Upon hearing this, not only Hermione, but also her four roommates Harry, Ron, Neville, and Dean stared at Sherlock with wide eyes in surprise.

No, man.

Is it really okay to say it so openly and honestly?
"Didn't you make that inference?"

Sherlock finally sat up in bed, his eyes fixed intently on Hermione:

“Harry and Ron may not have realized it yet, but I think you should have even figured out where we met—don’t you?”

Faced with Sherlock's series of questions, Hermione was completely stunned.

Is this guy really that arrogant?

The four roommates looked at each other, their eyes gradually filled with admiration.

As expected of Sherlock!
"I...have indeed deduced it."

Hermione's voice lowered, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

“Then we should just tell them,” Sherlock said calmly, pointing at Harry and Ron, “instead of coming to my dorm.”

"I... I just saw Gemma return to the banquet, but you didn't come back, so I..."

"This is only natural. Gemma will remain the student council president until she officially leaves school tomorrow."

She had a duty to assist the teacher in management, and after finishing her own tasks, she should naturally return to the banquet.

I'm just an ordinary third-grade student. Once I've finished my work, even if I don't return, it won't have any impact.

He spoke so matter-of-factly that his friends in the room were momentarily at a loss for words, and could only silently process his self-righteous outburst.

"Do you have any other questions? If not, you should go back and rest; it's getting late."

Sherlock lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes.

"Yes, Sherlock."

Hermione actually had a lot of questions, the most important of which was what Sherlock and Gemma had been doing all this time!
Judging from Sherlock's statement, he not only openly admitted to spending time alone with Gemma, but he also did not deny the location of the Room of Requirement. So it certainly wasn't kissing.

Besides, now was clearly not the time to ask further questions, so she could only nod, turn around and quickly leave the boys' dormitory.

As soon as Hermione left, her four roommates surrounded Sherlock, each expressing their boundless admiration for him:

"Well done!" Harry said first.

"Wake up, Sherlock!" Ron noticed that Sherlock seemed to be getting sleepy and quickly reminded him loudly.

"As expected of our Lion King, he really didn't let us down!" Dean quickly followed up, praising him enthusiastically.

"Although I don't know why, everyone says so, so I have to praise you too..."

Neville finally said weakly.

After a round of commercial hype, Ron asked curiously:
"Sherlock, did Chairman Gemma ask you out alone to say goodbye?"

“That’s right, she gave me her prefectural badge and student council president badge.”

"what?"

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, Ron was taken aback. "You mean she gave you both badges?"

“My dear Ron, you seem quite surprised by this?” Sherlock opened his eyes, his tone flat.

"Of course!"

Ron said excitedly, "The prefect's badge and the student council president's badge are very meaningful!"

You know, Penelope asked Percy for his badge before, and he wouldn't give it to her!

“Penelope Clearwater of Ravenclaw?” Dean scratched his head. “But isn’t she a prefect herself? What would she need your brother’s badge for?”

"Come on, Dean, of course she wants the student council president badge!"

"Uh... sorry, Ron, I forgot that your brother is the student council president."

"..."

After an awkward silence, Ron continued, "In short, the fact that Gemma was willing to give you both the prefectural badge and the student council president badge shows that you hold a very important place in her heart!"

"What a pity!"

"What's there to regret?"

Neville asked, puzzled, "Isn't this a good thing for Sherlock, to be cared for like this by a good friend? I wish I could have a friend like that..."

"Hey, don't do that, Navei!"

Dean put his arm around Neville's shoulder and patted his chest, promising, "If I become a prefect in fifth grade, I'll definitely give you the badge when we graduate!"

Harry smiled and nodded, "Me too, Neville."

"Me too!"

Ron burst into laughter, "Don't even mention the prefect's badge, I'd give you the student council president's badge too!"
As for why I say it's a pity, it's because President Gemma is about to graduate. It's unlikely we'll see her again before we leave Hogwarts. If only she were our classmate..."

Neville didn't notice the second half of Ron's sentence, but feeling everyone's concern for him, his eyes instantly welled up with tears.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and even her voice choked with sobs:

"thank you all……"

"But we can't give them anything even if we want to. By the time we're in fifth grade, the prefects will either be Sherlock or Harry."

Dean released Neville and clenched his fist. "And the student council president, if anyone opposes them, I, Thomas, will be the first to object!"

The group laughed and joked around for a while until their eyelids started to droop, then they washed up and went to sleep.

The next morning, as the Hogwarts Express slowly pulled out of the station, the scenery outside the window gradually receded into the distance.

Inside the carriage, Hermione took a deep breath and formally told her friends about her decision to give up the Muggle Studies course.

"What? But you got 320 points!"

Qiu Zhang covered her mouth in surprise, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief. "No one has ever gotten such a high score in this course before. Isn't it a shame to give up like this?"

In fact, those who can get high marks in the Muggle Studies course are often half-blood wizards and wizards of Muggle origin.

Cho Chang is a half-blood wizard and an excellent student.

Even so, her Muggle research never exceeded 300 points.

“I know, Professor Bubbaji has also tried to persuade him.”

Hermione sighed and said, “But I can’t stand another year like this—without Muggle studies and fortune-telling, I can have a normal schedule.”

Hermione had already handed the Time-Turner over to Professor McGonagall, and no one else knew about it except Sherlock, so she naturally didn't intend to bring it up again.

"This year is indeed very strange."

Qiu Zhang said thoughtfully, "The timetable has never repeated so frequently before. It feels like we're deliberately preventing you from selecting all the courses."

"Whatever the reason, it's over."

There's no need to continue with Muggle studies, and I don't plan to take any more divination courses.

As Hermione spoke, she unconsciously turned her gaze toward Sherlock.

He was staring intently out the car window, his profile clearly visible in the sunlight.

Luna, sitting next to him, mirrored his movements exactly, as if studying the patterns on the glass.

The two moved with a strange sense of synchronization and harmony.

Hermione had figured it out: as long as Sherlock didn't bring it up, she wouldn't ask him what he and Gemma had talked about anymore.

Anyway, starting next semester, they won't see Gemma for four whole years.

Third graders have the advantage over seventh graders!

The group then started talking about the Quidditch World Cup.

Qiu Zhang said she would also go to the game with her parents and would contact her friends in advance.

This made Ginny a little unhappy.

But then she thought about how Harry's tickets would be prepared by her father, and she became happy again.

Then the group started playing with popping and exploding again. When the witch came over with the food cart, Harry offered to treat everyone and bought a large lunch for each of them.

As evening approached, the train's jolts seemed to gradually subside.

Just then, a figure that surprised everyone appeared at the door of the private room.

Gemma Farley.

When this girl, who ceased to be the student council president the moment the train stopped, appeared, the noise in the compartment instantly quieted down, and everyone turned to look at Sherlock.

Without a doubt, Gemma's presence here could only be to find Sherlock.

However, Sherlock shook his head, as if he had guessed what everyone was thinking, and said:

“Gemma didn’t come here to see me.”

"What?" Ron was the first to exclaim.

“Sherlock is right, I did not come here to see him.”

Gemma smiled sweetly, sunlight streaming through the car window onto her face, her chestnut hair gleaming softly.

Her gaze swept over the crowd and finally landed on Hermione. "Miss Hermione, would you please come out with me for a moment?"

Hermione was stunned; she almost thought she had misheard.

He pointed to himself, "Me?"

“Yes, Miss Hermione, I have something I want to tell you.”

Hermione stood up, looking bewildered, and glanced at Sherlock again.

Seeing that he made no comment, she finally followed Gemma out of the private room with some hesitation.

As soon as the door to the private room closed, Ron couldn't contain himself and moved closer to Sherlock, to where Hermione had just been sitting:
"Sherlock, how do you know she's not here to see you?"

"Ah, it's actually very simple."

Upon hearing Sherlock's familiar opening line, everyone knows that Sherlock is about to launch into a lengthy analysis.

But that's alright, this is exactly what they're interested in:

"First, when she opened the door, her gaze did not first look for my position, but quickly scanned the entire carriage environment, focusing on Hermione."

Secondly, she met with me last night and gave me her prefectural leader badge and student council president badge.

Given Gemma's ritualistic and efficient approach to handling important relationships, this matter itself carries a strong symbolic sense of ending, so there's no need for her to come to me specifically for this.

Third, when she walked towards the private room, her posture suggested a direct negotiation, but she deliberately avoided looking at me.

This means that her key contact point for this trip was outside of me. If it was to supplement the farewell message from last night, then this evasive stance would not hold water.

Fourth, besides me, the person in the box who has the highest probability of having potential interaction with Gemma and is worth her special attention is Hermione.

Considering that they both focus on me, the probability of this happening is magnified infinitely.

No, man.

The way you casually mentioned that two girls were concerned about you is really infuriating!
But Sherlock remained calm and composed, his tone even, showing no sign of boasting.

That's what makes it even more infuriating, you bastard!

However, only Ron had this idea.

The other people in the box, Harry, Cho Chang, and Ginny, did not react as strongly.

Luna just looked at Sherlock with curiosity.

They didn't seem to care too much about his remarks themselves.

"What's going on? In the end, am I the only one making a fuss?"

Looking at his friends' expressions, Ron suddenly realized he had been presumptuous.

(End of this chapter)