Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 465 Seizing the opportunity to be alone with Sherlock
No matter how difficult the situation, it always becomes simple with Sherlock Holmes around.

Under Sherlock's guidance, the group split into three teams to search for dry grass, leaves, bark, dry branches, and thick hardwood.

On their return journey, Sherlock instructed Sirius and Mr. Weasley to find some more stones.

With clear instructions, both adults like Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley, and younger wizards like Hermione and the Weasley twins, were quite capable of taking action.

Soon, they gathered all the raw materials needed to start a fire and cook.

Upon returning to the vicinity of the camp, as Sherlock began selecting a spot to start a fire, Mr. Weasley, ever the curious one, started asking questions:

"Why are we making a fire here? Wouldn't it be more convenient to be closer to the tent?"

“Mr. Weasley, when starting a fire, you should avoid flammable materials to prevent sparks from causing a fire.”

Hermione smiled and explained, glancing at Sherlock, "That's common sense."

Hermione is right.

Sherlock stood up and pointed around:
"The fire should ideally be at least ten feet away from the tent, haystacks, and bushes."

In a forest like we are now, we not only need to do these things, but we also need to clear fallen leaves and branches within three feet of each other to form a firebreak.

Secondly, try to find flat and hard ground such as soil or rocks, and avoid starting a fire on ground with thick humus.

Our current conditions are actually quite good. We can form a good fire barrier by simply using stones to create a circle less than three feet in diameter.

"Fred, that stone won't do; it's damp and will crack if it gets hot."

"no problem!"

Fred chuckled and tossed the stone aside. "But I'm George, you've mistaken me for someone else."

"No, you are Fred. I told you, your tricks won't work on me."

Sherlock said calmly, "George is still playing in the sand over there."

"George, come here right now, we need to start a fire!"

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, Mr. Weasley immediately called out to George, who was still playing in the sand nearby.

After saying this, he turned curiously to Sherlock and pointed to the firewood that Sherlock had divided into three piles on the ground:
"Sherlock, why do stones crack when heated?"

Also, didn't we bring matches? Can't we just use them to light these firewood?

And another thing, you asked us to find three different kinds of firewood, is there any special meaning behind that?

He rubbed his hands together excitedly, looking at Sherlock with a curious expression, like a primary school student eager for knowledge.

"Please, Dad!"

"Please don't do this, please!"

Fred and George, who had just returned, couldn't help but put their hands to their foreheads.

That's how their father was; he was curious about everything Muggles—no, you could even call it fanaticism.

However, Sherlock didn't seem to mind. He looked at Mr. Weasley and said:
“Dear Mr. Weasley, you just told me that we must abide by the Muggle safety regulations and not use any magic.”

"Yes, yes, that's what I said, but what does that have to do with my question?"

"Of course—without using any magic, you can't start a fire and cook food using just matches."

Because it is merely an ignition tool, it still requires the use of natural materials.

In fact, it is precisely because of the invention of matches that we no longer need to use the ancient method of drilling for fire.

The key to starting a fire is to proceed from easy to difficult, using wood in stages to ensure a steady increase in the fire's intensity.

The first category is ignition sources, namely, fire starters.

Its function is to quickly ignite and set fire to fine firewood; its main requirements are that it be flammable and dry.

Sherlock paused, then pointed to the pile of things they had brought and said:
"If possible, try to find birch bark, as it is rich in oil, flammable and durable."

However, pine needles, fine wood chips, and dried moss are also nice.

In short, as long as you don't use damp fire starters like grass leaves after rain, completing the first step is quite simple if you have matches.

Sherlock said confidently.

Then he was slapped in the face.

At Mr. Weasley's insistence, he will be the one to take the first step.

Then he started playing with matches.

Whether it's the pure-blood wizards Sirius and the Weasleys, or the Muggle-born wizards Sherlock and Hermione.

In their view, Mr. Weasley really was "playing" with matches.

It's not because he lacks the ability to try.

In fact, he tried many times, and there were many unlit matches scattered on the ground around him.

However, judging from his approach, he seems to be enjoying himself and isn't in a hurry at all.

After finally managing to strike a match, he cried out in surprise and quickly threw it away.

Sherlock: “…”

Fortunately, the match that Mr. Weasley threw away landed right in the pile of kindling.

Because Sherlock chose such high-quality fire, even a lit match thrown in would immediately ignite the fire.

"I succeeded!"

Seeing this, Weasley was as happy as a child. He jumped and laughed, hugging Sirius and saying:

"See that, Sirius? I did it! I can start a fire!"

"..."

Sherlock stopped looking at Mr. Weasley and picked up the second pile of fuel, starting to add it to the already lit fire.

"These thin pieces of firewood, less than an inch in diameter, are transitional firewood. Their purpose is to catch the embers and allow the fire to spread."

It's best to choose dry branches, like this—"

He said as he broke one of them, “The sound when it broke was crisp and without any resilience.”

Pine wood containing resin is flammable and produces a strong flame, making it the best choice.

Poplar and softer willow wood are also acceptable.

Similarly, one should avoid fresh branches with sap, especially new branches of cedar and eucalyptus trees.

Because they not only have a high moisture content and are difficult to ignite, but they also produce smoke once they do burn.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Weasley quickly released Sirius Black and came over, carefully adding a second pile of branches to the increasingly blazing fire, just like Sherlock had done.

After waiting a short while, Sherlock walked toward the third pile of matches.

He bent down, picked up one of the branches, and explained to the crowd:
"The final step is the coarse firewood, which serves as the main fuel. Its role is to maintain the fire and provide continuous heat after the fire has been fully ignited."

At this point, we need tree trunks or blocks of wood with a diameter of more than 2 inches, preferably hardwoods such as oak, maple, or beech.

They have a long burning time, high heat, and leave little ash after burning, making them very high-quality materials.

Other dry tree trunks can also be used, but they need to be split into small pieces beforehand and allowed to dry inside as well.

Similarly, it's important to avoid using damp, coarse firewood, as it will produce a lot of smoke and sparks once lit. Of course, you should also avoid using wood with an unusual odor or that is toxic.

For example, lacquer trees and oleanders may release harmful gases when burned.

After saying this, he smiled and said to everyone, "That's it. These are just some very simple common sense facts."

Dumbfounded.jpg
"Sherlock, may I ask you a question..."

In the end, Hermione was the first to react, "You're not doing this for the first time again, are you?"

"Hermione, you've discovered a blind spot."

Sherlock shrugged. "Like setting up a tent, I didn't have the means to do this kind of thing before."

"I knew it... This isn't common sense at all!"

“My dear Hermione, it’s not just me, there are others who also consider these things to be common sense.”

"Oh, who else?"

Hermione became immediately interested when she heard Sherlock say that.

The others also perked up their ears, eager to know who else in the world, besides Sherlock Holmes, would think so.

Before starting first grade, I bought a book called "Survival Handbook".

This book centers on the idea that "better safe than sorry," and uses author Bear Grylls's personal experience to show readers how to properly deal with dangers in the magical world.

I was particularly interested in the book's wilderness survival guide and the author's personal experiences of facing dangerous creatures such as trolls, crocodiles, vampires, and ground bats alone.

I bought it as part of my extracurricular reading list at the time.

"So, you learned all of this by reading that guy named Bell's book?"

This time, even Sirius couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"Isn't this a matter of course?"

Sherlock said in the most ordinary of tones, "What is the point of reading if we cannot extract knowledge from books and make it our own?"

His words made such a good point that everyone was speechless for a moment.

“Great! This semester we’ll be studying the Advanced Transfiguration Guide!” Fred said.

“According to this logic, we’ll soon be masters of Transfiguration!” George said.

Hermione shook her head as she watched the Weasley twins goofing around.

She had also read "The Survival Handbook," and could only conclude that the author, Bear Grylls, was no ordinary person.

When he was struggling to survive, he ate practically anything.

And they often claim things like "You can eat this after removing the head", "It has twice the content of beef", and "I can't wait to eat it".

Hermione, in any case, couldn't accept it.

While waiting for the fire to grow larger, Mr. Weasley suddenly jumped up as if he had remembered something:
"Oh, right, there's one more thing!"

"What is it, Arthur?"

Sirius was startled by Mr. Weasley's surprised expression.

"Sherlock, you still haven't told me why stones crack when heated!"

Sirius: "..."

Seeing Mr. Weasley's earnest gaze, Sherlock turned to Hermione, "You tell her, Hermione."

Hermione nodded and explained, "This is thermal expansion and contraction, a physical phenomenon that means most objects expand when heated and shrink when the temperature drops."

Damp stones will crack when heated because the crevices or interior of the stone contain moisture, which heats up quickly and turns into steam.

However, the stone itself is a solid and will expand when heated, but the expansion is slow and small, and it is hard and has poor flexibility.

As a result, the pressure of the water vapor inside continuously increases, and the hard stone cannot expand like a sponge to accommodate this pressure.

When the pressure exceeds the stone's tolerance limit, it will crack or even shatter.

Hermione, fearing her explanation wasn't clear enough, gave another example:
"It's like a sealed glass bottle filled with water; when heated, the steam bursts the bottle. The only difference is that the seal on a stone is a natural gap and a hard structure, so the explosion is more sudden."

"The world of Muggles is truly amazing!"

Having received a reply from the top student, Mr. Weasley said with satisfaction.

“That’s common sense, Mr. Weasley.”

At that moment, Hermione felt like she had become Sherlock.

Fortunately, Mr. Weasley did not press him further about the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, otherwise I would have had to explain the theory of molecular motion to him.

During the science popularization activity, the fire finally broke out.

However, Harry, Ron, and Ginny have not yet returned.

"What's going on? Why haven't the three of them come back yet?" George Weasley complained.

“I think it’s probably because we ran into someone we know?” Hermione said thoughtfully. “There are so many wizards here, it’s inevitable that we’d say hello if we ran into one.”

“But we’ve already started the fire,” Fred said.

"That's because Sherlock provided guidance throughout. We probably wouldn't even be able to get to the first step on our own!"

Mr. Weasley reprimanded the twins without any politeness, then turned to Sherlock: "Sherlock, why don't you go and find them?"

Just as Sherlock was about to say something, Mr. Weasley quickly added:

"Don't worry, I know what to do now. I will definitely not let the fire that has been lit go out again!"

He said this with certainty, while adding to himself, "Once it goes out, it will be reignited."

Sherlock glanced at Mr. Weasley and immediately understood his true thoughts.

He just wanted to get me out of there so he could play with fire!

However, after glancing at the already raging flames, he nodded.

It's rare to see wizards from other countries gathered together like this, so this is a good opportunity to go out and see what it's like.

"I am coming too!"

As soon as Sherlock nodded in agreement, Hermione immediately stood up.

Sirius Black, Mr. Weasley, and the Weasley twins immediately smiled knowingly upon seeing this.

Hermione blushed slightly, but remembering what Gemma had said to her before she left, she gritted her teeth and followed.

We must seize every opportunity to be alone with Sherlock!

Seeing this, Mr. Weasley couldn't help but exclaim, "Youth is wonderful!"

"Yes, it's wonderful to be young!"

Sirius Black chimed in.

The way Sherlock and Hermione interacted reminded him of James and Lily from back then.

The difference is that back then it was the man pursuing the woman, now it's the woman pursuing the man.

(End of this chapter)