Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 466 I also want to learn a foreign language
"Hey Sherlock, wait for me!"

Hermione chased after him out of the tent, only to find that Sherlock had no intention of waiting for her and was planning to leave directly.

She caught up with Sherlock in a few quick steps, and said with a hint of complaint:

"I told you I wanted to go with you, why aren't you waiting for me?"

"Because I just noticed you were hesitating."

Sherlock stated bluntly, "Your desire to be with me isn't strong enough."

Hermione: "..."

This guy is really... how much more intense do you want me to be?!
Before Hermione could voice her opinion, Sherlock pointed in a direction and said:
"Come on, keep up, Hermione!"

Seeing this situation, Hermione couldn't help but sigh and had no choice but to follow Sherlock.

There's nothing we can do; after all, he's Sherlock Holmes.
That's just like Sherlock Holmes.

As the sun rose in the east, the thin mist in the camp gradually dissipated.

This also allowed Sherlock and Hermione to clearly see that the area they were in was surrounded by tents on all sides, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Sherlock slowly wandered between the tents, looking around with great interest as he observed the wizards from different countries.

Anyway, going out to look for someone was just an excuse.

The three water-fetching buddies will be back sooner or later.

Judging from Mr. Weasley's enthusiastic expression, even if the three water-fetchers and they didn't go back, he could play with that fire all day long.

Sherlock wasn't too worried about the campfire that had already been lit.

Although Mr. Weasley is unreliable, with Sirius Black and the twins around, they certainly won't let him run wild.

Sherlock wasn't in a hurry, and Hermione was even less so.

Why did I follow Sherlock out?
Isn't it all so I can be alone with this guy?
Hermione still took to heart what Gemma said before she left, and of course, that crucial kiss.

So now she has to find a way to create opportunities for the two of them to be alone together as much as possible.

Otherwise, if three years pass and Gemma makes a strong comeback, I'm afraid I'll really have no chance at all.

And so, Sherlock and Hermione walked side by side, leaving two rows of shallow, irregular footprints on the grass.

Hermione watched this scene with a satisfied smile.

That's how feelings develop over time.

"What are you laughing at?" Sherlock asked, noticing Hermione's somewhat strange smile.

"I remembered happy things."

This time, Sherlock didn't pry into the girl's feelings, but instead started to discuss the matter at hand: "There are actually more wizards than I expected."

Hermione, upon hearing this, suppressed her own thoughts and nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, there are so many people..."

Previously, she had only mastered the theory.

There are only about 3000 wizards in the entire UK, and fewer than 30 wizards worldwide.

Of course, while the Quidditch World Cup is popular, it can't attract all the wizards in the world; at most, half of them would come.

Even with 100,000 wizards gathered in one place, the scene was still quite spectacular.

Thinking of this, Hermione was somewhat more understanding of the Ministry of Magic; maintaining order for so many people was indeed a very difficult task.

At this point, the campers who had arrived at the site before last night gradually woke up.

Naturally, the first to get up are families with children.

Hermione suddenly pointed: "Sherlock, look over there!"

There was a little boy, about two years old, squatting outside a large pyramid-shaped tent.

He held a magic wand in his hand and was happily poking a slug on the grass.

As a result, the slug slowly swelled up to the size of a sausage.

When Sherlock and Hermione reached him, the boy's mother noticed something was wrong and hurriedly came out of the tent.

Upon seeing this, she immediately shouted:
"How many times have I told you, Kevin?"

You're not allowed to—touch—your dad's—wand—again!

Before she could finish speaking, she stepped right on the fat slug.

Without a doubt, the slug exploded with a "pop".

"..."

Even after Sherlock and Hermione had walked quite a distance, they could still hear her shouting in the silent air, mixed with the cries of a little boy:

"You stomped on the bugs! You stomped on the bugs!"

Sherlock and Hermione exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.

"Sherlock, this is the first time I've ever seen such a young wizard!"

You've probably never seen a wizard this age before, have you?

No, I have seen it.

"Seen it? When?"

Hermione looked surprised upon hearing this.

“I saw a photograph in Grimoire Place.”

Sherlock succinctly recounted how Harry's mother, Lily, had replied to Sirius Black's letter.

I heard that when Harry was one year old, he could fly around the house on a miniature broomstick given to him by Sirius Black.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "No wonder he became the youngest Seeker in a century. His talent was already showing at such a young age."

"Really? Then they're not bad either."

Hermione followed Sherlock's gaze and saw a little witch who was about the same age as the two-year-old boy named Kevin from before.

They were riding on two toy flying brooms, flying low, their feet lightly brushing the dew-kissed grass, giggling happily.

"Magic is so incredibly useful! I still can't believe it when I think back to receiving my Hogwarts acceptance letter!"

Hermione couldn't help but sigh, glancing at Sherlock with a look that was hard to describe:
"If I hadn't received the notice delivered by the owl, we probably would never have crossed paths in our lives!"

Sherlock didn't catch the relief and joy in Hermione's words, and explained seriously, "That's not necessarily true."

"You mean even if I weren't a witch, fate might still have brought us together?"

In that instant, Hermione's mind conjured up numerous scenarios of romantic encounters, but before she could delve into them, Sherlock's words shattered her thoughts:

"With your intelligence, if you were to engage in illegal or criminal activities, Scotland Yard probably wouldn't be able to catch you."

At that point, the police will inevitably come to me for advice, and that's how we'll get to know each other, won't it?

Hermione: (ー`ー)
What am I even expecting?!

At this moment, Hermione wished she could find a secluded place and bang her head against the wall.

Just then, an adult wizard hurried past them, saying with an annoyed expression:

"What are they doing in broad daylight! Their parents are probably sleeping in—"

Hermione sighed and then changed the subject:

"Is that an employee of the Ministry of Magic?"

"It's obvious."

As the two continued their journey, more and more interesting things began to happen to them. Adult wizards started emerging from their tents one after another to prepare breakfast.

However, their actions made Sherlock and Hermione burst into laughter.

Some wizards peeked around furtively and secretly lit the fire with their wands.

Others, like Mr. Weasley, were striking matches, but with a skeptical expression on their faces, as if they thought it would definitely not work.

Three African male wizards sat there talking seriously, all dressed in long white robes, roasting something that looked like a wild rabbit over a blazing purple fire.

A group of middle-aged witches sat there chatting and laughing, a gleaming banner hanging high between their tents:

Salem Witches' Association

"Sherlock, can you... can you understand what they're saying?"

However, when Hermione saw Sherlock listening intently, she couldn't help but look surprised.

She did catch a few words, but she couldn't understand a single one. All she could hear was that everyone's voice sounded excited.

"Hmm, I can roughly understand what it means."

Meeting Hermione's puzzled gaze, Sherlock explained:

"They were discussing who had a better chance of winning this time, Ireland or Bulgaria."

Most people think it's Ireland, but Bulgaria has a very skilled Seeker who might be able to turn the tide.

"Do you really understand?"

“Dear Hermione, I’ve said before that I rarely lie—unless necessary—and that’s very, very rare now.”

"Uh...sorry, I'm not doubting you, I'm just so surprised. What language are they speaking?"

"It was Latin, mixed with some dialects and slang, so I couldn't understand it completely."

"Wait, Sherlock, you speak Latin?"

"You look surprised?"

"Of course I'm surprised! You've never said that before!"

"You didn't ask either."

"...Okay, now let me ask you, how many foreign languages ​​do you actually speak?"

French, German, Latin.

"You mean, including English, you can speak four languages!"

A fourteen-year-old boy is fluent in four languages!

Although Hermione already knew that Sherlock was a genius, she still didn't expect that he had any mysteries she didn't know about.

At this moment, her gaze toward Sherlock was filled with surprise and admiration.

“Dear Hermione, you don’t need to be so surprised.”

Sherlock's lips curled into a slight smile. "For me, my language skills are merely a tool to serve my detective work."

"Foreign languages... Sherlock, I also want to learn a foreign language from you, even just one more would be great."

Hermione said with some emotion that she was just about to have a more in-depth discussion with Sherlock about learning a foreign language when she suddenly felt that there was something wrong with her eyes.

Because she discovered that everything in front of her eyes had turned green.

But she soon realized that it wasn't her eyes that were playing tricks on her; she had indeed followed Sherlock into a green ocean.

All the tents were covered with a thick layer of clover, making them look like countless oddly shaped green hills emerging from the ground.

Hermione was stunned: "What...what's going on?"

Sherlock was taken aback for a moment, but then chuckled and shook his head.

"Ha... Safety regulations to protect against Muggles—I find that laughable."

Of course, there may be people in the large Muggle community who like to be cuckolded.

But even for Muggles, decorating their tents like this is bound to attract attention from others.

Therefore, only wizards can do this.

He was still the kind of wizard who was very self-centered, stubborn, and wouldn't listen to advice.

Just as Sherlock was subconsciously analyzing the personalities of the owners of these tents, someone suddenly called their names from behind.

"Hi! Sherlock, Hermione!"

Upon hearing that voice, Sherlock knew who it was without even turning his head.

My roommate, a dark-skinned guy who loves singing, dancing, rapping, and basketball—Dean Thomas.

However, Sherlock was well aware that he was not the owner of the tent, but a guest.

Sure enough, as soon as he turned around, he saw the true owner of the tent standing next to Dean.

His best friend, and also their classmate in Gryffindor, was Seamus Finnigan, nicknamed "The Demolitionist."

At this moment, Simo was sitting in front of his clover-covered tent, with a woman with light yellow hair standing next to him.

Sherlock glanced at her and immediately deduced that it was his mother.

"This is my mother."

Sure enough, the next moment Seamus introduced Sherlock and Hermione to Madam Finnigan, saying with a grin:
"Do you like these decorations? The ministry isn't too happy about them."

"Hey, why can't we show off our colors?"

Hearing her son's words, Mrs. Finigan said with some displeasure:
"They should really go and see. The Bulgarians have filled their tents with them, and I don't know why they're always staring at us."

That said, I'm sure you all support the Irish team, right?

Having said that, Sherlock and Hermione finally understood their purpose in doing so.

It's about supporting your favorite team, and the Irish team represents green.

When Hermione was stared at by her bright eyes, she felt a little embarrassed and could only go along with Mrs. Finegane's suggestion to say that she also supported the Irish team.

In that atmosphere, she really didn't know how to refuse.

Then Sherlock, who was standing next to her, immediately gave a textbook example of refusal:

“I do not support either side, Mrs. Finigan.”

Sherlock looked at Seamus's mother and, under her shocked gaze, said:

"First of all, I came here because I am interested in world-class Quidditch matches, and I have no preconceived notions."

Secondly, I don't think that doing this will have a positive effect on the team you support.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Magic is stopping you because your actions are disrupting their normal operations, which is wrong.

Finally, it's also wrong for Bulgaria to be covered in tents; you can't rush to compete with them in terms of having the worst tents just because they did that.

"You, you...you..."

Mrs. Finigan was stunned by Sherlock's clear and logical explanation.

It took her a while to realize what was happening. She pointed at Sherlock and stammered "you you you" for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Seeing that things were not going well, Seamus and Dean grabbed Sherlock from either side and pulled him away.

Hermione quickly said goodbye to Lady Finnigan and ran off with them.

When she rushed outside, she was surprised to see Seamus and Dean praising Sherlock, their admiration overflowing.

(End of this chapter)