Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 490 Where is Durmstrang?
Seeing Luna and Cho Chang sitting together, leaving her all alone, Ginny couldn't help but feel secretly depressed.

It's one thing for my clueless sixth brother to betray me from time to time, since his brain structure is similar to that of a troll, so I can be a little more understanding.

I never imagined that even Luna would betray me now!

She's my best friend!
They were even closer than their Gryffindor classmates, or even their roommates.

Is this how she treats herself?

This is simply unreasonable!

However, when Cho Chang greeted her, Ginny still gave her a bright smile.

Only in this respect...

We absolutely cannot lose!

I'm determined to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year no matter what...

Wait a minute!
Ginny suddenly realized something very bad about her.

According to Sherlock, the Triwizard Tournament, which has been suspended for more than a century, will be restarted this year, with Hogwarts as the host.

Logically speaking, such large-scale events would definitely take up a lot of the time and energy of school teachers.

In that case, is it possible that the Quidditch Cup might simply be discontinued?
In that case, wouldn't I lose my chance to get closer to Harry again?

Merlin's beard, please don't have it!
Just as Ginny was silently praying, Cho Chang and Luna had already taken their seats.

Luna glanced at Sherlock, then took out a copy of "The Quibbler" and started reading it by herself.

Qiu Zhang then went straight to what she had seen and heard when she and Luna first arrived here:
"We just ran into Malfoy outside—Draco Malfoy."

He said his father originally wanted to send him to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts.

But his mother didn't want him to go to school so far away, so he came to Hogwarts.

Uh... he also said some very nasty things..."

As she said this, she glanced at Sherlock and Hermione.

The two intellectual leaders of Gryffindor immediately understood Cho Chang's implied meaning.

Malfoy also expressed some negative views about Muggle-born wizards.

Maybe... no, I'm sure they mentioned the highly offensive word "Mudblood" again.

Qiu Zhang would naturally not repeat the word, which is why he expressed it rather cryptically.

Sherlock was not surprised by this.

Most people's personalities are related to their family environment from childhood. Growing up in an environment like the Malfoy family, it's perfectly normal for Draco to have these thoughts.

On the contrary, people like Sirius are the odd ones out.

Yeah, Harry counts too.

If it were anyone else, they would probably also deeply resent Muggles, right?

If you go down that path, you might become another Voldemort.

Hermione simply replied, "I think he's right."

"what?"

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione in surprise, not understanding why she would say that.

“Durmstrang is definitely more suited to that kind of person,” Hermione said dismissively. “So what are you waiting for? It’s not too late to transfer now.”

"He was just saying it; if he could actually go, he wouldn't stay here."

Qiu Zhang said with a smile.

“Um…is Durmstrang also a magic school?” Harry couldn’t help but ask.

Hearing Harry's question, Cho Chang nodded: "Yes, but it has a bad reputation; they never accept Muggle-born students."

"what?"

Harry, Ron, and Ginny all looked surprised.

There are actually schools like this?

"Moreover, according to the European Assessment of Magical Education, this school also places great emphasis on black magic."

Hermione added.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember."

Ron suddenly realized and said, "Right, where is it? Germany or somewhere else?"

“No one will know,” Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.

"Then why is that?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"Because there is fierce competition among the various magic schools, whether it is Durmstrang or Beauxbatons—the other two schools participating in the Triwizard Tournament."

They all conceal their school locations so that no one can steal their secrets.

The same goes for Hogwarts; even those of us who attend the school only know it's located in the Scottish Highlands, but we don't know its exact address.

Hermione answered in a very serious tone.

"Wait, the Triwizard Tournament, what's that?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Zhang quickly grasped the key point and couldn't help but ask.

Luna also put down her copy of "Sing the Divergent" and looked over with great interest.

"Don't say anything, let me do it!"

Ron saw Hermione about to speak again and quickly stopped her.

He had finally gotten this opportunity, and even if there were only two audience members, he wanted to show himself.

Hermione shrugged and said no more.

So Ron simply repeated the information he had heard from Sherlock verbatim.

"It's unbelievable that an activity that had been dormant for over a century could be restarted!"

Qiu Zhang couldn't help but sigh upon hearing this.

Luna then asked, "Why? Why are they restarting this project?"

"Who cares why it restarts? As long as it can boot up, that's all that matters."

This is a three-way battle for supremacy—just thinking about it is exciting! I'd love to participate if I could.

Ron said with a longing look on his face.

“No, I still want to know why,” Luna said stubbornly.

"Sorry, I don't know either."

Ron spread his hands in a helpless gesture, then looked at Sherlock and Hermione.

In his view, only these two people could explain the reason.

"Because the European Union was established this year."

Hermione certainly didn't disappoint; she explained in detail:
"Changes in the international political situation in the Muggle world have also had an impact on the magical world."

To be honest, this is something I hadn't considered before.

After a moment of silence, Ron realized that this so-called "international political situation in the Muggle world" was rather distant from them, so he brought the topic back:
"So it's because Durmstrang hid his address that we don't know where he is, right?"

“That’s right, but I think Durmstrang is probably somewhere far to the north.”

Hermione said thoughtfully, "A very cold place, because their school uniforms include fur cloaks!"

"Right, Sherlock?"

"To be precise, it's in Northern Europe, in the northern part of Scandinavia—northern Sweden or Norway."

"How did you know?"

“That’s what Mycroft said.” “As expected of him!”

Hermione looked at her with admiration.

Ron couldn't help but start to imagine:

"Ah, imagine what might happen."

Pushing Malfoy off the glacier and making it look like an accident probably wouldn't be too difficult.

What a pity, his mother clearly likes him so much…

Hermione ignored Ron's rambling and turned to Sherlock to ask:
"Sherlock, will you participate in the Triwizard Tournament?"

"We'll see when the time comes. If it's interesting, we can consider it."

Hermione nodded, then looked at Harry, "And you, Harry?"

"I...I don't know!" Harry shook his head and said, "Let's see when the time comes?"

Just as Ron was eagerly waiting for Hermione to ask him again, Hermione looked away.

"Hey, why didn't you ask me?"

Ron said with considerable dissatisfaction.

"Do you even need to ask?"

Hermione replied with a matter-of-fact expression, "Isn't it obvious? You'll definitely participate if there's a chance!"

Ron touched his nose, somewhat puzzled. "Was I that obvious?"

Everyone laughed, and the carriage was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

The train continued northward, and the rain grew heavier and heavier.

The sky was pitch black, and the car windows were covered with condensation; even in broad daylight, lanterns were lit.

Fortunately, this time Harry doesn't have to worry about the Dementors coming back.

Of course, he wasn't afraid even if it happened again; he was actually quite eager to try.

This is a good opportunity to see what my guardian angel looks like.

At noon, the lunch carts, just like in previous years, were pushed along the aisle with a clattering sound.

Harry has upgraded from a "nouveau riche" to a "tycoon" during this holiday, so he naturally bought a huge stack of crucible-shaped cakes for his friends in the train car to share.

No one stood on ceremony with him, and everyone enjoyed the meal.

By the afternoon, the young wizards had started visiting each other on the train.

Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom, who shared a dormitory with the boys, arrived in their carriage.

And Dean Thomas's best friend, Seamus Finigan.

Cedric Diggory, Ernie McMillan, and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff College were also there.

There are also Qiu Zhang's roommates, Lucy and Alicia.

Since Marietta stole Cho Chang's eyeshadow and was caught, she has been ostracized by the other girls in the dorm.

Lucy and Alicia already had a problem with her, but they only put up with it because they were in the same dorm and would see each other all the time.

After this incident, the two of them completely ignored her, acting as if she didn't exist in the dormitory.

Although the kind-hearted Cho Chang forgave Marietta, Marietta felt even worse.

As a result, in the last semester of the previous academic year, Marietta could no longer stand the atmosphere and took the initiative to approach Professor Flitwick to apply for a move to the new dormitory.

After she left, the relationship between Qiu, Zhang, and the others actually became more harmonious.

Even today, when Qiu Zhang boarded the train and came to Sherlock's carriage, it was Lucy and Alicia who instigated him.

"Anyway, we're not going to take her until we get to Hogwarts," Lucy said with a grin.

Alicia went even further: "Harry, you don't want to be homeless either, do you?"

Harry: "..."

However, people from other colleges left after staying for a while.

Only Neville, Dean, and Seymour remained.

Even now, Seymour still wears his Irish badge.

It was still screaming in terror:

"Troy! Mallet! Moran!"

However, his voice was weak and listless, as if he were exhausted.

It's probably because the magic contained within is slowly fading.

Ron rummaged through the suitcases on the luggage rack for a while, then pulled out the small Viktor Krum figurine and showed it off to the others.

Seeing Ron huddle with the other boys, Cho Chang told Luna and seized the opportunity to sit next to Harry.

Ginny:（｀へ）
Damn it, why was I so late!
Fortunately, Luna sat down next to her at that moment, which saved her some face.

However, Ginny was still a little annoyed to see Cho Chang, who was sitting next to Harry, so easily join the conversation about the Quidditch World Cup.

Fortunately, she was able to smoothly join the conversation—after all, she had been to the Quidditch World Cup in person.

Hermione initially joined the conversation.

However, after more than half an hour, she finally began to get tired of their endless talk about Quidditch.

However, with other people around, there were some topics that were not suitable to discuss with Sherlock.

She decided to learn from Luna, taking out a book called "Standard Spells, Level 4" and burying herself in reading it, and trying to learn a summoning spell.

And so, the train rumbled northward.

It wasn't until that familiar voice reminded them to change that the group of friends, who were excitedly discussing the World Cup, finally left the carriage.

"To be honest, I'm still not used to Malfoy not coming to provoke us for the past two years!"

Ron said, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

Ever since Malfoy apologized to Harry, he really seems like a different person.

"Please, Ron, don't say things that could be misunderstood—as if you two have some kind of special relationship."

Ginny watched as Ron ran to the spot where Cho Chang and Luna had just been sitting, and for no reason, she felt a surge of annoyance.

But she couldn't find a reason, so she could only resort to sarcastic remarks.

Ron touched his nose, completely baffled as to why his sister's attitude had suddenly changed.

A few more minutes passed, and the Hogwarts Express arrived at its destination.

The train stopped, the doors opened, and a rumble of thunder echoed in the air.

Sherlock and Harry each lifted the cage containing Watson and Hedwig, while Hermione used her cloak to cover Crookshank.

As for Ron, he still draped his tuxedo over the pig's cage.

On the one hand, it was because the little pig was too noisy, and on the other hand, it was because he really didn't like the dark purple dress—even though it wasn't secondhand.

And so, the group got off the train.

The rain was pouring down hard and fast, like buckets of icy water being poured over their heads.

They had to keep their heads down and squint in the pouring rain.

"It always feels like it's raining heavily when school starts every year."

Ginny couldn't help but complain.

“Not the year we started school,” Harry kindly explained.

“Neither do we,” Qiu Zhang added.

Ginny: (*￣︿￣)
(End of this chapter)