Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 494 Everyone Wants to Be a Warrior

"I don't want to participate in this kind of competition at all!"
But my grandma insisted I go—she always nagged me about upholding the family honor.

The one speaking was naturally Neville.

He was raised by his grandmother from childhood.

As a member of the Twenty-Eight Holy Pureblood Families, it's understandable that Neville's grandmother would ask him to uphold the honor of the Longbottom family.

But... is Naveen al-N't he capable?

Just as some people were having doubts, Neville cried out "Ouch!" and then shouted, "Help me!"

Everyone turned around and saw that Neville's foot had sunk into a step in the middle of the stairs.

There are far too many mischievous staircases like this at Hogwarts.

Fortunately, everyone has already studied here for four years, so for most of the returning students, skipping these special steps has become muscle memory and an instinct.

However, Neville's bad memory was notorious.

So even though a second-grade student could remember the trap staircase, he could never remember it.

Why am I always the one who suffers bad luck?

"Navie, I think you shouldn't participate."

Harry and Ron grabbed his arms and pulled him out. Ron laughed and said:

"I'm afraid you'll forget the time of the match."

“I think it’s really possible,” Neville said with a mournful face.

“It’s alright, Neville, your grandma just wants you to participate in the competition,” Harry kindly reminded him, “but if you don’t get selected, then it’s none of your business.”

"Yup!"

Neville, reminded by Harry, immediately realized what was happening.

Given his abilities, any Hogwarts student would have a much better chance than him.

Thinking of this, Neville's back pain and leg pain suddenly disappeared, and he felt more energetic walking. He climbed five flights of stairs in one go without any effort.

“Harry, you really know how to comfort people! Neville immediately perked up!” George said with a smile.

“Yes, yes, he’s always the slowest one,” Fred remarked.

"Don't underestimate Neville. For the past few years, he's been going fencing with Sherlock every day with Harry!"

Hermione also spoke up for Neville, saying, "Without magic, you might not be a match for him in a one-on-one situation!"

"Yeah, yeah, Neville is still very strong!"

“The future is promising!”

Amidst the praises of the crowd, Neville stopped in front of the Fat Lady at the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower.

He turned his head and looked at everyone with a helpless expression:

"Um... does anyone know the password?"

"..."

"nonsense."

George strode up and said the password, explaining to the others, "A prefect downstairs told me."

The fat lady stepped aside, letting everyone climb in one by one.

In fact, as soon as George said it, everyone in the neighborhood remembered it.

Except Neville.

His memory is exceptionally bad.

However, since that incident last year, Neville has never dared to write the password on a small piece of paper again.

The group filed in, and when they were almost at the girls' dormitory, Hermione said goodbye and went ahead.

As is customary, Sherlock will not sneak into Hogwarts at night on the first day of the new school year unless there are special circumstances.

When they arrived at their five-person dormitory, everyone's luggage had already been placed at the foot of their respective beds.

Dean, that little black boy, ran faster than anyone else and was already getting ready for bed.

He also put a portrait of Viktor Krum above his bedside table.

It turns out that the Manchester United football team poster was still there, right next to it.

Looking at the poster, which was predominantly red, he sighed and shook his head at the frozen football players.

"nerve."

Clearly, to Ron, a child raised in a wizarding family, such static images were rather uninteresting.

"You're finally back!"

Upon seeing the four of them, Dean excitedly asked, "So, are you planning to participate in the Triwizard Tournament?"

Although he said "you guys," his gaze was mainly fixed on Sherlock and Harry.

Clearly, in Dean's view, only the Lion King and the Savior could be chosen as warriors.

“Anyway, I’m going to give it a try,” Ron said, changing into his pajamas and lying on the bed. “What if I get chosen?”

"just in case……"

Neville rolled over in bed, shuddering involuntarily. "I never want this to happen to me!"

Dean rolled his eyes and looked at Sherlock and Harry. "Sherlock, Harry, what about you two?"

"We'll see," Sherlock replied, still giving the standard answer. "If it's really interesting, I'll consider participating."

Harry decisively followed his older brother, "I'll wait and see..."

Dean sighed, not getting the answer he wanted.
"Okay, we'll see then. Goodnight!"

After saying goodnight to each other, the five of them fell asleep one after another.

That night, everyone had a good dream.

On the first day of the new semester, the storm that had lasted all night finally subsided.

The young wizards throughout the school were still talking about the Triwizard Tournament today.

It's as if you'd be embarrassed to greet someone if you didn't mention it at least a couple of times.

Sherlock glanced at his new schedule and found that there were still some repeated classes: divination class in the afternoon and arithmetic divination, which he could only choose one of.

It seems that Hogwarts intends for them to become self-taught masters of time management.

"The classes this morning were all outdoors, so I was lucky."

Ron only chose two elective courses: Protecting Magical Creatures and Divination, so he didn't have to worry about course conflicts at all.

He shrugged and said:

"Hey, Herbs class is with Hufflepuff students, not bad. But Protecting Magical Creatures class—bad luck, with Slytherins again..."

"This isn't the first time I've had bad luck; I also have two more divination classes this afternoon."

Harry said with a hint of helplessness.

Whenever Divination is mentioned, Harry thinks of Professor Trelawney.

Every time she taught, she would try to predict that Harry would encounter great misfortune, that Harry was about to suffer a terrible fate, that Harry was about to die...

Unfortunately, some people in the class actually believed this, which greatly troubled Harry.

The professor only became more restrained when Sherlock also attended divination classes with him.

Strangely enough, Harry actually got a pretty good score on his Divination exam at the end of last year.

This left Harry speechless.

He genuinely had no idea what the professor was thinking.

"Why don't you just drop this course like I did?"

Seeing Harry's troubled expression, Hermione thoughtfully offered a solution:
"Then you can take a more academic course, such as arithmetic divination."

For Hermione, having given up Divination and Muggle Studies, she was able to manage the remaining courses even without using the Time-Turner.

"Arithmetic divination... but that's really difficult, just as difficult as the study of ancient runes..."

Harry glanced at the schedule and instinctively looked at Sherlock. "Sherlock, which class are we going to this afternoon?" "Hermione is going to Divination, and I'll go with you guys to Divination class."

"what?"

"Great!"

Hermione was surprised, and Harry was delighted.

"Hermione, write down the main points of the first lesson."

Sherlock pointed to the timetable with his finger. "It's unrealistic to expect Harry and Ron to remember the content of a lesson."

Sherlock wanted to hear the first lesson of the new semester.

After all, it's already a routine for teachers to review the main learning content of the semester in the first class.

Hermione skipped Divination class, so she's definitely going to take Arithmetic Divination instead.

Ron only chose the divination class, so he's definitely going to the divination class.

So the only ones left to choose from are Sherlock and Harry.

With Hermione's abilities, she could easily attend the arithmetic and divination class alone and then relay the main points of the course to others afterwards.

So whether or not other people attend class with her doesn't really matter.

However, even with Ron and Harry together, it would be difficult to recount the main content of the Divination class.

That's why Sherlock wanted to meet Professor Trelawney.

Hermione thought she had figured everything out, so she nodded. "Okay, I'll try to remember as many details as possible."

"Then please."

Sherlock smiled slightly.

Actually, besides this obvious reason, there is another reason.

Sherlock mainly wanted to confirm something.

Herbalism class is still held in greenhouse number three.

The main topic of this lesson is a completely new plant – the Babo tuber.

This thing doesn't look like a plant at all; it looks more like an animal.

A large, black, sticky slug emerged straight out of the soil.

What's even more baffling is that they were all wriggling slightly, and their bodies had many shiny bulges that seemed to be filled with liquid.

Such a form inevitably evokes a sense of disgust in those who look at it.

However, Sprout's next words amplified this feeling of disgust:
"You need to collect the pus from the baboon tubers by squeezing them with your hands..."

"What water?"

“Pus, yes, Weasley, you heard me right, pus.”

Professor Sprout explained to Ron, who looked on with disgust:
"What I want to tell you is that the pus from the tuber of the Babo is extremely valuable, so don't waste it."

"Ugh... I hate doing this kind of thing..."

"Simo Finigan murmured."

Next, following Professor Sprout's instructions, the young wizards put on dragon-skin gloves and began collecting the pus from the Babo tubers.

"Be careful, undiluted pus from the tuber of the baboon can cause unusual damage to the skin."

Seeing Ron's carefree attitude, Neville kindly offered a reminder.

"Thank you, Neville... Oh, this thing is disgusting... Huh?"

Ron suddenly let out a soft exclamation.

"what happened to you?"

Harry looked at Ron curiously.

At this moment, his good buddy's expression was a bit strange.

He was in a state of contradiction.

Sherlock's gaze swept over Ron, and he casually explained:

“He felt psychologically disgusted by it, but physiologically satisfied.”

Harry: "???"

Why does that sound like something really weird?

However, once Harry tried it himself, he instantly understood what Sherlock meant.

The process of squeezing out tubers is indeed disgusting, mainly in terms of visual effect.

But at the same time, it can indeed produce a strange sense of satisfaction.

Each time a bulge is burst, it sprays out a large amount of viscous, yellowish-green liquid and emits a pungent gasoline smell.

how to say?

After all, it helps relieve stress.

So, everyone's feelings were quite complicated throughout the class.

However, this does not affect their efficiency.

By the time get out of class was about to end, the fourth-year students from both colleges had collected several large bottles.

“Ms. Pomfrey will be pleased now.”

Professor Sprout was pleased with the young wizards' efficiency. She plugged the last bottle and addressed the group:

"Does anyone know what the purpose of the pus from the tuber of the baboon is?"

Hermione and Neville both raised their hands at the same time.

One was quick and decisive, while the other was slow and hesitant.

After seeing Neville raise his hand, Hermione hesitated for a moment before lowering it.

I have many more opportunities, but Neville only has herbalism, so let's give him the chance.

“Very well, Mr. Longbottom, you may answer.”

"The pus from the tuber of the 'Babob' is the best medicine for treating stubborn acne."

“Very good, Gryffindor gets five points.”

Professor Sprout smiled as she spoke, her gaze sweeping over the young wizards, lingering for a moment on the faces of a few:

“You’ve reached puberty now. The pus from the pustule of the pustule can stop students from using extreme methods to remove their acne.”

As a deep, resonant bell rang out, echoing across the damp grounds from the castle, the pleasant herbalism lesson came to an end.

Next, the lion cubs and the badger cubs parted ways.

Hufflepuff students walked up the stone steps to attend Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class.

The Gryffindor students walked down the gently sloping lawn toward Hagrid's cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

At the end of last year, Professor Hagrid narrowly lost to Professor Lupin in the competition for "Most Popular Subject Teacher," but thanks to his financial power, the Protecting Magical Creatures class was still highly praised.

Later, he took Sherlock's advice and presented magical creatures such as salamanders, which were even more popular.

Of course, most importantly, for the final exam, he arranged a very simple project: taking care of the Furbello caterpillars, which even a fool like Gore could easily pass.

One can only say, if Hagrid was born, why was Lupin born?

Furthermore, Professor Lupin's previous Defense Against the Dark Arts instructors were so terrible that they made Professor Lupin shine by comparison.

Regardless, the lion cubs are all looking forward to the new semester's course on protecting magical creatures.

Everyone had initially thought that Hagrid would bring them something cute like a fluffy doll during the first lesson.

Or something thrilling and exciting like a hippogriff.

Unexpectedly, Hagrid did indeed give everyone a thrill.

But it happened in a way they never expected.

(End of this chapter)