Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 495 Suspicious Car Without Evidence
Professor Hagrid, the teacher of the Magical Creatures class, is like a small mountain standing outside his golden house.

He held the collar of his huge hunting dog, Tooth, with one hand.

It whimpered and struggled to break free of its collar.

Judging from its appearance, it seemed to want to pounce over and investigate the few open wooden crates lying on the ground at Hagrid's feet.

Clearly, the contents of the box held immense appeal for it.

Of course, the contents of the box were not only incredibly attractive to Tooth, the big dog, but also to the Gryffindor students.

As the lion cubs curiously approached, a strange crackling sound reached their ears, interspersed with faint explosions.

"good morning!"

As Hagrid spoke, he gave what he thought was a friendly smile to the Sherlock group of four:
"I think everyone should wait for the Slytherin students; they definitely don't want to miss this—"

He spoke loudly to the lion cubs in an exaggerated tone that combined pride, arrogance, and boastfulness:

"Bomb-tailed snail!"

"What did you say, say it again?"

Ron asked again, somewhat uncertainly.

"Blast...Ended...Skrewts! Blast-tailed snail!"

Seeing that Ron hadn't heard him clearly, Hagrid slowed down and repeated himself, pointing to the box at his feet to signal everyone to look.

"Disgusting!"

Lavender Brown, who had taken a few steps forward, screamed and jumped back a few steps after seeing what was in the box.

The movements were quite exaggerated.

However, it's not particularly abrupt that this action is performed by a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl.

It falls within the scope of what can be accessed.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that she was telling the truth.

In the herbal medicine class just now, the pus from the Babo tuber had given the lion cubs and badger cubs a real taste of what disgusting meant.

However, the disgust I felt just now was completely different from the disgust caused by this species that Hagrid calls the "Bombtail Snail".

The nausea caused by the pus from the tuber of the Babo is partly due to the visual effect and partly to the imagination.

But right now, this thing called the "exploding tail snail" is purely a visual shock.

To put it bluntly, they look like deformed, shelled lobsters—white-gray, slimy, and quite terrifying.

Not only that, but many feet were sticking out haphazardly, making it impossible to see the head at all.

There are about one hundred in each box, and each one is about six inches long.

They climbed around on top of each other, dazed and confused, bumping into the sides of the box.

It's even more troublesome for people with trypophobia.

In fact, trypophobia is like acrophobia; everyone has it.

It's just that some people's symptoms are more severe than others'.

For those with severe cases, seeing this scene was unbearable.

Not only that, in addition to their visual impact, they also have an olfactory impact!

These things actually emitted a very strong smell of rotten fish and shrimp.

What's most surprising is that each of the blasting snails shoots out sparks from its tail.

Then, with a soft snap, the bomb-tailed snail will advance a few inches.

It was the strange explosion they had just heard.

This is the fried-tailed snail.

Blast-Ended Skrewts.
There was a reason Ron had Hagrid repeat its name earlier.

The main problem is that for anyone encountering it for the first time, the two core parts of its name are beyond everyday understanding.

After being combined, it becomes even more difficult to remember them all at once.

The first part, “Blast-Ended,” is a compound adjective composed of “Blast (explosion, spray)” and “Ended (having a...end).”

The literal meaning is that it can spray or explode from the tail.

It's worth noting that this collocation is almost never used in everyday English.

In retrospect, this was merely a combination that Hagrid created temporarily to describe biological characteristics, and it had no linguistic conventions to rely on.

As for the latter part, "Skrewts," it was also Hagrid's own term for this hybrid creature.

Its pronunciation is close to "skroo-ts", which is neither a common biological noun nor has any associated root word; it is a completely unfamiliar pronunciation.

When these two parts are combined to form "Blast-Ended Skrewts", the entire phrase is five syllables long.

It also includes consonant combinations like "sk" and "ts" that require the tip of the tongue to exert force.

Even for native English speakers, it takes a moment to process what they hear to confirm that they are hearing a name, rather than a jumble of words.

Ron made Hagrid repeat himself because he couldn't quite catch what the long, unfamiliar word was.

But once they saw what they looked like, everyone understood.

It has to be said that Lavender Brown's use of the word "disgusting" perfectly encapsulates most people's first impression of this thing.

“Well, Hagrid… I don’t think Slytherin would like them…”

Harry simply couldn't resist the urge to make sarcastic remarks.

Sherlock said calmly, "Unless you're planning to annoy them."

"Pfft~!"

Hermione, Lavender, Parvati, and several other girls standing nearby couldn't help but laugh.

Listen up, the Lion King is telling a corny joke!

“Sherlock, how could you say that?” Hagrid said, somewhat displeased.

"Sorry, sir."

Although he was apologizing, there was no trace of remorse in Sherlock's tone.

"It's alright, these are all newly hatched."

However, Hagrid didn't realize this and proudly said, "You can raise them yourselves!"

We can undertake a major project—to expand and strengthen our business, and create new glories!

"So why do we raise them?"

Just then, a cold voice spoke.

The Slytherin students finally arrived.

The speaker was Draco Malfoy.

Crabbe and Gore were chuckling behind him, and Pansy Parkinson was staring at him with adoration in her eyes.

Hagrid seemed stumped by the question, remaining silent for several seconds.

"I mean, what can they do?"

Malfoy frowned upon seeing this, glanced in Sherlock's direction, and then explained impatiently:

"What are they for, sir?"

Hagrid opened his mouth wide, looking as if he was deep in thought.

A few seconds later, he said in a gruff voice:
"That's for the next lesson, Malfoy—you just feed them today."

"..."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow but ultimately said nothing more. "To be honest, I think he's right this time—I've been wondering about that myself," Ron whispered to Harry.

Harry nodded in agreement. "I'd bet you a Galleon that Hagrid didn't even consider that."

“Oh, old man, you’ve been corrupted by Sherlock. You’re always making bets with people—and each one is a Galon.”

Ron, who was short of money, was somewhat dissatisfied with Harry's extravagant behavior.

However, there was no need for them to make a bet anymore, and Hagrid continued:
"Okay, now you'll have to try feeding them a few different things."

Because I've never raised them before, I'm not sure what they like to eat.

So I prepared ant eggs, frog livers, and green snakes.

You can try a little of each and see if they eat them.

"..."

The entire class remained silent.

“First it was the pus from the tuber, and now this,” Simon Finigan muttered.

“At least that thing feels really good when you squeeze it…it’s like…” Dean Thomas muttered under his breath, while making a gesture that every man would understand.

“I suspect you’re driving, but I have no proof,” Simon said irritably.

“Hehehe…” Dean returned a rather lewd smile to his good brother.

Harry had no idea what the others thought.

Anyway, it was entirely out of his deep affection for Hagrid that he grabbed handfuls of slippery frog livers and put them in the box to lure the blubber snails.

Ron was in a similar situation; he grabbed a handful of ant eggs with a hint of helplessness and did the same as Harry.

Hermione noticed that Sherlock hadn't moved, so she leaned closer to him and whispered, "Sherlock, why aren't you moving?"

“It doesn’t mean much.”

“That’s what I think too,” Hermione said, keeping her voice down. “In fact, I suspect the whole thing is pointless, since the Blasttail doesn’t seem to have a mouth at all.”

"It is obvious that the Blasttail is Hagrid's biological hybridization experiment. Judging from Hagrid's various behaviors, it is the product of his experiment in trying to create a new magical creature species."

This spirit is commendable, but in my view, this thing leans more towards a failed experiment than a living organism with clear practical value.

Sherlock sighed. "If that's true, then even Hagrid himself would be confused about the growth trajectory of the Blasttail."

As it turns out, Sherlock was right in the vast majority of cases.

Just ten minutes later, the accident happened.

"Ouch!"

Dean Thomas cried out, "It hurts!"

Hagrid quickly walked to his side, looking somewhat flustered.

"Its tail exploded!"

Dean said angrily, showing Hagrid a burn mark on his hand.

"Ah, yes, that can happen when they explode."

Hagrid nodded, seemingly thinking it wasn't a serious matter, "I've encountered this several times."

Hermione, who was talking to Sherlock, couldn't help but put her hand to her forehead.

Please, you're a giant, you have hardened skin by yourself!
Being bitten by an eight-eyed giant spider only causes a slight numbness; even being blasted by this thing several times is no big deal.

But we can't do that!

"nausea!"

Lavender Brown also started complaining again at this point.
"That's disgusting, Hagrid. What are those sharp things on its body?"

Hagrid exclaimed excitedly, "Ah, yes, you noticed, some of them have thorns."

Upon hearing this, Lavender quickly withdrew his hand from the side of the box.

"I guess the ones with thorns are males... the females have sucker-like things on their bellies... I think they probably suck blood."

"..."

The whole class fell silent.

"Great, now I finally understand why we need to find a way to keep them alive."

"Malfoy said coldly."

"Who wouldn't want a pet that can burn, sting, and bite?"

Hagrid found it rather difficult to handle Malfoy's blunt statement.

Seeing this, Hermione immediately spoke up to help him out:
"Their appearance may not be very useful, but that doesn't mean they are useless."

Dragon blood has miraculous effects, but would you be willing to keep a dragon as a pet?

Hagrid couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Because his biggest wish is to raise a pet fire dragon.

Just three years ago, he had raised a fire dragon—the dragon egg that hatched from the fire dragon was given to him by Quirrell, or rather, by Voldemort himself.

Unfortunately, it grew too fast, and raising dragons privately is illegal.

Faced with Sherlock's choice between "lifting the roof" and "opening the window," Hagrid ultimately forced himself to hand it over to Dumbledore, despite his heartache.

It should still be with the magizoologist Newt Scamander.

Therefore, Hagrid simply likes large and ferocious animals.

The larger and more dangerous it is, the more he likes it.

"Actually, I really think Malfoy is right this time."

During lunch, Hermione couldn't help but say to Sherlock:
"The wisest thing to do is to nip them in the bud before they attack us."

"Then why did you say that just now?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"That's because Malfoy embarrassed Hagrid."

Hermione said irritably, continuing in a tone that implied "you don't even understand this?"

“These blast-tailed snails are still small now, but once Hagrid figures out what they eat, I bet they’ll grow to six feet long in no time.”

“In that case, you shouldn’t have contradicted Malfoy just now,” Sherlock said calmly. “To abandon right and wrong just to maintain friendship is not something to be condoned.”

"Uh... not everyone can be as objective as you, focusing on the issue rather than the person."

Hermione said somewhat awkwardly, "Besides, I don't think this matter has escalated to that serious level yet."

“My dear Hermione, if I ever make a mistake, please point it out without hesitation.”

Sherlock said quietly, "Don't ignore me just because I'm your friend."

"Uh... okay, I understand."

Hermione glanced at Sherlock, then began wolfing down the lamb chops and potatoes.

Harry and Ron stared at her in surprise, and Ron couldn't help but ask:
"Is this your new stance on the rights of sprites, or... do you want to stuff yourself until you vomit?"

Although Hermione had begun persuading people in Sherlock Holmes to give up the hunger strike yesterday, this kind of retaliatory eating seems a bit too strange, doesn't it?
“No,” Hermione shook her head, her mouth bulging with bean sprouts, “I just want to go to the library.”

"What?" Ron said in disbelief, "Hermione—it's the first day of school! And there's no homework yet!"

Hermione shrugged and continued eating as quickly as she could, as if she hadn't eaten for days.

Then, she jumped up, said only "See you at dinner," and ran away.

In her opinion, since she couldn't go to class with Sherlock in the afternoon, there was no point in staying here any longer.

(End of this chapter)