Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 503 Black High Heels

When Ron asked Sherlock if the students from the other two schools also arrived by train like they did when they went to school, Sherlock promptly gave a negative answer.

"Judging from the current situation, they will definitely choose an impressive way to make their entrance—by train, which is obviously not among them."

"Could it be a flying broomstick?" Harry wondered, looking up at the starry sky.

“The distance is too far, it’s not realistic.” Sherlock shook his head again.

"It can't be a door key, can it?" Ron thought of how they got to the Quidditch World Cup.

Sherlock chuckled. "My dear Ron, unless you think that falling down in a disheveled state is an impressive entrance."

"Perhaps they can apparite, or maybe on their land, people under the age of seventeen are allowed to apparite?"

Harry guessed again.

“Harry, you’re not allowed to Apparate on Hogwarts grounds…” Hermione said with a hint of exasperation.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot."

As time went on, the young wizards present began to feel a bit cold.

They were initially very excited, but now they hoped that these foreigners could arrive even faster.

"Old Xia, it seems you were right. These foreigners are probably preparing for a dramatic entrance!"

Ron stomped his slightly numb feet and couldn't help but say something.

Hearing Ron's words, Harry also recalled what Mr. Weasley had said at the camp before the Quidditch World Cup:
"It's always like this—when everyone gets together, they can't help but want to show off..."

The instinct to perform miracles in front of others is indeed human nature.

"Ah! If I'm not mistaken, Beauxbatons' representative has arrived!"

Just as the young wizards were getting impatient, Dumbledore, who was standing in the back row with the other teachers, called out.

"where?"

"Where?"

Many students asked eagerly, and hurriedly began to look in different directions.

"Where!"

At that moment, a sharp-eyed student shouted loudly, pointing to the sky above the forbidden forest.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw an object rapidly streaking across the deep blue sky, flying towards Hogwarts Castle.

At first, it was just a small black dot, but as it got closer, it gradually grew larger and larger.

What finally appeared in everyone's eyes was a behemoth.

"My God, it's a fire dragon!"

"Don't talk nonsense... It's a house flying!"

Surprisingly, the latter statement is actually closer to the truth.

Just as that enormous, dark creature swept across the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, it was illuminated by the light from the castle window.

A huge, light blue carriage flew toward them.

It was as big as a house, and twelve winged horses pulled it into the air.

They were all silver-maned horses, each about the size of an elephant.

As the carriage flew lower and lower, the students in the first three rows realized what was happening and hurriedly began to back up.

With a loud crash, the enormous carriage landed on the ground at incredible speed.

Sherlock noticed more than anyone else.

The car door is adorned with a badge, two golden, crossed wands, each with three stars emerging from them.

This should clearly be the emblem of Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The next moment, the carriage door opened, and a boy wearing a light blue robe jumped off the carriage.

He bent down, as if groping for something on the floor of the carriage.

Not long after, he opened a golden spiral staircase.

As he respectfully jumped back, a gleaming black high heel emerged from the carriage.

This scene greatly shocked everyone present.

Because this shoe is as big as a child's sled.

What the hell? Who has such big feet?
The answer they had in mind was soon found.

A tall woman appeared in everyone's sight.

Several people were so shocked after seeing her full appearance that they gasped in astonishment.

"My God, she... she's almost as tall as Hagrid!"

Harry couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Sherlock shook his head: "No, he's slightly taller than Hagrid."

"W-what?"

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were standing in front of him, all turned around in surprise to look at him.

They did not doubt Sherlock's judgment, because Sherlock's eyes were the ruler.

“She must also be a giant,” Sherlock continued, “and most likely a half-giant.”

Height was still what prompted Sherlock to make this judgment.

Although from an ordinary person's perspective, Hagrid, who is nearly twelve feet tall, is already very tall compared to the woman in front of him.

However, even among the giants, they were still considered to be of short stature.

As the woman slowly walked into the foyer, everyone was able to see her clearly through the indoor lighting.

Surprisingly, she had a very pretty olive-colored face, a pair of big, dark, watery eyes, and a pointed nose.

Putting aside her figure and just looking at her face, she can definitely be called a beauty.

Her hair was combed back and tied into a shiny bun at the base of her neck.

He was dressed in a black satin gown from head to toe, and his neck and large fingers were adorned with many luxurious opals.

Dumbledore immediately began to clap, and the students joined in.

Many people standing in the back row stood on tiptoe, trying to get a better look at the woman.

At this moment, her face relaxed, a graceful smile appeared on her face, and she extended a shimmering hand towards Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, who is over six feet tall, barely bent over when he kissed the hand.

“Dear Madam Maxim,” Dumbledore looked up and said, “Welcome to Hogwarts.”

"Dumbledore, I hope you are well."

Ms. Maxim spoke, her voice deep and magnetic.

“Very good, thank you,” Dumbledore replied.

"My students."

As Ms. Maxim spoke, she casually raised a huge hand and waved it behind her.

From the moment Ms. Maxim appeared, almost everyone's attention was firmly drawn to her.

Only Sherlock, after finishing his observation of her, turned his gaze to the carriage that had carried them there.

By this time, about a dozen or so students had disembarked from the carriage. There were both boys and girls among them, with slightly more girls.

Therefore, the rumor that "Beauxbatons is an all-girls school" can be confirmed as false.

They stopped behind Ms. Maxim.

Sherlock glanced around and noticed that most of the people were around seventeen or eighteen years old, and almost everyone was trembling slightly.

This is not surprising, because their robes were made of fine silk, and none of them wore cloaks.

It was naturally cold in such weather. Ms. Maxim was so tall that they were all blocked by her huge shadow, unable to see the expression on her face.

Judging from the few people who could be clearly seen, they were all looking up at Hogwarts with expressions of awe on their faces.

Has Karkaroff arrived?

Seeing that her student was ready, Madam Maxim turned to Dumbledore and asked.

"He could come at any moment—would you rather wait here to greet him, or go inside and warm up first?"

“Let’s warm up a bit,” Ms. Maxim frowned. “But the problem is the horses—”

"Don't worry, our Protector of Magical Creatures teacher will be happy to take care of them."

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "He came back after dealing with a minor problem. It was something else that had gone wrong—well—something else he had to take care of."

"No doubt, it's a blasting snail."

Ron chuckled and lowered his voice as he spoke to Sherlock and Harry.

Sherlock and Harry both nodded—which was not surprising at all.

However, Madam Maxim seemed to have some doubts about whether the Hogwarts custodian of magical creatures was up to the task, and she hesitated as she said:

“My horses need—well—a very strong person to take good care of them; in fact, they are quite spirited…”

"I assure you, Hagrid is fully capable of doing this job well."

Dumbledore's smile remained unchanged.

"very good."

Since Dumbledore had already said so, Ms. Maxim could no longer raise any objections.

But she still gave a slight bow. "Could you please tell Hagrid that these horses only drink single malt whisky?"

"I will take care of it." Dumbledore maintained his smile and bowed as well.

"Very good—come on!"

The second half of her sentence was addressed to her students. Her voice sounded very authoritative, so the Hogwarts crowd parted to make way for her and her students as they walked up the stone steps.

“Sherlock, how big do you think Durmstrang’s horse will be?” Ron asked curiously.

"First of all, Durmstrang may not use the same way as Beauxbatons to make their entrance, which means that those who come with them may not necessarily have horses."

Secondly, even if there were horses, the size of Durmstrang's horses was not necessarily related to the size of Beauxbatons' horses.

Finally, if they were bigger than these horses, even Hagrid probably wouldn't be able to handle them.

The first two points are logically sound deductions, but the last point is just a joke.

Everyone laughed together.

"Uh... Hagrid shouldn't have been bitten by those Blasttails, right?" Harry said with some concern. "I wonder what happened to them?"

"They probably ran away," Ron said hopefully.

“Oh, please don’t do that,” Hermione shuddered and leaned closer to Sherlock. “Just think about it, these guys are crawling all over the field…”

After Madam Maxime led the Beauxbatons students into the castle, out of courtesy, the Hogwarts teachers and students remained standing there, waiting for Durmstrang and his party to arrive.

Having spent quite a while outdoors, most people were already shivering slightly from the cold.

Seeing this, Sherlock immediately cast several warming spells on himself and the people nearby.

"Oh, that's wonderful, thank you, Sherlock!"

Hermione turned around, both surprised and happy.

That's amazing! Sherlock actually cares about people now!
Seeing Sherlock's actions, most of the young wizards began to imitate him.

Neville whispered to Hermione the incantation for the magic, and just then—

A loud and very strange sound drifted toward them from the darkness.

It was a suppressed rumble and sucking sound, like a giant vacuum cleaner moving along the riverbed.

"That's quite an unexpected entrance," Sherlock chuckled.

"Sherlock, did you see that?"

"Yes, in the lake."

Almost simultaneously, Lee Jordan also shouted, pointing to the lake to signal everyone to look:
"Look at the lake!"

At this moment, their position was on the slope overlooking the lawn, so they could clearly see the calm, dark water.

Of course, the water was no longer calm at this point; a large whirlpool appeared in the very center of the lake, as if the plug of a reservoir had been pulled out.

Immediately afterwards, a long, dark, pole-like object slowly rose from the center of the vortex—it was a mast.

Behind the mast, a magnificent ship rose out of the water.

It glittered in the moonlight, and the portholes flickered with a dim, misty light.

Once the large ship was fully visible, it began to rock and roll on the turbulent water as it sailed toward the lake shore.

As they approached the shore, an anchor was thrown into the shallow water, followed by a plank laid across the lake shore, and the people on the boat began to walk ashore along the plank.

"It seems that Durmstrang's students are all first-year students."

Dean made a joke.

As is well known, at Hogwarts, only first-year students enter the castle by crossing the lake.

However, Dean did not respond to his joke; everyone's attention was focused on these people.

They all appeared to be very large because they were all wearing fur cloaks with tangled, messy fur.

However, the man leading them towards the castle was wearing a different kind of fur:
It was silvery-white, soft and smooth, much like his hair.

Needless to say, this is Karkaroff, whom Dumbledore and Mrs. Maxim just mentioned.

"Dumbledore!"

Sure enough, as soon as the man stepped onto the slope, he immediately shouted at Dumbledore:

"My dear old friend, how are you?"

Compared to the dignified Madame Maxim, Karkaroff was noticeably more enthusiastic; his voice was mellow and sweet, quite unlike his appearance.

“Excellent, thank you, Professor Karkaroff.”

Dumbledore answered with the same politeness he would have shown to Mrs. Maxime.

Professor Karkaroff and Dumbledore are very similar in build; both are tall and thin.

However, his white hair was very short, and his goatee with small curls at the ends couldn't completely cover his thin chin.

He walked up to Dumbledore and shook hands with him using both hands.

"My dear old friend Hogwarts, it's so good to be here, so good..."

He looked up at the castle and said with a smile.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow at this.

By observing how Dumbledore received the leaders of the two schools, he had already deduced some information.

Professor Karkaroff seemed to be smiling happily at that moment, as if coming to Hogwarts was a very pleasant thing for him.

However, Sherlock saw it clearly; there was no smile in his eyes, only coldness and sharpness.

Sherlock smiled slightly: "Interesting."

"What's interesting?" Ron asked quickly.

"I never expected to see him here."

“Who did you see?” Harry asked.

However, Sherlock will soon no longer be needed to answer.

Professor Karkaroff gestured for one of his students to come forward:
"Victor, come here, warm up a bit..."

(End of this chapter)