Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 540 Advice
"Sherlock, what did you say to that woman?"

When Sherlock caught up with Harry and Cedric, Harry couldn't help but ask.

Cedric also looked at Sherlock with curiosity.

After all, he was, in a way, a victim of humiliation.

The last article by Rita Skeeter, which claimed to be a Triwizard Tournament, was actually a personal interview with Harry Potter.

The name Cedric Diggory was not mentioned at all throughout the entire article.

If he hadn't known Harry's character and hadn't been watching closely, he probably would have thought Harry did it intentionally.

"She was given some kind advice."

Sherlock said with a smile.

"Friendly" advice?

Harry and Cedric exchanged a glance; why couldn't they believe it?
Perhaps Sherlock's understanding of "friendliness" and their understanding of "friendliness" are not the same thing at all?

Next came the celebration, and Cedric was supposed to return to Hufflepuff's common room.

However, they were stopped by the Weasley twins, who were already prepared and waiting for Sherlock and Harry.

“What Hufflepuff!” Fred Weasley said.

“Tonight we are all Gryffindors!” George Weasley said.

You are not allowed to go anywhere.

"Celebrate with us."

After saying that, one of them grabbed Cedric by one arm and forcibly carried him into the Gryffindor Tower.

"Hello—hello—!"

Cedric struggled desperately, but to no avail.

Harry and Sherlock, standing at the back, exchanged a smile.

Clearly, Cedric's performance in the first project changed the opinion of the Weasley twins, who had previously held reservations about him.

As the group entered the Gryffindor common room, the Weasley twins shouted:
"The warriors are here!"

The common room erupted in cheers and shouts.

At this moment, the table and chairs were piled high with cakes, along with jugs of pumpkin juice and butterbeer.

Lee Jordan set off some hard-fire fireworks, and the air was filled with sparks and flecks.

Dean Thomas, a skilled painter, hung up several eye-catching new banners, most of which depicted the three riding flying broomsticks and flying around tree bees, but one or two depicted Cedric's injury.

Without saying a word, Harry sat down and began to eat heartily.

These days, he has almost forgotten what normal hunger feels like.

At that moment, he felt incredibly happy.

Not only did I get through the first project with my best friend, but the second project wouldn't be coming up for another three months.

They made a ruckus for quite a while before the Hufflepuffs realized something was wrong and ran over to call their hero and prefect back.

As a result, he was forced to drink several glasses of wine by the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan.

“I’m starting to like that big oaf now,” Fred Weasley said, looking at the three female Quidditch players after the Hufflepuffs had left.

“Me too, this guy is actually pretty good,” George Weasley chimed in.

"Uh... he's not as annoying as I thought..."

Simo Finigan, who had previously expressed strong opinions about Cedric, also commented.

"My God, how can it be so heavy!"

At this moment, Lee Jordan came over, picked up the golden egg that Harry had placed on the table, weighed it in his hands, and said:
"Open it quickly, Harry!"

His words immediately drew everyone's attention.

"That's it!"

"Open it!"

“He should solve the clues himself,” Hermione said quickly, “The rules of the Triwizard Tournament stipulate…”

"I should also figure out how to get through the fire dragon myself."

Harry muttered something to himself.

His voice was so low that only Hermione could hear it.

Hermione, upon hearing this, couldn't help but grin guiltily.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense, let us see it!"

"Obey, let me see!"

"Alright, come on, Harry, open it!"

Several people responded, and Lee Jordan even picked up the golden egg and handed it to Harry.

Harry glanced at Hermione, and seeing that they were now in a difficult situation, Hermione said nothing more.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ha used his fingernails to pry open the golden egg by digging into the grooves around it.

To everyone's surprise, the room was completely empty.

Just as everyone was staring at each other in disbelief, and some were even wondering if the organizers had made a mistake.

A terrifying, piercing scream filled the entire room.

||Φ|(|T|Д|T|)|Φ||
Harry had only heard a similar sound once before.

Back in his second year of Halloween class, he was invited by Nick, who was almost headless, to attend the ghost's death anniversary party.

Back then, the Ghost Band played with a saw, and the noise was similar to the harsh sound we hear today.

"Turn this thing off right now!"

Ron, who was standing nearby, covered his ears with his hands and couldn't help but yell.

Harry slammed the golden egg shut.

“What was that?” Seamus Finnigan asked, staring at the golden egg. “It sounded like a ghost… Harry, you might have to walk past a ghost next time!”

When dealing with Boggart, his greatest fear was the female ghost.

"It sounds like someone is being tortured!" Neville's face turned pale, and he scattered sausage meat all over the floor. "You're dealing with the Cruciatus Curse!"

Hermione looked up and glanced at Neville with some surprise.

Neville knew about the Crucifixion?
"Don't talk nonsense, Neville, that's illegal."

George Weasley said, "They can't cast the Crucifixion on the Warriors."

I think that voice sounds a bit like Percy singing…maybe you should attack him while he’s showering, Harry.”

Everyone laughed when they heard George's words.

“Why don’t you ask Sherlock?” Ginny said. “He would definitely know.”

"Yes, ask Sherlock!"

"Where is Sherlock?"

The group looked at each other in bewilderment, only then realizing that Sherlock had disappeared sometime earlier.

“He went out with the Hufflepuffs when they left,” Hermione said softly.

“Ha, I know, he must have been taken to Hufflepuff’s common room!” George Weasley said.

“That’s right, we brought Diggory, and they took Sherlock away. Perfect timing—would Hermione like a jam pie?”

Hermione looked at the plate Fred handed her with suspicion; she knew all too well what pranks the twins had been up to lately. "Don't worry," Fred grinned, "I haven't done anything to them. What you really need to watch out for are the custard cookies—"

Neville had just taken a bite of his egg and milk biscuit when he heard this and choked.

He quickly spat out the cookie, which made everyone burst into laughter.

George laughed, "Don't be like that, Neville, we were just joking..."

Hermione picked up a jam tart and said, "Did you take all this from the kitchen, Fred?"

"Yes."

Fred said, looking at her with a grin.

He forced out a high-pitched, shrill sound, imitating a house-elf:
"We can prepare everything for you, sir, anything is fine!"

They were so kind... As soon as I mentioned I was a little hungry, they would roast a whole cow for me.

"You just scratched that pear and went in?" Hermione asked in a casual, nonchalant tone.

“That’s right, I didn’t expect you to know too…” Fred looked her over warily. “What do you want?”

"Nothing," Hermione said quickly.

"So you're planning to lead the house-elves on strike again, are you?" George said. "Looks like you're going to abandon those leaflets and stuff and start a rebellion?"

Several people were amused and burst into laughter.

Hermione didn't answer.

“Don’t confuse them by telling them they have to wear clothes and get paid!” Fred warned her. “You’ll make them not want to cook!”

Just then, Neville suddenly transformed into a large canary, temporarily diverting everyone's attention.

"Oh—sorry, Neville!"

Amidst the laughter, Fred shouted, "I forgot—this is the egg and milk cookie we've enchanted—"

Fortunately, Neville shed his feathers in less than a minute.

After all his feathers fell out, he looked completely normal again.

He even laughed along with the others, not feeling offended at all, and even finding it quite amusing.

"Canary Cookies!"

Fred shouted to the excited crowd:
"George and I invented it—seven silver scissors for one piece, it's very cheap!"

Everyone immediately crowded around, even Ron squeezed in.

He genuinely hadn't expected the Weasley twins to come up with something so interesting.

At this moment, Harry, who was originally the main character, has been neglected.

But he wasn't disappointed at all. He was sitting on the sofa in the corner, looking down at a plate of jam pie and eating it with relish.

Today was the most pleasant day for him since the start of the school year. There was no Rita Skeeter talking nonsense, no threat from the fire dragon, only a real victory and ease.

Taking this opportunity, Hermione sat down next to Harry.

She placed a glass of butterbeer in front of Harry.

"Harry, I want to apologize for what happened with Ginny last time."

She didn't preamble; her tone was calm yet carried a clear seriousness.

Harry abruptly stopped in his tracks, jam smeared on the corner of his mouth as he took a bite of the pie.

He looked up in surprise, his green eyes filled with confusion:

"Oh? It's okay, I know you did it for Ginny..."

In his view, that matter was long gone with the victory in the first match.

"No, it does matter."

Hermione gently interrupted him, her voice even softer, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the inside of her beer glass.

She met Harry's gaze, her eyes no longer showing the urgency she had displayed by the lake, but only sincere apology:

"I was too eager to help Ginny express her feelings, but I forgot to ask if you wanted to talk about it, and I forcefully shoved my thoughts into your head."

"Ah this..."

Harry froze, his fingertips unconsciously scratching the corner of his mouth smeared with jam, his eyes slowly shifting from blank to understanding.

He finally realized what Hermione was talking about.

He remembered that day by the lake, when he frowned and said, "You seem to only think about Ginny," and Hermione clutched the hem of her robe, her ears turning red. It turned out she had always remembered.

"Also, I'm forcing you to re-evaluate Ginny."

Hermione paused, her gaze sweeping across the crowd and landing on the empty doorway of the lounge, as if she had remembered something, but her tone remained calm:
"Feelings are never a matter of what should be done; it's your business."

Even if I think you should perhaps see the changes in Ginny, you should wait until you're willing to think about it and discover it for yourself, instead of imposing my judgment on you.

She looked away, just in time to meet Harry's questioning gaze. She suddenly smiled and casually added, continuing the conversation:
"Like Sherlock, everyone thought he had been taken to the Hufflepuff common room."

"Huh? He didn't go to the victory celebration?"

Harry blinked, about to ask further, when Hears Hermione continue:
"I think he probably went to see Gemma."

She said in a light tone, her fingertips finally moving away from the glass, "You probably didn't notice?"
They exchanged glances at the end of the competition, and now that the first event is over, it's time for them to catch up.

Harry was even more surprised by these words.

In the past, Hermione's tone would always carry a subtle tension whenever she mentioned Gemma.

But today she spoke of it so casually, without a trace of emotion in her eyes.

Hermione seemed to read his mind and added, finally stopping her fingertips from rubbing together:
"That's perfectly normal, isn't it?"
Everyone has friends they want to meet alone and private spaces where they don't want to be disturbed.

I used to think that I was doing it for your own good, and that I should lay everything out in the open, but that was actually crossing a line.

Harry finally reacted.

Hermione wasn't just apologizing for what happened to Ginny; she was also demonstrating a sense of propriety.

This applies to him as well as to Sherlock.

Harry looked at Hermione's serious profile and suddenly smiled.

He reached for the butterbeer and took a big gulp; the icy liquid dispelled the lingering sweetness.

"Actually... I think you should confess to Sherlock too, right?"

Hermione was surprised by Harry's move. She instinctively lowered her head and gently stirred the butterbeer in her glass with her fingertips, leaving fine traces of foam on the glass.

"I……"

She paused, then said in a very soft voice, "Let me think about how to say it."

Harry smiled when he saw that Hermione hadn't run away this time.

It finally dawned on me.

After all, the New Year is approaching, and everyone will be fifteen years old next year.

Gemma's sudden appearance did put Hermione under pressure.

The corridors deep inside the castle had long since fallen silent, with only the dim yellow light from the corridor lamps casting dappled shadows on the stone floor.

Sherlock's footsteps were particularly clear in the empty corridor.

Just as Hermione had deduced, he didn't head towards the Hufflepuff common room, but instead turned onto the staircase leading to the eighth floor.

The hem of her robe swept across the dusty windowsill, stirring up fine dust.

His destination was naturally the House of Requirement.

(End of this chapter)