"Sorry for dragging you all down," Harry said apologetically to Cho Chang and Ginny beside him.
"Not at all!" Ginny waved her small fist angrily. "Those people are just talking nonsense!"
"Harry, we're friends," Cho Chang looked at Harry with a smile. "Helping each other when facing difficulties is what I should do."
Harry looked into their eyes, and felt deeply moved.
Ron. This——— (;￣Д￣）→→
'Why do I suddenly feel like I shouldn't be here?'
After the train started moving, Hermione looked out through the open window. She saw Harry, Ron, Cho Chang, and Ginny waving enthusiastically at them from the platform.
However, under the effect of the accelerating train, their figures quickly became smaller. It wasn't until the train rounded a bend that Hermione withdrew her gaze.
"Are they sick?" she expressed her dissatisfaction with her classmates without reservation. "Just because Harry can speak Parseltongue, they think he's Slytherin's heir based on that alone? How shallow!"
"Hermione, if you weren't Harry's friend, nine times out of ten you'd think the same way. Do I need to remind you that 'based on all the circumstances we know now, you very likely are his heir' was something you said to Harry yourself."
Hermione found herself unable to refute Sherlock. But did he really have to say that?
The train was moving faster now, with houses whizzing past the window as they stood there swaying.
"You're right. Forget it, let's go find a compartment first?" Hermione looked at Sherlock expectantly.
This was the first time she could remember traveling alone with Sherlock on the Hogwarts Express. The feeling was quite novel.
Sherlock had no objections.
The two walked with difficulty through the corridor, peering through the glass doors at compartment after compartment. Due to the time, they'd spent saying goodbye to Harry and Ron, all the compartments were already full.
Hermione noticed that during this process, many people stared at them. Some even nudged the person sitting next to them with their elbows, pointing and whispering about the two of them.
When this continued for several train cars, she finally understood. Those sitting on the train returning home basically all believed Harry was Slytherin's heir, and consequently thought he had opened the Chamber of Secrets to release the monster.
Under these circumstances, as Harry's best friends at school, Sherlock and Hermione naturally attracted attention. This made Hermione feel very uncomfortable. She hated this feeling of being pointed at and whispered about.
It also reminded her of how she felt when she was isolated by classmates during her first days at school last year. She unconsciously turned to look at Sherlock beside her, only to find that he acted as if he heard nothing, seeming completely indifferent to it all.
No need for "seeming"—he genuinely didn't care about any of it.
Hermione couldn't help but look at him enviously. She also wanted to ignore others' opinions like Sherlock did. But she couldn't!
Fortunately, when they reached the last car, they encountered Neville. As Sherlock's roommate and fencing partner, he was one of the few students who believed Harry wasn't Slytherin's heir.
At the moment, he was gripping his struggling toad Trevor tightly with one hand, his round face covered in sweat.
"Hey, Sherlock," he said breathlessly, "Hermione—every where's full—I can't find a seat..."
Ever since he'd started learning fencing with Sherlock and attending the deathday party with Hermione, his way of addressing Sherlock and Hermione had changed. Previously, he'd called them both Holmes and Granger.
"Really?" Seeing Neville improved Hermione's mood considerably. She squeezed past him and peered into the compartment behind him. "There's space here, isn't there? There's only one girl inside."
"Shh!" Neville quickly made a silencing gesture. "That's Loony Lovegood!"
"You mean Luna Lovegood?" Hermione obviously knew the name. Seeing Neville's nervous expression, she couldn't help but laugh. "Don't be silly, she's harmless, right, Sher—"
Before she could finish, she saw that Sherlock had already opened the door and walked into the compartment.
Hermione: (°-°)
'What's going on here? Such decisive action?'
She followed Sherlock into the compartment with a puzzled mind. Seeing Sherlock and Hermione enter one after another, Neville gritted his teeth and followed them in.
"Hello, Lovegood. May we sit in these seats?" Hermione asked politely.
The girl sitting by the window looked up. She had dirty, waist-length, straggly dark blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protruding eyes.
As Miss Know-It-All, although Hermione had heard the nickname "Loony" before, this was her first close encounter. Now she understood why Neville would rather continue searching for other options than settle for this compartment.
Because Luna Lovegood clearly exuded a strange, dreamy quality. Perhaps it was because she had her wand tucked behind her left ear for safekeeping. Perhaps it was because she was wearing a necklace of butterbeer corks. Perhaps it was because she was clearly reading a magazine, but holding it upside down.
In any case, this girl obviously had a crazy, eccentric air about her.
What surprised Hermione even more was that although she was the one greeting Luna, the other girl's gaze passed over her and fell on Sherlock instead.
A few seconds later, she spoke as if to an old friend she hadn't seen in years. "Sherlock, it's been a long time since I saw you."
"Not that long—it's been less than a month since we last met."
Hearing Sherlock's response, Luna tilted her head, then conceded. "You're right, it really hasn't been long."
Neville nearly laughed out loud at this characteristically Sherlock-like answer, but managed to hold it in. However, when he heard Luna seriously agree with Sherlock's statement, he really couldn't help himself and laughed.
"Haha~"
Luna immediately turned her pale eyes toward him. "I don't know who you are."
"I'm nobody important," Neville said hastily, startled.
"You—know each other?" Hermione focused on the conversation between Sherlock and Luna.
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," Luna said in a singing voice, holding up the upside-down magazine to hide her face, and fell silent.
Hermione: "..."
She took a deep breath, feeling somewhat annoyed. Not only was that a non-answer, but now she was acting like she didn't want to talk to me at all!
With this thought, she could only turn her gaze to Sherlock.
He nodded slightly at her. "We met once a month ago, at the school gates."
Well, that did count as knowing each other. But now Hermione understood the meaning of "hearing is believing, but seeing is truth."
This girl—something's not quite right about her.
The train continued clattering forward, traveling through empty countryside and endless hills. The weather was rather strange today, which meant the compartment was sometimes flooded with sunlight, sometimes dark and gloomy with heavy clouds.
"Sherlock, do you think the person who opened the Chamber is Malfoy?" Neville not only didn't believe Harry was Slytherin's heir, but immediately focused on who he considered the most suspicious person.
"Neville, you're overthinking it," Sherlock chuckled. "He doesn't have that capability. This can be determined even without deduction."
"Ah, but why?"
"If it really were him, with his personality, he'd probably make sure the whole school knew he did it."
"Uh..."
Neville thought carefully and realized this actually made sense. Based on Malfoy's behavior during this period, he seemed angrier that people thought Harry was Slytherin's heir rather than him.
"Then who could it be?"
Seeing Neville's furrowed brow as he pondered, Hermione laughed. "Neville, don't think about it. If it were that easy to figure out, Sherlock wouldn't have gone home for the holidays—he would have stayed at school to solve the mystery."
"That's—true!"
Watching Neville's belated realization, Sherlock, Hermione, and Luna all laughed. Unlike the others, Luna laughed especially hard, making a series of shrill, piercing sounds.
Hermione looked at her in surprise. "Lovegood, what are you laughing at?"
"It's so funny!" She pressed her chest, breathing rapidly, staring at Neville, her protruding eyes filled with tears.
Neville was completely bewildered, looking questioningly at Sherlock and Hermione.
Originally, Sherlock and Hermione hadn't found it particularly funny, but now seeing Neville's completely confused expression and Luna's endless laughter, they were amused too.
Especially Luna—she was laughing so hard that the magazine slipped from her hands and slid from her lap to the floor.
Sherlock's eyes lit up when he saw the magazine. He took out his wand and pointed, causing the magazine to leap onto the table.
The magazine was called The Quibbler.
What caught Sherlock's attention was a cartoon on the cover. As everyone knows, cartoons exaggerate characters' features. So, although Sherlock had never met the man in person, he immediately recognized the cover figure as Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.
He'd seen photos of this Minister many times—a short man with unruly white hair. In the cover image, he wore a pinstriped suit, bright red tie, black cloak, and purple pointed boots. Most eye-catching was the dark green bowler hat on his head.
In the cover cartoon, Fudge held a bag of gold in one hand while strangling a goblin with the other. The headline above read.
How Close is Fudge to Taking Over Gringotts?
Sherlock opened the magazine and read page by page. Neville leaned over to look and immediately showed a surprised expression.
"What the—!"
Neville's expression was due to the magazine's table of contents.
Ancient Runes RevealedFlying Broomsticks Returning from the MoonThe Minister of Magic Who Bakes Goblins into PiesCorruption in the Quidditch Federation. How the Tornados Run Wild
Except for the first article, the other titles just from their names gave off a strong Lockhart-style feeling, even more exaggerated than that.
"Sherlock, this—"
With Neville's limited vocabulary, he really didn't know what to say at this moment.
"Don't be surprised." Seeing Neville's expression, Hermione said coldly, "Everyone knows The Quibbler is a load of..."
Before she could finish, Sherlock suddenly looked at Luna. "Is the editor of this magazine your father?"
Luna's voice suddenly lost its dreamy quality, and she looked at Sherlock in surprise. "How did you know that again?"
"I simply deduced it." Sherlock pointed to the name Xenophilius Lovegood in the editor's column.
Hermione was startled, then secretly relieved.
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