Mrs. Holmes was indeed helpful by nature. But this was only one reason for enthusiastically helping the Granger family.
As a mother, she naturally understood her son's personality all too well.
Solitary, eccentric, antisocial. She had already been troubled by this at his previous school.
Although Sherlock had resolved this problem himself, the final result could hardly be called pleasant.
So, if she could help him make friends before entering school, it would be wonderful indeed.
Meanwhile, Sherlock had already greeted the little girl called Hermione.
Out of politeness, he also said to Mr. Granger: "Dr. Granger, pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to... wait, how do you know I'm a doctor?"
Mr. Granger instinctively responded but suddenly realized something was wrong.
He hadn't mentioned his profession during his self-introduction.
Mrs. Granger and Hermione, with her bushy brown hair, were also stunned.
Seeing the Granger family's surprised expressions, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes exchanged smiles.
They weren't surprised at all, of course. After all, similar incidents had occurred many times before.
However, Mrs. Holmes soon couldn't smile anymore.
Because Sherlock didn't directly answer Mr. Granger's question but turned to Mrs. Granger instead:
"Mrs. Granger, I actually suspect my mother has pulpitis caused by tooth decay, but she's been afraid to go to the hospital because of the pain. I hope you can help her."
Mrs. Granger's eyes lit up, and she immediately began inquiring about Mrs. Holmes's symptoms.
Though Mrs. Holmes glared at Sherlock, she still cooperatively began describing her condition to Mrs. Granger.
When Sherlock was brought forward, Hermione Granger had already begun observing him.
Sherlock had short black hair, gray eyes, and was taller than his peers—quite conspicuous at first glance.
Hearing him directly state her parents' professions surprised her greatly, and she couldn't help but look at him several more times.
That's when she noticed his rather prominent hooked nose.
"So big."
When Sherlock's sharp gaze turned toward her, the discovered Hermione couldn't help but blush and quickly turned her head away.
The Granger family had arrived rather late.
Although the two mothers got along well, the Grangers still had to leave first to quickly purchase Hermione's school supplies.
However, before parting ways, Mrs. Holmes not only helped them confirm the location of the Leaky Cauldron but also unreservedly shared her shopping experience from the day with Mrs. Granger.
At the same time, Mrs. Granger persuaded Mrs. Holmes to have a comprehensive periodontal health check before the official start of school.
The painless kind, guaranteed.
Thus, the day in Diagon Alley came to a perfect conclusion.
Over the following month, Sherlock was quite productive.
He didn't give much thought to the Granger family. His mother's pulpitis was indeed an unexpected bonus.
As for looking out for each other with Hermione at school—that was unnecessary.
Sherlock had always considered taking care of himself a troublesome affair.
As for having Hermione take care of him—that was even more impossible.
Besides... with a young witch in tow, where would he find time to explore Hogwarts?
During this period, he carefully studied how to use his new pet.
After several attempts, he discovered that, as the pet shop owner had said, owls could both deliver letters and send packages.
It seemed no different from a postman, but the speed and accuracy were far superior.
He also gave his pet owl a name.
Watson.
Sherlock couldn't say exactly why, but he felt this name was suitable for a long-term companion.
Besides this, he had also finished reading all the textbooks and the additional books he had purchased.
Through them, Sherlock finally gained a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the wizarding world.
Compared to Hermione Granger, this young witch, he was more interested in two other names.
One was Harry James Potter.
Whether in the school-required reading list's "A History of Magic" or in the additional books Sherlock had purchased—"Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century" and "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts"—this name was mentioned.
This boy, the same age as himself, was born on July 31, 1980.
He was called "The Boy Who Lived," "The Savior of the Wizarding World," "The Only One to Defeat the Dark Lord."
As for why Harry Potter had these titles, it was related to another name.
The Dark Lord whom Harry Potter had defeated.
According to the books' descriptions, this was the most powerful and dangerous dark wizard in history.
So much so that when his name needed to be mentioned, many books simply referred to him as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
Only very few books would actually use the name "Voldemort," and even then, usually only once.
When they needed to refer to him again later in the text, it would change back to "You-Know-Who" or "the Dark Lord."
Sherlock, who believed firmly in science, found this somewhat incomprehensible.
This was truly rather absurd.
Perhaps... this was just a characteristic of the wizarding world?
In any case, due to Voldemort's great power and numerous followers, he had once ruled the wizarding world.
For the entire magical community, that was the darkest period in history.
However.
Where there is oppression, there is resistance.
The dark, oppressive rule aroused increasing dissatisfaction, and finally, a prolonged war broke out between good and evil.
The person leading the white wizards in their great battle against Voldemort was none other than Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This was also why Hogwarts and Dumbledore himself held such high status in the magical world.
This war was called the Wizarding War, and it lasted a full eleven years.
The entire wizarding world suffered greatly during this conflict.
According to the books' descriptions, if this war had continued, Voldemort might truly have conquered the wizarding world.
However, in the eleventh year of the Wizarding War, when Voldemort's power was at its peak, a turning point appeared.
October 31, 1981, Halloween night.
For unknown reasons, the terrifying Dark Lord came to Godric's Hollow.
It was a small village in southwest England, a semi-wizarding settlement named after the famous wizard Godric Gryffindor.
Harry Potter and his parents lived there.
Without question, the Potter couple were excellent wizards.
They were powerful and had once been active on the front lines against Voldemort.
Even so, when confronting Voldemort directly, the Potter couple were mercilessly killed without suspense.
After killing the Potter couple, Voldemort pointed his wand at fifteen-month-old Harry Potter.
But then.
The supremely powerful dark wizard who had personally killed hundreds and struck fear into the entire wizarding world actually failed!
The powerful magic that had once been unstoppable blew the Potter house to ruins, yet Harry himself remained unharmed.
Thus, Harry Potter became the first and only person to survive Voldemort's attack.