"Please, absolutely not!"
Upon hearing Ms. Hopkirk mention communicating with his family, Harry's eyes widened as he frantically waved his hands.
"Please, don't add to my troubles!"
"Alright—we'll go with your preference then."
Ms. Hopkirk nodded, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
Then she turned to look at Sherlock, speaking with genuine sincerity.
"Mr. Holmes, if you ever encounter anything that needs help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask me."
Sherlock nodded.
Ms. Hopkirk's intentions were good, but as for the Ministry's capabilities...
Well, they were better than nothing, just acceptable.
The next moment, Hopkirk waved her wand.
A blue light flickered from the tip of her wand, quickly enveloping her.
In the blink of an eye, she disappeared from before the three of them, just like Snape had earlier.
Swift and efficient, leaving only a faint trace of magical essence in the air.
"She was deliberately demonstrating Apparition for us," Hermione said with some surprise, "She was very kind to us!"
"You're right. Mr. Peasegood and this Ms. Hopkirk can be considered the elite among that bunch of rubbish."
"Hey, Sherlock, aren't you being a bit too harsh!"
"Just stating facts.
Although Professor Snape did indeed cast the Hovering Charm and Freezing Charm earlier, don't forget that both the house-elf and Professor Snape used Apparition—but they didn't mention this point.
Hmph, it seems the Ministry can only detect the location where wizards perform magic, but cannot pinpoint specific individuals.
When they detect magic being used at a residence, they assume it was Harry based on experience.
Obviously, they've done this more than once or twice before.
How superficial!"
"But—but Ms. Hopkirk did listen to our explanation seriously and even verified with the school!"
"That's why I said they're the elite among that bunch of rubbish.
She and Peasegood can indeed be called sharp-eyed and capable.
Unfortunately, they're still bound by convention—and bound tightly."
Hermione. "..."
'You make such a good point, I can't argue with it.'
Sure enough, Sherlock was still the same Sherlock.
Just that mouth alone would offend countless people.
'Sigh, it seems someone like me is still needed to cover for him.'
Harry, however, was long accustomed to Sherlock's attitude. Without hiding anything in front of his two friends, he let out a long breath and flopped onto the bed.
First the house-elf Dobby, then Potions professor Snape, and just now a Ministry official—
It could be said that Harry had been thoroughly exhausted today.
Fortunately, the final result was good.
He hadn't been abandoned by the magical world.
Only after completely relaxing did he turn to Sherlock with an inquiring look.
"Sherlock, what do we do next?"
"The problem is solved. See you in half a month."
Sherlock said concisely.
He didn't explain the reason, but Harry understood perfectly.
According to Dumbledore, Harry had to spend a full month each year with his only living relative in this world—Aunt Petunia's family.
This was mainly to maintain that ancient magic.
As for the power of that charm, they had both witnessed it when dealing with Quirrell, who had been possessed by Voldemort.
It was very effective.
So, this month was absolutely necessary.
However, when Harry heard Sherlock say "see you in half a month," he immediately remembered something Sherlock had mentioned to him the previous school year.
He instantly perked up.
Springing up from the bed, Harry looked at Sherlock with burning eyes, his voice trembling.
"Sherlock, you mean—"
Sherlock nodded. "I'll come find you again in half a month."
"No problem! I'll wait for you!" Harry nodded emphatically.
"Wait! Hold on a moment!"
Hermione looked suspiciously between the two of them. From their conversation, she caught a whiff of adventure.
"Are you two hiding something from me again?
I'm telling you, last time with Professor Quirrell—I mean, don't think you can hide things from me like last time when you fought Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest without telling me!"
Seeing Hermione's indignant expression, Harry looked toward Sherlock.
This action immediately made Hermione dissatisfied.
She put her hands on her hips. "Why do you always look at Sherlock?"
Harry felt somewhat embarrassed.
How to put it—even he hadn't decided whether to invite his other two companions along when going home, besides Sherlock.
Just then, Sherlock spoke up to help him out.
"Godric's Hollow."
"What?"
"In half a month, we're going to Godric's Hollow."
"Wait—you mean you're going with Harry to his ancestral home?"
Hermione looked at Sherlock in amazement, her eyes full of disbelief.
The Potter family's ancestral home in Godric's Hollow wasn't a secret in the magical world, especially not to someone like Hermione, the academic overachiever.
So, when Sherlock mentioned the name, she immediately understood.
"That's right. Do you want to come along?"
"Of course!"
Hermione nodded repeatedly.
Are you kidding? How could she miss something like this?
She had already missed similar adventures more than once. Last year's Christmas, the Forbidden Forest battle, the Greek Translator case—every time Sherlock ran off with Harry,
'hmph, I was here first!'
This time she absolutely couldn't miss it!
Harry never objected to Sherlock's decisions.
However, he also suggested not leaving Ron behind.
Otherwise, that guy would definitely be heartbroken.
The last rays of sunset lazily spilled across the Dursley's garden, casting dappled shadows.
The Dursley family, along with Harry, escorted Sherlock, Hermione, and her father out of the house.
Harry's Uncle Vernon was red-faced, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Just a short while ago, thanks to the clever assistance of Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger, Mr. Mason had finally agreed to give him that long-coveted drill order.
This delighted him beyond measure, and even his view of Harry unconsciously changed.
The original disgust and disdain faded somewhat, replaced by a rare hint of recognition.
He thought to himself that this nephew of his might not be completely useless after all.
At least in this matter, he was stronger than his father James.
Thinking of James Potter, Uncle Vernon pursed his lips.
In his limited memories, his sister-in-law's husband never spoke properly and didn't show enough respect to him and his wife, which really rubbed him the wrong way.
Forget it, no point thinking about him!
However—
According to the original plan, after securing this drill order, they should be going to select a villa in Majorca tomorrow.
But when his gaze inadvertently swept over his wife Petunia, his smile instantly froze.
He recalled his wife's expression when she saw that Blake-robed man who had appeared with Hermione.
It was a kind of terror and panic he had never seen before, as if she had encountered her worst nightmare.
A man he had never heard of, never met, could make his wife show such an expression...
Uncle Vernon's brow furrowed into a deep frown, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists, unease and anger surging in his heart like a tide.
In this moment, his resolve became absolutely firm.
In his view, this matter was more important than anything else and had to be investigated thoroughly.
All other plans would have to give way to this!
Vernon's mood was complicated, but Harry was happy.
Having resolved the issue with the presumptuous house-elf Dobby, his life had finally returned to its former peace.
Most importantly, he could finally connect normally with his friends!
This kept Hedwig very busy.
The poor snowy owl spent every day in the following period shuttling between different regions, busy delivering letter after letter for Harry and his friends.
Sherlock and Hermione were better off, since they had been present at the scene and didn't need special explanations.
But for everyone else, Harry naturally had to write letters explaining everything.
Snape had finally done something good—when he took Dobby away, he left behind all the letters it had previously intercepted.
Even though he hadn't come back specifically for this purpose.
For Harry now, re-reading these overdue letters was also quite interesting, because through reading these letters, he could feel his friends' strong concern for him.
After writing to each of them explaining his situation, Hedwig naturally brought him new replies.
"Bloody hell! You were actually trapped by a house-elf, that's incredible!
Sherlock and Hermione really weren't fair—they should have called me along for something like this.
But as long as you're okay.
Good buddy, don't forget about coming to my house. My dad and mum are still waiting for you.
And Ginny too, you know she's always wanted to meet you."
"Oh, forgive me, Harry, my brain has never been very bright.
I never would have thought you'd encounter something like this!
If I had known, I should have gone straight to find you—just like last year!
How are you doing now?
Thank goodness for Sherlock. He's truly a trustworthy person, and I'm happy that you can make such a friend!"
"Harry, I can finally rest easy knowing you're safe and sound.
I just didn't expect you to encounter such an incident—it's truly surprising.
Thinking about it carefully, you always seem to attract various troubles (laugh).
Could you tell me about this incident in detail? I'm very interested."
"Harry, this is really terrifying!
My grandmother says house-elves generally don't do such things. You must be more careful.
When you have time, ask Holmes for more advice—he's really amazing!"
"Potter, you finally wrote back to me, it's truly worth celebrating—
But what I want to say is, summer vacation is long, don't forget to practice Quidditch—this year we absolutely must win the championship!"
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