"Psychological suggestion—a very simple little trick, but it only works on specific people."
Sherlock spooned stew into his plate, speaking unhurriedly under the gaze of Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
"What kind of person do you think Neville is?"
"Slow to react?"
"Poor memory?"
"Timid and fearful?"
Hearing his three friends' words, Sherlock smiled.
"Exactly right. Neville is naturally someone who gets nervous easily, and he's easily influenced, lacking his own opinions.
You should remember I mentioned earlier that Professor Trelawney is good at observation.
Neville's personality traits can be observed with just a little attention, so she deliberately said Neville would break his cup.
This so-called prophecy itself creates a psychological suggestion.
After hearing this prophecy, Neville's subconscious might keep thinking about it, making him inevitably more nervous when acting, actually increasing the likelihood of breaking the teacup.
Combined with Professor Trelawney's authority as a Divination teacher and Neville's personality traits I mentioned earlier, this psychological suggestion was further strengthened.
You saw the result—Neville broke his teacup, and not just one, but two.
When your brain keeps reinforcing 'I absolutely must not do this thing,' the final result becomes 'I'm going to do this thing myself.'"
After hearing Sherlock's explanation, all three friends fell into deep thought.
"Well said!"
Just then, a gentle voice suddenly rang out.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked up in surprise.
Cho Chang's pretty face came into view.
Only then did they realize that they'd been so absorbed in listening that they hadn't noticed when she'd arrived.
Sherlock had naturally noticed Cho's arrival long ago and had even greeted her with his eyes.
Cho was also very polite, waiting until Sherlock finished speaking before opening her mouth.
She smiled and greeted the four, then sat down beside Harry.
After advancing to fourth year, Cho Chang became the only girl on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as their Seeker.
Earlier on the Hogwarts Express, due to the Dementor interference, Harry hadn't paid much attention to Cho Chang.
Looking now, he noticed she'd grown a bit taller since last year.
But Harry had grown even faster, so she was now about a head shorter than him.
As for her appearance, Harry's verbal skills weren't excellent, and he didn't know how to describe it in words.
The beginning was forgotten, the middle was forgotten—in short, she was stunningly beautiful.
Especially now, when she looked at Harry with a smile, Harry felt something strange flutter in his stomach.
Harry was very clear that this flutter had nothing to do with his death omen.
"Harry, I've already heard from Patil about what happened in Divination class."
Cho Chang gazed at Harry, saying earnestly.
"Actually, you don't need to worry at all.
Because Professor Trelawney predicts that one student will die every year.
Last year, we were scared by her too.
But later Professor Flitwick told us that so far, no one has died."
Being watched by Cho's beautiful eyes, Harry nodded repeatedly, feeling that whatever she said was right.
Hermione also agreed. "Cho is absolutely right! Ron, stop creating anxiety. Harry, just listen to us."
"What!"
But Ron objected to Hermione's statement. He turned to Harry, asking tentatively.
"Mate, you haven't seen a big black dog anywhere, have you?"
Harry: "..."
Ron: "..."
"Harry!"
The elbow-nudged Harry finally reacted, "Ron, what did you say?"
Ron felt somewhat helpless but repeated his question.
"I have seen one."
Ron's fork dropped directly, and he stared at Harry with his mouth wide open, completely shocked.
Hermione also frowned upon hearing this.
Only Sherlock remained calm, because he'd already heard Harry mention this before the school term started.
At the same time, Harry felt a soft, fleeting touch brush across the back of his hand hidden under the tablecloth, like touching a feather about to drift away.
He shuddered and looked at Cho Chang in surprise.
The curve of Cho's lips was even gentler than his mother's phantom in the Mirror of Erised.
At this moment, Harry felt healed by this smile.
Meanwhile, under the table, after feeling the warmth and softness of her skin, Harry successfully took the initiative and actively held her hand.
Cho trembled slightly, but her fingers then gently curled, naturally intertwining with Harry's fingers, as if it were a long-premeditated harmony.
Harry's mood, originally shrouded in the dark clouds brought by the death omen, cleared like parting clouds revealing the sun.
Looking at the red blush on Cho's ear tips, he suddenly realized that this touch hidden under the dining table should count as his first intimate contact with Cho, right?
"I once saw a black dog on the cover of a book at Flourish and Blotts, and also—"
Encouraged by Cho, Harry hesitated for a moment, then looked at his good friend sherlock.
"Sherlock, I remember now—on the morning I left the Dursleys' to go to your house, I saw one on the roadside."
"Oh?"
Sherlock's gaze shifted from under the table to Harry's face, as if suddenly interested in this topic, "Was it the day before your birthday?"
"Yes."
Harry said slowly. "I was already sitting in Uncle Vernon's car, talking to him.
Then I casually turned my head and saw a big black dog in the shadows at the street corner.
But when I looked again, it had disappeared, so I couldn't remember it until now."
"Just a stray dog," Hermione said calmly.
"Just a coincidence," Cho also agreed.
But after she said this, Harry felt his and Cho's fingers lock even tighter, as if trying to forever capture this brief moment in their palms.
"Not at all!"
Ron didn't care about the atmosphere. He looked excitedly at the two girls.
"If Harry has seen the Grim, that's terrible!
You have no idea—my uncle, my uncle—"
Seeing Ron stuttering, Sherlock shook his head. "Your uncle isn't Guy de Maupassant's, so speak up!"
Ron's literary knowledge was obviously insufficient for him to get Sherlock's reference. He said somewhat confused.
"My uncle indeed isn't Guy de Maupassant's—his name is Bilius.
What I'm trying to say is, after he saw a big black dog symbolizing bad luck, he died twenty-four hours later.
This is the Grim, a death omen!"
Sherlock, Hermione, and Cho all frowned.
Ron also realized his words were somewhat inappropriate and quickly explained.
"No, I didn't mean it that way. I mean Harry must be very careful!
Most wizards are scared out of their wits when they see the Grim. Sherlock, Hermione, you're both Muggle-born—you wouldn't understand."
Cho shook her head, "I don't understand either."
As a half-blood witch, Cho's words effectively refuted Ron to some degree.
Harry looked at her gratefully.
Then Sherlock also spoke, saying slowly.
"My dear Ron, you're inferring the process from the result.
There's no evidence that your uncle's death was related to that big dog you call the Grim.
In fact, if I had been there at the time, I could have determined the real cause of death through autopsy."
Ron: "..."
Your way of convincing people is really refreshingly unique!
"Exactly right. Harry isn't stupid enough to think he's about to die just from seeing a Grim, especially since I don't think that was a Grim at all!"
Hermione snorted coldly, taking out her brand-new Arithmancy textbook from her bag.
"I now think Divination is complete rubbish!"
"That Grim in the cup wasn't rubbish at all!"
"Right, calling it rubbish is giving it too much credit. Compared to Arithmancy, it's simply garbage!"
"You don't understand anything—do you really think you're Miss Know-It-All?"
Hermione and Ron got into a heated argument.
Even Cho, the latecomer, couldn't help trying to mediate.
But it was useless.
Later, seeing that no one among those present supported him, Ron simply grabbed his bag and stormed off angrily.
Cho was somewhat surprised, "Harry, is he always like this?"
"Erm..."
Harry was also embarrassed, "He wasn't like this before. He's probably in a bad mood lately because of Scabbers."
"Scabbers—what's that?"
Seeing Cho's interest, Harry briefly told her about Scabbers.
"If that's the case, it's understandable—"
Cho showed a look of sudden realization.
"Don't worry, he'll be back soon," Sherlock said.
"Why?" Cho asked curiously.
Sherlock pointed at the plate, "Because he hasn't finished his pumpkin pasty."
Cho laughed lightly. "If it's just because of that, it seems a bit too—"
Before she could finish, they saw Ron angrily stride back, grab the remaining pumpkin pasty, and turn to leave.
With a wave of his sleeve, he left without leaving a trace.
Cho: "..."
What's going on? Sherlock was actually right!
"Don't worry, he'll be fine in a while."
Harry said.
Cho nodded lightly, and the two began chatting about their summer experiences.
During this process, Cho also gently released Harry's hand under the table, making Harry feel a sense of loss.
Sherlock then turned to Hermione. "My friend, you just said that compared to Arithmancy, Divination is garbage?"
"That's right!" Hermione, still angry, answered instinctively.
"But we haven't taken that course yet."
Hearing Sherlock's words, Hermione suddenly felt a chill down her back.
No one knew Sherlock's abilities better than she did.
He was someone who could tell what you'd done all day just by looking at you once.
Even with full concentration and vigilance, she might not escape his eyes, let alone when she'd been completely unguarded just now.
"I read the book."
Though lacking confidence, Hermione still tried to explain.
"You know, because I was quite interested in this course, and since these two courses have similar content, I did some advance studying."
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