Sherlock nodded slightly and said, "I understand."
'That's it?'
Hermione was somewhat surprised, having originally thought she'd been exposed!
But thinking about it, that incident was indeed too bizarre—no matter how far Sherlock's thinking wandered, he couldn't possibly imagine it, could he?
Although she felt somewhat guilty, Professor McGonagall had made her swear not to tell anyone, so she could only keep it from Sherlock.
If someday Sherlock truly discovered the truth, as long as she hadn't volunteered the information herself, it wouldn't count as breaking her oath, right?
With this thought, Hermione's originally tense mood relaxed again.
Cho Chang chatted with Harry for a long time, and only left when her dormmate Alicia came to fetch her.
"She's gone far enough—stop staring!"
Hermione teased, "If Ginny saw this scene, she'd be heartbroken!"
Harry's face reddened as he coughed softly, "Well—we should go to class. Hagrid is still waiting for us!"
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Unlike herself with her tanned skin from the sun, Harry's blush was easily visible on his pale complexion.
But seeing that he'd already begun forcibly changing the subject, Hermione said no more.
Speaking of which, she'd actually known Cho Chang longer than Harry had, so she understood this girl who was a year above them fairly well.
Having been sorted into Ravenclaw, representing wisdom, she was naturally clever and bright.
From her attitude toward her dormmate during that Easter case last year, she was also a kind and gentle girl.
Moreover, Cho Chang was much prettier than herself and more talented in sports as well.
Hermione paused in thought and was suddenly surprised to realize that Cho Chang was practically the perfect woman in boys' minds, appearing nearly flawless.
No wonder even Harry, the wizarding world's savior, was...
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but glance at Sherlock again.
However, the Lion King's attention had long since shifted beyond the castle.
When the three of them left the castle, the rain had already stopped, and Ron was waiting for them not far away.
Hermione and Ron weren't speaking, so Harry had to step forward and initiate conversation with Ron.
Under his best friend's comfort, Ron's mood gradually improved.
Mates really were the best after all!
Girls were only mental and weird!
Look at Sherlock—with Hermione accompanying him, he didn't even care about his mates anymore!
Listening to Ron's complaints, Harry could only feel helpless.
It was fortunate Ron didn't know he'd just held hands with Cho Chang, otherwise... Pushing this thought from his mind, he and Ron walked toward the Forbidden Forest while discussing the upcoming Care of Magical Creatures class.
The Hogwarts campus after the rain felt very comfortable.
The sky showed a refreshing pale gray color, and the air was filled with the unique scent of grass after rain, which was invigorating to breathe.
Since the heavy rain had only recently stopped, the grass was still wet.
Though stepping on it wasn't as satisfying as walking on snow, it still gave a springy feeling.
When Hermione saw the two rows of staggered footprints that she and Sherlock had left on the grass, her heart stirred.
"By the way, Sherlock, are you still planning to continue attending Divination class?"
As she spoke, she stopped walking. But she discovered that Sherlock seemed not to have heard and continued walking forward.
Hermione: *sigh*
"Sherlock, I'm talking to you!"
"Sorry, what did you just say?"
Looking at Sherlock's innocent expression, Hermione took a deep breath. "I asked if you're still attending Divination class next period."
"We'll see—"
Sherlock said in a casual tone, "If there are still conflicts like today's, then I'll try other courses instead."
"I plan to follow a few more classes, and if it continues like this—"
Hermione took a deep breath, "I might stop studying it altogether."
"That's not like you, Hermione," Sherlock smiled at Hermione's pouting expression, "I always thought you wanted to earn twelve certificates."
"I used to think that way."
Hermione never concealed anything when discussing academics with Sherlock.
"But if studying Divination well means I have to pretend to see death omens in a pile of tea leaves, then I'd rather not study it at all. Why are Slytherin students here too?"
"Care of Magical Creatures has always been taken together with Slytherin students, just like Divination is with Ravenclaw students."
"How dreadful. I just hope Hagrid is sufficiently prepared," Hermione said with some concern.
Hagrid stood early at his hut door waiting for the students, with the seemingly fierce but actually timid hunting dog Fang standing at his feet.
"Come on, come on, hurry up—I've got some good things to show you!"
Having done the job of welcoming first-year students every year, Hagrid was quite skilled at attracting customers.
"Is everyone here? Good, follow me—trust me, this lesson will be exciting and thrilling, one you'll remember for life!"
Hearing Hagrid say this, Harry couldn't help but worry, whispering to Ron beside him.
"He's not going to lead us into the Forbidden Forest, is he?"
"I can't say for sure."
Thinking of how Hagrid had raised an Acromantula and helped it mate, allowing it to develop a large colony in the Forbidden Forest, Ron suddenly felt this kind of thing wouldn't be surprising at all.
In fact, ever since learning the full story of Hagrid's expulsion fifty years ago, Ron had always had one thought.
Hagrid had indeed been wrongly accused, but his expulsion wasn't unjust at all.
Of course, he'd never say this thought to anyone.
Though he felt his idea wasn't wrong.
Fortunately, although Hagrid came from Gryffindor, he wasn't reckless enough to openly lead students into the Forbidden Forest, and instead brought them to the outer pasture.
Sherlock and Harry were familiar with the paths around the Forbidden Forest's perimeter. After all, both had been there more than once.
However, this time the fenced pasture no longer contained the three-headed dog he'd called Fluffy.
Neither bothered to investigate where the large dog had gone.
"Everyone gather around this fence!"
Hagrid was tall and burly with a booming voice that naturally amplified sound. Even in this open countryside, he didn't need to cast a Sonorus charm when speaking normally.
"Make sure everyone can see. Now, first you need to open your textbooks—"
"How do we open them?" Malfoy interrupted Hagrid with a lazy voice.
Hagrid didn't immediately react, "?"
"I said, how do we open the textbooks?"
Although his tone was annoying, this time he really wasn't deliberately causing trouble.
He pulled out his copy of "The Monster Book of Monsters" from his bag and showed it to Hagrid.
Obviously, Malfoy had accomplished what Harry had wanted to do but couldn't—he'd tied the book up tightly with rope.
Following his lead, other students also took out their textbooks.
Some had bound their books like Malfoy, others had stuffed them into narrow, tight bags, and some had simply clamped them shut with large clips.
Seeing this scene, Harry felt somewhat strange. He'd clearly written to Hagrid mentioning that this situation might occur today—had he done nothing about it?
Harry never imagined that although Hagrid had received his letter, he'd only focused on the first part of the content.
He'd completely ignored Harry's warning.
Because in Hagrid's view, simply stroking "The Monster Book of Monsters" to calm them down was such an obvious thing that it didn't need special explanation.
What Confidence!
This resulted in the current situation.
Regardless, Harry felt he needed to support Hagrid.
Without a word, he took out "The Monster Book of Monsters," ready to stop Malfoy.
However, someone moved faster than him. "Hehe, not even knowing the correct way to open it—how ridiculous!"
Ron quickly pulled out the book, then stroked along the spine from top to bottom. The book that had been ready to bite immediately lay flat.
Following Ron's demonstration, other students also took out "The Monster Book of Monsters" and, under Malfoy's increasingly ugly stare, flattened them like Ron had done.
The students looked around at each other and discovered that those who didn't know this trick were actually not many—probably only about one-thirds of the class.
They were the ones who had bought their books before Sherlock visited Flourish and Blotts.
At that time, the bookstore manager hadn't yet learned the correct opening method.
But young wizards who bought books after that naturally received instruction from the bookstore manager.
Once they learned the correct opening method, they would naturally teach their friends and relatives.
This left the students led by Malfoy feeling rather embarrassed.
Seeing this scene, Hagrid was quite happy. "Exactly right! Just stroke them a bit and that's it. Isn't that fun?"
Hagrid didn't realize he'd benefited from Sherlock and Harry's influence, but was still confidently thinking this was perfectly natural.
If all the students hadn't known the correct opening method, Malfoy would have started mocking by now.
However, facing the strange looks from most people, he was struck speechless.
In contrast, Hagrid was full of confidence, directly having everyone find today's stars in their textbooks—hippogriffs.
"Just like their name suggests, hippogriffs have eagle heads, wings, and horse bodies.
They originate from Europe but are now widely distributed around the world but that's not important. I think you'd much rather see them than just look at pictures, right?"
Looking at the illustrations and descriptions in the book, all the students exchanged glances.
'How to put it?'
They did want to see them, but these creatures were classified as XXX by the British Ministry of Magic.
Although last year's Lockhart had frequently brought XXX or even XXXX level magical creatures to class.
But that was Lockhart—someone who could match Professor Snape.
Did Hagrid have that ability?
Hagrid didn't notice the doubt in the students' eyes and continued in his booming voice.
"Very good! I can see your eagerness!
You stay here and don't move—I'll bring the little darlings over soon!"
Watching Hagrid turn and stride decisively into the Forbidden Forest, everyone couldn't help but exchange glances again.
"Eagerness?"
"Little darlings?"
"Us?"
This... this wasn't right, was it?
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