"Sherlock, you're giving me quite a surprise today, aren't you?"
Upon hearing Sherlock's invitation, Harry's eyes widened in astonishment.
For him, being able to stay at Hogwarts was already a pretty good option.
He never would have imagined that Sherlock would invite him home for the holidays. This was definitely an unexpected delight.
Sherlock nodded, then turned to Ron. "And you too, Ron."
Ron froze, pointing at himself. "Me?"
"Yes, you don't need to stay at school either. Come to my house with Harry."
"But Ron didn't need to stay at school anyway, did he?" Hermione asked with some confusion.
"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are going to Romania to visit Charlie Weasley. Ron and his three brothers will all be staying at school this time."
"How do you know that?"
Ron's eyes widened even more than Harry's had earlier. "I haven't even told you all yet!"
Sherlock smiled slightly at him. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Uh... never mind then. It's definitely through observation and deduction again."
Ron said somewhat dejectedly.
Every time he heard Sherlock's reasoning process; he felt like his intelligence was being utterly crushed.
So, unless it was necessary, he'd rather skip that process.
Besides, even if Sherlock didn't explain, he could already vaguely guess some of it.
After all, just a few days ago, he had sent letters home via owl.
With Sherlock's observational abilities, deducing this would be ridiculously simple.
In any case, thanks to Sherlock's invitation, Harry and Ron would be spending their Christmas holiday at Sherlock's house.
Out of a show-off mentality, Ron soon "accidentally" spread this news around.
After all, Sherlock was now quite a prominent figure at school.
Although his personality was eccentric and he would often offend people when speaking, that ability to look at you once and deduce what you did yesterday still earned the admiration of all the young wizards.
Moreover, as long as you could ignore the unpleasant aspects of his personality and just focus on consulting him, the experience was actually quite good.
Under these circumstances, receiving an invitation from him was undoubtedly something worth bragging about.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have told everyone about this... Achoo!"
Hearing Malfoy's mockery directed at Harry, Ron said in a muffled voice.
With the holidays approaching, Ron had caught a cold, and even his voice had changed.
"It's fine..." Harry had just started to speak when Sherlock calmly said, "Why apologize? You were just stating a fact."
Ron: (o≖◡≖)
This was the first time Ron felt Sherlock's words sounded so pleasant.
He immediately straightened his back.
Right, Malfoy was the one in the wrong—what did it have to do with him, Ronald?
"Potter, talking during class time—five points from Gryffindor!"
By now, Harry had completely gotten used to having points deducted for various reasons.
Especially after hearing Sherlock's explanation of Professor Snape's true feelings during that first Potions class, Harry's view of him had changed completely.
He was, after all, a kind child, and after learning the truth...
Of course he chose to forgive him!
So, at this moment, he appeared completely nonchalant.
This made Snape even more irritated.
By the time he had deducted so many points that Gryffindor became "Gryffinf*ck," Potions class had just ended.
Everyone left the dungeon classroom, only to discover that the corridor ahead was completely blocked by a huge fir tree.
At first everyone was puzzled, but when they saw the two large feet at the base of the tree and heard the loud puffing and panting, they immediately understood who was behind the tree.
There was only one person in all of Hogwarts who could manage this task using just his own strength without magic.
Ron curiously poked his head through the branches and indeed saw a familiar bearded face.
"Hey, Hagrid, do you need... cough cough... help?"
"No thanks, I can manage on my own. Thank you though, Ron."
"Move aside, good dogs don't block the way!"
Just as the two were having their friendly exchange, Malfoy's voice came from behind Ron.
"I suppose you're hoping to earn some pocket money, Weasley? Or perhaps you're hoping to become a gamekeeper yourself after graduating from Hogwarts? After all, Hagrid's hut would be like a palace compared to your original home."
It had to be said, Malfoy was quite skilled at being sarcastic.
Moreover, after hearing Sherlock's analysis last time, Ron had actually considered this possibility.
So predictably, he was now infuriated by Malfoy.
However, just as he was about to charge at Malfoy, Sherlock stopped him.
"Mr. Draco Malfoy."
When Malfoy saw Sherlock's gaze turn toward him, he couldn't help but shudder.
At this moment, he once again remembered the terror of being dominated by Sherlock that day.
Even though he hadn't been the one getting beaten.
"Not just the Weasley home—compared to your house, Hagrid's hut would also be a palace."
Ron, who had been smiling, suddenly stiffened.
'Wait, buddy.
Why are you stabbing your own allies while humiliating the enemy?'
"Holmes, you f—"
Learning from experience, Malfoy wasn't as foolish as Goyle.
So, when Sherlock's gray eyes looked over, he decisively shut his mouth halfway through his words, then lowered his head and quickly walked away.
A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him.
Endure!
Seeing this, Crabbe and Goyle followed him closely as he left.
"Sherlock, you really shouldn't have stopped me just now—I almost had him... Achoo!"
Watching Malfoy's retreating figure, Ron said through gritted teeth, his face as red as his hair.
Sherlock shook his head and looked to the side. "That way, you not only wouldn't have taught him a lesson, but you would have lost points."
Following Sherlock's gaze, everyone couldn't help but gasp.
Professor Snape had somehow appeared on the staircase.
Although after Sherlock's explanation, everyone believed he wasn't a bad person, if Ron had really charged forward just then, he would definitely be the one in trouble, not Malfoy.
Professor Snape slowly approached, his gaze sweeping over Ron as he said coldly:
"You should feel fortunate, Weasley. If Holmes hadn't stopped you, Gryffindor would have lost even more points because of your violence."
"Sherlock, thank goodness you noticed."
After Professor Snape turned and left, Harry said admiringly.
"No way, Sherlock... you've got to find me a chance to give that little punk a proper beating."
Ron spat on the ground, looking at Sherlock hopefully.
He believed that with Sherlock's abilities, creating such an opportunity wouldn't be difficult.
However, to his surprise, Sherlock said bluntly:
"You're not his match."
Ron: ε=furious ε=furious ε=furious ε=( o｀ω′)ノ
"How am I not... cough cough cough cough..."
Ron became agitated and coughed even more severely.
"Come on, cheer up—Christmas is almost here."
Hagrid gave Ron a hearty slap on the shoulder, which knocked both his complaints and his coughing right back into him.
"You should all come with me to see the Great Hall—it's absolutely wonderful."
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