Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 168 A Horseless Carriage

There is no doubt that Professor Gilderoy Lockhard is a handsome and elegant man.

At this moment on the train platform, he was like a shining star among the crowd.

The eerie and terrifying Professor Snape scared many little witches so much that their eyes turned red and tears welled up in their eyes.

Many people with fragile mental qualities even burst into tears.

In this situation, Professor Lockhart fully demonstrated his affinity.

On this cold night, the smile on his face was as warm and charming as the spring sun.

He bent down slightly, comforted the little witches in a soft voice, and patted their shoulders from time to time and handed them a handkerchief.

The little witches were sobbing at first, but after he coaxed them, they immediately burst into laughter.

The look in his eyes when he looked at Professor Lockhart was full of admiration and love, as if he was a hero who saved the world.

Not only the little witches, but even many little boy wizards fall for his tricks.

Looking good really helps!

What's more, he speaks so nicely.

When it comes to being able to provide emotional value to oneself, men and women have the same attitude.

Under such circumstances, Professor Lockhart attracted a lot of fans and soon gained a group of followers.

"Harry, was Ginny present when Mr. Weasley and old Malfoy had that fight?"

Just then, Hermione suddenly asked.

"She was with George and Fred, and we were all there. What happened?"

Harry scratched his head and looked at Hermione with a puzzled look.

Hermione didn't answer, but frowned, her eyes growing more serious.

She looked at Ginny and felt something was wrong.

how to say?

Everyone was very nervous about this situation, especially the first-year students who had just entered Hogwarts this year.

but……

Hermione frowned, her eyes fixed on Ginny not far away.

The little girl seemed a little too nervous.

She stood in the line with other first-year students, her hands unconsciously tugging at the corners of her clothes, her body trembling slightly, and a trace of unconcealable panic in her eyes.

However, the honesty detector in Professor McGonagall's hand did not react at all, and Professor Snape's mirror did not emit any unusual signal.

Hermione then secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that perhaps she was overthinking it.

Then she glanced at Professor Lockhart, who was surrounded by a group of little witches, and a hint of envy flashed in her eyes.

The little witches gathered around Professor Lockhart, chirping like a group of happy little birds, with happy smiles on their faces.

Professor Lockhart, who was surrounded by them, was smiling. The amazing thing was that even at night, his teeth were still shining, making people feel close to him.

Hermione opened her mouth, but closed it helplessly.

She knew that she definitely couldn't squeeze in at this time, so she could only sigh silently.

"It's finally over!"

Ron looked at the last few Hufflepuff students in the line, breathed a sigh of relief, and his shoulders relaxed.

The Hufflepuff students were the largest group, like a surging sea of ​​people, but the inspection speed was astonishingly fast.

There was only one item in the entire college that caught the attention of Professor Snape's looking glass, and it was given to him by a classmate from Slytherin College.

This made Professor Snape's face as black as the bottom of a pot.

The hand holding the spyglass trembled slightly, and his eyes looking at Slytherin became more gloomy.

The little snakes were silent and trembling under his gaze.

Professor, come on, we are allies!

Harry Potter is over there, go find him!
In fact, Snape was indeed more serious than others when examining Harry.

Unfortunately, this is of no use.

Harry was as pure as Lily.

After the last few Hufflepuff students finished their examinations, Professor McGonagall glanced at Dumbledore and nodded at him.

After all the young wizards finished checking, they did not find any dark magic items that were "enough to kill Mr. Harry Potter" as the elf Dobby said.

Professor McGonagall knew it clearly. It seemed that the disappearance of the house-elves had finally made Lucius Malfoy more vigilant and he would not do such a thing as trying to fish in troubled waters again.

This also proves that Dumbledore was right, Lucius Malfoy's loyalty to Voldemort is questionable.

Even if he really wanted to take some action, such a large ambush should have made him understand Hogwarts' determination, and he would not take any other action afterwards.

Seeing that the sky was covered with dark clouds and a heavy rain was inevitable, Professor McGonagall immediately said to Sherlock with a serious face:

"Mr. Holmes, the inspection is over. Please return to your team now!"

Sherlock had no objection to this. Through the inspection just now, he had indeed gained a lot of knowledge.

At this time, he naturally returned to Harry, Hermione and Ron with satisfaction.

"Sherlock, when did you just run over there?"

Hermione asked as soon as Sherlock came back.

On the other hand, Professor Snape also walked up to Gilderoy Lockhart, who was surrounded by a group of witches, and said to him with a cold face:
"Professor Lockhart! Please put away your smile. The inspection is over and we need to return to the castle!"

If McGonagall's attitude towards Sherlock can be described as cold, then Snape's attitude towards Professor Lockhart can be described as gnashing of teeth.

The little witches who were swept by his eyes fell silent as if retreating like a tide, leaving only Professor Lockhart with a helpless look on his face.

"Severus dear, I think you frightened them."

Watching his fans leave under Professor Snape's intimidation, Lockhart gave Professor Snape a bright smile:

"I think you might as well be more tolerant of our little wizard."

It has to be said that in terms of appearance alone, Gilderoy Lockhart is indeed worthy of being the five-time winner of the "Most Charming Smile Award".

At this moment, he stood out among all the wizards. Just standing there, people couldn't help but feel a sense of intimacy. Unfortunately, his tricks didn't seem to work on Snape.

"First, don't call me Severus. Our relationship isn't that good yet."

Snape almost squeezed out these words from between his teeth.

"Secondly, don't give me that smile like that. I'm afraid I won't be able to eat dinner later!"

After saying this, he turned around and left, leaving the embarrassed Professor Lockhart there.

"Let's go, Gilderoy. As Severus said, we have a lot of things to do next."

At this time, Dumbledore walked over to Lockhart and comforted him.

"Thank you for your understanding, Headmaster Albus."

Dumbledore frowned when he heard Lockhart address him, but he did not forbid Lockhart to call him by his name like Snape did.

Professors Flitwick and Sprout walked right past Lockhart, pretending not to see him.

Both of them were extremely annoyed.

Today's matter clearly only required the deans of the four colleges to come, but Lockhart insisted that he was the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and could help at a time like this, and forced himself to come with them.

But after arriving here, he did not do his job properly, but showed off his charm among a group of witches... oh, and wizards as well.

Simply disgusting.

I really don't know why Dumbledore asked him to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this academic year.

Maybe it’s because of the curse that I can’t find a suitable candidate.

Only Professor McGonagall, the Vice-President, knew the reason.

After Professor Quirrell left last semester, the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts became vacant again.

This seemed to confirm the rumor once again - this position was cursed and no one could stay there for more than a year.

In this situation, Dumbledore took the initiative to find Gilderoy Lockhart.

In fact, Lockhart was not enthusiastic about this at first because he was at the peak of his career.

In this situation, Dumbledore used his ultimate move.

He hinted that Lockhart, once appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, could teach Harry Potter, a second-year student.

As the "savior of the wizarding world", the "boy who lived", and the teacher of the "Dark Lord's nemesis", as long as the business is managed well, Lockhart can gain higher popularity than doing anything else.

Operations are precisely Lockhart's strengths.

Ultimately, the desire for fame overcame caution, and Gilderoy Lockhart accepted the job.

"I don't know."

Professor McGonagall was actually quite dissatisfied with Dumbledore's behavior, and even her accent changed.

"What do you think students can learn from this vain, fame-seeking person?"

"Dear Minerva, I think they can learn a lot from a teacher: what not to do, what kind of person not to be."

Such an explanation certainly could not satisfy the always rigorous Professor McGonagall.

However, she helplessly discovered that apart from Lockhart, no one else had applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts course.

It's not him, it's him.

For professors other than Dumbledore and McGonagall, Lockhart's arrival was even more difficult to understand.

Especially old professors like Flitwick and Straub.

Although Lockhart later achieved a lot, they still remembered what kind of person Lockhart was in school.

He is obviously smarter than most of his classmates and has good talents. As long as he works hard, he will reap the rewards.

But he just spent more of his energy on craving the attention of others.

Under such circumstances, they naturally would not give Lockhart a good face.

As the professors left, the students also set out on the journey to Hogwarts under guidance.

For students who have reached the second grade, they no longer have to take a boat across Black Lake like last year, but instead take a carriage to the castle with students from grades three to seven.

So Hagrid just said hello to Sherlock, Harry and the others, and then led the first-year students to another way.

At this time, outside the station, more than a hundred horseless carriages were waiting for them.

According to senior students, they are responsible for sending students above the first grade to the castle every year.

"I'm so glad we don't have to take the ferry across the lake in this weather. First graders really have it tough!"

It was raining now. Ron muttered, "How about we take this one? It looks more solid than the others."

"I think these carriages must be under a spell, so they can move on their own."

Hermione was observing these horseless carriages. After hearing what Ron said, she couldn't help but say:
"Ron, your sister has to be ferried across the lake too, can't you act like a brother?"

Ron also felt that what he said was indeed not good, but he couldn't help but whispered:
"She'll take care of herself... Sherlock, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing Sherlock standing there without moving, Ron couldn't help but ask.

"Are you sure these carriages are moving on their own because they're enchanted?"

"I'm not sure, but isn't that what Hermione said?"

Ron spread his hands and looked at Hermione, indicating that he was just a bystander and if he had any questions, he should ask the top student.

Hermione frowned. "I'm not sure, but there doesn't seem to be any other explanation, right?"

"Yeah, a carriage that moves without a horse can only be enchanted, right?"

Harry echoed.

"No Mara..."

Sherlock's eyes swept over everyone present, and a hint of understanding appeared in his eyes.

"Get in the car!"

He turned around again and took a deep look at the carriages, then climbed onto the one closest to him first.

(End of this chapter)