Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.
Chapter 173: Returning a Favor, Fencing Begins
Chapter 173: Returning a Favor, Fencing Begins
This is Sherlock's second time setting foot in the Forbidden Forest.
Last time, because he followed Hagrid all the way, and there were interference from the centaurs who didn't speak human language, and because he was eager to investigate the unicorn attack, Sherlock didn't have time to explore this forbidden area properly.
This time it's different.
Voldemort had already fled in a puff of black smoke.
In this way, the only danger left to the Forbidden Forest is itself.
A not-so-cold trivia: the Forbidden Forest, also known as the Dark Forest, is located to the west of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
As the saying goes, the forest lives up to its name. Due to the dense trees that block the sunlight, it is still very dark in the forbidden forest even during the day, not to mention at night.
The forbidden forest has a special ecological environment and there are streams in the forest.
According to Hagrid's last introduction, there are a lot of thorn grass, yew trees, oaks and two-eared grass growing here, as well as many magical animals.
According to the Ministry of Magic's classification of magical creatures, many animals are considered quite dangerous.
This is why Hogwarts prohibits students from entering it.
Since he could not perform magic during the summer vacation, Sherlock spent a lot of time improving his theoretical knowledge in order to arm his mind.
Now is the best opportunity to use theory to guide practice.
Under the invisibility cloak, Sherlock's hawk-like sharp gray eyes sparkled, his gaze full of excitement, and his cheeks flushed slightly.
The adventure begins.
At the outermost edge of the Forbidden Forest is Hagrid's Golden Hut.
Today, after sending the first-year students across the lake on the ferry, he had already returned home.
Even though it was late at night and everyone was asleep, the light was still on in the cabin.
The shadow of Hagrid's huge body on the window was constantly moving back and forth.
Sherlock walked lightly around the side and came to the pasture on the other side.
Then he saw an old friend.
Fluffy, a three-headed dog.
After the Philosopher's Stone was moved, Fluffy was taken back to the Forbidden Forest by Hagrid.
Fluffy is extremely vicious towards everyone except Hagrid, and once caused great harm to Professor Snape.
But its weakness is equally obvious: it will make you drowsy as soon as you hear music.
However, even though there was no one accompanying him at this moment, Maomao was still asleep.
As soon as Sherlock saw this huge hound, he couldn't help but think of its former owner.
Baskerville, the Greek translator.
Then he remembered the bizarre case in which he was implicated because of his job as a translator.
To this day, the murderer, who goes by the alias John Smith, has still not been apprehended.
This also made Sherlock feel that the Ministry of Magic was more incompetent.
It is understandable that they cannot catch the person, but with the cooperation between the two countries' Ministries of Magic, it is hard to understand that there is still no clue at all.
And there was the case of Hannah Abbott's father last time.
If it weren't for the Malfoy family's house-elf Dobby trying to stop Harry from going to school, which attracted the lady from the Ministry of Magic.
Sherlock didn't even know that Black Light, who was destined to be judged, could actually leave through the gate openly.
I can only say that this organization is really a makeshift team.
In some ways, even worse than Scotland Yard.
Sherlock shook his head, threw away the unnecessary thoughts, then said goodbye to Maomao and officially entered the Forbidden Forest.
As soon as he stepped into the Forbidden Forest, Sherlock immediately felt something different.
Given his current strength, it is actually quite risky to act alone.
But because of this, he found it more exciting and interesting.
Of course, it was impossible for him to visit the entire Forbidden Forest, even just the outer part, in just one night.
Sherlock's purpose was clear: to familiarize himself with the environment and draw a complete map of the Forbidden Forest in his mind.
It sounds like a fantasy, but for Sherlock, who has a memory attic, all he needs is time.
Spend one to two weeks exploring one or two paths that can lead you deep into the forbidden forest and back safely.
Use the remaining time to gradually expand the search range.
Until the end, the entire forbidden forest will be incorporated into his own memory attic.
Don't worry, there's plenty of time.
With this idea in mind, Sherlock's adventure that night went very smoothly.
In the process of opening up a path, he also saw magical creatures that he had only seen in textbooks before.
Cattail, Bowtruckle, and Fairy.
All three are classified as ×× in the Ministry of Magic's classification system, and are almost harmless.
The cat is a spherical animal covered with soft, creamy-yellow fur. It has a docile personality and does not react particularly to being hugged or thrown by people.
At the same time, it is also a scavenger, quite similar to the ghoul in Ron's attic. Leftovers, leftovers, spiders and everything else can be regarded as food.
When foraging, it will extend a very thin pink tongue from the middle of its body and stretch it around the room like a snake to search.
In addition, their favorite thing is to use their long tongues to eat the dried boogers of wizards while they sleep.
It is for this reason that it has become one of the most popular pets among wizards.
Of course, the price is much more expensive than ordinary pets.
The Bowtruckle is a tree-guarding animal with two small, faded eyes and a skin made of bark and twigs.
Like the cattail, this is also a magical animal with a peaceful temperament and usually feeds on insects.
The animals are normally extremely shy and tend to hide when the T. horridus is around.
Only when the trees they inhabit are threatened will they leap down from the trees and use their long, sharp fingers to dig out the eyes of the destroyers.
Because Bowtruckles avoid trees without magical properties, the trees they guard are often suitable for making wands.
Sherlock currently has no such need, so he naturally won't provoke them.
The fairy is the most special. Although it is less than five inches tall, it has a human body, head and limbs, and two large wings on its back.
Despite having the same appearance as humans, this magical creature not only cannot speak human language, but also has very low intelligence and can only make harsh buzzing sounds to communicate with its fellows.
This magical creature is also related to the Bowtruckle.
When wandmakers need wood for their wands, they often offer fairy eggs to Bowtruckle.
That will appease the Bowtruckle long enough to get the wood it needs.
After seeing three magical creatures, Sherlock's curiosity was satisfied.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Sherlock decided to return.
However, the moment he turned around, he paused and stopped where he was.
Sherlock's stealth skills are very high.
There is no doubt about this.
Last year, when I took Harry on a night tour of Hogwarts, it was obviously Harry who was wearing the invisible cloak, but in the end, Harry almost lost Sherlock more than once.
On the other hand, Sherlock can always find Harry accurately even when he is invisible.
This made Harry wonder more than once who was wearing the Invisibility Cloak.
By now, Sherlock really has put on the invisibility cloak.
In this case, it is almost impossible for anyone to discover his whereabouts except for those professors with high levels of magic.
But even in this state, Sherlock felt a slight chill on his back.
His innate sensitivity and rich experience allowed him to quickly realize what was targeting him.
Judging from the pressure the other party brought to Sherlock, this thing was at least level XXX in the Ministry of Magic's classification level, and it might even be level XXX.
Sherlock immediately began to think about what kind of magical creatures of this level there were in the Forbidden Forest, and how to deal with them after encountering them.
However, to his surprise, just as he picked out the information of these creatures in the memory attic and began to screen them, the other party showed up on his own initiative.
Accompanied by a hissing sound, a four-hoofed creature slowly walked out from the bushes.
Judging from its appearance alone, it looks like a snow-white horse with a very beautiful appearance.
However, it has a silver horn on its head.
unicorn.
According to "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", unicorns are classified as ×××× in the British magic department and are generally distributed in the forests of Northern Europe.
They are classified as ×××× level because their personalities are very different from their docile appearance and they have the strength to fight large animals.
The unicorn is full of treasures. Its horn, blood and fur all have strong magical effects.
The horn has the effect of detoxifying. Rumor has it that a knife with a handle made of unicorn horn can be used to determine whether the food is poisonous when cutting it, but this news has not been confirmed so far.
It is a well-known fact that tail hair can be used to make wands, and wands with unicorn cores have always been popular in Ollivander's wand shop.
Silver-white blood can prolong life, but if used improperly, it can also bring about a terrible curse.
Last semester, in order to regain a body, Voldemort ordered Quirrell, who was possessed by him, to hunt unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and force them to donate blood.
When he was about to attack the second unicorn, he was stopped by Sherlock and Harry.
Unexpectedly, after more than half a year, Sherlock saw this magical creature again.
Seeing the unicorn appear, Sherlock stood still.
Logically speaking, he was still invisible at this time and should not have been discovered by the unicorn.
Even if a magical creature of level ×××× possessed keen perception and really discovered that he was hiding under the invisibility cloak, given the unicorn's personality, he should not have revealed himself on his own initiative.
Because they generally avoid contact with humans and prefer to be approached by witches rather than wizards.
To Sherlock's surprise, the next moment, the unicorn actually walked up to him.
It turned around in place, as if hesitating for a moment, then lowered its head and leaned towards him.
After confirming that he had touched Sherlock's body, he actually started rubbing it.
Its movements were very intimate, completely lacking the distant attitude described in textbooks that kept people at a distance.
At this point, Sherlock's invisibility cloak was useless.
After all, an invisibility cloak only makes a person invisible, not disappearing.
"I see."
At the same time, looking at the unicorn so close, Sherlock finally understood why the other party had such an attitude towards him.
Because this was the unicorn that he and Harry had rescued from Voldemort's clutches.
This unique and intimate attitude is probably because I am its savior.
In a sense, it can be considered as repaying a favor.
"What a surprise! It seems you recognized me too."
Sherlock reached out and touched the unicorn, then squatted down to examine it for a moment, and then said with certainty: "Your injury will heal in a while."
Although unicorns cannot speak, they can understand human speech.
Hearing Sherlock say this, the unicorn rubbed its head against Sherlock again.
The silver-white horns on its forehead emitted a faint glow, indicating that it was very happy.
"I don't have time to catch up with you tonight. I'm leaving soon."
Hearing Sherlock say this, the unicorn bent down on its own initiative.
"Does this mean I can ride on it?"
Seeing the unicorn nod, Sherlock didn't act pretentiously and jumped directly onto the beast's back.
The unicorn raised its head and cried out, then rushed towards the outside of the Forbidden Forest, carrying Sherlock.
As we all know, once a unicorn starts running, its speed can reach a very fast level in just a few seconds.
This is an important skill that enables it to survive in the wild and avoid being captured by natural enemies.
It was also for this reason that Sherlock returned to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest in a shorter time than before.
Sherlock really didn't expect that he would have an unexpected gain on this trip.
Not only did he meet the unicorn he had saved before, but the unicorn was also very friendly to him and even carried him out of the forbidden forest.
But then again, for a magical animal like a unicorn that possesses a certain degree of intelligence, it is not uncommon to repay a favor.
On the contrary, it is common for humans to repay kindness with enmity.
In any case, with the help of the unicorn who has a good impression of me, it will be a help when exploring the forbidden forest in the future.
"Thank you my friend!"
After saying goodbye to the reluctant unicorn, Sherlock returned to the dormitory.
At this time, the four people including Harry had already fallen asleep.
Ron was smacking his lips in his sleep, as if he was tasting some delicious food.
After spending a night in the Forbidden Forest, even Sherlock was tired.
Once he lay down on the bed, Sherlock felt tired and fell asleep quickly.
But the next morning, Sherlock was back to his full spirits.
Harry, who was awakened, looked at his elder brother with admiration.
He goes to bed later than me and wakes up earlier than me. He is really energetic!
Remembering that Ron had told him during the summer vacation that he would call him for morning exercises this semester, Harry began to shake Ron.
"W-what's the matter?"
Ron said drowsily in his sleep.
"Go for morning exercise!"
Harry said, "Ron, get up!"
Ron rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. A thin layer of mist covered the pink and pale gold sky.
"Oh my bloody mother of hell!"
Ron complained, "Old Ha, genius has just dawned."
"You're right," Harry said, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Didn't you say during the summer vacation that if Sherlock and I were going to do morning exercises, we would ask you to come along."
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll go with you guys tomorrow! I'm really tired today, let me sleep a little longer!"
"Hey, hello!"
Looking at Ron falling back asleep, Harry couldn't help but sigh.
He knew this would be the result.
In the end, on the first day of school, only Sherlock and Harry went for morning exercise.
When he and Sherlock arrived at the Black Lake and started jogging, Harry couldn't help but ask:
"Sherlock, how was last night?"
"We simply checked the activity ranges of some creatures. It will take some time to obtain complete information."
Harry nodded, which was to be expected.
As one of the few students who had been to the depths of the Forbidden Forest, he knew very well how vast this area was.
But it's a pity that since Sherlock has to go into the Forbidden Forest alone at night during this period, his night classes have to be temporarily suspended.
After all, with his current strength, he is not sure if he can travel around Hogwarts alone at night without wearing an invisibility cloak.
Correspondingly, Sherlock has to increase the intensity of his morning exercises.
After jogging, it is the second stage of morning exercise.
Sherlock first had Harry do a set of punches.
"Good. It seems you practiced during the summer vacation."
Harry couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he heard Sherlock say that.
"Well...actually Dudley couldn't help much either."
While living at Privet Drive, Dudley saw Harry practicing boxing.
So he offered to help as a way of repaying the favor of the magic snacks and diet pills.
But Harry suspected that Dudley was just looking for a legitimate reason to beat him up.
However, he also agreed with one of Dudley's words.
When it comes to boxing, you need an opponent to improve quickly.
The results proved that Dudley was right.
After taking quite a few punches from Dudley, Harry made rapid progress.
Sherlock stared at Harry and thought for a moment, then spoke in Harry's delighted eyes:
"Dear Harry, I think you can start fencing lessons with me now."
"really?"
Harry was so happy to hear Sherlock's words.
He has wanted to fencing with Sherlock for a long time!
Until now, Harry still feels bad that he failed to help Sherlock in the Forbidden Forest and the Philosopher's Stone room last semester.
Especially the battle with Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest.
Apart from sending out a distress signal, he did almost nothing.
However, when he first faced Voldemort in the Philosopher's Stone room, he successfully used the boxing he learned from Sherlock and achieved great results.
But in the final analysis, it was also because of the strength left to me by my deceased mother.
Without the blessing of maternal love, it would be difficult to cause harm to Quirrell who was possessed by Voldemort with his fists alone.
After that, every time he thought about it, he still felt that fighting with a sword like Shylock was better.
Especially since the vast majority of wizards and witches use wands to cast spells.
It would be really exciting if you could pull out your sword and hit your opponent in the kidney unexpectedly like Sherlock did.
"Dear friend, fencing is more difficult than boxing. You must be prepared for a long period of study."
"no problem!"
Harry nodded heavily.
As long as I follow Sherlock, I'm not afraid of anything!
"Well, first you need two sticks."
Sherlock and Harry are both lucky people.
They wandered around the Black Lake and found the kind of branches that any boy would like.
Two natural, unprocessed, straight long wooden sticks.
Looking at the excited Harry, Sherlock began to impart his experience:
"Brother, your dominant hand is your right, so you need to use your left hand to hold the shield for defense."
"Shield in the left hand?"
"That's right, the left hand shield is for defense, and the right hand sword is for attack."
Sherlock demonstrated the move himself, "When necessary, the shield in your left hand can be turned from defense to offense—this is the shield strike."
"Is that what you did to Voldemort before? It sounds difficult."
"It's not difficult at all, actually. You're very talented. As long as you practice hard, you'll be able to be like me sooner or later."
"no problem!"
"By the way, remember to ask Hagrid for some rock biscuits when you have time. I think he'd be happy to help."
"Uh... okay, but Sherlock, I think we'd better not tell him that this is used as a shield."
"Why don't you tell him?"
"Uh...well..."
After morning exercise, Sherlock and Harry first put the two long and straight wooden sticks back to the dormitory, and then went to the auditorium for breakfast.
When the two appeared, Hermione and Ron both looked at them strangely.
When the two of them sat down, Ron couldn't help but lower his voice and said:
"Lion King and Savior, aren't you too hardworking? This is only the first day of school!"
He didn't know that Sherlock had gone to the Forbidden Forest last night, but the fact that the two of them could go for morning exercise so early in the morning was enough to surprise him.
how to say?
The bed at this time is so tempting!
If he didn't have classes in the morning, he would sleep until the sun was shining on his butt.
However, just because he can't do it doesn't stop him from admiring those who can.
Hermione wasn't as surprised as Ron, but she still frowned and said:
"School has just started. We should at least rest well and adjust our sleep and rest schedule for the next two days, right?"
In fact, Hermione didn't get up too late.
It’s just that morning exercise outdoors obviously burns more calories than reading indoors.
Hearing Hermione's words, Ron nodded repeatedly:
"Sherlock, Hermione is right!"
Then Sherlock choked them both back with one sentence:
"Yes, but not necessary."
"..."
Sherlock seemed not to notice the two people's speechless expressions and said calmly:
"Ron, please give me that class schedule before you shovel that steak into your mouth."
"Let Hermione give it to you. I'm busy..."
Ron was even faster than Sherlock had imagined.
His hand was about to reach for the steak when Sherlock spoke.
By the time Sherlock had finished speaking, he had already started fighting with the steak.
So at this time I can only say sorry to Sherlock.
(End of this chapter)
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