Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 94 Maybe... I came at the wrong time

The Easter holidays are from the end of March to the beginning of April.

Just like Christmas, the little wizards can choose to go home or stay in school during the holidays.

Unlike the relaxing Christmas holidays, Hogwarts professors assign students a lot of homework every Easter.

This year is no exception.

Even a top student like Hermione would have to spend several days in the library to complete her homework on time.

Not to mention other students of ordinary level.

Not only that, the Quidditch teams of each college will also use this time to train and prepare for the final stage of the College Cup.

Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor house team, approached Harry early on about this.

"Potter, you won't be going home this holiday, right?"

Harry: "I..."

"Great, I knew you wouldn't come home!

I have already discussed this with the rest of the team. The weather is good this holiday and we can fly every day, which is a good time to train."

Harry: “Uh…”

"You know, we've won two games so far!
As long as we defeat Ravenclaw in the final match, we can get the championship trophy!"

When he said this, Wood's eyes flashed wildly.

The whole person exuded an aura that kept strangers away, which scared Seamus and Dean, who were trying to talk to Harry, so much that they dared not approach.

“It’s decided!
One week of closed training, one week of intensive training!
I'll let you know when the time comes!"

Harry: "..."

As soon as Wood left, the Weasley twins came over with their arms around each other.

"Hey, don't worry Potter, the training won't be as hard as he makes it sound."

"Oliver is already in fifth grade this year and has to prepare for the OWL exam."

"What exam?"

Harry didn't react for a moment.

"Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, or OWL exams for short."

At this moment, Hermione came over from somewhere.

"This is a subject-based examination that all fifth-year students must take, and it is administered by the Wizarding Examinations Authority.

Depending on the score a student achieves in a particular OWL exam subject, they will be able to continue studying that course in the following year.”

Hearing Hermione's words, the Weasley twins expressed their sincere admiration:
"As expected of Miss Know-It-All, she's only in first grade and already figured all this out!"

"So rest assured, Potter, have a happy holiday!"

"We have to go though, Lee Jordan thinks he's discovered a new secret passage that leads outside the school."

"I guess it's the passage behind the statue of Gregory the Flatterer? We found it on our first week at school. Bye."

After the twins staggered away, Hermione turned to Harry, "Are you going home this holiday?"

Harry shook his head.

Although his relationship with the Dursleys had improved a little with Sherlock's help, he was still reluctant to return to Privet Drive.

We can't spend Easter at Sherlock's house, right?

"The professors gave me so much homework that I won't go back. Besides, Wood just came to me and said he wanted to use the vacation to strengthen his training."

Hermione nodded. "Me too. I just asked Ron, and he doesn't plan to go back either. By the way, do you know where Sherlock is? He didn't go to the library today."

Harry shook his head again.

Even though he lived in the same dormitory with Sherlock, he never knew Sherlock's whereabouts.

If I have to use one word to describe it, it would be elusive.

Sometimes Harry even wondered if Sherlock had slipped away secretly wearing the Invisibility Cloak.

So even if he had agreed to Mycroft's surveillance request as Sherlock said, he would not have been able to do it.

Unless Sherlock deliberately let it slip.

Just as Harry and Hermione were scratching their heads, Dean and Seamus, who had been standing nearby waiting for a while, came over.

"Um, I seem to hear you talking about Sherlock Holmes?"

"Yes, do you know where he is?"

Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, we saw him when we came over here just now."

Next, Dean and Seamus took Harry to play wizard chess, and Hermione followed the directions pointed by Dean and Seamus to the auditorium.

It didn't take her long to find Sherlock.

Because he is not alone.

"Ravenclaw?"

Looking at the two girls sitting next to Sherlock, Hermione couldn't help but curl her lips and then walked over quickly.

When she got closer, she recognized that one of them was the girl who had come to see Sherlock before Christmas.

Hermione didn't know her name at the time.

But now she knew that the girl's name was Qiu Zhang, one of the few Asians in Hogwarts, and a second-year Ravenclaw student.

As for the other one...

"Penelope Clearwater?"

When she saw her face clearly, Hermione couldn't help but exclaim.

A fifth-year student and also the head student of Ravenclaw.

Her voice made the three of them turn their heads at the same time.

"Feel sorry……"

Hermione naturally felt that it was a bit rude to call someone by their name. By this time, she had guessed that these two people were most likely seeking advice from Sherlock, just like Hannah Abbott before.

"Maybe... I came at the wrong time."

"No, you came just in time."

Sherlock looked at Hermione, "I suppose Dean Thomas must have told you I was here?"

"Yes, and Seamus."

Since Sherlock said so, Hermione sat down.

Fortunately, she knew both Ravenclaw girls, so she didn't need Sherlock to introduce them, which saved some trouble.

As soon as Hermione sat down, she asked curiously:
"How did you tell? Because the direction I came from is the same direction they just left?"

"There's still time."

Sherlock tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "And the way you walked—I noticed you were walking straight towards me, which shows you came here with a strong purpose...Okay, let's not talk about these irrelevant topics, let's get down to business."

Sherlock turned to the two Ravenclaw witches.

"Now, ladies, tell my friend exactly what you have told me, and in as much detail as you can. It would be very useful for me to hear the whole story again.

Hermione, this case may or may not be very interesting.

But I thought you might be interested in this.

Now, I will not bother you any more."

Qiu Zhang and Penelope Clearwater looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

In fact, Qiu Zhang had just given Sherlock the beginning when he was stopped by the other party.

The reason is that his good friend will be coming over soon and that friend will be able to provide some help with this matter.

It wasn't long before Hermione Granger arrived.

If only it was like this.

But what surprised the two even more was that from the conversation between Sherlock and Hermione, it could be seen that Hermione herself knew nothing about this matter.

Being sorted into Ravenclaw House, his logical thinking ability must be good.

The two of them understood what this meant almost instantly, and looked at Sherlock with even more surprise.

Qiu Zhang glanced at Penelope Clearwater again, and then, encouraged by the latter, he slowly spoke:
"Actually, I didn't want to bother Mr. Holmes again - this is just a small matter, and I don't want to cause trouble for the college...

But Miss Penelope insisted that she should ask Mr. Holmes for help...

Miss Granger, I am not a good storyteller, so I can only describe what I have encountered in the most straightforward terms."

Hearing this, Sherlock immediately leaned forward slightly and supported his chin with his hands, which meant that he was beginning to concentrate.

"Please forgive my long-windedness, but this story must start from last Christmas.

My father was away on business for a long time, and even on such an important holiday, he was unable to come home in time to reunite with us.

Although my mother and I were unhappy, we could understand my father because he was so busy.

But we didn't expect that although he couldn't go home that day, he still made a special trip to bring me a gift.

It was a set of seven-color eye shadows brought from an ancient magic supplies store on Hangzhou Old Street, housed in a sandalwood frame carved with plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum.

My mother was especially happy when she received this gift.

She said that it was the craftsmanship of the century-old shop in Qinghefang. The eyeshadow was made using ancient mineral color bases, and even the white porcelain used was re-fired from the Longquan kiln.

Mr. Holmes, Miss Granger, to be honest, I was stunned when I opened the presents.

Because it is indeed very exquisite, seven porcelain plates are inlaid in a sandalwood frame with relief carvings of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, from dark green to purple, as if the four seasons of Jiangnan are condensed in a small space.

After returning to school, I kept it in my dressing box.

My friends also like it very much, and we have already planned to go out together this Easter..."

Having said that, Qiu Zhang took a deep breath.

Sherlock and Hermione both stared at her intently.

Obviously, what she was going to talk about next was the key point of the matter.

"...It was the last Potions class before Easter. My friends and I returned to the dormitory as usual, only to find that the dressing box was back where it was, but the sandalwood box had disappeared.

We carefully checked the entire dormitory, but still found nothing. After asking other people, we confirmed that no one had been in the dormitory. "

Qiu Zhang smiled bitterly, "I think it's possible that I put it somewhere and forgot where I was..."

I actually don’t think it’s a big deal; it’s just an ordinary box of cosmetics.”

After Qiu Zhang finished speaking, Sherlock glanced at Hermione, then leaned back slightly with a thoughtful expression on his face.

After a moment, he slowly said:

"Excuse me, your description just now consists mostly of useless information, but there isn't much that's actually useful to the case."

Listening to Sherlock's blunt criticism, a blush flashed across Qiu Zhang's face.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes, I don't know what information would be helpful to you..."

Sherlock interrupted Qiu Zhang and asked directly:
"Is there anything special about that box of eyeshadow?"

"Simply speaking, the seven colors are rich and unique. There's the golden red that symbolizes auspiciousness, which can make the eyes emit a warm and bright glow after application.

The mysterious blue color represents the deep stars in the night sky, giving the eyes a sense of mystery and depth.

The elegant pink is like peach blossoms blooming in spring, showing tenderness and sweetness...

These colors are not made from ordinary pigments, but are blended with a variety of rare magical plants and mineral powders.

So these seven-color eye shadows are not just used for beauty makeup, they also have certain magical effects.

When you are in a state of tension, you can apply light blue eyeshadow, which represents tranquility and can help soothe your mind.

Gold eyeshadow that sparkles with fine light can make the wearer more charming and attract other people's attention when used in social occasions.

It can be said that each eye shadow contains a unique magical charm."

Sherlock listened patiently to Qiu Zhang's introduction to the seven-color eye shadow, and then began to ask other questions.

(End of this chapter)