Having inadvertently made a bet with Sherlock, Harry picked up the last letter, which was from Hogwarts.
He was somewhat surprised to find this letter was much thicker than the previous two years.
Tearing open the envelope, the first piece of parchment was the same as always, still notifying him to arrive at King's Cross Station punctually on September 1st, with the Hogwarts Express departing from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at eleven o'clock sharp.
Next was the customary book list enclosed with the letter. Harry didn't look at it because he was attracted by a special notice.
Third-year students are permitted to visit Hogsmeade village on certain weekends. Please have the enclosed permission form signed by a parent or guardian
"Hogsmeade!"
Harry exclaimed and hurriedly pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form to read.
It was precisely because of its presence that this envelope was thicker than previous years.
The Hogsmeade permission form detailed the situation of Hogsmeade village, pointing out that it was the only all-wizard village in all of Britain.
For Hogwarts students, only those who had reached third year and obtained permission from parents or other guardians were allowed to visit here for study on certain weekends.
Simply put, Hogsmeade village was Hogwarts school's officially designated off-campus activity practice base.
The train station that the Hogwarts Express relied on was located near this village.
Harry carefully put away the permission form and looked enviously at Sherlock. "Sherlock, I remember you went there in first year, right?"
"For the Greek Translator case, once with Professor Hagrid, once with Professor Flitwick."
Harry was so focused on Hogsmeade village that he didn't notice the change in how Sherlock addressed Hagrid.
"Haven't you been back since?"
"No, except for investigating cases, there's nothing I need there."
Harry found that Sherlock didn't seem very interested in Hogsmeade.
But Harry was different. To him, this was a very wonderful thing.
"Thank you, Sherlock. If not for your help, my relationship with the Dursleys would still be terrible, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia definitely wouldn't have signed the form for me."
"You're welcome. So, you want to go there on weekends?"
"Yes!"
Harry's green eyes sparkled, full of anticipation for the future:
"Now I just need to have Hedwig take the permission form to Aunt Petunia, and she'll definitely be happy to do this for me."
"Then I suggest you wait at least a week."
"Why?"
"Dear friend, you seem to have forgotten why you came here."
"Oh right, Aunt Marge!"
Harry slapped his forehead. "I was so happy here that I forgot about that!
You're right, I'll have to wait until Aunt Marge leaves before writing. There's plenty of time anyway."
"It's almost dawn, my friend. We should rest."
"Uh..."
Harry couldn't help but blush.
Yes, it was so late without realizing it.
Thinking of this, he hurriedly picked up the cards and gifts from his three friends and returned to his room.
Watching Harry hurry away, Sherlock shook his head and picked up Harry's admission letter from the table—he had left just this one thing behind.
He opened the book list and quickly found what he needed.
The Monster Book of Monsters — Care of Magical Creatures textbook.
Sherlock sighed, took out a new quill and parchment, and prepared to write a letter. However, just as he was about to put pen to paper, he stopped.
He thought for a moment, put the pen away, and went straight to bed.
Because he had gone to sleep too late the night before, Harry couldn't get up early as usual the next morning.
By the time he finished washing up and came to the living room, he found that Sherlock's family of three was already sitting in front of the television.
"Dear, I was just about to have Sherlock call you!"
Seeing Harry, Mrs. Holmes smiled gently at him.
"I'm sorry..."
Living in someone else's house and still sleeping in late made Harry feel very embarrassed.
"What silly things are you saying?" Mrs. Holmes lovingly patted Harry's head. "It's perfectly normal to sleep in during vacation. Sit down quickly, breakfast is ready. I'll go serve it!"
"I'll help too!"
Harry immediately followed Mrs. Holmes into the kitchen.
"Good child..."
Mrs. Holmes patted Harry's head again.
This gesture made Harry feel very comfortable.
Besides Mrs. Holmes, only Mrs. Weasley could make him feel the maternal love he had never experienced.
When they returned to the living room, they found the news anchor on TV reporting about an escaped criminal:
"The public must be warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous.
We have set up a special hotline, and concerned citizens who know of Black's whereabouts must report immediately."
Harry noticed that the man on screen looked fierce, with a thin face surrounded by tangled hair a foot long.
Compared to him, even Harry's own messy hair could be called neat.
Mr. Holmes noticed Harry staring intently at the television and couldn't help sighing.
He knew Harry never had the freedom to choose TV programs at the Dursleys'.
"How about it, would you like to change the channel, Harry?"
"No, no need!" Harry said quickly. "It's good to watch the news in the morning."
Sherlock's parents were so good to him, so good that he didn't even know how to handle it.
"The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries announced today—"
Seeing the news jump to the next story so quickly, Mr. Holmes couldn't help being puzzled:
"Strange, why did they only report the person and danger level, not even say where he escaped from..."
"Because he escaped from Azkaban," Sherlock said calmly.
Harry immediately widened his eyes.
Mr. Holmes looked curiously at his son, "Azkaban, what place is that?"
"The name of a prison."
"I see."
Mr. Holmes nodded and didn't continue asking.
He and his wife had stopped being surprised by their son's ability to know things they didn't know several years ago.
No, to be precise, after discovering that Sherlock possessed abilities approaching Mycroft's, they no longer found it surprising.
However, since both of them were looking at Sherlock at the time, they didn't notice the other boy's expression of amazement.
After breakfast ended, Harry again volunteered to help Mrs. Holmes wash dishes.
Although Mrs. Holmes wouldn't let him, Harry insisted that he had done plenty of washing and cleaning at the Dursleys' and was very skilled at it.
Only after helping Mrs. Holmes finish these tasks did he come to Sherlock's bedroom.
Hearing the knock, Sherlock, who was reading the newspaper, looked up at Harry and smiled.
"I imagine you haven't slept in like this for a long time, have you, Harry?"
"Yes, although my relationship with the Dursleys has improved, I'm still used to getting up early," Harry nodded, then asked, "Sherlock, when you said this morning that the escaped criminal was from Azkaban..."
"Before asking that question, I suggest you first put away your things properly." Sherlock smiled and pointed at the table.
Harry curiously looked toward the table and only then discovered he had left his last letter on the table yesterday.
"Oh, what's wrong with my brain..."
Harry lightly tapped his skull, and was about to put away the letter when he noticed a line on the enclosed book list was underlined.
Curious, he looked closely and clearly saw The Monster Book of Monsters.
"I see!"
Harry was both enlightened and relieved.
"So, this book is this year's Care of Magical Creatures textbook. I thought Hagrid needed me to help deal with some scary new pet!"
"Harry, your imagination is a bit too rich."
Harry smiled somewhat embarrassedly, then noticed Sherlock looking at him with an interested expression, and his heart stirred.
This look was...
He immediately began to recall.
After a moment, as if he had thought of something, he called out: "Wait! Wait a minute!"
He looked at the book list in his heart again. "Sherlock, didn't you say yesterday that Hagrid definitely thinks everyone who gets this book would know the correct way to open it..."
"That's right, I did say that."
"But even if this book becomes this year's textbook, it has nothing to do with Hagrid!
It's not strange that he knows about this, and it's not strange that he gave it to me as a gift, but why would he get a headache because other people can't open this book, unless..."
"Unless what?"
Sherlock looked at Harry encouragingly, as if signaling him to continue.
"Unless he chose this book himself!"
Harry suddenly became excited. "I know! After solving the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, it proved that Hagrid was wrongly accused fifty years ago!
Professor Dumbledore must seize this opportunity to clear Hagrid's name and let him return to Hogwarts!
Let me think, let me think..."
The more Harry spoke, the more excited he became, and the more certain:
"Returning as a student is definitely impossible, and he might lack qualifications to be a teacher, but what about an assistant?
I remember Hagrid saying that Professor Silvanus Kettleburn of Care of Magical Creatures is getting old, and his health isn't very good.
With Hagrid's abilities, working as his teaching assistant would be absolutely no problem!
So, there is only one truth!"
Harry looked up at Sherlock with bright eyes.
"Hagrid will help Professor Kettleburn teach us this class this year. He specially selected this book as teaching material and gave it to me as a birthday gift!"
Hearing Harry's words, Sherlock finally couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"Dear Harry, I've always said that deductive reasoning is contagious—look, now you're starting to use it to study problems too."
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