According to a certain unwilling-to-be-named old hand:
High EQ—The Ministry is full of talented people.
Low EQ—The Ministry is just a damn shambles.
From a normal person's perspective, what's the first priority when hosting a major event?
Safety!
Safety!
Still damn safety!
Drafting event plans, formulating emergency protocols, ensuring personnel safety—no matter what, these must come first.
As for the event proceeding smoothly—please, if you can't even guarantee basic safety, it shows the organizers simply don't have the ability to run this event well.
Don't bother, just wait for death.
So, when Arthur Weasley said something like someone "has always been rather lax about safety, but since he's a former national team member, no one more passionate could be found to lead the Department of Magical Games and Sports," Sherlock found it quite amusing.
That phrase "the Ministry is full of talented people" was clearly sarcastic.
Harry and Hermione, who understood Sherlock's character best, got his meaning. The two exchanged glances with knowing smiles, everything understood without words.
Unfortunately, Mr. Weasley seemed not to realize the deeper meaning in Sherlock's statement and subconsciously nodded:
"That's right, Sherlock. If you knew the Ministry, you'd find there are many talented people there who speak so nicely..."
Then he went on and on introducing them.
Peasegood chimed in as well.
Sherlock: (ー_ー)
Next, excellent Ministry employees Arthur Weasley and Arnold Peasegood, along with Sirius Black who was full of disdain for the Ministry, and the young wizards led by Sherlock, traversed the misty grounds.
Just as that Muggle Mr. Roberts had said, there were indeed too many people gathered in this place.
This meant they had to struggle through two long rows of tents, unable to go fast even if they wanted to.
"Clearly, the tent owners went to some effort to make them look like Muggle tents."
Sirius commented as he walked. "But those few over there went overboard, wouldn't you say, Harry?"
Although Sirius was a pure-blood wizard, his attitude toward Muggles was quite positive which was also why he was rejected by the Black family.
His best friend was James Potter, and James had a Muggle-born wife, Lily.
Because of this connection, he understood Muggles far better than Arthur Weasley and Arnold Peasegood.
So, he easily spotted the problems.
"Really? I think this looks quite normal!" Arthur Weasley said.
"Exactly, very nice decorations, aren't they?" Arnold Peasegood said.
Following Sirius's gaze, Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione—three young wizards raised in Muggle families immediately understood what "gilding the lily" meant.
Because those tents had been fitted with chimneys, bell-pulls, or weathervanes—decorations that normal people would definitely never install.
Sherlock immediately gave a confirming answer: "Sirius, you've found the blind spot."
However, in Sherlock's view, such decorations at least showed their owners were making an effort to make them lean toward the Muggle direction, just overdoing it.
But there were definitely a few tents that had clearly been deliberately enchanted, as if afraid others wouldn't know they were different.
"No wonder that Muggle was suspicious..."
As Ministry employees, Peasegood and Mr. Weasley couldn't help shaking their heads at the sight. Even they found it hard to watch this time.
Because there was a particularly eye-catching tent in the center of the field.
First, it extravagantly and wastefully used large amounts of striped silk.
No exaggeration—it was decorated like a small palace. This wasn't how you show off wealth.
Furthermore, several live peacocks were even tethered at the tent entrance.
A bit further ahead, another tent was built to look like a four-story building with several turrets beside it.
And that wasn't all—another tent had a garden in front with a birdbath, sundial, fountain, and everything else you could imagine.
Sherlock raised an eyebrow at the sight but made no comment.
Harry and Hermione stared dumbfounded.
The four Weasley children looked quite accustomed to it all.
"It's always like this."
Mr. Weasley came to his senses and said to everyone with a smile.
"Whenever everyone gathers together, some people just can't help showing off.
Ah, here we are. Look, this is our tent."
They had reached the edge of the woods at the far end of the field. There was an open space with a small sign stuck in the ground.
[WEEZLY]
"Ah, looks like my name got mixed up, but never mind. This spot couldn't be better!"
Arthur didn't mind at all becoming Mr. Weezly. Instead, he said excitedly,
"This happens all the time. Quick, look—the stadium is just beyond those woods. It couldn't be any closer."
"Indeed, not bad."
Sirius commented, then turned his gaze to Peasegood.
Peasegood smiled slightly and immediately walked a few more feet toward the other side of the woods.
That clearing was much larger than the one marked [WEEZLY]. There was also a sign stuck in the ground.
[BLACK]
Mr. Weasley, who had just been praising his spot, couldn't help feeling somewhat embarrassed, though fortunately no one teased him.
He coughed and lowered his backpack from his shoulder, forcibly changing the subject: "Everyone pay attention—I need to emphasize something important!"
When everyone's eyes turned toward him, he said solemnly.
"From now on, none of us are allowed to use magic!"
"What?"
"Why not?"
The twins were the first to protest, crying out directly.
"Because we're now on Muggle territory!
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We need to act like Muggles. First, we need to put up the tents with our own hands!
I think it shouldn't be too difficult... Muggles do it this way..."
Watching Mr. Weasley's excited expression, Sherlock sighed.
He asked Sirius for the backpack, then walked straight to the tent marked with the Black name and began working.
Hermione followed without a word, crouching on the ground to help Sherlock.
Although Mr. Weasley was enthusiastic about not using magic and manually building the tent, he was also clear he wasn't cut out for this.
So, when he saw even Harry about to follow Hermione to Sherlock's side, he panicked immediately.
There were only three people here familiar with Muggles total—if they all left, what would he do?
So he grabbed Harry's left foot as it had just stepped forward and forcibly pulled him back:
"Wait, Harry, where do you think we should start?"
|(*′□`)|
Harry couldn't help wiping his sweat. It wasn't that he was unwilling to help the Weasleys.
The main thing was he'd never pitched a tent before either.
During holidays, the Dursleys never took him out. They'd rather leave him with the neighbor, old Mrs. Figg.
Finally, when the family relationship eased, he no longer had opportunities to go out—because Sirius had been released.
So, he had wanted to follow Hermione's example and assist Sherlock.
He hadn't expected Mr. Weasley to actively request help.
"Harry, please, help us!"
At this moment, Ginny also clasped her hands together, using her beautiful eyes to blink hard at Harry, "I'll listen to you, Harry. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do."
"We'll listen to you too!" Fred and George said simultaneously.
"Same here." Ron grinned.
Faced with this situation, Harry was caught between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't very well abandon them and run to Sherlock's side, so he stayed to help.
This was when the advantages of receiving Muggle general education showed.
Although he'd never pitched a tent before, after referring to the instruction manual, he figured out where the poles and pegs should go.
However, when actually building the tent, Mr. Weasley began getting in the way.
Whenever the hammer was needed, for some reason, he became extremely excited.
Finally, when Ginny noticed Harry frowning for the third time, she decisively took action and shooed her father aside.
Without Mr. Weasley's interference, the tent-building team with Harry at its core immediately became much more efficient.
After a while, they finally erected a lopsided two-person tent.
"Well done, Harry! I knew you could do it!"
Mr. Weasley bounded over, full of praise for this tent built by hand without magic.
The young friends stepped back to admire their handiwork.
Harry was still somewhat proud, thinking no one who saw this tent would guess it was pitched by wizards.
Just then, a familiar voice came from beside him:
"Need help, old chap?"
Hearing Sherlock's voice, Harry quickly looked up.
He'd been so absorbed in the work just now that he'd completely forgotten about Sherlock and Hermione.
Now he glanced in that direction and couldn't help widening his eyes in surprise.
Behind Sherlock and Hermione, tents stood prominently on that clearing—not one, but two!
They looked neat and tidy, with straight frames. The striped silk gleamed in the mist, and even those flashy decorations were arranged perfectly without a thread out of place.
By comparison, the two-person tent they'd just built under his guidance looked particularly shabby, as if a gust of wind could blow it over.
Ron couldn't help exclaiming in amazement: "Merlin's beard! We struggled so long to put up one tent, and they've already finished two so quickly?"
Harry also murmured, "Not just fast—they look very solid too, and beautiful. It's like professional campers did it..."
"There's an expert here?"
Hearing this, Mr. Weasley bounded over to that side.
He observed carefully for a while and couldn't help praising.
"Sherlock, Hermione, you're so professional!"
Hermione's face reddened at this. "I—I just helped out. Sherlock did all of this."
She wasn't being modest. Although she often went out with her parents, she'd never done things like pitching tents.
Just as she'd started studying where the poles and pegs should go like Harry, Sherlock had already started working directly.
Watching Sherlock's elegant movements, she simply gave up thinking.
She completely followed Sherlock's instructions—whatever he told her to do, she did.
You have to understand, this was very rare for her.
But occasionally not having to use her brain like this was quite pleasant.
Sirius and Peasegood watched the entire time as Sherlock, with Hermione's assistance, quickly built two tents.
"Sherlock, quick, help us!"
Seeing an expert like Sherlock present, Mr. Weasley was delighted and quickly pulled him and Hermione over too.
With the triangle of Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione, the second tent's construction went much more smoothly.
Harry was originally smart and got things immediately when it mattered.
For someone who had already built one tent, having technical guidance from someone like Sherlock, he successfully noticed some easily overlooked points when building tents.
This time, Sherlock barely lifted a finger.
Harry and Hermione, leading the four Weasley children, quickly erected a brand-new tent.
Just looking at its appearance, you could tell it was much better than the previous lopsided tent.
Although not as good as the two tents Sherlock had personally pitched, for the group of young wizards, it was already great progress.
Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead and couldn't help breathing a long sigh of relief.
Once upon a time, he could only produce a tent that seemed ready to collapse in the wind.
But that was yesterday's news!
Now with his good mate's technical guidance, his work product was passable.
However...
Harry hesitated for a moment but couldn't help asking.
"Sherlock, why are you so skilled at this?
I mean... something like pitching tents—do you often go outdoors with your uncle and aunt?"
"Quite the contrary, my dear Harry."
Sherlock turned around, dusted off his hands, and said matter-of-factly.
"Apart from Hawaii this year, I've rarely gone out in recent years.
If your memory is good enough, you should remember the first time you met my brother.
He told you and Ron that I'd been to France, the Netherlands, and Germany before age seven, but at that time I obviously couldn't have done this sort of thing.
As for this year, although I went to Hawaii, I didn't pitch any tents.
In fact, like all of you, this is my first time doing this."
"First time, then how did you..."
Harry surveyed those two nearly perfect tents, then looked at Sherlock's hands, which were dusty but still relaxed and composed. His tone was full of disbelief.
Hermione also widened her eyes slightly. Her lips moved as if wanting to say something but swallowed it back.
Ron's mouth formed a clear "O" shape.
Watching his friends' surprised expressions, Sherlock tilted his head and asked in the most straightforward tone,
"Isn't this common sense?"
The air froze.
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