No matter how difficult something was, with Sherlock Holmes present, it always became simple.
Under Sherlock's guidance, the group split into three teams to find dry grass, leaves, bark, dry branches, and sturdy hardwood.
On the return trip, Sherlock instructed Sirius and Mr. Weasley to find some stones.
With clear directions, whether it was the adults Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley, or young wizards like Hermione and the Weasley twins, their ability to act was quite strong.
Soon, they'd gathered all the raw materials needed for making a fire and cooking.
Upon returning near the campsite, as Sherlock began selecting a location for the fire, Mr. Weasley, the curious one, started asking questions.
"Why are we making the fire here? Wouldn't it be more convenient closer to the tents?"
"Mr. Weasley, when making a fire, you should avoid flammable materials to prevent sparks from causing a fire."
Hermione explained with a smile, glancing at Sherlock. "That's common sense."
"Hermione's quite right."
Sherlock stood up, pointing around.
"The fire location should be at least ten feet from tents, piles of dry grass, and bushes.
In our current forest setting, we not only need to do this but also clear fallen leaves and branches within three feet to form a fire ring.
Secondly, try to find flat, hard ground like soil or rock, avoiding areas with thick humus.
Our current conditions are actually quite good—we just need to use stones to form a circle less than three feet in diameter to create an excellent fire barrier.
Fred, that stone won't work—it's damp and will shatter when heated."
"No problem!"
Fred grinned and tossed the stone aside. "But I'm George—you got the wrong person."
"No, you're Fred. I told you, that trick doesn't work on me."
Sherlock said calmly. "George is still over there playing in the sand."
"George, hurry over here! We're about to make the fire!"
Hearing Sherlock's words, Mr. Weasley immediately called to George, who was still playing with sand.
After saying this, he curiously turned back to Sherlock, pointing at the firewood Sherlock had divided into three piles.
"Sherlock, why do stones shatter when heated?
Also, don't we have matches? Can't we just use them to light this wood directly?
And another thing—you had us find three different types of wood. What's the reason for that?"
He rubbed his hands excitedly, looking at Sherlock with the curiosity of an eager student.
"Please, Dad!"
"Don't do this, we're begging you!"
Fred and the newly returned George couldn't help but cover their faces.
Their father was like this—curious about everything Muggle, or rather, fanatical about it.
However, Sherlock didn't mind. He looked at Mr. Weasley and said.
"Mr. Weasley, you just told me we need to follow the security regulations for Muggles and can't use any magic."
"Right, right, that's exactly what I said, but what does that have to do with my question?"
"Of course, it does—if we don't use any magic, matches alone can't make a fire for cooking.
Because they're merely ignition tools and need to work with natural materials.
In fact, it was the invention of matches that freed us from ancient methods like friction fire-starting.
The core of fire-making is progressing from easy to difficult; only by using wood in stages can you ensure the fire steadily builds.
The first category is tinder—the fire starter.
Its purpose is to ignite quickly and catch the kindling, requiring materials that are flammable and dry."
Sherlock paused, pointing at the pile they'd gathered.
"Ideally, find birch bark—it's oil-rich, flammable, and burns well.
However, these pine needles, fine wood shavings, and dry moss are also good.
In short, as long as you avoid damp tinder like grass after rain, completing the first step is quite simple when you have matches."
Sherlock said confidently.
Then he was proven wrong.
At Mr. Weasley's insistence, he would complete the first step.
And then he started "playing" with matches.
Whether it was pure-blood wizards like Sirius and the Weasleys, or Muggle-born wizards like Sherlock and Hermione.
To them, Mr. Weasley really was "playing" with matches.
Not that he lacked for trying.
In fact, he tried many times, with numerous unlit matches scattered on the ground around him.
However, watching his manner, he was enjoying himself immensely, not anxious at all.
Finally, when he managed to strike a match, he cried "Ouch!" and quickly threw it away.
Sherlock: "..."
Fortunately, the match Mr. Weasley threw landed right in the pile of tinder.
Because the quality of Sherlock's fire starter was so high, even a single lit match falling into it immediately made it catch fire.
"I did it!"
Seeing this, Mr. Weasley was as happy as a child, jumping and laughing, hugging Sirius.
"Did you see, Sirius? I did it! I can make fire!"
"..."
Sherlock stopped watching Mr. Weasley and picked up the second pile of fuel, beginning to add it to the already burning flames.
"These thin sticks less than an inch in diameter are transition fuel, serving to catch from the fire starter and expand the fire.
It's best to choose dry branches, like this—"
He broke one as he spoke. "When broken, the sound is crisp with no flexibility.
Pine wood with resin is flammable with vigorous flames—the best choice.
Poplar and softer willow wood also work.
Again, avoid fresh branches with sap, especially new branches of fir and eucalyptus.
Because they're not only moisture-rich and hard to ignite, but once they do burn, they produce smoke."
Hearing this, Mr. Weasley quickly released Sirius and came over, carefully adding the second pile of branches to the increasingly vigorous fire, just as Sherlock had done.
After waiting a bit, Sherlock approached the third pile of firewood.
He bent down and picked up a piece, explaining to everyone.
"The final step is the main fuel—coarse wood. Its purpose is to maintain the fire after it's fully lit, providing sustained heat.
Now we need tree trunks or blocks at least 2 inches in diameter, preferably hardwood like oak, maple, or beech.
They burn long, produce high heat, and leave minimal ash—very premium materials.
Other dry trunks work too, but need to be split into small pieces beforehand so the interior also dries.
Again, avoid using damp coarse wood—once lit, it produces heavy smoke and flying sparks.
Of course, also avoid wood with strange odors or toxicity.
For example, poison sumac and oleander can release harmful gases when burned."
Having said this, he smiled at everyone. "That's it—all very simple common sense."
Everyone's minds blown.
"Sherlock, let me just ask..."
Finally, Hermione was the first to recover. "This isn't your first time making a fire either, is it?"
"Hermione, you've found the blind spot."
Sherlock shrugged. "Like pitching tents, I've never had the conditions to do this before."
"I knew it... This isn't common sense at all!"
"Dear Hermione, it's not just me—others also consider these things common sense."
"Oh, who else?"
Hearing Sherlock say this, Hermione immediately became interested.
The others also pricked up their ears, wanting to know who else in this world would think this way besides Sherlock Holmes.
"Before first year started, I bought a book called Survival Guide for Extreme Situations.
This book, centered on 'better safe than sorry,' used the author Bear Grylls's real-life knowledge and experiences to show readers how to respond correctly when encountering danger in the magical world.
Particularly the wilderness survival guide in the book, and the author's personal experiences facing dangerous creatures alone—trolls, Occamies, vampires, vampire bats—all especially interested me.
At the time, I purchased it as supplementary reading."
"So, you're saying you learned all this just by reading that book by this Bear fellow?"
This time, even Sirius couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Isn't that the natural thing to do?"
Sherlock said in the most ordinary tone. "If we can't draw knowledge from books and make it our own, what's the point of reading?"
His logic was so sound that everyone was momentarily speechless.
"Excellent! This term we're studying A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration!" Fred said.
"By this logic, we'll soon be Transfiguration masters!" George added.
Watching the Weasley twins clown around, Hermione shook her head.
She'd also read Survival Guide for Extreme Situations. All she could say was that the author, Bear Grylls, was no ordinary person either.
During extreme survival, he ate practically everything.
And constantly stated things like "remove the head and you can eat it," "it has twice the protein of beef," "I can't wait to eat it," and so on.
Hermione certainly couldn't accept that.
While waiting for the fire to grow, Mr. Weasley suddenly jumped up as if remembering something.
"Oh yes, one more thing!"
"What is it, Arthur?"
Seeing Mr. Weasley's surprised expression, Sirius was also startled.
"Sherlock, you still haven't told me why stones shatter when heated!"
Sirius: "..."
Seeing Mr. Weasley's earnest gaze, Sherlock turned to Hermione. "You explain, Hermione."
Hermione nodded and explained. "It's thermal expansion and contraction, a physics phenomenon referring to how most objects expand in volume when heated and contract when temperatures drop.
Damp stones shatter when heated because the crevices or interior contain moisture. When heated, this moisture rapidly heats up and becomes steam.
But stone itself is solid. When heated, it also expands, but slowly and minimally, and being hard and inflexible.
As a result, the internal steam pressure continuously increases, while the hard stone can't stretch like a sponge to accommodate this pressure.
When the pressure exceeds what the stone can withstand, it splits or even shatters."
Afraid this explanation wasn't clear enough, Hermione added an analogy.
"It's like a sealed glass bottle filled with water—when heated, the steam bursts the bottle. Only with stones, the seal is natural crevices and hard structure, making the shattering more sudden."
"The Muggle world is truly marvelous!"
Having received the scholar's answer, Mr. Weasley said with satisfaction.
"This is common sense, Mr. Weasley."
In this moment, Hermione felt she'd become Sherlock.
Fortunately, Mr. Weasley didn't continue asking about the principles of thermal expansion and contraction, or she'd have to explain molecular kinetic theory to him.
During this scientific education, the fire finally blazed up.
However, Harry, Ron, and Ginny hadn't returned yet.
"What's going on? Why haven't those three come back yet?" George complained.
"I imagine they probably ran into acquaintances," Hermione mused. "There are so many wizards here, they're bound to exchange greetings."
"But we've already got the fire going," Fred said.
"That's because Sherlock guided us the whole way. On our own, we probably couldn't even manage the first step!"
Mr. Weasley unceremoniously scolded the twins, then immediately turned to Sherlock. "Sherlock, why don't you go find them?"
Just as Sherlock was about to say something, Mr. Weasley quickly added.
"Don't worry, I know what to do now. I absolutely won't let the fire go out!"
He said with complete confidence, while mentally adding "and if it does go out, I'll relight it."
Sherlock studied Mr. Weasley for two seconds, immediately perceiving his true intention.
He just wanted to play with fire after Sherlock left!
However, glancing at the already roaring flames, he still nodded.
This kind of scene with wizards from other countries gathered was rare—it was a good opportunity to walk around and see things.
"I'm going too!"
Seeing Sherlock agree, Hermione immediately stood up.
Sirius, Mr. Weasley, and the Weasley twins suddenly showed knowing smiles.
Hermione's face flushed slightly, but remembering what Gemma had told her before leaving, she bit her lip and followed anyway.
She had to seize every opportunity to spend time alone with Sherlock!
Seeing this, Mr. Weasley sighed. "Ah, to be young!"
"Yes, youth is wonderful!"
Sirius echoed.
The way Sherlock and Hermione interacted reminded him of James and Lily back in the day.
The difference was that back then, it was boy chasing girl; now it was girl chasing boy.
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