Sherlock looked at Hermione and said slowly.
"Hermione, I once told you that reasoning without sufficient evidence is always a dangerous thing."
"Mm-hmm, I remember." Hermione nodded obediently.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Dursley doesn't understand this principle."
"So what?" Hermione continued to press.
"So, he got the wrong idea."
"How so?" Hermione asked for the third time.
"Harry told me earlier that his Uncle Vernon was originally planning to buy a villa in Majorca after closing this business deal. But later, for some unknown reason, he abandoned this plan—this incident also provides validating evidence for my deduction from another angle.
Just now, through my observations of the couple, I became even more certain of this point.
So, for Mr. Dursley at present, the urgent matter is to figure out the relationship between his wife and that man. Everything else can be set aside for now."
Whenever Sherlock was explaining his reasoning process, his speech would be faster than usual.
Mr. Holmes and Hermione were already accustomed to this, but Mr. Granger was witnessing it for the first time and inevitably needed more time to process it.
Fortunately, this deduction was relatively simple, so by the time Sherlock finished speaking, it didn't take Mr. Granger long to react. He then asked with confusion.
"If it's really as you say, this matter should be easy to resolve—couldn't Mr. Dursley just ask his wife directly?"
"Exactly!" Mr. Holmes agreed. "Just lay everything out in the open, and wouldn't all problems be solved?"
"Unfortunately, many misunderstandings in this world arise precisely because people refuse to communicate properly. Just like those third-rate TV dramas, where the characters seem to have no mouths at all."
This single remark from Sherlock rendered all three people in the car silent.
They remained somewhat speechless until they reached Sherlock's home on King's Road.
There wasn't much more to say after that.
Mr. Holmes and Sherlock stayed behind with Harry's luggage, while Mr. Granger took the reluctant Hermione back to their own home.
Thus, this trip to Godric's Hollow officially came to an end.
Harry returned to his ancestral home and met his grandfather and grandmother.
Hermione came to the Burrow and witnessed the daily life of a wizarding family.
Sherlock once again unlocked unknown territories of the magical world and derived pleasure from it.
Everyone had a bright future ahead.
Sherlock spent the last month of his summer vacation reasonably well.
Although he couldn't practice magic at home, his studies in astronomy and magical history, as well as his dissection of small animals like toads, continued methodically.
His days were quite fulfilling.
Besides this, communication with his friends never stopped.
After a summer of adjustment, basically everyone had come to understand Sherlock's attitude of "not initiating, not refusing, not taking any concern."
Under these circumstances, his classmates boldly took the initiative to contact him.
Including but not limited to, Harry and Ron, who were already living at the Burrow. Hermione, who had only recently parted from Sherlock.
Round-faced Neville, who was always losing his toad. Seamus, whose magic always caused explosions. Dean, the boy who had the innate talent of rapping.
Hannah, the first to wear the Sorting Hat. Cho Chang, the beautiful Asian girl. The Patil twins, the prettiest girls in their year. Wood, the team captain who never forgot about Quidditch. And the two female prefects from Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
The person who contacted Sherlock most frequently was still Hermione.
Besides using owls, the daily communication method of wizards, Hermione would also call every other week.
The main content was still discussions about summer homework.
She complained to Sherlock that these classmates who had just finished first year and were about to enter second year had impure motives.
Their purpose in communicating with her was all to covet her homework.
That said, when faced with her classmates' requests, Hermione would still contribute her homework each time, earning quite a bit of praise.
What was surprising was that Gemma Farley, the Slytherin prefect, contacted Sherlock more frequently than Harry and Ron, becoming second only to Hermione.
But it must be said, chatting with her was indeed very interesting.
This big sister certainly knew quite a lot.
At her strong insistence, the way Sherlock and she addressed each other also changed from "Mr. Holmes" and "Prefect Farley" to "Sherlock" and "Gemma."
This was quite similar to how things had progressed with Hermione initially.
Since Harry had moved to the Burrow, Ron was naturally tied to him.
The two contacted Sherlock third most frequently after Gemma Farley, though their letters was mainly led by Harry, with Ron often just adding a few words at the end of letters.
Harry told Sherlock that all the older Weasley brothers were talented individuals who spoke pleasantly, and staying here made him even happier than going home. He absolutely loved staying there.
Unfortunately, not only was Mr. Weasley tight-lipped, but Mrs. Weasley's mouth was also sealed tight.
Regarding that hidden person, there were still no clues to this day.
Additionally, what was rather concerning was Ron's little sister Ginny.
According to Harry, whenever he entered a room, Ginny would always knock something over.
Once he actively spoke to Ginny, her face would turn as red as a ripe tomato.
If he said a few more words, even the roots of her red hair would turn red.
In such situations, Harry would feel very awkward.
He asked Sherlock for a solution, and Sherlock's reply was "do whatever you need to do, just ignore her."
As for the others' communication frequency with Sherlock, it wasn't as high as these top three, and the content was relatively simple.
Either summer homework, remote consultation, or invitations to team up.
Just like that, a month passed without notice.
Until that day arrived.
[Kensington-Chelsea District - 128 King's Road - 2nd Floor Master Bedroom][Mr. Sherlock Holmes]
A black and white spotted eagle owl flew through the second-floor window carrying an envelope, circled around the room once, and accurately dropped the letter into Sherlock's hands.
Seeing this familiar scene, Sherlock couldn't help but feel a moment of déjà vu.
Last summer at this time, it was just such an owl that brought him his Hogwarts acceptance letter.
From that moment on, the young man who firmly believed in science began to encounter magic, and his life changed accordingly.
Although it was indeed surprising at first, once he got used to this setting, it was quite engaging.
This year's scene was just like last summer.
Sherlock took the letter bearing the Hogwarts crest and found the content largely similar to last year's.
The opening lacked the part congratulating him on gaining admission to Hogwarts, but still instructed him to depart from King's Cross Station on September 1st, taking the Hogwarts Express to school.
The letter also included a book list for second-year students.
This was also expected.
However, when his eyes swept over the book list, Sherlock couldn't help but freeze.
Even someone like him, who possessed extraordinary analytical and reasoning abilities, couldn't help but think.
What the heck is this supposed to be?
Just then, the telephone rang at the perfect moment.
Picking up the phone, Hermione's clear voice immediately came through.
"Hello, is this Sherlock?"
"It's me, Hermione."
"What a coincidence, I thought Uncle Holmes would answer the phone—by the way, did you receive the owl's letter?"
"Just received it, I'm looking at it now."
"Haha, I bet the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be an admirer of Gilderoy Lockhart, maybe even a witch!"
Sherlock looked at the book list in his hand without speaking.
On the second-year required book list, besides one book by Miranda Goshawk called "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2," the other seven books all belonged to the same series.
Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti.
The author was Gilderoy Lockhart.
Although he hadn't seen the content yet, just from the titles, it wasn't hard to guess that these were probably novels, and a series of novels at that.
How to put it?
It was very puzzling!
If this series could properly describe the three elements of character, plot, and setting, then it should be quite good for passing time.
But as Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks, appearing so brazenly on the book list...
Even from Sherlock's perspective, someone who considered himself abnormal, this was quite outrageous.
"So, it seems you know this author?"
Hearing Hermione's excited voice, Sherlock was somewhat surprised.
He had never heard Hermione or anyone else mention this before...
Wait, hold on a moment.
Sherlock searched through his memory palace and finally, after three seconds, found the relevant memory in an inconspicuous corner.
When he first went to Diagon Alley last year, wanting to buy some books beyond the curriculum to help him understand the wizarding world.
It was precisely then that he heard the shopkeeper mention Gilderoy Lockhart's name.
According to that shopkeeper, this author's series was too popular and had sold out.
Because of this, he had recommended another bestselling author, Bear Grylls's "Survival Manual."
He hadn't paid much attention at the time.
Especially after discovering that "Survival Manual" was very practical, he had relegated this memory to a corner of his memory palace.
Who could have thought that after missing out last year, this author named Lockhart would make such a strong comeback this year?
"Ha, of course I know him!"
Upon hearing Sherlock ask about Gilderoy Lockhart, Hermione immediately said.
"Gilderoy Lockhart is an internationally renowned figure and author. He's a recipient of the Order of Merlin, Third Class, an Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and has won Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award five times. This year he also won the award for Best-Dressed Wizard in Britain.
He was also a Hogwarts student, graduating from Ravenclaw House with excellent grades.
After graduation, he became a famous author whose works are bestsellers, taking the wizarding world by storm.
Oh, and he also invented Knarl Quill Shampoo, which locks in luster, though unfortunately it couldn't be mass-produced for the general market..."
Hermione knew Lockhart's biography like the back of her hand, enthusiastically introducing him for quite a while before finally asking.
"Sherlock, do you remember the Christmas gift I gave you last year?"
"'Charm Your Own Cheese'?"
"I'm glad you still remember it! You know, that book was also his work!
Unfortunately, what I gave you was the paperback edition, without Mr. Lockhart's photo..."
When she said this, Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
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