Strictly speaking, Hagrid and Madame Maxime had known each other for less than a day.
Yet he had changed his appearance for this woman, something he had never cared about before. Though this change was quite unsuccessful, for Hagrid it was an unprecedented act.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all shocked to the extreme by the scene before them.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it.
After quite a while, watching Hagrid and Madame Maxime walk farther and farther away, clearly having forgotten all about them, Harry finally spoke up: "Let's go. It looks like they won't be coming back anytime soon."
With Sherlock absent, Harry was often the one to make decisions.
Hermione and Ron naturally had no objections.
The three of them discussed the matter as they walked back. When they saw the castle, they were surprised to find Sherlock standing on the steps with Luna Lovegood beside him.
Seeing the two of them, Hermione asked excitedly, "Sherlock, Luna, are you waiting for us?"
"I didn't know you'd be coming back at this time," Sherlock shook his head and pointed not far away. "Madame Maxime just left here with the Beauxbatons students."
"Uh... we saw them too, but what does that have to do with you being here?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"Originally nothing, but I just happened to run into Delacour and tested her a bit. Unfortunately, I was interrupted by Madame Maxime. I think she probably took me for some kind of cad," Sherlock couldn't help but laugh. "What self-important French people!"
"Wait, what are you even talking about?" Ron was getting more confused by the moment. He looked at Sherlock with complete bewilderment. "What's a cad? Who's Delacour? Sherlock, can you say something we can actually understand?"
"Of course, my dear Ron." Sherlock put his hands in the pockets of his wizard's robes, looking at Ron with a playful curve at the corner of his mouth.
"The Miss Delacour I'm referring to is the Beauxbatons witch you were staring at during dinner last night, the one you suspected of being part Veela and thought was quite extraordinary. She has pale golden hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful face. Remember her? Oh, I see you remember her very clearly."
Noticing Ron's face turn instantly red, Sherlock said with a light laugh.
"Fine, it's her," Hermione's tone seemed calm but carried a hint of tension that was hard to detect. "So? Testing? What did you do to her?"
"What did I do?" Sherlock shook his head while smiling. "Strictly speaking, I conducted a very basic information verification experiment."
"What verification experiment?"
"What information experiment?"
"Information verification what?"
Seeing that everyone didn't understand, Sherlock began to explain further. "Remember last night when I said that she recognized me?"
"I remember," Harry nodded honestly. "You said her eyes were concealing something."
"Very precise recollection, Harry. Observation is always the foundation of deduction. However, inferences based on a single scenario, no matter how logical they seem, still require more data points to support or correct them. Hermione, I believe you would agree with this scientific method."
Hermione nodded, but her brows remained slightly furrowed. "So your data point was... deliberately approaching her?"
"Exactly. A minimal intervention was sufficient." Sherlock began to pace as he narrated the process of testing Fleur Delacour.
"When I found her, the Beauxbatons students were queuing to put their names into the Goblet of Fire, and she happened to be last. After confirming there were no other distractions, I chose to approach her at the moment she completed the action of submitting her name, when her attention would most likely be relaxed and turning toward her exit path. That is, theoretically at a point when she was in a post-task psychological state."
He stopped and looked at Luna, indicating the distance between them. "At that time, the distance between us was exactly like this, about three feet, precisely the non-threatening distance when facing a stranger. I looked directly into her eyes and clearly spoke the name on the parchment she had thrown into the flames in a normal voice: 'Miss Delacour.'"
"Then what?" Ron asked urgently, completely forgetting his earlier embarrassment.
"Reaction time less than half a second." Sherlock held up one finger.
"Her body showed brief but significant rigidity, her shoulder line instantly tensing. Roughly similar to the instinctive reaction of a first-year student suddenly called out by Filch in a corridor. I noticed her gaze quickly shifted from the Goblet of Fire to me, her pupils were showing obvious contraction. This is a typical physiological reflex under conditions of fright or high alertness."
Sherlock paused, noticing the expressions of his three companions, and added some details.
"Most importantly and indisputably, she almost instantly held her breath, very briefly. But for a trained observer, this reactive behavior was obvious enough. This sudden cessation of breathing pattern would only occur when she realized my behavior was completely contrary to an initial meeting with a stranger.
A stranger, especially a strange male student from Hogwarts whom she viewed with a sense of distance, would be highly unlikely to learn her surname accurately within less than twenty-four hours of her first public appearance and call it out when she was completely unprepared."
Harry suddenly understood. "So, she thought you recognized her?"
"No, that's just speculation. What I deduced was that the shock of realizing she'd been recognized constituted at least half of her intense instantaneous reaction." Sherlock smiled. "As for the other half, it was rapid speculation and alertness about my behavioral motives, as well as the instinct to quickly organize a defensive posture."
After this long string of words, Harry and Hermione were fine, but Ron felt it was obscure and difficult to understand, like listening to Snape lecture.
"So then, what did she say? Did she admit it?" Hermione pressed.
"Not at all. She feigned surprise and asked how I knew her name."
Luna suddenly looked at Sherlock with a vigilant expression, then repeated what Fleur had just said to Sherlock: "You... who are you? How do you know my name?"
Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked at Luna in surprise. Are you two doing role-play here?
"Thank you very much, Luna." Sherlock smiled and continued. "I told her I saw her name on the parchment she threw into the Goblet of Fire. When I gave this reason, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although she concealed it well, I still detected it.
Of course, this behavior further confirmed that she recognized me. Next, I also made a simple self-introduction. However, just as I was about to continue with further testing, the experiment was interrupted."
"Interrupted? Why was it interrupted?" Ron asked urgently.
"Because of Madame Maxime." Sherlock's expression suddenly became intriguing.
"I underestimated this headmistress's protective range. That lady, whose height makes even Hagrid seem petite, was obviously watching her students all along. Originally observing from the sidelines, she suddenly appeared between us, shielding the somewhat stunned Miss Delacour behind her with one hand while the other hand extended between me and Delacour. Her presence was extremely oppressive, her gaze very sharp. I'd bet that at that moment she was definitely thinking, 'Stay away from my student.'"
Ron couldn't help but make a short sound somewhere between a cough and a suppressed laugh.
Harry was also trying hard to hold back his laughter.
Hermione frowned but said nothing.
Sherlock continued, "The moment Miss Delacour was protected by her headmistress, the surprise she had shown earlier disappeared. At the same time, she put on the restraint of a witch under protection and a touch of... well, should I say perfectly appropriate bewilderment? Quite an excellent impromptu response, her reaction speed was worthy of praise."
"So, you were taken for a cad?" Hearing Sherlock even casually praise her, Hermione was somewhat annoyed. These French people really do think highly of themselves! It was just a sentence, was it necessary?
"Although Madame Maxime didn't say so, her posture was more powerful than any words. After this incident, she escorted Miss Delacour and her students away from the entrance hall.
As for me, Sherlock Holmes, my reputation as someone attempting to harass an excellent Beauxbatons student was probably confirmed through the eyes of more than a dozen students present. However, this experimental result was quite successful."
Sherlock said in a concluding manner, "It clearly confirmed my inference from last night: this Miss Delacour not only recognizes me and knows who I am, but she's also avoiding any form of direct contact with me. She's strenuously maintaining the pretense that we're strangers to each other."
Looking at the three faces with their varied expressions, Ron's bewilderment turning to curiosity, Harry somewhat worried, Hermione pressing her lips tightly together, Sherlock said in a light tone,
"As for why she recognizes me? Why conceal it so deliberately? Is it due to Beauxbatons strategy? Family background? Personal grievance? Or a deeper secret? Insufficient information, cannot deduce. But this undoubtedly adds a small, interesting puzzle to the upcoming champion selection. However, as long as she continues to stay here, she won't be able to hide it for long."
Watching Sherlock's confident statement, the three companions didn't know what to say for a moment.
Luna, however, tilted her head and asked curiously, "Sherlock, will you participate in the Triwizard Tournament?"
"I was just about to mention that," Sherlock looked at his three companions. "Your expressions tell me you encountered something troublesome at Hagrid's place. Was it his dark cuisine again?"
"Sherlock, I can only say you're prophetic," Ron complained. "But what we encountered this time was even more outrageous than that."
He then recounted their experience at Hagrid's hut like a machine gun, only briefly mentioning lunch and focusing in detail on the matter between Hagrid and Madame Maxime. After finishing, he even added a summary: "If they have children in the future, they'll definitely set a world record. I'd bet each of their kids will weigh a ton."
"Hahahaha!" Luna immediately covered her stomach and burst into laughter.
"There it is again, Luna's big laugh..."
If it had been before, they might have felt strange seeing Luna like this. Back on the Hogwarts Express, Luna had done something similar. Everyone was laughing at the time, but Luna laughed especially hard, making a series of shrill, piercing sounds. She pressed her chest, gasping for breath, staring at the others, her protruding eyes filled with tears.
But now seeing Luna in this state again, they were long used to it.
After hearing Ron's somewhat exaggerated description, Sherlock looked thoughtful.
Noticing Sherlock's expression, Hermione asked, "What's wrong? Is something not right?"
"I have an immature inference," Sherlock shook his head. "Never mind, let's talk about the Triwizard Tournament instead."
Hearing Sherlock mention this, the three companions all pricked up their ears.
Sherlock looked at Harry and smiled slightly. "My suggestion is that both you and I put our names into the Goblet of Fire."
"No problem!" As if he'd been waiting for these words for a long time, Harry immediately agreed, breathing a long sigh of relief.
As long as I'm with Sherlock, I have nothing to fear!
Sherlock looked at Hermione next.
"I'll pass," Hermione shook her head. "I don't think the knowledge I've learned can handle such a competition."
"Hermione, if even you say that, then I have even less chance."
"No, no, no. I just read books a lot and have a little cleverness. You and Sherlock are different." Hermione said sincerely. "Besides, neither of you are seventeen yet, so you can take the other two slots. Now we just hope Angelina can get the third spot."
Clearly, in Hermione's view, with Sherlock leading the way, whoever from Hogwarts participated in the competition would definitely win, no question about it.
"What about me?" Seeing that Sherlock didn't even mention his name, Ron immediately asked loudly.
Sherlock smiled slightly. "It's up to you."
"Hmph, then I want to participate too!" Ron crossed his arms, trying hard to appear very serious. "Although I know that once you two participate, I'll have no hope, but! At least in the future I can say I lost to the Lion King and the Savior!"
"Good for you, Ronald!" Hermione immediately gave Ron a thumbs up, then burst out laughing.
Ron was keeping a straight face at first, but soon couldn't hold it and also laughed.
Sherlock and Harry looked at each other and laughed together.
As for Luna? She'd been laughing all along and never stopped.
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