Chapter 42: The Busy Sherlock

Sherlock naturally would not resist.

Judging by Professor McGonagall’s words and actions, he had already deduced that she would not compromise on this matter.

Since that was the case, there was no need to make a redundant effort.

With his profound understanding of psychology, he knew very well that when facing the side holding all the cards, sometimes the more the weaker party struggled, the more excited the other party would become.

"Potter, your father would be proud of you," McGonagall said, turning her gaze back to Harry once Sherlock’s matter was settled. "He was an exceptional Quidditch player himself in his day."

At these words, a smile bloomed across her face.

In that instant, Harry was dumbfounded.

Ever since the term began, he had never seen Professor McGonagall smile so brightly.

Even when Sherlock and Hermione earned points for Gryffindor in Transfiguration class, the most she ever offered was a modest smile.

He never expected her to look this happy simply because he had joined the house Quidditch team.

As it turned out, Professor McGonagall was a good person after all.

It would be even better if she could assign a little less homework in the future.

The atmosphere was harmonious, and this endeavor to join the Quidditch team had reached a perfect conclusion.

Just then, a discordant voice suddenly piped up:

"Um... did you guys forget something?"

Ron, who had been ignored for a long time, raised his hand and said weakly, "What about me?"

From the very beginning of their meeting until now, Wood had only glanced at Ron when Charlie Weasley was mentioned.

There was no helping it; compared to Sherlock and Harry, his presence was simply too negligible.

"You?"

"You?"

Both McGonagall and Wood looked at Ron with skeptical eyes.

Stared at by such gazes, Ron, who had been muttering under his breath, instantly crumbled.

He immediately protested in a dissatisfied tone:

"I've been playing Quidditch with Charlie ever since I was a kid! I want to join the house team too!"

Hearing Ron's words, Wood instantly grew interested: "Do you have the same kind of talent as Potter?"

Ron's face immediately turned as red as his hair.

A young boy's blush was the best answer.

Although somewhat disappointed, Wood still decided to give Ron a chance: "Take a test flight."

"Alright!"

Ron nodded heavily!

Once given the chance, Ron performed quite well, one might even say he exceeded his usual standards.

He even pulled off several dangerous aerial maneuvers in the air that he had previously only dared to dream of doing.

Even by Wood’s critical standards, Ron's skill level could be described as passable, which was already quite good for a first-year student.

However, it was still far from being brilliant enough to warrant breaking the rules to join the team the way Harry had.

He did not beat around the bush and directly gave Ron his answer.

Ron immediately drooped with discouragement.

Just as Harry was preparing to offer a word of comfort, Wood suddenly turned to Sherlock. "Holmes, what about you? Don't you plan to give it a try?"

Harry: `((*・∀・）ゞ→→)`

Ron: `o(一︿一+)o`

Wood did not notice their expressions, or rather, even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

In his view, although Sherlock's maneuver of flying halfway into the air earlier was merely meant to showcase Harry's talent, executing that single move was already quite extraordinary.

If nothing else, it was certainly better than Ron's.

Still, he needed to see more of Sherlock's performance to be sure.

Unexpectedly, Sherlock turned him down flat.

"No need, I have no interest in it."

Having Harry alone on the Quidditch team was enough to gather information; if he were to join as well, it would simply be a waste of resources.

His time and energy needed to be dedicated to other matters.

Hearing Sherlock say this, Wood could not help but feel a tinge of regret.

However, their most urgent need right now was a Seeker, and Harry was undoubtedly the only choice for that position.

Although Sherlock might also prove to be an exceptional player, Gryffindor did not have such an urgent demand for other positions.

Since they had already secured Harry and Sherlock himself was unwilling, Wood did not press the issue further.

The top priority was to get Harry trained as quickly as possible.

As soon as Sherlock and the other two departed, McGonagall opened her mouth to speak, but Wood anxiously interrupted:

"Professor, when do you plan to go see Headmaster Dumbledore?"

McGonagall: `-________-''`

Enough was enough!

"Sherlock, you should have accepted his offer."

As soon as they stepped out of the Quidditch pitch, Ron immediately said to Sherlock, "Though I'm grateful you turned Wood down to spare my feelings, an opportunity like that doesn't come around often."

"Uh... I think you might have misunderstood."

Sherlock turned his head to look at Ron, saying with a completely earnest expression:

"I turned him down because I don't have the time to attend training sessions three times a week; it had nothing to do with you. In fact, whether I join the Gryffindor team or not has no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of your rejection."

Ron: `（；´д｀）ゞ`

Even if that were true, did he really have to spell it out like that?

Looking at Ron's expression, Harry couldn't help offering a quiet piece of advice: "Sherlock, I think... sometimes you don't have to be so blunt."

"My dear Harry, I told you long ago that in the vast majority of cases, I do not lie—unless it is necessary."

"Er, actually, I think this counts as one of those 'necessary' situations."

"No, no, no. Lying merely to protect a fragile ego, thereby breeding unrealistic fantasies about one's life, is the height of irresponsibility. Lacking talent is nothing to be ashamed of; correctly recognizing the gap between oneself and others can significantly improve efficiency. That way, one won't waste time pursuing obviously unattainable goals."

Harry realized he couldn't argue with Sherlock.

Not only couldn't he argue with him, but he had actually been convinced by him.

What he said made so much sense that he was completely left speechless!

Yet, as Ron's friend, he still felt that doing this was a bit too cruel.

Sherlock was simply far too rational.

Keep going like this and he wouldn't have any friends left!

Fortunately, Ron's depression came quickly and went just as fast.

The moment he laid eyes on the lavish feast, he immediately cast the matter to the back of his mind.

Time to eat!

Over the course of the following month, Sherlock remained as busy as ever.

The vast majority of his time continued to be spent discussing magic with the professors of various subjects that interested him.

To reiterate, understanding and accepting a brand-new system and worldview and putting them to practical use was no easy feat.

Even a genius like Sherlock still required a continuous investment of time.

As for the time originally set aside for exploring the Forbidden Forest and the restricted section, it was now occupied by other matters.

First, he had promised McGonagall that he would no longer skip Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

Professor Quirrell's lectures were truly boring.

Calling them merely reading from a textbook would actually be flattering him.

Even Professor Binns, the Ghost of History of Magic who was equally fond of reading from textbooks, could calmly and fluently answer whenever someone occasionally asked a question.

Though his hearing was a bit poor, requiring him to have questions like "Gry... Grie... Grindy... Gryffindor" repeated several times, it was still somewhat endearing.

Quirrell, by contrast, would deflect whenever someone asked him a question, stammering vaguely about the weather.

If pressed further, his face would flush red, his eyes would twitch, and he would wear the expression of someone who had been frightened out of his wits.

It was hard to believe he had once been a top student in Ravenclaw.

According to insiders, Quirrell had only become this way after encountering vampires and hags in the Black Forest.

Yet, through his observations of Quirrell, Sherlock deduced that what he had encountered in the Black Forest was certainly not limited to those creatures.

There was definitely a secret hidden on him.

For the time being, Sherlock was not interested in this secret.

After all, based on his observations during this period, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Hagrid, Filch...

It was no exaggeration to say that every single member of the school's faculty had secrets of their own.

Under such circumstances, unless it was linked to a crime, Sherlock couldn't care less.

The second matter was Harry.