Chapter 66: A Cold Christmas

"Sherlock, are you giving me a surprise today?"

Hearing Sherlock's invitation, Harry widened his eyes in astonishment.

For him, being able to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays was already a wonderful option.

Never did he expect that Sherlock would invite him to spend the New Year at his home.

This was absolute, unexpected joy.

Sherlock nodded, then turned his gaze to Ron. "And you, Ron."

Ron startled, pointing at himself with a finger. "Me?"

"Yes, you don't need to stay at school either. Come to my house with Harry."

"But Ron didn't need to stay at school in the first place, did he?" Hermione asked from the side, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are going to Romania to visit Charlie Weasley. Ron and his three older brothers will all be staying at school this time."

"How do you know?"

Ron's eyes widened even more than Harry's had just a moment ago. "I haven't even told you guys yet!"

Sherlock smiled faintly at him. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Uh... I suppose not. You probably deduced it through observation again."

Ron said with a somewhat sullen expression.

Every time he heard Sherlock's process of deduction, he had this overwhelming feeling of his intelligence being thoroughly crushed.

So unless it was absolutely necessary, he preferred to skip the process.

Besides, even if Sherlock hadn't mentioned it this time, he had already vaguely guessed it anyway.

After all, just a few days ago, he had used an owl to send a letter to his family.

Given Sherlock's observational skills, deducing something like this was practically effortless.

In any case, thanks to Sherlock's invitation, Harry and Ron would be spending the upcoming Christmas holiday at Sherlock's home.

Driven by a desire to boast, Ron "accidentally" let this piece of news slip to others before long.

After all, Sherlock was quite the prominent figure at school nowadays.

Although his personality was rather eccentric and his words had a way of offending people at the drop of a hat, his uncanny ability to take one look at you and deduce what you had done yesterday still commanded the deep admiration of all the young wizards.

Furthermore, as long as you could ignore the abrasive side of his personality and focus solely on seeking his advice, it was actually quite a pleasant experience.

Under such circumstances, receiving his invitation was undoubtedly something worthy of bragging about.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have blabbed about this... Atishoo!"

Listening to Malfoy's sneers directed at Harry, Ron muttered in a muffled voice.

With the holidays fast approaching, Ron had caught a cold, and even his voice had changed.

"It's alright..."

Before Harry could finish, Sherlock calmly chimed in, "Why apologize? You merely stated a fact."

Ron: (o≖◡≖)

This was the first time Ron ever thought Sherlock's words sounded so sweet to his ears.

He instantly straightened his back.

That's right, the one in the wrong was Malfoy; what did it have to do with me, Ronald?

"Potter, whispering during class! Five points from Gryffindor!"

By now, Harry was completely accustomed to having points deducted from him under all sorts of pretexts.

Especially after hearing Sherlock explain Professor Snape's true thoughts during their very first Potions class, Harry's perspective on the man had completely shifted.

Being the kind-hearted boy he was, now that he knew the truth...

Naturally, he chose to forgive him!

Thus, at this moment, he remained completely serene and unfazed.

This only served to make Snape even more furious.

It wasn't until Snape had thoroughly vented his frustration by reducing Gryffindor's points to shreds that the Potions class finally came to an end.

As everyone filed out of the dungeon classroom, they were stunned to find the corridor ahead completely blocked by a massive fir tree.

At first, everyone felt a bit puzzled, but upon catching sight of two enormous boots beneath the tree, followed by a loud, rumbling chorus of huffs and puffs, they immediately knew who was behind it.

There was only one person in the entirety of Hogwarts who would accomplish such a feat using sheer physical strength rather than magic.

Curious, Ron poked his head through the branches, and sure enough, he was greeted by a familiar, bearded face.

"Hey, Hagrid, do you need... *cough, cough*... any help?"

"No need, I can manage on my own. Thank you, Ron."

"Move aside, you witless oaf!"

Just as the two were exchanging pleasantries, Malfoy's voice rang out from behind Ron.

"I suppose you're hoping to earn a few pocket money pennies, Weasley?
Or perhaps you're hoping to graduate from Hogwarts and become a gamekeeper yourself?
After all, compared to the dump you used to call home, Hagrid's hut must look like a palace to you."

One had to admit, Malfoy was quite proficient when it came to being snide and sarcastic.

Moreover, having listened to Sherlock's analysis last time, Ron had genuinely entertained such thoughts before.

Consequently, as expected, he was instantly provoked by Malfoy.

However, just as he was about to lunge at Malfoy, he was stopped by Sherlock.

"Mr. Draco Malfoy."

Seeing Sherlock's gaze turn toward him, Malfoy couldn't help but shiver involuntarily.

At that precise moment, he was once again reminded of the terror of being dominated by Sherlock on that day—even though the one who had actually taken the beating wasn't him.

"Not just the Weasley family. Compared to your home, Hagrid's hut is equally a palace."

The smile that had just been forming on Ron's face instantly stiffened.

Hold on, my friend.

Why do you have to stab your own people in the back while humiliating the enemy?

"Holmes, you bas..."

Exercising caution born from past mistakes: once bitten, twice shy.

Malfoy was no dim-witted brute like Goyle.

Therefore, when Sherlock's grey eyes fixed upon him, he decisively cut his sentence short, snapped his mouth shut, and hurried away with his head lowered.

A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him.

Endure!

Seeing this, Crabbe and Goyle closely followed in his footsteps.

"Sherlock, you really shouldn't have stopped me just now—I was this close to teaching him a lesson... Atishoo!"

Watching Malfoy's retreating figure, Ron said through gritted teeth, his face flushed as red as his hair.

Sherlock shook his head and glanced off to the side. "If you had, not only would you have failed to teach him a lesson, but you would have also gotten points deducted."

Following the direction of Sherlock's gaze, everyone involuntarily drew a sharp breath.

There stood Professor Snape, having appeared on the staircase from goodness knows where.

Although, thanks to Sherlock's explanation, everyone now believed that Snape wasn't a bad person,

Nevertheless...

Had Ron actually charged forward just now, the unlucky one would undoubtedly have been him, not Malfoy.

Professor Snape slowly approached, his dark eyes sweeping over Ron as he said coldly:

"You should truly consider yourself fortunate, Weasley.
If Holmes hadn't stopped you, Gryffindor would have lost even more points simply because you couldn't control your fists."

"Sherlock, thank goodness you saw him."

Once Professor Snape had turned and walked away, Harry said with a look of admiration.

"No, Sherlock... you have to find a chance to let me give that git a proper thrashing."

Ron spat onto the floor, looking at Sherlock with eyes full of hopeful expectation.

He believed that with Sherlock's capabilities, creating such an opportunity wouldn't be difficult at all.

However, much to his surprise, Sherlock replied bluntly:

"You are no match for him."

Ron: ε=怒ε=怒ε=怒ε=( o｀ω′)ノ

"How am I not... *cough, cough, cough*..."

Growing anxious, Ron broke into a fresh, unstoppable fit of coughing.

"Oh, cheer up, you lot! Christmas is almost here."

Hagrid brought a heavy palm crashing down on Ron's shoulder, successfully knocking both his grievances and his cough right back down.

"You'd better hurry up and come with me to the Great Hall to take a look. It's truly marvelous."