After the first week of the new term ended, Harry, who had enrolled in all courses, followed Sherlock's advice and stopped attending electives together with him.
Later, Hermione and Ron had another argument. To comfort his good friend, Harry spent this time attending Care of Magical Creatures and Divination classes with Ron.
Only when Ron was free would Harry go to other courses.
However, both Harry and Ron unanimously agreed that Hermione should be attending classes with Sherlock instead.
But the reality was quite different. Hermione might be late, but she never missed a class.
Whether Sherlock was attending classes with Harry and Ron or not, Hermione was present in every class.
Of course, whenever this happened, she would sit on Harry's other side, refusing to speak to Ron.
Harry had curiously asked Hermione why she didn't attend classes with Sherlock, but she always gave vague, evasive answers.
He had originally thought Hermione had also fallen out with Sherlock, but during breaks, he observed that Sherlock and Hermione's interactions seemed perfectly normal.
This made him even more puzzled.
Ron was even less likely to bring it up.
But at this moment, both were confused: Hermione had just been with them in Professor Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class, yet as soon as class ended, she had disappeared.
The two hadn't paid much attention initially, but now she had suddenly appeared again.
"When did she meet up with Sherlock? Did you see?" Ron asked with a furrowed brow.
Harry shook his head in bewilderment. He knew Sherlock had gone to Ancient Runes class, but that classroom was on the other end of the castle!
At that moment, Sherlock approached them.
"Your expressions tell me you seem to have encountered a problem?"
"Sort of, Sherlock. Has Hermione been with you the whole time?"
Sherlock raised an eyebrow and looked at Harry. "Why do you ask?"
"Because she was just with us in Care of Magical Creatures!"
Ron said irritably, "She disappeared right after class ended, and we've been here for ages, yet you two arrived together."
"I see."
Sherlock glanced at Hermione, who was anxiously asking Lavender about the reason for her crying.
"I just happened to run into her."
Sherlock chuckled softly, pointing at Lavender and Parvati:
"Perhaps you were distracted by them and didn't notice us, what exactly happened?"
"Lavender received a letter from home this morning," Harry said quietly. "Her rabbit Binky was killed by a fox."
"I should have known!"
At the same time, Lavender was also saying loudly to Hermione, "Do you know what day it is today?"
"What day?"
Hermione couldn't follow Lavender's train of thought for a moment.
"October 16th, Friday! The thing you fear most will happen on October 16th! Remember? She was right, she was right!"
This "she" obviously referred to Professor Trelawney.
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire class couldn't help but gasp.
Seamus and Dean, who had been curious earlier, became extremely serious.
"Sorry, Lavender—"
Hermione hesitated but still asked, "Were you... were you always worried that Binky would be killed by a fox?"
"It didn't necessarily have to be a fox," Lavender looked at Hermione with teary eyes, "but obviously I would fear my rabbit dying, wouldn't I?"
Hearing Lavender's words, Hermione frowned and asked again, "Was Binky an old rabbit?"
"No, no," Lavender shook her head, "it was a baby rabbit."
"Then why would you fear it dying?"
Parvati glared at Hermione with displeasure.
Seeing this, Harry quickly stepped forward, pulled Hermione aside, and lowered his voice, "Hermione, stop."
After Hermione's series of questions, he could feel the atmosphere around them becoming tense.
"Let's analyze this rationally."
However, Hermione didn't heed Harry's advice.
Not only that, she turned to the crowd surrounding Lavender and said:
"I mean, Binky didn't die today, did it? Lavender only received the news today—"
She had just reached this point when Lavender began wailing even louder.
This made the surrounding students even more displeased, and their looks toward Hermione became increasingly unfriendly.
However, Hermione turned a blind eye to this and continued:
"Also, Lavender wasn't always worried about this, because she was very shocked when she received the news—"
"Don't listen to Hermione, Lavender!"
Ron, who hadn't intended to speak, also stepped forward at this moment and said loudly.
"She doesn't care about other people's pets at all."
Lavender immediately looked at Ron gratefully.
Obviously, compared to Hermione's calm, rational analysis, Ron's emotional comfort was more to her liking.
Ron's image suddenly became noble in her heart. Meeting Lavender's grateful gaze, Ron puffed out his chest.
Hermione suddenly turned to Ron, who met her gaze unflinchingly.
For Ron, Lavender's situation reminded him of the incident between Crookshanks and Scabbers, giving him a subtle sense of shared indignation.
Sherlock watched this scene with complete composure.
This matter was actually quite simple.
At this moment, Lavender only wanted to hear what she chose to believe: she firmly believed this was Professor Trelawney's prophecy coming true.
So even though Hermione's analysis was correct and objective, she couldn't listen to it.
Or rather, she was seeking validation, not a lecture on logic.
So, Ron's approach validated her thinking from a different angle: Hermione was indeed being insensitive, not taking other people's pets seriously at all.
Seeing Hermione and Ron glaring at each other, Harry felt anxious.
During this period, he had worried constantly about repairing their relationship.
Mainly because Sherlock didn't care about this matter, leaving Harry to shoulder this responsibility alone.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall appeared at that moment, making Harry secretly sigh with relief.
However, throughout the entire class, Hermione and Ron sat beside Sherlock and Harry respectively, not saying a word to each other.
This gave Harry an even bigger headache, at least before, they had occasionally communicated.
But when the bell rang for the end of class, Harry's attention was drawn to other matters.
As students prepared to get up and leave, Professor McGonagall spoke up to keep everyone there.
"Please wait a moment. You're all in my House, and there's something I need to inform you about. Please submit your Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. According to school rules, no form means no visit—don't forget!"
Professor McGonagall had just finished saying "don't forget" when Neville raised his hand weakly.
"Professor, s-sorry, I think I lost my form. I forgot where I put it."
The entire class couldn't help but let out a suppressed chuckle.
How should one put it? This was typical Neville—completely unsurprising.
"Your grandmother sent your form directly to me, Mr. Longbottom."
Even the usually stern Professor McGonagall seemed somewhat amused. "She apparently thought it would be safer that way, and it appears she was right. Well, that's all. You may go."
After all the students had left, Harry first glanced at Sherlock, then walked uneasily toward Professor McGonagall's podium.
"What is it, Potter?"
"This is my Hogsmeade application form, Professor."
Harry took a deep breath and handed his application form to Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall's serious gaze looked at Harry through her square glasses without saying anything.
Harry felt somewhat scared under her stare. He didn't know why, but compared to Professor Snape, he seemed more afraid of Professor McGonagall—even though she was his own House head.
"My aunt signed it," he mustered the courage to add.
Professor McGonagall took the Hogsmeade permission form. "They're Muggles. They probably don't understand what Hogsmeade represents, do they?"
"But they signed it," Harry said persistently. "Professor, you just said that as long as a guardian signs, one can go. That's the rule."
"I never said I wouldn't let you go, Potter."
"So, I can go to Hogsmeade?"
"Of course. As you said, that's the rule."
Professor McGonagall stood up, put her lecture notes in a drawer, arranging them neatly as if she had OCD.
She turned to look at Harry, her expression somewhat strange. "I hope you and your friends have a pleasant weekend."
When she said this, her gaze moved past Harry to the three people behind him—Sherlock, Hermione, and Ron lingering particularly on Sherlock for a moment.
The fact that Professor McGonagall hadn't stopped Harry seemed incredible to Hermione.
"Come off it! Don't give me that 'it's all for your own good' expression!"
Ron finally spoke to Hermione, though his words weren't polite at all.
"Even Professor McGonagall agrees, so I don't know what you're trying to do!"
"Sherlock, will Harry be in danger?" Hermione ignored Ron and turned to ask Sherlock.
"Hermione, there's a saying: 'Don't let fear stop you from living your life.'"
Although it was the first time hearing this phrase from Sherlock, its meaning wasn't difficult to understand.
Even Ron excitedly clapped his hands together. "Exactly! You can't just lock yourself away because something might happen, haha!"
Hermione frowned and remained silent.
At this point, others had already begun discussing what to do first and what to do next in Hogsmeade village—how wonderful!
This incident made the relationship between Hermione and Ron even worse.
Even the Gryffindor quartet temporarily split into two groups: Sherlock and Hermione, Harry and Ron.
The Lion King with the Know-It-All Miss, the Savior with the Chess Master.
This arrangement could minimize arguments between Hermione and Ron.
This situation continued until Halloween eve.
On this morning, third-year students and above would collectively travel to Hogsmeade, returning afterward to participate in the Halloween eve feast.
At the Hogwarts entrance hall, young wizards had formed a queue early.
Caretaker Argus Filch held a long list, vigilantly staring at each face to verify personnel information.
His actions demonstrated what it meant to be conscientious, determined not to let anyone who shouldn't leave get through.
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