Chapter 14: An Unexpected Bodily Reaction
Chapter 14: An Unexpected Bodily Reaction
The newcomers were a father and son.
They looked very much alike, and their faces bore the same smirk when they looked at the Weasley family.
The same mockery, the same arrogance.
Sherlock frowned slightly as he looked at the man who was speaking.
It wasn't that he disliked what the man was saying; rather, ever since he entered the bookstore, his left arm had been throbbing as if it were on fire.
Sherlock felt puzzled. He covered the burning spot on his left arm with his right hand. There was nothing there, and the burning sensation seemed to be a reaction from his own body.
"Lucius", Mr. Weasley said coldly, addressing the newcomer.
"I hear you've been quite busy, old friend", Mr. Malfoy said. "All those raids. I suppose they pay you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a tattered copy of Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from the pile of old books.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It seems they don't. Your only daughter, starting school with a secondhand textbook. You must be doing rather poorly as a wizard, don't you think?"
Ginny's face turned red, and Mr. Weasley's face was even redder with anger.
Sherlock remained silent, closely observing the man Mr. Weasley called Lucius. After a moment, he recalled a bit of information about this person.
This man, Lucius Malfoy, was a Death Eater.
Standing beside him was his son, Draco Malfoy, who had a mean streak but wasn't irredeemably evil.
Why did his left arm start throbbing when they entered?
As Sherlock pondered this, the confrontation between the two men continued.
"We have very different views on what makes a wizard a disgrace, Malfoy", Mr. Weasley said, his voice strained with suppressed anger.
"Of course", Malfoy replied, his pale eyes darting to the Granger couple, who were looking at them nervously. "Just look at your friends. Two Muggles, and—" His gaze shifted, finally settling on Sherlock.
Malfoy's pupils suddenly constricted, and his face twisted into a sinister expression.
"Well, well, let's see who this is. Isn't this the one who's—"
Before he could finish, Mr. Weasley, who had been holding back, suddenly lunged at Malfoy with a ferocity that seemed to have been building up.
The two men grappled and crashed into a nearby bookshelf.
The other customers in the bookstore screamed and scattered to avoid getting caught in the fray, while the poor shopkeeper pleaded for them to stop.
"Please, gentlemen, stop! Stop it, I beg of you!"
George and Fred, on the other hand, were cheering their father on with excitement.
"Hit him, Dad! Turn him into a pig!"
Sherlock found the Weasley twins' lack of restraint quite exasperating.
What was the Weasley family's greatest advantage?
Wasn't it having more boys, giving them an edge in a fight?
Yet here they were, watching their father get beaten up while they cheered from the sidelines.
While the twins had no intention of intervening, Sherlock decided to step in.
As he had just realized, he couldn't continue living like the original owner forever. He needed to make changes in front of people who knew him.
The Weasley couple hadn't seen the original owner in nearly two years, so even if he acted a bit out of character, they were unlikely to suspect anything.
Moreover, he could tell that Mr. Weasley's final outburst was driven by the realization that Malfoy was about to insult the original owner's mother.
Sherlock's defense of the original owner, according to his own values, meant that standing by and watching would make him a complete ingrate.
There was another point: Sherlock also wanted to test whether the burning sensation in his left arm was indeed caused by Malfoy.
With these three solid reasons, when Mr. Weasley was at a disadvantage and pinned to the ground by Malfoy, Sherlock suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Malfoy's hair!
The moment his hand touched Malfoy's body, the burning sensation in his left arm reached its peak.
But Sherlock felt no pain; instead, the heat made him more agitated. Acting on instinct, he swung his left arm and landed a heavy left hook on Malfoy's face!
The punch connected solidly with Malfoy's face!
Instantly, bright red blood gushed from his nose, and the side of his face that was hit began to swell visibly.
Malfoy was completely stunned by the blow.
Mr. Weasley was also shocked.
Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George, who were standing to the side, were all equally stunned.
None of them had expected that Sherlock, who had always been so aloof and distant, would suddenly rush in to help.
Malfoy was the first to recover. His eyes, filled with rage, were bloodshot, and he glared at Sherlock standing in front of him, drawing his wand angrily!
Seeing his reaction, Mr. Weasley wasted no time in drawing his own wand and pointing it at Malfoy!
Sherlock, however, remained calm, as if the punch hadn't been his. He raised his wand with his right hand and held it firmly in front of himself.
His calmness wasn't due to his own strength.
Having been familiar with magic for less than a month, even with the original owner's muscle memory helping him learn quickly, he was far from a match for an adult wizard.
His confidence came from trusting Mr. Weasley to support him and believing that Malfoy wouldn't dare cast a spell.
During the past month, Sherlock hadn't just been learning magic; he had also spent time studying the complete set of magical laws.
To integrate into a new society, one must first understand its rules.
By knowing the rules, one can better navigate the boundaries.
The laws of the Wizarding World were naturally different from those of the normal world. For instance, in cases of conflict between wizards, the use of wands and magic was a crucial factor in determining the severity of the incident.
The party that first used a wand or magic, barring a few exceptional circumstances, would invariably bear full responsibility for the conflict, regardless of whether they won the fight.
Given the current two-against-one situation and the unknown level of Sherlock's true magical abilities, Malfoy, if he had any sense, wouldn't be foolish enough to cast a spell first.
That would not only make him responsible but also uncertain of victory.
He glared at Sherlock with intense hatred but did not utter a spell. Instead, he spat out a threat.
"Fine! You'll see! We'll see about this!"
With that, he threw the old textbook he was still holding back into Ginny's cauldron and then turned and left the bookstore, Draco in tow, looking thoroughly disheveled.
(End of Chapter)
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