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Chapter 15: Crescent Mark
Chapter 15: Crescent Mark
"I have to take back what I said earlier." George stared at Sherlock, who was holding his wand and facing off against Malfoy, his mouth agape.
Fred, who had already recovered, said excitedly, "I also have to take back what I said. I admit I misjudged Professor Forrest. Percy isn't even fit to tie his shoes!"
Percy, once again an innocent victim, angrily turned to glare at Fred.
After witnessing Malfoy getting thoroughly beaten, Harry and Ron's eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"I think this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class is going to be great!"
"It's definitely going to be more interesting than Quirrell's class!"
Mrs. Weasley hurriedly surrounded Sherlock, checking if he was hurt.
Tears of relief welled up in her eyes, and she was so moved she could hardly speak.
"Sherlock, you shouldn't have rushed into a fight—your Uncle Weasley set a bad example—but, my dear boy, you seem different from before—I don't know how to put it, but maybe you've grown up, and that's a good thing."
Malfoy never had a chance to retaliate against Sherlock, and Mr. Weasley's face was clearly bruised.
But even Mr. Weasley wasn't focused on his own injuries. Instead, he smiled a complex smile, filled with relief, pride, and joy, and patted Sherlock's shoulder.
"I knew this day would come, Sherlock. I knew it."
Although Sherlock had just acted completely out of character, his response was still quite aloof.
"Everyone grows, and it's not too late for me now, especially since that person was being disrespectful."
He was creating a cool but warm image, so the Weasleys wouldn't be too shocked by his character change and would find it more believable.
Then he walked over to the bookshelf, pulled out a few first-year textbooks, and paid for them at the cash register.
"First-year students should use new books. Consider it a welcome gift."
Sherlock took the old books out of Ginny's cauldron, placed them back in the used book pile, and, under Ginny's starry-eyed gaze, put the new books into her cauldron.
"I hope you'll work hard when you start school. I have other things to do, so let's postpone the visit. I'll be going now."
Without waiting for Mrs. Weasley to try to stop him, he stepped out of Flourish and Blotts.
The Weasley family and Harry watched Sherlock's straight back, finding it inexplicably handsome.
Mr. Weasley looked at the new books in Ginny's cauldron and sighed, "Sherlock really has changed. Selena would be so happy to see him like this."
Mrs. Weasley wiped her tears.
"Poor child, living alone and still being so thoughtful. He must have gone through a lot."
Harry and Ron were excitedly discussing how they would tease Malfoy about his father's defeat once school started.
George and Fred were imitating Sherlock's punching motion, saying it was cooler than using spells to defeat enemies. They planned to create a magic boxing glove.
Ginny happily flipped through her new books, Hermione was captivated by a book on Hogwarts' history, and Percy was searching for a book on how Prefects should manage students.
It wasn't until Hagrid, the keeper of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, passed by and greeted them that they left the bookstore together.
But none of them noticed that among the old books Sherlock had placed back into Ginny's cauldron, a diary lay quietly nestled in the pile, as if it had always been there.
Two days later, a stern old witch brought her timid grandson to Flourish and Blotts.
"These old notebooks often contain the wisdom of our predecessors. Some of them might be very helpful to you, Neville."
"I know, Grandma."
The timid boy hurriedly picked out a few notebooks from the old book pile and paid for them along with his new textbooks.
He didn't notice that one of the most worn-out diaries was completely blank.
After leaving the bookstore, Sherlock immediately planned to leave Diagon Alley.
The burning sensation in his left arm was most intense when he touched Malfoy, but it gradually subsided and now there was no reaction at all.
Something about this was strange, so he wanted to get home quickly to study the mark on his left arm and read more of the original owner's diary, in case he had missed any crucial information.
He picked up the custom-made robes from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and collected the owl he had already paid for from the Magical Menagerie.
With that, Sherlock concluded his trip to Diagon Alley.
Once he returned home, he went straight to the bathroom, stripped down, and stood in front of the full-length mirror. He saw an unusual mark on his left arm.
It was a crescent moon-shaped birthmark, quite large, covering more than a third of the upper part of his left arm.
Sherlock hadn't noticed this mark before, but after it burned when he encountered Malfoy, he realized it wasn't just a simple birthmark.
However, he didn't understand its purpose or why it had only started to burn when he saw Malfoy.
Over the next day, Sherlock carefully reread the original owner's diary and found several records of the original owner's magic experiments in the study.
But he found no information about the mark. The only clue came from a photograph of the original owner from his student days.
In a photograph showing a bare arm, he confirmed that the mark had been on the original owner's arm before he had traveled to this world.
But why, if the mark had been there for the original owner's twenty years without any issues, did it start to burn when he saw Malfoy?
Sherlock couldn't figure it out, and he didn't have time to delve into it further.
Because the end of August had quietly arrived.
Tomorrow was September 1st, the start of the school year at Hogwarts.
Sherlock needed to pack his things and prepare to head to the magic school.
Professor Mcgonagall had left him a ticket during her last visit.
So the only way he knew to get to Hogwarts was to go to King's Cross Station and board the train known as the Hogwarts Express.
(End of Chapter)
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