Chapter 352: Can You Give Her a Hug?
Chapter 352: Can You Give Her a Hug?
Chapter 352: Can You Give Her a Hug?
On the day Sherlock finished his conversation with Dumbledore, he was discharged from the Hospital Wing.
The only injury he had was a cut on his arm caused by Sectumsempra, and the Dark Magic attached to the wound had already been neutralized with a counter-curse. The stunning spell had merely left him exhausted from overuse of spells.
According to Madam Pomfrey, as long as he drank plenty of hot cocoa and ate some chocolate, his body would be as strong as an ox.
Silke was also discharged on the same day.
Her eye condition was incurable, and Madam Pomfrey could only help by bandaging her eyes to prevent sunlight or any visual stimuli from triggering her time-reversal ability.
By this time, Hogwarts Castle was already abuzz with the events of the previous night.
Harry returned to Gryffindor early in the morning, after everything had settled down, and everyone was bombarding him with questions about his experiences.
But Harry had no real experiences to share.
After discussing with Sherlock and Dumbledore, and considering Harry's opinion, they decided that if he insisted on participating in the Triwizard Tournament, they would respect his choice.
Harry understood that this was not the time to indulge his competitive spirit and agreed with their plan.
On the day of the tournament, Dumbledore used Transfiguration to transform Sherlock into Harry's likeness, allowing him to compete in Harry's place (the Polyjuice Potion required regular doses, which would have been too conspicuous for Harry to maintain the habit. As a Transfiguration Master, Dumbledore's human transformation was more suitable, much like Grindelwald's past transformations).
The real Harry was then transformed into a bird and hidden in Sherlock's pocket, entering the maze together.
Harry was bound by the Goblet of Fire's contract to complete all the Triwizard Tournament events unless he died.
Sherlock brought him in to fulfill this contract, and by leaving the maze first, he effectively ended the competition.
He spent the night in Dumbledore's office, chatting idly with the portraits of past headmasters, and returned to the common room early the next morning.
The entire student body of Hogwarts was discussing the two editions of the Daily Prophet that morning.
The fact that the Triwizard Tournament did not conclude as planned was a secondary topic. The other focus, besides Harry, was Cedric, who had been transported away with Sherlock.
Cedric spent most of the day in the Great Hall, surrounded by students. Being a true Hufflepuff, he found it difficult to refuse their requests and patiently recounted his experiences with Sherlock.
Cedric did not witness the thrilling battle between Sherlock and Voldemort that was depicted in the newspaper photographs.
He was honest, explaining that he had been carried under a professor's arm and was pursued by dozens of Death Eaters. When the Dark Lord arrived, Sherlock protected him, so he did not see the fight.
Even so, his story was enough to captivate the young wizards and witches, who listened with rapt attention.
As Sherlock's students, they already held a deep affection for their Defence Professor. Now, with this incident, that affection had only grown stronger.
With Sherlock's current popularity, if there were a vote for the most popular professor in the castle, he would undoubtedly receive over ninety percent of the votes. Even Dumbledore couldn't match that.
After all, one is a young and handsome professor, while the other is a kind and friendly but elderly headmaster. Sherlock's advantages were clear.
Sherlock could roughly imagine the current situation in the castle, so when he left the Hospital Wing, he did so quietly without disturbing anyone, returning to his office.
Back in his familiar surroundings, he finally allowed his body to fully relax, letting out a long sigh as he lay back in his armchair and poured himself a cup of black tea to rest.
However, less than five minutes after he had settled down, there was a knock at the office door.
Sherlock's face immediately fell. He really didn't want to see anyone right now, but the knocking continued persistently, so he waved his hand to unlock the door.
A tall, silver-haired girl walked in and, upon entering, immediately closed the office door behind her.
Sherlock looked at Fleur, whose expression seemed rather odd, and blinked.
"Fleur, how did you know I was in my office?"
Fleur's mood seemed a bit down, but she didn't appear overly dejected. She looked at Sherlock and spoke.
"I went to the Hospital Wing to find you first. Madam Pomfrey told me you had been discharged."
Sherlock picked up his black tea and, with a wave of his hand, made a chair fly over to Fleur's side, offering her a cup of tea as well.
"You didn't need to come specially to visit me. I'm fine, really. My body is in top shape, I could take on three Snapes."
Fleur didn't understand the joke about taking on three Snapes, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't have been in the mood to laugh.
She held her teacup and spoke softly.
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
Sherlock smiled.
"Hogwarts is going on holiday the day after tomorrow, so you all need to return. Although the Triwizard Tournament ended without a winner, at least Madame Maxime will be taking you back. It's not so good for Durmstrang; their headmaster is still awaiting trial."
Fleur was clearly not there to discuss these matters. She wasn't a shy girl, and by her third sentence after entering, she had already stated her purpose.
"I like you, Sherlock."
Sherlock's expression froze.
He wasn't surprised by this; he wasn't a fool and could see the signs. He just hadn't expected her to be so direct.
Before Sherlock could respond, Fleur spoke again, seemingly not expecting a response from him.
"I know you don't have those feelings for me. You like Professor Silke." The girl's lips were pressed together, but she managed a smile. "But I still wanted to tell you that I like you. At the very least, you should know that there's a girl who likes you."
"I don't know if I'll forget you and like someone else in the future, or if I'll like you for the rest of my life. But the Fleur Delacour of today likes you!"
"So, could you give me a farewell hug?"
(End of Chapter)
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