After Sherlock finished explaining his entire deductive process in one breath, Harry and Ron were left stunned and speechless.
After a mont, it was Harry—who had already witnessed Sherlock's abilities—who reacted first:
"That was brilliant! Sherlock, you really are amazing! When you put it like that, it all seems so obvious."
"See, I knew you'd say that, dear Harry." Sherlock shrugged, then turned to Ron with serious advice: "If you can manage it, you should really get a new one. Old books and robes don't matter much, but a wand should be suited to its owner. Otherwise, it will affect your spellcasting and magic learning."
Ron's face turned red. "It's fine. Though it's a bit old, my brother's wand handles quite well."
Sherlock understood. 'No money.'
Out of admiration for Sherlock's abilities, Harry and Ron changed the subject and began earnestly asking for his guidance.
Only then did the two learn that Sherlock called this thod of reasoning "deduction."
It was a thod based on observation, analysis, and logical reasoning. Through keen attention to various details, combined with knowledge and logical rules to make inferences, one could draw conclusions about events, people, and many other aspects.
To use it skillfully required broad knowledge across many fields, ticulous observation, and the comprehensive application of both inductive and deductive reasoning.
Although Sherlock claid that with proper training, anyone could master this skill, Harry and Ron shook their heads repeatedly.
Co on, this was clearly a natural talent—impossible to learn!
But this didn't dampen their discussion. Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly lively, soone knocked on the compartnt door.
Two young wizards appeared before the three of them.
Sherlock happened to recognize both.
One was a boy with a round face. He was actually one of Sherlock's deductive subjects while waiting at the station. At the ti, Sherlock's assessnt had been: [First-year student, parents absent for unknown reasons, raised by grandmother, forgetful, timid, lacking confidence]
However, seeing his tear-streaked face now, even without Sherlock's analysis, Harry and Ron could tell he was both sad and aggrieved.
As for the other—brown bushy hair, slightly large front teeth, arrogant expression—it was none other than Hermione Granger, whom Sherlock had encountered outside the Leaky Cauldron before school started.
Unlike Sherlock's group, Hermione had already changed into her new robes.
"Have any of you seen a toad? Longbottom's lost his toad."
Her tone, combined with that expression, made her seem rather self-important and condescending.
Harry was fine with it, but Ron imdiately frowned.
Just then, Hermione heard a familiar voice: "We haven't seen any toad, Miss Granger."
Harry and Ron imdiately looked at Sherlock in surprise.
Ron couldn't help but ask: "Wait! How did you figure that out this ti? She's not carrying a trunk!"
He tried to observe Hermione the way Sherlock did, looking for clues that would reveal her identity.
Naturally, his efforts were futile.
Sherlock shook his head: "We've t before."
So, they knew each other already.
This explanation put Harry and Ron at ease. They'd almost thought Sherlock had once again deduced a person's identity just from looking at them. That would have been too extraordinary.
Seeing Sherlock, with whom she'd had a brief encounter, Hermione was sowhat surprised.
Unlike Harry and Ron, she was naturally outgoing. It was only because Sherlock's initial impression had been so striking that she'd seed shy. Now, a month later, she'd returned to her original personality and couldn't help exclaiming:
"Hols! What are you doing here?"
After saying this, she sat down in the empty seat beside Sherlock.
Not just Harry and Ron, but even Sherlock was caught off guard by Hermione's boldness.
He was sowhat puzzled—were he and Hermione really that familiar? They'd only t once.
But this was just the beginning. Hermione's next performance showed Sherlock's group what it ant to be truly socially fearless.
"Oh, I was going to call you earlier, but I got busy and forgot—have you finished reading those textbooks?"
Faced with Hermione's greeting as if they were old friends, Sherlock nodded: "I've finished them."
"I knew it!" Hermione's eyes lit up as she began talking nonstop: "Have you tried any spells? I tried a few simple ones at ho, just for practice, and they all worked.
Also, I forgot to ntion last ti—nobody in my family knows about magic, so when I got my Hogwarts letter, I was shocked but also thrilled. From what I understand, this is the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry.
I've already morized all the textbooks, though I hope that'll be enough..."
Once she started talking, she couldn't stop, speaking in a torrent of words.
Just like with Neville earlier, even without Sherlock's analysis, Harry and Ron could already judge what kind of person this girl was.
'I don't want to be sorted into the sa house as her, no matter which one it is,' Ron thought to himself.
But then Hermione's attention turned to the wand in his hand that he hadn't had ti to put away:
"Oh, are you doing magic? Well, let's see it then."
Ron imdiately felt at a loss.
His spell hadn't worked earlier. It was one thing to embarrass himself in front of Sherlock and Harry—after all, Ron considered them "his people" now. But in front of Granger and Longbottom...
Looking at the round-faced boy with tears in his eyes, then at the girl staring at him expectantly, he instinctively turned to Sherlock for help.
At the sa ti, Harry also looked hopefully at Sherlock.
'Please help us out, sir!'
Sherlock understood their pleading looks.
"Ron's wand has so issues. Let do it." Sherlock drew his wand and pointed it at Harry's glasses, waving it gently. "Reparo."
A series of fine crackling sounds followed, and Harry's glasses—which had been taped together many tis—beca completely new before everyone's eyes.
Harry was imdiately stunned. He removed his glasses with disbelief, examining them carefully.
Ron leaned in too, and both discovered that the glasses had truly returned to their factory-new condition, completely restored.
Hermione also looked at Sherlock in surprise.
The nding Charm could repair damaged objects, returning them to their original state.
Hermione could perform it herself, but she could see that Sherlock's proficiency exceeded even her own.
Combined with how he'd instantly identified her parents as dentists outside the Leaky Cauldron, this gave the perpetual top student a sudden sense of crisis.
Hermione cleared her throat, preparing to comnt on Sherlock's spellcasting, when she suddenly noticed the scar on Harry's forehead after he'd removed his glasses. She asked in surprise:
"You're Harry Potter? The boy who killed You-Know-Who?"
Harry paused, then replied: "He... well, I an I am, but Voldemort didn't die. He should still be alive..."
Sherlock frowned—this touched on his knowledge blind spot.
"Harry, you're saying Voldemort is still alive?"
"Yes, Hagrid told so. Though he's weakened beyond recovery, he probably didn't actually die."
And so, Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione began discussing Voldemort openly and without restraint, as if no one else was there, while Ron and Neville sat trembling in terrified silence.
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