26

After buying everything on the list, Sherlock and his family returned to Mephisto Manor through the fireplace.

Early the next morning, he was awakened by the gyrfalcon's piercing cries. Left with no choice, he had the house-elf Shog prepare a plate of fresh beef, cut into thin strips, to feed Pyros.

Pyros was the gyrfalcon's new name. As he fed it, Sherlock felt his neck being squeezed tightly.

"Camilla, if you squeeze any harder, I'm going to suffocate!"

"Have you forgotten about me too? I haven't even had breakfast yet!"

Camilla shrieked out her dissatisfaction. Sherlock sighed. "Snakes can go a long time without food after one good meal. Are you sure you want to eat again when you were just full yesterday?"

"Yes!"

Sherlock fed Camilla a small piece of meat. She then tucked her head by his earlobe, no longer wanting to eat.

After breakfast, the entire Sherlock family set out to King's Cross Station to see Sherlock off on the train to Hogwarts.

"Make sure you take good care of yourself at school, and write to me often. You don't need to write every day—once a week will do!"

At King's Cross Station, Aili was just like every mother sending her child off to school, filled with worry and eager to spill out every reminder and concern in one breath.

"Me too!"

His little sister Axinsha stressed from the side that he had to write to her as well. Sherlock nodded to show that he understood.

"All right, Sherlock is an excellent boy. The only thing I'm worried about is that he'll stand out too much in Slytherin House. Though with his current fame, it'll be hard for him not to stand out!"

Fumengde said from the side.

Aili shot her husband a glare. "He could end up in Ravenclaw House too!"

After all, Aili had graduated from Ravenclaw House, so Fumengde did not dare argue with her about it.

"Then I'll be off. Let me see, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters should be this way."

Pushing his luggage trolley, Sherlock jogged through the stone wall, leaving Fumengde—who had been waiting nearby with a grin to watch the show—rather disappointed.

"I thought he wouldn't be able to find it."

"Our son is much smarter than you are, and he likes reading." Aili took Axinsha to browse the Muggle shopping center in London. She found the experience quite interesting, while Fumengde wore a puzzled expression, unable to figure out which book had described King's Cross Station.

Sherlock boarded the red locomotive train bound for Hogwarts. He had arrived fairly early, so he found a compartment with no one else in it for the moment.

He took Pyros out of its cage and let Camilla crawl along his arm onto the table.

Camilla still seemed a little bothered by it. She stared disgustedly at Pyros, the white-feathered eagle pacing around the tabletop on its claws.

"Want to fly out... play!"

"No! Wait until we get to school."

Having received a strict order from his master, Pyros looked bored and began searching the table for toys or anything else to pass the time...

The night before, Sherlock had also used Whispering Word Spirit on Pyros, opening its mind and planting that seed within it.

However, he had only succeeded by tempting Pyros with fresh strips of meat.

Pyros walked over to Camilla on the table. She had coiled herself up, looking like a golden snake statue cast from solid gold.

Clearly, Pyros wanted to get on good terms with its senior. But Camilla, who disliked it, responded directly with her fangs, frightening Pyros into hiding inside Sherlock's robes.

Feeling bored after such a long time, Sherlock took out an issue of The Quibbler from the handbag enhanced with the Scarless Extension Charm.

Sometimes, reading this sort of wizarding magazine filled with humor was quite entertaining.

"I told you before, that famous Spell Prince is going to Hogwarts... and he's on this train! The entire wizarding world heard about it yesterday. The Spell Prince went to Diagon Alley to buy the same supplies we need."

"All right, Fred! I heard Dad say long ago that he'd guaranteed the Spell Prince would attend Hogwarts, so I'm not surprised by this news at all."

"I have a feeling he'll be in the same House as us!"

"What, do you want to go to Slytherin?"

"No! Our whole family is far too innocent and kind. If we ended up in Slytherin, Mum would probably storm into Dumbledore's office and drag the two of us back home!"

The door to Sherlock's compartment opened. When the Weasley twins discovered that someone was already inside, they casually sat down across from Sherlock.

"Good heavens, the moment I saw you, you looked strangely familiar."

"It feels as though you're the seventh brother in our family."

"Or the sixth. He's clearly a year older than Ron if he's on this train."

"Then Ron is still the youngest man in the family! Hahaha!"

Sherlock rolled his eyes. He did not need to think to know that these had to be the famous twins from Harry Potter, Fred and George.

"Damn it! I should have realized sooner. Look at that snake! Fred, that's the Spell Prince's pet. You must be Young Master Sherlock Mephisto!"

"Just call me Sherlock."

"We were just wondering whether you'd be on the same train as us!"

"I heard you. Besides, there's only one train to Hogwarts. If I wanted to be late for enrollment, I could wait for the next one!"

Because of Fred and George's loud voices, the compartment drew many people over.

There were older students, most of them wearing robes in the different styles of the four Houses, as well as young wizards who had not yet been sorted and wore ordinary black wizard robes—new students like Sherlock.

People began crowding around in layers, blocking the entire corridor so no one could pass through.

The snack trolley witch was thoroughly displeased, constantly shouting at the people ahead, but unfortunately, she still couldn't get through.

Sherlock's compartment could seat six people in total. First come, first served. Fred and George took two seats, Sherlock took one, and the remaining three had been occupied by older students from Slytherin House.

Almost as soon as word spread about Sherlock's location, a large number of Slytherin students came running over. After all, the entire wizarding world seemed to think Sherlock might be sorted into Slytherin, though the other three Houses were also possible.

First impressions among new students were extremely important. The Sorting Hat could recommend a House, but it would also respect a student's determined choice.

If Sherlock were sorted into another House... then Slytherin House's so-called admission standards would become a joke.

"Master Sherlock, which House do you think you'll be sorted into? George and I will most likely end up in Gryffindor. Our three older brothers and our father all graduated from Gryffindor. It's the best House. If you could come to Gryffindor too, that would be amazing!"

The moment Fred said that, he immediately drew the hostility of every Slytherin student present.

Sherlock felt like his head was about to split. Even now, he could see Hogwarts Castle in the distance through the compartment window, while the arguments of the students around him were giving him a pounding headache.

The next spell he invented had to be one that made people shut up—especially for chatterboxes like Fred and George. It would be incredibly useful.