35

Sherlock, Dandeni, and Kirk spent a month and a half making the Honor Boxes, two hundred Strategist Cards, four Commanders' Maps, sixty Honor Identity Seals, and all the weapons and tools needed, along with a public viewing map as large as a movie screen.

Sherlock contributed the most. He had even written to his father, Fumengde, asking him to purchase a large quantity of materials and send them over by owl. For a time, the students saw nearly a hundred owls carrying packages toward Slytherin House.

Kirk had been an exceptionally capable assistant to Sherlock this time. He had helped Sherlock complete many tasks, and he also had his own ideas about magic. It was clear that he was a young wizard who loved learning and possessed an independent mind.

Dandeni contributed the second most, but Sherlock had assigned him to serve as Kirk's assistant for this project. Fimiya and Lupo were called over whenever they were needed to help Dandeni, while some of the other Slytherin students had also been recruited as labor. They were no good at delicate work, but they were more than capable of handling whatever Fimiya and Lupo ordered them to do.

For a month and a half, the entirety of Slytherin House had been secretly tinkering away. Otherwise, there was no way they could have completed every item Sherlock had envisioned for the Hogwarts Honor Tournament so quickly.

Nor had Sherlock kept anything hidden during the process. Instead, he passed the booklet around for every young wizard involved in the production to read, and told them about his plan to apply to the Head of House and the Headmaster to hold the tournament on the day of the school anniversary.

Every one of Slytherin's little snakes eagerly anticipated the Hogwarts Honor Tournament. Whenever there was a chance to compete with the other three Houses, the little snakes were always particularly enthusiastic.

Sherlock made a list of all the finished magical items they would need, included his proposal for the tournament, and explained that students should not be restricted on the day of the school anniversary. Instead, they should be given enough freedom and enjoyment on the grand anniversary of Hogwarts' founding.

Thus, he formally applied to hold the Hogwarts Honor Tournament on the day of the school anniversary, following the principle of friendship first and competition second, so that students could experience the joy of Hogwarts' anniversary, appreciate the distinctive strengths of all four Houses, and deepen their sense of belonging to Hogwarts as their home.

Sherlock also wrote an application letter of over a thousand words.

He first submitted it to the Head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape.

Snape's office was located in one of Hogwarts' dungeons, next to the Potions classroom where he taught.

It was Sherlock's first time entering his Head of House's office. Holding the application letter in hand, he calmly knocked on Snape's door.

"Come in."

When Sherlock entered, Snape was standing on a rolling ladder, sorting through his collection of potion ingredients. When he saw that it was Sherlock who had come in, he visibly froze for a moment.

"Isn't this... my outstanding student, Mr. Sherlock? So, what business brings you to my office?"

"Professor, Sherlock is fine. After all, you did say I'm your student."

Sherlock saw Snape trying to reach a bottle on the far-left shelf. It contained a purple liquid, but because the shelving unit was fixed to the floor, Snape was having some difficulty retrieving it.

Sherlock merely snapped his fingers, and the bottle of purple potion floated through the air into Snape's hand.

"Not bad... no wonder they call you the Prince of Charms."

Sherlock imagined that Snape was currently thinking, What the fuck, are all my students this ridiculously good now? Why would a little monster like this even need to come to school? Isn't this just bullying everyone else?

"You flatter me, Professor."

"It's nothing, but don't expect me to give you House points because of it."

Sherlock shook his head. When he saw Snape climb down from the rolling ladder, he placed the application letter on his desk.

"So... what is this? Don't tell me it's some kind of love letter... and you need me, your Head of House, to pass it on to another girl?"

Sherlock shook his head. "No, it's merely an application letter. If it really were a love letter, then even if I wanted to pursue a girl, I would find someone more skilled to help me."

Sherlock's words unintentionally stabbed Snape right through the heart. The kind of pain that hurt like hell.

The corner of Snape's eye twitched, but he thought that no one had known about him and Lily back when they were in school. At that time, Sherlock was probably no more than a drop of liquid from one of his upperclassmen.

Was it because he was single?

Snape opened the application letter in front of Sherlock, though his expression remained somewhat awkward.

After Snape finished reading the letter, he immediately understood what his House's students had been secretly working on for the past month and a half.

It was no secret that Slytherin's little snakes had been acting mysteriously lately. Everyone could see it, and the center of it all always seemed to be Sherlock. Some had even expressed concern, saying that not even Tom Riddle had ever acted so openly while he was at school.

But Snape did not believe that Sherlock was gathering Slytherin students to carry out any bad schemes or plans.

If that were the case, he would definitely have noticed. Still, Snape did not know exactly what they had been making. He only knew that it had something to do with the school anniversary and some sort of game.

"So... this is what you led them in doing for all that time... holding a competitive tournament between the four Houses on the day of the school anniversary."

Snape waved the letter in his hand. Now that he knew Sherlock's true intentions, the stone in his heart finally fell away.

"Yes. I think the school anniversary every year is far too monotonous. There's nothing special about it. Students attend classes as usual and are bound by heaps of school rules. Only dinner is a little more lavish, and banners are hung to commemorate however many years it has been since Hogwarts was founded. I heard that those banners have not been replaced for nearly a thousand years—they simply add another number to them each anniversary."

"Your idea is certainly novel, and the rules of the game are quite original as well. I can recommend you and bring this application letter to Professor Dumbledore. But if the Headmaster does not agree, I hope you will not mind even if everything you have done over the past month and a half comes to nothing."

Sherlock nodded. "Of course. I am someone who respects the rules." Then, at Snape's gesture, he quietly left the office.

The moment Sherlock returned to the Slytherin common room, he was surrounded by a group of little snakes asking about the situation.

"Don't be anxious. It still needs the Headmaster's approval... but..."

Sherlock gave everyone a meaningful smile. "Sometimes, the Headmaster also has to seriously consider advice from certain quarters. For example, the Board of Governors!"

"Tonight, I'll write a letter to my father, as well as to my godfather, Mr. Lucius. After all, he is one of Hogwarts' twenty governors."

Sherlock's words seemed to awaken the little snakes. Those from great families had nearly forgotten that the most valuable weapon of Slytherin students was their background and bloodline.

Before long, quite a few little snakes chose to write letters to their families. It seemed Sherlock had given Dumbledore a headache-inducing problem.