In Slytherin House, there was a storage room that had gone unused for a long time. It was quite spacious, but there were very few things stored inside—almost all of them were Snape's bottles and jars.
Sherlock applied to use Snape's storage room on the grounds that the Slytherin students needed a better, quieter, and more convenient place to study and exchange ideas.
"Then... why don't you go to the library, or the common room?"
"Slytherins are all intelligent people who enjoy peace and quiet. Although the library is quiet enough, people from all four Houses come and go there. And the common room is, after all, a place for resting... Besides, I want to bring out my old notes for the Slytherin students to read. If the whole school finds out, then it won't be just Slytherins who get to read them."
When Snape heard that Sherlock intended to bring out some of his recorded notes, he was clearly tempted. To intelligent people, nothing was more alluring than unknown knowledge.
"So... what kind of people do you intend to lend the notes to? Or what method will they need to use to borrow them?"
Sherlock took out a test paper he had carefully prepared.
"This is a test paper with a magical contract. Anyone who answers one question on it correctly on their own will earn the qualification to borrow the notes. Once the respondent writes down their name, they become bound to the contract. They cannot damage the books and must remember to return them on time."
Snape took Sherlock's test paper. Each sheet contained only one question. At first, Snape thought one question per sheet was far too little, but after taking one look, he could not help cursing inwardly. What the hell is this? Does this even count as a question? How... isn't this related to Divination?
One of the test papers read:
A census taker came to a household, where he was greeted by a middle-aged woman with three daughters. When the census taker asked the girls' ages, the woman deliberately kept him guessing. "If you multiply their ages together, the result is 72. If you add their ages together, it just so happens to be my house number. You can go take a look yourself."
The census taker said, "But that still isn't enough information to work out their ages."
The woman added, "All right, then. My eldest daughter has a cat with one wooden leg."
The census taker smiled. "Ha! Now I know their ages."
After reading it, Snape blinked. He felt that perhaps only a Divination professor could answer such a question—and they would probably need a crystal ball.
Sherlock continued, "These are very popular intelligence test questions in Muggle society. Only people with high IQs can deduce the answers, so I plan to use the questions on these test papers to determine whether someone is qualified to borrow my notes."
"However, I imagine these questions are nothing to Professor Snape. You must have worked them out at a glance, right?"
Snape set the paper aside. Another question on it showed four men comforting a crying little girl and asked which of the four men was a pervert!
In the end, Sherlock smoothly obtained the right to use the storage room, while Snape moved some of the unused items inside back to his office.
Sherlock and a group of Slytherin students arranged the room, then cast an exceptionally sophisticated Mila Mang Charm. This magic could expand indoor space, just like the magic Newt had cast on the case he had given Sherlock.
The enormous interior of magical tents was also created using Mila Mang Magic. It belonged to a different category from the Scarless Extension Charm, though both involved enlarging space.
This made the storage room particularly vast. The little snakes of Slytherin were all astonished by Sherlock's superb spellcasting skills. After all, expanding the space inside even a tent usually required several wizards to work together to cast Mila Mang Magic.
Newt's case had been the proud collective work of the entire faculty and student body of Hufflepuff House.
Yet Sherlock merely waved his wand a few times, and the storage room became nearly ten times larger.
Lupo, Dandeni, Fimiya, and several other pure-blood families provided a large batch of brand-new bookshelves, tables, and high-end sofas.
In an instant, the storage room's environment became even better than that of the Slytherin common room.
A group of Slytherin girls made the interior elegant and refined, perfectly suited to the temperament of Slytherin's little snakes.
"Of course... being able to read Young Master Sherlock's recorded notes is a blessing. Did you think you'd have the chance to see something so profound in your entire lives otherwise? So, to avoid wasting such treasures, the notes should be read only by intelligent and qualified people."
Lupo spoke with his head held high, as if the notes being lent out were his own.
"I propose that everyone qualified to borrow the notes, whether upper-year or lower-year students, should join a club named after Mr. Sherlock! We'll call it the Sherlock Club. Then everyone can also bring out their own study notes for us to share and discuss. Aside from Mr. Sherlock's notes, no assessment will be needed for anyone else's notes. Others can study and borrow them freely, since they're simply not on the same level!"
None of the little snakes objected. They were now just waiting for Sherlock to distribute all the test papers so that they could finish the questions as quickly as possible and obtain the notes to read.
Sherlock had no objection either. He then cast another spell on the notes—a magical contract spell—and nailed a huge sheet of parchment to the storage room wall.
"As long as someone answers the question on a test paper correctly, their name will appear on the parchment. I've enchanted all the notes. Only those whose names appear on the parchment—in other words, members of the Sherlock Club—can circulate them among themselves."
Lupo called out again, "Young Master Sherlock, you should also cast an expulsion spell on this room so that only Sherlock Club members can enter. And every week, we can hold fun events in the Sherlock Club—that is, this room."
The little snakes of Slytherin applauded excitedly.
Sherlock considered it and decided it would work. It could also spur the little snakes to strive harder.
So everyone left the Sherlock Club, and Sherlock cast an expulsion spell outside it before taking out a prepared magical box.
"There are countless extremely difficult questions inside. Each test paper has one, and they all contain magical power. Only if the person themselves answers the question correctly can their name appear on the Sherlock Club membership list—that parchment."
After saying that, Sherlock left, leaving the notes inside the Sherlock Club as well.
The little snakes eagerly drew test papers from the box.
But before long, cries of alarm rang out from everyone. "What the hell are these?!"
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