"Adjust diet, promote exercise, medication treatment."
When Filch asked how to explain Mrs. Norris's problem, Sherlock didn't beat around the bush and gave a straightforward answer.
"Temporarily reduce food intake, adopt small frequent meals to reduce the burden on the stomach.
Choose more easily digestible food, such as canned cat food with higher water content.
You can also use probiotics and anti-bloating medications, such as simethicone and so on."
Filch: (((Φ(°;)Φ)))
What, what, what was all that about?
Despite listening very carefully, Filch still felt as if he were trying hard to learn magic.
Canned cat food, probiotics, simethicone—
He dared to swear that even the most complex spells he'd ever seen were not as difficult to understand as Sherlock's words.
But seeing Mrs. Norris, who had been listless during this period, now nuzzling contentedly in Sherlock's arms, looking comfortable and happy, Filch could only suppress his doubts and listen carefully like a diligent student.
And so, Sherlock walked forward holding Mrs. Norris, with Filch following closely beside him.
One spoke, the other listened, until they walked to near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Only then did Filch realize—wait, shouldn't I be the one leading the way?
Why would he know where I was going?
Before Filch could voice his question, Hagrid's voice could already be heard in the distance:
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I'm about to set off."
"Here you go."
Hearing Hagrid's voice, Sherlock smoothly handed Mrs. Norris to Filch.
Noticing that Mrs. Norris, who usually only clung to him and never gave others a pleasant face, was now tightly gripping Sherlock and unwilling to leave his embrace, Filch's face darkened.
He felt as if he had lost something important.
As for his earlier question, it was naturally pushed to the back of his mind.
"Follow what I told you for now. During this time, I'll have my family send some cat food and anti-bloating medication suitable for her."
Sherlock still spoke in his calm tone.
A conflicted look appeared on Filch's face.
He wanted to say he didn't need it.
But seeing Mrs. Norris's bright, sparkling eyes looking at him hopefully, he finally compromised.
"Th-thank you, Mr. Holmes."
Heaven knows how much determination it took for him to say those words.
At this moment, Hagrid had also walked up to Sherlock and Filch.
He looked at the two getting along harmoniously and was somewhat surprised.
From his understanding of Filch, this guy should be lecturing Holmes at a time like this, right?
They were getting along surprisingly well?
Could it be that Holmes was so capable that he could even handle Filch, this old coot with his strange personality?
If that were true, it would be a good thing.
The more capable Holmes was, the more advantageous it would be for investigating the Forbidden Forest.
"Filch, from now on, I'm in charge here."
"Good."
Filch glanced at Sherlock, nodded to him, and left straightforwardly.
Even after Filch's figure disappeared, Hagrid still found it hard to believe.
He scratched the back of his head and couldn't help asking:
"Holmes, how did you do it?
Why was that old coot so nice to you?
Did you tell him about deliberately getting detention?"
In his view, only if Sherlock told Filch, he was working for Dumbledore would the other party be so polite.
"No, I gave him some catnip."
"I see!"
Hagrid suddenly understood and grinned:
"That guy may be annoying, but he's quite good to his cat."
Obviously, Hagrid, who was familiar with magical creatures, also understood the use of catnip.
The two chatted as they walked forward, soon reaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
A cold wind blew through, and even the robust Hagrid couldn't help but shrink his neck.
In contrast, Sherlock had already cast a Warming Charm on himself early on, so he didn't feel anything.
Hagrid naturally wouldn't notice these details. He held up his lamp high and pointed to a narrow path that gradually disappeared into the depths of the dark forest, saying to Sherlock:
"Holmes, look over there—that silvery-white glowing thing is unicorn blood."
Sherlock looked intently and indeed saw the silvery-white reflective substance Hagrid mentioned.
This was the difference between the magical world and the Muggle world.
In Muggle detective experience, there was always the saying "black mud, white stone, reflective water."
This meant that at night or in poor lighting conditions, black areas were most likely muddy ground, white places were stones and other relatively hard objects, and reflective parts were most likely accumulated water.
This saying could help people avoid stepping into mud or water when walking, allowing safer progress in complex outdoor environments.
But in the magical world, this experience obviously didn't apply.
Hagrid continued:
"Here's what happened—a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest was injured by something, badly hurt.
Actually, last week I found one dead. The other creatures in the Forbidden Forest wouldn't harm them, so I think there must be poachers who have infiltrated.
Even if we can't investigate the cause clearly, it would be best to find that poor unicorn first and put it out of its misery."
Clearly, Hagrid was very melancholy.
The various animals in the Forbidden Forest were all his good friends, especially when sacred and pure creatures like unicorns were injured or even killed—this couldn't be considered normal by any measure.
Hagrid had been investigating for two weeks but still found nothing.
When he reported about the dragon egg to Dumbledore, he suddenly thought of Sherlock's unique abilities.
So, he tentatively suggested asking Sherlock to help with the investigation.
Unexpectedly, Dumbledore agreed immediately.
The rest followed naturally.
Hagrid talked at length, also telling Sherlock about the unicorn's characteristics.
Sherlock listened carefully and didn't ask questions at first.
Only after Hagrid finished did he ask a few questions, which Hagrid answered in detail.
"Put the unicorn out of its misery?"
Sherlock shook his head. "Forgive me for being direct, Hagrid, but your thinking is wrong."
"What are you saying?"
Hagrid stared wide-eyed.
"Putting the unicorn out of its misery no longer matters much—if this really was done by poachers, then we should put 'him' out of his misery instead."
Hagrid was immediately startled.
He looked carefully at Sherlock in the moonlight and found he didn't seem to be joking.
Now he began to regret suggesting to Dumbledore that Sherlock participate in the investigation.
Sherlock Holmes was indeed a Gryffindor!
While this was gratifying in some ways, some things needed to be made clear in advance:
"Listen, Holmes, I admit you're very capable, even able to see through people like Dumbledore—
But if there really are poachers who have infiltrated the Forbidden Forest and seriously injured and killed unicorns, then he's a dangerous individual, definitely not someone a first-year student like you can handle!"
Hagrid paused here, then continued:
"The Forbidden Forest is dangerous, especially at night.
But as long as you stay with me and Fang, no creature in the Forbidden Forest will harm you."
Sherlock: "Oh."
"What do you mean by 'oh'?"
"I mean I understand. What I said just now was only a suggestion."
The slow-witted Hagrid nodded upon hearing this. "Good to know, good to know."
Harry, lurking nearby under his Invisibility Cloak, almost laughed out loud.
Not long ago in Astronomy class, Sherlock had told him the inside story of getting detention, and also had him put on the Invisibility Cloak to come along.
In reality, this was equivalent to testing the results of their recent special training.
Harry, whose adventurous spirit had already been awakened, was naturally extremely excited.
However, he hadn't expected that before the special training officially began, he would witness so many exciting scenes.
Filch left him greatly puzzled, and Hagrid made him want to laugh.
It was really too interesting!
Much more interesting than night tours of Hogwarts.
After getting Sherlock's assurance, Hagrid led him into the much-feared Forbidden Forest.
As he walked, he observed Sherlock, becoming more and more puzzled.
Although Sherlock was indeed a Gryffindor, he was fundamentally just an 11-year-old young wizard. Why couldn't he see any nervousness on his face?
On the contrary, looking at his bright, sparkling eyes, he seemed to have an expectant expression.
Sherlock was indeed full of anticipation for the Forbidden Forest.
If there were such an area in the Muggle world, he probably would have completed his exploration within a month of starting school.
It was precisely because this was the magical world, and Sherlock initially knew nothing about magic, that he had endured for so long.
Heaven knows how difficult it was for someone with his adventurous spirit to endure.
Five months—do you know how he spent these five months?
But since he had already waited five months, he wasn't in a hurry for this moment.
Sherlock discretely gestured behind him, signaling Harry not to fall behind, then directly asked:
"By the way, Hagrid, the Christmas gift you gave us—that flute should be made of special materials, right?
Poison horn? Camel horn? Or Mooncalf tentacle?"
"Ha! Sherlock, I didn't expect you to know so much!"
Hagrid's way of addressing Sherlock changed once again. "But you were wrong from the start—that thing isn't a magical creature's horn at all!"
"Really?"
Sherlock looked surprised. "I thought it was an animal's tentacle because it looked so hard!"
"That's a layman's view!"
Hagrid laughed happily. "Actually, I made it from the shell of a Colour-Change Snail!
You know about Colour-Change Snails, right? They're a type of giant snail.
Besides being used to make Veritaserum antidote, their hard shells have many other uses too.
Since they change color every hour, I thought making them into flutes would be quite nice."
"Indeed, very nice!"
Sherlock praised, then asked again:
"Hagrid, you've been at Hogwarts for so long, you must be very familiar with the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest?"
Getting information from Hagrid was very easy.
As long as you found a slight pretext, he would spill all the information you wanted to know.
This even made Sherlock wonder if Snape's Veritaserum had Hagrid's saliva as one of its main ingredients.
If not, it might be worth considering adding some—the effect would definitely be good.
Sure enough, after hearing Sherlock's words, Hagrid perked up and began talking enthusiastically.
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