0150 Excitement

For Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger, who were witnessing magical creatures for the first time, arriving at a wizarding household naturally made everything seem fresh and fascinating.

This attitude delighted Mr. Weasley, who was very interested in Muggles, making his introductions even more enthusiastic.

It was truly mutual fascination.

After George demonstrated how to de-gnome the garden, Mr. Weasley led his guests through the garden.

Behind the garden was a small hill with an enclosure and an orchard.

The hill, enclosure, and orchard weren't particularly remarkable in themselves.

For the Weasley family, their most important function was actually providing the children with a place to play Quidditch during the holidays.

Before flying lessons began last year, Ron had bragged to his classmates about his Quidditch skills.

In his descriptions, it seemed as though he'd spent most of his childhood riding broomsticks and flying around the countryside.

At this moment, Harry looked at Ron in amazement. "So... everything you said was true!"

"What, you never believed me?!"

Ron turned around, looking hurt as he stared at Harry:

"I think of you as a friend, and you think of me as a liar?"

"Uh... sorry."

Intimidated by Ron's overwhelming presence, Harry couldn't help but apologize.

"Hmph, I'll forgive you this time, but you have to lend me your Nimbus 2000 for the rest of this period!"

"No problem."

Hermione watched this exchange and couldn't help but palm her forehead.

These two... hopeless.

Since Mr. Weasley stopped to chat wherever he went, it took the group quite some time to reach the living room.

This was a room that looked comfortable at first glance, furnished with a sofa and several chairs.

The living room also contained a large fireplace, a large wooden radio, and a particularly unusual clock.

The clock was unusual because it didn't show the time, but rather indicated where each member of the Weasley family was or what state they were in.

For instance, right now, everyone's status read: [Entertaining guests in the living room]

"..."

Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger stared at the clock for quite a while before finally taking their seats at the Weasley couple's urging.

The sudden arrival of guests inevitably made the small living room feel somewhat cramped.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked toward Sherlock in unison.

At this moment, they truly understood what it meant when someone's words were crude but truthful.

Especially Ron.

Just as Sherlock had said, normally he didn't notice much.

But now with five guests arriving at once, the space immediately felt cramped.

"Distinguished guests, welcome to The Burrow."

When they heard this name, Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger's expressions were remarkably similar: their eyelids twitched and the corners of their mouths curved slightly.

Actually, Mr. Weasley had already mentioned this word when they first met.

The sign tilted in front of the house also bore this name.

But at the time, they had been so attracted by the magical architectural style of the wizarding household that they hadn't paid much attention.

It wasn't until now, sitting quietly and hearing Mr. Weasley mention it again, that the two men realized this name was somewhat...

How to put it?

You see, the word "Burrow" as a noun means cave or hole, and in most cases specifically refers to an animal's burrow.

Using it as the name for one's home was a choice in taste that was rather... difficult to maintain composure about.

However, naturally neither of them would be as direct as Sherlock in voicing their thoughts. After their eyelids twitched, they resumed their composed expressions.

Perhaps this was just a wizarding custom?

Different strokes for different folks.

Next, Mr. Weasley, as head of the household, introduced himself and his wife.

Arthur Weasley was 42 years old and worked at the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.

His wife, Molly Weasley, was the same age, a housewife.

Then he introduced their children.

The eldest son was named William Arthur 'Bill' Weasley, ten years older than Ron. During school, he had served as both prefect and Head Boy, and after graduation joined Gringotts Wizarding Bank, currently working as a curse-breaker in Egypt.

The second son, Charlie Weasley, was eight years older than Ron. At school he had been both prefect and Quidditch captain, and after graduation went to Romania to study dragons.

The third son, Percy Weasley, was four years older than Ron and currently attending school like Ron, serving as a prefect.

The fourth and fifth were twin brothers named Fred Weasley and George Weasley, two years older than Ron, not yet old enough to be prefects.

The sixth was Ronald Weasley, who needn't be introduced further as he was Sherlock and Harry's good friend at school.

The youngest was Ginevra Weasley, one year younger than Ron and the Weasley family's only daughter, who would be starting school this year like her brothers.

Most British people are accustomed to using nicknames to address others, usually shortened forms of their names.

Common nicknames often derive from imitating children's unclear pronunciation—children usually can only manage single syllables or two short syllables.

The Weasley family exemplified this custom well.

For instance, William Weasley was called Bill, Ronald Weasley was called Ron, and Ginevra Weasley was called Ginny.

Just introducing the family members took considerable time.

Although they had heard from Sherlock and Hermione that Ron's family had seven siblings total, seeing it firsthand still left Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger clicking their tongues in amazement.

What prolific parents!

You must understand that after entering the 1990s, Britain's birth rate had begun to decline significantly, with most families having one to two children.

Only children like Hermione Granger were gradually becoming the mainstream trend.

Under these circumstances, a couple having three children was already above average.

Faced with the Weasley family, where both spouses were barely in their early forties yet already had seven children, both Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger could only say:

Truly terrifying!

Fortunately, both Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger were social experts—otherwise they couldn't have helped Harry's Uncle Vernon secure that drill order.

For example, Mr. Holmes jokingly said that the Weasley family had made outstanding contributions to increasing the already scarce wizard population.

Mr. Granger also suggested that the Ministry of Magic should award Mrs. Molly Weasley, as a mother, an honorary medal for motherhood.

Arthur Weasley and Molly Weasley were naturally hospitable people, and hearing Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger's words, both sides immediately became even more familiar.

After chatting a bit more, Mr. Holmes noticed Sherlock's expression and said.

"Why don't we let the children go play by themselves? Staying with us, they must find it quite boring, don't you think?"

"Mr. Holmes, you're absolutely right—Ron, why don't you take your friends to look around nearby."

Ron had been restless for a while, and hearing this, he immediately grabbed Sherlock and Harry and headed out.

Hermione greeted the adults before following the three boys.

As soon as they left, Percy, the Weasley twins, and Ginevra also departed together.

The living room suddenly became spacious.

Mrs. Weasley also stood up:

"Arthur, you continue chatting with the two gentlemen. I'll go prepare some drinks for everyone."

When only three grown men remained in the living room, the discussion atmosphere didn't weaken but became even more enthusiastic than before.

"Mr. Weasley, when Ron visited my house last time, he mentioned you have a flying car. Is that true?"

When Mr. Holmes brought up this topic, Mr. Granger also leaned forward, clearly very interested.

In fact, besides looking after their children, this was another important reason why the two men had traveled across half of England to visit the Weasley home.

A fantastic flying car like in Knight Rider!

Although both men were married with families and usually quite steady, just thinking about this made their hearts flutter with excitement.

"To tell the truth, I've never actually tried it myself."

Mr. Weasley looked carefully behind him to make sure his wife had left, then said to Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger:

"Originally I specifically bought a rusty old car from Muggles, telling Molly I just wanted to take it apart to see how it worked inside, but actually..."

At this point, Mr. Weasley's face showed undisguised pride, "...I used magic to turn it into a flying car."

Mr. Holmes and Mr. Granger immediately gasped.

"Oh, blessed Virgin Mary, there really is such a car! Could you make my Rover fly too?"

"Hey, old fellow, you know your reaction right now is like a crazy turkey."

"Damn it, how could you think that? That's a terrible thought. If you keep talking like that, I swear I'll kick your ass with my boot!"

"Shh! Keep your voices down, this absolutely cannot let Molly know!"

"Okay, okay..."

"Mrs. Weasley isn't looking at us, continue."

"Of course, you should know I haven't broken any laws doing this—as long as I don't intend to actually fly it.

So, would you like to see it?"

"Of course we want to see!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Be careful, follow me this way!"

Despite being three grown men with children, their eyes now sparkled with excitement and enthusiasm.

Men will be boys until death.

When Mrs. Weasley came with juice and saw the empty living room, she couldn't help but wonder: "Where is everyone?"

Ron led his three friends through the living room, first arriving at the kitchen.

"Let's eat something first—Sherlock, we really must thank your father, otherwise we don't know how long we'd have had to stay with them before we could come out!"

Ron sighed, then took out several slices of freshly baked bread and handed them to the three.

"My mum prepared these early this morning. There are also various homemade jams and rich butter beside them—you can mix and match freely."

Sherlock took the bread, his gaze sweeping across the kitchen, and casually said. "It seems you often spend time here."

"Ha! You got it right again!"

Ron had just finished spreading jam evenly on his bread. Hearing Sherlock's words, he handed it to Harry while curiously asking.

"Although I know you'll despise me for this, I still have to ask—how did you figure that out? We do have a living room, don't we?"

Harry and Hermione also looked curiously at Sherlock.

They were equally puzzled about how Sherlock could tell.

"First, the location."

Sherlock chuckled lightly, pointing toward the path they had just taken.

"Although this is located at the back of the house, it connects directly to the front and back yards and links to the garden—you could say it's the hub of the entire house.

Second, you can tell from the wear and smoothness of the wooden table and chair surfaces.

The furniture here shows much more frequent use than in the living room, so I deduce your family spends far more time here than in the living room.

Although, you do eat quite a lot..."

Ron: (ー`ー)

y illuminating the entire attic.

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