“What questions?” Hearing that Sherlock actually wanted to consult him, Ron instantly perked up.
The request gave him a sudden feeling of being needed by a grand master.
“First, what are the traits of each of the four houses?
Second, do you really not know…
that the word ‘Muggle’ also carries a derogatory tone?” Sherlock rested his chin on his clasped hands, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at Ron, waiting for an explanation.
“W-What?!” Ron was shocked.
“Muggle…
how could that possibly be a slur?” He answered the second question first.
After all, compared to the first question, the shock of the second was a bit too much for him to handle.
*Galloping Gorgons!* He had never meant any disrespect when using the term since he was little.
His father was even full of curiosity about the Muggle world and treated them with utmost kindness.
It was precisely because of this that pureblood families like the Malfoys looked down on them, believing they disgraced the honor of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
And now Sherlock was saying “Muggle” was also pejorative?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Harry, standing beside them, also chimed in to help Ron explain, “Sherlock, you’re wrong this time.
Hagrid calls them that too.” Sherlock shook his head.
Instead of giving a direct answer, he continued asking, “How do you spell Muggle?” “M-U-G-G-L-E.” While Ron was still pondering, Harry had already blurted out the answer.
Sherlock frowned.
“Notice anything wrong?” Ron still looked completely lost.
Harry hadn’t thought there was anything wrong at first either, but with Sherlock pointing it out, he thought about it for a moment and suddenly understood.
“You mean…
the root word?” Sherlock nodded.
Seeing Ron’s still thoroughly bewildered face, he was somewhat surprised.
“So…
wizarding families don’t study vocabulary?” Ron coughed twice, his ears turning bright red again.
“We do!
Of course we do!
But…
but I didn’t see anything wrong with that word.” Sherlock looked at Harry.
Though he wasn’t sure why, Harry managed to read Sherlock’s gaze.
So he took it upon himself to explain to Ron, “The root of Muggle is ‘mug’…” “Isn’t that a cup?” Ron quickly interjected, trying not to look so ignorant.
Harry sighed.
“Besides a cup, it has another meaning.” At Sherlock’s nod, Harry carefully explained to Ron that the root of “Muggle”—”mug”—meant a fool or a gullible person, in addition to a cup.
Ron’s mouth gaped open in astonishment, leaving him speechless for a moment.
This piece of knowledge was genuinely new to him.
*Sherlock was right—people from wizarding families really don’t study vocabulary properly,* Harry thought to himself as he watched Ron.
At the same time, he found Sherlock increasingly amazing.
Even though Sherlock had grown up in a non-wizarding household just like him, he not only understood the non-magical world so well, mastered all kinds of knowledge, and knew boxing and fencing, but he could even use magic skillfully.
Truly incredible!
Noticing Ron’s low spirits, Sherlock patted his shoulder.
“Don’t take it too much to heart.
After all, a fool is a ‘mug’ and not a ‘Muggle’, so continuing to use the term is fine.
I imagine whoever came up with the name back then simply didn’t have a very friendly attitude toward non-magical people.” “But…” Seeing Ron’s conflicted expression, Sherlock offered a bit more explanation: “Languages naturally evolve and change over time.
Some words start out neutral but end up becoming pejorative later on.
Take ‘Negro’, for instance.
Originally it carried no derogatory connotation, coming from the Latin word for black, and was widely used in the US before the 60s.
The truly derogatory term was ‘Nigger’, but today, ‘Negro’ is considered just as discriminatory.
In a few decades, I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Black people’ becomes off-limits due to sensitivity too.” Harry blinked in surprise.
“Then what should people call them?” “Who knows?
Maybe ‘African American’?” Sherlock gave a cold chuckle.
“It’s the same with ‘Muggle’.
It contained a pejorative element at first, but today it has diluted enough to be widely accepted.” Harry and Ron looked at Sherlock with immense admiration.
He knew so much!
Just then, the compartment door opened yet again.
Hermione appeared before them once more.
“What happened?” Hermione asked, looking at the sweets scattered across the floor in confusion.
Harry and Ron looked at Sherlock.
The latter shrugged.
“Miss Granger, someone wanted to steal our snacks, but after being persuaded, they left.” “Really?” Hermione was skeptical.
She had seen Malfoy and his two cronies leaving with her own eyes.
The way they looked was anything but “persuaded.” “You didn’t get into a fight, did you?
Don’t tell me you’ve managed to cause trouble before we even arrive!” She still spoke in that haughty tone.
Ron stiffened his face, preparing to snap back.
Sherlock spoke up at that moment: “Ron, there was also the first question.” “What—oh, uh…” Ron snapped out of it.
Sherlock had asked two questions earlier, and he had only answered the second.
He couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed at himself; in front of Sherlock, he always seemed so slow on the uptake.
Fortunately, coming from the Weasley family, he knew the four houses of Hogwarts inside out, so he began to talk endlessly.
Hearing Ron talk about this, both Harry and Hermione became interested.
Hermione sat down beside Sherlock just like before, listening intently.
Sherlock didn’t mind, but the more he listened, the more he felt Ron’s explanation was heavily subjective.
In Ron’s eyes, Gryffindor consisted of righteous, courageous warriors, the reasoning being that both the current Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts came from this house, as did his parents and several older brothers.
Likewise, he himself would in all probability be sorted into this house too.
Ravenclaw was full of bookish nerds with quirky personalities who thought too highly of themselves.
Hufflepuff was a bunch of low-profile gluttons with no real talent other than loving good food.
Though that was tolerable, because Slytherin was entirely composed of despicable, shameless, treacherous villains.
Combining his book knowledge with Ron’s personality, Sherlock immediately drew a deduction: in the eyes of others, Gryffindor was probably just a pack of reckless fools who did nothing but cause trouble.
At this point, Harry chimed in, “Hagrid said he’d rather be in Hufflepuff than Slytherin.” “Because Voldemort came from that house?” When Sherlock mentioned the name, Ron couldn’t help shuddering once more.
He looked at Sherlock with an aggrieved expression.
*I know you’re not afraid, but could you at least consider the feelings of us normal people?!* Sherlock couldn’t care less about what others thought.
Having received Harry’s affirmative answer, he turned back to Ron: “Out of the four houses, does Hufflepuff have the largest population?” “How did you know?” Ron was astonished.
“Oh, Merlin’s beard, you’re amazing!” At Ron’s response, Sherlock nodded.
Indeed.
If all the students with personality issues ended up in the other houses, then the remaining kind and obedient ones naturally went to Hufflepuff.
Just then, a voice began to echo through the train: “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes.
Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be brought to the school for you.” Sherlock immediately took action to change into his robes.
“How could you just…” Hermione flushed as she saw this and quickly backed out.