HP: I AM SHERLOCK HOLMES

Seeing Ron also getting new robes, Sherlock knew that after the Weasley family’s trip to Egypt, they still had quite a bit left from the seven hundred Galleons.

In the past, Ron would have worn his brothers’ altered hand-me-downs.

”I still have one hundred and twenty Galleons left.”

Just then, Hermione, having tried on her new robes, looked at her purse and showed a joyful expression.

”Thanks to Sherlock! The bookstore manager gave us fifty percent off, otherwise I definitely wouldn’t have this much money left.”

”Do you have new shopping plans?”

Sherlock immediately saw through Hermione’s thoughts.

”Yes, my fourteenth birthday is in September. Mum and Dad gave me some money to buy myself an early birthday present.”

Hermione’s father, Mr. Granger, had made significant profits through Mr. Holmes’s help with various financial dealings involving loan defaults and currency exchanges.

By now, he had achieved a modest class elevation.

So, the funds for his daughter’s birthday gift were quite ample.

Now that the bookstore owner had given a fifty percent discount, saving them money, it was even more ample.

Ron silently cursed the wealthy in his heart, then deliberately asked.

”How about buying some good books?”

”No, I don’t want to buy books.”

Hermione glared at Ron fiercely, then looked at Sherlock with hopeful eyes.

”Actually, I want an owl. You see, Harry has Hedwig, Ron has Errol, you have Watson...”

”I don’t, I haven’t, don’t talk nonsense!”

Ron immediately raised his hands in explanation. ”Errol is our family’s owl. I only have Scabbers.”

He pulled his pet rat from his pocket. ”Speaking of which, I actually want to take him for a check-up. He seemed a bit under the weather in Egypt.”

Sherlock glanced at Scabbers and noticed he was indeed thinner than before, with his whiskers visibly drooping.

He really did look unwell.

Sherlock pointed westward. ”There’s a magical creatures shop over there.”

Since first coming to Diagon Alley, Sherlock had thoroughly familiarized himself with the place—this had always been easy for him.

”Excellent,” Harry said happily. ”Let’s go there. Ron can see what they suggest for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl.”

Hermione and Ron naturally had no objections to this. But after just a few steps, Sherlock stopped.

”What’s wrong?” Harry asked curiously.

Hermione followed Sherlock’s gaze and saw an exquisite Galaxy Model suspended in a large glass sphere.

”Sherlock, do you want that?”

Seeing Sherlock nod, Harry and Ron both gathered around curiously.

When they saw the price, Harry wasn’t particularly affected, but Ron gasped.

”So expensive! It costs over two hundred Galleons!”

Harry carefully read the product description, then had a sudden realization. ”This model can simulate galactic motion in real time. If we bought it, we might not even need to attend Astronomy classes anymore.”

This year they had chosen so many courses, they would obviously be very busy.

If they didn’t have to attend Astronomy classes, it would indeed save considerable time.

Especially since Astronomy classes were at night, and they always felt sluggish the next day after class.

”Harry, I’m afraid I’ll need to borrow some money from you,” Sherlock looked at his good friend. ”I’ll pay you back in pounds when we get home.”

”Sherlock, what are you talking about?”

Harry was somewhat unhappy to hear Sherlock being so formal. ”Just tell me how much you need. If it’s not enough, we can make another trip to Gringotts!”

Watching Harry’s wealthy and generous demeanor, Ron couldn’t help but show envious eyes.

Being rich really meant you could do whatever you wanted!

”That won’t do.”

Sherlock smiled and shook his head. ”My dear Harry, precisely because we’re good friends, we need to keep our accounts clear.”

Harry looked at Sherlock and found that although he was smiling, his expression was particularly firm.

He could only nod helplessly.

After three years of friendship, he knew Sherlock very well—once he decided something, no one could change his mind.

”How much do you need?”

”Eighty Galleons.”

”No problem...”

”I’ll contribute one hundred!”

Sherlock and Harry both looked at Hermione.

Ron was even more helpless. ”Hermione, do you think this is an auction? Harry offers eighty, you offer one hundred?”

”What I mean is, I’ll contribute one hundred Galleons,” Hermione said happily, looking at Sherlock. ”Then we can buy it together, and none of us will have to attend Astronomy classes.”

”What?!”

Ron looked at Hermione in surprise. ”You don’t attend Astronomy classes at night—what do you want to do instead?”

”What are you talking about?”

Hermione frowned at Ron. ”We chose more new courses than you did, didn’t we?

Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies...

If we can skip one class, we can save quite a bit of time.”

”Wait, you all chose Muggle Studies? Really?”

Ron, who was already surprised, became even more astonished.

”Sherlock and Hermione, you’re both Muggle-born. Your parents are Muggles, so you know all about Muggle affairs!

And Harry, although your parents were wizards, you grew up in a Muggle household, so you already know everything about Muggles too!

So why did you choose Muggle Studies?”

”How do you act like you’re just finding out?” Harry found this strange. ”All three of us chose every available course!”

”I only looked at the two courses I wanted. I didn’t look at any of the others.”

Seeing Ron’s straightforward attitude, Harry was speechless.

That’s so like you!

Hermione said irritably. ”Because we think studying Muggles from a wizard’s perspective would be interesting too.

So now do you understand why Sherlock and I want to buy this model?”

”Buy it, buy it, buy it!”

Ron waved his hand generously. ”Only you two dare to confidently skip classes. If it were me, even with this thing, I’d still have to attend classes. Professor Sinistra would never allow someone like me to miss class.”

Harry nodded, thinking Ron was right.

Not just Ron—even if he bought this, he’d probably still have to dutifully attend Astronomy classes.

Even if the Astronomy teacher agreed, his self-study ability was nowhere near comparable to Sherlock’s and Hermione’s.

Sherlock looked at Hermione somewhat questioningly. ”Weren’t you planning to buy an owl?”

”The remaining money is more than enough to buy an owl,” Hermione said boldly. ”I still have to thank you—if you hadn’t found the way to deal with the monster books, the manager wouldn’t have given us fifty percent off.”

Hearing Hermione’s words, Sherlock said no more and accepted the hundred Galleons from her.

Then he negotiated the price and bought the beautiful model that floated in the glass sphere and could simulate galactic motion in real time for two hundred Galleons.

”He looked like he took a big loss,” Harry recalled the pained expression on the shopkeeper’s face.

”For him, earning less is a loss,” Sherlock smiled. ”My dear Harry, in front of these businesspeople, you can make a killing, but they never lose.”

Hermione was also beaming with joy.

Not having to attend Astronomy classes was secondary—the key point was that this belonged only to Sherlock and her!

Ron was completely confused, not understanding what his three companions were thinking. Just as he was about to ask, he noticed that Harry had also stopped like Sherlock had earlier.

”What are you all doing, one after another...”

Ron muttered while following Harry’s gaze.

When he saw the new merchandise displayed in Quality Quidditch Supplies, he couldn’t walk either.

”The Nimbus series has a new broomstick!”

Ron and Harry approached together and began reading the sign next to the broomstick.

[Following the Nimbus 2000 and Nimbus 2001, our company presents its newest product. the Nimbus 2001 Super]

After a brief text introduction came a data comparison of the three Nimbus series broomsticks.

The Nimbus 2001, compared to the Nimbus 2000, had approximately 5% speed improvement, 3% stability improvement, with a 30% price increase.

The Nimbus 2001 Super, based on the Nimbus 2001, had an additional 3% speed improvement, 5% stability improvement, with only a 15% price increase!

Moreover, there was currently a promotion—if you had a Nimbus 2000 or Nimbus 2001, you could trade it in at a discounted price.

”Looks like you could save quite a bit of money!”

After reading these signs, Ron couldn’t help but sigh sincerely.

”Harry, why don’t you take advantage of this promotion and trade your Nimbus 2000 for a Nimbus 2001 Super?

You’ve only used it for two years, so the broom should be about eighty percent new. This would definitely be a good deal!”

Harry was indeed somewhat tempted hearing this.

Although Gryffindor had defeated Slytherin with their seven Nimbus 2001s last year, in that match, the advantages of the Nimbus 2001 were fully displayed.

If he hadn’t successfully employed tactics and had superior skills to Malfoy, Slytherin would have won for sure.

Now with the even better Nimbus 2001 Super available, it really didn’t seem like a bad deal.

Hermione was quickly calculating in her mind the improvement rate Harry would get after purchasing the Nimbus 2001 Super.

For speed. 1 + (1+5%) × (1+3%) = 1.081, an improvement rate of 8.15%

For stability. 1 + (1+3%) × (1+5%), also an improvement rate of 8.15%

The price increase was the largest. 1 + (1+30%) × (1+15%) = 1.495, a full 49.5% increase.

However, was it really worth spending fifty percent more than the Nimbus 2000 to get a broomstick with 8% improvement in both speed and stability?

If they took advantage of the summer promotion to sell the Nimbus 2000 at eighty percent of its value, the actual cost would be seventy percent of the Nimbus 2001 Super’s original price.

Hearing Hermione voice her analysis, Ron felt his heart racing.

If he were in Harry’s position, he wouldn’t hesitate—he’d buy it immediately.

However, after thinking it over, Harry ultimately shook his head.

The new broomstick was certainly good, but his Nimbus 2000 was comfortable to use, and there was really no need to spend money on a new one.

In truth, deep down, he really wanted to upgrade his equipment.

But at this moment, he kept reminding himself that he still had five years left at Hogwarts.

Although he had already reconciled with the Dursleys, when he was capable of managing on his own, he still preferred not to ask them for money to buy magical books.

Seeing Harry shake his head, Ron felt somewhat regretful. He turned to Sherlock. ”Sherlock, what do you think?”

”This kind of thing is entirely Harry’s choice.”

Sherlock smiled and said. ”Buy early, enjoy early; buy late, enjoy discounts.”

Compared to whether Harry should trade his Nimbus 2000 for a Nimbus 2001 Super, what Sherlock was more interested in was the CEO of the Nimbus company.

How should he put it—this business strategy was perhaps a bit too masterful.

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