Harry's excitement completely vanished three minutes after they set off.He gripped the handle above the car door tightly, his face pale, and asked nervously,"Professor, have you really learned how to drive?"
Sherlock, hearing his skills questioned, directly pulled out the Original Owner's British driver's licence."Are you kidding? I've been driving for three years!"
"No, no, no... don't look at me, Professor! Look at the road! There's a tree ahead!"
Harry shrieked. Sherlock casually tapped the brake, sharply turned the steering wheel, and then... the car stalled.
The difference between left-hand drive and right-hand drive was far less simple than Sherlock had imagined, and cars from the 1990s were still somewhat different from those thirty years later.
This made it not so easy for him to get started.
Harry looked shaken, while Sherlock restarted the engine and comforted him.
"Don't worry, it was just a minor accident. Next, we will definitely..."
Harry, like a startled rabbit, directly jumped up from his seat, almost hitting his head on the car roof.
"I believe you, Professor! Don't say anything more! I believe you!"
His voice was almost pleading. Now Harry didn't ask for more.
At the Dursley residence, at most he did some chores, ate poorly, and got scolded a few times. But if Professor Cavendish accidentally said the wrong thing, then ending up with a missing arm or leg would be something to be grateful for.
Sherlock looked at Harry's exaggerated reaction, shrugged helplessly, and began to seriously familiarise himself with the feel of a right-hand drive car.
They went to the nearest shopping mall, took Harry down to buy a lot of snacks, and also picked out a few fitting clothes for him, much to Harry's touched and shy expression.
Of course, Sherlock paid for all of this.
The Original Owner was not a rich man in either the Wizarding World or the Muggle world, but he did have some savings.
Usually, there weren't many opportunities to spend Muggle money, so Sherlock didn't feel bad about spending it.
After they had stocked up the car, Harry took the opportunity to write a letter to Ron and Hermione each, asking Hedwig to deliver them so they could know his current situation.
Sherlock, meanwhile, had already planned their route, heading to London first.
"How are we going to France, Professor?" Harry asked, eating potato crisps while wearing his new clothes.
Sherlock, staring at the road conditions, replied,"The underwater tunnel built by France and Britain in the Muggle world won't be open until this time next year, so we have to go to London Port first, take a ferry there, and then arrive at the northern French city of Caen."
Actually, if they used some Wizarding methods, it wouldn't be nearly this troublesome.
But Sherlock was out for a leisurely trip this time. How they reached their destination wasn't important, as long as he was happy.
They had no intention of staying in Britain for long and went directly to London.
Devonshire was right next to London. It only took about an hour's drive to reach London Port. Sherlock got out, bought ferry tickets, and boarded a French ship named Mont Saint-Michel.
The ship sailed from the River Thames into the North Sea, then passed through the Dover Strait, heading towards the French port city of Caen.
Harry and Sherlock leaned over the ship's railing together, squinting as the sea breeze ruffled their hair.
This wasn't Harry's first time seeing the sea. Before his first year started, Vernon, to avoid Rubeus Hagrid delivering his admission letter, specifically took the whole family to a rocky hut by the sea for a day.
But his mood then was, of course, completely different from now.
Looking at the scenery where the ocean and sky met, Harry felt incredibly happy.
"Look at that seagull, Harry. Its wing seems to be a bit injured, and it's not flying very smoothly. But its tenacious spirit is moving. I think it should be able to find a place to land safely."
Three seconds after Sherlock finished speaking, the injured seagull suddenly let out a tragic cry, used up all its strength, and pitifully plunged into the turbulent sea.
Harry's gaze paused slightly. He turned his face and secretly glanced at Sherlock, who was oblivious to this, still holding a pair of binoculars and looking at the scenery with great interest.
Hmm, if Professor Cavendish's jinx wasn't so deadly, maybe... no, he would definitely be even happier.
As Sherlock and Harry enjoyed the sea breeze, looking forward to what delicious food they would eat in France and then spending a day on the beach, a surprised voice suddenly rang out beside them.
"Sherlock!"
Hearing someone call his name, Sherlock was first startled, then he turned his head in confusion towards the direction of the voice.
It was a young man in his twenties. He had sunglasses on his face, a shirt on his upper body, but beach shorts on his lower body, and a tie around his neck—a typical disguise of a Wizard pretending to be a Muggle.
And Sherlock keenly noticed a small wooden stick tucked into his beach shorts pocket.
A wand.
"It really is you, Sherlock! I can't believe I ran into you here! What a coincidence."
The Wizard walked up to Sherlock with a surprised look on his face and enthusiastically shook his hand.
Sherlock looked at him blankly, confirming that this person's appearance had never appeared in the Original Owner's diary, then he hesitated and asked,"You are...?"
The Wizard's smile didn't diminish at all.
"You don't remember me anymore? Well, it's true, we only worked together for two days in the Ministry, but you helped me a lot back then."
"Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Oliver Green, a staff member of the Memory Eradication Headquarters, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Ministry of Magic."
"When you were working at the Auror Office, I was seconded there to help for two days. My superior, that old fellow Chelis, still threw a lot of work at me even when I was seconded. Luckily, you helped."
After listening to the Wizard named Oliver's account, Sherlock, who had memorised all of the Original Owner's diary, still couldn't recall any record of it. It seemed this was just a trivial matter to the Original Owner.
He said apologetically,"I'm sorry, I don't remember anything."
It was clear that Oliver was indeed very enthusiastic. He waved his hand magnanimously and said,"It's alright. You helped me back then, and then you resigned, so I never had a chance to thank you. I read The Daily Prophet a few months ago and heard that you're now the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts? And you killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets last semester? Sure enough, no matter where you go, you're still amazing!"
Because of The Daily Prophet's reports, Sherlock was now a somewhat well-known figure in the Wizarding World.
"Just protecting the students."
"You've changed a lot from before. You're much more outgoing now, which is a good thing."
Oliver grew more interested. He looked at Sherlock, then at Harry beside him, and asked,"Is this your relative? Where are you planning to go?"
Sherlock introduced Harry to him, which surprised him greatly, but he was very polite and didn't rudely ask to see Harry's lightning-shaped scar on his forehead like others.
"I'm out on a Ministry assignment this time. The Headless Hunt, those ghosts, held a gathering in Kent a while ago, and a Muggle secretly observed the whole thing."
"Afterward, that Muggle told everyone he met that he personally saw headless ghosts playing hockey with their own heads. His family took him for a madman and sent him to a Muggle mental hospital."
"But then he sneaked out again. After I received the assignment from the Ministry, I followed him onto this ship, and I just cleared his memories of ghosts before I ran into you."
Oliver's job was interesting. Sherlock and Harry listened with relish as he recounted his mission experiences.
"Arthur is going to be overjoyed recently. He won The Daily Prophet's Annual Galleon Grand Prize and is now planning to take a few days off from the Ministry to travel to Egypt with his whole family to visit his eldest son."
Harry heard about Ron's recent situation from him. From his tone, it seemed he had a very good relationship with Mr Weasley, using very affectionate terms.
"Are you driving a Muggle car for your trip?" Oliver asked.
Sherlock nodded. "Rented from a Muggle car rental company."
"Could I perhaps admire your car? I'm very interested in all sorts of Muggle machinery," Oliver requested, a little embarrassed.
They had chatted for so long on the ship, so Sherlock naturally wouldn't refuse his small request.
Sherlock and Harry took Oliver to their rented Ford saloon, and he immediately excitedly sat inside.
"What an ingenious machine! Sometimes you have to admit the cleverness of Muggles. Without magic, they can create things more miraculous than magic itself, unlike Alchemy in the Wizarding World, which has regressed more and more over the years."
His words made both Harry and Sherlock spontaneously develop a good impression of him.
"But their imagination is still a bit lacking. Why can't they make cars that can fly in the sky?" Oliver said, turning to Sherlock. "Are you going to travel through France in this car?"
Sherlock shrugged. "If nothing unexpected happens, we don't plan to change..."
Harry only heard the first half of his sentence before his face turned pale, and he reacted instantly, interrupting quickly,"Yes! If nothing unexpected happens, we will keep driving this car!"
Sherlock tapped his head disapprovingly.
"Politeness! Harry, interrupting others is very rude."
The pained Harry could only bear the suffering alone.
If he hadn't reacted just now, they probably would have to switch to another mode of transport soon.
Oliver's eyes sparkled with restless light.
"For Wizard travel, Muggle transportation is useful, but it's still missing something. Let me modify it for you, Sherlock. With just a few simple steps, it can become a work of art!"
Sherlock hesitated, saying,"I think, it's better to..."
"Don't worry! Even Arthur's modification skills were taught by me. He secretly modified a flying car at home, and last year his son drove it into Hogwarts. It caused a huge stir, and after the Ministry of Magic found out, they fined him three months' salary. Believe me, my skills are much superior to his!"
As he spoke, he already started, pulling out his wand and tinkering with the poor car, causing the car body to groan and creak.
Sherlock and Harry exchanged helpless glances. Harry felt that this might be the result of him failing to interrupt Sherlock's jinx earlier.
Regardless of Oliver's skill, the car after his modification could no longer be considered the same car as before.
When it was noon, Sherlock took Harry to the ship's restaurant for lunch. They also invited Oliver.
But he was so focused on showing off his skills on the car that he had no desire to eat.
So, Sherlock and Harry enjoyed a French feast on the ship, which they weren't sure was authentic, but it tasted quite good.
By the time they returned to the car, Oliver's modification plan was nearing completion.
"Almost done, almost..." he mumbled, then pulled a button from his pocket, installed it in the centre of the steering wheel, and finally tapped it gently with his wand. "Aha! Done!"
He excitedly wanted to test his masterpiece immediately but was stopped by Sherlock.
No matter if this car could transform into Megatron or Optimus Prime after the modification, it couldn't be tested on a ship.
Otherwise, not only Oliver but they all would be in big trouble.
Oliver, unable to try it out himself, reluctantly looked at the Ford saloon, which from the surface only had one more button than before, and began to teach Sherlock how to use it.
"Press that button, and this car will completely change its function; it can fly directly. The accelerator and brake are still used to control speed, and I've changed the ascent and descent operations to the gear lever. Its power is still petrol, but it has a big appetite. If you fill the tank, it can only fly for about 3 to 5 hours in the sky..."
At the same time, he whispered,"The French Ministry of Magic isn't as strict about regulating these kinds of magically modified vehicles. Drive boldly; even if you get caught, it's just a few Galleons fine."
Afterward, he chatted with Sherlock and Harry for a while, then found a secluded corner and left the ship via Apparition.
Leaving Sherlock and Harry standing in front of the car, Harry blinked, asking excitedly,"So, our car can fly now?"
Sherlock didn't immediately respond. He examined the car for a while, then had Harry keep watch for passing Muggles.
Then he drew his wand and carefully inspected the car that Oliver had finished modifying.
After a comprehensive curse detection and magical power assessment, Sherlock confirmed that the car was indeed as Oliver said; apart from the added flying function, no other tricks had been played.
Harry scratched his head.
"I think that person was very enthusiastic and nice; he shouldn't be a bad guy, right?"
Sherlock seriously instructed him,"It's hard to tell if someone is good or bad just from their appearance, just like Tom Riddle, who framed Rubeus Hagrid last semester. Didn't you believe everything he said at first, thinking he was a good person? No matter what kind of stranger you deal with, always remember to be wary, otherwise, if you get tricked, you'll even help them count their money."
Harry honestly said, "I'll remember that, Professor." He then continued to ask, "So, is there any problem with this car?"
Sherlock shook his head.
"No problems at all. Oliver's skills are indeed excellent. He must have modified this car wholeheartedly and perfectly to thank me for my help at the Ministry of Magic before."
Harry's eyes immediately widened, and a joyful expression couldn't help but appear on his face.
"Then our next trip will definitely be more interesting!"
Sherlock shrugged, a smile also appearing on his face.
"Perhaps."