The item was already around her neck, and Hilke had no room to refuse.
They walked into the Great Hall together. Compared to earlier, Hilke's mood was clearly much better, though this wasn't because of the bottle of Felix Felicis that Sherlock had given her.
It was because of the sweet-talking words he had just spoken.
She knew Sherlock had emotional baggage and that his feelings for her couldn't change overnight, but Hilke was unwilling to simply wait like this.
She knew very well that passive waiting was useless.
It would only make Sherlock grow accustomed to his current stance towards her, and in that way, the little schemes she harboured in her heart would never come to fruition.
She needed to express her dissatisfaction and force Sherlock to change.
She needed to let him know that their current status was equal; neither needed to protect the other, nor did either need to take care of the other.
The relationship between Amy and John was beautiful and nostalgic.
But that was in the past. The two people getting along now were Vera and Sherlock; different identities naturally required a different kind of relationship.
There were already quite a few students eating breakfast in the Great Hall.
The students were still discussing the Triwizard Tournament; this topic would clearly last for the entire term.
At the same time, after Sherlock and Hilke walked into the Great Hall, many students turned their gazes towards them.
They were the two youngest Professors currently in the castle, and the commotion between them at the banquet yesterday had been seen by most people.
Arguing was one thing, but when normal people argued, would they put their hand on the other person's head?
No matter how you looked at it, it felt like flirting in another sense.
The scene from last night left many senior girls who had originally harboured designs on Sherlock feeling secretly heartbroken.
The two Professors were of equal status, and based on appearance alone, even the most confident girl in all of Hogwarts wouldn't think she was more outstanding than Hilke.
Whether it was personality or appearance, she was simply superior, which made these young witches feel heartbroken yet unable to be jealous.
Because there was really no comparison.
The students only saw that, but the Professors sitting at the high table last night had heard clearly what they were arguing about.
They didn't understand the complex relationship between Sherlock and Hilke; they only knew that two young people of similar age were arguing over such matters—did the relationship even need guessing?
Furthermore, the Professors could tell from their words that Hilke had come to Hogwarts to teach precisely to find Sherlock.
This made Professor Flitwick, who had been eating breakfast at the long table on the raised platform since early in the morning, look at Sherlock and Hilke with a mysteriously benevolent gaze; the smile on his face never disappeared.
Even when chatting with Professor Sprout beside him, he would look at Sherlock from time to time, making Sherlock, who was eating roasted sausages with his head down, feel a sudden, involuntary tingling on his scalp.
Just as Sherlock was feeling restless, Snape, wearing his usual unlikable, sour expression and that black robe he never seemed to change, sat down beside him at some point.
Sherlock looked at him in surprise.
"Don't you usually hole up in your office and have the House-elf deliver your breakfast? Why are you eating in the Great Hall today?"
Snape's expression remained gloomy. Facing Sherlock's question, he poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and said coldly,
"Just on my way."
Sherlock looked at Snape, whose forehead still had faint traces of sweat and whose breathing was noticeably heavier than normal, and said with a strange expression,
"You aren't starting morning exercise, are you?"
"Pfft!"
Madam Hooch, the Flying Lessons instructor, who was sitting not far from them and could hear their conversation clearly, couldn't help herself when she heard Sherlock's words and spat out the milk she had just taken into her mouth.
The fact that Snape would actually go out to exercise was truly shocking.
While Madam Hooch kept apologising to Hilke, who was sitting next to her, and cleaning the table with her wand, Snape did not answer Sherlock's question and went on spreading jam on his toast.
"Is it because you couldn't beat me in two fights in a row? So you want to get in shape to take revenge?"
Sherlock lowered his voice and said with a tsk.
"But regardless, exercising more is a good thing for you."
Snape took a bite of his jam-covered bread and retorted indifferently,
"With so much to say, how did you manage to get your girlfriend to like you?"
Sherlock was stunned for a moment, then he turned to look at Hilke and couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"It's one thing for others to misunderstand, but surely you can tell who Vera is?"
"How would I know who she is?" Snape said, his face full of impatience.
"True, this little girl has changed a lot since she was a child. It's normal that you can't tell; back then, her hair was still blonde."
Sherlock muttered to himself.
Snape was no fool. The information revealed in Sherlock's words was enough for him to guess Hilke's true identity.
He looked at Hilke, who had just finished helping Madam Hooch clean up the table. His expression was one of shock, and he subconsciously called out a name.
"Amy!"
Hilke looked up in confusion, watching the now-transformed Snape, then turned to look at Sherlock, thinking he had revealed her original name.
Sherlock winked at her. He didn't speak aloud but mouthed the words "Uncle Prince", and she understood immediately.
Hilke flashed a faint smile at Snape and nodded gently.
She hadn't spent much time in contact with Snape back then; she had only stayed in Snape's room for one day during the two days Sherlock was away from the Leaky Cauldron, and after that, the three of them went to an amusement park together.
But this brief experience was enough to rank Snape among the top in Hilke's pitifully small circle of social contacts.
After Snape came to his senses, his gaze towards Sherlock became even more disdainful.
"Shameless."
Sherlock was baffled by the insult. He looked at Snape with a face full of innocence.
"What are you scolding me for?"
As a result, Snape added another sentence.
"Pervert."(TN: By the way it looks, he isn't wrong.)
He finished the last bite of his bread, drank the pumpkin juice in his cup, looking as if he was extremely disgusted with Sherlock, and turned to leave.
But then, as if he remembered something, he took a small booklet out of his robe pocket and threw it onto the table.
"This might be of some use to you. If you think it's useless, burn it. Don't pass it on to anyone else."
Having said that, he walked straight out of the Great Hall.
Sherlock didn't pay any attention to the "thank-you gift" Snape had left on the table; he remained confused and looked at Hilke.
"Why is he scolding me?"
Hilke looked indignant on his behalf and nodded vigorously.
"It's truly unreasonable."