Listening to the conversation, which only the two of them understood but sounded more like flirting to outsiders, the surprise in Mr and Mrs Weasley's eyes grew even stronger.
"Vera, may I call you that?"
Mrs Weasley's voice trembled, tears welling up in her eyes, but a look of great relief spread across her face as she stepped forward to take Hilke's hand.
Hilke was a little flustered by such enthusiastic behaviour, but she knew this was a close friend of Sherlock's.
"Yes, Mrs Weas—"
"No, just call me Molly!"
Mrs Weasley warmly pulled Hilke into the tent to chat about daily life. Mr Weasley, having lost the mood to figure out how to use the lighter outside, quietly inquired about information regarding Hilke.
"What does she do for a living?"
"She used to be one of the Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries in the German Ministry of Magic, but later resigned and came to Britain. She has already found a new job now."
Sherlock said helplessly. He really wanted to set Mr Weasley's thinking straight, but he didn't know where to start.
He truly didn't have those kinds of feelings for Hilke.
Perhaps before returning to the past, when she hugged him in his office, he had some distinct feelings, but after meeting Amy in the past and returning to the present to learn that Amy was Hilke, his current feelings for her were actually very complex and awkward.
But overall, his mindset as an elder was more prominent. He and Eddie were friends, and getting along with Amy felt more like family, like an uncle and a niece.
Although they had returned to normal time and Hilke was actually a year older than him, Sherlock had always kept his mindset straight and had no other intentions.
Otherwise, if he were to make a move on his friend's daughter—whom he had, in a way, watched grow up—Sherlock couldn't get past that hurdle in his heart.
He felt like a total pervert.
Mr Weasley couldn't understand Sherlock's complex mood and just sighed.
"It's not just anyone who can be one of the Unspeakables. This girl is very talented, it's just..." He hesitated here, but couldn't help asking in the end, "What happened to her eyes?"
Sherlock explained solemnly.
"She isn't blind; it was just an accident. There will be a way to restore them later."
Hearing him say this, Mr Weasley nodded in relief, but still continued to ask.
"When did you two meet? Why haven't you mentioned it before?"
"Just last year, when Hogwarts had just started."
While Mr and Mrs Weasley were grilling Sherlock and Hilke respectively, Harry and the others were also disturbed by the commotion outside and walked out of their tents one by one.
The Weasley family, along with Harry and Hermione, stood by the tents, watching the scene from afar.
"Sherlock's girlfriend is really beautiful," Charlie, the second son of the Weasley family, exclaimed.
He was a tall wizard who had been the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team before graduation. Sherlock had never taught him, but they knew each other from school.
The others nodded in agreement; they had never seen a girl more beautiful than Hilke.
"But why are her eyes covered? Doesn't it affect her walking?" Ginny, the youngest, who was about to start her third year, asked in confusion.
Harry, who knew some inside information, guessed.
"This might be a special kind of magic. Covering her eyes doesn't have any effect on Miss Hilke."
"Hey, I know you guys are very interested in the gossip about Professor Cavendish," George clutched his stomach, which was making a "rumble" sound, with a bitter expression. "But looking at Mum and Dad right now, what should we do about lunch?"
Bill, the eldest, smiled and said.
"Let's not disturb them for now. I brought quite a few snacks; dividing them up should solve the lunch problem."
Harry and the others cheered and eagerly went to find the snacks with Bill.
Mr Weasley and Sherlock chatted until three in the afternoon before they came back to their senses. By this time, Mrs Weasley had also let Hilke out of the tent, still seemingly wanting to talk more.
The children had barely managed to solve lunch with snacks, so Mr and Mrs Weasley simply started preparing dinner. It was estimated that by the time they finished, it would be dark.
At this time, Sherlock and Hilke finally had time to set up their tent.
Setting up a magic tent was actually quite simple, just like a normal tent, but the Undetectable Extension Charm made the space inside much larger than it looked from the outside.
"What did Mrs Weasley say to you?" Sherlock asked Hilke about what had just happened.
Hilke had an inexplicable smile on her face and shook her head.
"Nothing much, just told me some things about your past."
Sherlock squinted, fearing his dignified image in her heart would collapse, and coughed lightly.
"The past is the past, and the present is the present. People always change, so they cannot be lumped together."
For some reason, after hearing this, a brilliantly radiant smile bloomed on Hilke's face, making Sherlock lose his focus for a moment.
She said seriously.
"You are quite right. The past is the past, and the present is the present."
...
Sherlock and Hilke had dinner with the Weasley family.
Before the meal, Mr Weasley ran into quite a few acquaintances from the Ministry of Magic. Standing before them now were two department heads of the Ministry of Magic.
Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports—Ludo Bagman, and Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation—Barty Crouch Sr.
Mr Weasley initially wanted to pull Sherlock over to introduce him to these Ministry officials, but Sherlock was obviously not very interested in these people. He found an excuse to go and watch over Hilke, preventing her from accidentally blowing up the only pot available for the night while being pulled in to help by Mrs Weasley.
Although they hadn't met during this event, Sherlock naturally knew Barty Crouch Sr.
Eddie's former boss, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement seventeen years ago.
He had originally been very hopeful of becoming Minister for Magic, but because the fact that his son, Barty Crouch Jr., was a Death Eater came to light—even though he had personally captured his son—it was of no use. In the end, he lost the competition to Fudge and was "exiled" to the Department of International Magical Cooperation in what looked like a lateral transfer.
Barty Crouch Sr. was a very capable person, just not very lucky.
Bagman, on the other hand, was an approachable official; he didn't even mind letting the Weasley Twins and Harry and the others participate in betting on this final.
George and Fred had already clearly decided on whom to bet and put all their assets into it.
Hermione and Ron had originally not intended to participate, until Harry suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said with excited, blinking eyes.
"Why don't we go ask the amazing Professor Cavendish?"