"I'm sorry," said Harry quietly. "But when I saw him run away just like that, I just got the feeling that he wouldn't come back if I didn't... ." Harry's reticence spoke better than he could have. He didn't want to put it into words. Sherlock was his first friend. The moment he saw him running away, he couldn't help but feel what he had been wondering in the corner of his mind since he came to Hogwarts. That he, much like this new life, would just slip away in the blink of an eye.

"Yes," said McGonagall, anger gone from her voice. Harry looked up, and was surprised to see her displaying a desolated expression. "About Mr. Holmes... ." she hesitated.

Harry's stomach sank.

"What happened to him?"

"Professor Snape took him to the hospital wing," she said delicately. "There is no doubt he'll be fine, however... ." McGonagall struggled with her words.

"Did he get hurt by the three-headed dog?" asked Harry before he could think about the meaning of his words.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, her sadness turning back to her usual sharpness. "How did you know he was—how did you even know about the dog, Potter?"

"Did he get hurt?" he repeated his question.

"Yes," she nodded. "I don't have the faintest idea of why he was in the forbidden corridor, but Mr. Holmes saw the opened door and protected Professor Snape from the dog—"

"He protected Snape?"

"Professor Snape," said McGonagall. "Yes. He's earned a few points from Gryffindor for that, rest assured…though he will also likely earn a detention for it. He is likely still unconscious, but Madame Pomfrey must have finished the treatment by now. If you wish to visit him, you may do so, but don't take too long."

"Thank you, Professor," said Harry, jumping at the opportunity to check up on his friend.

-

Awww.

Buds.

Influence on Harry indeed.

And then, we overhear some info.

And Sherlock reveals he's got investigating going.

"YES!" Sherlock screamed. At that moment, a few people on the staircase turned around to look at them. "If you have talent, then rules don't apply to you! Why should they?"

"You shouldn't be a Gryffindor," she shouted at him. "You should have been a Slytherin!"

It was clear that she had struck a nerve, because Sherlock's response was particularly vicious.

"The only reason you like rules so much is that it's the only connection you have with people! You just want an excuse to get mad at everyone because it's the only way you can talk with someone, because there's nothing else about you worth talking about! You cling on to books and rules not because they interest you, but because you have nothing else—"

"Stop!" said Harry, shaking himself free from Sherlock's grip and stopping his rant.

"What?" asked Sherlock, turning to him. It was then that he noticed the look on Hermione's face. She didn't seem angry anymore. She didn't seem like she wanted to argue either. She just stormed off away from them.

"You overdid it," said Harry, once it became clear that Sherlock wouldn't say anything. "You didn't need to go that far. That was wrong, Sherlock."

It was the first time Harry had ever berated Sherlock for something he did, but he felt it was the right thing to do. For a while, it seemed as if just going along with his unreasonable pace would sort everything out, but Harry knew that was wrong the moment he looked at how upset Hermione seemed.

-

That was an act!?

Ingenius!

Well, seems Hermione and Sherlock are...acquaintances?

Maybe friends in future.

Wow.

Nicely done.

TROLL!

Awww. Sherlock touched by Harry seeing him ad genuine friend.

And a little concerned to be seen as crazy.

Maybe if he didn't break his arm on purpose...

"I suppose he did something of the sort," said Sherlock dismissively.
Hagrid laughed heartily. "I heard you continued your father's unfinished work with the Malfoys...slow down, yer still a kid! No need to work so quickly."

Harry nearly spat out his tea. "Sherlock did what?"

"Aye," said Hagrid. "Old Sherrinford was a funny man, he knew that Voldemort would be gone soon. Don't ask me how, but he knew. So he started gathering evidence to make sure nobody could go around sayin' they were controlled or anythin'. He got a bunch of evidence, before..." his voice trailed off, glancing nervously at Sherlock.

"Before he was killed," said Sherlock calmly. "My old man was killed the day before Harry here did his magic."

"I'm sorry," said Harry, not knowing what to say.

Sherlock frowned at him. "Are you apologizing for taking too long to defeat the strongest dark wizard of all time? I'd say you were pretty quick considering you were only a year old."

Hagrid laughed, but Harry was mildly offended by Sherlock's sarcasm. Anxious to change the subject, Harry went on. "Hagrid, what was that about Sherlock continuing his father's work?"

-

Oh, how did his father die.

Oh. And Sherlock maybe touched Arthur called him son.

Oh, quick reflexes with Sherlock.

And Sheerlock manages to win Hermione over a little bit it seems. Concerned for his injury.

Huh, James eh?

Sherlock is a real trouble.

But he grows on you, and calling Snape lectured boring.

He'd not say that to Snapes face.

But clever how he tricked Hermione.

"Sherlock," Harry whispered, hoping not to be noticed while the song played. "What is the best house?"

"You heard McGonagall. There is no best House."

"I'm not asking Professor McGonagall though," he said.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow slightly for a moment, then let it drop and showed a small grin. "Gryffindor," he responded simply. "It's the best one…for my purposes, anyhow. Ravenclaw is the one my brother belongs to, so I don't want to go there."

Harry did not ask about the other two houses, even though he wanted to. He had only known Sherlock for a few hours, but that had been long enough to know that he did not ever forget to elaborate on something. If he was reticent about it, then there was nothing to be said.

-

Typical Sherlock.

Oh, Sherlock is happy he can't understand what Dumbledore meant. Because he enjoys a challenge.

"If they really hated you," said Sherlock. "You probably wouldn't have noticed. Hatred is not a particularly dramatic emotion. They must have liked you to some degree, which is why they hated you."

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, confused. He was pretty sure the Dursleys hated him.

"You just said it," said Sherlock, with a tone of someone who explains the obvious. "They hated magic. So they hated you for being connected to magic. If they truly hated you , they wouldn't have raised you."

"Isn't it the same thing in the end?"

Sherlock shook his head. "Acts and motivations are two different things, and they both matter a lot…unless all you care about is the end result."

-

True.

But it's still bad the mistreatment.

Sherlock adopted by the Weasley, I wonder what happened to his parents...

*nodnod* I can see what you mean regarding Holmes' House and why. He is Brilliant, but gets ever more so because he learns more to entertain himself more than "for the sake of knowledge", or because as he sometimes implies there is rarely such a thing as "completely useless knowledge" even if some things are far less often so than others. BBC Sherlock might disagree with his Doyle self there, but his Doyle self never had to deal with Modern Pop Culture and Boy Bands and all that rot! XD
I'd add another argument or two in favor of his House decision- his desire to Avoid Mycroft and how that compares with many other children's "petty" but heartfelt reasons for choosing another House than the Hat's preferred ideal option for them, choices it honored. Sherlock is certainly plenty "Brave", and Ravenclaws do not have the monopoly on intelligence.
And as far as Sherlock Holmes making that choice for himself - if he's already quite certain he'll be "surrounded by idiots" even among the Raven's, why bother choosing "the House of the Intelligent" when his own brilliance is going to be Quite Obvious no matter where he ends up?
He /is/ undeniably a genius, no matter the otherwise poor opinions of him many might form.
So he aimed for Entertainment, Stimulation, Adventure, instead. (It probably helps that he has the Twins on hand there as a result as well - he knows them and seems to like them well enough, and they certainly would be pleased to Enable his Mischief!)

will there be more? its amazing

Does it continue?

I absolutely love this fanfic. You are an amazing writer! I can't wait to read more!

The deduction of Harry's familly not being able to hate him because they raised him is a bit illogical. It lacks the possibillities that they may have been threatened or bribed unto raising him.

And hatered is a very, very passionate emotion. Dislike is a much less dramatic emotion than hate. Both love and hate are equally as dramatic emotions, just in two different directions.

How amazingly written!

I really liked seeing Sherlock's approach to Hogwarts, and Harry's approach to Sherlock.
I hope that Hermione doesn't get badly hurt anytime soon (looking at you, Hallowe'en troll invason!)
Mycroft exists! Yes!

Your author's notes are really helpful by the way. I liked seeing the thought process behind Sherlock's house choice :)

I didn't know how Ron's absence would work, and now that I do I am very intrigued (Sherlock probably would have picked it up faster than me based on the information from the tvtropes fanficrecs page and the fact that the weasley twins had gotten Sherlock's help last year, but I might be wrong).

Also, Sherlock is already changing things in very interesting ways!
I hope ... well, Harry Potter isn't John Watson, but it'd be nice if Sherlock is able to find his way into the inner circle anyway (I guess I shouldn't be worried, based on the premise of this story?)

Finally, thank you for the second bit of the author's note as well - it *is* kind of nice to know when Sherlock's presence goes from merely making the chapters a more interesting read (because reading the basic information in the intro chapters to Harry Potter gets tiring quick, and the more fanfics in the Harry Potter fandom I read, the quicker it gets tiring) to making big splashes in the ocean of Time.
Hopefully that came out right
Thank you for this story (:
(translation of the last parantheses: I read a lot of AUs in various fandoms, and it turns out to be a pretty good way to get a basic read on what happens in the story/book/movie without actually having read the story/book or watched the movie, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing)(hopefully that helped explain things? sorry about it if it didn't, it's late on my end and I really want to show my happiness about this story, so some things may have gotten a bit confused).