A Study in Gold and Garnet

Wow! People have actually read Chapter 1 already! These next chapters are shorter, so I'll post chapters 2 and 3. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

John hauled his luggage up onto the Hogwarts Express. He roamed briefly until he spotted compartment 221B. Inside, Sherlock Holmes was laid prostrate along one of the benches, eyes closed and hands steepled beneath his chin. John studied him a bit, having been unable to get a good look at him amidst the chaos outside the train. He certainly was a tall 11-year old, and he was incredibly thin and lanky. He was also rather pale and had dark, curly hair. As John lifted his luggage up onto the luggage rack, Sherlock opened his eyes. "Oh, so you decided to join me," he said, sounding rather surprised.

"Yes, of course," John answered. "You did say you were going to save a compartment, and you already seem to know my whole life story through some sort of wizardry-magicky gimmick, so-"

"Magic?!" Sherlock interrupted, "You think I told you your whole life story through magic?" he scoffed and rolled so that his back was facing John.

"Well, I mean, what else could it be?"

"It's called observation and logic, something most people, and wizards especially, seem to lack. See here," Sherlock said, suddenly swinging himself into a sitting position. "I knew you were a muggleborn by the way you kept glancing around in awe, and by the unnatural way you held your wand. I figured out you live with your mother, who is in the military, because a tear in your left sleeve was repaired using a stitch used uniquely by the military, and because your tie is tied wrong, which indicates you probably don't live with your father. Your skin is unnaturally dark, but a little lighter above the wrists, which shows you went somewhere sunny but not as a holiday. So, military family, sunny location, Afghanistan or Iraq." Sherlock sat back, seemingly pleased with himself.

"And my brother, Harry?" John asked, smiling.

"Oh yes, I deduced that from your wand. It has some major scratching near the tip, indicating rough treatment. What I've seen of you so far refuted the idea of you being reckless with your newfound magical ability, so it's more probable someone either unacquainted with magic, bitter about their lack of it, or both damaged your wand. Someone bitter about not having magical ability is likely to be around your age, and bitterness indicates that you're not close. The magnitude of the damage favors an older brother. Also, your luggage has a nameplate that says Harry." He looked up, staring hard at John. "So, not magic."

"Wow," John said quietly. "That was...fantastic!"

"You really think so?" Sherlock said, taken aback. "That's not what most people say."

"What do most people say?"

"Piss off."

They both started laughing, then sat back, quiet for a minute. "So, did I miss anything?" Sherlock asked.

"Well, I certainly am muggleborn. That's basically all I've learned since I became a part of the wizarding world. Everyone keeps glancing at me irritated that I don't have I a clue about what's going on, then they mutter "muggleborn". My mother was deployed in Afghanistan a couple of years back, and we all moved to a base there. We moved back to London just a couple months ago. And I'm not close with Harry."

"So I got everything right then," Sherlock said confidently.

John smiled. "Harry's short for Harriet. She has anger issues, which explains our distance and the damaged wand."

Sherlock looked at John, stunned for a second, then flopped back onto the bench and scowled, "It's always something! I always miss something!"

Thanks for reading everyone! This story is going to be 8 chapters long.