Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 180 An unexpected turn

"Miss Granger is absolutely right. This was a very impressive practical lesson."

Seamus Finnigan came over after hearing Hermione's words and said with lingering fear:
"I didn't know these guys were so strong..."

As he spoke, he rubbed his ears and couldn't help but let out a hissing sound.

Not long ago, he was lifted into the air by two elves by their ears and hung on the chandelier for a long time.

As you can imagine, that hurt.

His good friend Dean Thomas couldn't help but say:

"Hey, man, do you think it's because you laughed at Lockhart before that he deliberately..."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Before Seamus could answer, Hermione said, "Professor Lockhart is not that kind of person at all!"

If it were before, others would definitely scoff at Hermione's statement.

But after experiencing this first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, everyone felt that they could no longer see through this person.

You say this professor is capable, his language is exaggerated and his behavior is ostentatious, and he even came up with a test in the first test class that would make people laugh out loud.

If it weren't for the last few questions covering up the issue, the Defense Against the Dark Arts course could simply be renamed Lockhart Studies.

But you say he has no ability, the elf of level ×××, who was originally looked down upon by the little wizards, did give these little wizards a warning as he said.

More importantly, although he seemed unable to control the situation at the beginning.

But in the second half, he actually protected the students.

All wizards who were willing to approach him were safe and sound.

So what to say?

It’s so fascinating!
At this time, everyone looked at Sherlock.

Although only one year had passed, for the little lions of Gryffindor, this had become an established experience.

When you encounter something that requires thinking, that is...

If there is Xia, choose Xia; if there is no Xia, choose He.

The Lion King is here, why are you still thinking?
That's a waste of time!

Under everyone's expectant gaze, Sherlock gave his evaluation:

"interesting."

"Sherlock, what on earth do you find so amusing?"

This wasn't the first time Sherlock had made such a comment about Professor Lockhart.

He had said this just before class started, when Harry and Ron were about to ask questions but were interrupted.

Now that Sherlock had mentioned it again, Ron simply asked again.

"I mean Professor Lockhart's behavior is interesting, but he himself is quite contradictory."

"Contradiction? How is it contradictory?"

When they heard Sherlock start to analyze Professor Lockhart, not only the little lion, but even the little badgers came over.

Sherlock pondered for a moment, then tapped the table lightly with his slender fingers. "Did you notice the spell he first cast when the elf appeared?"

After hearing Sherlock's words, the onlookers looked at each other and then shook their heads.

The classroom was in a mess at that time. Who had the mood to pay attention to that?
Not to mention them, even Hermione, a top student, didn't notice it.

"Sherlock, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me now! That smile on your face has completely betrayed you!"

Hearing Hermione say this, Sherlock chuckled and then explained directly:
"He said 'Peskipiksi, Pesternomi'."

Everyone couldn't help but look at each other.

After a moment of silence, someone couldn't help but ask, "So what does this mean?"

Sherlock looked at Hermione.

Although she didn't know why, Hermione understood what Sherlock meant.

She then began to try to analyze:

“On the surface, I can’t make out what it means, but it feels like I can analyze and understand it.

However, I can only see that 'pester' means annoying, and that doesn't mean anything..."

Hermione said somewhat helplessly.

"Hermione, you've discovered a blind spot."

Sherlock nodded and continued:

"I suppose you still remember the Mirror of Erised?"

Seeing Hermione nod, Sherlock continued:

"Actually, the sentence Professor Lockhart just read out can be reconstructed in the same way as the instructions for the Mirror of Erised, but without the hassle of reversing the order."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then at Sherlock, completely confused as to what he was talking about.

The others didn't even know about the Mirror of Erised and looked completely bewildered.

What the hell, that’s what you’re talking about!

Only Hermione followed Sherlock's train of thought. After a moment's thought, her eyes lit up:
"I see!"

She waved her magic wand and directly arranged and combined these letters:

“Professor Lockhart didn’t say Peskipiksi, Pesternomi, but: Pesky pixie, Pester no me!

'Peski' is actually 'pesky', which means annoying. 'pester' also means annoying. Pixie means elf. So if you put them together, you get...

Annoying little elf, please stop bothering me?"

Hermione excitedly stated her guessed answer.

"Hermione, you do have a talent for summarizing and generalizing."

Sherlock looked at her with satisfaction, "This patchwork spell - let's just call it a spell for now.

Although I don't know why Professor Lockhart used it, it was obvious that the spell did not work as he wanted. After that, he used the simpler but more practical Freezing Charm.

However, you may not have noticed that his expression was hesitant and his movements were forced when he cast the spell.

This is actually a kind of unwillingness, even resistance."

"But the spell was successful. Why is he like this?"

The little wizards looked at each other.

Wouldn’t it be nice to successfully prove your strength and get rid of these “annoying elves”?
Why would you resist?
“That’s exactly what I’m saying – a contradiction.

His language, his movements, and even all his actions are contradictory.

It is not difficult to infer that he hoped that his previous meaningless spell would work rather than the freezing spell that actually worked later.

There is one more thing..."

Sherlock paused, and said in the surprised eyes of the young wizards:
"He expressed obvious delight upon discovering his book had been ripped to shreds by the elf."

"Pleasure?"

After hearing Sherlock's words, everyone was even more confused.

No normal person would feel happy when their work is torn into pieces, right?
What exactly is this professor thinking?
Sure enough, Sherlock was absolutely right.

This new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is a little too contradictory, or rather, too awkward.

Not far away. In any case, at least one thing is worth affirming.

He really has the talent.

When the young wizards learned from Hermione that Sherlock had made this deduction long ago, they couldn't help but admire him once again.

Their lion king is not only brave, but also smart.

This is really rare!

Unexpectedly, in the evening astronomy class, Sherlock gave the whole class another surprise.

Compared to other courses, astronomy is more like a course offered in a Muggle school because it does not require the use of magic at all.

This is similar to History of Magic.

But unlike the history of magic which only requires theory, this course requires practical application in addition to theoretical learning.

Astronomy professor Aurora Sinistra requires all freshmen to observe the stars through a telescope, just as she did last semester.

In addition to learning the names of different stars, you also need to trace the paths of the planets.

This places high demands on the drawing skills of the young wizards.

It's obviously the same star map, but some people draw it to look better than others.

"Let me test you first to see if you've forgotten everything you learned last semester after this summer vacation."

When the little wizards heard this, their faces suddenly turned bitter.

Are you kidding me? In just one afternoon, Professor Lockhart's teaching method has spread.
How come even you, with your thick eyebrows, big eyes and thick lips, are taking pre-class tests?
Professor Sinistra ignored the resentful expressions of the young wizards and began to ask questions directly:
"Name the nine planets in the solar system in order from closest to farthest from the sun."

In fact, she had asked this question last semester, and it was Hermione who successfully answered it then.

A year later, she asked the same question again, but added a new qualification.

Without a doubt, Hermione was still the first to raise her hand high.

Well, the last one too.

Professor Sinistra frowned slightly when he saw this situation.

Her eyes swept over the whole class one by one.

All the little wizards she saw either lowered their heads, looked away, or had dull eyes, for fear of being called out by Professor Sinistra.

Finally, Professor Sinistra's gaze passed Hermione and stopped at Sherlock who was standing beside her.

"Mr. Holmes, please answer this question."

When they heard Professor Sinistra choose Sherlock's general, the whole class was shocked.

They also clearly remembered that in the first astronomy class of their first year, Professor Sinistra chose Sherlock and Hermione to answer questions.

The reason is that they all come from Muggle families and have performed very well in all the courses they took at the beginning of the school year.

Hermione was indeed as good as ever, answering Professor Sinistra's question correctly.

But unexpectedly, Sherlock gave them a surprise.

They don't even know the basic knowledge that the earth revolves around the sun.

It's really speechless!
Unexpectedly, a year later, Professor Sinistra chose Sherlock again.

Isn't this targeted?

In fact, they were not wrong.

Professor Sinistra was indeed deliberately pointing at Sherlock.

Last year's first-year final exams had a total of seven compulsory subjects. Sherlock got "O" in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology, and his grades were ridiculously high, even surpassing Hermione, the top student in the grade.

However, he only got an "A" in the other three subjects: Astronomy, History of Magic, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

What’s even more infuriating is that his scores in these three courses just barely reached the “A” threshold.

It seems that taking one more point would be a waste.

This naturally caused dissatisfaction among the professors who taught these three courses.

Of course Quirrell doesn't count, after all, he has left and will never come back.

Originally, Professor Sinistra and Professor Binns were planning to talk to Sherlock, but were stopped by Dumbledore, the headmaster.

But now that the new semester has begun, and Headmaster Dumbledore won't let me talk to him, it should be okay to teach him a lesson in class, right?

Anyway, as a woman, I am naturally narrow-minded.

Even if Dumbledore knew, what could he do to me?
In short, she wanted to let Sherlock know that it wasn't just the courses taught by the four deans that were important.

Astronomy cannot be ignored either!

(End of this chapter)