Chapter 142 Harry's Efforts

As soon as Christmas was over, it was time for Sherlock to tutor Harry again.

When Harry came to Sherlock's office that night, he was in a bad mood.

Because Hermione had informed Professor McGonagall, the professor took away the flying broom "Firebolt" that he had received from someone unknown for inspection.

Although Harry understood that Hermione was doing this for his own good, he still couldn't help being angry with her in his heart.

Sherlock obviously noticed Harry's mood, and he knocked on the table with his wand and said.

"I suggest you better tidy up your mood and adjust your mood to be happier, because I have invited a special gentleman to be your sparring partner today."

Harry was immediately attracted by Sherlock's words.

"Who is it? Professor Lupin?"

"How could Lupin be your sparring partner for the Patronus Charm?"

Sherlock shrugged, and instead of continuing to keep the secret, he gently waved his wand at the cabinet in the corner, and the silver silk thread tied to it disappeared immediately, and a black-robed creature like mud rolled out from inside.

Harry was stunned when he saw this thing. When he looked at the creature lying on the ground carefully, he found that it was a living Dementor!

After seeing its species, Harry jumped back subconsciously with his eyes wide open.

"Professor! This is the sparring partner you mentioned!"

The Dementor, who had been tortured to death by Sherlock for the past two days, squirmed on the ground for a long time before floating up.

It will not die, and its self-healing ability is extremely strong. Even if it does not eat, it will slowly recover its strength. Of course, if it eats enough food, it will recover faster.

Hearing Harry's question, Sherlock nodded and said.

"Some time ago, I invited this gentleman to visit my office outside Hogwarts. Not only did it generously agree, but it also politely expressed its willingness to repay me. Then I asked it to help me a little and come to be your sparring partner."

Hearing Sherlock's words, Harry showed an expression of "I don't believe you at all".

He had learned a lot about creatures like Dementors these days, and he knew very well that they could not communicate under normal circumstances, let alone invite them back to visit and give back.

This must have been caught by Sherlock himself.

While they were talking, the Dementor had slowly recovered some of its energy. It sensed that in this room, in addition to the demon, there was also a fresh and delicious food producer.

It did not dare to provoke the evil demon, but greedily wanted to absorb the fragrant happiness and hope from Harry.

Harry also felt that his body was freezing cold at the same time, and his mother's dying pleading sounded in his ears again.

The Dementor floated over from the cabinet, and a vague, transparent gauze-like thing connected it and Harry.

Sherlock did not stop the Dementor from absorbing Harry's positive emotions, but shouted to wake up Harry, whose eyes had become scattered.

"Use the Patronus Charm I taught you!"

Harry immediately woke up from his trance, but he still felt the chill in his heart, and his whole body couldn't help shaking.

He gritted his teeth and raised his wand to the Dementor that was still slowly floating towards him, waving his arms and chanting the spell.

"Expecto Patronus!"

But no light came out from the tip of his wand, and the Dementor was not affected at all, but floated in front of Harry!

At this moment, a silver light suddenly tied it up, and then the thread retracted, and the next moment it pulled the Dementor back into the cabinet, and finally closed the cabinet door again.

Harry's eyes, which had become empty, regained their spirits, and he gasped, as if he had just walked back from the brink of death.

Sherlock put down his wand and handed him a cup of hot cocoa that had been prepared on the table.

Harry took the cup with trembling hands, and he said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Professor. My mother's voice rang in my ears as soon as I saw it, so I couldn't concentrate and use the Patronus Charm."

Sherlock had expected this.

The feeling and experience of using the Patronus Charm in normal practice and using it when facing Dementors are completely different.

The despair emanating from the Dementors is enough to shock wizards.

They can't recall any happy emotions from their minds, so the spells that they might have used originally can't be used at the critical moment.

But it is also under the high pressure of facing Dementors that it will be easier to stimulate the potential of wizards. When they overcome the influence of Dementors themselves, it will be very helpful for learning and using the Patronus Charm.

Sherlock comforted Harry.

"When you face the Dementors, you have to endure more fear than others. But such emotions can also be your motivation, Harry. Don't think about the despair when your mother begged, think about the courage and strength she showed when she wanted to protect you. She should not be an obstacle to your learning the Patronus Charm, but your motivation."

Harry held the hot cocoa in the cup and listened to what Sherlock said to him, his eyes gradually became more and more determined.

After sitting in the chair and resting for a while, he stood up.

"I want to try again, Professor."

Sherlock naturally met his request. He waved his wand again, and the cabinet door was opened again. The Dementor was untied again and slowly floated out of the cabinet.

But after coming out this time, it shrank aside and didn't dare to move forward at all.

Even if the thinking is simple, it doesn't mean that the Dementor is a fool.

It knows very well that the tempting food is just a bait! It can only watch, and before it has just sucked it into its mouth, it will be locked back in the cabinet by the demon.

So this time it is not going to be fooled again.

Seeing that it was not cooperating, Sherlock couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. A silver thread shot out from the tip of his staff and trapped it directly in front of him.

But even so, the Dementor still did not cooperate. It restrained its desires and no longer showed the posture of eating, but only exuded the kind of coldness that it could not control.

Faced with its non-violent and non-cooperative attitude, Sherlock naturally did not indulge it. He directly tightened the light threads that bound it and threatened it at the same time.

"If you cooperate honestly, I will let you go when my students learn the spell, but if you don't cooperate, I will sell you to other wizards on the black market after my experiment is over!"

The Dementor seemed to understand what he said, trembled all over, and hesitated to show Harry its preparation for eating again.

Harry saw Sherlock bullying the Dementor like this, and he couldn't help but feel pity for it in his heart, and his fear of it was not so strong.

It was the same bone-chilling cold again. Harry clenched his wand tightly this time. When the Dementors began to suck the positive emotions in his body, his mother's voice sounded in his mind again.

He did not tremble again, but tensed his body and waved his wand steadily.

"Expecto Patronus!"

The pronunciation of the spell perfectly matched the tone Sherlock taught him, without any mistakes.

The next moment, a huge silver shadow suddenly shot out from the tip of his wand. The shadow hovered between him and the Dementors. Although Harry felt that his legs were weak, he was still standing after all, although he didn't know how long he could stand.

At the same time when Harry's Patronus Charm took effect, the Dementors dodge back very skillfully and finally shrank into the wooden cabinet where it was usually stored.

After seeing that Harry had taken a huge step towards success, Sherlock did not hesitate to praise him and clapped his hands.

"Very good, Harry. I didn't expect you to make such rapid progress under such pressure!"

This was indeed beyond Sherlock's expectations. He originally thought that it would take some time for Harry to be able to summon the prototype of the Patronus, but he didn't expect that it would be so effective under the pressure of facing the Dementors, allowing Harry to do this step now.

He took out another piece of chocolate that he had prepared from the drawer and handed it to Harry.

"Eat these. You have done very well. The rest is just long-term practice and familiarity with the feeling."

But Harry didn't seem very excited.

"I still can't summon the Patronus like you, Professor."

Sherlock laughed dumbly.

"Don't be too demanding on yourself. Do you know how long it took me to learn the Patronus Charm?"

Harry looked at him in confusion, and Sherlock stretched out a finger to him.

"One year, it took me a year to fully master this spell. If you can use it in less than a month of learning, doesn't it show that my talent is very bad?"

Harry said sullenly.

"You definitely don't have anyone to teach you, and no one has caught Dementors for you to practice with."

Sherlock shrugged.

"Even if you include these, you are already good enough, Harry. There is no shortcut to success. If you want to master the power you can master, you need long-term efforts."

Harry looked around the three rows of magic books in Sherlock's office, and felt that what Sherlock said was what he was doing.

"I will work hard, Professor!"

"I will work hard next week. It's late now, and you are very tired. Go back and rest first."

In the night, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room.

He didn't tell Sherlock about his discovery of Black. He didn't mention it again these days. Hermione and Ron thought he had forgotten it, but in fact he had always kept it in his heart, but he could only keep it in his heart.

After the Christmas holiday, the students returned to the castle, making Hogwarts lively again.

With the start of the second half of this year, the fifth and seventh grade students also entered the final sprint before the level test.

Sherlock made an orderly study plan for them, so that they almost did not waste every day.

Even George and Fred, who were usually the most mischievous, have become hardworking now. This is not because they have a change of heart and want to get good grades so that they can find jobs in the Ministry of Magic.

But the learning atmosphere around them has changed.

When all the fifth grade students were studying, no one appreciated their pranks and no one cheered for their creativity, Fred and George unknowingly joined the ranks of everyone.

In the fifth grade class, Sherlock used the levitation spell to bring them a test paper that was half a person tall.

"There was very little information on the previous theoretical exams. I compiled and edited them last year, and added some more this year. There are a total of 17 test papers, which include all the question types of the previous dark magic theory exams. As long as you understand these questions thoroughly, it is very easy to get full marks in the theoretical exam."

"I will bind them into a book and send them to you later. You have to complete one of these 17 papers a week in the next semester. I will explain them one by one in class. It will be just right to finish all the test papers in April, and then we will enter the intensive training for the practical exam."

"The practical exam in the ordinary wizard level exam is actually the easiest item to score. The Ministry of Magic will not select any troublesome dark magic creatures for you. The highest danger level will only be xxx. The weaknesses and coping methods of these magic creatures are what we have talked about countless times without getting tired of."

The students below listened very seriously. The fifth-year wizard level exam can be said to be the most important exam in the career of all wizards.

This exam is equivalent to their basic academic qualifications in the future in the magic world. There is only one chance to do well or not.

The seventh-grade final wizard level test is more like an advanced test. The higher the level, the more important it is than the ordinary wizard level test.

Sherlock waved his wand and handed out the test papers to every student, and started today's class.

"I hope you haven't forgotten much of the knowledge I taught you last semester during this holiday. First of all, the Shield Charm. Does anyone still remember what the advanced spell is?"

Soon, the students below raised their hands in unison, and Sherlock randomly pointed to a boy.

"The spell is universal protection, professor."

"Then can you tell me what changes have occurred in the effect of the Shield Charm after using the advanced spell?"

The boy obviously has a particularly deep understanding of this knowledge and answered without hesitation.

"The Shield Charm will expand the protection range and protect the caster without blind spots, but this kind of spell must be cast in advance by the wizard before it is mastered, otherwise it will easily lead to a gap in protection."

"Perfect answer, Ravenclaw plus 5 points!"