Chapter 127: Am I a Toxic Blessing?
Chapter 127: Am I a Toxic Blessing?
"What do you mean by the rhythm of casting?"
"It means that when you cast a spell, you should already have a clear idea of what effect it will have if it hits, what you should do next if it misses, how your opponent will react, and whether their reaction will pose a threat to you."
"Thinking all these things through before casting each spell represents a good grasp of the rhythm of the duel. Even if the situation remains at a stalemate, as long as your rhythm doesn't falter, you always have a chance to win."
"And Weasley did an excellent job from the start. When he used the Disarming Charm, he already anticipated my countermeasure and dodged in time, using a large body movement to conceal his Transfiguration spell. However, he didn't predict my follow-up spell after dispelling his Transfiguration."
"From the moment he thought I had tricked him with a fake wand movement, his casting rhythm was disrupted. His Armor Charm was broken, and he desperately tried to regain his rhythm. But his mind was already in chaos, and his focus was entirely on me. This gave Transfiguration the opportunity to take advantage, leading to his defeat."
Sherlock's detailed analysis of the duel was met with great attention from the students, many of whom were even taking notes.
These were students who had been in Sherlock's class for a year and had already developed the habit of writing down important points.
They had never been taught such intricate details about practical dueling before. Sherlock's words provided them with significant insights, revealing that Wizard duels were never random.
Previously, they had thought that Wizard battles involved using whatever magic came to mind, with luck playing a major role and raw power being secondary.
After watching this duel, they began to understand why some Wizards could handle battles with ease. A Wizard's wand movements should be elegant, not those of a brute who mindlessly casts Disarming Charms.
Next, Sherlock organized the students to practice practical dueling.
He certainly wouldn't serve as their sparring partner again; that would exhaust him and ruin the elegance of a Wizard.
The students paired up and took turns dueling, with the others watching and learning. Sherlock observed and provided guidance on their shortcomings, allowing the spectators to gain valuable experience.
The class ended quickly, with about a third of the students having participated in a duel.
Each duel ended swiftly, and the students, after listening to Sherlock's explanations, felt enlightened, believing they had understood everything and would perform exceptionally well.
However, when it came to actual practice, everything fell apart. Mastering the rhythm of a duel was not something that could be achieved overnight; it required extensive practice and self-reflection.
Sherlock made the classroom available for their use outside of class hours, so they could continue practicing. Dueling in other parts of the castle was strictly forbidden, as they would be caught and put in detention by Filch.
After class, as Sherlock was gathering his things and leaving the classroom, he was surrounded by three young students.
Harry looked at him with a sheepish expression.
"Professor, we need to talk to you."
Hermione and Ron also had similar expressions, standing beside Sherlock and clearly hesitant.
"What are you up to now? You're not still thinking I'm a jinxed mouth, are you?"
Sherlock walked to his office, with Harry and the others following behind.
Hearing this, Harry and his friends only smiled awkwardly, saying nothing.
They had planned a bold experiment, which they had discussed for a week in the common room. Naturally, they were feeling a bit nervous.
Sherlock led them back to his office, sat down, and placed his things on his desk, then leaned back in his chair and looked at them.
"Go on, what is it you need to talk about?"
Harry, Hermione, and Ron exchanged glances. Following their plan, Hermione spoke first.
"Professor, have you noticed that sometimes, when you predict something and say it out loud, the reality often turns out to be the opposite?"
Sherlock understood what she was getting at. In the end, they were still suggesting that he was a jinxed mouth.
Or, using a modern term, a toxic blessing.
But this was always considered a form of mysticism, and Sherlock was genuinely surprised that anyone would believe it.
If everything he said really did happen in the opposite way, wouldn't that make him a god?
Sherlock himself would love to have such a power.
In the future, if he faced any danger, he could simply lie on the ground and say, "We're done for, there's no hope, we can just wait to die." Then, waiting for the toxic blessing to kick in, he could survive.
If such a good thing were to happen, he would probably laugh in his dreams.
But in reality, such an ability doesn't exist.
The so-called toxic blessing is merely a result of multiple coincidences, giving people a false impression.
It's possible that something he said before had the opposite effect, leading Harry and the others to misunderstand and repeatedly believe that he had some strange quirk.
The best way to dispel this impression is to show them face-to-face that the so-called toxic blessing is nothing but coincidence, and such coincidences won't keep happening.
Just like on the roads in France, when Harry questioned it, Sherlock used facts to prove himself.
He crossed his arms and sighed, looking at Harry and the others.
"I already proved it to Harry during the holidays, and you still don't believe me. I've told you that everything you saw before was just a coincidence. I used to think only dim-witted people would mistake coincidence for certainty, but I didn't expect you, Hermione, to believe in such nonsense."
Hermione pressed her lips together, silent, but inside she was shouting helplessly.
I really didn't believe in this before!!! But when the facts were right in front of me, how could I not believe it, Professor!!!
"Since you all have doubts and suspicions, let's conduct an experiment right here."
Sherlock's attitude was quite open-minded. As a teacher, he felt it was his duty to correct his students' superstitious beliefs and focus their minds on studying magic, rather than believing in toxic blessings.
And Harry and the others were waiting for him to say just that.
They had prepared a series of questions for this purpose and even wrote them down on a small piece of paper.
Harry went first.
"Professor, what do you think the weather will be like this afternoon? Please be sincere, don't just brush us off."
Sherlock treated this as a way to relax his mood, playing along with them.
He looked out the window, where the sky, though still somewhat overcast, was starting to show some sunlight.
"The weather should be pretty good this afternoon. I think it will turn sunny."
Harry then wrote down his response on the paper.
Next was Hermione.
"Professor, do you think there will be pudding for dessert at lunch today?"
Sherlock thought for a moment before answering.
"Pudding seems to be hit or miss, but it's one of the sweets I can accept, and I quite like it. I'll guess that there will be pudding at lunch."
Finally, it was Ron's turn.
"Professor, do you think Seamus will mess up a spell again in this afternoon's Charms class and cause an explosion?"
This question really stumped Sherlock. Last semester, when he taught Harry's class, he had noticed Seamus, who seemed to always mess up his spells, leading to various explosions.
But that shouldn't be the norm. How could someone be so unreliable that every spell they cast would result in an explosion?
"I don't think so. Seamus is pretty smart. I think the previous mishaps were just minor accidents. It can't be that he causes an explosion every time he uses a spell, right?"
After each of them asked their questions, the experiment officially began.
Actually, out of the three events, the ones Harry and Hermione mentioned were things that could go either way, with a 50-50 chance. However, the possibility of Seamus causing an explosion, as Ron suggested, was highly likely!
Seamus wasn't usually that bad; he didn't have explosions every time he used magic.
But for some reason, whenever he started learning a new spell, his first attempt would inevitably result in an explosion.
And in today's Charms class, Professor Flitwick had mentioned that he would be teaching a new spell, so the likelihood of Seamus causing an explosion was very high.
After getting Sherlock's "golden words", Harry and the others left the office, feeling quite satisfied.
Sherlock then quickly turned his attention back to grading assignments. The fourth, fifth, and sixth-year students had left him a lot of summer homework from last semester, and he needed to finish grading it before Halloween to avoid delaying his lectures.
So, he soon forgot about the playful experiment Harry and the others had conducted.
But Harry and the others took it very seriously.
Before the experiment, Hermione had made a bold hypothesis, and what they were doing now was to verify the accuracy of that hypothesis.
The first result to become clear, of course, was the pudding at lunch.
After leaving Sherlock's office, they headed straight to the Great Hall, where lunch was just beginning, and the house-elves had already prepared the food, which appeared on the long tables of the four houses.
Harry and the others started eating, but the desserts wouldn't appear until halfway through the meal.
They quickly filled their stomachs and then all three of them stared intently at the table, drawing the attention of other Gryffindors.
"What are you waiting for?" Lavender and Parvati asked, curious, as they ate their roasted sausages.
(End of Chapter)
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