Just a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor: No More, No Less

Of course, you can despise your enemy strategically, but you must also pay attention to them tactically.

There was still more than a month left before the new semester began, and Sherlock needed to become familiar with magic as soon as possible during this time.

He didn't have the confidence to raise his skills to the level that would be required to become a Hogwarts professor in less than two months.

However, he had to at least learn the most common spells used by wizards, so that no one would suspect anything unusual about him at Hogwarts.

As for teaching...

In the first version of the story that Sherlock was familiar with, Quirrell relied entirely on reading textbooks, and no one ever noticed anything wrong. Sherlock figured he could do the same, at least for now. The issue shouldn't be too big, right?

The study contained many magic books, but most of them were high-level texts that Sherlock couldn't even begin to understand at his current skill level.

But soon, he found the textbooks the original owner had used when attending Hogwarts, tucked away in a cabinet beneath the desk.

These books spanned from first to seventh year and had neither been sold nor discarded by the original owner.

This was perfect for Sherlock.

He sat at the desk, with a candle floating in the air above him, providing light to the space.

Teapots and teacups, as if they were alive, began to pour him a hot drink and placed it gently by his side.

To be honest, the life of a wizard seemed like it could easily bring happiness to anyone who hadn't experienced it.

No need to worry about small things—magic-infused objects took care of everything for you.

Sherlock first pulled out all the first-year textbooks. He selected Standard Spells: Beginner and Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, setting aside the others, like Potions and Herbs and Astronomy.

Charms and Transfiguration, two essential spells commonly used by wizards in daily life, were the most important for Sherlock to learn at the moment.

Potions weren't unimportant, but they wouldn't help him in his current situation.

As Sherlock opened the Standard Spells book, he noticed the pages were slightly worn, their corners frayed from frequent use. But what caught his eye most was the dense array of notes scrawled in the margins.

The original owner had a serious character flaw, but it was undeniable that he was quite talented in magic and worked hard.

Just looking at his spellbook, full of notes, you could see how eager the original owner, a mere 11-year-old at the time, had been to master magical knowledge.

This turned out to be a great help for Sherlock.

The first spell taught in the textbook was the Levitation Charm.

This spell was basic, easy to learn, and one of the most frequently used by wizards.

The incantation for the spell was Wingardium Leviosa.

Next to the spell, the original owner had carefully noted the key points emphasized by the professor during class.

The correct pronunciation was: "Yoo-gar-dim Lev-ee-oh-sa." The "g" should be pronounced clearly and elongated, and the wand should be waved in a specific motion.

Sherlock, now prepared, cleared his throat, raised his wand, and aimed it at a small piece of paper resting on the desk. He was ready to make his first attempt.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

He chanted the spell and flicked his wand at the piece of paper.

In the next moment, the small piece of paper floated up into the air from the desk!

His first attempt had worked!

Sherlock stared at the floating paper in disbelief.

His success wasn't due to some extraordinary talent. Rather, when he cast the spell, his body moved with such ease, as though the Levitation Charm had become second nature to him, as if he had practiced it countless times before.

Sherlock blinked, then cast the spell again on the piece of paper that had returned to the desk.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

The result was the same as the first time—the piece of paper floated again.

For Sherlock, it felt as natural as breathing.

He didn't stop there. He quickly flipped through the spellbook to find the next spell, the Repairing Charm.

Using the correct pronunciation and wand movement recorded in the notes, he aimed at the torn paper on his desk and cast the spell.

"Reparo."

In the next instant, the torn paper was perfectly restored, as if it had never been damaged at all.

Sherlock smiled in satisfaction.

But he didn't stop. He continued practicing spells like the Fire Charm, the Locking Charm, and the Softening Charm.

Eventually, he ran into difficulty with the Cutting Charm, one of the more challenging spells in the first-year textbook.

However, the problem was only that his first attempt failed.

After trying two more times, his body instinctively corrected his pronunciation and gestures, and the spell worked successfully.

Sherlock was thrilled with his progress.

Though he didn't have a "golden finger" to guide him, he realized that fate hadn't condemned him to failure.

As indicated in the first-year textbook, the magic that the original owner had mastered long ago was now etched into his muscle memory.

Even if Sherlock was unfamiliar with these spells, he could quickly master them as soon as he started trying them.

For example, simple spells like Levitation and Repair could be cast correctly with just a single reading of the incantations.

Even more complex spells could be learned with just a little practice.

With this advantage, although Sherlock wouldn't be able to quickly reach the original owner's level of magic, at least he could appear as if he were a fully educated wizard, someone who had spent seven years at Hogwarts.

So, for the next month, Sherlock stayed in the study, practicing various basic spells every day.

In the meantime, Professor McGonagall sent him another letter, urging him to send in his textbook list for the upcoming semester.

Sherlock casually copied the title of the seventh-year Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook the original owner had used during his time at school and had it sent back with Professor McGonagall's owl.

It wasn't until mid-August that Sherlock had to leave the study.

With only half a month left before the new semester, he needed to go to Diagon Alley, the magical shopping district in London, to buy supplies for Hogwarts.

Before that, though, he was dreading the trip—figuring out how to enter the Leaky Cauldron and where it was located in London had been a bit of a headache.

Luckily, the study contained a wizard's travel journal that happened to have the answer.