"Sherlock, I was wrong. I shouldn't have indulged in fantasies."
Harry felt quite embarrassed—he didn't know what had gotten into him before.
If Voldemort truly obtained the Philosopher's Stone and regained his power, he would certainly wreak havoc. Setting aside whether he would terrorize the British wizarding world again, just because of that prophecy alone, he would never let Harry go!
But how could he have thought it didn't matter at the ti?
He must have been bewitched!
"The distinction between fantasy and reality isn't as clear as you might think. Not everyone can tell the difference between them, especially people of this age group."
Harry: (o_o)/
Just as he was puzzling over this, Sherlock delivered news that thrilled him: "There are many ways to rember family. Imrsing yourself in fantasies is the most foolish. This sumr, we'll visit the place where your parents lived."
Hearing Sherlock say this, Harry imdiately beca energized.
"Before that, you need to properly learn stealth and swordsmanship from ."
"Yes!"
Harry agreed confidently.
As long as I'm with Sherlock, I have nothing to fear!
After being counseled by both Sherlock and Dumbledore, Harry was finally successfully persuaded to stop thinking about the Mirror of Erised and soon fell asleep.
Sherlock remained deep in thought.
Obviously, Dumbledore had deliberately placed the Mirror of Erised in that abandoned classroom to lure him and Harry there. Of course, he ant no harm—he simply wanted to examine their character. It could be said that he truly wanted to personally cultivate a savior.
As for himself...
He could only say that while this old man bore him no ill will, his habit of wanting to control everything had been fully demonstrated in his previous intention to let Harry face Voldemort alone.
If it were his childhood self, looking in the mirror would most likely show scenes of sailing the seas. But now...
Eternal mysteries, endless deduction—he was content with all of this.
Indeed, he wasn't a normal person.
As for whether Dumbledore could understand his answer, that was up to him.
After school resud, Harry completely put aside the matter of the mirror and trained with Sherlock every day. Although Sherlock wanted to teach Harry boxing and swordsmanship, given Harry's current physical condition, he first needed to make his body more robust—that is, master the fundantals.
First, Sherlock intensified their daily morning training. They woke up early and did brisk walking and jogging around the Black Lake. The lakeside scenery was beautiful with fresh air, and walking and running around the lake could exercise physical coordination and endurance.
After aerobic exercise, they would do simple stretching exercises on the flat grass by the lake to improve flexibility. This was most suitable for soone like Harry who was malnourished and lacked exercise.
After finishing each day's classes, once their roommates were fast asleep, Sherlock would quietly take Harry away from the common room, weaving between Filch, Mrs. Norris, and Peeves as they continued their nightti tours of Hogwarts.
To ensure adequate sleep ti, each night's wandering wasn't long, but it was thrilling and exciting. With the help of the Invisibility Cloak and Sherlock's guidance, Harry progressed rapidly and beca increasingly adept.
At the sa ti, his admiration for Sherlock grew. After all, Sherlock was touring Hogwarts at night without the protection of an Invisibility Cloak, and even under these circumstances, he had nearly been discovered by Mrs. Norris several tis.
In contrast, Sherlock remained steady as a rock, without any flaws. Perhaps this was natural talent, Harry thought.
And so, except for the Forbidden Forest and the corridor room that Dumbledore had specifically warned them about, Sherlock had unknowingly led Harry through a complete exploration of Hogwarts. Of course, when he said comprehensive exploration, it was only at a macro level.
After all, this school hid too many secrets. Besides the surface routes, there were many unknown secret passages. However, only Filch and the Weasley twins knew about these.
In any case, after training with Sherlock for a while, Harry's entire ntal state began to change. His originally thin fra gradually beca more proportioned, and he was no longer the smallest-looking among his peers. He beca faster, taller, and stronger.
During this period, the professors who had received Christmas gifts also sent return gifts. Worth ntioning was Professor Snape—he gave Harry an expensive and practical high-grade potion. This once again changed Harry's view of Snape.
However, every ti in Potions class, Snape continued as usual, deducting points from Harry at any ti and place. He showed no restraint because of Harry's Christmas gift. But this ti, not only Harry but even the little lions had gotten used to it.
Everyone knew that as soon as Potions class began, Gryffindor would beco Gryffin-minus.
Ti passed quietly without notice. Just as Sherlock was preparing to continue intensifying Harry's training, Quidditch practice began again.
This plan had to be delayed. The main reason was Gryffindor Quidditch team captain Oliver Wood. He had very strict requirents for all team mbers, even during the continuous rainy days after heavy snow.
The Weasley twins complained directly that Wood was becoming a training fanatic. Harry, however, firmly stood by Wood's side.
On one hand, if they could win the next match against Hufflepuff, they could defeat Slytherin in the House Cup. This ant Gryffindor would achieve their first victory in seven years.
On the other hand, after getting used to Sherlock's special training, he suddenly found that Quidditch training wasn't much at all. This made Wood praise Harry endlessly.
In contrast were the Weasley twins. Watching these two constantly diving and swooping, and pretending to fall off their broomsticks at any mont, Wood said in exasperation:
"If you keep fooling around like this, we'll definitely lose the match! This ti Snape is the referee—he'll definitely find every excuse to deduct points from the Gryffindor team!"
Hearing this, the twins' faces changed dramatically, and they actually fell off their broomsticks, landing face-first.
The news that Snape would referee the Quidditch match caused heated discussion among the Gryffindor team. As soon as training ended, the team mbers imdiately began discussing it enthusiastically.
Harry ran off without a word. He wanted to share this news with his friends as soon as possible.
Arriving at the Gryffindor common room, he wasn't surprised to see Ron playing chess with Hermione. Only in this situation would Hermione lose to Ron. Both were enjoying themselves imnsely—one wanted to win, the other wanted to watch the opponent lose.
Harry approached the two and quietly told them about Snape wanting to referee the Quidditch match.
"Don't participate in the match," Hermione imdiately looked up and said. "Pretend to break your leg."
Ron was even more ruthless: "Really break your leg."
"I can't do that. The team doesn't have a substitute Seeker. If I withdraw, the Gryffindor team can't compete."
Harry shook his head while saying, "Sherlock also said last ti that Professor Snape is actually a good person. He protected at the Quidditch pitch before, and he even gave a return gift—"
"Wait, where's Sherlock?"
It was only then that he realized Sherlock wasn't in the common room.
After beginning Quidditch training, Sherlock had temporarily suspended the evening Hogwarts touring project. Otherwise, with Harry's current stamina, sleeping too late every day would leave him with no energy for other activities.
Of course, the daily morning aerobic exercise continued, just with slightly reduced intensity. When Harry went to Quidditch training, Sherlock would often write magical howork in the common room.
For this, Hermione had spoken to Sherlock more than once. Because every ti Sherlock finished his own howork, Ron would place it in the common room for other little lions to copy.
Sherlock expressed no opinion on this matter. Hermione, however, felt that Sherlock was too indulgent with others. If it weren't for the previous troll incident, she probably would have openly expressed her dissatisfaction.
Even so, quite a few little lions were secretly grumbling: "I advise you not to ddle in others' business!"
"How can scholars' affairs be called copying?"
However, sotis Sherlock's howork couldn't be copied—because for certain subjects he wasn't interested in, he simply wouldn't write them, or would only provide an answer.
In such cases, Harry and Ron could only rely on Hermione. Unlike Sherlock, she firmly refused to let others copy her howork. However, she would help the two check their assignnts, and through her checking, they could get the correct answers.
"Watson delivered a letter," Ron explained when Harry asked about Sherlock. "Hagrid has sothing to discuss with him at his hut."
"We were just planning to wait for you to co before deciding whether to go over as well," Hermione added.
Harry couldn't help but feel puzzled. What did Hagrid want with Sherlock? Could it be that so magical creature had gone missing and needed Sherlock's help to find it?
While he was hesitating, Neville tumbled into the common room. When they saw that even while lying on the ground, his legs were tightly stuck together, Harry imdiately stood up and rushed over.
"It's the Leg-Locker Curse!" Hermione said quietly, then ca forward to help Harry lift Neville and remove the spell.
Ron, Dean, Seamus, and several other young wizards who were close to Neville imdiately gathered around to inquire: "Bloody hell, what happened?"
Sherlock knew nothing about what was happening in the Gryffindor common room. At this mont, he was drinking strong tea that Hagrid had specially brewed for him. In the cold winter, this stuff worked better than a Warming Charm.
Not only could it ward off cold and provide warmth, but it could also relieve fatigue and lift spirits. The downside was that drinking too much made you need the bathroom frequently.
"Thank you, Hagrid."
Sherlock looked at the giant in front of him who seed sowhat nervous, as if he didn't know how to begin, and sighed: "I'll be direct. There are currently three ways to solve the predicant you're facing."
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