Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't noticed that the little lions in his classroom were collectively in shock.
After finishing Sherlock's paper, he excitedly announced to the class,
"Mr. Holmes got every question he answered completely correct!
He knows that vampires' weaknesses are garlic and silver, and that vampires cannot enter a home without the owner's invitation.
He pointed out that I used the Mirror Reflection Spell when banishing the banshee in Ireland, and that burning juniper and scattering salt can also restrain them.
He described in detail the entire process of how I defeated the Wagga Wagga Werewolf through observing lunar phases, using the Quietus Charm, setting up Shield Charms, scattering Devil's Snare seeds, and finally using a series of combination spells!"
Lockhart looked at Sherlock with a hint of regret in his eyes,
"Unfortunately, this student only answered the last few questions, so I can only give Gryffindor five more points.
What a shame! Why didn't you answer the earlier questions too?
If you had, you could have won another twenty points for Gryffindor, just like Miss Granger!"
Professor Lockhart shook his head regretfully while awarding Gryffindor five points.
While he expressed regret, the young wizards in the class breathed a long sigh of relief.
Especially the little lions.
That's right!
The Lion King is still the Lion King—how could he have fallen?
Sherlock didn't answer Professor Lockhart's question.
To him, this test paper perfectly demonstrated his attitude toward knowledge.
Learn what's useful, ignore what's not.
Even though he had read through the entire Gilderoy Lockhart series and initially remembered the content, he had later forced himself to forget that part.
Just as he had said in last year's Astronomy class—for knowledge he was certain he wouldn't use, even if he accidentally memorized it, he would find ways to forget it.
However, Lockhart's clear statement that his wish was for all magical and non-magical people to live in harmony was somewhat unexpected to Sherlock.
Among the wizards Sherlock knew, no one had ever said anything similar.
Even the Weasley family, who were extremely friendly toward Muggles, hadn't—this person was indeed quite interesting.
Seeing that Sherlock didn't answer his question, Professor Lockhart didn't press further. After finishing grading all the papers, he shook his head,
"The other students are quite disappointing. If you could know all my secrets like Miss Granger and Mr. Holmes—especially like Miss Granger—you could become as excellent as they are!
Well, let's get back to business.
I've already heard from Headmaster Dumbledore about what happened last term.
As a course with extremely high practical requirements, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts can't just involve reading from textbooks.
But that's exactly what your professor last term did.
Although I don't like speaking ill of people behind their backs, I must say that Professor Quirinus Quirrell was not an excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Of course, compared to me, there really aren't many professors who could be called excellent."
Although he praised himself while stepping on Quirrell, Professor Lockhart's statement this time didn't cause controversy like before.
Because he was stating facts.
Professor Quirrell was essentially a heartless repeating machine.
Although he had completed the first-year curriculum according to schedule last term, he had basically just read through the textbook.
Simply put, it was all PowerPoint presentations with no practical experience.
Instead, it was the temporary substitute Potions professor and Slytherin Head of House, Severus Snape, who had taught them some real skills.
The spell Harry used most proficiently now, "Expelliarmus," was learned during that time.
Of course, at the end of the term, everyone learned that Quirrell had ulterior motives—his target was the Philosopher's Stone.
It made sense that such a person wouldn't teach them properly.
Seeing that the students in the class strongly agreed with his words, Professor Lockhart nodded with satisfaction.
'Good, it was time to show real technique!'
After clearing his throat to attract everyone's attention, he bent down and lifted a large covered cage from behind the podium, placing it on the desk.
This action made Harry and Ron exchange glances again, both seeing the surprise in their friend's eyes.
'Lockhart—he actually came prepared!'
"I certainly won't just read from textbooks like your previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
Seeing the young wizards' attention, Lockhart smiled slightly,
"For our first lesson, I'm going to teach you to defend against the most evil things known to the wizarding world!
At the same time, these are the most terrifying things you'll face in this classroom.
But don't worry—as long as I'm here, you won't be harmed.
Now, I only ask that you remain calm."
Having laid sufficient groundwork, Professor Lockhart's words naturally captured the entire class's attention.
Harry couldn't help but lean forward from behind his stack of books to get a better look at the cage.
When Lockhart placed one hand on the cover, Dean and Seamus in the front row stopped laughing.
Neville in the front row shrank back even further.
"I must ask you not to scream," Professor Lockhart said in a lowered voice, "because that would provoke them!"
With almost the entire class holding their breath, Professor Lockhart suddenly whipped off the cover, revealing the creatures inside.
"Perhaps some of you recognize them," Professor Lockhart said in a tone as if he were performing a magic trick. "They are freshly caught Cornish Pixies!"
The pixies were electric blue all over, about eight inches tall, with small, pointed faces.
As soon as Lockhart removed the cover, they began chittering and bouncing up and down.
Not only that, but they also shook the cage bars violently and made various grotesque faces at nearby people.
Judging by the sounds they made, these little creatures had shrill, piercing voices, like many parrots arguing.
"Bloody hell! I actually believed his nonsense just now!" Ron immediately deflated upon seeing this scene.
The other students' reactions were similar to Ron's, and quite a few young wizards even laughed out loud.
Some of the young witches were considerate enough not to mock him directly.
But seeing them struggling to contain their laughter, it was clear this wasn't the screaming Lockhart had hoped for.
"Heh heh." Professor Lockhart observed all the young wizards' expressions and smiled as he looked at Seamus in the front row.
"Mr. Seamus Finnigan, you think they're not scary—or rather, they're not very dangerous, correct?"
Seamus didn't answer, but from the way he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe, he clearly thought exactly that.
"Don't underestimate them!" Lockhart shook his head at Seamus somewhat helplessly. "You should know that their classification level in the British Ministry of Magic's Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is 'XXX'!
They're mischievous by nature, a bunch of cunning little destroyers, and also excellent practice targets!"
Despite Professor Lockhart's words, not many young wizards took him seriously.
Only Neville in the front row seemed scared by his words and shrank further under the desk.
The reason the young wizards reacted this way was mainly because the magical creatures Professor Lockhart called "Cornish Pixies" were not Dark magical creatures.
Actually, their real name was simply Pixies.
They were called "Cornish" because their main distribution area was Cornwall County in England.
Of course, they were indeed very mischievous, and the XXX classification was accurate.
But in most wizards' eyes, they were virtually harmless.
Professor Lockhart calling them "the most evil things known to the wizarding world," "the most terrifying things you'll face in this classroom," and claiming that "screaming would provoke them" was far too exaggerated.
"Very well, very well..."
Seeing that few people were taking his words seriously, Lockhart raised his voice.
"Since you're all so confident, let me see how you handle them!"
Just then, Sherlock glanced at the tall stack of Lockhart series books in front of Harry and patted his shoulder.
"Harry, if I were you, I'd put those away right now."
As he spoke, he put all his textbooks, ink, and quills into his bag.
Although Harry didn't understand what was happening, he always listened to Sherlock, so without a word, he stuffed all seven books that had been blocking his view into his bag.
Hermione and Ron followed suit and immediately did the same.
While Harry and Ron did this, they didn't know the reason.
But Hermione understood the moment she heard Sherlock's warning.
The next moment, Professor Lockhart opened the cage door.
"CRASH!"
After bursting out of the cage, the pixies charged out with lightning speed.
Once freed from their prison, they rampaged and flew about wildly.
Neville in the front row had already prepared himself, so the moment Professor Lockhart opened the cage door, he immediately ducked under the desk without hesitation.
This action allowed him to narrowly escape disaster.
But this made Seamus, who was sitting in the front row and had been laughing the hardest, bear the brunt of the attack.
Seamus still had a smile on his face when two pixies grabbed him by both ears and lifted him up.
"Oh no!"
"Let me go! Let me go!"
"Not there—you can't!"
He struggled desperately, but being suspended in mid-air in the classroom with no leverage, he was completely helpless.
He could only let them have their way. However, this was just one scene in the chaos.
Several of the pixies particularly craved freedom and, immediately after bursting from the cage, had a clear target—they crashed through the glass and flew out the window.
Cold wind from outside rushed in, and the classroom air immediately became much fresher.
The remaining pixies naturally couldn't stay idle. They began wreaking havoc in the classroom without restraint.
Some grabbed ink bottles and splashed them randomly at the class, some threw students' bags and textbooks out the broken window, some overturned trash cans, and others tore up textbooks on desks and pictures on walls.
Only the four people in the back row had followed Sherlock's warning and put their things away early, thus escaping disaster.
"Bloody hell! What a nightmare! Sherlock, thank goodness you warned me—his books cost a fortune!" Ron was extremely grateful while trying to duck under the desk.
But just as he made this move, Sherlock grabbed him firmly.
Sherlock's strength was considerable, and he forcibly stopped Ron's attempt to crouch down.
"Ow! What are you doing?" Ron looked at Sherlock in confusion.
What's your deal, mate?
I know my relationship with you isn't as close as Harry's and Hermione's, but you don't have to sacrifice me, do you?
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