"What is casting rhythm?"
"It means that after you use a spell, you must already have thought clearly about what effect it will achieve if it hits, what means of attack you should use next if it misses, what countermeasures your opponent will employ, and whether their countermeasures will pose a threat to you."
"Thinking through these things before every cast means grasping the rhythm of the duel. Even if the situation remains deadlocked, as long as your rhythm isn't disrupted, you always have a chance to win."
"Weasley handled it very well at the start. When using Expelliarmus, he had already anticipated the countermeasure I would use afterward, dodged in time, and used a large body movement to conceal his Transfiguration casting. However, he didn't guess my casting motion after dissolving his Transfiguration."
"From the moment he thought I had tricked him with a false wand movement, his casting rhythm was broken. Consequently, his Shield Charm was destroyed. He urgently wanted to resume the rhythm, but his mind was already in chaos, and his focus was entirely on me at that moment, giving Transfiguration an opportunity to succeed, leading to his final defeat."
The students listened very carefully to Sherlock's analysis of the entire duel; many were even taking notes.
These were older students who had already spent a year with Sherlock, and they had all developed the good habit that "the palest ink is better than the best memory."
The students had never been taught such detailed practical duelling experience before. Sherlock's words greatly inspired them; it turned out Wizard duels were never random.
Based on the students' previous understanding, battles between Wizards were just about using whatever spell came to mind. Losing was mostly due to bad luck, with raw strength being secondary.
After watching this duel, they vaguely understood why some Wizards could handle combat with ease. A Wizard should be graceful when waving their wand, not a reckless brute who only mindlessly casts Expelliarmus.
Afterward, Sherlock began organising the students to try practical duels themselves.
Of course, he wouldn't act as a sparring partner again; doing so would likely exhaust him to death over one class, and there would be no Wizardly elegance left.
The students paired up, duelling one match after another. The others watched, while Sherlock stood by, guiding them on their shortcomings during the duels and allowing the observers to gain experience.
The class quickly ended, with about one-third of the students participating in a duel.
Their duels all ended quickly. When listening to Sherlock explain, they all looked enlightened, convinced they had understood everything and would perform brilliantly once they started.
But when they actually executed the spells, it was a mess—it wasn't as easy as they had imagined.
Mastering the rhythm of a duel is certainly not achieved overnight; it requires long-term practice and self-reflection.
Sherlock opened this classroom for them, allowing them to come for duelling practice after class hours if they wanted to continue practising.
It definitely wouldn't work in other parts of the Castle, as they would be caught by Filch and given detention immediately.
After class, just as Sherlock finished packing his things and walked out of the classroom, he was surrounded by three youngsters.
Harry looked at him and said sheepishly,
"Professor, we have something we need to talk to you about."
Not only him, but Hermione and Ron also wore similar expressions. They stood beside Sherlock, clearly hesitating.
"What mischief are you plotting now? You're not still thinking about that jinx business, are you?"
Sherlock walked toward his office, and Harry and the others followed close behind him.
Hearing his words, Harry and the others just grinned foolishly, remaining silent.
They were secretly preparing to conduct an incredibly bold experiment.
They had discussed it for a whole week in the common room before making a decision, so naturally they felt a little nervous now.
Sherlock led them back to his office, sat down in his chair, put his things away, and leaned back, watching them.
"Go on, what exactly do you need me for?"
The three of them, including Harry, exchanged glances. Finally, according to plan, Hermione spoke first.
"Professor, haven't you noticed that sometimes, when you make a prediction and say it out loud, reality often results in the exact opposite of what you predicted?"
Sherlock understood what she was trying to say. Ultimately, they were still trying to suggest he was a jinx.
But Sherlock truly hadn't expected anyone to actually believe this sort of supernatural phenomenon.(TN: To be fair this is the wizarding world, so anything is possible.)
If everything he said resulted in the exact opposite happening, wouldn't he become a god?(TN: Predict that you are not the strongest wizard to exist and not the Master Of Death. Simple.)
Sherlock himself wished he had this ability.
If he ever encountered danger again, he could just lie down, say, "It's over, we're doomed, we might as well wait to die," and then survive once the jinx effect kicked in.
If such a good thing existed, he'd probably wake up laughing from his dreams.
But in reality, this kind of ability doesn't exist.
The so-called jinx is merely an illusion created by the convergence of multiple coincidences.
It was likely that something he had said resulted in the opposite outcome, causing Harry and the others to misunderstand and repeatedly believe that he had acquired some strange persona.
The best way to dispel this notion was to prove to them face-to-face that the so-called jinx was just coincidence, and that such coincidences wouldn't keep happening.
Just like on the highway in France, when Harry questioned this, Sherlock proved himself using facts.
He crossed his arms over his chest, looked at Harry and the others, and sighed.
"I already proved it to Harry once during the holidays, yet you still don't believe me. I told you that everything you saw before was just coincidence. I thought only dimwitted people would mistake coincidence for inevitability; I never thought Hermione, you would believe something like this."
Hermione pressed her lips together, silent, but screamed helplessly in her heart.
'I really didn't believe in this sort of thing before!!! But when the facts are laid out right in front of me, how can I not believe, Professor!!!'
"Since you've all been doubtful and suspicious about this, let's conduct an experiment right now."
Sherlock was very open-minded. As a teacher, he felt he ought to correct this superstitious impression among his students. They should focus honestly on learning magic. Why believe in a jinx?
And that was exactly what Harry and the others were waiting for.
To this end, they had specifically prepared a series of questions, even writing them down on a small note.
First, it was Harry's turn.
"Professor, what do you think the weather will be like this afternoon? Please be honest, don't just humour us."
Sherlock treated this as a way to relax and continued playing along with them.
He looked out the window at the sky, which was still a bit gloomy but already showing some sunlight.
"The weather this afternoon should be quite nice, right? I think it will turn sunny."
Harry immediately wrote down his answer on the paper.
Next was Hermione.
"Professor, do you think there will be pudding for dessert at lunch today?"
Sherlock pondered before replying.
"Pudding seems to come and go usually. To be honest, it's one of the few sweets I can tolerate, and I quite like it, so I'll guess there should be some for lunch."
Finally, it was Ron.
"Professor, do you think Seamus might mix up a spell again during Charms class this afternoon and cause an explosion?"
This question genuinely stumped Sherlock. He remembered the boy named Seamus from teaching Harry's class last term; he seemed to constantly mess up spells, resulting in various explosions.
But this shouldn't be the norm. How could anyone be so outrageous that every spell they cast results in an accidental explosion?
"I don't think so. Seamus is quite clever. I believe those previous mistakes were just minor accidents. It can't be that every time he uses a spell, it explodes, right?"
After they each asked one question, the experiment officially began.
Actually, among these three things, the two mentioned by Harry and Hermione were matters that could go either way—a fifty-fifty chance. But the Seamus explosion mentioned by Ron was highly likely to happen!
In normal use of magic, Seamus wasn't actually so exaggerated as to cause an explosion every time.
But whether due to his special constitution or not, whenever he started learning a new spell, Seamus's first attempt would inevitably result in an explosion.
And during Charms class this afternoon, Professor Flitwick had announced last class that he would be explaining a new spell, making the possibility of Seamus causing an explosion extremely high.
After receiving Sherlock's definitive pronouncements, the three of them—Harry, Hermione, and Ron—left the office feeling satisfied.
Sherlock quickly turned his attention to grading assignments. He had given the fourth, fifth, and sixth years a lot of summer homework last term, and he had to finish grading it before Halloween so as not to delay subsequent explanations.
Thus, he soon pushed Harry and the others' playful experiment to the back of his mind.
But Harry and the others naturally treated it with the utmost seriousness.
Hermione had made a bold hypothesis before the experiment, and what they were doing now was verifying the correctness of that hypothesis.
The first result they could check, of course, was the pudding at lunch.
After leaving Sherlock's office, they headed straight for the Great Hall. Lunch had just begun, and the food prepared in advance by the House-elves appeared on the long tables of the four Houses.
Harry and the others ate their main courses first; dessert wouldn't appear until halfway through the meal.
They quickly filled their stomachs, and then the three of them stared intently at the surface of the long table, attracting the attention of the other Gryffindors.
"What are you waiting for?" Lavender and Parvati asked curiously, watching them while eating grilled sausages.