Anyone else faced with a tall fence might have chosen to climb over it slowly, or taken a running start before leaping across.
However, Sherlock didn't do that.
As he approached the fence, he leaned his upper body slightly forward and placed one hand lightly on the top of the barrier.
Then suddenly, Sherlock exerted force. One leg elegantly swept over the railing, followed immediately by the other, tracing a gorgeous arc through the air.
After landing, Sherlock found himself inside the enclosure. He straightened up smoothly without the slightest wobble, as if what he'd just completed was nothing more than an ordinary movement.
The entire action was fluid and swift, executed in one seamless motion without any hesitation.
If one had to describe it with a single word, it would be: silky smooth.
The entire class was stunned.
Even Malfoy, who considered himself Sherlock's nemesis, stared wide-eyed.
He had to admit that in this moment, Sherlock looked incredibly cool.
The only one unimpressed was Professor Hagrid.
Seeing that Sherlock had successfully entered the enclosure, Hagrid undid one of the chains and pulled the gray hippogriff over to stand before Sherlock.
The class snapped out of their amazement at Sherlock's smooth fence-vaulting performance and held their breath, watching the scene unfold.
Hermione had placed her hands on her knees.
"Very good! You're now making eye contact with Buckbeak! Remember, no matter how much your eyes sting, don't blink and don't look away, or it won't trust you!" Hagrid dutifully called out his reminders loudly from the side, "Stay alert, Sherlock!"
In fact, Sherlock didn't need Hagrid's reminders.
He understood the habits of these magical creatures from The Monster Book of Monsters—simply put, it was a test of patience with them.
Training an eagle, basically.
This was incredibly easy for Sherlock.
Indeed, things went exactly as Sherlock had anticipated. When Buckbeak turned its fierce gaze toward Sherlock, Sherlock openly bowed to it.
Buckbeak seemed momentarily stunned, but soon bent its scale-covered front legs and returned the bow.
"Well done, Sherlock! Absolutely brilliant!" Hagrid was beside himself with joy. "You can go pet it now."
Without hesitation, Sherlock immediately used his cat-petting skills.
As it turned out, petting cats and petting hippogriffs weren't so different.
With gentle, skillful movements—light touches and careful strokes, Buckbeak lazily closed its eyes, appearing thoroughly comfortable.
The entire class erupted in cheers, with the little Lions calling out especially loudly.
What happened next was straightforward: Sherlock rode the massive hippogriff and began soaring freely through the air.
The sensation was quite different from riding a broomstick.
Overall, despite the hippogriff being much larger, the narrow broomstick was actually more comfortable.
When he circled the paddock and returned to the ground, he was greeted by even stronger cheers and applause than before.
Harry and Ron called out most enthusiastically.
"Well done, Sherlock!"
"Worthy of being the Lion King! You really didn't let us down!"
The power of example is limitless.
Following Sherlock's lead, the other students began climbing into the paddock one by one.
The others were manageable, but Malfoy had worked up some resentment and, along with Crabbe and Goyle, deliberately tried to replicate Sherlock's spectacular fence-vaulting.
Unfortunately, some things look easy when others do them but are completely different when you try them yourself.
First, Crabbe jumped with both feet simultaneously, his posture rather awkward, and he stumbled when landing.
Goyle wasn't much better—he was cautious and slow, completely lacking Sherlock's fluid, effortless grace.
As for Malfoy, he did manage to copy Sherlock's movements.
However, he wasn't as tall as Sherlock, and just as his second leg was meant to follow the first, it got caught.
Then his whole body ended up straddling the fence, it was utterly humiliating.
More importantly...
"Hiss—!" Malfoy drew in a sharp breath.
"Draco, are you alright?" Crabbe and Goyle quickly helped him down from the fence.
"I'm... I'm fine..."
If he'd been hurt anywhere else, even if some hippogriff had clawed him—Malfoy would definitely have collapsed on the spot, throwing a tantrum.
He'd have screamed "I'm dying, I'm going to die!" while using the opportunity to cause trouble.
Even if he couldn't get Hagrid removed from his professor position, he'd certainly make him suffer.
But now...
With his vital areas injured, and having hurt himself while trying to show off, Malfoy couldn't bring himself to roll around on the ground clutching his groin in front of so many people, no matter how shameless he might be.
So, he could only swallow his pain and pride.
"I'm... I'm fine. We three will choose one creature. You two go first—I'll sit here and watch your performance."
Seeing that some people were already looking in their direction, Malfoy quickly made arrangements and slowly sat down with his back against a tree.
Crabbe and Goyle's intelligence levels needed no explanation, when Malfoy said he was fine, the two didn't think twice about it.
Hagrid glanced in their direction but didn't think much of it, simply continued to release the hippogriffs one by one.
Soon, throughout the entire paddock, all the students began the tense process of bowing.
But it was precisely during this process that the young wizards gained a deep understanding of what it meant to "look easy but be impossible in practice."
Just the first step of making eye contact with the hippogriffs—while watching Sherlock stare down Buckbeak had seemed effortless, when it was their turn, tears quickly welled up.
This forced them to blink, which was truly exhausting.
Of course, some young wizards did manage to get through this stage.
But when they bowed to their respective hippogriffs, the creatures responded with proud indifference.
In such situations, Neville had to repeatedly step back from the creatures.
"Come on, Neville!" Hagrid encouraged loudly from the sidelines. "You're from Gryffindor too—don't let us down!"
"I'll... I'll try again..."
Harry and Ron worked as a team, choosing the reddish-brown hippogriff.
Harry managed to get through the first stage without blinking, then successfully received a response after bowing, becoming the second young wizard to soar through the sky on a hippogriff.
"As expected of the Lion King and the Boy Who Lived, they really are different from everyone else!"
Watching Harry soar freely through the air, the young wizards couldn't help but voice their admiration.
The little Snakes' faces, however, didn't look so good.
They all looked toward Malfoy.
Usually, in situations like this, he would step up to respond. But now Malfoy was in considerable pain and couldn't make an effective response, only continued to lean against the tree, pretending to admire the scenery.
As for Crabbe and Goyle...
Honestly, they might as well count on Neville Longbottom.
At least Neville had completed the first step.
Taking advantage of Crabbe and Goyle's large body blocking the view, Pansy Parkinson seized the opportunity to run over to Malfoy's side and sat down next to him.
"Are you alright, Draco?"
Pansy had been watching Malfoy most of the time, so she had clearly seen the moment when Malfoy's fence-vaulting went wrong.
"I'm fine." Malfoy tried to put on a brave face, making a grimace.
"I know you must be in terrible pain." Pansy whispered to Malfoy, "Let me massage it for you."
"Huh?"
"It's okay, Crabbe and Goyle are blocking us—no one else can see."
"That place... you can't!"
Sherlock rolled his eyes and looked away, turning to Hermione beside him.
She had chosen Buckbeak as her hippogriff and had pulled Sherlock aside to watch.
"Sherlock, that height should be fine—I tried it before when riding a broomstick."
Hermione's voice was slightly trembling.
To overcome her fear of heights and improve her flying skills, Hermione had originally planned to practice flying with Sherlock more during the previous term.
Unfortunately, Lucius's purchase of seven Nimbus 2001s for Slytherin had greatly stimulated the other three houses, making their practice sessions increasingly frequent and greatly reducing Sherlock and Hermione's practice time.
Not to mention the Chamber of Secrets incident that followed.
So, with a rare opportunity to fly, Hermione didn't want to miss it.
Buckbeak had already bowed to her, and she was now patting its beak.
Buckbeak looked at Sherlock and Hermione with some puzzlement, seeming curious why it wasn't Sherlock who had the better technique doing the petting.
But since Hermione had been very sincere in her bow, it didn't show any resistance.
"Sherlock, I think I can take off now. Is it just like riding a broomstick? Is there anything else I need to pay attention to?"
As a good student, Hermione naturally wouldn't miss any learning opportunity. With takeoff imminent, she seized the time to seek Sherlock's guidance.
"Compared to broomsticks, there are some differences.
First, you need to hold tight to its neck with both hands because its feathers are very smooth and will make you slide down constantly.
Second, keep your legs clamped tight, when it flaps its wings, it will bump your calves. While it won't throw you off, it feels very uncomfortable.
Third, its hind legs will bounce up and down, so you need to adapt to that..."
Sherlock gave Hermione detailed instructions, and nearby young wizards who were preparing to take a flight like Sherlock all pricked up their ears to listen.
Seeing that Hermione was ready, Sherlock patted Buckbeak's back. "Go!"
As Buckbeak took to the sky, Hermione couldn't help but let out a scream, hugging Buckbeak's neck tightly.
After Buckbeak carried Hermione around the paddock and returned to the ground, everyone cheered again, encouraging her.
Hermione was positively glowing. For her, this was much harder than getting good grades on exams.
Then, one by one, the hippogriffs spread their wings and carried the young wizards into the sky.
"Sherlock, I think you're even more suited to teaching than I am."
Looking up at this scene, Hagrid felt quite moved.
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