Chapter 4: Graduating
Seven years passed in a flash, and Sherlock was incredibly busy during this time, so much so that he felt like he had been in high school for seven years.
Of course, despite the busyness, Sherlock gained a lot.
During these seven years, Sherlock spent his days learning firearms and tactics with his five uncles, and his evenings studying magic from Harry Potter alone in his room.
For the entire seven years, Sherlock could be said to be exceptionally fulfilled. In this World where superheroes had not yet appeared, even without magic, Sherlock could be considered the peak of combat ability among ordinary people.
Not only did he complete the learning tasks assigned by Price, but Sherlock's magic also made great progress.
Militarily, in Price's words, Sherlock had reached the level of becoming their teammate; what he lacked now was to experience a real battle with them.
Magically, according to Sherlock's estimation, he should be able to completely crush the ordinary Aurors from the original work.
The reason he could reach such a height was that Sherlock had completely understood the operating principle of his library during these seven years.
It was actually very simple: the books on the shelves not only served the simple function of providing Hogwarts textbooks and materials but also contained notes like magic journals.
As long as Sherlock was in the library and thought about it, the library could retrieve the books Sherlock needed.
With this function, Sherlock's magical proficiency could be said to have advanced by leaps and bounds. After all, he was a student nurtured by the notes of masters like Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Voldemort, and Professor Snape; it would be difficult for him not to make rapid progress.
Not only that, but Sherlock even discovered some other miraculous uses for this library, two of which Sherlock considered the most useful.
One was that the library could be treated as a storage space; some inanimate small items could be placed into this empty library.
The other was even more amazing: Sherlock could simulate potion making in this library!
As long as Sherlock thought about it, all the raw materials Sherlock needed, as well as items like cauldrons, would appear on the library's table for Sherlock to study.
The only not-so-great thing was that Sherlock could not use these simulated raw materials, nor the potions or alchemical items created; they could only be used for learning.
It was like a simplified Room of Requirement.
Of course, aside from that, what made Sherlock feel most frustrated was the use of those two automatic vending machines.
After Sherlock's research, the functions of those two vending machines were also very simple: one was responsible for selling potions and raw materials like herbs.
The other was a machine responsible for selling magical creatures, alchemical items, and raw materials. Both machines used the same currency: gold.
It was these two vending machines that made Sherlock feel exceptionally frustrated.
Perhaps because these items did not exist in the Marvel World, the entire World seemed to impose a rule-like effect on things that came out of these vending machines.
Take potions as an example: as long as Sherlock exchanged a potion from the machine, it would add a debuff to the user while maintaining the potion's original efficacy.
No, calling it a debuff might not be very accurate. More precisely, it should be called a superpower, and these superpowers were completely random, with no discernible pattern whatsoever.
How did Sherlock know this? This goes back to an experience during training when Sherlock caught a fever and a cold after a heavy rain.
Sherlock, suffering from a persistent high fever, couldn't stand the discomfort and, enduring his unwell body, bought a bottle of cold medicine from Harry Potter.
The facts proved that the efficacy was excellent. With just one bottle, Sherlock's ears began to steam, and within half an hour, his cold and fever symptoms were gone.
However, a piece of information, like a memory, suddenly appeared in Sherlock's mind once he was clear-headed.
"Debuff: Wushan Yunyu (Cursed by the World, forced effect, cannot be removed.)
Effect: Anyone within two meters of the user will experience extreme pleasure.
Duration: 24:00:00"
Feeling the information in his mind, Sherlock nearly jumped up and cursed. What was this, a walking aphrodisiac?
Sherlock didn't want to enter the Serpent Shield Bureau's radar so early. If he were to go out for a stroll, the entire New York would probably be in trouble.
It should be known that Sherlock, to avoid those powerful figures, had never used magic in the real World, even though he had obtained his Golden Finger!
Those two bald men, one White and one Shadow, were not to be trifled with.
Helpless, Sherlock could only lie in the center of his room, with the door locked, and stayed in that library for an entire day.
This was the first time Sherlock knew that his Golden Finger also had such a debuff.
Undeterred, Sherlock exchanged another bottle of the same potion during another break, hoping to find a pattern to this debuff.
The second effect made Sherlock even more frustrated, because the second effect was called Chronicle, simply put, just like the movie Chronicle.
After taking the potion, Sherlock gained a superpower like telekinesis. The power was so strong that Sherlock could even feel that if he wanted to, he could completely lift the entire city from the Earth.
And the point of Sherlock's frustration was that his magic couldn't even do that!
Undeterred, after saving money for a long time, Sherlock bought a bottle of Felix Felicis, thinking that this might give him a good ability. Even if it didn't, based on the effect of Felix Felicis alone, Sherlock could buy lottery tickets to recoup his losses.
But the third ability directly made Sherlock decide that, unless it was an emergency, he would absolutely not use these items with debuffs in the future.
Because the third effect was very simple, named 'Fortune and Misfortune Intertwined', simply explained, it meant that however much good luck one received, one would suffer an equal amount of bad luck.
It was a completely ineffective Felix Felicis.
Under the blessing of this effect and Felix Felicis, Sherlock would definitely win a jackpot when buying a lottery ticket, but the next second after knowing he won, the lottery ticket in his hand would probably turn to ashes due to some irresistible factors.
After these three attempts, Sherlock deeply understood that as someone with such bad luck, he should give up gambling early. Unless it was a matter of life and death, Sherlock still felt that he was truly unable to enjoy these magical potions.