With more than a month left before the start of the new term, Sherlock had to familiarize himself with magic as quickly as possible during this time.
He didn't have the confidence to raise his level to the point where he could serve as a Hogwarts professor like the original owner in less than two months.
But at the very least, he had to learn the common spells used by most wizards so that he wouldn't be exposed at Hogwarts.
As for teaching… in the plot of the first book, Quirrell's teaching method, which relied entirely on reading from the textbook, didn't seem to raise any red flags. If he just winged it for now, it shouldn't be too big of a problem, right?
There were many magic books in the study, but most of those on the shelves were advanced magical texts, which Sherlock couldn't understand at his current level.
However, he soon found the textbooks the original owner had used while attending Hogwarts in a cabinet under the desk.
They were all there, from first to seventh year, neither resold nor discarded.
This was naturally the best thing possible for Sherlock.
As he sat at the desk, one of the candles floating in mid-air naturally remained suspended above him, illuminating the space.
The teapots and teacups, which seemed like living things, also took it upon themselves to pour him a cup of hot tea and place it quietly to the side.
To be honest, a wizard's life could easily provide a sense of happiness to someone who had never experienced such a lifestyle.
You didn't have to worry about any trivial matters at all; small magical objects would take care of everything for you.
Taking out all the first-year textbooks, Sherlock only picked out The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 and A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, setting aside others like Potions, Herbology, and Astronomy books.
Charms and Transfiguration, the two types of magic most commonly used by wizards in daily life, were the most critical subjects for him to learn right now.
Potions weren't unimportant, but they weren't helpful for his current situation.
Opening the Charms textbook, the pages appeared somewhat old, with corners clearly wrinkled from being turned many times. But the most striking thing was the dense notes written in the margins.
The original owner's personality issues were significant, but it was equally undeniable that he was indeed very talented in magic and exceptionally hardworking.
Just from this Charms textbook filled with notes, one could see how thirsty for magical knowledge the original owner had been at the age of eleven.
At the same time, this made things rather convenient for the present Sherlock.
The first spell taught in the textbook was the Levitation Charm.
This spell was considered one of the most basic, easiest to learn, and most frequently used charms by wizards.
The incantation for the spell was: Wingardium Leviosa.
Beside this spell, the original owner had specifically noted the key points of casting explained by the professor during class.
The correct pronunciation was: Win-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, making the "gar" sound long and clear, and the wand movement was a swish and flick.
After understanding the key points, Sherlock cleared his throat, raised his wand, aimed it at a small piece of paper on the desk, and prepared for his first attempt.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
He recited the incantation, giving his wand a swish and flick at the paper.
The next moment, that small piece of paper miraculously levitated from the table into thin air!
On his very first try, Sherlock's spell was a success!
He stared blankly at the floating piece of paper in front of him.
Being able to successfully use the Levitation Charm on the first try was naturally not because Sherlock was exceptionally gifted.
Instead, when he recited the incantation, his body felt no awkwardness or hesitation whatsoever.
It was as if he had practiced this Levitation Charm countless times, and it came out naturally.
Sherlock blinked, then used the spell again on the piece of paper that had fallen back onto the desk.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The result was the same as before; the paper successfully levitated once more.
The process was as practiced and natural to him as eating or drinking.
Without stopping, Sherlock quickly flipped through the Charms book to find the next incantation: the Reparo spell.
Following the correct pronunciation and casting gestures recorded in the notes, he recited the incantation at the piece of paper torn in half on the desk.
"Reparo."
A second later, the torn paper was perfectly restored to its previous state, showing no signs of damage at all.
Only then did a look of joy appear on Sherlock's face.
However, he still didn't stop, continuing to try Incendio, Alohomora, and the Softening Charm, Spongify.
Finally, he encountered an obstacle with the most difficult spell to learn in the first-year textbook: the Severing Charm, Diffindo.
But calling it an obstacle only meant that his first attempt at the spell was unsuccessful.
After Sherlock tried a couple more times, his body automatically helped him correct his originally wrong pronunciation and gestures, allowing the spell to be successfully cast.
Reaching this level was already very satisfying for him.
As expected, although he hadn't received any "cheat" after transmigrating, he hadn't been completely inept at magic, at least, and had regained the muscle memory of his predecessor.
The spells recorded in the first-year textbooks, which the original owner had long since mastered, were deeply etched into his muscle memory.
Even if Sherlock himself was very unfamiliar with these spells, as long as he began to try and learn them, he would master them very quickly.
For simple charms like the Levitation Charm and Reparo, he could even cast them successfully after just looking at the incantation once.
Even for slightly more difficult spells, as long as he practiced more, mastering them wouldn't be much of a hassle.
With this kind of help, although it wouldn't allow Sherlock to quickly reach the same magical level as his predecessor, it would at least make him look like an adult wizard who had received seven years of education at Hogwarts.
Thus, for the next month or so, Sherlock stayed cooped up in the study all day, familiarizing himself with a large number of basic spells every day.
In the meantime, Professor McGonagall wrote to him again, urging him to send her the textbook list for the new term.
Sherlock casually copied down the names of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class textbooks used by his predecessor during his seven years of school and had Professor McGonagall's owl take them back.
It wasn't until a day in mid-August that he had to step out of the study.
With only half a month left before school started, he had to travel to Diagon Alley, the magical street located in London, to purchase some items needed for Hogwarts.
Before this, even the specific location of the Leaky Cauldron in London, which served as the entrance to Diagon Alley, was a headache for Sherlock.
Fortunately, there was A Wizard's Travelogue in the study that happened to contain the address.