Even with the fruitless searches of the students, the daily teaching at Hogwarts had to continue.
However, Dumbledore was not entirely unprepared for this.
After Colin was attacked and all of Hagrid's chickens were strangled, Dumbledore specifically had Hagrid purchase a new flock of healthy roosters from outside and keep them in separate enclosures.
These seemingly inconspicuous animals were actually the best weapon against the basilisk.
But the atmosphere among the students had clearly changed compared to before.
This sense of unease didn't dissipate after a while; instead, it spread throughout the student body.
Sherlock noticed this phenomenon particularly clearly.
After he finished teaching the second-year Defence Against the Dark Arts class, he could clearly feel that the students were not as lively after class as they used to be.
He gently tapped the podium with a book, drawing the young wizards' attention to him.
"Next class, we will begin discussing Dark Arts creatures of the snake variety. Students who are interested can prepare in advance, gather information, and get ready for next week's lesson."
As soon as he finished speaking, a Ravenclaw student below raised their hand and asked curiously,
"But Professor, our textbooks this year don't contain any information about snake-like Dark Arts creatures, do they?"
The other students also looked puzzled.
Explaining snake-like Dark Arts creatures was naturally to give these children some prior knowledge about the basilisk's weaknesses and other information, in case the next attack occurred, so these students would at least know how to save their own lives.
This wasn't just Sherlock's own idea; he had also consulted Dumbledore, who agreed with his approach.
Facing the students' questions, he offered an excuse.
"You've all been a bit too tense lately. Let's temporarily deviate from the textbooks and learn some interesting knowledge."
The students exchanged glances; they didn't think snakes were particularly interesting magical knowledge.
However, Hogwarts had no clear rules on how to teach in class.
The Defence Against the Dark Arts class belonged to Sherlock; even if he wanted to teach students about nuclear fission in class, the students could only listen and learn diligently.
Just as Sherlock was packing up to leave, Harry and his two friends suddenly crept up to him again.
Sherlock stopped and glanced at them, saying,
"I heard you were shouting in the Great Hall yesterday, saying you wanted to see me? Still something? You're not still suspecting that I'm the culprit, are you?"
Harry awkwardly rubbed his hands, smiling.
"No, Professor, how could we suspect you're the culprit? We just wanted to ask you for a small favour, a very small favour."
Hermione hurriedly handed a piece of parchment she held to Sherlock, then, along with Ron and Harry, looked at him with expectant eyes.
Sherlock looked at their strange behaviour suspiciously, then turned his gaze to the parchment.
Only one line of words was simply written on it:
'Harry will not pick up a knut at Hogwarts today.'
After reading that line, Sherlock's gaze towards them grew even stranger.
"How would I know if Harry can pick up money at Hogwarts today? What are you trying to do? Some kind of magic spell that uses language as a medium? Are you trying to curse me?"
It's more like you're cursing us, old man!
Of course, Harry and his friends didn't dare to voice their complaints in front of Sherlock, nor did they have any reason to make Sherlock say that sentence. They could only pester him, pleading.
"Professor, we're only twelve! How could we possibly curse you! We really just want to ask you for a favour, just say that sentence, just say it!"
"Please, Professor! This is really important to us! Please!"
"Even if I haven't earned your praise, I've certainly put in the hard work, Professor! Think of all the hard work I've done helping you collect homework, borrowing books from the library, and passing messages to other professors. Please help us out!"
Sherlock looked speechlessly at these three students, who seemed to have lost their minds, and seriously doubted how they eventually defeated Lord Voldemort.
Annoyed and with no other option, he didn't want to deduct points from these three mischievous boys for such a trivial matter, so he said perfunctorily,
"Harry will not pick up a knut at Hogwarts today. Is that enough? Stop bothering me, hurry up and go."
Joy immediately appeared on the faces of Harry and his two friends.
However, they didn't leave immediately, but instead asked cautiously,
"Professor, do you think Harry can really pick up money in the castle?"
Sherlock felt a bit mentally exhausted from their antics.
"How would I know if he can pick up money in the castle? If I knew that, would I tell you?"
Upon hearing him say that, Harry and his friends became even more jubilant. They all bowed their heads to thank him, then skipped away.
Sherlock returned to his office to prepare materials related to snake-like Dark Arts creatures. He certainly couldn't just talk about basilisks, as that would be too obvious, so he had a lot of work.
After Harry, Hermione, and Ron successfully obtained the jinx from Sherlock, they spent the rest of their time wandering around the castle.
As they walked, their eyes were constantly fixed on the ground, hoping immensely that Harry would pick up a knut.
At lunchtime, Ginny stared at Ron and the others curiously, asking,
"Why are you all staring under the table? I thought you dropped some food?"
Having found nothing all morning, Ron was a bit annoyed. He waved his hand, shooing Ginny away.
"It's none of your business."
Ginny pouted and snorted, losing the mood to share her experiences in the Headmaster's Office yesterday.
In the afternoon, Harry and his friends had a Charms class, so they couldn't keep wandering around the castle.
However, after Charms class, they immediately resumed their great endeavour of picking up money.
If Harry could truly pick up a knut in the castle today, it would mean that Sherlock's jinx was a miracle, and even words spoken against his will could successfully take effect.
Then Hogwarts would be saved!
But even after they finished dinner, let alone a knut, they hadn't seen anything resembling a coin all day.
It was almost curfew when Harry and his two friends, utterly disappointed, returned to the Gryffindor common room.
"It seems that for the professor's jinx to work, he has to speak his true feelings."
Ron said dejectedly.
Although Hermione also looked disappointed, she had anticipated such a result.
"If the professor's ability could activate no matter what he said with a utilitarian mindset, then he would be more powerful than all the wizards in the world."(TN: Why?)