As hundreds of Patronus Charms were cast, Sherlock began pulling bottle after bottle of Sorrow Potion from his pocket.
He did his best to suppress the explosive positive emotions surging through him, controlling his urge to dance on the spot while continuously pouring the potion into his mouth.
The amount of Sorrow Potion Sherlock had brought with him was about three times what he had used the first time he cast multiple Patronus Charms to suppress his positive emotions.
However, the flock of crows he had summoned this time was also more than twice the size of the previous one.
Therefore, he carefully controlled the dosage of the Sorrow Potion, preferring to drink too little rather than too much.
Drinking too much would cause a far greater negative emotional impact, which could create serious problems for his subsequent spellcasting.
The silvery-white flock of crows circled around Sherlock, and beneath their spreading silver light, he finally saw the full extent of the room.
It was a vast chamber roughly the size of two football fields. The room was square, resembling a space left behind after a rectangular section had been cut out.
At the far corner stood the straw man, holding a lantern in one hand and a scythe in the other.
The moment the flock of crows appeared, it let out an incomparably shrill shriek!
As soon as the crows surrounded him, Sherlock immediately waved his hand towards the straw man without hesitation.
The silvery-white crows screeched and swarmed towards it!
Probing was one thing, but if Fedetick really was so brainless that it had made no progress since last year and had come looking for him again, then this probing would turn into a fight to the death!
However, just as the silvery-white sun formed by the flock of crows was about to touch the straw man, a blood-red radiance flashed for an instant.
The screeching abruptly stopped, and boundless darkness spread out from the straw man once more, clashing fiercely with the silvery-white flock of crows that had invaded its territory.
An aura of deathly silence, bleakness, and ruin intertwined with the radiance of hope, joy, and positivity.
At that moment, Sherlock finally saw what the darkness erupting from the straw man really was.
It was another flock of crows!
A flock of black crows, pitch-black from head to tail, each possessing a pair of blood-red eyes!
The black and silver crows collided, their two colours intertwining as though they were painting an ink-wash painting together.
However, the black crows clearly had the upper hand. After the black and silver crows cancelled each other out, the former could immediately replenish their numbers, while the number of silver crows filled with positive emotions continued to dwindle!
Sherlock immediately identified the source of the problem.
Compared with before, the straw man holding a lantern in one hand and a scythe in the other now wore a battered crown on its head!
The seemingly endless flock of crows was also emerging from that crown. This clearly wasn't a power the straw man had originally possessed.
Sherlock's expression grew solemn. He once again controlled a small number of wands to move, and this time, he cast a piece of Dark Arts he had recently learnt.
"Sectumsempra."
The spell he had learnt from the magical notebook Snape had tossed to him on the first day of school was undoubtedly extremely powerful, entirely comparable to the Blasting Curse.
Combined with the effect of casting it through multiple wands, the advantages of this wand technique were magnified immensely!
A dozen invisible blades appeared in the air before instantly traversing the entire distance, moving almost like Apparition as they materialised directly in the middle of the intertwined flocks of black and silver crows!
However, not a single black crow was affected by the spell. It was as though the blades had sliced through water, producing only faint ripples before finally striking the chamber walls and leaving a dozen deep gashes.
These black crows were also immune to ordinary magic, and the only spell capable of countering them was the Patronus Charm.
Yet even with the astonishing number of Patronuses Sherlock had summoned, his flock was about to be overwhelmed. Meanwhile, the black crows showed no sign of diminishing. More and more continued to pour out of the crown, gathering into an increasingly enormous flock.
The silver crows, which had initially been on the offensive, were now forced into a defensive position, and there was a clear risk of their formation collapsing at any moment!
At this point, the straw man was no longer standing idly by. It had already raised its scythe and was swinging the broken kerosene lamp in its other hand like a meteor hammer. Striding forward on its legs of withered branches, it charged towards Sherlock!
Despite seemingly having no other options, Sherlock remained calm. He waved his hand again, controlling the wands to rise once more before casting the Patronus Charm without hesitation!
"Expecto Patronum!"
Silver light flashed again. Before the flock of crows could even fully form, it had already blocked the straw man, which was now less than ten steps away from Sherlock.
At the same time, he poured all the remaining Sorrow Potion in his pocket into his stomach without hesitation. It was certainly far from enough, but suppressing even a portion of the emotional feedback was better than doing nothing at all.
Hundreds of silvery-white crows once again circled around Sherlock. This time, however, he didn't direct them to launch an attack. Instead, he kept them close to protect him as he retreated towards the room's exit.
Sherlock belonged to Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor, so he certainly wasn't the type to act recklessly. Since he knew the straw man had something it could use to counter him, he had no intention of fighting it head-on.
He wasn't the only person in this castle. Having obtained this information, his best strategy was to investigate the crown, determine its properties, and then find a way to counter it.
Although Fedetick's head was woven from straw and contained no brain, it was clearly no idiot. It immediately saw through Sherlock's intentions.
The black crows continued pouring out of the crown, tearing a hole in the protective net formed by the silver crows. Although their advance was difficult, the straw man continued moving towards Sherlock, one step at a time!
Sherlock retreated just as quickly. By the time Fedetick was within five metres of him, only two or three steps away from striking him with its scythe, he had already reached the edge of the Room of Requirement's entrance.
An irrepressible smile spread across his face, and a hidden gleam flashed in his eyes, which were filled with excitement from the emotional feedback of the Patronus Charm.
Just as he was about to escape the Room of Requirement, Fedetick let out a shrill screech and suddenly lunged forward, swinging its scythe high into the air.
The silver crows surrounding Sherlock abruptly shifted from a defensive formation to an offensive one, fiercely charging towards the straw man's body!
"Bang!"
A heavy impact rang out as Frederick's enormous straw body was sent flying backwards, countless strands of straw scattering from its body at the same time!