Sherlock rushed out of the Room of Requirement like a cannonball that had been knocked flying!
He then collided with a soft body, and the two of them tumbled to the ground together.
Lying on the ground, Sherlock and Hilke met each other's eyes. Soon, he sprang to his feet with an excited expression.
"Sneak attack successful!"
With a thought, he used Control Magic to slam the door to the Room of Requirement shut.
Hilke sat on the ground, staring expressionlessly at Sherlock, who was happier than someone high on stimulants. It was obvious what had caused his abnormal behaviour.
Sherlock merely had an excess of positive emotions; he hadn't lost his reason. Beaming, he reached out a hand towards Hilke and said cheerfully,
"It definitely has a problem. My Patronus Charm basically has no effect on it anymore. But fortunately, it wanted to kill me so badly in the end that I managed to exploit a loophole. That last blow probably scattered its physical form!"
Hilke smoothed the silver-grey hair on her forehead, took Sherlock's hand, and stood up.
"That couldn't have been its own power. If it really were, it would be invincible."
"Of course not," Sherlock said lightly. "It used an alchemical item, a very evil one. That power can neutralise the Patronus Charm. It's very likely that the group who released it gave it the item."
Hilke didn't let go of Sherlock's hand. Instead, she also took hold of his arm, restraining his impulse to start dancing on the spot.
Three or four small silver crows were still flying around him. Sherlock didn't cancel the remaining Patronus Charm entirely. Instead, he left one of the crows perched on the tapestry opposite the Room of Requirement to keep the area under constant surveillance.
"I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey first," Hilke said, supporting his arm. "You can't continue like this. It'll have a huge impact on your spellcasting and mental state."
Sherlock raised his other hand and snapped his fingers.
"You make a very good point, so let's head to the Hospital Wing right now! By the way, if you don't mind, can we dance our way there?"
"I do mind," Hilke replied calmly, gripping Sherlock's arm and leading him towards the Hospital Wing. "And to prevent you from losing all your dignity in the castle after today, I won't let you do anything so foolish."
"How heartless!" Sherlock put on a pitiful expression, but the beaming, spring-like smile on his face refused to disappear. "The weather is so lovely today! Oh ho! What a wonderful day this is!"
Hilke glanced sideways at him. If she hadn't known that his strange talent would fail in such an abnormal state, she would have done anything to shut him up.
As for why she didn't use Stupefy as she had last time, it was because Sherlock was still maintaining the Patronus Charm he had placed outside the Room of Requirement. If she knocked him unconscious, the spell would lose its effect.
They had just reached the stairs on the eighth floor when classes happened to finish for the afternoon.
The young wizards who had completed their first afternoon lesson were filing out of their classrooms. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had just left their Charms lesson, happened to run into Sherlock and Hilke.
Anyone could see that something was wrong with Sherlock in his current state. Harry stared at him in astonishment.
"What's wrong with Professor Cavendish?"
Before Hilke could even open her mouth, Sherlock burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha! Thank you for your concern, Harry! But your eyesight really isn't very good. I'm doing wonderfully right now! I'm healthy, I'm in a fantastic mood, and I'm absolutely delighted!"
Realising that he was acting up again, Hilke subconsciously rolled her eyes behind her black ribbon. Without another word, she dragged him downstairs.
But Sherlock clearly hadn't finished chatting with Harry and the others. As Hilke led him down the stairs, he turned his head towards them and called out with a broad smile,
"I'm very happy, Harry, and I wish you happiness too! Happiness for a lifetime! Oh! And you two as well, Hermione and Ron! May you both be happy for the rest of your lives!"
Upon hearing his words, Harry, Ron, and Hermione froze instantly, as though they had turned into statues.
It wasn't until Hilke had dragged Sherlock down the stairs and the two were out of sight that the trio finally came back to their senses.
Harry's face was pale, and his expression was dazed. Ron was dumbfounded, his eyes bulging as though they were about to pop out of their sockets. Hermione was trembling uncontrollably, looking as if she wanted to cry but couldn't.
"No... Impossible... What the Professor just said definitely didn't come from the bottom of his heart! Right?!" Harry asked, his voice trembling.
Ron swallowed hard and stammered,
"Right, right, right... The Professor definitely didn't mean it from the bottom of his heart... Definitely not..."
Hermione's face was ashen as she spoke in a near-desperate voice.
"Stop deceiving yourselves. That expression, that look on Professor Cavendish's face just now—does it look as though he was saying something he didn't mean?!"
Harry and Ron, who had initially tried to comfort themselves with lies, instantly felt their bodies go limp, like deflating balloons.
The three of them crouched in the corner of the stairwell, attracting curious glances from countless students passing by. Ron spoke in a voice that sounded as though he were about to cry.
"Then what are we supposed to do now? Are we going to live in pain and despair for the rest of our lives?"
Harry clutched his hair, muttering in a lifeless voice,
"Should we prepare our last words in advance? There are still so many things I want to tell Sirius."
Of the three, only Hermione quickly regained her resolve!
"We can't just sit here and wait for our fate to be sealed, allowing our future to be filled with pain and despair! We have to save ourselves!"
"How are we supposed to do that? Go to Professor Dumbledore and tell him we've been cursed by Professor Cavendish?" Ron asked, still consumed by despair.
Hermione spoke firmly.
"We need to get Professor Cavendish to sincerely say to us again, 'Harry, Ron, Hermione, you three are doomed. You're destined to live in pain for the rest of your lives.' If he says that, the curse can be neutralised!"
Harry's expression didn't improve in the slightest. He replied miserably,
"But how can we get the Professor to sincerely say something like that? I've never seen him say such heartless things to anyone."
Hermione clenched her fists.
"Even if we don't have a solution, we must find one! We have to try. Giving up won't change anything, but trying gives us a chance to change our fate!"