The first entry in the diary was written five years ago, which lined up with the fact that Hogwarts only accepted eleven-year-old wizards and had a seven-year school system. Sherlock should have been fifteen years old and in his fifth year at the time. The reason he decided to start writing a diary was because he had just experienced a failed relationship.
Okay—judging from the original owner's tone in the diary, he was indeed an introvert.
Sherlock continued turning the pages.
The dates in the diary weren't consecutive. Roughly every three days, he would write one entry to complain about some trivial things that had happened at school that day, and to express his admiration for Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore.
Indeed, it could be seen from the original owner's diary that he held Dumbledore in extremely high regard. He even openly stated that his future goal was to become a wizard like Dumbledore.
His academic performance also seemed quite good, because Sherlock saw a diary entry about how he had gotten first place in his year, which led to many girls coming to him for help—something that made him feel very annoyed.
After experiencing a doomed relationship, the original owner seemed to turn into a cold and aloof straight man. Not only was he uninterested in women, but he also treated their enthusiasm for surrounding him as harassment.
Half of the diary recorded the original owner's days studying and living at Hogwarts. From his experiences during his student days, Sherlock was already able to basically understand his personality.
He was clearly a rather reclusive person in public. In his diary entries about his life at Hogwarts, there wasn't a single mention of friends.
In other words, he didn't make a single friend during his seven years at Hogwarts.
As for the girlfriend mentioned in the first diary entry, he only treated her as a tool. (TL: A true jerk.)
The original owner's greatest hobby was reading.
Naturally, he was a Ravenclaw student at Hogwarts.
Aside from eating, sleeping, and attending classes, he seemed to devote all his time to reading and studying. He was always either in the library or on his way to the library.
Reading and learning seemed to be his whole life, and becoming a wizard like Dumbledore was his lifelong pursuit.
Thus, a vivid character gradually took shape in Sherlock's mind.
The original owner was tall and handsome, but he always wore an expression that looked like he was looking down on others, which made him seem punchable.
He spoke in a stiff tone, didn't know how to flatter or be polite, wasn't good at interpersonal communication, and never hid his likes and dislikes.
Later, Sherlock found a magical photograph pasted to the back of the last diary entry about his life at Hogwarts.
It was a group photo of his Hogwarts classmates.
That handsome face was easy to spot in a crowd. He stood in the corner while all the other students were laughing and joking. He alone had a stern face and a furrowed brow, looking completely out of place—as if he thought taking graduation photos was a waste of his time.
Staring at the photo, Sherlock tried to mimic the original owner's expression in front of the mirror.
To be honest, it wasn't difficult.
He only needed to keep thinking that if he slipped up, Professor McGonagall might catch him and take him to Dumbledore for "brainwashing," and he would naturally put on a bitter and resentful expression.
Because aside from the first book, Sherlock had learned about the rest of the Harry Potter story from short video explanations of the movies, his impression of Dumbledore came entirely from the cunning and scheming image instilled in him by those commentaries.
Some commentators even added their own personal opinions.
It was said that all of Harry Potter's experiences at Hogwarts were secretly planned by Dumbledore.
This made Sherlock feel a strange sense of wariness and resistance toward Dumbledore.
The mere thought of being discovered and potentially taken to Dumbledore made him naturally wary.
As for tone of voice, that was even simpler. Speaking nicely might require some learning, but speaking bluntly and offensively was something anyone could do.
With a clear direction for managing facial expressions and language, Sherlock didn't stop studying the diary.
That was because only three years had passed since the original owner graduated from Hogwarts, and the experiences of those last three years were undoubtedly more important.
Sure enough, Sherlock received a big "surprise" in the first diary entry after Hogwarts.
June 28, 1989.
"What a frustrating day. Professor Dumbledore rejected my job application, saying that I had just graduated from Hogwarts and my understanding of defensive magic was still only theoretical. I needed more practice."
"Although it was disappointing, the professor also highly recognised my talent and said that he would definitely give me priority when considering candidates for the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor position in the future. It is a very pleasant thing to be recognised by Professor Dumbledore."
"Well, although I don't think the Defence Against the Dark Arts professors that Hogwarts has hired in the last two years are much better at practical things than me, Professor Dumbledore's words are probably true."
"So, what kind of job should I look for next?"
"Hmm… If it's about gaining practical experience, becoming an Auror might be a great choice."
Sherlock stared at the diary for a long time.
He never imagined that the original owner of this body had actually applied to Dumbledore for a position as a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor right after graduation.
According to the movie narrations, this position was cursed by Voldemort, the ultimate villain in the Harry Potter story.
Professors who held this position often died within a year for various reasons—sometimes even due to accidents.
Fortunately, Dumbledore rejected his request.
Otherwise, he might have already met with an accident before the current Sherlock even arrived.
After being rejected by Dumbledore, the original owner did indeed go to the Auror Office under the British Ministry of Magic for an interview, just as he had said.
Thanks to his outstanding performance in the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests (NEWTs) and seven years of hard work, he easily met the Auror recruitment requirements.
However, after joining the department, he wasn't assigned to field operations. Instead, because of his solid theoretical knowledge, he was placed in charge of paperwork.
This greatly displeased the original owner, and after several unsuccessful attempts to transfer into active duty, he resigned and returned home after only a little over a year and two months at the Ministry of Magic.
After that, he stayed at home and became a shut-in, focusing on researching defensive magic.
Until three months ago, when he returned to Hogwarts—aside from his annual application for the Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship.
He also applied to join the Order of the Phoenix, a resistance organisation founded by Dumbledore during the period when Voldemort's power swept across the wizarding world.
Sherlock vaguely remembered the organisation's name. He recalled that one of the seven Harry Potter books had that title.
This time, Dumbledore didn't give a clear answer to the application, neither agreeing nor rejecting it.
This greatly disappointed the original owner, who felt that he still hadn't gained Dumbledore's true approval, and he had been depressed for more than a month.
A week ago, he gave up on himself and prepared to begin a highly dangerous, unfinished magic experiment. His diary entry ended there.
However, Sherlock could easily guess what happened next.
It must have been an accident during the experiment that caused him to fall from the second floor and hit his head when he landed on the ground—which was why Sherlock had been able to transmigrate into his body.
After reading the entire diary, Sherlock gained a deeper impression of the original owner.
This guy was like a problem child who hadn't grown up yet. Aside from his good grades, he was problematic in every other way.
No wonder Dumbledore rejected his professorship application and even hesitated to let him join his secret organisation.(TL: I have no clue why he could apply to join a secret organisation.)
Sherlock leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin as he pondered quietly.
Therefore, Professor McGonagall's special trip here was very likely related to the original owner's application to join the Order of the Phoenix two months ago.
The letter said that things had taken a turn for the better, meaning that Dumbledore had most likely approved his application.
If that was all, then Sherlock could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Joining the Order was fine. The original owner was naturally introverted. As long as Sherlock stayed cautious after joining, minimised his interactions with the others, and focused on familiarising himself with magic, he had a good chance of getting away with it.
As long as it wasn't about making him a professor at Hogwarts, everything else was negotiable.
Thinking of this, Sherlock immediately felt much more at ease.
Moreover, he was unlikely to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts this year.
It was already July, and the professors for the next term had probably already been chosen.
According to his vague memory, the unlucky person who became the Defence professor that year seemed to be a celebrity, while the original owner—who didn't even have any friends—obviously couldn't even get close to a celebrity.