Chapter 162: Amy

Chapter 162: Amy

The sound of Roll descending the stairs gradually faded away. Sherlock sat at a table by the window, reading a newspaper from three days ago.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Karkaroff and Roll emerge from the bar and then Disapparate.

Soon, a group of Wizards arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, all dressed in the standard robes of the Ministry of Magic.

Clearly, someone had reported Karkaroff and Roll's departure to the Ministry immediately, and now these Wizards were all Aurors.

They conducted a brief investigation in the bar, asking about the sequence of events, and then left.

It wasn't that the Aurors were being negligent; there was simply nothing substantial to investigate.

Karkaroff and Roll had come to the Leaky Cauldron to look for someone they couldn't find and left without incident. From the little information provided by a young girl, they couldn't deduce much.

After the Aurors left, Tom, still shaken, continued to wipe down the bar, and most of the patrons in the hall had dispersed.

The Wizards had been frightened by the incident, but fortunately, it was Karkaroff and Roll who had come. They were not among the most notorious Death Eaters.

If Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, had shown up, someone would have definitely been hurt today.

Upstairs, Sherlock, after confirming that both the Death Eaters and the Aurors had left, gently nudged the bedpost.

"Come out, they're gone."

A rustling sound echoed, as if something was crawling out from under the bed. Then, a small head emerged from the air, her clear, bright eyes meeting Sherlock's gaze.

The little girl was wrapped in an Invisibility Cloak, with only her head visible. At first glance, it looked like a severed head floating in the air, which was quite eerie.

She appeared to be around six or seven years old, with golden hair and a face as delicate as a porcelain doll. Her most striking feature was her bright, sparkling blue eyes.

Sherlock looked at her and took a sip of his black tea.

"What's your name?"

"Amy."

The girl's voice was soft, with a childish lilt, but her tone was calm, not at all like that of a child her age.

"Your full name? What's your last name?" Sherlock asked, looking at her.

Amy shook her head.

"Daddy said not to say."

Sherlock raised an eyebrow. He had already learned the girl's last name from the Death Eater who had searched the room, but he wanted to confirm it.

"Did your father send you here?"

Amy nodded again.

Sherlock could guess that the Death Eaters were after her because of her family. Otherwise, a child who wasn't even old enough to attend a magical school would be of no use to them.

"Does Tom downstairs know you're staying here?"

Amy tilted her head.

"He knew at first, but not after Daddy left."

Sherlock thought for a moment and understood what she meant.

"Did your father make him forget?"

"Obliviate. The old man forgot about Amy and Daddy."

Amy extended her pale, delicate fingers and made a circular motion in the air, mimicking the action of a Memory Charm, as if demonstrating it to Sherlock.

Her father was cautious. He knew the Death Eaters might come looking for his daughter, so he left her with an Invisibility Cloak and erased Tom's memory of them.

Sherlock sensed the trouble that Amy might bring. She herself might be harmless, but her father was clearly someone important. The Death Eaters were likely after her because of him.

However, Amy's father had chosen not to keep her with him, hiding her at the Leaky Cauldron instead. This suggested that his current situation was precarious.

Sherlock frowned and looked back at the little girl, noticing that her eyes were fixed on the plate of cookies on his table.

Amy saw him looking and blinked.

"Can Amy have some?"

She wasn't pouting or begging; it was more like she was at a friend's house, saw something she liked, and was politely asking.

Sherlock pulled out a chair for her, indicating that the entire plate was hers.

Amy let go of the Invisibility Cloak and, instead of sitting down immediately, ran to the bathroom to wash her hands before returning.

“Thank you.”

She bowed to Sherlock in gratitude before sitting down properly to eat the cookies.

Amy was well-mannered, showing none of the typical mischief of a child her age.

As she ate the cookies, Sherlock continued to ask questions.

“So why did you hide in my room?”

Amy swallowed the food in her mouth before speaking.

“Amy felt safer here.”

“Your own intuition?” Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

“Daddy says Amy’s intuition is always right. If I’m unsure about something, I should just follow my feelings.”

At this, a hint of childish pride appeared on her face, making Sherlock realize she was indeed a child.

“What did you do for meals before this?”

“Amy would wear the Invisibility Cloak to get food.”

“Steal from the bar?”

“No, Amy would pay. A loaf of bread costs two knuts, and I would put the money in the box on the counter. Daddy says stealing is wrong, so Amy doesn’t steal.”

She held a cookie in her hand, blinking at Sherlock as if asking if he had more questions. If not, she wanted to focus on her snack.

Sherlock laughed at her expression, finding the little girl named Amy quite adorable.

“Go ahead and eat. We’ll talk more after you finish.”

Sherlock then brought her a cup of warm milk. Amy ate slowly, savoring each bite. It took her nearly half an hour to finish less than half of the cookies on the plate.

Once she was full, she turned to Sherlock with her bright eyes.

“Can Amy come here to play in the future?”

Sherlock didn’t answer immediately, instead asking another question.

“How long does your father want you to stay here?”

“Daddy said Amy should wait for him here. If he doesn’t return within a week, Amy should follow her feelings and go with the right person.”

“Follow her feelings?”

Sherlock frowned. The girl’s father gave off a strange impression—responsible, yet not responsible at all.

“How long has your father been gone?”

Amy, sitting on the high chair, swung her legs in white socks, a small segment of her pale calves visible below the pant cuffs. She held out a tiny hand to Sherlock.

“Five days.”

She seemed completely unafraid or anxious, a six- or seven-year-old girl who had been alone for so long without crying or causing trouble. Even in the Wizarding World, this was quite rare.

“What about Amy’s mother?”

“No mother.” Amy’s voice held no sadness or regret, only a hint of pride. “Daddy says Amy is his one and only treasure, and he doesn’t want to share Amy with anyone else, so Amy doesn’t have a mother.”

Sherlock understood her situation. Either her parents were divorced, or her mother had passed away long ago, which was why her father spoke to her this way to comfort her.

This little girl named Amy was clearly going to bring trouble, but Sherlock didn’t want to push her away.

Perhaps it was his two years as a professor, making him feel a protective instinct toward children, or perhaps it was Amy’s obedience that stirred his compassion. Or maybe it was fate, making him feel a special connection to this little girl.

He wanted to help her.

“If your father doesn’t come for you in two days, you can come find me.” Sherlock smiled and extended his hand. “I’m John Watson. Nice to meet you.”

Amy tilted her head, looking at Sherlock’s outstretched hand.

“If Amy follows John, she might cause trouble.”

Sherlock winked at her.

“John isn’t afraid of trouble.”

The girl pursed her lips and extended her small hand to shake Sherlock’s.

“I’m also glad to meet you, John.”

After getting to know each other, they quickly started a game of Wizard’s Chess to pass the time.

At lunch, Sherlock, knowing that Amy had mostly been eating bread for the past five days, asked Tom for extra food and shared it with her.

By late evening, Amy bid farewell to Sherlock and returned to room 10 next door.

Before it got dark, Snape found Sherlock.

“The potion is ready. We can go deliver it now.”

Sherlock looked at him in surprise.

“So soon? I thought it would take three days.”

Snape looked disdainful.

“It’s just an Invigoration Elixir. Only a novice would take three days.”

Despite his boasting, it was clear that Snape had been working on the potion all along, which made Sherlock, who had spent the day playing Wizard’s Chess with the little girl, feel a bit embarrassed. He cleared his throat.

“Cough, cough, cough. No wonder you’re a potions master. Let’s go, then. We’ll deliver the potion and see how much they’ll pay for my healing potion.”

The two of them left the Leaky Cauldron and returned to the extraordinary potion shop. The witch who had signed the contract with them last time was still there.

The witch was particularly surprised by their early delivery of the potion and its exceptionally high quality.

She praised Snape's craftsmanship and also gave Sherlock the price for his healing potion.

"Our potion makers couldn't identify the ingredients in your potion, but its healing effect is better than most on the market, even reaching the level of murtlap essence."

The witch didn't try to lower the potion's value to get a better deal, clearly indicating her intention to establish a long-term partnership with Sherlock.

"However, since it's a new potion, I can't offer the same price as murtlap essence. If you only want to sell the finished product, I can offer half the price of murtlap essence. If you're willing to sell the formula, we can negotiate a better price, even sign a contract for a percentage of the profits."

Her offer was sincere, and if Sherlock really had the potion formula, he might have considered selling it outright.

However, the only ingredient for the healing potion was a philosopher's stone fragment, and he certainly couldn't sell something like that. So, he decided to sell only the finished product.

"Let's go with half the price of murtlap essence. I remember that a small bottle of murtlap essence usually costs around 30 galleons on the market."

The witch seemed a bit disappointed by his decision, but business was business, and she continued.

"A bottle of murtlap essence in my shop costs 34 galleons. If you sell me the finished potion, I can offer you 17 galleons per bottle."

Sherlock narrowed his eyes, his smile filled with the promise of wealth.

He hadn't really thought that a healing potion made with a philosopher's stone fragment could fetch such a high price. This was a no-cost venture for him, and selling one bottle meant a net profit of 17 galleons.

The complete Philosopher's Stone could not only produce the Elixir of Life but also transmute base metals into gold. The philosopher's stone fragment inherited some of this "transmutation" ability, and just the healing potions it produced could generate a substantial fortune.

"How long does it take to brew this potion?" the witch asked next.

Sherlock didn't exaggerate the production volume. If too much of the potion was available, and people found out it was easy and cheap to make, the price would surely drop.

"I can provide you with five bottles a month. The brewing process isn't complicated, but some of the ingredients are quite rare, similar to murtlap essence", he said, smacking his lips.

Snape, who had been watching from the side, couldn't help but twitch his lips.

After getting to know Sherlock better, he could tell when Sherlock was pulling someone's leg.

The witch, however, was pleasantly surprised.

"Five bottles is already a good number! If you can maintain this supply, our shop can promote this as a main product. We can also increase the purchase price if the market price goes up."

The shop's owner was generous in her business dealings, making it comfortable to work with her.

After finalizing the purchase price for the healing potion, Sherlock pulled Snape aside.

"The cost of my potion is very low, and it doesn't take much time. If you want, you can push back your potion orders."

Snape responded with a cold face.

"The money you make is yours, and the money I earn from brewing is mine. What does your profit have to do with me? I have nothing else to do here, so I might as well use her materials to practice my skills."

Sherlock patted his shoulder.

"We're in this together now, no need to be so formal."

"Get lost, don't try to get close to me!"

Snape's tough talk was just a front. He was in a period of confusion, not knowing what to do besides saving Lily. Brewing potions helped him calm his mind and pass the time.

After settling everything, Sherlock sold the seven healing potions he had on hand to the witch, earning a total of 119 galleons, which filled his wallet nicely.

Now, their survival issues were fully resolved, and they no longer had any worries.

However, they still had no idea how to return to the correct timeline. For now, Sherlock decided to focus on another important matter that he could investigate while in this time.

That was the issue with the original owner's parents.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end