Chapter 165: The Next Moves of the Death Eaters and Aurors

Chapter 165: The Next Moves of the Death Eaters and Aurors

It has been a week since Sherlock and Amy returned from their time in Sherlock's era.

During this week, Sherlock and Amy have not ventured out again, staying in the guest room at the Leaky Cauldron.

The weather today is absolutely beautiful, a rare clear sky in London. Amy sits by the window, hoping a breeze will make the windmill Sherlock bought her spin.

However, after waiting for a long time, no wind comes, so she pouts and blows the windmill to make it spin in the sunlight.

Sherlock pays no attention to Amy's self-entertainment. He is spreading out a map of England on the table.

According to the timeline since he and Snape arrived, the first major Death Eater attack this year in the Wizarding World was the "Wales Violence Incident", followed by the locations where the Death Eaters have resurfaced over the past month.

He discovers that these attacks are actually connected.

The day after the "Wales Violence Incident", another Death Eater attack occurred in Hereford, not far from Wales, where two Muggles were brutally murdered.

Two days later, in Birmingham, not far from Hereford, a Wizard witnessed the core Death Eater member "Lestrange" leading three others in bombing a Muggle residence.

Two days after that, a fire broke out in Northampton, resulting in the death of one Muggle. The Ministry of Magic clearly detected Dark Magic in the fire.

Three days later, in Luton, about forty kilometers from London, two masked Death Eaters on broomsticks repeatedly cast the Killing Curse from the sky. Fortunately, the location was in the countryside, and only a few Muggles witnessed people flying on brooms, with no casualties. It is unknown who the Death Eaters were targeting.

The next day, which was the same day Karkaroff and Roll searched the Leaky Cauldron for Amy, a massive explosion occurred in the countryside near Cambridge. No one was killed, but Muggles witnessed the abnormal explosion and the Dark Mark in the sky. The Memory Erasure Squad from the Ministry of Magic later removed the Muggles' memories of the event.

Two days later, in Peterborough, north of Cambridge, a Muggle-Wizard was captured by Death Eaters passing through the area and was tortured to death before the Aurors arrived.

Three days later, which is today, the new issue of the Daily Prophet reported that a dozen Death Eaters appeared in Lincolnshire in northern England, led by the Dark Lord's top lieutenant, "Bellatrix Lestrange."

Sherlock marks all the locations where the Death Eaters have appeared on the map with red circles, starting from Wales.

He notices that the Death Eaters' actions have been steadily moving toward London, but after reaching Luton, the closest point to London, they suddenly turned northwest.

From Cambridge to Peterborough and then to Lincoln, the Death Eaters appear in a city in northwest England every two days.

It seems they are moving toward a specific goal. Initially, this goal appeared to be from Wales to London, but for some reason, after reaching Luton, they changed their target.

Given the timing, Sherlock suspects that this is likely related to the Death Eaters' search for Amy.

If the Death Eaters continue their pattern, moving northwest, they are likely to appear next in the central English city of Sheffield.

Of course, they might also head further north to York.

Sherlock looks at the map of Britain, now filled with red circles, and realizes that the Death Eaters are not trying to hide their next move.

It is unlikely that the more informed and intelligent Aurors would fail to deduce the Death Eaters' next destination based on the same information he has gathered from the Daily Prophet and the idle chatter of Wizards at the Leaky Cauldron.

He centered his map on Sheffield, extending its boundaries all the way to York, drawing a large circle.

Within this circle, any city could potentially become a battlefield between the Death Eaters and the Aurors.

Voldemort's followers had been causing one major incident after another in the past month, and the Ministry of Magic certainly wouldn't let such negative news fester. They were desperately in need of a significant victory to boost the morale of the magical community.

Sherlock stared at the circle he had drawn, pondering for a long time before finally deciding to go and take a look.

There was definitely danger, but this was also the best opportunity for him to make contact with the Ministry of Magic's Aurors. If things went smoothly, he might even manage to infiltrate the Auror Office through this opportunity.

At this time, there were quite a few people he knew well within the ranks of the Aurors.

For example, Mad-Eye Moody, who was still a pillar of the Aurors despite his physical disabilities, and was one of the top Aurors.

Then there was Kingsley, who had just joined the Auror ranks but had already shown great promise, standing out among the first-year Aurors.

Although Sherlock couldn't reveal his identity to these two at this moment, he could use his familiarity with their personalities and temperaments to build a relationship and have them vouch for him.

With his plan firmly set in his mind, Sherlock prepared to set out.

Unlike the last time, he couldn't take Amy with him this time. At first, Sherlock considered leaving Amy with Snape, asking him to take care of her.

But upon further thought, considering Snape's personality, it was uncertain who would end up taking care of whom.

Amy, who was playing with a pinwheel, noticed Sherlock's hesitation and tilted her head to ask, "Is John planning to go out?"

Sherlock ruffled her hair. "Yes, but this time the place is a bit dangerous, so I can't bring Amy."

"Amy can stay here by herself."

"Aren't you afraid of being alone?"

Amy shook her head, her pale golden hair shimmering like a wave of white light in the sun. "Before I met John, Amy was always alone, so I'm not afraid."

Hearing her words, Sherlock fell silent. After a moment, he pinched her tender cheek. "When I come back, I'll take Amy to the amusement park, okay?"

Amy, who didn't seem to understand what an amusement park was, was simply happy that he was taking her out. "Okay!"

She took off a charm from her neck and handed it to Sherlock. "Daddy gave this to Amy. He said it would bring her good luck. Amy can lend it to John, so John will have good luck this time too."

Sherlock smiled, not refusing, and took the charm from Amy, hanging it around his own neck.

He then went to Diagon Alley, where he bought a large amount of snacks and magical food like self-heating pumpkin juice and sandwiches that stayed fresh as long as the packaging remained sealed, to leave for Amy, who would be alone in the hotel.

After settling Amy, he informed Snape that he would be leaving the Leaky Cauldron for a while. Snape didn't comment on this, only telling him to hurry up and leave so he wouldn't disturb his potion-making.

Finally, Sherlock instructed Tom not to clean his room while he was away, then used the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace to travel to Sheffield.

His destination was the owl post office that the Ministry of Magic had set up in Sheffield.

Green flames enveloped Sherlock's body, filling the entire space around him. After a violent spin, he stepped back onto solid ground.

A slightly choking dust clouded the air around him. This season was not the time for using the fireplace, so the unused hearth had accumulated a lot of dust.

While casting a scouring charm on himself, Sherlock walked out of the fireplace. An older wizard, sitting in a chair reading the Daily Prophet, looked up and asked, "Oh, a young man. What brings you to Sheffield?"

Sherlock blinked and looked at the old wizard, who was likely the owl post office's caretaker. "Do I need to state my purpose for using the Ministry of Magic's public fireplace?"

The old wizard put down the Daily Prophet without comment. "Of course not, but if you don't have something very important to do, I suggest you don't stay in this city for too long."

His words were laden with meaning, his tone seemingly a warning but actually an attempt to show off his knowledge of some secret affairs, hoping to provoke a question from Sherlock.

It's a typical mindset that older people can't keep secrets.

Sherlock, of course, played along perfectly.

"I'm here on a tour, sir. Is something about to happen here?"

Hearing Sherlock's question, the old Wizard's face showed a satisfied expression, but he didn't reveal the "secret" he had discovered.

"Just know that if nothing happens, try not to stay here too long. Leave as soon as you can."

He spoke in riddles, then sighed.

"Things are getting more chaotic these days. I need to hurry and push the Ministry of Magic to approve my retirement application. It's time for me to go home and enjoy my golden years."

After hearing the old Wizard's words, Sherlock left the owl post office without showing any emotion.

Even though the old Wizard hadn't been explicit, Sherlock could guess that the Ministry of Magic was planning some action here.

Sure enough, the Aurors had already detected the Death Eaters' movements, and as Sherlock had predicted, they believed the Death Eaters would appear in Sheffield.

Of course, it was also possible that the Aurors had deployed people in York, Sheffield, and the surrounding cities. With Apparition, they could easily provide support at any time.

Moreover, they hadn't tried to hide their actions. Even the old man guarding the owl post office, who was on the periphery of the Ministry of Magic, knew some of the inside information. Clearly, there was no special effort to keep things secret.

The Death Eaters' movements were also suspiciously erratic. Their consecutive attacks seemed aimless, and their routes were completely unhidden, as if they were deliberately luring the Aurors into a trap.

And this luring was a bold and open strategy. If the Aurors didn't come, it would inevitably spread the rumor in the Wizarding World that the Ministry of Magic was doing nothing, causing public discontent.

Therefore, the Auror Office had to send a large number of people to Sheffield.

As the defending side, the Ministry of Magic was very passive, always being led by the nose by the Death Eaters. They could only rely on brute force to break through such an obvious trap.

Sherlock couldn't inquire about how the Aurors were deploying their forces. After leaving the owl post office, he took a taxi directly to the city center of Sheffield and booked a room in a hotel.

Sheffield was currently in a historical transitional low. Once the steel capital of Britain and an industrial center, it had declined due to international competition and the collapse of the British coal industry, leading to a decrease in population.

By the 1990s, Sheffield would officially transform into a city of sports and technology, developing a diverse economy.

After checking into the hotel, Sherlock didn't stay in his room. He walked out and wandered around the city streets.

His goal was clear: to find those who were clearly different from normal people and carried a small stick with them.

Even though Hogwarts had Muggle Studies, the rapid development of the Muggle era meant that Wizards were still decades behind in their understanding of Muggles.

Wizards who had little to no interaction with Muggles in their daily lives often made mistakes in their non-Wizardrobe attire.

Such mistakes were rare among Aurors, who received special training, but they couldn't avoid some Wizard habits. More importantly, Aurors were always more comfortable holding their wands at all times.

On the first day of Auror training, the instructors would warn them that if they didn't want to accidentally blow off their buttocks or arms, they shouldn't put their wands in their pockets or sleeves.

Thus, every Auror developed the habit of never letting their wands out of their hands.

By paying attention to these details, Sherlock spent half a day driving around Sheffield in a taxi.

After paying thirteen pounds, he finally spotted a man in a trench coat, holding a small, inconspicuous stick, wandering around a street corner.

Getting out of the taxi, Sherlock didn't follow this Wizard, who could be an Auror, a Death Eater, or an innocent passerby.

Instead, he walked into a secluded alley, used the Patronus Charm to summon his Patronus, and sent the silver raven into the sky to follow the Wizard.

Muggles couldn't see Patronuses, so the silver raven wouldn't cause any disturbance, as long as it avoided the Wizard's line of sight.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end