Sherlock Cavendish was born in 1971. Calculating by the current year, 1977, he was already six years old.
The Original Owner's mother passed away in a bed at St Mungo's when he was five, meaning the Original Owner should now be living in that small house in Surrey.
Because that house had been left to him by the Original Owner's mother.
He did not live with his father growing up. It wasn't that Duke Cavendish refused to take him home; rather, he set a condition: if young Sherlock wanted to live in the Cavendish household, he could not use abilities that normal Muggles did not possess while at home.
Young Sherlock, who had already displayed magical abilities the year his mother died, naturally refused. Coincidentally, he also didn't want to live with his father, so he remained in that small house.
Although Duke Cavendish was furious about this, he didn't completely abandon his son. Afterwards, he hired a nanny for him and enrolled him in a Muggle primary school.
There was certainly a selfish motive: he wanted young Sherlock to make friends at school, hoping he might lose interest in magic later and stop attending a Wizarding school.
But this also showed that Duke Cavendish still cared for his son, at least ensuring he received an education and proper care during his childhood.
After returning to the Leaky Cauldron with Snape and spending the night, Amy slipped into Sherlock's room through the windowsill early the next morning, wearing the invisibility cloak.
Sherlock was washing up in the bathroom, while Amy sat on a chair, swinging her little legs and entertaining herself.
"Next time, you can just use the main door. The windowsill is too dangerous."
Wiping his face with a towel, Sherlock instructed the little girl.
Amy blinked and tilted her head as she looked at Sherlock.
"Can Amy stay with John tonight?"
Sherlock was stunned and asked in confusion,
"Why do you want to stay here?"
"Because Amy feels like she might not be able to stay there anymore."
She used the words "feels" and "might," but her tone was strangely certain, as though it had already been confirmed.
Sherlock rubbed her head.
"If you really can't stay there anymore, you can certainly come here."
He didn't take the matter seriously, assuming Amy was simply a child who felt scared sleeping alone in an empty room at night.
Room 11, where he was staying, had two beds, so there was space for Amy to sleep.
They didn't continue playing Wizard Chess today. Sherlock was reading the newspaper, while Amy played with origami using the papers he had already finished reading.
Yesterday in Diagon Alley, Sherlock had bought many back issues of The Daily Prophet from a second-hand bookshop, not only to try to learn more about the Original Owner's mother, Sally Cavendish, but also to look for information about the Death Eaters' movements.
Cutting-edge magical research would always be held by the Ministry of Magic. The only method Sherlock could think of to reverse time could only exist within the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries.
The people in that department were not easy to approach. The safest approach was to first establish contact with someone inside the Ministry of Magic, then continue looking for opportunities to make contact with people in the Department of Mysteries.
Currently, the most convenient and quickest way to proceed was through the Death Eaters. These villains were committing crimes everywhere, massacring Muggle-born Wizards and fighting Aurors.
Sherlock felt this was an opportunity to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic quickly.
He didn't plan to begin by contacting Ministry staff. Instead, he intended to enter the Ministry of Magic directly and become an employee there.
The British Wizarding World was currently in a critical phase. Lord Voldemort's Death Eater forces were extremely rampant, and the annual casualty rate among Ministry of Magic Aurors far exceeded that of any other period.
Therefore, the requirements for Auror recruitment had been relaxed. Even so, the Auror Office was still short-handed, as Wizards weren't fools.
Aside from some hot-headed Hogwarts graduates and far-sighted Muggle-born Wizards, few adult Wizards were willing to risk their lives for the Ministry of Magic, as Wizards had always lacked a sense of identification with the magical government.
However, Sherlock's current identity also presented problems. He couldn't provide any Wizarding Level Examination certificates, nor could he even prove that he had attended Hogwarts.
Thus, even if the Auror Office relaxed its recruitment requirements further, Sherlock's current identity meant he absolutely could not get in through normal procedures.
Therefore, he could only consider unconventional methods, such as "accidentally" helping the Aurors during a battle between the Death Eaters and the Aurors, to see if he could use a special channel to enter the Auror ranks.
Once he entered the Ministry of Magic, contacting the Department of Mysteries would be much simpler.
To prepare for this "accident," Sherlock was studying the recent movements of the Death Eaters, trying to identify patterns and determine the general direction of their attacks and where they might appear next.
But he couldn't discern much from only a few newspapers.
Just as Sherlock noticed the time and, after informing Amy, prepared to open the door to collect lunch, Tom happened to walk upstairs with a middle-aged Wizard.
"Oh, Mr Watson, your and your uncle's meals are ready. As you requested, your portions will be slightly larger. You don't need to come down yourself; I'll bring them up shortly."
Tom greeted Sherlock with a smile.
Sherlock nodded and watched Tom lead the middle-aged Wizard to the door of Room 10.
"This is your room, Mr Williams. I'll go attend to the other guests now. If you need anything else, you can find me downstairs."
Tom escorted the middle-aged Wizard into Room 10 before turning and heading downstairs.
Sherlock looked at the closed door of Room 10, frowned, and retreated into his own room.
He sat down next to Amy. Amy seemed to notice his serious expression, put down the paper aeroplane she was folding, and looked him in the eyes, blinking.
"You told me this morning that you felt you might not be able to stay in that room anymore. Was it Room 10?"
Amy nodded.
"Just a feeling?"
Sherlock looked at her suspiciously. If this was truly just a guess, it was far too accurate.
The corners of Amy's mouth flattened slightly, and a hint of pride appeared on her face.
"Daddy always said Amy's feelings are very accurate."
Sherlock found the matter incredible, but Amy didn't look as though she was lying. After pondering it for a moment, he decided not to dwell on it and patted her little head.
"A guest has just checked into Room 10. You can sleep here tonight. This bed is reserved for you."
Amy blinked and thanked him.
"Thank you, John."
"You're welcome. Is there anything special you want for lunch?"
"Whatever John eats, Amy can eat too."
The little girl refocused on her origami. Because Sherlock had taught her how to fold paper aeroplanes, she was now trying to modify them into a type that could remain airborne continuously.
After lunch, Sherlock went to Room 12 next door to tell Snape he was going out. Then he returned to his room, put on his coat, and prepared to visit Sherlock's house in this time period.
Amy looked at Sherlock and asked quietly,
"Can Amy go out with John?"
Sherlock had originally intended for Amy to stay at the inn alone, but seeing her expectant expression, he ultimately didn't refuse.
This trip was simply to check on the situation at Sherlock's house. He wasn't planning anything else, so taking Amy along wouldn't pose any danger.
He reminded her,
"If Amy wants to go out with me, you need to wear a big hat so no one recognises you."
Amy nodded obediently and immediately put on the invisibility cloak. Of course, she couldn't let anyone see her walking out of the Leaky Cauldron.
The incident yesterday, where two Death Eaters came to the Leaky Cauldron looking for someone, had already spread throughout the Wizarding World.
It wasn't just the Leaky Cauldron; other Death Eaters were searching elsewhere for a little girl named Butler.
But with only a surname, no portrait, and no description of her appearance, no one could recognise Amy from her looks alone.
However, if Amy appeared in the Leaky Cauldron at this time, it would certainly arouse suspicion, so she had to use the invisibility cloak while leaving. Once they reached Muggle society, they wouldn't have so many concerns.
While invisible, Amy held onto Sherlock's arm so he would always know she was right beside him.
After leaving the Leaky Cauldron and arriving in a secluded alley in London, Amy handed the invisibility cloak back to Sherlock so he could put it away.
The little girl looked as though she didn't go out much. She was very curious about everything around her, but the grey robe she wore was very conspicuous and completely unlike the clothing a child of this era should wear.
Sherlock immediately noticed this problem. He helped her put on the large sun hat he had conjured, then first took her to a children's clothing shop, where he bought her an outfit appropriate for the current era.
Dressed in a dress and wearing a large sun hat, Amy looked as though she had stepped straight out of a fairy tale. She thanked Sherlock earnestly once again.
"Thank you for the gift, John. When I see Father, Amy will have a return gift too."
"You're welcome. I look forward to Amy's return gift."
As the famously foggy capital, although London's environment had begun to improve during the seventies, the sky was still grey, making everything feel rather oppressive.
Because the timeline was different, Sherlock couldn't use Apparition to travel directly to his house in this era, so he had to rely on other means of transport.
Taking Amy with him, they headed to King's Cross Station and boarded a train bound for Little Whinging in Surrey.
He didn't summon the Knight Bus. Besides the fact that Amy was with him, Sherlock himself wasn't used to riding it; the magical bus was far too bumpy, something a normal person couldn't adapt to.
Moreover, Surrey was right next to London, so even travelling by train wouldn't take more than a few hours.
Sherlock and Amy got off the train together, each bought a lollipop from a nearby shop, and then hailed a taxi outside the station to 13 Magnolia Crescent.
The architecture there was not much different from when Sherlock had first seen it fourteen years later.
The walls of the two-storey house were covered in creepers, and the plants in the garden were rarely tended, leaving piles of weeds. Just looking at the exterior gave a sense of desolation and neglect.
Little Sherlock should still have been at school at this time, with only a few days remaining until the holidays. The nanny his father had hired was also not in the house, leaving the entire garden silent.
Sherlock drew his wand, gently tapped the locked, rusty iron gate with the Alohomora Charm, opened it, and walked inside with Amy.
Amy held her lollipop while looking up at Sherlock sweetly.
"Is this John's house?"
"Half of it is, I suppose," Sherlock said softly as he looked around the garden.
Amy looked rather confused. She clearly hadn't understood what Sherlock meant by "half of it is."
Sherlock didn't explain further. He crossed the garden with Amy, used the Alohomora Charm again to unlock the front door, and entered the house.
The house was kept very tidy, which was clearly not something young Sherlock could manage himself, suggesting the nanny was very dedicated.
The arrangement and furnishings were not much different from fourteen years later.
Sherlock led Amy around the sitting room before going upstairs and walking straight down the corridor to where the magical study would eventually be.
There was also a door at the end of the corridor, but this one looked ordinary and had a standard doorknob, making it indistinguishable from the doors to the other rooms.
Sherlock grasped the doorknob and opened the door. Inside was not a study but a room piled high with cardboard boxes and discarded items, appearing to be an ordinary storage room.
This proved that the magical study Sherlock later used had been created by the Original Owner after he grew up and was not an inherent part of the house inherited from his mother.
This was somewhat unexpected for Sherlock. He had always believed the magical study originated with the Original Owner's mother.
After all, whether sane or insane, any Wizard would inevitably leave traces in their home, and those traces would usually consist of books or materials related to magic.
But since the study had been built later by the Original Owner, had his mother, the Witch named Sally Cavendish, really left nothing behind while living in this house?
This question arose in Sherlock's mind, and he immediately began searching the house.
He felt there was something in the house he hadn't yet discovered. Previously, he had only found traces left by the Original Owner; he hadn't found anything else left by the house's original mistress besides that mad portrait.
Of course, it was possible that the Original Owner's mother truly had left nothing behind, but Sherlock felt that possibility was very small.
He searched for a long time, from the second floor down to the first, but ultimately found nothing.
Just as he was beginning to feel disappointed, Amy, who had been following him around, asked,
"Is John looking for something?"
Sherlock sighed.
"Yes, I am, but I haven't found it."
Amy looked around the room before saying confidently,
"There's nothing strange inside the house. Amy thinks what John is looking for might be outside the house."
Sherlock was stunned. He recalled the scene at the Leaky Cauldron that afternoon. Amy seemed to possess a mysterious ability, and her intuition was always far more accurate than a normal person's.
So he followed Amy's suggestion, left the house, went into the garden, and began searching there instead.
But Amy tugged on his arm and pointed towards the wall on the left side of the house.
"Here. Amy thinks there's something wrong here."
Sherlock allowed Amy to lead him to the wall covered in creepers and examined it carefully, initially finding nothing unusual.
However, trusting Amy's intuition, Sherlock drew his wand and gently tapped every brick on the wall within his reach.
Finally, when he tapped the thirteenth brick in the seventh row from the bottom, a distinct sound rang out behind them, and a circular opening appeared in the lawn.
Sherlock looked at the scene in surprise before rubbing Amy's head.
"Amy is the great hero today!"
A slight look of smugness appeared on Amy's face, though she didn't smile. She seemed to smile very rarely, and Sherlock hadn't seen her do so once during the two days he had known her.
The two of them walked into the opening revealed in the lawn. Inside was a long stone staircase. After walking down the steps for about five minutes, they arrived at an underground study.
When Sherlock and Amy entered, the candles around the study lit themselves.
The space wasn't very large, perhaps only about ten square metres, with bookshelves lining all four walls, filled with every kind of book.
In the centre of the study stood a simple desk, and on it lay an open magical notebook.
Sherlock walked over to the desk and read the contents spread across the open pages.
"...Thus, concerning the research on the soul, I have nothing left to delve into. The soul imprint entrusted to Sherlock is the last bit of help I can give him. I hope he never has to use this thing, and never discovers its existence.
Dumbledore and the others have placed their hopes on me; I must leave Sherlock's side. If this matter goes smoothly, everything will return to normal. If an accident occurs, I can only hope that Charlotte will not be affected.(TN: Who's that?)
To be honest, I have failed as a mother, and I have utterly failed as a wife, but this was all my own choice. What I am doing now will certainly have its value.
Having written this far, I have pretty much written everything I wanted to. I shall leave this notebook here.
Also...
If one day, you manage to find this place, Sherlock, no matter what I become afterwards, my love for you has never changed."