Sherlock, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with plain glasses on his face, strolled casually through the streets of Sheffield.
The Patronus Charm is an independent piece of magic; it cannot transmit the sensory information of what it sees and hears to Sherlock in real time.
However, the location of the Patronus can still be sensed, and after dismissing the Patronus Charm, one can learn what it discovered during the time it was tracking.
Without actively following the Wizard in the trench coat, Sherlock always kept a street corner between them, ensuring he would never appear within the Wizard's line of sight.
The raven Patronus continued gliding through the sky, looking down on the Wizard from above as it followed him while he wandered around the three nearby streets.
After discovering that the Wizard had circled these three streets three times in a row, Sherlock concluded that he was definitely not some idle passer-by, but rather someone from either the Death Eaters or the Aurors.
He was currently carrying out a patrol mission, and these three streets were the limits of his assigned area.
After confirming this, Sherlock walked directly into a street-side café, ordered a coffee, and sat down by the display window, waiting for the Wizard's next move.
Time passed until evening. After circling the streets a dozen times, the Wizard finally made his next move.
He left the three streets he had been patrolling and continued along the main road, seemingly preparing to leave.
Sensing the Patronus change direction, Sherlock also left the café.
He did not immediately follow his Patronus. Instead, he pretended to look around casually, and at the intersection, he spotted a woman wearing a baseball cap with her hair tied in a ponytail, holding a small wooden stick.
She was also a Witch and had just relieved the Wizard who had been patrolling.
Sherlock's gaze lingered on her for only a moment before he looked away with an indifferent expression and continued in the direction his Patronus was tracking.
With such a strict patrol system, the possibility of them being Death Eaters was very small. The Wizards and Witches patrolling here were far more likely to be Aurors from the Ministry of Magic, which was exactly Sherlock's goal for this trip.
He followed behind his Patronus, slowly walking along the route the departing Wizard had taken.
Despite his calm appearance, Sherlock's heart was anything but relaxed. He constantly prayed that the Wizard's base would not be too far away, that he would not use Apparition to leave, and that he would simply keep walking back.
It seemed Sherlock's prayers had some effect. Or perhaps because this was the urban area of Sheffield, where there were more Muggles around, the Wizard did not use Apparition. He continued on foot, and after about fifteen minutes, he finally entered a small courtyard.
The silver raven spread its wings and glided to the wall of a two-storey building in the courtyard. Through a gap in the curtains behind the window, it could clearly see everything in the living room.
Nelson, who had just finished today's patrol mission, walked into the Aurors' temporary base in Sheffield.
This was a small courtyard they had rented from a Muggle couple, located in the centre of Sheffield. Whenever any Aurors scattered throughout the city made a discovery, the personnel gathered at the base could provide immediate support.
He pushed open the door and walked into the living room.
Inside were two Wizards and one Witch. Sitting on the sofa was an older Wizard whose crippled leg had been replaced with a wooden prosthetic. One of his eyes was also clearly abnormal, rolling around erratically.
"Still no discoveries today. Aside from our own people, I didn't even see a ghost of another Wizard. Also, when can we use Apparition, Captain?"
Nelson began complaining as soon as he entered the living room.
"I've already been walking all day, and now you want me to walk back to the base from that street? My legs are about to fall off!"
Moody's voice was hoarse and calm.
"We have to wait one more day for the Concealment Charm to take effect. Using Apparition directly creates too much disturbance, and someone on the Death Eater side will notice."
Hearing this, Nelson grumbled a little more but said nothing further.
Among the group of Aurors gathered in Sheffield, Moody was the supreme commander, and everyone had to obey his orders.
Nelson turned and went upstairs to rest while Moody continued listening to the Witch's report.
"The Aurors in York are led by Triss. According to the intelligence they recently sent back, no Death Eaters have been spotted in York. As for Leeds, Harrogate, Barnsley, and Doncaster, there has been no news so far."
Moody frowned.
"Not just the Death Eaters. What about Eddie?"
The Witch shook her head.
"We haven't received any news about Eddie either. Our people have left the standard Auror marks in those five cities, but we haven't received any response from him..."
As she spoke, she wore an expression as though she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Moody spoke in his hoarse voice.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
The Witch hesitated before speaking.
"Could it be... I mean, is it possible that it's really as the Ministry says—that Eddie has become a traitor and joined the Dark Lord's side? Or perhaps he has been an undercover agent for the Dark Lord all along?"
Moody fell silent for a moment before replying slowly.
"Eddie isn't an Auror on my team, but his talent and determination are recognised by everyone in the Ministry. If such a Wizard truly wanted to join the Dark Lord, he wouldn't have waited until now to betray us. And if he really is an undercover agent, that can only be determined after I catch him."
A Wizard standing nearby could not help speaking.
"But the higher-ups said that if we find Eddie, we don't need to hold back—dead or alive..."
"What?"
Moody's voice suddenly rose.
"Even in battles against Death Eaters, we haven't used the Killing Curse. Do you intend to use it on a comrade who hasn't even been confirmed as a traitor?"
He struck the floor heavily with his cane.
"In the nearly ten years I've been fighting the Dark Lord's followers, what kind of traitors haven't I seen? Those whose beliefs weren't firm and who stood on the brink of wavering—I managed to persuade them back. I don't believe a Wizard as talented as Eddie would simply fall that far. Especially not when those words come from those scoundrels who rely on well-connected fathers to throw their weight around in the Auror Office!"
The two Wizards and the Witch were all startled by Moody's outburst. They exchanged nervous glances before trying to calm him.
"Don't say things like that, Captain Moody. Among those who returned from Wales, there are some who earned their positions through their own abilities, such as Crouch."
Moody snorted.
"I'll admit the Department Head's son has some ability. But as for the others—if it weren't for these extraordinary times, and the requests of their influential fathers, the Auror Office would never have accepted such rubbish..."
Just as he finished speaking, his magical eye suddenly began rolling wildly before fixing on the window behind the curtain.
Before the other two Wizards and the Witch could react, Moody suddenly drew his wand.
"Stupefy!"
His wand pointed directly at the curtained window, and a red beam of light shot from its tip.
Bang!
The glass shattered with a deafening crash.
Countless shards scattered everywhere. At the same time, the other three well-trained Aurors reacted instantly, raising their wands and rushing towards the shattered window.
But there was nothing there, as though no living thing had ever been present.
"What did you see, Captain?"
The male Auror, still holding his wand at the ready, asked calmly.
Moody's magical eye continued spinning as it searched for whatever he had detected.
"A bird. It looked like a Patronus."
...
At the exact moment Moody cast Stupefy at Sherlock's Patronus, the Patronus dismissed itself and dissolved into the air, which was why the Aurors who pulled back the curtains moments later found nothing.
As soon as the Patronus disappeared, Sherlock also learned everything it had seen and heard.
Without a doubt, the group of Wizards were Aurors. They had arrived in Sheffield two days earlier, and they were not concentrating solely on this city. They had stationed personnel throughout the surrounding area as well.
With so many Aurors deployed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that almost the entire Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic had mobilised.
Moody's magical eye was extraordinarily powerful. Not only could it perceive things invisible to ordinary people, but it could also see through walls.
That was how Sherlock's Patronus had been detected.
Even so, Sherlock had already obtained all the intelligence he needed.
Besides trying to round up Death Eaters, the Aurors were also searching for an Auror named Eddie.
They suspected that Eddie had defected to Lord Voldemort's followers. However, Sherlock found the name strangely familiar. He was certain he had encountered it somewhere before, but he had not paid much attention at the time and could no longer remember where.
The name Eddie was not particularly uncommon in Britain. Even among the Wizarding population, there were several Wizards with that name.
Therefore, Sherlock did not dwell on it any further.
Discovering the Aurors' movements was already a significant gain. Although Moody had realised someone had been watching them, Sherlock had no intention of keeping the Aurors' base in Sheffield under surveillance.
He only needed to monitor the Aurors patrolling the streets. If the Aurors made any move, those on patrol would inevitably be the first to act.
Sherlock's primary goal was simply to become a familiar face to the Ministry of Magic during the conflict between the Aurors and the Death Eaters, preferably by helping them and eventually earning the opportunity to request admission into their ranks.
Therefore, he would not continue monitoring the Auror base. If he were misunderstood and matters backfired, it would completely undermine his intentions.
After returning to the hotel where he was staying, he summoned his Patronus once again to observe the Aurors patrolling the streets.
He was not idle in the hotel, either.
Sherlock transcribed the Soul Protection Charm he had seen in Sally's underground study into a notebook.
Of course, he did not possess a photographic memory. However, once this kind of magic was understood, it did not need to be copied word for word. As long as the intended meaning remained intact, that was sufficient.
Soul-related magic is not difficult to understand, nor is it particularly hard to learn. The greatest challenge lies in creating such magic and successfully casting it.
The protection magic created by Sally actually had severe limitations.
Not only did the protector need to possess overwhelming love for the person being protected, but when the magic took effect, the protected soul also had to be newly born.
In other words, this was essentially a piece of magic created by a mother for her child. After all, apart from a newborn's parents, who else could possess such overwhelming love?
Therefore, although the magic was incredibly powerful, it had virtually no practical value for most Wizards.
The only reason Sherlock intended to study it was because of Snape.
Well... yes. Even though he was reluctant to admit it, Sherlock did feel that Snape was rather pitiful.
Snape might not have been a good person in the past, but after Lily's death, he had faithfully carried out Dumbledore's plans and had long been prepared to continue serving as an undercover agent once Lord Voldemort returned.
After witnessing him being rejected by Lily, crying so miserably, and drinking himself into a stupor, Sherlock found himself wondering whether there might be some way to exploit a loophole in history to help the middle-aged man who had lost both the woman he loved and his direction in life.
Helping Lily change her mind and run away with Snape was obviously impossible. That would constitute a serious violation of history. Besides, considering everything that had happened, Sherlock did not believe Lily would ever accept Snape again.(TN: Thankfully.)
Instead, he wondered whether there might be some way to ensure that Lily would not die so completely at Lord Voldemort's hands, leaving at least a chance to save her.
There was also a small part of him that wanted to do this for Harry.
Although Harry had already reunited with Black, and Sherlock did not deny that Black genuinely cared for him, given Black's personality, Sherlock still did not think he would make a particularly capable guardian.
If Harry could one day meet his mother again, or even live with her for a time, it would provide him with immeasurable emotional comfort.
At present, the only method Sherlock could think of was the Soul Protection Charm left behind by the original owner's mother, Sally, which would very likely be the same magic Lily would later cast upon Harry.