"Make sure to wear your hat properly. The sun is very strong today, so don't end up getting sunburned just from one trip out."
Sherlock helped Amy straighten the sun hat on her head.
"Are you still bringing the windmill? Why not leave it in the room for now? There will be other fun things at the amusement park."
But Amy didn't listen to him and insisted on bringing the windmill anyway.
Snape stood at the door, watching Sherlock nagging her, and said with a cold expression,
"Just how long are you two going to dawdle? Go early and come back early; I still have Potions to make today!"
Sherlock looked him up and down. Seeing that he hadn't made any preparations and was still wearing the same robe he never changed out of—looking like a giant black bat—combined with that pale, gloomy face, anyone at the amusement park who didn't know better would probably think he was a vampire who had escaped from some haunted house!
"Are you trying to become the centre of attention for thousands?"
Sherlock said with distaste.
"Entering a Muggle amusement park dressed like this, you probably won't walk two steps before someone comes to take a photo with you. Then the staff will think you're there to steal their business and kick you out."
Snape was rendered speechless by Sherlock's words, but he truly had no other clothes to change into. Whether before or after arriving at this time, this had always been his only attire.
Sherlock also saw his predicament and walked over to compare heights with him. Snape was about seven centimetres shorter (based on the original books, Snape's height should be around 179 cm; in the films, he's 185 cm, but the original height is used here).
"My clothes probably won't fit you properly, so let's go to a clothing shop and buy you a set."
"You mean let me wear those clothes that Muggles wear!" Snape raised his voice.
Sherlock glanced at him.
"Is there a problem? Or are you discriminating against Muggles?"
Snape naturally wouldn't say he discriminated against Muggles. Perhaps at this point in time he had a bit of that mindset, but now that he was in his thirties and had experienced countless ups and downs in life, he had long since seen through the so-called pure-blood theory.
Muggles and Wizards had no inherent superiority or inferiority in terms of bloodline or ability. In some aspects, Muggle-born Wizards actually had an advantage.
It was just that he had some psychological resistance to the act of changing clothes.
Sherlock didn't care about Snape's minor temper. After taking care of Amy, he prepared to head out.
"Let's go, Uncle Tobias. We'll go pick out an outfit for you to change into, or do you personally prefer being watched by others like a monkey in a zoo?"
Snape's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't continue to argue with Sherlock. He followed behind him, and the three of them left the Leaky Cauldron together.
Sherlock and Amy had both changed into normal attire, but Snape was still wearing his pitch-black, baggy long robes in the height of summer. Just walking down the street, he attracted a lot of attention from passers-by.
He hadn't been in contact with Muggle society for over a decade, and he indeed felt very awkward under those gazes.
Sherlock patted him on the shoulder.
"So don't always stay cooped up in the house. Come out and walk around more, and you'll become a bit more cheerful. Think about it—even if Lily had forgiven you back then, do you think she would have liked you if you were gloomy all day, like a mouldy old bat?"
Snape slapped Sherlock's hand off his shoulder and gave a cold snort.
"If Lily hadn't made that choice back then, do you think I would have become like this?"
"Then who can you blame? It was your own mistake. You clearly knew the people you hung out with discriminated against Muggles, yet you still mixed with them. You clearly knew Lily didn't like the Dark Arts, yet you studied them all day. These were all mistakes you made yourself."
Sherlock said earnestly.
"So now you need to be more cheerful. Don't go around all day looking like everyone owes you a fortune. I know you're doing this to distance yourself from Harry, but a person has to think for themselves too. Even without Lily, are you never going to have friends or continue living your life?"
Snape still kept a cold expression, seemingly dismissive of Sherlock's advice.
Sherlock sighed and didn't say anything more.
It made sense; it would be a miracle if Snape's personality could be changed just by a few words from him.
Amy was trotting ahead holding her windmill, trying to make it spin in the windless weather, so she didn't hear the conversation between Sherlock and Snape.
"I've managed to get into the Ministry of Magic through some channels. I'm not sure which department yet, but I probably won't be staying at the pub for long after this."
Sherlock told Snape about his recent situation.
"I don't have any leads on the clues to get back yet, but I have discovered the source of the magic Lily used to protect Harry when the Dark Lord found the Potters later on."
Snape held his breath the moment he heard him mention this.
"You want to start with that magic?"
"It's the only means I feel might be effective. Lily's death has become an inevitability. Her body has already been buried, and she hasn't appeared in Harry's life for these past ten-plus years, which means this matter is irreversible."
His words made Snape a bit irritable.
"Why would it be irreversible? Couldn't she have actually faked her death, and no one else noticed, and she's been hiding somewhere all along?"
"Do you think, given her character, she would be that kind of person?" Sherlock looked at Snape. "She loves Harry, and she certainly loved her husband, James. If she had a way to fake her death, she definitely wouldn't have kept it from James. If James knew, would the plan to fake her death even be possible?"
Snape fell silent.
Sherlock was right. To use the method of faking her death, Lily's cooperation would be required, and for Lily to cooperate, she would have to know the cause and effect of the situation. If she knew the cause and effect, she would definitely find a way to save James. Then it wouldn't be deceiving history at all, but an outright provocation.
"Solutions are thought up by people. In my view, our return to this time was an accident in the first place. We need to erase this accident; we should just go back the way we came. But since we came here together, I have to consider your feelings too, so I will do my best to help as long as the major course of history isn't changed."
"I've considered things from your perspective, and I also hope you'll look at this matter from a more objective one."
"According to the normal trajectory of development, even if the Dark Lord didn't die, he basically lost all his power. The entire Wizarding World gained so many years of peace, and only then was there a chance to completely defeat him."
"We can use some small tricks to try and establish some unknown events as set history, but the fact that the Dark Lord lost his power due to his own magic rebounding when he tried to kill Harry cannot be changed."
He stared at Snape.
"I've seen with my own eyes these past few days what those Death Eaters have done and how many people they've killed. You were once one of them yourself; you should know better than I what kind of scene the future would hold if the Dark Lord hadn't fallen."
Snape didn't speak again. He pursed his lips, his thoughts unknown.
Sherlock could only take his words this far. He was truly afraid that if he finally found a way back, Snape would disregard everything and insist on using forceful means to change the course of history.
After coming out of the Leaky Cauldron, walking straight down the street led to a commercial street where there were men's clothing shops.
Amy seemed tired from running. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as she grabbed Sherlock's arm and walked forward slowly.
When choosing clothes for Snape, he was like a cold mannequin, not saying a single word and letting the shop assistant do as they pleased. Finally, he changed into a set of common summer street clothes.
The one paying was naturally Sherlock, as Snape didn't have any British pounds or similar currency on him.
To be honest, Snape wasn't bad-looking. He had the aura of a cold, handsome man. Although his expression was a bit gloomy, in the eyes of some, this might even be a highlight.
It was just that his hair was greasy and slick, like seaweed hanging from his head, which inevitably made him look a bit slovenly.
"Why doesn't Tobias like to wash his hair?" Amy looked up at Snape and asked curiously.
Snape had a sour expression and replied perfunctorily,
"Only superficial people waste time on grooming their appearance."
Sherlock rolled his eyes at this and patted Amy's head.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. Keeping yourself clean is the foundation of leaving a good impression on others and being responsible for yourself. People who don't wash their hair for a long time will get bugs in it."
Amy pulled up her long, pale-blonde hair and sniffed it at the tip of her nose.
"Dad said I can't wash my hair during this time, but Amy's hair is still very clean."
Sherlock didn't ask why Eddie wouldn't let Amy wash her hair. He waved down a taxi and pulled Amy and Snape inside with him.
Today wasn't a holiday or a weekend, so there weren't many people in the amusement park, and many rides could be played directly.
Although Amy's personality was much more mature than her age, she was still a child after all.
When she saw the giant Ferris wheel, she held up her windmill to compare it and let out a gasp of wonder.
"A super-big iron windmill!"
"Do you want to play on this first?"
Sherlock took her hand and went to the Ferris wheel window to buy tickets.
Snape had a look of reluctance on his face, but he still followed Sherlock to the window and watched him buy three tickets.
The three of them sat inside. Once Amy entered, she put both hands against the glass, looking at the scenery outside.
Normally, a child from a Wizarding family like her should have already played with toy flying broomsticks when they were little, so their interest in flying in the sky wouldn't be this great.
But Amy didn't seem to have been in contact with these things usually. Without her mother's company and with very little time spent with her father, she probably didn't have any toys at all.
Sherlock was originally quite interested too, but when he saw that the one sitting across from him was Snape, it suddenly felt strange.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he said while drinking water. "In Muggle society, the Ferris wheel has always had a special meaning. I didn't expect the first time I'd ride one would be with you."
Snape didn't look at Sherlock. He was also looking through the glass at the city shrinking below.
"Didn't you also have a relationship when you were in school?"
Pfft!
Sherlock couldn't hold it in, and the water he was halfway through drinking sprayed directly out of his mouth.
Fortunately, Snape was sitting directly across from Amy, otherwise he would have definitely been sprayed all over!
"How do you know I had a relationship in school?" he asked with a twitch of his lip.
Snape turned his head, a cold smirk appearing on his face.
"Did you think no one paid attention to you while you were at Hogwarts? The first day you started a relationship with that girl named Mary, Flitwick excitedly told everyone in the staff room. McGonagall even almost shed tears over it; they were always very concerned about your affairs."(TN:Lol.)
Sherlock was completely bewildered.
He had always thought that what was recorded in the Original Owner's diary were private matters. Who knew that the fact that "he" had a first love was already common knowledge?
It seemed that anything that could make Sherlock feel embarrassed was enjoyable for Snape, as he continued unhurriedly,
"As it turned out, you broke up not long after. Flitwick and McGonagall talked about it for a long time. They felt that while a failed romance is sad, it's also the best medicine to promote growth."
"However, I didn't see anything sad about you during those days. You didn't like that Mary at all, did you?"
Sherlock curled his lip.
"Stop gossiping about these things. Careful you don't become more of an old biddy as you get older!"
At this point, Amy turned around in confusion.
"Is John's girlfriend named Mary?"
"It's his ex-girlfriend," Snape added in a pleasant mood.
Sherlock lightly flicked Amy's smooth forehead.
"Adult matters, little kids shouldn't pry."
Amy pouted and furrowed her pretty brows as if dissatisfied with Sherlock's words. She shook her head and went back to watching the scenery outside.
After coming down from the Ferris wheel, Sherlock bought Amy a lollipop.
The taste of this thing was actually just so-so, but it looked very pretty with its many colours. Amy held it up along with her windmill towards the sky, hoping it could spin just like the windmill.
As a way to get back at Snape and also to satisfy his own mischievous streak, Sherlock also bought a Prince's crown and gave it to him.
"Ah, Prince, look at this. It suits your status so well (referring to the meaning of 'Prince' in English; Sherlock was mocking Snape for the childish nature of giving himself a pseudonym)."
To Sherlock's surprise, Snape didn't throw the crown away in disgust. Instead, he took it from his hand with an expressionless face.
He held the crown, and in his gaze, there was both reminiscence and a painful memory that he didn't want to recall but couldn't forget.