Chapter 158: I Can Eat For Two

Snape, silent as ever, expressed a seeming indifference towards the shopkeeper's assessment of his potion.  But this matter didn't require his input anyway, Sherlock was the one in charge of negotiations.

"A fifty percent share simply won't cut it," Sherlock insisted, his gaze never wavering from the shopkeeper. "We're advocating for a seventy percent share, but of course we're not demanding it for free. If any potion fails to reach the potency of this Wit-Sharpening Potion, we won't dare charge even a Knut for the production."

Sherlock had investigated the market thoroughly before coming here. The proposed seventy percent share was admittedly ambitious, but it gave them room to negotiate. They eventually settled on sixty percent of the proceeds going to them, under the stipulation that an upfront deposit of ten Galleons would be made, refundable after three successful collaborations. After all, the ingredients for the potions were sourced from the store and a deposit preventing Sherlock and Snape from simply running away with them.

Once the terms were set, the shopkeeper drafted a magical contract, which was promptly signed by both Sherlock and Snape. Even though they used their fake identities to sign the contract, because it was a magical contract, it was still binding. These enchanted agreements directly impacted the one who signed it, not unlike the "Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery", which all Hogwarts students are required to sign at the start of every academic year.

With everything settled, the shopkeeper promptly provided the materials for the first batch of potions. After promising its delivery in three days, Sherlock suddenly remembered something. He retrieved a vial of a colorless potion from his pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper, "Could you appraise this potion for me?"

The shopkeeper scrutinized the handed potion, popped the cork and gave it a sniff. It had no discernible scent, and its color - or lack thereof - gave away nothing about its nature. "What is its effect?" she queried.

"It's a healing potion. It's fairly broad in its application and can help mend physical injuries of all kinds. That being said, it's just meant to soothe severe wounds, not completely heal them," Sherlock elucidated.

This potion was essentially an incredibly simplified variant of the Elixir of Life. It was straightforward to make - just place a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone into a glass of water for three seconds, and the moment the water becomes pinkish, it's ready for use. Despite lacking the life-prolonging properties of the Elixir of Life, the potion worked wonders for more conventional injuries.

Back when Sherlock had tested Sirius by making him drink a vial of fake Veritaserum, it had been this potion. His injuries, after being severely beaten and bitten by Lupin, were healed almost immediately after drinking it.

That being said, the shopkeeper was not one to be duped by charm alone, neither was she reckless enough to test out the potion. A professional Potions master would have to conduct a thorough evaluation and that mandate was non-negotiable. "Feel free to check back in three days when you bring the first batch of potions, and we can discuss it then. If its healing properties are as you claim, we can work out a reasonable price."

Sherlock readily agreed to this arrangement. The healing potion was basically free to produce and required next to no Potion-making skills. Even if its market value was on the lower side, as long as it could be sold, it would contribute to their coffers.

Exiting the apothecary, Sherlock and Snape leisurely strolled through Diagon Alley. Sherlock snapped up two ice creams along the way, despite Snape's noticeable disdain for it. "I don't understand who made the rule that ice cream is just for kids. Dumbledore, at his ripe old age, still thoroughly enjoys various candies. We're in the prime of our lives, what's the harm in enjoying an ice cream?"

Sherlock mused aloud, criticizing Snape's bias as they wended their way towards The Leaky Cauldron. Predictably, Snape hadn't touched the strawberry ice cream Sherlock bought for him. Just before they parted, he handed the melting confection back to Sherlock, "Don't interrupt me whilst I prepare potions. Just stay out of my room and go do something else."

Snape immediately retreated, his reticent demeanor on full display. Sherlock shrugged amusedly, his second ice cream held aloft. He was all too familiar with Snape's stereotypically tsundere nature, one often associated with a certain type of golden-haired protagonist in anime. Despite them invariably falling in love, they never seemed to win their love interest's heart. But empathy isn't what drove Sherlock, and he was about to let himself into his own room when he spied a pair of big blue eyes staring back at him from room number 10. After a short staring match with these eyes, he offered Snape's rejected strawberry ice cream through the ajar door. "Fancy some ice cream?" 

His only answer was an abruptly slammed door, which affirmed to him a rejection. Unperturbed, he bit into the ice cream, "If you don't want it, that's perfectly fine. I can manage two on my own." 

He floated the strawberry-flavoured ice cream beside him as he entered his room. While Snape was busy brewing potions, Sherlock delved deep into his research of the pocket watch. The pocket watch had reverted back to its old, worn-out state when Sherlock forcefully halted its temporal surge, but there was definite evidence suggesting it would regain its function. However, he had figured out a method to suppress it. By periodically performing high-level counter-curses, he managed to arrest its healing process.

It was the pocket watch that brought them to this time, so if they wanted to go back, they naturally had to find a solution from the pocket watch. At that moment, Sherlock had no solution in mind, but he knew clearly that when it came to matters outside of his specialization, he ought to seek expert advice.

Time-Turners were now seen as alchemical artifacts that could no longer be manufactured. Whether this was due to a technical lapse or a dearth of alchemical ingredients, Sherlock wasn't entirely certain. Nevertheless, the wizarding world didn't cease its investigations into these converters. Where then could you find the brightest minds? No doubt, it was the Ministry of Magic, particularly the Department of Mysteries.

Prophecies and mysterious artifacts were this department's research focus. At present, this was the only course of action Sherlock could imagine; no alternatives seemed better. But even with a direction in mind, progress seemed elusive. The employees of the Department of Mysteries weren't exactly easy to find or get to know. Termed the Unspeakables, very few knew their identities or the object of their day to day research. As a newcomer concealing his true identity, Sherlock naturally lacked any links to these individuals.

However, as the proverb goes, where there is a will, there is a way. He had just touched down at the Leaky Cauldron and had time to spare. Moreover, Sherlock had purchased the Daily Prophet of the past few weeks from the junk shop in Diagon Alley to glean insights about the current affairs in the magical world over the past three months. The British wizarding world was presently reaching the zenith of Voldemort's power.

Hogwarts had transformed into a talent pool for Death Eaters, with a majority of Slytherins and a small fraction of students from the other three houses who were pure-bloods being drawn towards Voldemort's ideology post-graduation and joining his followers. No, it was Voldemort's ideology that ensnared them. The power base that Tom Riddle initially constructed was founded on persuasive theories.

The so-called pure-blood supremacy argued that pure-blood wizards held power superior to their non-pure-blood counterparts. The Death Eaters didn't originally intend to obliterate all wizards of Muggle origin, instead they were seen a second class citizens. The criterion for determining whether a witch or wizard was pure-blood traced back to their ancestors over three to five generations and whether there were any immediate Muggle relatives (the concept of pure-blood families is an entirely separate issue). If a witch or wizard had consistently married into wizard families after their Muggle ancestor, their descendants would be accepted into the pure-blood community after three to five generations.

They deeply loathed the intermingling between wizards and Muggles, considering it to contaminate their illustrious bloodline. By disseminating this ideology of pure-blood superiority throughout the wizarding world, they also aimed to sever ties between the magical and Muggle worlds, thereby laying the groundwork for a period of wizard domination and the subjugation of Muggles as inferior beings.

On this theory, Voldemort began building his base, which also served as the over-arching guide for his subsequent actions. On paper, from a theoretical standpoint, the strategy seemed foolproof. After all, one of the main reasons that led to Grindelwald's eventual failure to transform wizards into world leaders was the significant resistance met within the wizarding community. Voldemort heeded the principle of "internal peace before external conquest".

Thus, he first championed the concept of pure-blood superiority and united the few influential pure-blood factions within the magical world. Successfully exterminating inner conflicts, he then severed all ties between the magical and Muggle worlds, strengthening wizarding power into a consolidated body before finally infiltrating and dominating the Muggle world, thereby achieving what Grindelwald had failed to accomplish.

The plan was logical, well-structured and full of potential. But although the plan seemed impeccable theoretically, its actual enactment started veering off course. As his pure-blood followers multiplied, so did the number of fanatics and lunatics, with attacks on Muggle-born wizards becoming more rampant and reckless. In addition, it appeared that Tom himself was losing grip over his sanity, displaying increasingly distorted, unhinged and ruthless behavior.

As a result, the Death Eaters became more brazen and merciless. Beginning from 1970, they committed acts of terror throughout the wizarding world, openly opposing the rule of the Ministry of Magic. It was during this period that Dumbledore established the Order of Phoenix. In a nutshell, while Tom initially possessed a relatively reasonable and feasible plan for domination, he completely strayed from it in his actions, resorting to violent and suppressive acts of terrorism, which led to a widespread backlash from the entire wizarding community.

After all, the half-blood and Muggle-born wizards constituted the majority of the magical world, accompanied by a small fraction of "blood traitors" such as the Weasley family. With a steady figure like Dumbledore at the helm of Order of the Pheonix, the tides began shifting against him. Yet, the Death Eaters, who rallied behind Voldemort and had such an indomitable Dark wizard in their ranks, retained a marginal upper hand in this scenario, though far from being decisively dominant. Despite this marginal advantage, the ruthless methods employed by the Death Eaters kindled profound fear in every witch and wizard. While the Ministry's Aurors and the members of the Order of the Pheonix endeavored to capture Death Eaters using Stunning, Petrification, and Disarming spells, the Death Eaters retaliated with the three unforgivable curses - Avada Kedavra, Cruciatus and Imperius. It's quite evident which side had more intimidation up its sleeve.