London, Leaky Cauldron.
The old wooden door was pushed open from the outside, and two men wearing black robes walked in.
Old Tom, who had been working as the pub landlord for decades, greeted them.
Of the two Wizards, the younger one had long chestnut hair tied into a ponytail. His face looked a little pale, and his features were quite delicate.
The older one had a hooked nose, a sallow face that looked as though it had been plagued by long-term illness, and a gloomy gaze. He wore an unpleasant expression whenever he looked at anyone.
"Two new faces. May I ask what you are called?"
The young Wizard with the ponytail introduced them with a smile.
"Ah, we did indeed just arrive in Britain not long ago. My name is John Watson, and this is my uncle, Tobias Prince. We would like to stay here for a while. I wonder how the room rates are calculated?"
Tom looked at the pair of uncle and nephew and nodded knowingly.
"How long do you intend to stay here?"
"We aren't sure exactly how long. We are travelling around, and recently our funds have run a bit low, so we decided to stay in Britain to earn some Galleons to continue our travels. My uncle is a Potions Master and is very skilled at brewing Potions, so he wants to come to Diagon Alley to see if he can find a few Potion shops to collaborate with. So, we will need to stay here for at least three months."
Upon hearing this, Tom looked the Potions Master, "Prince", up and down. He could indeed see a bit of a master's temperament in him.
"If it's at least three months, I can give you a significant discount on the rent, but you must pay the three months' rent upfront. After that, you pay me one month at a time until you leave."
"Two rooms for seven Galleons and four Sickles a month. If you pay the three months' rent upfront, you will need to pay me twenty-one Galleons and twelve Sickles first."
"Watson" had no objections to this price. Strictly speaking, the Leaky Cauldron belonged to the Ministry of Magic, and the landlord here was appointed by the Ministry of Magic.
The price of drinks could be determined by the landlord, but the room rates were open and transparent throughout the entire Wizarding World; there were no tricks to be played there.
After paying the rent, Tom led them to Rooms 11 and 12 on the second floor.
"John Watson" and "Tobias Prince" were, of course, Sherlock and Severus Snape.
The two of them had already drafted their fake identities back in Cokeworth. Sherlock had insisted on not using their real identities because there was already a Sherlock Cavendish and a Severus Snape in this world.
If they continued to use their original names and appearances, it would likely cause problems when dealing with other Wizards, so operating under false identities was safer.
They did not use Polyjuice Potion to change their appearances.
That Potion was fine for temporary use, but if they wanted to maintain the altered appearance constantly, they would need to take a sip every one to three hours.
Not to mention the inconvenience, no one could keep providing them with usable hair to support its brewing.
Severus used another kind of Potion, one not meant for drinking but rather like modelling clay, which could be moulded into a shape according to his own ideas and attached to a person's face.
As for the colour and length of their hair, those were easy to change. Severus had both Hair-Growing Potion and Hair-Dyeing Potion, and they would remain effective after just one application.
In Room 12, Severus and Sherlock sat together.
"You keep saying that history cannot be changed. In the original history, did these two people, Watson and Prince, really come to the Leaky Cauldron?" Severus stared at Sherlock and said indifferently.
Sherlock was flipping through a brochure in the room. The booklet contained introductions and advertisements for almost all the shops in Diagon Alley.
"I am referring to the established history that is widely known by the public," Sherlock said while reading. "From now on, we don't need to be too constrained; just treat ourselves as people of this era. This world is not that fragile. As long as we don't insist on working against a specific event in history, there shouldn't be any problems."
Severus was non-committal about Sherlock's words, his face cold and silent.
It wasn't until Sherlock had finished reading through the brochure's listings of all the shops in Diagon Alley that he stood up.
"Let's go. We need a stable source of income; neither you nor I have many Galleons on us."
He hadn't lied to Tom earlier. Sherlock really did intend to contact the Potion shops in Diagon Alley and use Severus's brewing skills to earn enough for their living expenses during their time here.
Severus had no objections to this either. Sherlock had already returned his wand to him. He was still very confused. He wanted to change history and save Lily, but he had no idea how.
He could only follow Sherlock's plan and cooperate with him to find a way back to the normal timeline. Whether they could find it or not, they would have to try.
The two of them arrived in Diagon Alley during the summer of 1977.
It didn't look much different from sixteen years later. Most of the shop names were familiar, but there were fewer pedestrians on the street, and many Wizards wore worried expressions.
Given the current political situation, it was understandable that the largest commercial street in the British Wizarding World looked like this.
Sherlock and Severus quickly found a Potion shop—the Extraordinary Potion Finished Goods Shop.
This shop was one of the three finished Potion shops in Diagon Alley that Sherlock had selected. The reason was simple: it had been open for less than five years.
The shop must have had a Potion-maker who could consistently provide finished Potions, but it was almost certainly lacking high-end suppliers. Wizards who could truly be called Potions Masters were exceptionally rare in the Wizarding World.
The owner of the Potion shop was a middle-aged Witch who looked quite charming. After Sherlock explained their purpose, she showed obvious interest.
"I want to see your finished Potions."
Without a word, Severus took a bottle of Wit-Sharpening Potion from his pocket. It was one of the Potions he carried with him, capable of making a Wizard's thinking clearer.
The recipe for Wit-Sharpening Potion was very common, and so were its ingredients, but brewing it to a high standard required considerable skill, making it an excellent measure of a Potion-maker's ability.
As the owner of a Potion shop, the Witch was naturally an expert in Potions herself.
She opened the bottle, and simply by smelling its aroma and examining its quality, she could already judge the skill of its brewer.
"If you can guarantee that every Potion you produce reaches the same standard as this bottle of Wit-Sharpening Potion, then I will provide the ingredients, and I can give you fifty per cent of the profits from each bottle after all costs have been deducted."