However, at this moment, he didn't have the spare mental energy to dwell on it, so he asked softly.
"Amy, do you think I'll have good luck next?"
Amy's voice was very weak, barely audible.
"Amy... feels really bad... but John will be very good..."
Hearing her words, Sherlock blinked and smiled silently.
"Your feelings have always been right, Amy."
Then, he turned his gaze to Bella.
"Let them go first. I will stay behind with this stone slab."
"You're crazy!" Eddie roared in disbelief. "Why won't you come with us?!"
"I told you before, Eddie. I want to go somewhere no one else can find," Sherlock said with a smile. "Remember to take good care of Amy, and don't let her be alone all the time."
Eddie didn't believe his words. He thought Sherlock intended to stay behind to put the Death Eaters at ease so that he and Amy could leave safely.
"Let me take that stone slab and stay! You take Amy and go!"
Sherlock ignored Eddie. In front of the Death Eaters, he couldn't be too explicit, so he stared directly at Bella.
"I'll stay with the stone slab. You mark out a separate area for them where they can Apparate, and let them Apparate away in front of me. Then I'll hand the stone slab over to you."
Bella, who had been waiting for a response from Lord Voldemort without success, didn't want to waste any more time. Like Eddie, she assumed Sherlock had resigned himself to death, wanting to trade his own life for the survival of the other three.
"Goyle." She looked at a burly Death Eater.
The Death Eater, who appeared to be the father of the lackey later seen by Draco's side, stepped forward. He grabbed Madam Selwyn and pulled her over to Eddie and Amy.
"No, John, please, you must not give that thing to them, please..."
Madam Selwyn pleaded, and Eddie stared at him intensely.
"You said you valued your life, that you wouldn't let yourself die so easily!"
Sherlock looked at him, hands in his pockets, and shrugged with a smile.
"Of course I won't die so easily."
His hand, reaching into his pocket, suddenly touched something cold and hard, which made Sherlock think of something.
"Can you come over here for a moment, Eddie? I have something I want to tell you."
The Death Eaters didn't make any move, just watching the scene with cold eyes.
Eddie's wand had already been confiscated, and with all the Death Eaters' wands pointed at Sherlock, they couldn't put up any resistance at all.
Eddie walked in front of Sherlock, and after using his body to block the Death Eaters' line of sight, Sherlock took the metal object out of his pocket and put it into Eddie's pocket.
"Keep this safe for me, regardless of whether you'll be able to see me again after today."
"You said you wouldn't die so easily." Eddie locked eyes with him.
"Alright, I'll say it again: I'm going to a place no one can find, not dying. This isn't something to fool a child with, understand? I'm serious."
Whether he believed it or not, Eddie had no other choice at this moment. He could only follow Sherlock's arrangement, take his things, and return to the side of Amy and Madam Selwyn.
Madam Selwyn's wand was returned to her, and she was the one to use Apparition to take Eddie and Amy away.
Goyle led them to the edge of the hall, where a Death Eater had specifically opened up Apparition privileges for this small area for them.
"You can't give it to them, John."
Madam Selwyn was still pleading while holding her wand, but by this time, Eddie had already snatched the wand from her hand.
His voice was cold.
"You should know what the price of not giving them the stone slab is—it would require John to trade his life for it!"
Eddie, who had always prioritised the interests of the Ministry of Magic and all the Wizards in the Wizarding World, was actually willing to let Sherlock hand over the stone slab to save his own life at this moment.
"Even so... even so, you cannot give it to them!" Madam Selwyn said excitedly.
The Death Eaters guarding them raised their wands at them.
"If you don't want to leave, you can also stay here and wait for death," one Death Eater threatened coldly.
Eddie's mind was at its calmest at this moment. He exchanged one last look with Sherlock, saw him give him an OK gesture, and finally used Apparition.
He vanished from the spot instantly with Amy and Madam Selwyn, and the next second, their figures reappeared on the street directly above the Ministry of Magic's underground location.
It was just past midnight, and the street, which should have been incomparably quiet, was now filled with many Wizards wearing robes.
So much time had passed since the Death Eaters' invasion that the Ministry of Magic had naturally already reacted.
But at this moment, the entire Ministry of Magic had been placed under an Anti-Apparition ward, and the regular entrances were all blocked, so the Aurors outside were still looking for a way in.
As soon as Eddie and the others appeared, they were immediately surrounded by Aurors.
Scrimgeour, Crouch, and Minchum were all desperate to know the situation inside the Ministry.
Madam Selwyn, in a nervous and hurried voice, recounted to them what had happened in the Department of Mysteries.
Eddie, holding the drowsy Amy, said nothing, silently watching the dim yellow light on the road, feeling a sense of trance.
Twice now, counting the time in Sheffield before, Sherlock had saved him twice!
This time, he was even willing to trade his own life for his and his daughter's!
"Amy... Amy lied..."
Amy, with her face buried on Eddie's shoulder, suddenly said vaguely.
Eddie gently patted her back, ignoring Scrimgeour, who was roaring beside him and demanding that he report the situation inside the Ministry immediately, and asked softly.
"What lie did Amy tell?"
"John said... said he would leave Amy one day... Amy felt that what he said was true... but Amy didn't dare to admit it... Amy didn't want John to leave Amy..."
Hearing his daughter's words, Eddie wore a smile on his face, but his eyes had become moist without him even realising it.
He hugged Amy tightly, trying his best to suppress his emotions, and comforted her in a low voice.
"That won't happen. Amy's feeling this time must be wrong. John won't leave Amy. He promised to stay with Amy until she goes to school, and John has never told a lie."
Amy's voice grew smaller and smaller; she seemed to be really falling asleep.
"John is leaving... to a place Amy can't find... Amy is so reluctant to let him go... Only John is willing to stay with Amy... Only John gives Amy gifts... Only John likes Amy... And Amy likes John too..."(TN: That's quite sweet actually.)
She finally fell asleep, her head resting quietly on Eddie's shoulder. The teardrops that had fallen from the corners of her eyes glistened in the reflection of the streetlights, like an angel who had fallen from heaven to the mortal world and lost her wings.