Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts

Although few people in the magical world have seen him use many advanced dark magic defense spells, his dark magic, like his potions, is indeed a top-tier skill!

Black magic and black magic defense are practically the same thing, differing by only two words or one character.

Kingsley would accept it even if he had to hold his nose!

Having ascertained the current situation, Kingsley left with the others, leaving only the Ministry of Magic employees who were originally responsible for liaison between the two sides to arrange for Severus and Harry to stay temporarily in the manor.

Just as the Ministry of Magic employee found the manor's butler to prepare rooms for the two to stay overnight.

Severus was also secretly assigning tasks to Harry.

He stood with Harry at the end of the second-floor corridor, pointing through the large floor-to-ceiling windows to the children playing ball together on the lawn outside.

The children ranged in age from six or seven to around ten, and were mostly Harry's peers.

“You, go infiltrate them, Harry.”

Harry looked at Severus with a blank expression, then turned to look at the four or five children below who were laughing and joking.

"I infiltrate them?"

"Yes, you should get on their good side and then subtly try to find out all sorts of things about Patty from them."

Severus gave his students a long and earnest lecture.

"Children are the easiest to please. As long as you build a good relationship with them, they will tell you the truth. Remember, don't approach them with ulterior motives from the beginning. They can sense if you have bad intentions. Just play with them first, and ask them questions after you've become familiar with them."

Harry initially seemed hesitant, but after hearing Severus's words, his already quick mind seemed to have figured something out, and he murmured to himself.

"I'm a child too, teacher, is this how you comfort me?"

Severus clicked his tongue, remarking that sometimes having students who are too smart isn't a good thing. He then flicked Harry on the forehead.

"Learn it first, then you can judge me."

Harry covered his head, muttering something unintelligible, but still ran downstairs as Severus had instructed, and went to find the children in the manor to play.

Severus observed from the window for a while, watching Harry first stand by the children until the ball rolled to his feet. When an older child invited him to join in, Harry secretly gave an OK sign in his direction before Severus smiled and turned away.

"Did you deliberately let Potter go play with kids his own age?" Ghost Snape suddenly asked.

Severus remained noncommittal; he simply said calmly.

“He already has too little contact with normal peers. Sometimes being mature for one’s age is not a good thing. He should play when he is supposed to.”

"Hmph." Ghost Snape gave his habitual cold snort.

But he didn't follow up with any more sarcastic remarks; instead, he unusually fell silent.

Just when Severus thought he was just showing up to make his presence known, Ghost Snape spoke slowly again.

“You have become me, but in some ways of thinking and thinking, you have not reached my level at all, especially in the area of ​​potions.”

Severus had a sudden thought; he felt that Ghost Snape's words had a deeper meaning and seemed to be more than just casual banter.

"What do you want to say?"

“Slughorn did teach me, but he only got a few steps ahead of me. In reality, he didn’t go as far or as fast as I did on the path of potions.”

"The Ghost Snape said calmly."

"That potent Hell-Living Soup doesn't necessarily require identifying the original ingredients to concoct an antidote; that's just the dumbest method."

This time, Severus finally cheered up.

"You have another idea!"

"Invigorating agent."

"Potions to break the spell of slumber? That's definitely useless. Those Aurors couldn't have missed it. Even if the potion makers hired by the Ministry of Magic are bad, they wouldn't be so ignorant of this basic thing."

“It’s definitely not just about using energizing potions. Slughorn told you that the reason that bottle of Hellfire Potion is so powerful is because he added an excessive amount of Sleep Beans. The other extra ingredients are just to adjust the Sleep Beans’ tolerance to the user.”

"He's not very bright; all he can think of is deriving the antidote from raw materials. You're just as mediocre as him!"

Ghost Snape seemed determined not to miss any opportunity to taunt, but Severus didn't care.

We've already given him all this advice. If he still can't understand, then he shouldn't have the nerve to call himself a Potions Master anymore!

"Sleepy Beans are the main ingredient in the Living Hell Potion! Slughorn mainly increased its dosage to produce the current effect, while the main ingredient in the Invigorating Potion, Hokrap Juice! As long as its dosage is also increased to the level corresponding to that of the Sleepy Beans, it will be the perfect antidote!"

"As for how to adjust the dosage of Hokrap juice, you have previously studied the improved sedative. Its core preparation is similar to that of the invigorating potion. Just add dried Bilivig sting needles, Angelica pubescens, and ginger root."

Severus stopped in his tracks, just as Snape the Ghost had said, his way of thinking about potions was indeed lacking.

He didn't have the mindset of a top-tier pharmacist like Ghost Snape, so after initially thinking that the stimulant wouldn't work, he didn't delve any deeper into the matter.

But he didn't realize that this didn't mean Ghost Snape was useless; he must have already come up with this method when he left the Slughorn family.

Of course, brewing this invigorating potion will also take time, but compared to the Slughorn Reverse Antidote which takes at least two weeks, the invigorating potion only takes a week at most, and if all goes well, it can even be completed in just five days!

This undoubtedly greatly shortened the time it took for the poor girl Patty to wake up.

After clarifying the matter concerning the potion, Severus did not act immediately, but suddenly laughed.

"You figured it out?"

Ghost Snape still had that cold look on his face, as if everyone owed him a fortune.

"I just don't want you to ruin your reputation for no reason. It's better for everyone if we resolve this matter quickly."

Severus crossed his arms and leaned against a quiet, deserted corner.

“Then let me be frank with you. This case is definitely not that simple; it can’t be solved just by waking that girl up.”

Ghost Snape frowned.

"why?"

Why did we get involved in this case?

"You will take the blame for Slughorn's loss of the controlled potion."

"Then why should I take the blame for him?"

"You want him to temporarily take your place at Hogwarts," Ghost Snape replied impatiently.

"Then who sent me to find him?"

Upon hearing the last question, Ghost Snape seemed to realize something and fell silent.

Severus answered himself.

"Dumbledore specifically assigned me to come, so do you think he wouldn't know about this case?"

“He definitely knows something we don’t. The wound on that girl’s neck left by the dark magic creature can’t be faked. There’s something wrong with this.”

After a long silence, Ghost Snape finally spoke again.

"So, do you plan to continue the investigation?"

Severus took a step, his strides on the cashmere carpet steady and large, and he spoke aloud to the ghost Snape in his mind.

"Dumbledore wants to understand what kind of person I am through my actions and the decisions I make. What do I have to hide?"

"I want to do what I want to do openly and honestly, so that he can clearly see what kind of person I really am."

Chapter 23 You guys are the strange ones.

"Dali! You're amazing! You're a natural-born player! That shot completely terrified Barris!"

As the sun sets in the west, the orange-yellow sun, along with the veil-like sunset, covers half the sky.

The children at Budmington Estate finished their ball game.

The owner of the manor, Mr. Somerset's youngest son, 10-year-old Severus, was full of praise for Harry's performance on the pitch.

Harry took the water he was offered, a genuine smile spreading across his face.

He never had the opportunity to participate in any sports at the Dursleys' house and never discovered that he actually had such a talent for ball games.

That afternoon, Harry seemed to be touched by the sunshine, and the smile on his face was more frequent than in the past month.

Just as the game was over and most of the children had left the field to find their families, Harry finally remembered that Severus had entrusted him with an important task.

He felt a pang of bitterness, ashamed that he had so quickly become absorbed in his own enjoyment and forgotten his teacher's instructions.

However, it's not too late to realize this now. The man next to him is Mr. Somerset's youngest son, the younger brother of the victim Patty. There is no one more suitable than him to find out what's going on.

"Severus, what happened to your sister all of a sudden?" Harry asked casually as he drank water.

In the afternoon on the court, the boy who had great chemistry with him said casually.

"It's all my dad's fault!"

Harry perked up his ears, and before he could ask any further questions, Severus, the seemingly talkative boy, started speaking on his own.

“He didn’t like Patty. Patty rarely even came out of her room. But I knew her. She actually longed for the outside world. When she told me stories, she always mentioned her grandfather’s farm in the Cotswolds, where she lived as a child.”

"Her grandfather?" Harry was perceptive.

"Yes! We have a father, but my mother is not her mother."

Where is her mother?

"Her mother died when she was 7 years old, along with her legs, in a car accident. My father was driving, and I heard he had been drinking a lot at the time."

Like all children, Severus did not yet understand the principle of not speaking too deeply with casual acquaintances. He whispered in Harry's ear as if sharing a secret.

“Dad has been shirking responsibility. He thinks the car accident was Patty’s fault, and he brings it up and berates Patty every time he drinks.”

Hearing this, Harry felt sympathy for the girl lying on the bed.

"You and Patty are very close?"

Severus patted his chest.

"Patty is a good girl! She was always there for me when I was little. I promised her that when I grew up, I would take her away from her father!"

But at this moment, his mood suddenly dropped.

“But now this has happened. I don’t understand. Patty is such a beautiful and kind girl. Why would her family hate her and why would someone want to kill her?”

Harry was stunned.

He never really understood why the Dursleys hated him so much, even though he had never made a mistake.

If you don't like him, why did you adopt him in the first place?

If you chose to adopt him, why treat him like that?

However, he quickly regained his composure and continued to chat with Severus in a seemingly relaxed manner about various things concerning her sister.

While his students were sweating it out on the field, Severus wasn't idle either.

He went to Diagon Alley, prepared all the ingredients for the potent invigorating potion, and set up a crucible in Gringotts vault, completing all the preliminary work. All that was left was to wait for the potion to simmer for five days.

Before nightfall, he returned to Budmington Estate, but instead of resting, he took advantage of the free time before dinner to wander around the estate and chat with the servants.

The estate was home to a large family, including Mr. Somerset's family, his two brothers' families, and old Mr. Somerset.

Therefore, such a large manor does not appear deserted.

“Miss Patty?” A gardener who was maintaining the lawn looked up at Severus with suspicion. “Are you someone sent by the government to investigate? Weren’t these questions asked earlier?”

Severus smiled.

“We’d like to investigate further to see if there are any other oversights. Has this been too much for you, sir?”

Seeing that Severus, a "government official," was so polite, the gardener's initial resistance vanished.

“This is not a delay, sir. We all hope to catch the murderer as soon as possible.”

He wiped the sweat from his brow, leaned on the shovel with both hands, and began to tell Severus his story.

“Miss Patty’s death was sudden. Nobody knows what happened. Four days ago, when the maid went to wake her up as usual, she found that she seemed to be dead!”

"The manor was in chaos. The police and doctors arrived, and after they determined the situation, everyone thought she was really dead."

"Mr. Somerset locked himself in his room and was in great pain. It was only then that we realized how much he cared about his daughter."

"Mrs. Somerset was in charge of everything that day, even though she didn't like Miss Patty at all, she still made all the preparations for the funeral for her."

"Until the Prime Minister arrived, he and Mr. Somerset were very good friends and had previously collaborated on the management of the horse farm. After such an incident at the estate, he took time out of his busy schedule to visit him that very evening."

"Just then, the doctor in charge of examining Miss Patty's 'body' discovered something strange. If Miss Patty was really dead, her time of death was almost 24 hours ago, but her body did not show signs of rigor mortis, her body temperature did not drop, and there were no other signs that should appear on a dead person!"