Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts

After bringing him here, the white-bearded old man didn't ask any questions right away. Instead, he had a creature called a house-elf, just like the Slughorn family, prepare dinner for him and then find him a room to sleep in.

Harry was indeed tired after spending the whole day as a painter yesterday.

He had just climbed into bed and had been sleeping soundly ever since.

After he sat up in the four-poster bed, the house-elf who had brought him dinner the night before suddenly appeared again and brought him breakfast.

Harry tried to call out to it, but the creature seemed shy and afraid of strangers. After putting down the breakfast, it disappeared again.

Harry had no choice but to wash up first, eat a quick breakfast, and then carefully push open the door and leave the bedroom.

He looked around the huge castle, finding everything new and fascinating.

"Cowardly brat! Raise your lance! Like Sir Cadogan!"

An animated knight portrait gave Harry instructions.

This made Harry instinctively shrink back, repeatedly saying "Sorry, sorry," before quickly moving away from the portrait that made him feel like something was wrong with his head.

Then he encountered two more armored figures that were moving. They looked like they had just finished a fight and were picking up the fallen parts from the ground to repair themselves.

Harry, like a thief, didn't dare disturb them and tiptoed away.

He wandered aimlessly through the castle, and then encountered a skinny, dark gray cat. After just one glance at the cat, Harry inexplicably felt that this creature did not get along with him.

Not long after, a ghost with hollow eyes, a gaunt face, and silver bloodstains on its robes passed by around the corner, which terrified Harry.

This was the first time he had ever seen a ghost in person, and it was terrifying!

"Not a Hogwarts student?" the ghost spoke, his voice cold and hollow.

Harry pressed himself against the wall, swallowed hard, and said nervously.

"I am a student of Severus Snape!"

“Snape?” The Ghost seemed surprised to hear the name, but his voice softened considerably. “Snape actually took in a child who wasn’t old enough to be his student.”

"You know the teacher?" Harry's tension eased a little.

“He was excellent. Even tracing back through history, Snape was a remarkably outstanding Headmaster of Slytherin.” The bloodstained ghost scrutinized Harry. “Are you lost?”

“I want to go find Dumbledore,” Harry said.

Whether it was because of Snape's influence or because this terrifying ghost was actually a kind-hearted one, he offered to lead the way for Harry.

"Come with me, I'll take you there."

Chapter 58 I won’t go back

With the help of the kind ghost, Harry got past the stone monster and arrived at the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

He entered the spacious and beautiful circular room and found that the walls were covered with portraits of various wizards.

The elderly people, who were all quite old, seemed to be perpetually asleep, snoring softly in the photo frames. When Harry looked away from these portraits, the people in the frames would secretly look up at him and whisper among themselves.

The white-bearded old man Harry met yesterday is sitting behind his desk.

Dumbledore was still dressed the same, with crescent-shaped glasses and a silver-white beard. However, during the summer when there were no students at Hogwarts, his attire became more casual, with a long woolen robe and a nightcap, making him look like a disheveled old man who had just gotten up.

"Ah, how did you sleep on your first night at Hogwarts, Mr. Potter?" He put down a letter in his hand and looked at Harry as he walked in, his bright and peaceful blue eyes behind his crescent-shaped glasses.

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Good morning, Principal.

"You may call me Professor Dumbledore."

As Dumbledore finished speaking, the chair in front of Harry suddenly pulled out by itself.

“Sit down, child. Your stiffness will only give you away. Your teacher must be talking bad about me behind my back.” He smiled mischievously and winked at Harry.

Harry, who had just stuck his bottom to the chair, hurriedly spoke.

"No, no, Professor Dumbledore, he didn't say anything bad about you. He just wanted me to think more!"

“Man must keep thinking.” Dumbledore twirled a finger next to his head. “Our brains are like a tuna; they only show their value when they are constantly moving, and only death can stop them.”

Harry didn't quite understand the strange metaphor, but his attention was quickly drawn to the butter cookies and black tea that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Eating sweets first thing in the morning is not good for your teeth, so I usually eat some cookies instead."

Perhaps it was Dumbledore's relaxed demeanor that affected Harry, or perhaps it was the old man's innate charisma that made people instinctively want to get close to him; Harry, who had been tense, couldn't help but relax at this moment.

But he didn't forget why he had come. After hesitating for a couple of seconds to organize his thoughts, he spoke.

"Professor Dumbledore, the teachers will be alright, won't they? The Ministry of Magic won't make things difficult for them, will it?"

Dumbledore put down the letter in his hand. Harry noticed that the letter looked very dirty, and the paper was full of wrinkles. It seemed that the person who wrote it was in a very bad environment. He could even vaguely see a few gray hairs from some kind of animal.

"Let's set aside the trial the Ministry of Magic is going to hold for now, Mr. Potter. Perhaps we can move on to another topic first."

Dumbledore met Harry's eyes.

"You know very well what kind of person your teacher is, right?"

"He is the Potions professor at Hogwarts, the head of Slytherin House, and a renowned Potions Master in the wizarding world."

"You should understand that I'm not asking about these titles."

Dumbledore spoke calmly, and meeting those eyes made Harry feel momentarily flustered. He lowered his head and didn't say anything more.

A brief silence fell over the office, and after four or five seconds, Dumbledore's voice rang out again.

“When he first met you, he told you all the truths he could. I never thought Severus could have such courage, but I also admire his sincerity without any reservation.”

"But for a child, especially a 9-year-old, to have to live and study with an enemy every day and call him teacher is too much of a burden and torment."

Dumbledore's voice was soft, yet his sincerity was evident.

"Now you can make another choice, Mr. Potter. You can go back to your aunt's house and continue your original life until you truly demonstrate your magical talent and reach the required age. Hogwarts will then send you an acceptance letter as promised."

His words made Harry lift his head again.

The 9-year-old boy no longer hesitated or ran away, but spoke with unwavering determination.

"I'm not going back, Professor Dumbledore!"

His affirmation and decisiveness caused a white halo to flash across Dumbledore's glasses, and he patiently inquired.

"Can you tell me why? You don't want to go back. Is it because the Dursleys have treated you badly, or do you really trust Severus?"

“I haven’t forgotten what my teacher said: he’s my enemy, but he can teach me a lot!” Harry tried to express his thoughts.

Dumbledore clasped his hands together, looking like he was listening intently.

"But during the days he spent with you, he didn't teach you anything, so what did you learn from him?"

“I asked Sinn from the very beginning of the journey,” Harry said in a slightly hurried tone. “I asked him if he loved Patty. That’s what my teacher told me. He told me from Sinn’s memories that Sinn fell in love the moment he met Patty.”

"He would risk everything for that girl, even his own life. I don't understand how the power of love could make someone go to such lengths!"

"It wasn't until last night that Xueni answered me. He said he loves that girl, and they have the most beautiful love! And Elder is willing to give up everything to help him and help him achieve his happiness. They have the most loyal friendship!"

"It was my teacher who showed me all of this, and it was my teacher who taught me how people should get along with each other!"

“This is something I never experienced before at Aunt Penny’s house. Aunt Penny may love me or she may not, but I don’t understand these things, and I don’t get it.”

"I haven't learned any profound knowledge or powerful magic from my teacher yet, but I understand these things. I know that these things still exist in this world, and it's more touching than any story and greater than any work of art."

"I don't know how to say it, how to describe it. But Professor Dumbledore, I've really learned so much since I met him! Even if he were my enemy, I would still want to travel and learn with him!"

Harry spoke very quickly, as if the old man would misunderstand him if he spoke too slowly.

Dumbledore listened attentively to his speech the whole time without interrupting.

Harry finished speaking, his breathing became rapid, and the headmaster's office fell silent again.

A smile finally appeared on Dumbledore's usually calm face, and he spoke under Harry's tense and expectant gaze.

“Even minors should have the right to make their own decisions. If this is what you expect, then no one can stop you, Mr. Potter. You can continue your journey with your teacher.”

Harry finally smiled at this moment. He might not have noticed much, but he could clearly feel that it was his teacher's boss who had given his approval!

"However, there is someone who will be joining your trip later. He is an old acquaintance of your teacher. Although he is down on his luck, you will be happy to meet him."

As Dumbledore spoke, Harry glanced instinctively at the hastily written letter, covered in fur from some unknown animal, lying on the table.

"Will the teachers be found not guilty?"

Although his attention was diverted, Harry's focus remained on the question he had asked at the beginning.

"That depends on how Wisengamo decides to rule."

"Will you speak up for them?" Harry asked expectantly.

“I cannot speak for them publicly,” Dumbledore winked at Harry. “Because as the First Wizard, I must make the final judgment.”

Chapter 59 Snape, I am the Prophet

"Are you so sure Dumbledore will help you?"

"I bet you, old man, Harry has definitely been taken away by Dumbledore by now."

In the temporary detention room of the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Severus, who had a good night's sleep there, was woken up early in the morning by the questioning voice of Snape, the ghost inside him.

He yawned, sat up from the wire bed that was a bit hard but just right for his habit of sleeping on a firm mattress, and listlessly responded to Ghost Snape's words.

After a brief silence, Ghost Snape spoke in a sinister tone.

"Of course he'll take Potter with him, because if Potter stays, his identity will be exposed, and everyone's attention will be on him. But precisely because he takes Potter away, Dumbledore won't have any worries; he can completely ignore you all!"

"You are dark, evil, despicable, and filthy yourself, so don't assume that everyone else is like you."

Severus tossed his disheveled black hair as he got out of bed to wash up in the bathroom, complaining to Ghost Snape as he did so.

"I have faith in old Dumbledore. The old guy is a bit cunning, but that's the price of being a good person. Sometimes you have to think more than the bad guys to really get things done. After all, Dumbledore isn't a bad guy, is he?"

“Even if he doesn’t deliberately favor us, as long as everything is done in an official manner, we are not guilty.”

At this point, Severus paused for a moment while brushing his teeth. He was thinking about something, and then slowly said to the ghost Snape in his mind.

"Whether we can actually take Harry with us later depends on his performance in front of Dumbledore."

Ghost Snape's gaze narrowed slightly, and he said in a cold voice.

"why?"

“Think about it, if Old Dumbledore takes Harry away, what can he talk to him about? He’ll definitely respect Harry’s opinion, let Harry make a choice, and then subtly observe whether Harry has changed since he’s with me, and whether these changes meet his expectations. Only if Harry performs well with him will he finally finalize the matter.”

His words plunged Ghost Snape into a long silence.

But if Severus's attention were not on brushing his teeth at this moment, but on observing the ghost, he would find that the ghost Snape was staring straight at him.

"After you became me, everything about me opened up to you, a one-sided opening!" After a long silence, Ghost Snape said softly, "But I still know nothing about you. You seem to know everything, more like a Muggle than a Muggle, yet more knowledgeable about wizards than a wizard!"

“Slughorn was my former dean and professor, that’s true, but I haven’t had much contact with him since graduation. You, on the other hand, know him better than I do, and you even know that his favorite dessert is pineapple preserves! At his house, you can see through his lies at a glance, find his weakness, and make him finally give in.”

“You know Shakel, this Auror I don’t know at all, like you know his character and habits inside and out, as if you’ve known him for a long time.”

"And Lovegood, you were at his house, yet you used Trelawney's identity to directly make a prophecy!"

"And the Ministry of Magic! You seem to know its functions and shortcomings better than anyone else!"

"Finally, there's Dumbledore. I've never seen anyone understand Dumbledore so well. He probably never imagined that Severus Snape could completely anticipate his thoughts and lead him by the nose!"

"who are you!"

Hearing Snape the Ghost's series of questions, which were even somewhat blustering but insincere.

Severus rinsed his mouth while staring wide-eyed at his handsome face in the mirror.

"Am I that terrible?"

He spat out the mouthwash.

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with telling the truth. It's just that I'm afraid that if I say it, you'll start to doubt the value of life, doubt the existence of this world, and your entire worldview will collapse. See? I'm actually thinking of you, old man."

"However, I can explain it using a more magical, technical term: you can think of me as a born prophet."

"It is because I can see the future that I am doing so many things under your identity."

Ghost Snape simply looked at him with a cold and suspicious gaze.