Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts

Severus, however, had already raised his beer glass.

"Friends need no words, let's have a drink!"

The glasses were all raised, and Harry picked up his special orange juice.

The sunlight streaming through the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows fell directly onto Harry's face.

The crisp sound of glasses clinking together, accompanied by splashes of liquid, refracted the light and reflected off the adults gathered around the table.

Their genuine smiles brought out the beauty of this already colorful world.

Harry laughed genuinely.

He never doubted the choice he made.

Chapter 67 Spider Web and Fire

In a dark and cramped corner of the ceiling, a spider is spinning its web.

A flying insect happened to wander into its hunting range and got tightly entangled in the spider web.

The spider moved swiftly across its web, continuously spinning silk and skillfully battling the dying insect.

"Am I going to be bitten to death, Remus?"

"Will not"

“You don’t need to hide it from me anymore, I understand everything. I don’t blame you, Remus. I know you’re different from them.”

"Stop talking!"

"Could you take Maggie home for me after I die? My parents will remember me when they see her, and I don't want them to forget me."

"Please, Jimmy! Don't talk! Save your energy, the medicine will be here soon!"

"Don't cry, Remus. They'll beat you up again if they see you're upset for me."

"I didn't cry even though my back was to you!"

"Don't lie to me. You've cried so many times for us, haven't you? You're different from them."

The man, pale and tired, dressed in rags and looking disheveled, with gray hair despite not being very old, wiped away tears that had fallen from his eyes without him noticing. His hands did not stop for a moment as he painstakingly used a sharp wooden awl to leave marks on the raised floorboards.

His back was already soaked with sweat, and his hands were covered in bloodstains. Just then, the boy lying behind him suddenly spoke.

“They’re back, Remus. I can hear footsteps.”

The down-on-his-luck man suddenly threw the wooden awl in his hand, then pulled back the tattered felt that had been pulled aside, covering up the hole in the floor.

The door to this dilapidated shack was suddenly pushed open from the outside in the next second!

Two men with sideburns pushed open the door and walked in. They glanced at the disheveled man, then at the boy lying on the ground, unsure whether he was conscious or unconscious.

"This little rascal isn't dead yet. Looks like you're taking good care of him, Peter?"

The down-on-his-luck man simply stared at them expressionlessly.

"Where's the medicine?"

The two men with sideburns completely ignored him.

“Greybury told us to leave; he’s already taken care of things on his end.”

“If we don’t give him his medication, he can’t continue Apparition!” The down-on-his-luck man’s voice, though trying to remain calm, trembled slightly. “Greyborough doesn’t want him to die, does he? He’s waiting for the next full moon!”

“Don’t try to intimidate us with Graybury!” A man punched him, knocking him to the ground.

"Don't hit him! Don't hit Remus!" the boy cried.

Meanwhile, another man had already tossed a bottle of medicine next to the down-on-his-luck man.

"If it weren't for you! We wouldn't have to wait for the next full moon! Damn it, do you know how much effort we wasted on this bottle of medicine!"

Despite his left cheek beginning to swell, the down-on-his-luck man clutched the bottle of universal healing potion produced by the St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries tightly in his hand.

He struggled to his feet, then helped the boy up and opened the medicine bottle.

"Drink up, Jimmy, it'll be alright, don't be afraid," he said softly, silencing the boy who was hugging the Sniffle plushie.

"Take him out! You cowardly piece of trash! If it weren't for you, we would have finished this long ago!"

A man with sideburns kicked him hard, and at the same time drew his wand.

The down-on-his-luck man watched his movements.

What are you going to do?

“Burn this place down! We can’t leave anything behind. Do you understand what Graybury said? If you don’t want to be burned to ashes with us, take him with you!”

The down-on-his-luck man picked up the boy and walked out of the dilapidated shack.

Before leaving, he couldn't help but look back at the place covered by the tattered felt.

But the fire had already been lit and was growing bigger and bigger.

The spider on the ceiling had completely entangled the flying insect in its web.

The flames scorched everything, completely burning away the last vestiges of hope left by the destitute man.

“Patty and I have discussed it, and we plan to go back to the Cotswolds and buy that farm back after Elder’s book is officially published and we receive our share of the profits!”

Bloody and Patty held hands, telling Severus about the future they were preparing for.

"I never liked the wizarding world anyway, so I just pretended to be a Muggle there!"

Elder glanced at him.

Are you sure you know how to farm?

“I will learn! Besides, sometimes secretly using magic on crops doesn’t violate magical laws, right?” Blood Nymph had clearly already made plans.

Patty simply held Bloody's hand tightly, listening to their conversation, her smile never fading.

“I have some unused regreening agent in my stock, and I can give it all to you if you need it,” Severus recalled the contents of the vault. “But you can’t just take it for free. You have to treat Dudley and me to a big meal every year, using ingredients from your farm.”

"Can you raise chickens? I like roast chicken," Harry said, ordering in advance.

“You are always welcome, Mr. Snape,” Bloodny said solemnly, looking at them. “If you need anything later, please let us know!”

"Don't worry, I will."

Clearly, both Volpe and Henney had guessed that this meal might be the final destination of their trip together.

They talked about all sorts of things, the past and the future.

Finally, while Wolpe was already quite drunk, Severus glanced at the time and, with Harry, said a final goodbye to them.

"They walked out of the restaurant," Harry couldn't help but say.

“It’s only been a few days, but Xueni looks completely different from before.”

“That’s the magic of love.” Severus hailed a taxi. “It can make the timid strong and the carefree take on family responsibilities.”

"When we visit Xueni Farm in the future, his changes will surely surprise us even more."

They took a taxi and soon arrived at the street where the Leaky Cauldron was located.

"It's Severus Snape! Our prodigal son!"

Inside the bar, some wizards cheered when they saw Severus enter.

Clearly, the impact of the morning's court hearing will last for a long time.

While politely greeting the wizards who greeted him, Severus muttered something to Harry under his breath.

"Looks like I'll have to prepare a fake identity in advance, just in case. What do you think about calling him Sherlock Holmes?"

Harry couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.

"I don't want to be Watson anymore."

"Then you shall be called Conan."

“It’s not even as good as Dudley,” Harry muttered.

Arthur was already waiting in the bar before they arrived, and upon seeing Severus, the pragmatic man didn't offer any unnecessary pleasantries.

"Let's go, we'll head to Nottinghamshire now!"

Chapter 68 My name is Hermione Granger

In an old house in the suburbs of Nottinghamshire, England.

The fireplace, which hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long, suddenly lit up with a green flame, and then Arthur, Harry, and Severus emerged from the flames one by one.

The acrid dust kicked up by the green flames made all three of them cough.

"Why doesn't the Ministry of Magic send people to clean up Floo Network nodes like these more often?"

"There's nothing we can do. Nottingham isn't a major hub for wizards, so the ministry always tries to cut costs in places like that."

Arthur explained with a pained expression, while constantly brushing the dust off his robes, seemingly quite distressed that his clothes were dirty.

Severus, leading Harry, had arrived at the door of the house, which had been unoccupied for who knows how long. He gently knocked on the door, causing it to creak painfully, finally letting in some fresh air.

"Where are you going next?" He turned to look at Arthur.

Arthur walked toward them as well.

"26 Sherwood Road. Someone reported that an elderly wizard with a mental disability there modified the streetlight in front of his house, making it human-like and wandering around at night, which has terrified many Muggles. I'm going to take care of that light now, and while I'm at it, I'll go to the culprit's house to issue a ticket."

As he spoke, he looked at Severus.

"Do we still have the opportunity to continue our journey together?"

He clearly wasn't very curious about what Severus and his men were going to do.

Arthur, who works at the Ministry of Magic year-round, knows the rules: it's best not to inquire unless the other party asks first.

Severus wasn't very wary of Arthur.

Moreover, it was Dumbledore who arranged for them to travel together. Although he felt that the sweet-toothed old bee wasn't so far-fetched as to be abnormally prescient, who knows, what Arthur was going to do might provide them with a starting point.

"We don't have any clue what we're going to do yet. Nottingham is a big city, and just blindly searching like this is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Severus spoke up.

"There aren't many wizards living here, so why don't we go with you to check out the streetlights first?"

Arthur readily accepted this offer.

"Let's go then. Let me think... We can use Muggle public transportation. What's it called again? How about the subway?"

At this point, Arthur was clearly very excited. He was eager to try it out and had even started looking for Muggle costumes in his briefcase to change into at any time.

Severus and Harry exchanged a glance, both sensing from each other's eyes their skepticism about Arthur's decision to actively engage with Muggle society.

“Let’s take a taxi. I’ll call it; that might be more convenient,” Severus offered.

"Oh! Hmm~, that's not bad either." Arthur closed the suitcase again with a hint of regret.

They waited for more than half an hour on the roadside in the suburbs before finally getting a taxi to take them to "26 Sherwood Road," as Arthur had mentioned.

This place is also far from Nottingham city center, and there is a forest nearby called "Sherwood". The beautiful red-roofed houses along the roadside look like an apartment complex specifically for vacationers.

When they arrived at the door of resident number 26, they indeed saw the strange street lamp!

The lamppost looked very dirty, as if it had been brought out of the forest by someone. It was covered in mud and leaves, and there was even a bird's nest stuck on top of it!

During the day, the streetlight remained in its original position, showing no signs of moving around, which was normal. At least it helped Arthur, preventing him from having to find a way to grab the light.

"What are you going to do with it?" Harry asked curiously.

Arthur, meanwhile, had already excitedly pulled out a tool that would never normally be found in the hands of a proper wizard from his treasure chest—a wrench!

"It's obvious that someone has modified its circuitry and secretly cast a resurrection spell, bringing it to life like the teapot in the old witch's house! We need to cut off its circuitry first, and then figure out how to undo the resurrection spell!"

Severus gave Arthur a thumbs up.

"No wonder they're professionals!"

"You absolutely must bring Dudley to visit the Burrow sometime!" Arthur glanced around furtively. "I have quite a few at home."

"Who asked you to come!"