Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts

Suddenly, a jarring, maniacal laugh echoed through the previously dark and silent dungeon!

Greyback was so frightened that he immediately stopped crying!

However, the person who laughed shouted in a hoarse and unpleasant voice.

"Don't stop! Keep crying! I recognize your voice! Fenrir Graybuck! It's you, isn't it! I know it's you! Hahahaha!"

"Ha! So it was that scavenging beast that used to linger around the master!"

"How did they manage to lock you up, you beast? Is it for desecrating a corpse?!"

"Greyborough! Keep crying! Because when night falls, the Dementors will come to feast on the freshest food, as usual! Then you won't have a chance to cry anymore! Hahahaha!!"

All sorts of sounds, as if they came from the mouths of demons in hell, echoed in the dungeon!

In those cells, countless figures, more like ghosts than spirits, emitted piercing laughter!

Greyback's body trembled even more violently, and he could no longer hold back, letting out a desperate cry.

"Let me out! Let me out! I don't want to stay here! I repent! I admit my mistakes! Please come back and take me out!!"

"Yes! Yes! That's it, cry! Cry as hard as you can! You idiot!"

"I bet he won't survive seven days here!"

"You overestimate him, Antonin! I bet he won't last five days and will be sucked to death by those Dementors!"

“Murcyber! He’s always been right, not just with the Imperius Curse! I even think he has a bit of a prophetic talent! Let him guess!”

"Three days! This weak little pup won't last three days here!"

"Quiet!!!"

A sharp, piercing female voice suddenly silenced all the noise. After a roar that could almost pierce eardrums, the dungeon finally returned to its initial silence.

Fenrir Graybuck.

The female voice called out that name, causing Graybuck, who was trembling all over and still sobbing, to look up at the source of the voice.

The dungeon was too dark for him to see what the other person looked like. He could only tell from the voice that the person was not a stranger to him.

"Who, who are you?" he asked in a voice trembling with tears.

The woman's voice did not answer his question, but instead asked in a cold, lifeless tone.

"How did you get arrested? Is the Ministry of Magic still hunting down people who participated in that war?"

Upon hearing this question, Graybuck couldn't help but burst into tears again, crying out loudly.

"It's Snape! Severus Snape!! He's completely betrayed the Dark Lord and is working for the Ministry of Magic!! He led a group of Aurors to capture me! It's all his fault!!"

"Severus Snape!"

Others shouted out the name.

"That half-breed bastard! Master misjudged him!"

"He's cunning and treacherous! His disappearance is very likely related to the master!"

"Wasn't he invited by Dumbledore to become the Headmaster of Hogwarts? He betrayed us long ago!"

Insults, scorn, curses—countless vicious words echoed in the dungeon.

Even in the deepest part of the dungeon, in a cell that had been completely silent, a large, jet-black dog opened its eyes the very next second after hearing the name "Severus Snape".

"Quiet down, everyone!!!"

That shrill female voice, like a cat scratching a blackboard, sent chills down everyone's spines, rang out again, once more drowning out all the other voices in the room.

"Why did he bring the Aurors to capture you! What are you doing! Who ordered you to do this!"

Faced with questioning, Graybury, filled with nothing but fear, revealed almost everything he knew.

"Yes, it was Barty Crouch Jr.!! He summoned us, summoned us and said he would lead us to find our master! He ordered me to take some men and kidnap some children! To attract the attention of the Ministry of Magic and distract the Aurors! But among the children I kidnapped, there was... there was one of Snape's students!! A student who wasn't even old enough to go to Hogwarts!!"

"Snape would team up with the Aurors to capture you for a child under 11 years old?"

Some people are clearly questioning the authenticity of this story, because based on their understanding of Severus Snape, this is simply something he would never do!

"It's true! It's true!! He broadcasted to all the wizarding world that he repented for his past! He apologized to those he had hurt! He has completely betrayed us! He has completely sided with the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore!!"

The shrill female voice then let out a piercing scream.

"That shameless traitor! Our master will never let someone like him get away with this! He will never let traitors like them go!!!"

The other prisoners also joined in with their curses.

Just as the dungeon descended into chaos, a crumpled piece of newspaper, blown by the cold wind, rolled on the ground all the way to the very last cell in the dungeon.

The large, black dog that had been lying in the prison cell had somehow transformed into a handsome, pale man!

He reached out and took the wad of newspaper in his hand, then slowly unfolded and smoothed it out to its normal state.

The remaining half of the Daily Prophet was none other than the front page from a few days ago, its bright headline catching the man's eye.

In recognition of the four people who saved the son, the Ministry of Magic applied to Wizengamor for the awarding of the Order of Merlin.

Next to that news article was a moving black-and-white illustration.

The picture shows four adults and two children. Two of the adults are very familiar to the man!

One of them was his close friend, Remus Lupin.

Another one was his arch-nemesis—Severus Snape!

Among the boy and girl, the boy who was affectionately holding the corner of Severus's robe and smiling at the camera suddenly narrowed his eyes the moment the man saw him!

The man suddenly stood up from the ground, staring intently at the picture in the newspaper, and at the same time, he found the boy's name in the news report!

"Snape's student, Dudley Dursley, also played a crucial role in the rescue, delaying and drawing the werewolves' attention, thus buying the Aurors valuable time to come to their aid."

Dudley Dursley?

The man's eyes were bloodshot!

He looked again at Lupin and Severus in the photo, the two of them surrounded like close friends with no barriers between them, Dudley and Hermione standing in front of them, with Granger and old Lupin on either side!

This scene stimulated the man's nerves, making him feel as if he were dreaming!

"This is definitely James' son."

He muttered to himself, making sounds like the growls of a wild beast.

"Jaime's son is hanging out with Snotty. Why didn't Remus stop him?"

"He definitely lied!!"

Suddenly, he let out a loud roar.

The noise caused the prisoners who were cursing Severus to stop instinctively, but soon, when they realized which cell the noise was coming from, they unleashed even more vicious and angry curses.

He was cursing Severus, and he was also cursing the man at the very back of the dungeon!

But the man paid no heed to their curses; he simply gripped the half-paper tightly in his hand, having already made a decision in his mind!

Great Hangleton, England.

After three days of escaping the Aurors' pursuit once again, Barty Crouch Jr. brought Roll to this place.

"Why did we come here? It's desolate and remote! And the Aurors could find us at any moment!"

"Roll complained."

Little Barty didn't say anything; he just kept walking, from Little Hangleton to Big Hangleton. They walked four or five miles and finally stopped in front of a dilapidated old house.

The mansion was dilapidated and gloomy, with its wooden structure covered in moss and nettles, and an S-shaped dead snake symbol nailed to the door.

Looking at the building in front of him, Luo Er was somewhat astonished, his mouth agape.

"This is where I am."

"The master's hometown."

Little Barty exclaimed in a voice filled with adoration.

He turned to look at Rol.

"The master once claimed that he was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, one of the four great wizards who founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! This is no exaggeration!"

Rol was utterly shocked.

Voldemort did openly claim on numerous occasions that he was a direct descendant of the Slytherin family, but he never traced his lineage back to his family.

So although the servants around him always claimed to believe this, many of them actually questioned which family lineage their master came from!

And now, Little Barty has actually led him directly to this mansion!

"But how can you prove that this place was once inhabited by descendants of the Slytherin family?"

“I met a man in Azkaban,” Little Bati said softly. “He said his name was Morfin Gaunt, and he spoke Parsley! But he died of illness decades ago, but the cell where I was imprisoned was the same one where he was imprisoned, and there were some messages he had carved in stone there!”

"I wasn't particularly concerned about this news at first."

"However, during those days at home, when I wasn't under the Imperius Curse, I discovered some information about the Gaunt family in that old man's study! I didn't escape immediately because I wanted to use the Aurors I controlled with the Imperius Curse to find deeper information in the Ministry of Magic's archives, until I found this place!"

As he spoke these words, he stepped forward and pushed open the door with the dead snake nailed to it!

Chapter 113 The Letter from the Escapee

"No one in the wizarding world drives better than me!"

Inside the parking lot of a car rental company in London.

Severus once again made a bold and ambitious statement.

But it was clear that neither Harry nor Lupin had much confidence in him.

Harry knew Severus's driving skills firsthand, while Lupin knew that Severus had never shown any interest in Muggle mechanics before.

Draco stood aside, pursing his lips, looking at the large metal box that Severus had rented.

"This is a Muggle's flying broomstick? It looks big and clumsy, what's it for?"

Clearly, Draco, who grew up in a pure-blood manor, lacks some basic common sense about Muggle society.

Lucius almost never took him to public places where Muggles were more common; he usually attended events that were only for wizards.

Draco's friends are mostly pure-blooded, like the children of Goyle and Crabbe, and he has hardly ever met any Muggles his age.

"Then you'll be amazed. Just like how wizards have flying brooms and magic carpets as their means of transportation, the car is just one of the tools we'll be using on this journey."

Severus tossed the car keys in his hand and gestured for them to get in the car.

Since Harry sat in the back first, Draco opened the passenger door almost without hesitation, clearly not wanting to sit with the man who had beaten him up just yesterday.

Lupin shrugged, not paying much attention, and sat down next to Harry.

Severus skillfully pressed the clutch and started the car; at least to Lupin's astonished gaze, he seemed quite adept.

But Harry was already prepared and grabbed the handle above the car door in advance.

"We're leaving!"

Severus made a declaration, then released the clutch and stepped on the accelerator, resulting in the entire car shaking violently three times with a loud "bang"!

Lupin, sitting in the back, was alright; he only bumped his head on the seat in front of him. However, Draco, in the passenger seat, wasn't so lucky.

He was still studying what the cloth strip next to him was for, and had no time to react. His body suddenly lurched forward uncontrollably, and his upper body slammed directly into the windshield!

"Hey! Draco! Are you alright? You're so careless! You should have fastened your seatbelt!"

Draco angrily shook off Severus's outstretched hand, yelling.

"You definitely did it on purpose!"

Severus, however, looked delighted, as if he had discovered a brilliant reason.

"Yes, this problem has nothing to do with my driving skills. I just wanted you to experience in advance some of the situations that might occur while sitting in the car."

Under the half-closed gazes of Harry and Lupin in the back row, Severus cleared his throat.

"So do you understand now? When you're in a car, it's essential to wear your seatbelt. Yes, that's the strap on your left. Yeah, pull it out and then insert it into the buckle on your right."

Under Severus's guidance, Draco, with a sour face and a flushed forehead, fastened his seatbelt.

"Alright, that was just a drill. Now we're really going to set off!"