Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 159 This has a curse set by its master!
"What? Snape is in Paris?"

The first person in the British Ministry of Magic to receive the news from France was naturally Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror division, who was preparing to establish a joint Anglo-French Auror task force.

He clearly hadn't expected that Severus, who had disappeared in England just a few days earlier, would actually run away from the country!

The person responsible for delivering the letter was Robaz, who placed the accompanying French newspaper and an official letter from the French Auror Command in front of Scrimgeour.

"In France, it has been confirmed that the kidnappers of Nicolas Flamel are Death Eaters. Last night, an attack occurred on a Muggle welfare home in the suburbs of Paris, in which more than a dozen Muggles, a witch, and two Squirrels were suspected to have died. After the French Aurors arrived at the scene, a horde of Shadows emerged from the ground, and finally someone lit up the Dark Mark."

Scrimgeour's face clearly showed shock and bewilderment upon hearing the news.

"Did Barty Crouch Jr. really lead a group to France to kidnap Nicolas Flamel?"

He quickly became uneasy again, stood up from his chair, and began pacing back and forth in front of his desk.

"This is definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision! Kidnapping Nicolas Flamel in Paris and attacking a welfare home! They must have something to do with it! What about the Philosopher's Stone? Have they said anything about whether Flamel's Philosopher's Stone is missing?"

Robaz was still flipping through the letters at the back, his expression hesitant and incredulous, and he murmured to himself.

"Sir, it wasn't just the orphanage that was attacked. Last night, a group broke into the French Ministry of Magic. They discovered three goblins illegally using wands and a group of unidentified dark wizards who stole a confidential file from the Minister's office. They then tried to arrest a Muggle, and finally..."

"Last what?" Scrinker turned around and stared at him impatiently.

Robaz swallowed hard and handed a photograph to Scrinker.

"In the end, it was these two kids and Remus Lupin who drove those people away."

Scrinker took the photo. He recognized Lupin, of course, but the two boys standing next to him made Scrinker's eyes widen involuntarily.

"This is Snape's student, what's his name?"

"Dali Dursley".

"And what about this boy with light blond hair? He looks kind of familiar."

“That’s Lucius Malfoy’s only son, Draco Malfoy.” Robards was clearly more familiar with these pure-blood families in Britain.

"The Malfoy children?" Scrimgeour wasn't too surprised. "Snape and Malfoy are close, so it's normal for him to bring the Malfoy children out. But what can these two kids do? They've never even been to magic school, and they don't even deserve to have wands! Are they the three goblins that Lupin defeated?"

Robaz didn't say anything, but simply handed over the thank-you letter that Girard had written himself.

It clearly states how the fairy was defeated, and how much effort the boy named Dudley contributed to the defeat.

Upon finishing reading the letter, Scrimgeour's first feeling was one of absurdity.

"The French Ministry of Magic is out of manpower!" he couldn't help but sneer. "They can only send two children to protect their headquarters!"

He quickly made a decision and handed Robards the photo of Harry, Lupin, Draco, and a group of black cats in the main hall of the French Ministry of Magic.

"Gather the reporters and publish this immediately! Two random British children who have never studied magic have saved the French Ministry of Magic! The public will be ecstatic about this news, and the Leaky Cauldron won't have to worry about business for the rest of the week!"

Scrinker immediately sensed the immense news value of this incident.

“But that’s not all, sir.” Robards handed another letter to Scrimgeour, “not just the children, but also Severus Snape himself—he, he rescued the LeMays!”

Upon seeing the information in the other letter, Scrimgeour's eyes narrowed slightly at first, but quickly became exceptionally excited!
"This is a huge publicity stunt! It's enough to divert public attention from the fall of Azkaban!"

He had previously been at odds with Severus, distrusting the former Headmaster of Slytherin and suspecting him of having ulterior motives.

But none of these sentiments contained any personal grudges; they were entirely Scrimgeour's prejudice against the Death Eater group he once knew.

After discovering that Severus had truly reformed and helped the Aurors solve the Crouch case, Scrimgeour had already reversed his previous opinion of Severus.

Even though Severus was very disappointed in the English Aurors and didn't like him at all when they were at Crouch's house, Scrimgeour wasn't ashamed or angry about it, because the Aurors really did behave terribly in the Barty incident.

Therefore, when news of what Severus had done in France reached him, Scrimgeour's first reaction was not anger.

Whether it's personal feelings or a politician's political discipline, he is unlikely to feel angry.

Given the current situation in the British wizarding community, there is a great need for something good that can attract the vast majority of wizarding people to share the bad news about Azkaban's two consecutive Death Eater escapes!

Clearly, the fact that Severus and Lupin were in France with their two children carried significant weight.

Scringer paced back and forth faster as he immediately made arrangements for Robaz.

"Send letters to all the magic newspapers, inviting them to a press conference at the Auror Command at 2 PM today. Make dozens of copies of the two thank-you letters written by Gilar, and send one to each newspaper!"

"Report this to the Minister of Magic and Wizengamor. The rescue of Nicolas Flamel, along with the previous events, is enough to raise Snape's Order of Merlin, Second Class, by one class! The two children are not yet eligible for medals, so give Lupin a Third Class, and nominate the two children for medals! This matter should also be revealed to the Newspapers."

"Have Kingsley organize the press conference; he's good at dealing with reporters. Remember to have him mention at the end that the Death Eaters' operation in France has suffered a major failure! They failed to kidnap Nicolas Flamel. Furthermore, the British and French Ministries of Magic will form a joint investigation team to investigate all cases involving escaped Death Eaters!"

Robaz quickly left the office following Scrinker's instructions.

After he left, Scrimgeour did not return to his seat. He continued to pace back and forth in front of his desk with his hands behind his back, but the frequency of his steps was noticeably slower than before.

Although Aurors are rough around the edges, it doesn't mean that Auror supervisors are idiots.

Both Scrimgeour and Gilar were quite shrewd wizards.

The Death Eaters' actions in France, and Severus's sudden and unannounced appearance in France to help the French Ministry of Magic find Nicolas Flamel, seemed too coincidental to him.

He was no longer doubting any connection between Severus and the Death Eaters. What he had done to Barty Crouch Jr. in England had essentially severed all ties with them, leaving no possibility of reconciliation.

Scrimgeour was simply wondering if Severus had some special information channels. After all, he had been so close to the Death Eaters, and even after the fall of Varian, he had maintained good relations with pure-blood families like the Malfoys.

After the incident with Barty Jr., it wouldn't be hard to understand if Severus had more important news but chose to handle it himself instead of sharing it with the Aurors.

But Blake, who had just escaped from prison, certainly wasn't involved in the events in France.

Nicolas Flamel had already been abducted long before Black escaped, so it was impossible for them to have sent the news to Azkaban beforehand.

Now that news of Severus and his group in Paris is about to spread far and wide, if Blake's target is them, he will definitely go after them!
Scrimgeour's expression had become serious at this point.

The matter in Severus is not over yet!
Great Hangleton, England.

Since leaving the Gaunt mansion two days ago, Barty Jr. and his men have found a house in a nearby town.

The house's owners were gravediggers at a nearby cemetery. They used an Imperius Curse to control this Muggle, keeping him in the cemetery all day, only allowing him to return on his own when the Imperius Curse was about to wear off.

At this time, there were not many people in the house, and only Roll knew that Little Barty had been to the Gaunt old house.

Only Raoul truly knows what Little Barty gained in that old house!
Just as Severus had predicted, after the meeting with the former Death Eaters of the Malfoy family that day, those pure-blood Death Eaters did not keep their promise to Severus and his companions to completely sever ties with Barty Jr.

Instead, they naturally began to skillfully bet on both sides, playing the game of winning from both sides.

In addition to making assurances to Severus and promising to fund his search for the Dark Lord, they also made assurances to Barty the Younger's men.

They promised to regularly report to them everything happening in the British Ministry of Magic and to help them relay all known Auror action plans.

They also helped them cover their tracks to the best of their ability and provided them with financial support.

Like Severus, Little Barty never expected these insects to be of much help to him.

But what he knew even more clearly was that since his master had not yet been found, these people had to stay put. Even if they couldn't help, they absolutely couldn't cause any trouble!

Once their master is truly brought back, they will all become as docile as pet dogs, submitting to those they are meant to submit to.

However, during this time when Batty Jr. was taking a break in Big Hangorton to avoid the limelight.

The British magical community, however, was anything but quiet.

He soon learned about Blake's prison break.

He didn't know much about Sirius Black. He hadn't spent much time in Azkaban, nor had he been a true member of the Death Eaters for very long. He was far less knowledgeable about undercover work than people like Bella.

He only knew that there was a traitor among Potter's group, and it was because of that traitor's betrayal that their master was able to find the Potter family's location, which ultimately led to what happened that night.

After the incident, almost everyone identified Sirius Black as the sole person responsible for keeping the Potters' hideout a secret. Based on this clue, Barty believed that the only person who could have betrayed them was him!

The fact that the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic later arrested him and sentenced him to life imprisonment further confirmed that he was indeed a loyal follower of the Dark Lord, hiding among Potter's group.

Therefore, Barty, who was already planning to unite with everyone he could before finding the Dark Lord, immediately decided to try to contact Black, who had escaped from prison on his own.

No matter what signals he sent or what markings he made, Black seemed to have vanished into thin air. Neither the Aurors nor anyone else could find any valuable information.

Later on, Barty Jr. lost hope of finding Black.

After the Dark Lord's disappearance, the Death Eaters, now fragmented, have clearly split into five factions.

The "Azkaban" faction, who are completely imprisoned and unable to leave.

The Crouch faction, led by Barty Jr.

The "Snape faction" led by Severus.

Blake formed the "Lone Wolf" faction all by himself.

There's also the "fence-sitter" group led by Malfoy.

Barty the Younger was furious that the Death Eaters, who had once dominated the Ministry of Magic, had now split into such a state.

But the angrier he got, the calmer he became, clearly understanding that there was only one thing he could do to change the situation.

Bring the Dark Lord back!
Whoever can bring the Dark Lord back will gain the power to speak to everyone else!

Barty Jr. has made his biggest discovery regarding the Dark Lord.

In the gravedigger's room, all the curtains were drawn, and only a dim lamp illuminated the corner of the single sofa.

Luo Er sat on the sofa opposite him.

Among the group of dark wizards who followed him, the only one who was somewhat intelligent and loyal to the Dark Lord was left by Barty Jr., because he couldn't do everything by himself.

"Are you sure you found some information in that ring?"

Raoul's voice stammered; he had been both excited and uneasy ever since leaving the old Gaunt mansion.

Little Barty didn't look at him; his gaze was fixed on the old ring in his hand, which was inlaid with a black gemstone. After getting his hands on it, he didn't dare to explore the secrets hidden deep within, but he did gain some information that excited him greatly.

His voice was soft, but it carried a hint of obsessive madness.

"There's no mistake, this has a curse set by the master!"

(End of this chapter)