Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 192 I am not a traitor, but I killed a traitor.

France, Paris, Lemaître Cottage.

In the small garden outside, a large, pure black dog dressed in a pink dog costume was lying on the grass, yawning listlessly.

On the other side, the house-elf named Chimi was trimming the flowerbeds.

Blake stared at the little elf. He had been staying at the Lemaître house for almost a week, and the biggest obstacle to his many attempts to sneak into Lemaître's study was this little elf.

The Lemaîtres house had clear alchemical protection, including the study, and those rooms had identity verification. If it weren't for the Lemaîtres, Black would never have had the chance to enter!
The person who usually maintains the alchemical formula in the attic is the house-elf Chimi.

Black had been growing increasingly anxious during these days of waiting. He had paid such a high price, serving as a pet to the Flamel family and allowing Mrs. Flamel to dress him in those extremely shameful clothes, all just to gain something from the Flamel family and find out where Severus had taken Harry!
Today, he simply couldn't wait any longer.

In any case, he had to risk trying to break the alchemical spell protecting the study that night in order to find the correspondence between Nicolas Flamel and Severus.

As dusk settled, Chimi finished pruning the garden and returned inside to prepare dinner for the Lemais.

Blake didn't move; he simply looked up at the attic of the cabin.

That was Chimi's residence, and also the place where the entire alchemical formula of this house existed.

Every night after Chimi finishes cleaning all the housework, it returns to its little nest in the attic and maintains an alchemical state.

Blake knew he had to seize the time before the spell was officially launched!
At 6:20, the Lemaîtres returned to the cabin on time. Now that there was less attention in France about the hostage situation, the two elderly people could focus on their aid projects in the magical world.

When the couple ate, Blake entered the cabin just like them, except that he did not sit at the table, and the food in his bowl was exactly the same as that of the Lemais.

The Lemaîtres were eager to name Blake, and even four or five days earlier, she had come up with many names, such as Baker or Mars, but Nicole rejected them all, saying instead that it would be simpler to call him "Noir".

Blake's life has been relatively easy these days. Every evening and morning, Nicole takes him out for a walk around the streets near the cabin.

At first, when the dog leash was put on him, Blake instinctively tried to struggle, but when Nico's old hand touched his head and gently comforted him, telling him that these were necessary if he wanted to go out, Blake endured it.

He now has to play the role of a good dog in order to achieve his goal!
After dinner tonight, Nico, as usual, took Blake for a walk outside on a leash.

Back in the cabin, the Lemaîtres prepared to rest. After the bedroom light was turned off, Blake, who had been lying in his foyer in the hallway, began to move.

He walked up the stairs silently in the darkness, like a ghost, and finally arrived at the attic.

Chimi hadn't returned to its dwelling yet; there was still some final work to be done in the kitchen. But it didn't keep Black waiting for long. Less than twenty minutes later, the small figure used the Pokémon's unique ability, Apparition, to return to the attic.

It seemed very content with its fulfilling life and was in a great mood. Just as it was about to turn on the attic light and straighten the pillowcase it was wrapped in, a spell suddenly struck it!
"The soul is out of body!"

One of the three unforgivable curses, the Imperius Curse, was used by Black, who had already returned to human form in the darkness.

Chimi, who was ambushed, did not react at all; its large eyes became noticeably empty and vacant.

"Open the alchemical lock on the study." Blake's eerie voice rang out, and Chimi, controlled by the Imperius Curse, raised his finger the next second.

House-elves don't need wands to cast spells; they simply tap their slender fingers lightly on the air a few times, and all sorts of magical runes light up on the walls of the attic.

The light flashed and disappeared in an instant; opening the barrier of a single room was obviously not difficult for Chimi.

After completing Blake's task, he stood there dumbfounded, like a robot that had lost its commands, showing no intention of taking any further action.

"I'm sorry, I had no other choice."

Black was breathing heavily. He apologized and then used a stun spell on Chimi, putting it to sleep.

Without hesitation, Blake transformed back into his black dog form, left the attic, and quickly found the study, which was separated from the Lemaîtres' bedroom by only one wall.

Standing at the door, he quietly reverted to human form, then gently grasped the doorknob and opened the study door.

The house was clearly very old; the hinges on the doors were no longer as smooth as when they were brand new, and a faint creaking sound echoed in the dark and quiet corridor.

Blake finally managed to enter Nicolas Flamel's study!

He carefully closed the door again, then instead of turning on the study light, he waved his wand and used the Illumination Charm.

Even with the Illumination Charm, he deliberately controlled the light to prevent it from becoming too bright. Then he quickly went to his desk and began searching through the letters on the desk and in the drawers.

As a renowned figure in the wizarding world, Nico obviously receives a considerable number of letters. After searching for a while, Black discovered that he had a special chest of drawers next to his desk used to store these letters.

But after spending more than an hour going through all the letters, Blake still couldn't find any correspondence with Severus.

This made him extremely anxious and impatient. If the Lemaître family also had no information about Severus's whereabouts, then Black would have completely lost all clues. Before this, he had never thought of this possibility!
After going through all the letters in the dresser, Blake turned to look for the items on the bookshelf. His movements were very rough, and he had no intention of restoring the items there afterward. Whether he found anything tonight or not, Blake did not plan to stay there any longer.

But before he could even rearrange the books on the bookshelf, a hoarse and humorous voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.

"Please don't mess up my bookshelf that I've worked so hard to organize, Mr. Black."

“You have already searched all my letters, and you won’t find what you’re looking for there.”

The moment the sound rang out, Blake's whole body began to tremble violently!

He suddenly turned around and instinctively pointed his glowing wand at the hunched old man in front of the door!

Nico, who appeared at the door at some unknown time, simply waved his hand at the wand pointed at him, gently closed the study door again, and turned on the light.

"Don't make such a commotion, Perena is asleep, don't wake her." Blake's breathing became more rapid, he stared intently at the old man in front of him, a huge sense of panic welling up inside him!

He's exposed!

His greatest asset in escaping Azkaban and getting rid of the Aurors has been exposed to Nicolas Flamel!
Once Niko relays the information that he is an illegal Animagus to the Aurors, Black will no longer be able to easily escape the combined pursuit of the Anglo-French Aurors as he does now!
At that moment, Blake's mind was in complete turmoil.

He looked at Nico with a conflicted expression, already making a decision in his mind!

Now he could knock Nico down immediately and then use a forgetting spell on him to make him forget everything that happened tonight.

Or simply escape and leave France immediately!

Nicole stared into his eyes as if she could see right through him.

"Of course you can subdue me and then run away, continuing to play cat and mouse with those Aurors, but are you really willing to do that, Sirius Black, leave empty-handed?"

His words were like a sharp spear, piercing straight into Blake's heart and nearly stopping him from breathing!

Under the dim light, their eyes met for a long time before Blake finally spoke in his hoarse voice.

"What do you want to do? Persuade me to turn myself in to the Auror?"

After hearing him speak, Nico pulled out a chair from the side, sat down, and gestured for Blake to sit down as well.

“You can leave anytime you want, and I won’t waste my time trying to persuade you to turn yourself in. Since things are like this, why don’t we sit down and talk? Only through communication and exchange can we resolve misunderstandings between people.”

Blake stared at him for a while longer before finally sitting down in the chair opposite Nico.

"What do you want to talk to a criminal like me about?" Black said somewhat anxiously. He knew in his heart that the Flamel family was his last hope of finding Severus and Harry, but the current situation made him unable to calm down.

"Why do you want to go find Severus Snape?" Nico asked calmly in a soft voice.

"Why are you looking for him! Didn't you see what the French newspapers said? I resent him for betraying my master! I want to find him and take revenge!"

Blake said, half sarcastically and half angrily.

Nico simply shook her head slowly at this.

"But I think that might not be the truth."

Upon hearing this, Blake looked up in astonishment, staring at Nico with an incredulous expression.

Since he was sent to Azkaban without any trial, no one has ever doubted the enormity of his sins!
On that tragic street, thirteen innocent Muggles perished, along with Peter. As the only person present at the scene who had fought with Peter, even Dumbledore never doubted Black's innocence.

But now in France, an old alchemist who had never experienced the turmoil in England and had only lived for over a hundred years actually believed that the accusations against him were not the truth!
This gave Blake a sense of absurdity and irony, yet also a strange, unexpected expectation welled up deep within him.

He took a deep breath and looked at Nico.

"Why do you say that!"

Nico simply smiled and spoke.

"If you were really the kind of vicious thug described in the news, you wouldn't be drinking with a Muggle homeless man in the subway station where I found you."

"Although Animagus can perfectly turn a person into an animal, no matter what, a person's emotions and thoughts will not disappear. At that time, the regret and sorrow in your eyes are not fake."

"There's more to this story than meets the eye, isn't there?"

Blake stared blankly at Nico. He never expected that the old man would start to realize something was wrong that night when he was drunk!
Nicole simply laughed in response to his shock.

"Don't underestimate an old man who has lived for over six hundred years. The experiences of ghosts are frozen at that moment after death, so no matter how many years pass, their minds will not change. But I am different."

"I have met many, many people and encountered many, many things in my life. Even though my brain is no longer as sharp as it was when I was young, it can still make summaries and think."

"I noticed your difference the moment I saw you, but at that time I didn't think you were Sirius Black. Later, I had some conversations with Dumbledore and learned some things from him, which led me to make some guesses."

"This speculation was finally confirmed tonight."

After listening to his story, Blake swallowed hard. He truly couldn't imagine what time could possibly bring to a person.

But at this moment, Blake could indeed tell that Nicole didn't mean him any harm.

If what Nico said is true, and he already noticed something was wrong with him on the very first day he brought him home, then he could have quietly summoned the Aurors at that time.

However, he waited until now, until tonight in the study, when he caught him red-handed!

The study fell silent again. Nico seemed unhurried, waiting for Blake to make his choice after he finished recounting his findings.

Blake himself was also struggling and hesitant. He clenched his fists tightly, and instead of looking at Nico, he lowered his head, not wanting Nico to see the complicated choice on his face.

The silence lasted for a long time, probably more than ten minutes, before Blake raised his head again, looked into Nicole's eyes, and slowly began to speak.

"I am not a traitor, but I killed the real traitor."

(End of this chapter)