Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 197 The Undying Evil Magic

When the Mandela Resurrection Potion was poured on the banshee ghost, its originally bluish-gray body quickly underwent a significant change.

The banshee ghost's initially solid body began to become transparent, and her terrified expression gradually underwent a vivid change.

After the entire bottle of Mandela Resurrection Potion was poured over her, the Banshee Ghost was completely revived!

Draco and Harry's hands, which were holding its body, could no longer hold it in place; instead, they seemed to pass through some cold air and went straight into its body.

"Oh my god! The Snake King! It's the Snake King!!"

A sharp, witch's voice rang out across the meadow. The banshee ghost's consciousness seemed to be stuck before it was petrified, and it let out a loud bang the moment it regained consciousness.

This caused Draco and Harry to instinctively cover their ears to prevent damage to their eardrums.

"Alright, stop, stop. There's no snake king here. You've been rescued."

Severus spoke to the banshee ghost who was completely oblivious to her current predicament.

Upon hearing his words, the banshee ghost seemed to snap out of her daze. She looked around in astonishment, and after finding no snake king and nothing else that posed a danger to her, she finally calmed down.

"Where am I?"

It began to look around and soon realized that this place was not unfamiliar to it.

"I was rescued from that horrible guy's lair? Oh! And this is still in the Logara Forest!"

Soon, its gaze fell upon Severus, Lupin, and Andrews.

"You saved me? And you even brought me back to life?"

Lupin and Andrews both took a step back, clearly not wanting to create any misunderstanding that would prove Severus was the one who truly rescued the banshee ghost.

“I rescued you,” Severus said. “You were petrified by that basilisk underground, weren’t you?”

The banshee ghost had a shrill voice and seemed very easily agitated.

"Ah! Yes! That's it! I discovered the time it went out to forage. It might have been called by something. Anyway, it left its original nest, so I took this opportunity to try and go straight through that tunnel to where that thing was!"

"But to my surprise, at the last moment, it seemed to sense something and suddenly returned!"

"My God! You can't even imagine how big it was! That thing is not something a human could cultivate! I didn't even have time to react before I stared into its eyes, which were as big as light bulbs, and then my consciousness froze at that moment, my body was frozen in time!"

It started flitting around Harry and Draco.

"What day is it today? I don't even know how long I've been petrified there. Maybe a month? Or a year? Ten years? Or even a hundred years?"

"It's August 27, 1989." Harry instinctively wanted to get away from the crazy banshee ghost, but he still answered her question instinctively.

"Oh! That wasn't even a year! I remember crawling in during winter!"

The banshee ghost muttered to herself, seemingly unconcerned about how long she had been petrified, and showing no intention of thanking Severus and his companions whatsoever.

"Alright, everyone!" it called out. "This has been a wonderful gathering! But all good things must come to an end. We think it's time for us to part ways. Everyone has their own things to do, so let's say goodbye!"

As it spoke, it began to float away.

At that moment, Severus called out to it.

"Wait, Bellos."

Upon hearing the name, the banshee ghost turned to look at Severus as if she had seen a ghost.

"What did you call me!"

“Belos,” Severus repeated the name. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“How did you know!” the banshee ghost Belos screamed. “I’ve been dead for almost a thousand years! Nobody should know this name anymore!”

“Do you remember the man who saved you from a teacup?” Severus asked.

Bellos clearly couldn't have forgotten.

"You mean that old man named Nico!" it exclaimed. "He's such a skilled old fellow! I've never seen anyone with such superb alchemy skills! He's the one who broke the curse on the teacup and saved me!"

“Yes,” Severus coaxed. “I also learned about you from Nicola. You used to live in a mountain in France, right? And after you were freed from the teacup, you were completely unbound, and then you came here in search of something.”

“Yes!” Bellos shook his head, his tangled hair swaying like seaweed in the water. “You’re right. Nico freed me. I sensed something familiar in this forest that was related to that person, so I stayed here and went underground, where I finally encountered that basilisk!”

"So, can I know what you're looking for?" Severus asked his final question.

“Of course I’m looking.” Before he could finish speaking, Bellos seemed to suddenly remember something, and it stared at Severus with wide eyes.

Why should I tell you this? What does it have to do with you?

Its answer clearly surprised everyone present; both Lupin Andrews and Harry Draco stared at the ghost in astonishment.

"You're really rude," Bellos retorted, displeased. "How can you pry into such private matters!"

Harry was the first to speak loudly.

How could you talk like that! It was the teacher who saved you!

"Hey hey hey!" it waved its hand in dissatisfaction. "Don't talk to me like that! 'It was the teacher who saved you!' It's as if I begged him to save me."

Seeing its shameless appearance, Lupin's hand unconsciously gripped his wand, a move that Bellos keenly noticed.

"What kind of laughable spells are you planning to use, you wizard over there?" Bellos scoffed disdainfully. "Based on what you learned from that so-called magic school, what kind of magic can work on ghosts!"

It waved its hand, seemingly having completely lost interest in staying there.

These words angered not only Lupin and Harry, but also Draco, who was always arrogant and cocky.

But as Bellos said, normal wizards have virtually no means of dealing with spirits.

Even the Killing Curse has no effect on ghosts.

However, just as it was about to swagger away, a teacup appeared in Severus's hand without him noticing.

He didn't touch the teacup immediately, but said softly.

“If I were you, I would seriously consider whether I have the right to say these words, Bellos.”

Upon hearing Severus's words, Bellos was about to turn around and continue to mock its savior when it noticed the teacup in Severus's hand.

Instantly, its expression changed! Its previous arrogance and mockery vanished without a trace, and the terror revealed in its eyes seemed to originate from the deepest, most fundamental fear within its heart!
"You...you...you!! He actually gave this to you!!!"

It let out an even sharper scream, a sound completely different from its previous mockery, more like a self-destructive rage.

Severus simply blinked and said.

"That's why I said, why don't you think about it again?"

Bellos's expression kept changing, from anger to gloom, from gloom to indifference, and from indifference to fear. Finally, it seemed to have figured something out and was unable to resist the fear in its heart.

"What do you want to know!"

Its face was gloomy, as if Severus was not the one who had saved it at all.

Severus didn't care about its attitude at all; he only wanted to know what he wanted to know.

"What are you looking for in this forest? Or rather, what are you looking for in the underground where the basilisk is hiding?"

Bellos's voice was loud, as if he was venting.

"What can I look for! I sensed the same magic the wizard who locked me in the teacup used! I'm already dead, so what do I have to fear!"

"The same magic?" Severus noticed the key phrase in its words. "What kind of magic?"

“Of course it’s black magic! Terrible black magic!” Belos’s voice turned somber, as if he wanted to instill fear in Severus.

"Boy! That wizard's magic is incredibly powerful! Far beyond your current imagination! This is something you shouldn't be able to understand!"

“I suggest you just get to the point.” Severus stared at it. “You surely know what that magic is.”

Bellos felt a chill run down its spine as he looked at it, and it cried out again.

"It's a kind of witchcraft that can make people immortal! It's dark, evil, and the most terrifying magic created by black wizards!"

Lupin's brow furrowed deeply; he felt that the banshee ghost was deliberately avoiding the crux of the matter.

"You're being dishonest!"

His words angered Bellos, the banshee ghost who was afraid of the teacup in Severus's hand but not of Lupin.

"You insolent brat! What do you take me for? A missionary preaching morality and love? I wasn't even a human being when I was alive! Let alone now that I'm dead! Your moral concepts have no effect on me!"

Lupin wanted to say something more, but Severus stopped him. Others might not understand, but Severus could not possibly fail to understand what kind of evil magic Belos was talking about.

His expression grew serious.

The existence of Horcruxes is a secret known only to a very few wizards.

The only sorcerer in history who was definitively identified as the first to create a Horcrux was the ancient Greek "Hyper the Despicable".

However, such stories are not widely circulated among the general public. Only wizards with a deep understanding of the history of magic can comprehend the significance of such a magical invention.

If Belos detects a magical artifact similar to a Horcrux in this forest, whose Horcrux would it be?

Does this have anything to do with Voldemort himself?
Severus had thought a lot in that instant, but his gaze remained fixed on Belos, and finally he asked solemnly.

"You think that thing is hidden underground, in that place guarded by the basilisk?"

Bellos felt uneasy under Severus's gaze, sensing that the wizard knew something others didn't.

He didn't dare to show the resentment he had felt at the time, and just said it reluctantly.

“I searched this forest for a long time! But I only made a discovery half a year ago! At first I thought it was there, but before the snake king caught up and petrified me, I saw that the place was empty!”

"At some point in the past, that thing must have been there, but it's gone now! Either the wizard let it move away on its own to protect it, or someone else found it and took it!"

It revealed everything it knew, and its fear of the teacup after becoming a ghost made it reveal everything without reservation.

Severus had clearly noticed this as well, and he pressed for more information.

"What do you want to do with that thing? To take revenge on the dark wizard who imprisoned you?"

“Revenge?” Bellos said incredulously. “He killed me when I was alive, and even imprisoned me after I died! I can’t even remember how many years have passed. How could I possibly get revenge on him? I could never do something so humiliating!”

"I just wanted to find what he left behind. It was an almost instinctive urge, like how some people like yellow and some people like red, but they can't really explain why..."

It kept babbling on and on, as if it had endless things to say.

Severus had to interrupt it.

"So what's next? Are you planning to continue searching for that thing you haven't found?"

"Of course I won't give up! I'm sure it's still in this forest, and I'll find it!"

Bellos said definitively.

"Good luck to you then."

Severus did not make things difficult for it; after learning what he wanted to know, he let the banshee go.

Upon hearing this, Bellos's expression relaxed.

"Aha, then good luck to you too! If your goal is to find some legendary spring!"

It began to drift away and eventually disappeared into the dense forest.

After it left, Lupin also turned to look at Severus.

"Is what this ghost is looking for the same thing you're looking for?"

Severus shook his head.

"There might be a connection, but it's not."

"So what are you going to do next?" Lupin also realized that the clues about Severus seemed to have ended with this banshee ghost.

But then, Severus pulled out the silver whistle he had found in the underground chamber from his pocket.

"What Bellos is looking for but hasn't found might be related to this thing."

(End of this chapter)