Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 199 Entering the Forest
"There are too many wizards here!"

At the edge of the Logara Forest, Perkins, who had already disguised himself, looked at the excited explorers around him who were rushing into the forest with their friends and cheers, filled with apprehension and tension.

Barty, who had already turned his hair red, was short in stature and looked older than his age; he was simply making final preparations before entering the forest.

They also bought a wizard's camping tent near Albania, and the shop that sold the tents is said to have made a fortune during this period.

In addition, various exploration tools also sold extremely well.

Little Bati had all these things prepared, but he didn't generate revenue for the Albanian merchants; he had bought them in advance in Diagon Alley, England.

"Should we really have come here at this time?" After receiving no response for a while, Perkins couldn't help but lower his voice again and ask Barty, "There are too many wizards gathered here. What if they find us?"

"Didn't you keep complaining to me that we wasted a lot of time and didn't achieve anything?" Little Barty said calmly. "Now that we're about to make a big discovery, you're starting to get scared?"

"How can you be so sure there will be a major discovery!" Perkins asked, his eyes wide. "We've failed so many times, are we really going to find something?"

Upon hearing his question, Little Barty simply put down what he was holding and looked at the group of wizards who would normally be hard to find in any wizard village or street, but were now easily visible in this forest. He then softly asked in return.

Why are so many people gathered here?

Perkins disliked Barty's indirect manner, but he dared not show his dislike and suppressed his impatience as he spoke.

“We knew the reason when we first arrived in Albania! These wizards are from around Albania. They have heard the legend of the Fountain of Good Fortune hidden in this forest since they were young. Recently, a golden unicorn has been seen in the forest. They all say that as long as we follow the golden unicorn, we will eventually find the legendary Fountain of Good Fortune!”

At this point, he couldn't help but add his own judgment.

"But such a legend is utter nonsense! Seventy or eighty years ago, there was a craze for finding the Fountain of Good Fortune here, but after so long, no one has found any evidence of this legend. The golden unicorn is probably not real. It's either a gimmick spread by some speculators, or someone has mistaken a creature like a poisonous unicorn for a real one."

"Regardless of whether the golden unicorn exists or not, or whether the legend of the Fountain of Good Fortune is true or false," Little Barty said calmly, "a major event is happening here right now, isn't it?"

His sudden question caught Perkins off guard, and he didn't quite catch up. They had been talking about what was happening here, so how did the topic suddenly shift to this?

"Something big is definitely happening here, otherwise so many wizards wouldn't be gathered here."

“Something is happening, and that’s the best evidence.” Little Barty’s lips curled into a subtle smile. “Someone is doing something here.”

"There are countless wizards in this world! How can you be so sure that what's happening here is definitely related to the master?"

Barty Jr. simply stared at Perkins, who had raised the question, and shook his head, seemingly having given up hope on the gangster's intelligence.

“The master wouldn’t have given me those images for no reason. He must have made some arrangements here, just like the other places we searched before. It’s just that we didn’t find out what he was hiding before, but now a large number of people have been mobilized here.”

At this point, Little Barty's voice suddenly became playful.

"Perhaps Severus Snape is also here plotting something unknown after he disappeared from France."

This made Perkins, who was already very uneasy, even more nervous.

"What if he were here? What should we do if he were here?"

Little Barty didn't answer his idiotic question; he simply picked up his packed suitcase, strode towards the forest, and headed forward.

Meanwhile, on the other side of this forest...

An elderly man wearing a short cloak and leaning on a trekking pole arrived at the edge of Logara National Park, leading a large, jet-black dog.

Albanian police officers were watching the old man intently. A large group of strangely dressed people had been gathering near the forest in the past two days, which had already attracted the attention of the Albanian Muggle government.

They tried to find these people in the forest, but they couldn't find any trace of them.

The only option was to deploy police around the forest park to search for the strange people who had wandered into the forest.

It wasn't that the Albanian Muggle police were making a mountain out of a molehill, but rather that the wizard who had learned of the golden unicorn's appearance in the Logara Forest through various channels these past few days was simply too flamboyant.

They entered the forest as if participating in a grand event, making no attempt to conceal their special status.

Because of this matter, the International Wizarding Federation has already issued two warnings to the Albanian Ministry of Magic, reminding them that they must restrain the wizards within their territory to prevent the violation of secrecy laws.

However, those who came to Logara to explore and search for the Fountain of Good Fortune were clearly not only Albanian sorcerers; many were sorcerers from neighboring countries, especially Bulgaria and Greece.

Even if the Albanian Ministry of Magic wanted to restrain them, it would be difficult to have much influence on these people, given that their main Auror personnel had been transferred to the Dragon Nature Reserve.

Thus, the Muggle police's operation naturally began.

They deployed police forces to guard some of the forest entrances in an attempt to catch some of the troublemakers, but so far they have not succeeded once.

The police officers stationed here now have their eyes fixed on Nicolas Flamel.

He thought the outfit was a bit retro, but compared to the other weirdos, he was a fairly normal old man, probably over a hundred years old.

Judging from his physical condition, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would cause any trouble.

The only unusual thing was the black dog he was holding.

It was incredibly large, and its behavior and eyes showed no trace of a dog.

"Do you wish to enter the forest, sir?"

After hesitating for a moment, the police officer decided to speak up and stop the old man.

He spoke in Albanian, and upon hearing his words, Nico responded gently in fluent Albanian.

“Oh, of course, my friend. The air in the city is so polluted these days. Getting out of nature is good for an old man like me, isn’t it?” The police officer had obviously noticed from the beginning that the old man didn’t look Albanian, so when he heard the fluent Albanian, his face showed obvious surprise.

“You’re right, but if you want to breathe fresh air, there are many other options, sir. Although some areas of this forest are open, there are still many hidden dangers.”

"Are you trying to persuade me to go back?" Nico smiled, waving the rope in his hand. "Don't worry, even if I'm old and frail, I still have a guard by my side. It will protect my safety."

Upon hearing Nico's words, the police officer followed his gaze and looked at the black dog.

For some reason, the officer couldn't help but shiver when he met the black dog's eyes.

"No, no! For safety reasons, I can't just let you go like this. Please wait a moment while I contact my superior; he will..."

Just as the police officer stopped Nico and was about to contact his superiors, a pocket watch appeared in Nico's hand without his knowledge.

He opened the watch cover and waved it in front of the officer. The next second, the officer seemed to suddenly remember something and slapped his forehead.

"How did I get here! According to orders, it should be shift change time now! Damn it, why aren't those lazybones here yet? Do I have to go find them now?!"

After being clearly affected by the Confusion Charm, the officer walked away cursing and no longer blocked Nico's path.

After he left, Nico put away his pocket watch, led the black dog, and finally walked into the forest.

But after taking only two steps forward, the black dog miraculously began to emit human voices!
"You should have used that thing from the beginning."

The voice clearly did not belong to Blake himself, but rather sounded like a passionate radio announcer, and even the tone and mannerisms seemed to come from a radio.

If someone were to carefully search for the source of the sound at this time, they would find a miniature radio under the black dog's collar.

That was an alchemical device that Niko had improved upon through alchemy, which could help Animagus, who had been transformed into an animal, to still speak human voices through consciousness in animal form!
He even gave the device a name – "Broadcast Number Three".

That was Nico's favorite wireless wizard radio station at home, and the male voice on that radio was the voice of the male announcer who hosted the program.

Nicole simply spoke patiently in the face of Blake's complaints.

"We should cherish the role that language plays for us. Sometimes we can communicate with words, so we should try to use only this method, because it is the least costly and most effortless way to reach a consensus with people."

"But you still used magic in the end!" The male announcer's voice sounded like he was reciting a hymn.

Nico simply shrugged at this.

"That's because verbal communication is no longer effective. In that case, I should switch to another more efficient method."

Blake quickly realized that he was doing something incredibly foolish—arguing with an old man whose time seemed to be infinite.

If this argument continues, it will only torture Blake, no matter the outcome.

So he quickly chose to ask some questions that he was more concerned about.

"There are so many wizards in this forest now, all searching for that legendary Fountain of Good Fortune. How are we supposed to find that snotty-nosed devil?!"

The male announcer on Radio Number Three was clearly an opera enthusiast. His voice perfectly conveyed Blake's words, yet he sang "Snotty-nosed" with great passion, as if it were not an insult at all, but a title for a hero.

Such a tone made Blake extremely uncomfortable, but he had to admit that the device Nico had put on him was very useful for an Animagus.

Nico didn't answer Blake's question. He just smiled and took out a piece of parchment from his pocket before slowly saying...

"Do you remember this letter I received two days ago when we were preparing to leave?"

Blake just stared at him without saying a word; the question clearly didn't require any answer from him.

"This letter was written to me by Severus. The current craze for finding the Fountain of Good Fortune in this forest must have been started by them. He discovered the ruins left by an ancient wizard somewhere underground in the forest, which contain a basilisk that is at least nine hundred years old, as well as a secret garden."

"In the garden, he found an interesting alchemical artifact, but they couldn't figure out how to make anything out of it themselves, so they wrote to me for help."

Upon hearing this, Blake's eyes widened completely.

"So you knew where he and Harry were as soon as you set off!"

Nico did not deny this.

"They gave me the corresponding coordinates and even thoughtfully suggested that if it was inconvenient for me to go out, Severus could return to Paris and bring the alchemical device over, but I declined in my reply."

At this moment, Blake's eyes suddenly became tense, and he stared intently at Nico.

Did you tell him, tell him about me?

“Of course not.” Before he could finish speaking, Nico shook his head and denied it. “I made a promise to you that I would let you meet him and confront him face to face, didn’t I? At least, you don’t need to doubt the character of an old man like me.”

Hearing his answer, Blake breathed a sigh of relief, but then he couldn't help but ask more questions.

"So why don't we go find them right away?"

When faced with this question, Nicole simply shook her head again.

“Severus is asking me for help. Those ancient alchemical artifacts that are older than me are not so easy to study. I need to go to the place where they were discovered to take a look.”

“Tell me where they are, and I’ll go find them!” Blake said eagerly.

“No, that won’t work. You can’t communicate with them properly without me,” Nico refused. “Have some patience; that’s what you lack most.”

(End of this chapter)