Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 219 Master! I am your loyal servant!

"So we went through all that trouble to get here, only to find this cursed spring?"

Harry looked a little deflated, and he said disappointedly.

Lupin smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Even if the spring water is cursed, there are many rare herbs here, right? We can collect them; that would be a considerable treasure!"

Draco, however, pursed his lips and glanced around at the flowers and plants.

"How much is this junk worth?"

This certainly requires a professional to make an estimate, and Severus is clearly that professional.

"There are some herbs there that are almost impossible to find in the magical world. They are so rare that they are priceless. Even if we estimate them at the lowest possible price, the items here are worth at least 7000 to 10000 Galleons."

Such numbers made even Draco, who had already seen many big scenes with Lucius, widen his eyes in disbelief!

"It's worth so much!"

"This is just a conservative estimate. If we can find reliable channels to gradually distribute it, it could actually sell for around 15,000 Galleons."

"We're going to be rich!" Draco and Harry shouted excitedly again.

They ran toward the herbs around them, but Lupin managed to stop them in time.

“You need professional knowledge to harvest and transplant these herbs. You can watch from the side and let the adults demonstrate for you first.”

This adventure, which was originally set out to target the Fountain of Good Fortune, ended up turning into a herbal medicine lesson.

Severus and Lupin worked with the herbs while teaching Draco and Harry to identify the different plants.

And so it went until it was completely dark, and no one else ever arrived at the place where the Fountain of Good Fortune was.

Severus then understood.

In fact, the reason they got to where they are today is probably not because of their good luck, but because someone has been pushing them to get here from the beginning.

But he showed no sign of anything amiss on his face. Before leaving, Harry was worried about what would happen if other wizards found this place and were unaware that the curse in the Fountain of Good Fortune had been damaged.

Finally, Severus erected a sign by the spring, writing in English, "The spring is cursed," and then he and Lupin, along with Harry Draco, returned down the same way they came.

The journey back was smooth and without any obstacles. However, when they walked out of the stone archway they had come from, they found that all the wizards of Albania had gathered there. However, the entrance to the stone gate had been closed at some point, and no one who came after them could get in.

Before Severus and his companions emerged, many wizards had also returned empty-handed. They either couldn't climb the steep mountain or were hindered by the river without a bridge. Apart from Severus and his group, no one was lucky enough to reach the labyrinth.

When they came out, they were surrounded by reporters from various newspapers who rushed over, eager to interview them about what they had encountered inside and whether they had found the Fountain of Good Fortune.

Faced with the reporters' questions, Harry and Draco, two naive children, instinctively wanted to tell the truth and tell others that the so-called Fountain of Good Fortune was actually cursed and could not be used at all.

But before they could leave, Severus grabbed them and then, laughing it off to the reporters, said that they too were trapped by the river and, after searching for a long time without finding a way out, had simply turned back.

After returning to the tent, Severus explained to the puzzled Harry and Draco why he had said that.

“If we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes, no one would have believed what we were saying. Those reporters would just treat it as big news and spread it around, reporting that we wanted to keep the Lucky Spring to ourselves. They would say that on purpose, and things that were originally not troublesome would end up with a lot of trouble coming to us.”

The two children clearly didn't quite understand the intricacies of adult society, and Harry just kept asking.

"So we're just going to pretend we know nothing about this?"

Severus shrugged.

"Of course not, but I need to find a reliable person to convey the message. Before leaving this forest, I will find the Auror director in Albania and tell him about it."

After a simple late-night snack in the tent, the boys went back to rest, exhausted. Only Lupin looked at Severus, who seemed hesitant to speak from the start of the meal.

Severus clearly guessed what Lupin wanted to ask, but after glancing at the fluffy creature out of the corner of his eye, he gestured that they could talk about these things later.

After the late-night snack, Severus returned to his bedroom.

At this point, Ghost Snape could no longer contain himself.

"What are you waiting for! You've already spotted him, why aren't you making your move! He's right next to Potter, he could hurt that boy at any moment!"

"Putting aside whether he still has that ability now, even if he could really hurt Harry, he definitely wouldn't do it."

Severus simply spoke calmly, reassuring the ghost Snape.

"Relax, don't rush. Remember what I told you during the day? His actions have proven that testing whether my loyalty still exists in his heart is much more important than drinking the blood of a unicorn."

“My actions have indirectly proven my loyalty. He must have thought that if it hadn’t been for the eventual discovery that the unicorn was an illusion, a spirit, I would have offered my pure blood to welcome his return.”

"Then why hasn't he made a move yet?"

"So he became your master, while you were just a servant back then," Severus quipped, then continued before Ghost Snape could even get angry.

“He must already know that if I’m not an idiot, I’ll have figured it out. And now he has no need to keep it a secret any longer. He’ll definitely come looking for me tonight.”

After Severus finished speaking, Ghost Snape remained silent, and both of them fell silent.

Instead, he let time tick by, until nearly midnight, when everyone else in the tent was fast asleep. At one point, Severus could clearly feel the Dark Mark on his arm, which had been dormant for eight years, burning hot!

"It's here!" he muttered to himself, but outwardly appeared as if he had suddenly woken up, his face full of surprise and doubt.

The bedroom remained empty, devoid of anything. Severus's voice, a mixture of fear and surprise, echoed through the empty air.

"Master! Master! Is that you! Have you returned!"

Seeing this, Ghost Snape clenched his fists involuntarily, cursing under his breath, "That damned fraud, that actor!"

A gust of wind blew in from outside, stirring the curtains, as if in response to Severus's call. A phantom, more transparent than a ghost, with an indistinct face, and seemingly composed of colored gas, appeared before Severus.

"Sometimes, fate is truly amazing, isn't it?"

The humanoid gaseous voice sounded as if it wasn't coming from a throat; it was noticeably high-pitched, yet it was unmistakably Voldemort's own voice!

“I wondered which of my former loyal subordinates would come here to find me: Bella, Rodolphus, Labastan, August. But to my surprise, the first one to come here, wanting to find me, is you, Severus.”

His words made Severus tremble. His face, which was usually cold and empty in front of others, showed excitement and submission only when he saw this man.

"Master! I've been looking for you all this time! I've tried almost everything to find you! Today I've finally found you! I've finally found you!!"

"You've found me. What about the names I mentioned earlier?" Voldemort asked calmly.

“They’ve all been captured and thrown into Azkaban!” Severus exclaimed excitedly. “After you disappeared, the Aurors have been hunting us down! Some have betrayed us, some have defected, and some have been frantically searching for you! Lestrange and his men captured those two Longbottom Aurors in their search for you, trying to force them to reveal your whereabouts, but they were ultimately captured by the Aurors themselves!”

"And what about you?" The humanoid gaseous form kept its gaze fixed on Severus. "What were you doing then?"

“Master! Please forgive your loyal servant’s helpless actions!” Severus bowed his head deeply, humbly and honestly recounting his experiences afterward to Voldemort.

"At that time, I was also desperate to find you, but I knew that ordinary people would definitely not know where you were! The most likely person to have news of you would be the one who had always been against you!"

"I used the Potter family's affairs to gain Dumbledore's trust, and infiltrated Hogwarts, getting close to Dumbledore and constantly trying to find out information about you from him!"

"Ultimately, it was from Lady Grey, the resident ghost of Ravenclaw, that I heard some stories about how you cleverly obtained the Ravenclaw tiara from her, and that's how I found this place!"

This answer left even the Ghost Snape, who had been holding his breath in tension, completely bewildered.

Ms. Gray?

What does this have to do with that ghost?

Has he already prepared all the possible responses?
After listening to Severus's words, Voldemort remained silent for a few seconds. He then did not comment on Severus's experience, but simply said in a subtle tone...

“You’ve changed a lot over the years being around Dumbledore, Severus. I never knew you had such eloquence before.”

“Master! I did all this to gain Dumbledore’s trust! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have entrusted Harry Potter to me! Nor would he have let me stay at Hogwarts so confidently!”

Severus's voice was sincere and aggrieved, as if he had been subjected to a tremendous slander.

"Your servants have prepared everything over the years, and now the entire wizarding world believes that Severus Snape has turned over a new leaf and reformed! Only in this way will they not suspect that I have been searching for you all along! Dumbledore and the Aurors will also pay less attention to me!"

"As long as we can find you and bring you back, it will be worth it no matter what!"

His heartfelt speech would have fooled even Snape the Ghost if he hadn't known exactly what Snape wanted.

At that moment, as if he had suddenly thought of something, Severus abruptly raised his head and began to tattle in a hurried voice.

"And there's that Barty Crouch Jr.! He was also captured in Azkaban, but was later secretly rescued by his father! Some time ago, he gathered your servants who weren't caught in England, and brazenly used your name to try and bring all the former Death Eaters together!"

"All the Aurors were alarmed by his actions! Those idiots in the Ministry of Magic had already begun to relax their guard against us, thinking you would never return, but because of what he did, they have started a massive manhunt for the wizarding world again!"

“Because of this, I went to see him specifically to remind him that such high-profile behavior would not help him find you in the slightest! But he turned around and accused me of betraying you! He said he was the truly loyal one!”

"Master! Because of him! I almost couldn't find you!"

After listening to Severus's entire story, Voldemort finally gave him a word of affirmation.

“Very good, you did very well, Severus. You did better than the others. I will reward you.”

Ghost Snape's face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

He believed that Voldemort had taken Severus's words to heart and had no doubts about him whatsoever!
However, Severus understood perfectly.

This Dark Lord, who isn't noseless yet, is unlikely to completely trust anyone, not even Bella's family or Lestrange.

He said this because he had no way to verify what Severus said. After conducting a test at the Fountain of Good Fortune and confirming Severus's loyalty, his intervention now proved that he could only trust Severus.

Those words were merely a reprimand from a superior to a servant.

Eight years have passed. Even for wizards whose lifespan is normally longer than that of Muggles, eight years is not a short time. Voldemort must make Severus remember the feeling of submission to him.

“Severus, that woman was asking for death. I failed to keep my promise to you and killed her. Don’t you resent me?”

Voldemort's voice was very soft; his question sounded like a casual inquiry.

(End of this chapter)