Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 220 Take Me Back to England
After Voldemort's question was answered, the entire bedroom fell silent.

Severus was not lulled into a false sense of security by Voldemort's seemingly mild voice.

He knew very well that this was the source of Voldemort's greatest wariness of him!
Before that night, Severus had not only gone to see Dumbledore, but also pleaded with his master Voldemort.

He begged him to let Lily go, since his ultimate target was only Harry Potter, that boy who had just been born.

Voldemort did indeed value Severus, and that very night, he actually considered letting Lily go and fulfilling his promise to Severus.

But few mothers in this world would stand idly by and watch their sons be killed, choosing instead to live a life of ignominy.

Lily ultimately died for Harry.

This prevented Voldemort from fulfilling his initial promise to Severus.

If he were still that powerful and arrogant, Voldemort would certainly not care about breaking his promise to his subordinates.

But he was now so weak that he was weaker than a mouse and needed Severus's help, so he had to take this matter into consideration.

He asked the question so directly because he wanted to see Severus's reaction.

Whether Severus was truly resentful or completely indifferent, Voldemort still needed him to bring him out of there, but once he was out, the decisions that needed to be made were different.

Severus knew perfectly well what Voldemort was thinking.

He lowered his head, as if trying to hide his inner hesitation and struggle, but in the end he raised his head again and looked at Voldemort, who was in gaseous form and not human at all, and said with a sincere expression.

“Master! I will not lie to you. When I first learned that the woman was dead, I did resent you. But with your disappearance, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic began their purge and counterattack, and I finally realized the truth!”

"Compared to our ideals, what is a woman, especially one of low birth? Our true ideal is to reform all wizards and change the world!"

"Therefore, your servant Severus Snape remains loyal to you and will always be your most faithful servant!"

His answer seemed to please Voldemort, whose gaseous humanoid face showed a noticeable change in expression.

Severus's answer was quite honest, and that's exactly the kind of honesty he wanted.

As for absolute loyalty, Voldemort never believed in that.

He never believed in anyone's so-called loyalty; the only forces he trusted were those he could control personally!
“Very good, I’m glad you told me this, and I’m glad you thought it through so clearly, Severus.”

He spared no praise for Severus, and his tone was noticeably more relaxed than before.

“Tell me about how you gained Dumbledore’s trust, how you brought Potter into your life, and how you finally found me.”

Upon hearing him ask such a question, both Severus and Ghost Snape secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this point, they had temporarily gained Voldemort's initial trust, which was by no means an easy task. Only in this way could Severus's subsequent preparations come in handy.

"The reason Dumbledore believed me at the time was because of my relationship with that woman," Severus began to recount his journey of seeking God.

“I told him I wanted to repent, and he seemed to have always believed that you didn’t die so easily, so he wanted to keep me by his side to prepare for the future.”

"But as you know, Master, no one can fathom Dumbledore's mind. In all my years at Hogwarts, I don't even know if I've truly gained his trust."

"Until recently, after I had searched everywhere for you and finally learned of the location of the Albanian Forest from the ghost of Ravenclaw, I realized that I had to leave England for the time being."

“But if we just leave like this, Dumbledore will definitely notice something is wrong, so I thought of a brilliant idea.”

Severus spoke to Voldemort as if he were showing off, or perhaps trying to ingratiate himself.

"In front of the British wizarding public, I changed my usual image and publicly expressed my repentance for my past. For this reason, I resigned from Hogwarts and started traveling. Then I found Harry Potter and put him up with his aunt. I tricked him into trusting me and took him out of his house to be my student."

"After that, I did some things in England to prove that I had really changed. During this time, I wanted Barty Jr. to cooperate with my actions, to keep a low profile, and to secretly gather the remaining Death Eater forces in England. But he thought I had really betrayed you! He wanted to gather others to deal with me!"

"But by a twist of fate, his actions helped me prove to the public that I had completely severed ties with the past, and so I began to take action after that. Dumbledore did not object to Potter following me after personally asking Potter himself for his opinion. However, he must have been observing me while I was in England."

"After that, I went to France and met the legendary alchemist Nicolas Flamel. I also did some things in Paris to attract public attention and make everyone think that I would always be in the public eye. However, after leaving France, I took Potter and the others to Albania in secret."

"I was convinced I would find you here, and indeed I did nothing wrong!"

Severus looked at Voldemort with excitement and anticipation.

“Master, you will come back to lead us again, won’t you? Now Potter is also being deceived and is by our side. You can kill him anytime! There are no more obstacles on our path! Even Dumbledore can’t stop us!”

After listening to Severus's story, even Voldemort was amazed by the plans Severus had made since he began searching for him.

From the very beginning, Voldemort had high hopes for this male wizard who graduated from Slytherin and shared the same bloodline as himself.

Unlike the paranoid and insane Bellatrix and others, and the wavering Lucius and others, Severus was intelligent, followed him not out of self-interest, was loyal, and had exceptional talent (Barty Jr. had not yet graduated from Hogwarts at that time).

But before Voldemort could properly train Severus, that night eight years ago rendered everything futile.

Eight years later, Severus not only did not lose his loyalty to himself, but his abilities and ideas were also far superior to those of before!
“Very good!” he praised. “You have done all very well, Severus, but you cannot lay a hand on Potter. You must maintain the status quo, preserve your reputation and Dumbledore’s trust in you.”

Severus seemed confused by Voldemort's words and asked in bewilderment.

"You want me to lie in wait next to Dumbledore and then find an opportunity to get rid of him completely?"

“If such an opportunity arises in the future, you may certainly do so,” Voldemort said. “But right now, my power has not yet recovered, and it is even weakening. You must not tell anyone else that you found me, no matter who it is. I only trust you, Severus!” These words made Severus extremely excited.

"I will never betray your trust, Master! I will keep it a secret, and I will do as you command to help you regain your power!"

At this point, Severus's expression became urgent again.

"What about Potter? He's the one prophesied to be your enemy. Why don't we kill him now, right now, when he trusts me the most?"

These words made even Ghost Snape begin to have doubts.

This made him feel that what Severus and Voldemort were saying now was the truth, and that everything he had done before was actually preparation for welcoming Voldemort back, rather than solving a problem that should have been solved.

To this, Voldemort simply said coldly.

"He's mine. Once I recover, I'll kill him with my own hands! That ridiculous prophecy will end!"

“I understand, Master!” Severus replied respectfully.

At this point, Voldemort began to scrutinize Severus.

"Then let me enter your body first, Severus. I am too weak to leave this forest on my own. I need you to take me out."

He began to approach Severus; clearly, what he had just said was not a question, but an order that could not be refused.

But just as he was getting closer and closer to Severus, about to merge into Severus's body, Severus suddenly spoke.

“Master, if you want me to maintain my previous reputation in the wizarding world and Dumbledore’s trust in me, I don’t think you can rely on me.”

His words made Voldemort pause. The gaseous figure silently scrutinized Severus for a few seconds before speaking softly.

"you are not willing?"

“No!” Severus shook his head decisively. “I would love to! There is no greater honor for me!”

"But now I have not only Harry Potter with me, but also Remus Lupin and Sirius Black!"

“You know them. They’re Dumbledore’s henchmen, former close friends of the Potters. They’re all capable in their own right, and there’s Nicolas Flamel, who’s here too. If you and I were sharing a body at this time, they’d most likely find out!”

Severus said sincerely.

“In that case, it doesn’t matter if I’m exposed, but your plan will have to stop, and we won’t be able to return to England.”

“But someone has to get me out of here!” Voldemort said coldly. “Even if they most likely find out, there’s no other way! You have to take me out of here!”

"Owner!"

Severus seemed to suddenly realize something, and he exclaimed.

"Wait! I just remembered something!"

He scrambled to his feet and then rummaged through the cabinet next to the bookshelf, finally finding an old teacup as if he had found a treasure!
"This thing! This thing can help you protect your weakening spiritual state, and let me take you out of this forest in Albania!"

Ghost Severus stared wide-eyed at Severus's series of actions!
Originally, Ghost Snape had doubts in his heart, but now he wondered which side Severus was on, having confided in Voldemort and told him how he had deceived everyone in order to find Voldemort.

Now, when he saw Severus take out the teacup, he had no more doubts.

This teacup, which allows spirits to reside, was a gift from Nicolas Flamel to Severus.

After the teacup was modified, it was no longer a cursed object as before. Nico used alchemy to fuse the effects of the curse with the teacup, making it a functional object that could house spirits.

Similarly, once a spirit enters it, whether it can come out later depends on whether the person who controls the teacup agrees.

Once Voldemort agrees to Severus's request and enters the teacup, whether he can get out again will depend entirely on Severus's own wishes!
At that moment, Ghost Snape's heart was in his throat.

He realized that everything Severus had said and all the preparations he had made were for this moment.

If Voldemort still harbored great suspicion and wariness towards him, he certainly wouldn't have agreed to enter the cup, whereas he now truly trusted Severus.
"What is this?" Voldemort asked.

"This is an alchemical artifact I obtained from Nicolas Flamel. A banshee ghost lived here for over a hundred years before Nicolas Flamel acquired it and modified it. Given your current state, it will definitely have an effect on you! It will help you maintain your current state!"

Severus sincerely held the teacup up to Voldemort and opened the lid.

Looking at the old cup, Voldemort's gaseous form rippled slightly, as if he were checking the cup's function.

Then, he touched the cup, and the gas that was originally in the shape of a human was quickly sucked into the cup.

Severus gave a slight tremor with his other hand, which was holding the lid. He used his strong willpower to suppress the urge to immediately put the lid on and trap Voldemort inside.

Sure enough, the next second the gaseous humanoid figure that seemed to have completely entered the cup reappeared in front of Severus.

“Very good, this is a very good thing, you have done a great job, Severus.”

"I'll wait inside for you to take me out and bring me back to England!"

(End of this chapter)