Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 221 Great Harvest

The Albanian forests are far from quiet at night.

The appearance of the golden unicorn and the Fountain of Good Fortune left the wizards, who were already drawn to the legend, with no reason to leave.

Severus and his group returned from that secret realm relatively early; many more wizards were still inside and had not yet returned.

This attracted reporters from all the magic newspapers in Albania and the surrounding area, who collectively stood by the broken stone gate, interviewing and reporting on every wizard who came out of it.

All the reporters were waiting for the lucky person who reached the top of the mountain and bathed in the spring water to appear. If they could get this scoop, their newspaper sales would skyrocket tomorrow!

But as time went on, more and more wizards returned from the Stone Gate, bringing back news of their failures.

The two luckiest wizards worked together and finally arrived at the maze, but because they had no map and were disturbed by the plants inside, they couldn't find their way out no matter which way they went.

In the end, they had to return empty-handed.

Among these wizards who returned after failing, there was a rather special pair.

There were two male wizards, one tall and one short. When they came out of the stone gate, the taller, younger wizard looked very unwell. When a reporter approached him, wanting to ask what they had gained in the secret realm,

The wizard just waved his hand in disgust and shouted in English that they should all get out of here!
Some of the reporters who were insulted angrily directed their photographers to take pictures of the two men. Regardless of whether there was any news about interviewing the wizard bathing in the Fountain of Good Fortune the next day, they were going to write a separate article to talk about how bad the current atmosphere in the magical world was, and how some unscrupulous wizards were taking their frustrations out on reporters after failing to gain anything in the secret realm.

The two disreputable male wizards, who had incurred the wrath of the reporters, began to vent their anger after leaving the crowd and finding a secluded corner.

"Why are we going in? Did we come here to find that Lucky Spring? No! We're here to find our master! How could our master be in that spring!"

"You actually used me as a test, deliberately throwing me into that river! Didn't you ever consider that there was a curse in that river that would inevitably drag me down and drown me?!"

"What do you take me for! A lab rat for your experiments?"

"I'm starting to suspect that Luo Er wasn't on some other mission! Are you just using him like this, and somehow managed to get him killed!"

The enraged sorcerer was none other than Perkins, the Death Eater who had come to Albania from England.

He and Little Barty disguised themselves as Albanian Aurors and infiltrated the underground ruins. After learning that Severus was there and seeing the things in the ruins, they became even more certain that if their master was still alive, he must be here.

So after leaving the ruins, they began searching and exploring the entire forest.

Barty the Younger was smarter than most Death Eaters. He had a well-defined plan: if they didn't find any clues in the forest within three days, they would find a way to locate Severus and then secretly follow him. If Severus made a discovery, they would ambush him from the shadows!

But just one day later, something terrible happened in the forest.

The golden unicorn running wildly through the forest attracted the attention of most people, including Perkins and Barty Jr. They quickly learned that the golden unicorn had opened the stone gate leading to the Fountain of Good Fortune near a giant camp by the river in the forest.

Neither Perkins nor Little Barty cared about this legendary thing. The so-called good luck of a few years was nothing compared to the benefits they would gain from finding a master.

But Barty, like a wolf that has smelled blood, immediately led Perkins into the crowd of other wizards and rushed toward the opening of the stone gate.

His reason is simple.

From the Aurors in Albania, they learned that Severus had guided them to discover underground ruins and had taken something from deep within them.

The ruins are clearly related to the Fountain of Good Fortune, so Little Barty can reasonably deduce that Severus was likely behind the opening of the Fountain of Good Fortune secret realm!

There is a high chance that clues related to the master can be found in this secret realm.

Therefore, upon arriving here, Barty Jr. did not hesitate at all and immediately led Perkins into the stone gate.

They were quite lucky and managed to find a cave leading to the top of the mountain on the steep slope that they couldn't climb no matter what they did, but in the end they were blocked by the river and couldn't find a way to get across.

So Barty Jr. discussed it with Perkins and suggested that he try going into the river to see if he could swim across.

But after Perkins threw a branch into the river and found that it didn't float at all, he firmly shook his head and refused to make such an extremely dangerous attempt.

Before he could even utter his refusal, Little Barty kicked him off the ground!

Sure enough, there was a curse in that river that prevented things from floating and caused them to sink. Perkins thrashed about, swallowing several mouthfuls of water, but thankfully, Barty pulled him back up.

Even so, this behavior still drove Perkins to the brink of madness!

Although he didn't completely trust Barty Jr., he still regarded him as a leader who could be trusted for the time being.

So what did this leader actually do?
He disregarded his own safety and forced him into a dangerous situation without saying a word!
This time they've kicked him into the water, but what about next time?

Will they start using a wand to cast the Killing Curse on him from behind in the future?
Despite Perkins' accusations and shouts, Batistuta Jr. remained unfazed throughout.

He remained calm and indifferent, as if kicking Perkins into the water or losing his trust were all trivial matters to him.

"You don't need to get angry at me like this. As long as we can find our master, whether it's you or me who sacrifices ourselves, it will all be worth it."

“That’s all you can say! Where is the master now?” Perkins glared at Little Barty.

He was afraid of the young man in front of him, who seemed just as crazy as Bella and the others. But if he continued to be controlled by this fear, he didn't know when this madman would kill him!

“We can’t cross that river at all, and even if we did, is our master waiting for us by that damned spring? You made a complete mess of things in England, finding no clues and losing Rol, and now you’re doing the same thing in Albania!”

Little Barty simply spoke in a calm voice.

"So next we need to find Snape. If we can't find any clues, then we'll follow him. If he makes a discovery, then it's our discovery too."

"I'm not staying here with you any longer!" Perkins was clearly fed up. "I'm going back! I'm going back to England! Staying here with you is a waste of time, and I'm constantly worried that you'll sell me off!"

“Snape was right! You can betray even your own father, so who else can you not betray!”

Anger had clearly clouded Perkins's judgment, and he blurted out the last sentence almost without thinking. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them, his face turning pale as he instinctively covered his mouth and took two steps back.

Barty's expression remained unchanged throughout, regardless of Perkins' complaints. Only when he uttered his last sentence did his cold and sharp eyes narrow slightly.

The scene became somewhat quiet, and Little Barty's hand had somehow found its way to the wand hidden in his sleeve.

He took a deep breath, and just as he was about to say something, the two Death Eaters present suddenly froze, their expressions turning blank!

The next second, the two of them suddenly came to their senses again. They looked at each other and then simultaneously covered their other arms with one hand!
There, they shared a common marker.

A mark that can only be activated by one being!

This mark had been dormant for eight years, and this was the only time it had responded in those eight years!

"Yes Yes."

Perkins' eyes widened, and he could barely speak!

But a surprising light shone in Little Barty's eyes.

"It's our master! Our master is calling us! He's not far from us! He knows we've come here to find him!!"

Perkins stopped mentioning returning to England, and Barty Jr. seemed to have forgotten everything he had just said. They both became extremely excited.

The Black Magic Mark has been detected, which means they really haven't made a mistake this time.

Their master is here, and he knows someone is looking for him!

Even the next morning, the area by the lake was still filled with wizards.

Even though a night has passed, no wizard has returned from the secret realm of the Stone Gate. As long as someone hasn't returned, it means that there's still a chance they might have found the legendary Fountain of Good Fortune and bathed in its waters.

After getting up early in the morning, Severus brushed his teeth while watching the group of wizards who had been guarding the place all night, still chatting excitedly about the Fountain of Good Fortune, guessing who would ultimately reap such good luck.

"They've made a complete mess of this place."

Andrews had no interest in the Fountain of Good Fortune, and naturally disliked, even strongly resented, the people who flocked to it.

"When these reporters came here yesterday, it seemed like they wanted to find some news about me. They kept asking me who built the houses where the trolls live, and what their reasons were for building houses for a group of trolls."

“I chased them all away, but it would be too much trouble for Lulu to restrain so many giants from being frightened by these wizards and to use force against them.”

Severus patted him on the shoulder, offering words of comfort.

"Don't worry, they'll only stay here for one more day at most before leaving."

Andrews believed Severus's words, of course, but when he turned around, he found that Lupin had gotten up early in the morning and was packing up their magic tent.

This surprised Andrews.

"This is what you are."

"We must also say goodbye to you, Pique. We are leaving Albania this morning and returning to England. Thank you for your hospitality and help during this time. Don't worry, we won't forget to take Lockhart with us when we leave."

Upon hearing Severus's words, Andrews' mouth dropped open in surprise, but he quickly recovered.

They were bound to part ways sooner or later, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

The troll expert and wizard adventurer gave Severus a hug.

"No, I should be thanking you for your help to me and Lulu during this time. Without you, those giants would all have died in that valley!"

Andrews then went to see Lupin and the others to say goodbye. Severus then used this time to find Cabunara, the Auror chieftain left in the forest in Albania, and told him about the curse of the Fountain of Good Fortune.

“You’ve found the ultimate fountain of good fortune!” Cabunara exclaimed in shock as he looked at Severus.

Severus simply shrugged.

“My luck has improved a bit, but that spring is clearly involved in some conspiracy left behind by Herpo. Although I confirmed with an elder that Herpo died more than a thousand years ago, and whatever plans he had are now useless, such things can still harm people, can’t they?”

"This is Albanian territory. You can handle the preventative measures. I'm going back to England."

"You're going back?" Cabunara was also somewhat surprised.

“It’s time to go back,” Severus said, tossing the repaired silver whistle to Cabnular.

"Since this thing was dug out here, returning it to you is like returning it to its rightful owner. It was the golden unicorn it summoned that opened the stone door, but it's no longer useful. I tried blowing the whistle again this morning, but no unicorn appeared."

After explaining these matters to Cabona, Severus returned to the troll camp.

Lupin and his group had already packed all their belongings and were ready to leave at any time.

"Are we just leaving like this? Teacher, didn't you come looking for something? You didn't find it, and you're just leaving like this?" Harry said, still somewhat reluctant.

As he asked the question, Lupin and Black, who had been lying on the ground, both turned to look at Severus.

Severus simply smiled, a smile that held a hint of mystery.

"This trip has been a great success!"

(End of this chapter)