Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 225 Dog Catches Mouse
Ron and Ginny had met Harry and Draco at the Leaky Cauldron.

They had a very good impression of Harry, but their feelings towards Draco were rather lukewarm, which was largely due to Lucius's issues.

As for Severus...

They hadn't attended Hogwarts yet, so they couldn't directly understand the feelings Percy and Charlie had. When they first met at the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Ginny had a good impression of Severus because he bought them fruit soda.

"Mr. Snape, good afternoon, and Mr. Lupin, oh my goodness! You two have a dog!"

Ron stood up awkwardly but excitedly to greet them, and at the same time noticed Blake next to them.

Ginny had already run out, calling out "Mom!" to call Molly and tell her that the guests had arrived.

Upon arriving at the Burrow, Harry was curious about everything. He had seen quite a few wizarding houses with Severus, but it was clear that the dwellings of each wizarding family were vastly different.

Draco glanced at the cramped and messy surroundings with a disdainful smirk, but he had made some progress during his time with Severus and didn't directly say anything derogatory.

Severus had only just arrived at the Burrow when he looked around. After not finding a particular figure, he went straight to Ron and asked him the question.

How is your pet's mental state?

Upon hearing this question, Ron couldn't help but look worried.

"Banban hasn't been doing well lately. Dad has been giving it the medicine you brought last time every day. Now it sleeps almost all day long, and even when it's not sleeping, it just lies in a corner of the attic and stares blankly."

Severus's expression softened, and he smiled.

"Don't worry, I can completely cure him this time."

"It's very old. George and Fred didn't dare take it with them to Hogwarts, saying it might not even make it through Christmas this year."

“Where is it now?” Severus asked.

"They should still be sleeping in the attic."

"Go and bring it down. I'll check its condition later."

Ron immediately agreed. It was clear that even though the mouse hadn't become his pet yet, he still cared about it a lot.

He simply greeted Harry first, and then dashed off towards the attic.

At this moment, Molly and Arthur, who were decorating the yard outside, returned to the house, while Ginny, somewhat shy, hid behind them.

Arthur's voice rang out as soon as he entered the door.

"Welcome! Welcome to my humble abode!"

He was smiling, with messy red hair, his tattered robe stained with something that looked like engine oil, and even his hands were covered in black grease.

But this did not dampen his enthusiasm at all. He welcomed Severus and his group, and at the same time opened his arms, instinctively wanting to hug Severus.

However, Arthur quickly realized what was happening. He smiled awkwardly, then used a cleansing spell on himself before finally taking Severus's hand.

“I’ve heard all the amazing things you’ve done in England! You rescued Nicolas Flamel, didn’t you? You made those Frenchmen lose face.”

"That's just because we were lucky."

"You've accomplished so much in the past two months; it's impossible that you were just lucky every time."

Just as Arthur began to talk to Severus, a huge explosion suddenly rang out outside the house!
The sound startled everyone, causing Molly, who was looking for a handkerchief to help Harry and Draco wipe the ashes off them, to turn angrily to Arthur.

"You spent the whole afternoon tidying up and this is all you came up with!"

Arthur's face turned pale. He gave an awkward laugh and kept rubbing his hands together.

"I have to go check it out. It seems to be a problem with the engine, but this shouldn't be happening, this shouldn't be happening."

Severus waved to Lupin and the others.

"I'll go along and see too. If we run into any trouble, I might be able to help."

After Severus and Arthur left, Molly helped Harry and Draco clean the ashes off them and then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

As she passed by Blake, she exclaimed in surprise, as it was the first time she had ever seen such a large black dog.

Lupin went into the kitchen with Molly to help her.

After the adults left, Ginny, who had been a little shy and hesitant, finally struck up a conversation with Harry and the others, wanting to hear about their experiences traveling with the adults.

Whenever Draco is in such a situation, he immediately sits up straight with an air of arrogance and begins to boast about his highlights during this adventure.

Just as the two were describing to the little girl how exciting their experiences outside were, Ron, who had been searching for a long time in the attic, finally came down the stairs carrying the listless, sleeping mouse Scabbers.

Where is Mr. Snape?

"There was an explosion in Mr. Weasley's workshop. The teacher and Mr. Weasley went to check on the situation. They should be back soon."

Harry saw the mouse Ron was holding and felt he should praise the Weasleys' pet, but he couldn't think of any good words to describe this somewhat bald mouse.

"This mouse, well, it looks very peculiar."

"It used to belong to Percy, and he would take it with him to Hogwarts almost every year. Although it was missing a toe, old and shed a lot, it was still a decent pet."

Blake, who had been lazily dozing off next to the sofa, heard Ron's words. It drooped its ears, raised its eyelids, and looked at the spotted mouse in the boy's arms.

At that moment, Blake felt as if he had been electrocuted, and the fur on his entire body stood on end!
“If this rat were in a pet store, I’d pay at least 5 Galleons to take it home,” Draco said, grimacing.

Ron didn't quite understand what he was saying.

"You're actually willing to spend 5 Galleons to buy it?"

"No, the pet store gave me 5 Galleons."

These words made Ron glare at him. Just as he was about to say something, a huge, dark figure suddenly rose from the ground and pounced on him!
With Ron's size, he simply couldn't withstand Blake's lunge!
He was immediately tackled to the ground by the black dog, and the next second, amidst Ron's terrified screams, Blake opened his blood-red maw.

Both Harry and Draco were stunned by the scene, and Ginny screamed in terror.

"Blake! What are you doing?!"

"No! Don't bite me!!" Harry rushed out the moment he realized what was happening, grabbing Black's waist and trying to pull him off Ron!
When Ron saw Blake open his mouth, he cried out and covered his face.

But the pain he expected, of being torn apart, did not occur. Through the gaps between his fingers, Ron saw the ferocious dog biting the rat, Spotted!

A surge of power suddenly coursed through Ron's body, making him seem to forget his fear.

"No! You bad dog! Put it down! Put Banban down!!"

Harry saw what Black had grabbed and desperately tried to pull him back by hugging Black's waist.

"Stop acting crazy here! Blake! Quiet! You can't cause any trouble right now! Do you hear me?!"

Even though Banban was still sleepy and exhausted, he was still awakened by this situation!
Once it realized what the creature that had captured it was, it unleashed an astonishing resistance.

The piercing squeaks sounded as if Blake had already torn him to pieces!
"You actually hid here! You're still alive! You damned traitor! You damned!! You damned rat!!!"

A rapid tenor voice rang out from Blake's collar.

Such a loud noise naturally startled Lupin and Molly, who had just entered the kitchen. They hurriedly ran out of the kitchen and saw the messy scene before them.

"Oh my god!!" Molly exclaimed.

When Lupin saw Black pinning Ron down, his first instinct was to draw his wand to subdue the inexplicably crazed black dog. However, upon seeing the creature Black was carrying in his mouth, his expression turned to shock.

"Don't get agitated! Sirius! Don't get agitated! I know who you've found! Now hand him over to me! Hand him over to me, trust me, I will never let him get away! You also get away from this child immediately, you've scared them!"

Lupin spoke up to calm Blake down, while simultaneously reaching out and taking the terrified rat, Scabbers, from Blake's mouth.

Finally, with his eyes bloodshot from anger, Black was dragged away from the panicked Ron by Harry, panting heavily.

"Your dog has gone mad! He actually tried to catch a mouse! He tried to kill Banban!!"

Molly was also terrified. She quickly and nervously checked Ron's body. After confirming that he was not injured, she stared at Blake with a somewhat unpleasant expression, and then turned to look at Lupin.

"What's going on! What did you just call it? Sirius?"

Molly was certainly no stranger to this name. Whether it was the past events or the recent prison break, it made every wizard in the British magical world very sensitive to it.

Lupin held tightly to the rat that was struggling in his hand, its claws even tearing his hand.

"That's right, it's Sirius Black, the one you know."

Upon hearing Lupin's confirmation, Molly's face turned extremely pale, while Ginny Ron, who was already frightened, turned even paler.

Even kids like them have recently heard about the infamous reputation of this ruthless killer!
"Does Severus Snape know about this?! Does Dumbledore know about this?! You're protecting him! You're protecting a murderer who betrayed his friends, an escaped convict!"

"No, you need to hear me first, Mrs. Weasley. There's more to this than meets the eye!"

"It just tried to bite my son!"

"No, no, he just wanted to catch the mouse and prevent it from escaping."

Blake had no desire to hear their argument or explanations at that moment, and he roared.

"Force him back to his true form! Force him back to his true form! Remus!!"

Lupin realized at this point that instead of explaining the already complicated and convoluted matter to Molly from beginning to end, it would be better to just present the most straightforward facts.

“I still remember that spell,” he murmured, his wand already aimed at the rat that was screaming and struggling even more violently.

Ron instinctively thought Lupin wanted to hurt Scabbers, and he yelled to stop him. However, at that moment, Lupin's spell had already taken effect on the rat!

The bald rat spun rapidly in mid-air, and the next second, a short, fat, bald, ugly wizard suddenly appeared in front of everyone!
The entire living room of the humble dwelling instantly fell silent.

Whether it was Ron, Ginny, Harry Draco, or Molly, they all stared in shock at the wizard who had emerged from a rat!

“He, he, he is…” Molly raised her trembling hand, pointing at the short, fat wizard, unable to speak for a long time.

"Peter Pettigrew!!"

The male announcer's loud voice rang out.

Black's eyes were filled with hatred as he coldly stared at Peter, who had reverted to his original form.

Peter was terrified.

He never expected that while he was still dozing off, that nightmarish figure would find him and catch him red-handed!
“Didn’t you say you killed him?” Lupin looked at Blake.

The anger in Blake's eyes looked like it could devour someone.

"He only had one severed finger left! I thought he was dead! I never imagined he could escape from such a curse!!"

Lupin looked at Peter's hand, which was missing a finger.

"It seems he lied to everyone back then!"

Molly could no longer tolerate them talking to themselves here.

"What on earth is going on?! Why is our pet rat a male witch who should be dead?! And how do you know about him?!"

Before explaining, Lupin cast a binding spell on Peter, binding him to the spot.

"It's obvious, Mrs. Weasley, Sirius Black is innocent. The real traitor who betrayed James and Lily wasn't him, but the one hiding in your house whom everyone thought was dead!"

Molly's eyes widened; anyone who heard this news would have shown the same expression as him.

Even Ginny and Ron were stunned.

Even if they didn't quite understand, they all knew that this must involve some big secret!

Peter looked pitiful and begged Lupin for mercy, weeping.

"No, no, I didn't want to either. Please let me go; I was forced."

(End of this chapter)