Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 23 You guys are the strange ones.
"Dali! You're amazing! You're a natural-born player! That shot completely terrified Barris!"

As the sun sets in the west, the orange-yellow sun, along with the veil-like sunset, covers half the sky.

The children at Budmington Estate finished their ball game.

The owner of the manor, Mr. Somerset's youngest son, 10-year-old Severus, was full of praise for Harry's performance on the pitch.

Harry took the water he was offered, a genuine smile spreading across his face.

He never had the opportunity to participate in any sports at the Dursleys' house and never discovered that he actually had such a talent for ball games.

That afternoon, Harry seemed to be touched by the sunshine, and the smile on his face was more frequent than in the past month.

Just as the game was over and most of the children had left the field to find their families, Harry finally remembered that Severus had entrusted him with an important task.

He felt a pang of bitterness, ashamed that he had so quickly become absorbed in his own enjoyment and forgotten his teacher's instructions.

However, it's not too late to realize this now. The man next to him is Mr. Somerset's youngest son, the younger brother of the victim Patty. There is no one more suitable than him to find out what's going on.

"Severus, what happened to your sister all of a sudden?" Harry asked casually as he drank water.

In the afternoon on the court, the boy who had great chemistry with him said casually.

"It's all my dad's fault!"

Harry perked up his ears, and before he could ask any further questions, Severus, the seemingly talkative boy, started speaking on his own.

“He didn’t like Patty. Patty rarely even came out of her room. But I knew her. She actually longed for the outside world. When she told me stories, she always mentioned her grandfather’s farm in the Cotswolds, where she lived as a child.”

"Her grandfather?" Harry was perceptive.

"Yes! We have a father, but my mother is not her mother."

Where is her mother?

"Her mother died when she was 7 years old, along with her legs, in a car accident. My father was driving, and I heard he had been drinking a lot at the time."

Like all children, Severus did not yet understand the principle of not speaking too deeply with casual acquaintances. He whispered in Harry's ear as if sharing a secret.

“Dad has been shirking responsibility. He thinks the car accident was Patty’s fault, and he brings it up and berates Patty every time he drinks.”

Hearing this, Harry felt sympathy for the girl lying on the bed.

"You and Patty are very close?"

Severus patted his chest.

"Patty is a good girl! She was always there for me when I was little. I promised her that when I grew up, I would take her away from her father!"

But at this moment, his mood suddenly dropped.

“But now this has happened. I don’t understand. Patty is such a beautiful and kind girl. Why would her family hate her and why would someone want to kill her?”

Harry was stunned.

He never really understood why the Dursleys hated him so much, even though he had never made a mistake.

If you don't like him, why did you adopt him in the first place?

If you chose to adopt him, why treat him like that?
However, he quickly regained his composure and continued to chat with Severus in a seemingly relaxed manner about various things concerning her sister.

While his students were sweating it out on the field, Severus wasn't idle either.

He went to Diagon Alley, prepared all the ingredients for the potent invigorating potion, and set up a crucible in Gringotts vault, completing all the preliminary work. All that was left was to wait for the potion to simmer for five days.

Before nightfall, he returned to Budmington Estate, but instead of resting, he took advantage of the free time before dinner to wander around the estate and chat with the servants.

The estate was home to a large family, including Mr. Somerset's family, his two brothers' families, and old Mr. Somerset.

Therefore, such a large manor does not appear deserted.

“Miss Patty?” A gardener who was maintaining the lawn looked up at Severus with suspicion. “Are you someone sent by the government to investigate? Weren’t these questions asked earlier?”

Severus smiled.

“We’d like to investigate further to see if there are any other oversights. Has this been too much for you, sir?”

Seeing that Severus, a "government official," was so polite, the gardener's initial resistance vanished.

“This is not a delay, sir. We all hope to catch the murderer as soon as possible.”

He wiped the sweat from his brow, leaned on the shovel with both hands, and began to tell Severus his story.

“Miss Patty’s death was sudden. Nobody knows what happened. Four days ago, when the maid went to wake her up as usual, she found that she seemed to be dead!”

"The manor was in chaos. The police and doctors came, and after they determined the situation, everyone thought she was really dead." "Mr. Somerset locked himself in his room. He was in great pain, and it was only then that we realized how much he cared for his daughter."

"Mrs. Somerset was in charge of everything that day, even though she didn't like Miss Patty at all, she still made all the preparations for the funeral for her."

"Until the Prime Minister arrived, he and Mr. Somerset were very good friends and had previously collaborated on the management of the horse farm. After such an incident at the estate, he took time out of his busy schedule to visit him that very evening."

"Just then, the doctor in charge of examining Miss Patty's 'body' discovered something strange. If Miss Patty was really dead, her time of death was almost 24 hours ago, but her body did not show signs of rigor mortis, her body temperature did not drop, and there were no other signs that should appear on a dead person!"

“Some people have begun to suspect that Miss Patty is not actually dead, but no one can explain what happened to her if she is not dead.”

"And after the Prime Minister personally visited Miss Paty, he summoned you all."

As the gardener spoke, he began to look at Severus with curiosity.

"What government department do you belong to? Why are you wearing such strange uniforms? Are those robes?"

Severus stroked his chin, not satisfying his curiosity, but instead continued to ask.

"Did anything strange happen in the house in the days leading up to Miss Patty's accident?"

The gardener shook his head.

"You've asked this many times already, and nothing has happened, except that Mrs. Somerset and Miss Patty had another fight, but that's the norm; they fight almost every week."

Severus had learned from others that the current Mrs. Somerset was actually Patty's stepmother, and their relationship was so bad that it was not even concealed, and everyone knew it.

Initially, the Aurors' investigation also focused on this Lady Somerset, suspecting that she might be colluding with some low-class wizards.

But no matter what methods they used, they found nothing and could only temporarily rule out the suspicion of this wicked stepmother.

"Speaking of which, there is one thing that is not strange at all, which I have told your people about before."

The gardener's sudden words brought Severus back to his senses.

"Could you tell me again?"

“That was a month ago. The lawnmower in the manor broke down. The repairman we used to find had gone to London, so we had to find a new worker.”

"He was a young man with terrible skills. He didn't even know that the lawnmower needed diesel fuel! He was also acting suspiciously around the estate, like he was trying to steal something. This infuriated the butler, who called the police, which scared the man away."

At this point, the gardener stared at Severus, scrutinizing him.

"I thought you'd ask me one of those weird questions too?"

Severus, who had been frowning in thought, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"What strange question?"

"When I was talking about this with your colleague, do you know what he asked me? He actually asked me, 'So why do lawnmowers need diesel fuel?'"

The gardener raised his voice, and it was clear that even now, he still found it hard to believe when he thought about it.

"I said, how can the car move if I don't fill it with gas? He actually asked me if the car can't move by itself? That's so weird! If we're talking about weird things, you guys are the weirdest!"

Severus was initially speechless upon hearing the gardener's words.

That's how wizards are; wizards like Arthur Weasley are extremely rare exceptions.

Aside from wizards whose parents are Muggles, most people know absolutely nothing about Muggles, let alone such modern machinery.

This can be seen from the fact that most wizards, when disguising themselves as Muggles, often adopt what they believe to be very Muggle-like attire, but in reality, they wear extremely bizarre combinations such as suits and beach shorts.

Even Aurors are no exception.

This essentially stems from the fact that the Secrets Act separates wizarding and Muggle societies, and many wizards possess a sense of superiority, disdaining to understand Muggles.

Just as he was thinking this, a thought suddenly flashed through Severus's mind!
"You mean, the police arrived at the scene immediately after Patty's accident, right?"

"Of course, they stayed in that room for several hours."

Severus stared intently at him.

"After my colleagues arrived here, did they try to communicate and coordinate with the police?"

The gardener was completely baffled; he felt that the man in front of him was starting to say strange things.

"How could a gardener like me possibly know about something like this? Besides, you're all government officials; haven't you communicated with each other since you took over this case?"

Severus laughed inexplicably and said softly.

"They might not have even thought of going to the Muggle police."

(End of this chapter)