Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 46 Duel
After reaching an agreement with Lovegood, Severus originally planned to leave immediately.

But Lovegood asked if they could stay a little longer, because Luna had come up to report that she wanted to take Harry to the nearest stream to catch rainbowfish.

Severus, of course, had no reason to refuse, as he had always hoped that Harry could interact more with people his own age.

Afterwards, he and Lovegood discussed in detail the follow-up to the Quibbler report, and when Luna's mother Pandora returned in the evening, they were still eager to invite Severus and the others to dinner.

Being able to be with Lovegood, Pandora was clearly not a conventional witch. She was beautiful and generous, and had extremely bold experiments and research on spells.

When she got home and saw Severus, she was startled and instinctively grabbed Luna's arm, trying to run away with her daughter.

It wasn't until Lovegood explained things to her and Severus sincerely apologized to her in person, cleaning up the mess that Ghost Snape had made, that the atmosphere lightened up again.

This also shows that although the Lovegood family is eccentric, they are all very nice people.

Snape, who was previously a Death Eater, seemed to have held back a lot out of consideration for their past relationship, but he still blew up their house and left them hanging in mid-air to intimidate them.

Now, Severus only had to come to apologize, and they were willing to accept it and treat him with hospitality without holding a grudge, which moved Severus deeply.

Even Snape the Ghost remained silent from the moment he entered, saying nothing about Severus's "unilateral" apology for his past self.

Pandora cooked a very sumptuous dinner using fish that Luna and Harry had caught from the river.

Both children looked extremely happy; they rarely had such a lively time together.

The adults were also very happy. Lovegood brought up a barrel of cider from the cellar with emotion. Except for Bloodny, who was not fond of alcohol and had to take care of Patty, so he drank a blood-tonifying medicine, the other four drank heartily.

Pandora was moved to tears as she listened to Henney recount his experiences with Patty.

Wolpe was clearly not a good drinker; after only a few drinks, he seemed to hallucinate that Slughorn was standing in front of him, weeping and apologizing, saying that he had no other choice but to persuade Bloodny to steal the potion.

Severus was giving Lovegood some very serious and earnest advice.

"I know you can't stop Pandora's experimental curse, but you still have to remember what I said. When she continues those dangerous experiments, you must keep an eye on her. You absolutely must keep an eye on her!"

Lovegood, whose face was flushed from the alcohol, looked at Severus with a puzzled expression.

"Why do you keep emphasizing this to me? You know Pandora, she's always been like that since her student days, it's her hobby."

Severus knew he had to give his words some weight.

"Do you know Trelawney?"

"The Divination professor at Hogwarts?"

“Yes, I heard some prophecies from her recently, not just random lies, but real prophecies.” Severus solemnly reminded her, “Until Luna turns ten, you must keep an eye on Pandora and be careful of her spell experiments!”

This time, Lovegood clearly took it to heart, and he nodded solemnly.

"I understand."

Happy time is always short-lived.

The small gathering lasted until 10 p.m., and despite the Lovegood family's strong urging, Severus did not choose to stay overnight at their house.

However, as an adult who had received more than a decade of safety education in his previous life, Severus did not intend to continue driving himself.

He let Bloody, the only one who hadn't been drinking that night, sit in the driver's seat. Although Bloody seemed nervous, he had actually tried driving quite a few times during the nights he secretly went to see Patty.

If you can drive a motorcycle, you can drive a car with just a little practice.

Severus cautiously suggested that he try driving the mountain road near Lovegood's house for a couple of laps first. After Severus found that he was driving even more smoothly and steadily than he was, he had no more concerns.

Just as Henney parked the car on the side of the road, Severus opened the driver's side door and gave him a final reminder about some of the light buttons.

For some reason, he felt a gaze fixed on him from the darkness of the night.

Severus turned his head and looked down at the middle of the mountain road. About twenty meters away, there stood a tall man.

The person seemed to blend into the darkness; apart from a vague outline, it was impossible to see his appearance clearly.

But the moment Severus saw the figure, he knew who it was.

He narrowed his eyes and gently closed the driver's seat door of Bloodni's car.

Bloodny didn't see anyone; he only noticed Severus's strange reaction.

"What is it, Mr. Snape?"

Severus smiled, patted the car door, and said softly.

"It's nothing, a friend came to see me. You guys go first, don't look for a hotel in the village, go to the place we decided to go tomorrow, I'll come find you soon."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Harry heard his words, and the excitement he had shown at Lovegood's house was gone. Instead, he seemed to have a premonition, and his face turned as pale as Bloodny's. "Teacher, you won't be late, will you?"

"I'll get there before you, and then I'll wait for you."

Severus made his promise and urged Bloodny one last time.

"Release the clutch, step on the gas, accelerate and drive off, Henney. But watch your step and don't hit my friend who's coming to see me, we can't afford to pay for it!"

Hearing his words, Xue Ni no longer hesitated. He shifted gears, released the clutch, and stepped on the gas. With the roar of the engine spinning at high speed, he sped off along the mountain road!

The car headlights illuminated the road ahead, and both Bloodny and Harry saw the dark-skinned, bald Auror standing in the middle of the road!

The Auror named Kingsley ignored them, not even glancing at them, and let them pass by.

Harry couldn't resist sticking his head out of the car window, but the car was going too fast, and he could only see the vast darkness of the night, no longer able to see the two figures left behind!

"It's alright! Mr. Snape is very strong! There are only a handful of people in the entire wizarding world stronger than him! That Auror is no match for him! He'll be fine!"

Bloody kept muttering to himself, it was unclear whether he was comforting Harry or trying to convince himself.

At this moment, on the mountain road.

"Severus Snape!"

After watching the car's taillights disappear completely into the night, Severus heard the figure's shout. He took a step forward and slowly walked over, revealing his wand from his sleeve!

When he faced the elite Auror from the pure-blooded Shakel family, he greeted him with a smile.

"Shakel, should I say it's been a long time, or am I just lucky to run into you here?"

The night sky was pitch black, without a single ray of light. The wind was strong tonight, making Severus's long-sleeved T-shirt and Kingsley's robe rustle loudly.

He saw Kingsley unbutton the top button of his robe, preparing for a duel, but this Auror, known for his honesty and kindness, still earnestly advised him even though he knew his words were probably nonsense.

"Come back to the Ministry of Magic with me! No matter what your reasons were for committing these crimes, I guarantee you will receive the fairest judgment!"

“A fair judgment for me?” Severus’s voice was soft, yet extremely clear. “I have never committed a crime. Wizengamot cannot bring any charges against me. Shakel, I don’t need that.”

"Why is that? If you're innocent, why did you interfere with the Auror's investigation and take that Muggle away!"

Kingsley's voice was loud, whether from the effects of Felix Felicis or from his own inner turmoil, his breathing was noticeably rapid.

“Because a fair magical law will not treat everyone fairly.” Severus’s gaze was indifferent.

"You want to help the real murderer escape punishment?" Kingsley felt he had already guessed the truth!

“There is no murderer, no crime, no one was hurt, and there are no bad people or bad things in this matter. If you give up the idea of ​​bringing me back to the Ministry of Magic, I can explain to you why things turned out this way.”

No sooner had Severus finished speaking than Kingsley gave his answer, shaking his head firmly.

"Impossible! You must come back to the Ministry of Magic with me! It's no use if only I believe you. You need to convince Scrimgeour, the Chief of the Department of Law Enforcement, and the Wizengamor jury!"

Severus's smile turned somewhat sarcastic.

“You should understand that they often don’t actually believe the truth, Shakel.”

"But only when they believe you can you truly be innocent, and only then can those you want to protect have a good outcome! Dumbledore will speak up for you; you must believe in him and his influence in the wizarding world!"

"Of course I trust Dumbledore, but I also need to be prepared for my own situation. I can agree to go to the Ministry of Magic, and in the end, we will still face a trial, but it will never be now."

The air grew quiet. Kingsley remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly raised his wand to the ground in front of him.

"In that case, there's nothing more to say, Snape."

"Collapse!"

"Except your weapons!"

Two crimson beams of light suddenly illuminated the pitch-black night.

Even the dim sky was tinged with a faint red glow!

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The picture I saw in the comments section, although I checked it out, is not a real still from the Snape series, but rather from a short play called "The Fall," but his demeanor and image are very similar to Snape in his twenties or thirties.

And coincidentally, he also has a short ponytail.

(End of this chapter)