Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 70 Sniff
“I live in the suburbs of London and came here for a holiday, but I’m not really interested in the forest or Shakespeare’s birthplace.”

On the way to the apartment, Hermione suddenly turned to Harry and said.

Harry was caught off guard by her sudden action and could only give a perfunctory reply.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty boring."

“You know me well enough. As a matter of courtesy, shouldn’t you introduce yourself?” Seeing that Harry was really a blockhead, Hermione had no choice but to be blunt.

Harry only realized it at this moment.

“My name is Dudley Dursley! You can just call me Dudley. I live, uh, in Little Huigkin, Surrey.”

Hermione nodded in satisfaction.

“Very good, Dudley, it’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Hermione? I guess I can call you that?”

“Of course.” Hermione suddenly lowered her voice. “I just heard you call that gentleman ‘teacher’? Is it some school’s summer camp?”

Harry quickly waved his hand.

"No, no, it's just that the teacher is temporarily taking care of me."

"So that's a special government department? I saw it all, don't try to fool me! That streetlight is acting strangely, are you here to fix it?"

"Is it possible that you're seeing things?" Harry racked his brains.

Hermione didn't say anything more; she simply crossed her arms and stared up at Harry.

Harry felt uneasy under her gaze. The only person his age he had been in contact with during this time was Luna, but this girl in front of him was completely different from Luna.

Harry was quickly defeated.

“Okay, you read that right, there really is a problem with that streetlight. My teacher and another Mr. Weasley came here specifically to deal with it, but this kind of thing is confidential, yes, just like you think, a secret that only a few people can know! I can help you explain to your parents, but you can't tell anyone else.”

Clearly, Harry had done his best.

From the incident with Bloodny, he learned how much wizards valued the Law of Secrets. In his eyes, Hermione was now just an ordinary Muggle girl with a slightly strong personality.

Harry could only talk to the special departments; as long as he didn't think about magic, anything else was fine.

Hermione was finally completely satisfied with Harry's "frank" attitude.

“I knew it! The fact that you can tell me the truth proves we can be true friends. Besides, I don’t necessarily need to prove it to my parents.” She gave a sly smile. “I said that on purpose after seeing you.”

Harry stared at Hermione, his eyes wide.

Clearly, he had only known this girl for a short time, but she had already made a very deep impression on him.

Then, Harry said slowly.

"Since that's the case, then I..."

But before he could finish speaking, Hermione had already grabbed his arm and led him home.

“Come on, Dali, it’s too boring here. Maybe we can play chess, and then you can tell me about your teacher’s work!”

As she pulled him forward, Harry remembered Severus's wink before he left, so he didn't resist much. He understood that his task today was to keep this girl away and not let her disturb Mr. Weasley's work.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger are very good people.

They were all very enthusiastic when they saw that their daughter had brought a boy home, and even prepared afternoon tea for Harry.

Hermione led Harry to her own room.

Since this was an apartment they rented for a family vacation, the room wasn't very decorated. Instead, it was filled with various books that Hermione had brought from home, as well as a telescope placed by the window.

Harry went to the telescope, from which he could clearly see the direction of the streetlight. It was obviously from here that Hermione noticed the unusual streetlight.

"I guess that strange gentleman next door, old Foster, is just like you."

Hermione took out a set of checkers from the cabinet. Harry had been amazed by the girl's intelligence more than once, and now he was somewhat numb. He simply looked through the binoculars at Arthur's location, and only after realizing that it was broad daylight, he couldn't make out the figure crouching in front of the streetlamp, did he leave with peace of mind.

“Maybe,” Harry said casually, "I’ve only been with the teacher for a few days, so I don’t know much about things.”

He sat on the carpet, right opposite Hermione, and the two of them played checkers.

"Did you come here specifically for that streetlight?" Hermione pressed.

Harry, however, felt he should take the initiative, after all, he was now Severus Snape's student.

“Why do you keep asking me? Can’t we talk about you?” Harry looked at Hermione. “You seem to know everything.”

Hermione stood up straight with pride.

"Read more books! My father taught me that all problems stem from not reading enough!"

Harry thought that made a lot of sense, and he nodded.

"My teacher said something similar to me."

"Why do you keep talking about teachers? Where are your parents?"

“They died when I was very young,” Harry said calmly. “I lived with my aunt and uncle from a young age until my teacher brought me out.”

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, there's nothing to apologize for."

They were still children after all. Although Hermione was a bit smarter and Harry knew a bit more, the two quickly started chatting.

Their entertainment wasn't limited to checkers; Hermione started telling Harry about the books she had read, and Harry could only nod earnestly.

Soon, his attention was drawn to a plush toy placed on Hermione's bedside table.

"what is that?"

Hearing Harry's voice, Hermione turned her head and looked at the doll, then picked it up casually.

"I don't know either, maybe it's a platypus? Someone asked my dad to help them get their child medical treatment the day before yesterday, and then asked him to give it to me on their behalf."

"Treating the child? Isn't your father a dentist?" Harry learned about the Grangers' profession during their conversation.

"Yes, that person seemed to be desperate and grasping at straws. He said his child was very sick and needed to see a doctor. No matter what kind of doctor it was, Dad rushed over with him."

Hermione spoke while kneading the puppet.

"But when we got back, my mother and I asked him how the child was doing, and he stammered and couldn't say anything. He just gave me this platypus-like doll and said it was a gift from that person."

As she spoke, she suddenly pinched something hard in the area of ​​the platypus-like beak, which startled her.

"Is there something in there?"

Harry looked at the doll and felt it looked strangely familiar!
This was clearly not an ordinary animal. He seemed to have seen this kind of creature in a picture book that Volp carried with him when they were on the run.

It's a magical animal, I think it's called...
Call it "Sniff!"
Just as Harry was thinking of the doll's name, Hermione had already unzipped the back of it and seen the round, hard object hidden inside—a crystal-clear glass ball!
"Why is this thing here?" Hermione asked curiously, then reached out her hand towards the glass ball.

At that moment, Harry felt a strange sense of unease rising within him!

How could a normal, ordinary person give away a magical creature plush toy?

"Don't!"

He instinctively reached out to stop her from touching the things inside the doll.

However, Hermione's hand bumped into Harry's outstretched hand, and almost at the same time, the two of them touched the glass ball inside the puppet!

The next moment, they vanished from the spot!

Only the Niffler plush toy with its back pulled open was left, falling onto the carpet.

(End of this chapter)