Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 85 Little Barty Recorded on the Death List (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
After using the Explosive Charm to deal with the remaining Madago cats around him, old Lupin protected Granger and took care of the two on his side.

The three of them did not linger for a moment. Severus knew very well that these cats were just a means for Greyback to stall for time, and that Harry, Hermione, and the other children he had captured were definitely hiding nearby!
They chased after the direction in which the werewolf had disappeared and soon discovered a man-made stone staircase carved out of the sea cliff.

They continued up the stone steps and soon reached the end, where they saw the cave entrance blocked by a huge rock!

"Back off."

Severus raised his wand and then pressed the tip against the boulder.

"The Divine Edge is Shadowless!"

Old Lupin and Granger could only hear a loud "boom" as the boulder, which was seven or eight meters high, was instantly shredded to pieces!

As countless rocks fell and dust billowed, Severus led the two of them quickly into the cave.

However, they were clearly still held up.

Apart from the tents and some personal belongings left behind, the place is now completely deserted.

Old Lu Ping slammed his fist into the stone wall beside him.

"Those bastards ran really fast!"

Severus then ventured deeper into the cave, and he soon realized that he had not left any trace of Apparition.

“They made preparations in advance; they didn’t escape using Apparition, but rather with something like a Port Key.”

"Can you find out where it landed?" Granger asked, frowning.

"We can investigate, but we can't do it on our own; we need to find professionals from the Ministry of Magic."

Severus straightened up and continued peering inside, soon discovering something else unusual.

It was a stone sheep, about the size of a palm, left behind by a transformation spell, behind a pile of messy tents and behind a pile of stones.

However, the spellcaster's transformation technique was clearly hasty and crude. The sheep still retained most of the original characteristics of the stone, and it could only be vaguely seen that it was the shape of a sheep.

If this were presented in Hogwarts' Transfiguration class, it would be an absolutely unacceptable piece of work, and Professor McGonagall might even deduct points from it.

But on the top of that sheep's head, you can clearly see that it has four horns!

"What does it mean?"

Severus picked up the failed stone sheep, but even he couldn't figure out if it was a clue left by Lupin, or what it represented.

On the contrary, Granger hesitated after seeing the four horns on the ram's head.

"Could it be a four-horned sheep from the Isle of Man?"

Severus and old Lupin couldn't help but turn to look at him.

Have you ever seen a sheep like this?

“When Hermione was seven, I took her and Jane on a vacation to the Isle of Man, where there are two native animals: the tailless cat and the four-horned sheep,” Granger said.

This answer caused Severus and Lupin to exchange a glance.

"Remus lived on that island for a month when he was a child; his mother took him there!"

Finally, upon hearing Lupin's addition, Severus confirmed...
"That's most likely it! Lupin's wand was probably confiscated, so he couldn't use any advanced magic and could only leave this kind of hint in desperation!"

"Should we head over there immediately?" Old Lu Ping asked.

“Take Robert and interrogate the werewolf I captured outside with the petrification spell. See if you can get any useful information out of him. After that, you and Robert go to that island together. He's been there before and knows it better than any of us,” Severus said thoughtfully. “I need to go see Kingsley first. He must have received my letter by now. If we want the Aurors to make any progress, we must first solve the problem of the one above them.”

Old Lupin and Granger naturally had no objection to this arrangement, as their actions were basically organized and carried out by Severus.

"How long will it take you to get here?" Granger asked as a final question.

"Tomorrow at the latest." After giving a specific time, Severus used Apparition to disappear from the spot.

Ministry of Magic, Auror Office.

Kingsley, who was still sorting out the internal relationships of the Aurors and trying to find the traitor, received the letter from Severus before noon.

His body began to tremble after reading only half of the letter!

This is such a big deal!

If what's said in the letter is true, then...
After reading the letter in its entirety, he destroyed it immediately. Then, looking hurried, he stood up from his workstation and made his way to the archives of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"I want to request an investigation into the information of an Azkaban prisoner."

The wizard, idly keeping watch in the archives, noted down Kingsley's needs.

Who are you looking for?

“According to regulations, I can leave the name of a prisoner who has already died on the island unrecorded.”

“Alright, Mr. Shakel, please fill out this application form first, then go to the third room, second row of the archives and find the file you are looking for. It contains information on prisoners who died in Azkaban.”

After filling out the application form as quickly as possible, Kingsley went into the archives and found the row of files.

And after a simple search, I found what I wanted!
[Barty Crouch, imprisoned in November 1982, died in March 1984]

He quickly flipped through the useless information at the beginning of the file and finally found that line of record.

After his death, he was buried in the cemetery on the southeastern corner of Azkaban.

Kingsley abruptly closed the file and put it back in its place. His breathing became noticeably rapid, but his expression remained impassive. He then left the archives room as if nothing had happened.

When he left, the wizard guarding the door of the archives was still drinking tea and reading the newspaper, unaware of anything unusual.

Kingsley didn't return to the Auror office; his mind was a jumbled mess, and all he wanted to do was find someone to discuss what to do next.

He thought and thought, but in the end, he could only think of the man who had sent him the letter.

As Kingsley, preoccupied with his own thoughts, prepared to head to the Ministry of Magic's owlhouse to borrow an owl to write a letter...

An Auror in an office suddenly found him.

"Shakel, someone has come to the ministry looking for you."

Kingsley stopped in his tracks.

"who is it?"

“Professor Snape, no, he should be called Mr. Snape now.”

The Auror sighed.

"He's very popular now. Many people in the department greet him. I remember the last time he came, they were all avoiding him."

Before he could finish speaking, when he turned around again, he found that Kingsley had already hurriedly left.

This prompted Auror to mutter something under his breath.

"Lockhart is almost not as popular as he is in the wizarding world."

Taking the elevator, Kingsley returned to the Auror office, panting, in less than five minutes.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Severus sitting at his workstation, eating the snacks brought by the new Auror girl. When she saw him, she smiled and waved.

(End of this chapter)