Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts

Dumbledore didn't hide it from McGonagall, he said with certainty.

"Bloodny met the love of his life, but he was insecure about his vampire identity and felt unworthy of her. So it wasn't until the last night of the story that he made up his mind to save the girl, and Wolpe helped him."

McGonagall stared at Dumbledore.

"Have you known about this for a long time?"

Dumbledore didn't answer immediately, but instead opened a drawer in his desk and took out a letter.

"Wolpe's work is commendable; he is a very talented writer, but he has always lacked a bit of luck. So he pinned his hopes on having celebrities help promote his new work, which he had poured his heart and soul into."

“He wrote to many people asking for their help, including me.”

"But what he carelessly did was that the parchment he used to write this letter to me was one he had already used. I guess that while he was creating the work, he overheard Henney rambling on about meeting that girl, which made Volpe worry about his friend, so he wrote down a lot of plans on one of the parchments that might help his friend solve his problem."

"Later, when he wrote to me, he completely forgot what he had written on the back of the paper."

Dumbledore took the folded parchment out of the envelope. Wolper's plan to steal the medicine was at the very bottom of the back. Even though the paper had been folded once, no one would have noticed the other text on the back.

McGonagall was shocked as she took the letter from Dumbledore. She could see that the notes on the back were messy and illegible, clearly a draft!

"So, you deliberately sent Snape to Slughorn just to get him involved in this?"

“Severus’s choice has exceeded my expectations.” Dumbledore said calmly, his arms crossed. “I thought he might hand Wolpe and Shini directly to the Aurors, I thought he might plead with the Ministry of Magic, and I even thought he might write to me asking me to help with this matter, but what I didn’t expect was that he would just run away with his men.”

"He just wants to attract everyone's attention, even if he has to endure the public's doubts and scorn at first. But as long as more people pay attention to this matter, he will have achieved his goal."

"An unexpected, yet brilliant plan!"

Dumbledore praised him sincerely.

McGonagall frowned and asked with concern.

"So how will he end up? 'Singing a Quixote' hasn't been well-received; many people think the stories in the book are made up!"

"But that doesn't stop many people from being moved by this story and eagerly wanting to know what happens next, right?"

Dumbledore shook his thumb and smiled as he spoke.

Just as Dumbledore finished speaking, a newspaper owl suddenly flew in through the window of the headmaster's office!

It glided in a circle above Dumbledore's desk, skillfully dropping a newspaper before flying off again.

McGonagall and Dumbledore's eyes were both on the latest issue of The Quibbler, until Dumbledore picked it up, opened it, and saw the front page.

He laughed.

"See? Severus has achieved his goal; he's about to wrap things up!"

Chapter 52 The Farm That Has Changed

[Given the considerable interest shown by many gentlemen and ladies in the story "Blood Ties: Vampires and Muggles," we have contacted its author.]

Mr. Hoffman (Wolpert's pseudonym) replied, telling us that although he was eager to present the ending of the story, today was clearly not a suitable time.

This Saturday at 8 PM, a special edition of *The Quibbler*, authorized by Mr. Hoffman, will be released. Besides providing a complete ending to this touching story, it will also answer any questions or doubts you may have about the book.

When today's "Quirk" newspaper was delivered to its subscribers, the wizards who had been eagerly awaiting its publication were in an uproar!

Saturday, which is tomorrow!

After seeing this announcement in the newspaper, many people suspected that the truth about the poisoning case and Snape's escape would also be revealed on this day!

Of course, many more people scoffed at this, believing that "Singing the Divergence" was deliberately hyping up the show and trying to attract attention!

Most importantly, although Lovegood wrote it in a very subtle way, anyone with normal thinking ability can see what he meant by "today is not a suitable time"!

Some people already suspected that he had connections with Snape and his gang who were on the run, and this moment further confirmed that suspicions.

The Ministry of Magic could no longer stand idly by.

Scrimgeour sent a squad of Aurors to Lovegood’s house and conducted a thorough search, but they found no valuable clues or evidence of any correspondence between Lovegood and Snape.

Ultimately, the Aurors chose to bring Lovegood back to the Ministry of Magic.

However, less than half a day after they took the people away, countless wizards sent angry shouts to the Ministry of Magic!

The Auror office was so disrupted by the letters that it was almost impossible to work. Scrimgeour was forced to respond to the public through the Daily Prophet, stating that the Aurors had no intention of using illegal means to extract a confession from Lovegood and that he would be released that afternoon.

This shows that the Ministry of Magic is a rather loose small government for wizards; in other words, it is even more democratic than the democratic Muggle government.

When public opinion is strong enough, they have little autonomy.

In other words, government decisions can be influenced and swayed by public opinion.

And this is exactly what Severus wanted to see.

The Cotswolds is an area located west of Oxford, south of Shakespeare's birthplace.

This area preserves a large number of historical buildings and has a strong English town flavor, making tourism a pillar industry for the local economy.

On Friday evening, in the farm district of eastern Cotswolds, Severus parked his car in front of a farmer's yard.

He left Harry and Volpe in the car to look after Patty, while he, wearing sunglasses, got out of the car with Henney.

Hearing the car, a middle-aged Muggle dressed as a cowboy came out of the house and looked at Severus and Bloodny with a puzzled expression.

"What's the matter with you?"

Severus didn't speak, but instead sent Bloodny to inquire.

“Sir, have you ever heard of Polk Farm?” Bloody looked at the Muggle with a nervous and expectant gaze. “It was called that about ten years ago, but after old Polk passed away, the farm was sold to someone else.”

The middle-aged Muggle took off his cowboy hat and frowned as he recalled.

"Old Polk? I seem to remember him."

“When my father passed the farm on to me, he told me that the land in the southwest was his family’s. He also said that the old man was incredibly stubborn and had a piece of land specifically for growing flowers, even though those flowers didn’t make any money at all, just because his granddaughter liked them.”

"Yes!" Xueni exclaimed excitedly, "It's a field of tulips, right? White ones! A huge field!"

The middle-aged Muggle sized him up.

"Why are you asking about this? Old Polk died a long time ago. I heard that his only daughter died in an accident before he died. His aristocratic son-in-law had no intention of managing that farm, so he disposed of it and sold it to someone else."

“We are friends with old Polk’s granddaughter,” Xueni said sincerely. “She misses that place very much, especially her grandfather’s flower field.”

Upon hearing his words, the middle-aged Muggle couldn't help but shake his head.

"Then don't get your hopes up too high. I heard a few years ago that the person who took over that farm didn't make much money due to management problems. He probably already cleared out that flower field and planted something else."

He lit a cigarette and gossiped.

"But recently the prices of tulips and daffodils have gone up again, and I guess that unlucky guy is going to regret it."

Bloodny's face turned somewhat pale. Severus patted him on the shoulder, thanked the middle-aged Muggle, and said goodbye before returning to the car with him.

"Don't think too much about it. Let's go and take a look at the farm first."

They quickly drove to the farm in the southwest that the middle-aged Muggle had mentioned.

But this place has completely changed, and it has undergone tremendous changes from the place that Patty described to Henni.

Although the sky was still a clear, bright blue, half of the farm had been converted into pastures for raising cattle and sheep.

The remaining half of the land, let alone flower fields, was planted with very little wheat; instead, large areas were planted with sugar beets.

Next to the beet field, you can still vaguely see a dilapidated building. It used to be a red windmill, but it has obviously been abandoned for a long time. Most of the windmill's blades are missing, and the exterior walls are covered with ivy and exposed cement.

They eventually stopped in front of the farm, which was run by an elderly couple. The old woman had a bad temper and a fierce expression.

"Old Polk? Yes! That's right! We were the ones who took over this wretched place from him!"

An old woman wearing a headscarf and an apron, leaning on a hoe, pointed at her husband and shouted in her loud voice.

"I've toiled half my life! That old man lied to me, saying that buying this land would allow me to live out my retirement in peace, but look what happened! I'm going to have to work myself to death here!"

Hearing her loud voice, Xueni hesitated for a moment, but after a few seconds of hesitation, she still asked cautiously.

"May we borrow your farm for one day tomorrow, madam?"

The old woman glared at him sideways.

"What did you say? Borrow?"

“No, it’s not a loan.” Severus spoke up for Xueni at this moment, “It’s a rental. We will pay you a price that you find reasonable to rent your farm for one day.”

I really want to update more, write more, write four or five chapters a day, 10,000 words, but I can't during the new book period, brothers. I already failed in the first round of promotion, and now it's the second week of running naked. I'm waiting to see if I can win the revival round this week. The word count has seriously exceeded the limit. If I write any more, it will be 300,000 words before it goes on sale.

Chapter 53 The Windmill Under the First Breeze of Night

On Saturday, when half of the morning sun was above the horizon, Severus and his party were ready to set off.

They spent the night in the nearest town to the farm and also found out the grave of Patty's grandfather, old Polk.

Early in the morning, the four of them, along with Patty, drove to a cemetery near the town and finally found the tombstone with Polk's name engraved in a corner of it.

Bloody replaced Patty and thoroughly cleaned the long-neglected cemetery, then spoke many words of gratitude to the old man for giving Patty a wonderful childhood.

Afterwards, they had breakfast nearby and then returned to the farm run by the elderly couple.

Last night, Severus negotiated a price with them to rent the farm for a whole day, and now it's time for the handover.

"It's settled then. If we find that you've altered or damaged the crops on the farm when we come back tomorrow to inspect it, this deposit will not be refunded!"

Before leaving, the old woman clutched the pounds in her hand and gave a menacing warning.

Severus simply smiled at this.

"Haven't we already signed the contract? Madam, rest assured, we will do everything in accordance with the terms of the contract."

The old woman was pleased with Severus's attitude. She finally got into the farm's pickup truck and left with her husband, intending to stay with their son in Oxford for a day.

After they left, Severus and his three companions moved into the farm permanently.

Bloody moved a single sofa out of the house and placed Patty, who was still fast asleep, on it so that she could bask in the gentle sunlight in the corridor outside.

"Alright, guys, we have a day to prepare."

Severus, now wearing a straw hat, leather apron, boots, and gloves, pulled out his wand.

Bloody and Wolper, dressed similarly, also pulled out their wands, while poor Harry, who had never learned magic, carried a hoe on his shoulder.

"Dali and Elder, you two are in charge of taking care of that windmill. Elder, in particular, make sure to clear away the grass on it before noon, because you're coming with me to Gringotts this afternoon to do the final preparations for the potion."

“Xenni and I came together to clear out a sugar beet field, the one near the wheat field. We have to sow the tulip seeds before 10 a.m. so we don’t have enough time.”

Under Severus's task assignment, the four quickly began their work for the day.

At this very moment, a huge wave of public opinion has swept through the magical world. All the major newspapers are in an uproar, and everyone is speculating whether the ending of the story to be released at 8 pm tonight in "The Quibbler" will be related to the two recent cases.

The media seized this opportunity and launched all sorts of exclusive interviews, releasing all sorts of news, true or false.

Even Scrimgeour, while continuing to search for Severus's whereabouts, also arranged for Aurors to keep a close eye on "The Quibbler".

Despite being at the heart of the vortex, Severus and his companions were completely oblivious to what was happening in the magical world.

They busily began their day's work in the fields.

Wolpe, who had finished the final manuscript last night, was waving his wand and cleaning the plants off the windmill, while Harry, wearing old overalls and carrying a bucket of red paint, climbed a ladder and repainted the areas that Wolpe had cleaned.

Harry had to do the painting himself because the windmill had been exposed to the elements for so long that even a restoration charm couldn't restore it to its original condition.

Bloody was busy following Severus's instructions, waving his wand and temporarily moving the acre of sugar beets closest to the wheat field together, one by one.

Severus then applied some rejuvenating agent to the beets to ensure they remained fresh even after being removed from the soil, respecting the agreement he had signed with the elderly couple that he would not damage the farm.

With their intensive work, Bloody and Severus finally finished clearing nearly an acre of land before 10 a.m.

At this moment, Wolpe also cleared the plants off the windmill and volunteered to go into the kitchen to prepare lunch for them.

Harry had finished painting two walls. His only task for the day was painting the windmill, so he could rest when he got tired. He was sitting on the ridge of the field, watching Severus and Bloodny sow tulip seeds.

"Hey, Bloody!" he shouted to Bloody, who was ten meters away. "Tonight is a great opportunity. You haven't confessed to Patty yet, have you?"

Hennis had his head down, seemingly focused on scattering seeds, but when Severus turned around at the sound, he found that his face was already incredibly red.

Severus straightened his straw hat and said meaningfully.

"When it's time to express your feelings, you should express them. Sometimes, no one knows why they might miss out on someone they'll regret for the rest of their life, right?"

He said the last "Is that right?" in a low voice, as if he were talking to himself, but when the ghost heard it, its expression clearly turned very bad.

“You definitely love her,” Harry said confidently. “Just like she loves you. Neither of you has said it, but you both know it in your hearts.”