Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts

“Not killing you is already the best reward I can give you!” Greyback said coldly. “You coward, you have no idea what I’m trying to do!”

“I actually admire you, Remus. You’re different from the other werewolves. You’re smarter and more composed. There’s a lack of werewolves like you, which is why I didn’t kill you. I just confiscated your wand and left you to be a babysitter for those children!”

He stood up, not looking at Lupin, but facing the sea that shimmered in the evening breeze.

"Why do you think I've gathered so many people now? Why do you think I'm kidnapping these children? If I really want to increase the number of werewolves, this kind of group operation is the most conspicuous. Doing it one by one is actually more efficient."

Lupin's breathing became slightly rapid at this moment.

Having lurked among these werewolves for so long, he could certainly tell that Graybury's operation this time was quite unusual!

Previously, he had never been captured by the Aurors because they were elusive and never banded together.

But now, he has changed his usual habits, which is clearly unusual.

However, Graybury had never told anyone before what his grand plan was, until now.

"What do you want to do?" Lupin asked.

However, Graybuck did not speak at this moment. He only saw two figures walking along the reef to the tent camp, and with them were two children who were no more than teenagers!

“We found them in the cave! They were brought here by the Portkey Pierre issued! Two of them, two at once! One of them is a young wizard with magical talent, but hasn’t been accepted into Hogwarts yet!”

The freckled young man excitedly boasted to Graybury for credit.

The boy and girl who were captured were pale-faced, but they didn't cry on the spot in the face of such a scene, which was already a testament to their great courage!

Greyback was extremely pleased with this. He smiled at Harry and Hermione and also showed his fangs.

"Well done, I'll reward you. Put them with the other children and keep a close eye on them; don't let any of them escape!"

Lupin, whose mind was completely focused on Graybuck's words, did not immediately see what the two captured children looked like in the night.

He was in a state of turmoil, his mind filled with thoughts of what Graybury's true intentions were.

Just as the young man was following orders and taking the two children he had just captured away, as they passed the campfire, Lupin and the boy with black hair and a thin build made eye contact.

At that moment, Lupin stood frozen in place!

He swore he couldn't possibly be mistaken!

There are only a handful of people in the world who know that man better than he does, and that boy...

The boy looks exactly like him, almost as if they were carved from the same millstone!

Lupin's breathing stopped, his mind became even more chaotic, and he completely forgot about Graybury's purpose, his mind only focused on the boy's identity.

He felt it could only be the son of someone he knew, but wasn't that child under Dumbledore's protection?

How could it possibly be here!

As Lupin stood there, Graybuck turned around and looked at him again, his face contorted with a ferocious smile, a stark contrast to his quiet demeanor by the campfire just minutes before.

“You’re full of questions, aren’t you, Remus? But according to that gentleman’s plan, we should have raised our flag after we had converted these children.”

"As a result, the conversion has been delayed because of you. But this tells those mediocre fools who we serve and who we are working for, without having to drag it out any longer!"

Lupin's thoughts were drawn back to Graybuck's words, and suddenly, he felt a green light appear behind him!

"Look! All those fools in the magical world think he's dead! But he never left! Hahahaha!!!"

Greyback was laughing wildly, and Lupin turned around in horror.

Under the pitch-black night sky, atop the white cliffs of Beachy Point, he saw a gigantic green skull with its tongue lolling out like a snake!

No wizard in the magical world would be unfamiliar with this pattern, and even after so many years, no one would dare to forget it.

That is

Skeletons reappear, the mark of the Dark Lord!

Chapter 76 Clues Left by Lupin

Led by Severus, he left the apartment with Granger and Lupin the Elder.

Ignoring the darkening sky, the three plunged headlong into Sherwood Forest.

This forest is part of a nature reserve in England. It covers a very large area and is usually sparsely populated, except for some areas on the outskirts, which are occasionally used as filming locations for certain movies.

After the three of them entered the forest, it was completely dark. The forest was filled with the sounds of cicadas and frogs, and it was so dark that you could hardly see your hand in front of your face.

Severus and old Lupin used the Illumination Charm, while Granger had put on a hat with a built-in light before he went out, a piece of equipment he occasionally used when hunting.

Led by Granger, they ventured deeper into the forest, and after walking for about four or five hours, they finally arrived at a charred wooden hut.

There were obvious signs that the shed had been cleaned by people, leaving a clearing.

On the ground, you can still see plastic bags, tattered clothes, and other signs that someone has lived there.

"They've moved!" Old Lu Ping's face turned grave as he looked at the shack in the middle, now reduced to ashes.

Severus did not immediately draw a conclusion. He raised his wand and approached the ruins, then used a cleansing charm and a levitation charm to simply clear away some debris from the ruins.

A fire set on fire reduced most of the shacks to ashes, but some things remained standing.

In a pile of dust, Severus found an empty potion bottle, on which the incomplete "San Mungo" mark could still be faintly seen.

He opened the bottle, sniffed it, and drew his conclusion.

"General-purpose healing potions produced by St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Illnesses are very effective against most common ailments."

“This is what they used to treat that child,” Granger guessed.

Severus continued into the ruins and soon found some bottles that hadn't been completely burned, but they were just ordinary drinking water bottles.

It wasn't until old Lupin followed Severus that he discovered a tattered felt blanket that had been burned down to the size of a palm.

"This...this belongs to Remus!"

His voice drew the attention of Granger and Severus. Old Lupin picked up the tattered felt from the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust and creating a hole in the floor.

"Why would Lupin bring this?" Severus asked, frowning.

Old Lu Ping gripped the tattered cloth in his hand and said softly.

"This was the full moon of the month he turned eight. His mother covered him with it after he finished turning into a wolf. He has kept it with him ever since, even when he went to Hogwarts."

He reminisced, as if recalling something, but he didn't tell Severus and the others.

But Granger, upon hearing this, astutely remarked...

"There must be a reason why something he usually keeps by his side is left here, right?"

Severus had by then arrived at the hole in the floor.

This area is located behind the shed, not far from the fire. A small piece of felt survived, probably because that piece was wet to begin with.

The floor beneath the felt had already been burned black.

Severus tapped his wand on the hole in the floor, and soon a wooden plank, bent from being heated by fire, flew out of the hole!

He took the board; two-thirds of it had been burned to charcoal, leaving only one-third of the original wooden structure with clearly visible engravings.

[Greybock, East]

On the intact part of the board, only one and a half words were visible, and when old Lupin saw the surname "Greybourne," he visibly trembled and his face turned paler than ever before!

Staring at the name that was also quite familiar to Severus, he turned to look at old Lupin.

"Fenrir Greyback, that infamous werewolf? You know him?"

Granger remained silent; he naturally didn't understand the meaning of the name, but he noticed Old Lupin's unusual behavior.

Old Lu Ping just muttered to himself.

"Yes. I know him, and he knows me. But Remus doesn't."

At this point, old Lupin suddenly shut his mouth tightly, his expression showing great pain.

Severus stared at him for a few seconds. He could sense that there was something going on, but even if he was a time traveler, he couldn't possibly know everything and couldn't guess what old Lupin was thinking.

He quickly focused his attention on the second half of the word.

[East]

This is clearly a place name, but the last few letters of the word are blackened, making it impossible to see its original complete form.

Neither Snape's original memory nor Severus himself were familiar with the names of the British cities, so he turned to look at Granger.

Can you tell where this is?

As a purebred Muggle dentist, Granger was obviously more familiar with and knowledgeable about cities in England. After thinking for a moment, he quickly came up with an answer.

"It's very likely Eastbourne in East Sussex! Located on the southeast coast of England!"

Severus acted quite decisively, making a decision immediately.

"Let's go there now!"

Just as Severus and his two companions found the clues left by Lupin in the forest.

The Auror office at the Ministry of Magic was in complete chaos.

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has discovered that Muggles have been attacked by wizards in East Sussex!

It was a family of three vacationing at the beach. They were magically suspended on top of the lighthouse and left to endure the cold wind for half the night.

If that's all there is to it, then so be it; at most, it's just a rather vicious attack.

But right above the house where the Muggle was hung up, a bright, persistent pattern shone through until the early hours of the next day!

The pattern that is familiar to all Aurors, and even sends shivers down their spines upon first sight—the Dark Mark!

"Someone has used the technique of recreating corpses!"

Robaz, who led the team, looked extremely grim and terrible. He hadn't even shown such a bad expression since learning that Severus had been acquitted!

A mere mark may not mean anything; it doesn't mean that the demon who is already dead might return.

But during the court hearing this morning, the Minister of Magic declared in front of the wizarding public that "the Ministry of Magic has completely eliminated the negative influence left behind by the former Void!"

That very night, someone raised that man's flag, arrogantly and blatantly declaring that this group, which should have been wiped out, still had members!

What will the Daily Prophet report tomorrow?

How will the public view this?

Chapter 77 The Invisible Man

4 a.m., Crouch's old house.

After the Dark Mark was discovered, before dawn, Crouch, the Chief of Staff of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, along with Scrimgeour, Robards, and Kingsley, all gathered at the Chief's house.

Such a large-scale mobilization, bringing together almost all of the British Ministry of Magic's high-ranking armed officers, was certainly not just about the Dark Mark.

No one believes that man can return now, not even Kingsley, who is close to Dumbledore, has ever considered the possibility of the Man of Darkness being resurrected.

Therefore, although the effects of the Black Mark are bad, they are not so great that they are so nervous.

What truly made Crouch and his crew feel threatened was that the Aurors' recent operations had consistently failed to go smoothly.

Especially targeting those werewolves.

Even if the Aurors hadn't yet connected the werewolves and the Dark Mark, they could probably guess that the two things were definitely related.

“I sent my men out, and they didn’t even get a heads-up when the ministry was setting up an investigation into the werewolves. At that time, they were chasing Snape,” Kingsley said cautiously.

Robaz then uttered two names.

“Philo Anderson and Horace Baker are the suspects. They received their mission before going to track down the werewolves, but Philo suddenly took leave the day before, saying he was going to St. Mungo for medical treatment. Horace participated in the operation as usual, but during the process, he was separated from the team for about five minutes. According to him, he went to the wrong place while Apparating.”

Scringer looked at him.

"Did you go to St. Mungo's?"

"We checked, and Philo does have medical records, but that doesn't completely clear him of suspicion. As for Horace, we went to the location he described to perform Apparition monitoring, and we did detect traces of Apparition, but five minutes seems a bit off."

Crouch couldn't help but rub his temples. All the recent events had put pressure on the Aurors, making it very difficult for him, the head of the Executive Division.

The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was almost certainly the designated successor to Minister of Magic Bagno, but due to the shocking scandal that occurred seven years ago, he has been mired in public opinion ever since.

Rumors are circulating that once Bagno retires completely, he will be transferred from the Execution Division to the International Magical Exchange and Cooperation Division.

This may seem like a lateral transfer, but it is actually a demotion.