The Sunshine of Hogwarts, Snape

"Dumbledore must have discovered that you are not me!" Ghost Snape said coldly from inside the body.

Severus shrugged as he walked down the corridors of Hogwarts.

"I bet he noticed the moment he first laid eyes on me."

"And yet you still dared-"

"Still dared to see him? Still dared to bring up Harry Potter's matter right in front of him?"

Severus could easily guess what Ghost Snape wanted to ask. So instead of waiting, he countered with a question of his own.

"Can I guarantee that I'll never see Dumbledore for the rest of my life?"

Ghost Snape fell silent. He saw no point in wasting words on a question with only one possible answer.

Severus didn't mind the lack of response and continued on his own, "Obviously not."

"Since I can't avoid seeing Dumbledore forever, and there's no way to prevent him from realizing I've replaced you, I might as well take the initiative and face him directly."

"We both know him. That old geezer loves his riddles, playing those vague little games. As long as I don't say anything outright, he probably won't ask me directly what's happened. Instead, he'll follow my lead in conversation and observe my words and actions himself. After that, of course, I'd bring up my demands."

"What if he exposes you on the spot?" Ghost Snape finally spoke again. He can't imagine just how audacious this mysterious person possessing his body truly was.

"If he exposes me, I'll just tell the truth. You can see for yourself that I didn't deliberately choose to possess your body. Besides, Dumbledore still needs Severus Snape to do things for him. As long as he has a use for it, he won't actually do anything drastic to me."

By now, Severus had returned to his dungeon office.

"See? No matter how you look at it, going to see Dumbledore was a win-win for me. And now, I've come out even further ahead. He didn't explicitly agree, but he still loosened his stance on the matter of Harry Potter."

"Dumbledore wants to see exactly how I'll convince Harry Potter and his guardians to take him away, that's how he'll judge what I really am."

Hearing this, Ghost Snape couldn't stay calm any longer. He stared intently at Severus.

"So who are you, really? What do you want with Potter by taking him away?!"

Severus merely pinched a bit of Floo powder from the office fireplace and smiled faintly.

"Do you know what kind of person is most worthy of admiration, trust, and reliance?"

"What?"

"A sincere person."

...

"A sincere person! A sincere person! I've always hoped that under the influence and education of our family, you'd grow into a sincere person, Harry Potter!"

At 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, Petunia's shrill voice was like a broken gong being struck repeatedly early in the morning, making eardrums tremble along with the soundwaves.

"It wasn't me!"

Harry, who was only 9 years old, was still loudly defending himself, pointing at Dudley, who sat on the sofa with his beady little eyes. He was already as fat as a ball at such a young age.

"It's Dudley! This morning, I saw cream still smeared at the corner of his mouth!"

"It wasn't me, Mum!" Dudley shouted.

"Of course it wasn't you, my little angel! You're so well-behaved, and you always keep your promises!" When speaking to her son, Petunia's voice became unusually gentle.

But such tenderness only lasted less than three seconds.

"But some lying little brats are different! Oh my God! Potter! Not only did you steal food, but you even tried to frame Dudley!"

Harry felt somewhat exhausted. He slumped his shoulders, hanging his head as if resigned, and shrugged.

"Fine, say whatever you want."

Just then, Vernon pushed open the living room door, returning with the mail from the mailbox. When he heard what Harry said, he warned him viciously.

"Don't you dare use that tone with us! You should at least learn some gratitude!"

"Like washing your socks?" Harry said with his head down.

"That's the bare minimum you should be doing!" Vernon roared.

But soon, his attention shifted from Harry to the letters he had just retrieved from the mailbox.

"They actually think our drills aren't powerful enough. If they insist on that, they won't be able to find a qualified product in the whole of Surrey County."

"Oh, Marge is coming the day after tomorrow. She misses Dudley so much."

"Damn it, another overdue notice! We pay so much in council tax, and yet that broken fire hydrant outside hasn't been fixed in two months!"

Vernon grumbled, making a complaint every time he read a letter.

Harry was originally studying the buttons with his head down, fantasizing about what it would be like if Uncle Vernon suddenly shrank to the size of a button and begged for his forgiveness, which had slightly improved his mood.

But this brief moment of self-comfort was instantly shattered when he heard Marge would be visiting the day after tomorrow, plunging him into even deeper gloom and despair.

Harry tried to make an effort.

"Can I go to Mrs. Figg's place the day after tomorrow? One of her cats seems to have gone missing, and if it isn't found soon, it might come to our house! It… it'll poop in the yard! Yes! Poop in the yard, and then Aunt Petunia might accidentally step on it! I can help look for it to prevent all that!"

Mrs. Figg was the Dursleys' neighbor. She was an odd old woman whose house was full of cats and reeked of cabbage.

Harry didn't like going there, but compared to the Dursleys' home with Marge around, it was practically paradise!

However, Vernon, who had just finished reading his letters and suddenly spotted another one wedged in the doorframe, crushed Harry's hopes without hesitation.

"You're staying home all day the day after tomorrow!"

After saying that, he didn't even glance at Harry, who had gone pale and slumped in his chair, before calling out to the kitchen.

"Petunia, there's a letter for you."

"Who's it from? Eunice?"

Petunia wiped her wet hands on her apron as she stepped out of the kitchen.

As she passed by Harry, she did not forget to shriek at her nephew to take out the pillowcase that was soaking in the basin.

Harry stood up from his chair like a ghost, shuffling past Dudley, who was stretching his nonexistent neck in a mocking gesture, clearly planning to retaliate for Harry's earlier 'betrayal'.

However, before Harry could even reach the washroom, he suddenly heard a soft thud, which is the sound of an envelope hitting the floor.

Not only Harry, but even Dudley, who had originally focused his attention on his cousin and wanted to retaliate against him for his snitching, was attracted by the noise and turned to look in the direction of Petunia.

What they saw was an expression on Petunia's face that they had never witnessed before.

It was like seeing Mrs. Figg's cat relieving itself on her freshly washed blanket.

No… Harry thought it was at least ten times worse than that!

Vernon became nervous at her reaction.

"What's wrong? Who's the letter from?"

An eerie silence hung over the Dursley household for two long seconds.

Petunia's pale lips trembled as she uttered a name none of them had ever heard before.

"Sev… Severus Snape…"

"Who?" Vernon grew even more nervous.

Petunia didn't answer immediately. Instead, she suddenly whipped her head around to stare straight at Harry!

Harry, who had been quietly memorizing the name that had turned his aunt into a terrified ostrich, was startled by her sudden gaze, and his round glasses, which were held together by copious amounts of tape, slipped half an inch down his nose.

Following Petunia's gaze, Vernon's eyes also landed on Harry, who had an innocent look on his face. He seemed to have thought of something, and his expression became particularly gloomy and ugly.

"Those… freaks?"

Petunia didn't answer. Instead, she glanced nervously at the clock on the wall.

"Three minutes! We have three minutes! They always do this! This letter isn't a request at all, it's a notice! A shameless, overbearing notice!"

She rushed out, grabbed Dudley who was still in a daze, and at the same time, she instructed Vernon to carry Harry and go out to drive immediately.

"Where are we going? Didn't you promise I could play computer games with Dad this morning?" Dudley was very angry when he realized what was happening. He started pinching Petunia's hand where she gripped his arm.

"Sorry, sweetheart, we had to change our plans! But we can go anywhere, we just can't stay home! How about the amusement park? You've been saying you wanted to go again!"

As Petunia struggled to drag Dudley outside, Vernon had already seized Harry by the scruff of his thin neck, lifting him like a gorilla hoisting a scrawny cat, and yanked him toward the door.

The four members of the Dursley household burst out of the house like refugees fleeing a disaster. Vernon tossed Harry onto the lawn before turning to take the car, while Petunia continued trying to soothe her precious son.

Just when the scene was in chaos and everyone was scrambling around, a relaxed voice suddenly spoke up behind them.

"Such weather doesn't seem ideal for a family outing."

The voice made Vernon nearly trip over his own feet on the flat lawn, turned Petunia to stone where she stood, and caused both Dudley and the utterly bewildered Harry to whip their heads around.

To the right of the Dursleys' front door, sitting leisurely in a high-backed chair, was a man with a neat, short ponytail, a sharp hooked nose, deep-set eyes, and an unseasonably heavy black robe draped over his frame.

At this time, he is holding a teacup in one hand, exuding an air of composed elegance, and gave Harry and Dudley a playful wink as they stared at him.

In their frantic rush to leave, the family had completely missed the fact that a living, breathing person had been sitting right there the whole time!

Severus, who had taken the time to tidy up his appearance under the cold scrutiny of Ghost Snape before delivering his letter, raised his free hand towards the Dursleys in a casual greeting.

"Especially when you have a guest to entertain today."