The Sunshine of Hogwarts, Snape

Hearing the familiar yet strangely unfamiliar voice beside him, Lupin turned his head and saw Harry leading a smiling Severus over to them.

Upon hearing Severus's address for Lupin, Harry, who had originally intended to reintroduce his teacher to 'Mr. Peter', couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

"Nephew? Lupin? You weren't classmates… you're relatives?"

Facing Severus, Lupin didn't know what expression to wear, especially after hearing that form of address.

At this point, Severus had already clapped Lyall on the shoulder.

"Lyall and I are as close as brothers. He's older than me, so I call him 'elder brother'. Doesn't that make his son my nephew?"

Harry scratched his forehead, feeling that there was nothing wrong with what Severus said.

Lupin, however, looked utterly incredulous. He glanced at Severus, then at his father.

Under his son's gaze, Lyall showed an awkward expression. He sighed and didn't say anything more.

"You two should sort this out yourselves. Now that I've confirmed you're safe, I don't have anything else to worry about. As for whatever you plan to do next, once it's done, if you want to come home, I'll be waiting. And also feel free to drop by for a drink sometime, you can also bring Robert."

The last sentence was directed at Severus. After saying this, Lyall clearly intended to leave.

Severus didn't try to stop him, but just before he left, he offered one last reminder.

"The Wizengamot will likely send you a letter in the next few days, Lyall. Don't forget to check for it… that letter will be important."

Lyall looked puzzled.

"A letter from the Wizengamot?"

"Don't worry, it's a pleasant surprise. You'll know when the time comes."

After Lyall left, Severus turned his attention back to Lupin.

By now, Lupin had somewhat composed himself. Calmly, he extended a hand toward Severus.

"Long time no see. I've heard you've changed completely recently, nothing like your old self?"

Severus also reached out, shaking Lupin's hand.

Just as he had told Ghost Snape, back during their Hogwarts days, even if Lupin had been at fault in that incident, his mistakes were the least severe among the four.

Moreover, he had his own position to consider at the time. It was hard to justify Ghost Snape directing all his anger at him.

"It has been a while. You did an excellent job as an undercover agent. Without the information you left behind, we wouldn't have been able to track things down so quickly."

Lupin studied Severus quietly for a moment, and Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something on my face?"

"You really have changed… and not just in appearance. The old you would never have said something like that."

Ghost Snape, who had been stewing in mixed emotions over Severus and Harry, now looked as dark as a thundercloud.

Severus chuckled.

"Well then, let's reintroduce ourselves. I'm Severus Snape… friend of your father, teacher of Harry Potter, former Head of House at Hogwarts, and currently unemployed."

The other titles didn't faze Lupin much, but at the mention of 'Harry Potter's teacher', his composure cracked again.

Lowering his voice, he couldn't help but ask, "Does Dumbledore know about this?"

"About Harry being kidnapped? Whether he knows or not doesn't make much difference."

"No, I mean you taking James's son as your student!"

Seeing how strongly Lupin reacted to this, Severus shrugged.

"If he didn't know, how would I have had the chance to take Harry out in the first place?"

"What was Dumbledore thinking?!" Lupin's voice grew urgent.

Severus exchanged a glance with Harry before spreading his hands.

"How should I know? I can't read his mind."

"And what about you? What are you thinking?" Lupin pulled Severus aside, making sure Harry couldn't hear his next words, "I don't believe that even if you've changed this much, your hatred for James could just disappear."

The question makes Ghost Snape sneer. Severus, however, simply looked at Lupin calmly and was about to respond when Kingsley, having finished overseeing the cleanup of the scene, approached them.

"Minister Bagnold will probably want to thank you personally." Exhausted after a long day, Kingsley said to Severus, "Too much has happened tonight. Barty Crouch Sr. has already been taken back to the Ministry. His case hasn't been made public yet, but the other department heads and the Minister are fully aware of everything."

"They don't dare keep this quiet, but if they go public, who knows how much of an uproar it'll cause in the Wizarding World? At least capturing these werewolves tonight is a silver lining. Knowing how they operate, the Daily Prophet will likely focus on the three of you to restore public confidence."

Then he turned to Lupin, clearly familiar with the wandering werewolf.

"And you, Remus… you'll receive the same recognition."

Lupin's face twisted into a bitter smile.

"Can the Ministry exchange that honor for more galleons instead?"

"Don't worry," Kingsley said, patting him on the shoulder, "The Ministry won't shortchange you, nor will they deny you the recognition you deserve. Maybe they'd prefer not to give a werewolf any public credit, but given the current situation, they have no choice. Even if you don't want it, they'll insist."

After exchanging a few more words with them, Kingsley inevitably turned his attention to Granger, who was hugging Hermione and murmuring something to her.

A troubled expression crossed his face.

"I can understand that your Muggle friend here must have played a crucial role in tracking down the werewolves, but... Severus, you know how strict the Statute of Secrecy is."

"Hermione is a little witch!" Harry blurted out, unable to hold back. Having witnessed the consequences of breaking the Statute with Sanguini and Worple, he knew full well how serious the repercussions could be.

At this answer, Severus showed no surprise, as he'd clearly already suspected as much. Lupin, who had witnessed the incident firsthand, also remained unfazed. Only Kingsley looked genuinely shocked.

"If that's the case, then once the Ministry verifies it with Hogwarts, there won't be any issues. In fact, given his status as a Muggle parent of a witch, it might even work in the Ministry's favor for their next steps."

Having said that, Kingsley rubbed his brows wearily.

"Regardless, both the Ministry and I personally owe you our deepest thanks. Even though the Crouch's situation isn't resolved yet, at least we have some good news tonight. Get some rest… the Ministry will likely summon you tomorrow."

"And don't forget the Daily Prophet. From what I've heard, the Ministry's still debating how to announce tonight's events to the public. With the werewolf operation wrapped up so neatly, I'd bet your names will be all over the papers."

After a final round of farewells, Kingsley and his team of Aurors escorted the captured werewolves, along with the children whose parents weren't present, back to the Ministry.

Now, only Severus, Harry, Lupin, Granger and his daughter remained.

"They're not going to erase our memories, are they?"

Clearly, after two days of exposure to the Wizarding World, Granger had already guessed what usually happened in such cases.

"Hermione will be a witch one day… she has the gift. As the parent of a witch, you're exempt from the Statute of Secrecy. You have the right to know."

Granger listened to Severus' explanation with wide-eyed astonishment before turning to Hermione. His face flickered between delight and concern!

Hermione, oblivious to her father's worries, stood up straighter, trying to mask her uncertainty about whether her suddenly long hair was truly the result of magic.

"Don't worry, the Wizarding World isn't normally this dangerous. No need to overthink it, Robert."

Severus saw what Granger was worried about and reassured him.

Granger pushed aside his long-term concerns for now, loudly praising Hermione and even spinning her around in a joyful circle.

Finally, he turned back to Severus and the others.

"We should head home soon. Jane's probably worried sick… We have to go back and tell her the good news!"

"Use the Floo Network. The Ministry must have a connection point on the island. I can temporarily link your fireplace to the network so you can return directly."

Granger naturally accepted this.

Just as Severus was about to lead Harry and the Grangers to the Ministry's Floo point on the island, he suddenly turned to Lupin, who had been following them as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Aren't you going home with Lyall?"

No one knew what Lupin was thinking, but his expression remained calm.

"There are still some things I need to clarify. I won't be parting ways with you just yet."

Severus didn't argue about this.

Back when Dumbledore and Bagnold had assigned him this mission, he'd already anticipated something like this.

Dumbledore wouldn't just let Harry go off with him after a single test… he'd want someone to keep an eye on things. That modified Wolfsbane Potion recipe was proof enough.

And Lupin was obviously the perfect candidate.

However, Severus didn't harbor much dislike for this down-and-out werewolf. That didn't mean he'd pass up a chance to tease him, though.

"Come on, come on, since you're sticking around, let's get to know each other!"

"This is your Uncle Granger. We've been through life and death with your father, so it's only natural that we'll look out for you!"