Severus had considered many possibilities.
This case had caused such an uproar that high-ranking officials from both the Muggle governnt and the wizarding governnt had been alard.
It was Dumbledore who had indirectly involved him in the investigation.
Initially, he had thought that even if the case wasn't connected to remnants of the Death Eaters, it would at least involve so grand sche like Dark magical creatures plotting to undermine the International Statute of Secrecy…
However, to his complete surprise, the vampire standing before him, who looked utterly foolish, seed to have no plan at all!
Even the act of kidnapping Harry to lure him here seed like a spur-of-the-mont decision.
'What exactly does he want?'
'A tale of a noble lady falling for a poor boy?'
'A fantastical romance between a vampire and a half-paralyzed girl?'
'If that was the case, why not simply elope with the girl? Why steal Slughorn's potion? What was the point of drugging her?'
At that mont, Harry approached Severus and said hesitantly, "Professor, Mr. Sanguini isn't a bad person. He really was trying to save Miss Patty..."
"What kind of person soone is isn't determined by what they say, but by what they actually do."
Severus gazed into Sanguini's eyes, which were filled with desperation and despair, and his voice suddenly softened.
"Mr. Sanguini, relax. I know you want to tell sothing. It's alright… so things don't need to be spoken aloud. I can see for myself."
"Take a deep breath, and relax... just relax..."
Sanguini seed to be under the influence of so inexplicable magic, and followed Severus's instructions exactly.
He took two deep breaths, and his previously tense body began to loosen. His rapid breathing gradually slowed, and his eyes grew vacant. The already feeble barriers in his mind were now completely dismantled.
Severus then tapped Harry lightly with his wand.
"Look him in the eyes and see with your heart."
Harry swallowed nervously. Under the influence of Severus's wand, he felt as though sothing within him had changed.
He stared intently into Sanguini's eyes, and suddenly, those eyes seed to transform into a swirling vortex!
The vortex expanded, spinning faster and faster until it engulfed him completely!
Harry felt as though he were plumting from a great height, and could only sense an unsettling feeling of weightlessness.
But soon, his feet landed firmly on solid ground again.
When he looked around, he realized he was no longer in the forest cabin but had returned to the garden of the Badminton Estate!
Severus stood beside him and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, signaling him to stay still and observe the scene unfolding before them.
"Hey, you! Do you even know how to fix this? I only picked you because you looked young and strong!"
Next to a broken lawnmower, the gardener looked at the tall, pale young man in front of him with suspicion.
Wearing a set of greasy work clothes that were stolen from sowhere, Sanguini stood helplessly before the lawnmower and chuckled awkwardly.
"Sir, of course I can fix it! I told you… I'm the best chanic in the area! But, uh, could you get so water? I'm a bit thirsty."
The gardener's face was full of impatience, but he still agreed.
"Fine, but you stay right here! Don't move!"
Sanguini smiled as he watched the gardener leave. Once the man had disappeared into the garden, he quickly pulled out a wand he had hidden earlier and pointed it at the broken lawnmower.
"Reparo!"
A miraculous change occurred on the lawnmower. The paint that had originally peeled off the surface began to recover, the worn parts inside beca as good as new, and even the holes in the seats were repaired and returned to their original state.
After finishing all this, Sanguini let out a long sigh of relief. Just as he relaxed and was about to put away his wand, he looked up-
And t a pair of bright blue eyes.
It was a girl in a wheelchair, watching him from the third-floor window on the far right of the estate!
She obviously saw everything that had just happened and looked at Sanguini and the lawnmower beside him with shock.
Sanguini was obviously panicked. His mind went blank, and he stood frozen, utterly at a loss.
But soon, he snapped out of it and scrambled to salvage the situation.
He seed to be betting on the fact that the girl was too far away to have clearly seen the lawnmower's transformation. Grabbing a dry stick from the ground, he began poking at the lawnmower like a fool, pretending he had just been doing sothing silly all along.
The girl in the wheelchair was amused at his antics and a heart-warming smile blood on her face.
At that mont, Sanguini was stunned.
Sunlight. The garden. The girl in the white dress, confined to her wheelchair.
The rest of the world faded from his vision, leaving only that delicate, beautiful girl, as pure as a lily.
Severus, who watched this scene, let out a disdainful 'tsk'.
Even though he was standing there, no one could see him, as if he was invisible.
"Great. He's fallen in love."
But Harry didn't understand why Severus sounded so exasperated. To him, the mont seed beautiful, like sothing out of a fairy tale… a serendipitous encounter brimming with romance.
The gardener soon returned with water for Sanguini. At this ti, Sanguini finally snapped out of his daze, only to realize the girl was no longer at the window.
His mind was clearly elsewhere now, but the gardener was stunned by the lawnmower's transformation.
"How did you do this?! Did you replace every part with a new one?"
It was obvious that Sanguini wasn't thinking about the lawnmower at the mont.
"Yeah, sure, sothing like that..."
"But I was gone for less than five minutes!"
"As long as it's fixed, that's all that matters." Sanguini evaded the question.
However, when the gardener tried to start it, the lawnmower still wouldn't work.
"That's impossible!" Sanguini exclaid, "Unless it was broken to begin with, I definitely fixed it!"
The gardener looked at Sanguini with a strange look in his eyes again.
"What on earth do you do? Earlier, you didn't even know lawnmowers need fuel, but after I left, you sohow made it look brand new! But it still won't start!"
Right now, Sanguini couldn't pay any attention to the lawn mower at all, as he had a bigger problem to deal with.
A Muggle had seen him casting magic, so this matter must be dealt with. Otherwise, if the Aurors are alerted and the Obliviators is asked to handle the matter, he'd be slapped with a fine he couldn't possibly afford!
"Can I use the bathroom? It's urgent!"
Under the gardener's watchful eye, Nymph hurried toward the estate.
The mont he entered, he made a beeline for the third floor, but before he could even reach the first-floor staircase, he was intercepted by the butler, who happened to be descending.
Under the butler's interrogation, Sanguini stamred, unable to co up with a coherent explanation.
Finally, when the butler picked up the phone to call the police, Sanguini fled in disgrace.
The next second, the surroundings around Severus and Harry shifted rapidly, like slides flashing by in fast-forward.
By the ti the surroundings stabilized again, Badminton Estate was already shrouded in the darkness of night.
Sanguini, who had fled in humiliation earlier… having shafully used magic to fix the lawnmower and even failing to collect his paynt, now crept back in like a thief.
His spellwork was diocre at best. Any Hogwarts student who had passed their N.E.W.T.s with three Exceeds Expectations would likely outperform him.
But his skills were more than enough to evade the Muggles.
This ti, he successfully reached the third floor and found the right room.
Though he had co here to perform a mory Charm, Sanguini couldn't resist straightening his clothes and smoothing his hair before raising his wand and unlocking the bedroom door uninvited.
He slipped inside and then carefully closed the door again.
Just as he raised his wand, intending to follow the sound of breathing to the bed and erase the mory of the girl who had seen his magic…
In the faint glow of moonlight from the window, he saw a pair of bright, clear eyes staring straight at him in the darkness.
Sanguini nearly jumped out of his skin.
"You're the wizard from earlier today, aren't you?"
A bedside lamp flicked on, revealing Patty propped up in bed, the covers pulled over her lap as she regarded Sanguini calmly.
With his back pressed against the wall, Sanguini discovered the problem.
"You… you were waiting for ?"
Hearing this, a mischievous glint flashed in Patty's eyes.
"You panicked when I saw you earlier. You wanted to co find at that ti, but were stopped by the butler. I figured you'd co back tonight!"
Sanguini's eyes widened in surprise at the girl's cleverness.
However, Patty's next words left him completely flustered.
"Are you here to kill ?"
"No! I don't just kill people! You just… saw sothing by accident. That's all." Sanguini fumbled with his wand, raising it shakily, "A simple mory Charm will do. Just one spell, and you won't rember anything from today."
Hearing this answer, disappointnt flickered in Patty's eyes.
Sanguini understood her look instantly.
"You… want to kill you?"
Patty didn't answer. She just watched him silently.
"My maid sleeps in the next room. My father assigned her to watch day and night. As long as I call her, she'll co running and alert everyone else."
Sanguini realized what she was planning. He frantically waved his hands, trying to stop her.
But the girl had already raised her voice.
"Wilma! Wilma!"
Footsteps imdiately sounded from the neighboring room. Sanguini was extrely frightened. He was afraid of attracting more people, so with no other choice, he flung open the window, ready to jump.
As he climbed onto the windowsill, Patty's voice called out behind him.
"You'll co back to see , won't you? Mr. Wizard."
Sanguini turned back in shock, only to see Patty smiling at him, her eyes twinkling.
'The girl had done this on purpose. She had deliberately driven away tonight… just so I'd have to return!'
Before the door could open, Sanguini finally jumped down.
As a vampire, his physical abilities far surpassed those of an ordinary wizard. A three-story drop was nothing to him.
From below the window, he faintly heard voices from inside the bedroom.
"What's wrong, Miss Patty? Do you need your diaper changed again?!"
"No." Patty's voice was cold, but she didn't ntion anything about Sanguini, "I forgot to close the window. Could you help with it?"
"Can't even let sleep through the night!"
Amid the maid's grumbling, the third-floor window slamd shut with a heavy thud.
Sanguini lay sprawled on the ground, his rapid breaths gradually slowing. He stared up at the starry sky without moving, lost in thought.
"Patty caused trouble for him. He's probably thinking about how to erase her mory later," Harry said sympathetically.
Severus said nothing, rely turning to give his painfully oblivious student a deadpan look.
Even Ghost Snape inside him couldn't help but muttered under his breath.
"Just as insufferably dense as his father."
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