"You finally understand, Harry!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Sirius spoke, overjoyed.

"Snape was bad for a full half of his life! Why didn't he reform earlier, why not later, but only now, at this moment, become a good person?"

"You're so smart, so you must have thought of this too, right?"

Harry, however, didn't share Sirius's joy. He just said,

"I knew from the very beginning that Professor wasn't a good person before. When he first took me from the Dursleys, he told me he bore great responsibility for my parents' deaths, and that he had a past he couldn't bear to look back on."

"But he also told me that the reason he wanted to take me out and teach me was to make up for past mistakes."

Sirius's voice was urgent.

"How could anyone just decide to repent like that? Think, Harry, think about the things you saw in those memories. During the Hogwarts years, when Severus and his gang were students, did they do any fewer bad things? Your mother was his best friend, and even she couldn't persuade him to repent, and instead, he insulted her, called her a Mudblood!"

"If even that didn't change him, how could he possibly become a different person so many years later, all of a sudden?"

Harry was thinking. He felt what Sirius said actually made sense, but he remembered asking Severus this very question when they first met.

"I asked Professor that too."

He looked up, first at Lupin, who had remained silent throughout, then looked down to meet Sirius's gaze on the floor.

"He told me that my mother had once been a light for him. He had failed her, and only her. And if he wanted to make amends for a mistake that had already happened, one that no one had the right to forgive, then the only way was to make it up to me."

The air grew quiet.

Even someone as stubborn as Sirius couldn't find fault with Severus's answer to Harry at this moment.

Both Lupin and Sirius understood the relationship between Lily and Snape in their youth.

If Snape hadn't been repeatedly unrepentant, and if James hadn't intervened, the two might have ended up together.

From youth to adulthood, Snape was harsh with everyone except Lily.

They grew up together, only to part ways at Hogwarts.

And now, Harry had the exact same emerald green eyes as Lily.

The reason of making amends on Harry because of Lily's death was indeed plausible. But Sirius still found a crucial flaw.

"If he truly felt remorse for Lily's death as he claims, why didn't he secretly watch over you and protect you from the start?"

Sirius said shrewdly.

"You were taken in by him just two months ago, right? It's been over eight years since your mother died. Why would he come to you, saying he wants to repent and make amends, only after eight years? There must be something wrong with that?"

Harry couldn't refute Sirius, but he couldn't help leaning towards his Professor from the bottom of his heart.

"Even if there's something, maybe something happened or he encountered something that stirred his emotions, right?"

Sirius was somewhat dissatisfied with Harry's stubbornness. Just as he was about to say something, Lupin, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"I think I might guess why Severus chose this particular time to take Harry out and confess everything to him."

Instantly, both Harry and Sirius turned their gazes to Lupin.

"Why?"

Lupin didn't look at Sirius but turned to stare at Harry.

"Do you remember, before we left Britain, he met with Lucius and those others alone?"

Of course, Harry couldn't forget that.

"I remember. That's where I met Draco, and we got into a fight."

"They discussed something there, or made some kind of deal!"

Hearing this, Sirius instantly reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Scheming and dealing with the Malfoys! They must be planning how to sell Harry out and welcome back his master!"

"If that were truly the case, the person he should really be contacting is Barty Crouch Jr."

Lupin just looked at Sirius.

"We all know that the Malfoys and their lot never had true loyalty to the Dark Lord. They only side with whoever serves their interests best."

"So, you know what he discussed with those swine?"

"No, I don't know." Lupin shook his head, but his eyes held a certain conviction, "But I do know that whatever he plotted with Malfoy and the others must be acting against Barty Crouch Jr.'s group. And the Malfoys are the fence-sitter faction that Severus is trying to win over!"

To this, Sirius just said,

"Even if he's opposing Barty Crouch Jr., it could be infighting among them to win their master's favor!"

"You can certainly think that. But from the start, you've consistently overlooked one thing."

Lupin stared into Sirius's eyes.

"Dumbledore has known what Severus is doing all along."

The moment he uttered that name, Sirius's breath hitched for a half-second.

He had indeed overlooked it, or rather, had subconsciously refused to acknowledge it from the start.

For the past eight years, Severus had been employed at Hogwarts, always under Dumbledore's watchful eye.

And now, he suddenly took Harry from his aunt's house, even out of Britain, to a remote place like Albania.

Dumbledore couldn't possibly be unaware.

That meant everything Severus was doing was with Dumbledore's tacit approval.

At this point, Harry added further support to Lupin's words.

"Yes! I've met Professor Dumbledore! At Hogwarts! It wasn't long after Professor took me in. We saved Sanguini and Patty together, but then the Professor and the others were all arrested by Aurors! Dumbledore appeared and took me to Hogwarts!"

"He told me then that I could choose: continue following Professor, or return to Aunt Petunia's and my previous life. I told him I wanted to keep following Professor, and he ultimately respected my choice!"

But even so, Sirius could find a stubborn point to argue.

"Dumbledore isn't infallible! He's had his moments of being an old fool, he's misjudged people before!"

"We've all misjudged people before," Lupin said calmly, "But we can't stop observing and examining others just because we've misjudged one or two people, and instead choose to believe only what we want to believe."

"If you still harbor doubts about Severus and are worried about Harry's safety, then why not stay here and see what he does next."

Lupin's words finally quieted Sirius. The entire room fell into silence.

The man, the boy, and the dog looked at each other-

Until Lupin urged Harry,

"It's very late. Time for bed now."

Only then did Harry reluctantly stand up from the chair, push the door open, and return to his room.

That night felt very long for everyone except Severus.

Harry lay in bed, tossing and turning, thinking about the memory scenes related to his parents.

Draco kept examining his ears in the mirror with an ear pick, terribly worried and afraid he might go deaf.

Lupin and Sirius, having reconciled their misunderstanding after so many years, reunited, and with Lupin explaining why Harry was acting as Draco's attendant, certainly couldn't rest so early.

As a result, when Severus got up the next day and came to the dining room for breakfast, he found everyone with dark circles under their eyes.

"You all get too worked up over things."

He said, shrugging, while eating his sandwich.

Harry, however, kept looking at him, finally saying somewhat listlessly due to exhaustion,

"It's you, Professor, who seems too calm, as if you knew all this would happen beforehand."

"If I were a Seer, then I certainly could manage that."

After finishing the milk in his cup, Severus clapped his hands.

"You should all go catch up on sleep later. I need to go find Nicholas, see how his research is going. Black doesn't need to sleep, as a dog, he doesn't need much rest. He'll come with me."

When Severus mentioned Nicholas, Sirius suddenly remembered that he had stolen the letter from Nicholas's pocket yesterday and left without a word!

That wise old man had chosen to believe him from the start, without any evidence, and had made preparations in advance so he could meet Severus and the others properly.

Yet he, Sirius, had been impatient, betraying his kindness, stolen the letter, and come here on his own.

Which led to nearly being handed over to the Aurors last night, and even now, being temporarily stuck in dog form due to the potion's effects.

Recalling all this made Sirius feel disturbed and unsettled, or rather, guilty.

"Why should I go with you! Who do you think you are!"

He said rudely to Severus.

In response, Severus just wiped his mouth with a napkin and glanced at him.

"You sneaked here. Shouldn't you go give Nicholas an explanation or an apology?"

These words made Sirius startle violently!

He jerked his head up to look at Severus.

"How did you know!"

The commotion attracted the attention of the sleepy Harry and Lupin, and even Draco pricked up his ears, wanting to catch up on the gossip he missed yesterday.

"Know what?" Severus said casually.

"How do you know I know Nicolas Flamel, or that I came with him!" Sirius stared intently, "You seem to know everything!"

Severus just pointed to the voice-producing collar around his neck, the [No. 3 Radio].

"Do you think just anyone could make something like that?"

"There are plenty of highly skilled alchemists all over Europe!"

"But there's only one highly skilled alchemist who also knows where we are right now." Severus had already stood up from his chair.

He didn't seem inclined to explain much to Sirius, as if worried his walnut-sized brain couldn't handle it.

"And I can guess you came here secretly, behind Nicholas's back. He had already arranged everything for you… he was going to be the intermediary, to bring you to meet us and resolve the misunderstanding. But you were just too impatient, impulsive, making mistakes."

Sirius was rendered speechless by his words. Even if he wanted to argue, he couldn't find any words to refute him.

By then, Severus was already heading out of the dining room.

"Suit yourself. If you think you've done nothing wrong and don't need to apologize to him, then consider that Nicholas misjudged you and wasted his efforts for nothing."

His final words clearly struck a nerve with Sirius.

The black dog, who had only taken a few bites of his sandwich, silently left the table and followed Severus.

They reached the entrance hall. Severus put on his coat, showing no surprise at Sirius following him.

"Even Potter changed a lot after reaching fifth year. Why haven't you changed at all, no matter what you've been through?"

Hearing Severus's words, Sirius was just about to retort when Severus grabbed his dog leg.

"Get ready. Side-Along Apparition in Animagus form probably feels different from the human sensation."

As Severus's words fell, he gave a light flick of his wand. The next second, the figures of the man and the dog twisted and distorted as if thrown into a spinning washing machine, vanishing from the spot.

At the entrance to the underground ruin, Severus appeared with Sirius.

Soon, an Albanian Auror stationed nearby noticed them, recognized Severus, and greeted him.

"Looking for Mr. Williams? He finished translating the mural last night and is resting in his tent. He's probably up and having breakfast now. I'll take you to him."

Just as this Albanian Auror was leading Severus and the others towards the Aurors' rest tents, an Auror who had gone underground for the morning shift emerged from the ruin entrance looking frantic.

"Zakhary and Valencia are missing!"

He shouted, raising his wand high and sending a cluster of red sparks into the sky the moment he surfaced.

After the sparks exploded in the sky, nearly all the Albanian Aurors in the vicinity converged, including their director, Kabunara!

Seeing this, Severus couldn't help but frown. He turned and grabbed the Auror who had been about to return upon seeing the sparks.

"First, take us to Mr. Williams!"