Chapter 402: Scandal

After capitalizing on the deceased in the opening, the second section describes the ambiguous relationship between Snape and Bellatrix. Although, in reality, it would be a miracle if they could refrain from killing each other, the article goes to great lengths to portray a secret office romance between two people who love and hate each other. It even fabricates a story where Umbridge reports Snape and Bellatrix for having an affair, leading the Dark Lord to secretly conduct a paternity test with Delphi.

The primary evidence is a paternity test report conducted by "Huo Fa Ba He." As everyone knows, Huo Fa is the Dark Lord's most trusted secret agent, and he has no children. So, when he writes a letter to a nurse saying, "I have a friend who suspects he is not the father of the child," it is basically certain that this friend exists and is highly likely to be the Dark Lord himself.

Huo Fa does not want to say a word at this moment; he shifts his gaze directly to the next section.

A witch named Aurora Field reveals that during her student days, she was madly in love with Snape, who was then the Potions professor. She confessed her feelings a total of 117 times, but unfortunately, Snape remained distant. She ultimately failed to warm the professor's heart and had to leave with regret.

Attached to the side is a photo of this Aurora. Harry admits her features are very beautiful, but that head of light-blonde straight hair always reminds him inexplicably of Ma Erfu. In Snape's case, it perhaps reminds him of Lu Xiusi—coincidentally, this person also has light-blonde straight hair. No wonder Snape rejected her 117 times.

At the end of this section, Aurora makes her 118th confession, asking if Snape is willing to see her one more time... It is fair to say this is quite an explosive plot twist.

"My god, one hundred and eighteen times," Ron says. "What for?"

"For money, probably," Harry tries hard to find an explanation for this crazy world. "It says here that Aurora is a Muggle-born from Hufflepuff, and Snape, as a Potions professor, is bound to have money."

"Heh, keep reading the next paragraph," Zhang Qiu says with a cryptic smile.

The next protagonist is Olivia Oppington. Harry had previously paid special attention to their ancestor, Evangeline Oppington, because a significant amount of data shows that during her tenure as Minister for Magic, the Ministry of Magic intervened in the Crimean War in the Muggle world. The Oppington family, having been passed down since the Victorian era, can be considered an old-money noble family. Yet, even she accepts an interview saying she admired Snape, only held back by her upbringing from confessing in person, and often felt longing and regret afterward.

Harry swallows hard. He has no idea what Olivia is after. Is Snape really such a charming person?

Shifting his gaze to the next paragraph, Harry suddenly breathes a sigh of relief, because the next section describes how Sybill Trelawney had to hide her identity due to a prophecy about twins, only daring to appear before the world after Deng Buliduo passed away. Because Snape was the only pen pal willing to correspond with her during those ten-plus years, she naturally fell in love with Snape...

Harry sees through Snape's scheme of replacing Sybill himself to build momentum and demonstrate his influence among the teaching staff. Therefore, no matter what this section says, Harry just laughs it off. Along the way, he also begins to doubt the authenticity of the previous stories about Aurora and Olivia; he would rather believe these two are White House agents than believe anyone could love Snape so desperately.

The sixth person rumored to be involved is Donna Noble, who was quickly promoted to project manager upon joining the Department of Mysteries this year. People have seen her entering and leaving Snape's house on Spinner's End several times, and coupled with various groundless rumors from colleagues jealous of her promotion, it is easy for everyone to believe she and Snape have something going on.

Yes, people with dark minds always love to spread such rumors, Harry thinks with dissatisfaction, and then he sees this sentence: "Because her hair color and personality are extremely similar to the Lily of those years..."

Now Harry begins to waver.

"Eh? Haven't we seen this last one?" Ron says with some excitement. "Is it that student you said you have classes with?"

"Looks like it," Harry says, quickly scanning the text of the last paragraph. "And Mia is not only beautiful, but her eye color is also the type Snape would like... Eh? Didn't he mention this?"

"He really didn't mention it," Harry re-reads it. The title of the last section is "Lolita," which gives him a bad premonition. Indeed, Mia's figure is slightly petite, and coupled with her being Snape's student in the latest project, Harry begins to suspect this is an attack aimed at Snape. Once people start fixating on Mia, this will become a very vicious killing blow.

Snape cannot admit what he and Mia are actually doing—researching a spell against Kamen Riders. Will this matter itself offend the Tianchao people? And if this is a project with a high success rate, then as Mia's identity and their affairs are gradually exposed, other forces can find clues from it.

But if Snape does not admit it, it will be a devastating blow to his personal reputation, and might even plunge him into a storm, forcing him to resign in disgrace...

"Must mention it, have to mention it. Must add Mia's pupil color, and emphasize it," Harry says, his hand gripping the magazine tightening unconsciously. "The tone of the whole article is mainly teasing. After writing about Lily in the first section, it actually emphasizes implicitly that Snape has always loved Lily. He rejected Aurora and Olivia because he couldn't forget Lily, and he takes care of Donna because she has similarities to Lily."

"But only with Mia, if her emerald pupils aren't emphasized—if this point is deliberately omitted, it makes him look like he's changed his heart. Plus, the teacher-student relationship and Mia's age are a bit ambiguous, so people with ulterior motives can easily find an angle to attack him," Harry says, standing up anxiously. "Where is Lu Na? I must go talk to her immediately."

"She's in the tower, but this matter needs to be discussed with Xie Nuofeiliusi. Why don't you go directly to her house?" Zhang Qiu says, as if she just realized the seriousness of the situation. "This magazine should already be in print. Going now might still be in time, it should be in time."

"How do we go?" Ron stands up with him. "Use Floo powder to go back to my house, then fly there?"

"I can Apparate, but I'm not very proficient and can't carry anyone," Zhang Qiu says, scratching her head in embarrassment. "I'll go first, then bring you a Portkey."

"That works," Harry nods. "We'll wait for you at the main gate."

Harry and Ron walk hurriedly toward the school gate. As they walk, Ron asks, "Is it really that serious? Why would Mia's matter alone cause people to attack? Other absurd things were mentioned too, weren't they?"

"Because you know the others are absurd things too," Harry explains quickly. "Aurora and Olivia were both rejected by Snape, Bella's story has a loophole regarding the time difference between the Dark Lord's life and death, and Donna is an adult French woman. These are non-aggressive scandals, or even if they are attacked, they can be countered."

"Only with Mia, we are conducting a secret project, so only with Mia is Snape unable to defend himself. If we eventually have to expose the project, then the enemy's goal will have been achieved!"

"But, you can testify for him?" Ron asks. "Isn't your reputation enough to guarantee him?"

"No, no, a large part of my reputation is blown up by the Ministry of Magic, and you know, the Ministry of Magic is losing credibility," Harry shakes his head. "Me coming forward to speak out would just blow the matter up. The worst case is that the public will start to hate me, Snape, and the Ministry of Magic at the same time, which would instead cause even greater losses."

"Of course, there is another point," Harry's voice suddenly starts to get lower, "I'm not sure if Snape and Mia are really innocent, because she is really beautiful."

"Is that so?" Ron says skeptically. "Are you also suspecting that Snape is having a second spring?"

"After all, Voldemort is gone, and the Death Eaters are obedient. He's probably more relaxed," Harry says, rubbing his chin. "Although Snape says they are researching spells together, honestly, I really don't see anything outstanding about Mia worth researching..."

"Yes, her head is as plain as her chest," a female voice interrupts their chat.

"Wow, Lu Na?" Harry is startled when he turns his head. "When did you arrive?"

"Zhang Qiu asked me to come to the school gate to find you. She said you have some supplementary opinions on the new issue of the magazine," Lu Na says, waving the paper airplane in her hand, her tone light.

"So according to you, the tricky point now is that the others are absurd things, but only Mia's is likely to be true?" Ron says hesitantly. "And the probability is quite high?"

"If we change the way it's written, it might not be that serious," Harry scratches his head. "Because if you think about it from another angle, Snape has made considerable contributions over the years. Now that there is finally peace, he wants to improve his life, date someone, etc. As long as it's consensual, it's not unreasonable."

"Is that so? Then I seem to have caused some trouble," Lu Na says lightly. "Actually, the initial submission only had the first six stories, but I think seven is a magical number, so I suggested to Dad to make it seven people—coincidentally, he had seen the old bat and Mia together in Diagon Alley..."

With a crisp pop, Zhang Qiu reappears at the school gate, holding a hat in her hand.

"Let's go to Lu Na's house. Grab this hat, we leave in three minutes."

Harry doesn't think about more for now. He knows he must first help Mr. Lovegood whitewash the article, and then find a way to learn more information from him to investigate the identity and purpose of the original submitter.

However, when Xie Nuofeiliusi hears Harry's opinion, he refuses Harry with a very professional demeanor.

"I said I could write reasonable speculations, but I cannot deliberately write false facts," Xie Nuofeiliusi says, lifting his neck. "I clearly saw that girl's eyes were wine-red last time. You can't insist on saying they are emerald green." ===== CHAPTER 403 =====