Chapter 437 My Loyalty Has Never Changed

In June at Hogwarts, the hot and bright sunshine casts mottled light and shadows through the arched windows of the castle.

Snape stood silently in the observatory, watching the students pouring out of the castle, carrying backpacks and suitcases, and walking towards Hogsmeade Station.

"Woo——"

The whistle sounded, and the Hogwarts Express slowly left the station with white smoke billowing out.

Snape did not withdraw his gaze until the outline of the train gradually blurred on the horizon and finally disappeared at the end of his sight.

He slowly raised his hand, stretched out his wand, and gently tapped the hidden Dark Mark on his left arm.

With the touch of the wand, the Dark Mark felt a slight burning sensation, but it quickly subsided.

The signal has been sent, and all that remains is to wait for Voldemort's call.

He put away his wand, turned and left the clock tower, and walked towards the potion office in the basement of the castle. Along the way, he walked neither fast nor slow, and his steps were extremely calm.

Pushing open the wooden door of the office, Snape sat directly on the chair behind the desk. He did not turn on any magic lights, nor did he touch any objects on the table. He just closed his eyes, leaned back in the chair, and thought quietly.

Time passed silently in the darkness, and at some point, he felt an intense burning sensation in his left arm.

Turning on the magic desk lamp, Snape discovered that the mark began to turn as black as ink, like a ball of black flame embedded in the skin.

"Here it comes," he murmured quietly, his tone devoid of any emotion.

He stood up slowly and looked around, his eyes sweeping over the unfinished experiment records on the desk, the potion cauldrons against the wall, and the neatly arranged magic books on the bookshelf.

His expression was deep and complicated, as if he was taking a final look at the place where he had worked for countless days and nights.

To be honest, he didn't know how Voldemort would treat him, but he had made up his mind that if the worst happened, he would never surrender this time.

A moment later, Snape shook off his black robe and left Hogwarts with firm steps.

After a familiar squeezing feeling, he appeared in a dark alley. On the left side of the alley was a low, messy thorn bush with tangled branches, revealing a desolate look. On the right side was a neatly trimmed tall hedge. The boundaries between the two were clear, vaguely revealing a certain strict order.

Without hesitation he turned right, out of the narrow lane onto a broad road, and walked along the tall hedge.

Soon, a magnificent manor gate appeared in front of him.

A tall wizard stood in front of the gate and spoke in a hoarse voice after seeing Snape.

"Severus Snape, my lord asked me to pick you up, please come with me."

Voldemort asked someone to pick him up, and the signal was pretty good.

"Avery." Snape felt a little relieved. He nodded as a greeting, then followed the other party through the iron gate and walked towards the depths of the manor.

At the end of the straight road, an extraordinary mansion appeared in the night, with shining lights shining through the diamond-shaped glass windows.

The gravel road creaked slightly, and Snape and Avery walked towards the main door one after the other. As soon as they approached the door, no one was in sight, and the heavy door opened silently inwards, as if silently welcoming their arrival.

The hallway was decorated very luxuriously, with the floor covered with gorgeous carpets, which completely absorbed the sound of footsteps, leaving only the slightest sound of clothes rubbing against each other.

The two stopped in front of a heavy wooden door with an intricate bronze carving on the door handle.

Avery turned slightly to glance at Snape and said, "Please, don't keep the adults waiting."

Snape reached out his hand expressionlessly and turned the bronze handle. The door creaked open gently, revealing the full view of the living room.

The room was unusually quiet. The long table was filled with people, all of whom were silent. Their lowered eyes and crossed fingertips revealed a bit of depression and uneasiness.

"Severus," came a clear voice from the head of the table, "come closer, to me."

Looking at Snape approaching, Voldemort showed a playful smile on his face: "I thought you had completely left me and joined Dumbledore's army."

"My Lord," Snape bowed and looked straight into the other's eyes, "I have been waiting for your return as king, and my loyalty has never changed."

"Really?" Voldemort pulled the corners of his mouth and twisted into a weird smile, "Then why did you wait until today to respond to the call of the Dark Mark?"

Snape responded softly, "In fact, I wanted to contact you secretly the night you returned, but Sebastian didn't trust me very much. After he returned to Hogwarts, he stayed overnight at school, which was very rare. His reason to the outside world was to take care of the Savior, but I knew he was watching me."

"Severus," a Death Eater at the end of the long table glared at Snape, "Don't mention that name. He can sense it. Do you want that person to know where the adults are?"

"Oh?" Snape looked at the other party and asked, "What should it be called?"

"To be on the safe side, you should use that man or the dragon man instead."

"As far as I know, he only cast a spell on his full name," Snape's mouth curled up in a sarcastic arc, "If you use your brain, you should be able to realize that the man is a professor at Hogwarts. Countless students will call him Professor Swan, and most professors will call him Sebastian. As long as he doesn't want to be annoyed to death, there will be no situation where a name or a surname will make him feel sensitive."

Voldemort waved his hand to stop the argument between the two men: "It doesn't matter. Even if Sebastian knew that I was in Malfoy Manor, it doesn't matter. He doesn't have the courage to trouble me."

"Severus, aren't you two very good friends? Why would he spy on you?"

"My Lord," Snape looked into those red eyes again, "Sebastian is a very hypocritical fellow. When he first came to work at Hogwarts, he took the power of the Slytherin Headmaster from me and sidelined me. The reason was simple. He felt that I was poisoned by your thoughts and had messed up Slytherin."

"There are many parents here whose children are in Slytherin House, and they can attest to the truth of what I say."

Hearing this, Lucius and others nodded subconsciously, obviously agreeing with this statement.

"In addition, over the years, he has never given up on testing me. The most typical example is that he directly handed the savior to me and asked me to pass on everything I learned in my life to that child."

"Before that, he would have that kid train with me every summer vacation, whether it was potions or spells. He even asked me to teach that kid my signature spell, Sharp Strike. The funny thing is, he had learned that spell from me during school, so he could have taught him himself. He did this just to test whether I had become a so-called good person as he wished."

"What's even more ridiculous," Snape said sarcastically, "is that he has not allowed the Savior to study with me since this summer vacation, on the grounds that it is not safe enough."