HP: It's a snake, not a badger.

Chapter 85 Class

Early in the morning, the castle grounds were covered with snow that had fallen the previous night. Salafina walked towards the castle from afar, accompanied by the falling snowflakes. Her hair and clothes were covered with water droplets left from the melting snow. Since arriving at Hogwarts, she had been going for a run every morning, rain or shine.

Harry and Draco, as her students, naturally followed along. At this moment, they were panting heavily behind, as even after being her students for so long, they still couldn't keep up with Salafina's speed.

"Xiaolong, don't rush, be careful not to get a stitch. Let's run slowly."

Harry ran alongside Draco, the two of them running towards their destination one after the other. Once they reached the Great Hall, they would rest for a while and then have their meal. Salafina always managed to time it perfectly.

"Okay, finish your water and then go eat."

"Okay, huff... huff."

Draco, holding Harry's hand and panting heavily, slowly made their way to the Slytherin table. They had agreed to eat one day in Slytherin and the next in Gryffindor. They couldn't bear eating separately, but to avoid making the other feel uncomfortable, they had to make this decision.

"I remember we had Potions class today. Can you guess whether it was Ellie or Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"It should be Brother Ellie."

But both of them were wrong. Severus, unusually, wanted to go to class to clear his mind. His experiments had stalled for the past two days; he had tried many different herbs and methods, but nothing could continue, which was making him quite frustrated.

At this point, Emeric made a suggestion: let him vent his anger during class. After all, those jellyfish had nothing but water in their heads, so he could definitely unleash a torrent of abuse.

"Bang"

The sound of the door opening, which they hadn't heard for over half a month, startled them. The chattering little wizards fell silent instantly, none of them expecting that it was Severus who was coming to teach today.

"Attend class."

"Today we're learning about 'wake-up agents,' which are used for those experiencing hallucinations, dizziness, and lightheadedness..."

The man turned around and wrote down his own tips on the blackboard, word by word. The recipe and the number of times to stir were all in the book.

"Go get the medicinal herbs now."

Severus felt a little out of sorts after not having taught for so long; his experience teaching Emerick was so much better. The lessons were very fast-paced, he hardly needed to supervise him, and he could do quite well after just one explanation.

But you have to keep an eye on these little brats when you're teaching them, otherwise they'll blow up Hogwarts.

"Ten points deducted from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. Why did you put the whole mint leaf in? Have you forgotten the lesson already? Remember to empty your brain before my class."

"Professor... I forgot."

"Redo it."

"And you, Mr. Weasley, I should have said that the purple-eyed flower should be chopped into small pieces. What are these large petals of yours? Ten points deducted from Gryffindor."

......

After deducting points for the entire round, Severus smiled with satisfaction. His recent frustration had vanished, though his Gryffindor house points were rather pitiful.

As soon as the bell rang, all the students rushed out. Having not listened to Severus's art of language for so long, their resistance had decreased a bit. They were on tenterhooks throughout the class, afraid of making a mistake and being scolded.

Returning to the cellar in a good mood, Severus leaned back on the sofa, and his mood improved even more when he saw Emeric working diligently.

I casually picked up a cookie and put it in my mouth. The aroma of nuts spread throughout my mouth. Recently, there have been a lot more delicious snacks in the cellar, all made by Emeric himself.

"I'll continue the experiments. After you finish grading the papers, come over and brew the potion. Too many people have caught colds lately."

"Okay, but it's lunchtime soon, Severus, so please keep track of the time."

"Tsk, I got it."

Left behind in the living room, Emeric sighed. He really couldn't understand whether these young wizards' brains had developed at all, or why they could burn such a simple potion.

By the end of the critique, Emeric even started to feel nauseous; he was dizzy from reading so much.

"Severus, I'm here. Lunch is in half an hour. Is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll make it."

"Cheese lasagna, stir-fried shrimp, and any drink you like."

"How about I stir-fry some lettuce, and you can have hot cocoa after your meal?"

"Can."

Emeric was full of energy and very proud of his feeding results: Severus had even started ordering food. From eating only when he was starving to eating on time, it was all thanks to his hard work.

"What do you want to eat this afternoon? I'll make it. I have class later and won't be in the cellar."

"have no idea."

"Hmm, then I'll wash some blueberries, cherries, and strawberries and put them next to your desk. Remember to eat them."

After preparing the afternoon fruit and tea, Emeric left the cellar and even prepared snacks for his guests in the living room.

"Severus, my mark got burned!!!"

Lucius crawled out of the fireplace and went straight to the potions room, knowing without a doubt that his friend was there.

"He's back, and he'll definitely not let us go."

"I understand. You can go out now. I have ten more minutes here, so don't bother me."

Severus ushered Lucius into the living room, rolled up his sleeve to examine the marks on his arm, and found they were not hot.

He instantly realized what Emeric had done, whether he had taken the blame for him or altered the mark. He decided to fool Lucius first and then question Emeric.

"Lucius, calm down, for Narcissa and Draco's sake."

"He didn't come directly to us. Maybe he's not able to act right now. Don't overthink it, and don't let the Ministry of Magic find out anything."

"Okay, I understand. Be careful."

Feeling a bit more relaxed after chatting with his friend, Lucius asked Severus about Draco's performance. The man, who only attended class once every two weeks, made up a story; he didn't know anything about Draco, since no one had complained that he had caused trouble.

After fooling Lucius away, Severus rested his chin on his hands and began to recall when Americus had done something, all the way back to the priesthood in the forest.

The mark was almost washed off that time, and Severus suspected that was the problem, but what's done is done and there's no way to fix it unless Voldemort reapplies the mark.

"That damn Emerick, he's always causing trouble."

After cursing, Severus went to the headmaster's office to tell Dumbledore the news he had just received, except for the fact that Emeric had cleaned his mark.

Chocolate chip cookies

The Dripping Beast silently moved its rear end aside, opened the door, and let Severus in.

"Dumbledore, he's coming back. Lucius and I just got our marks burned. Emerick, what are you doing here? Didn't you say you had class this afternoon?"

"Hehe, Professor, Albus called me over. He said he might have found a Horcrux, and he told me not to tell you. I just had a fight with him."

Emeric immediately shifted the blame, fearing that if he was too slow, Severus would misunderstand and it was all Dumbledore's fault.

"Hornet? What did you find? Don't hide it from me."

Severus focused on the key point: dealing with Emeric could wait until they got back; the rest should be resolved as soon as possible.

"Gail's men discovered that Voldemort had returned to Gaunt's old house, and people were dying in a nearby village around the same time. We think there must be a Horcrux there."

Severus tapped on the windowsill with one hand. "What does that have to do with Emerick? He's just a child."

"I didn't intend to put Ellie on the risk; I wanted him to ask the plants there if they had ever seen Voldemort."

Dumbledore was somewhat exasperated; he felt that Severus was being too protective.

"This isn't an adventure? What would you consider an adventure? Fighting werewolves?"

"I swear, I can protect him, and besides Airi, no one in Severus can communicate with plants, and no one can reduce unnecessary casualties."

Severus swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't say that he could understand them either; it was a secret of the Thaddeus family, and if he revealed it, Emeric would be in danger.

"I'm going too, no matter what your reasons are, I'm going."

Since he couldn't avoid going, he went along too; one more person meant one more source of strength.