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

Chapter 138 A Rare Moment of Serenity

Evangeline snapped the golden cup in one bite, the sharp scream echoing inside the glass. Emeric covered his ears, feeling dizzy. He put a mint in his mouth and barely managed to sober up.

"Thank you, Evangeline. How are you doing here? You've been a great help." Emeric reached out and patted Evangeline's head; her head had become quite rounder recently due to better food.

"You're welcome, it's very comfortable here, I like it very much." It rubbed against Emeric's hand, its eyes squinting as if it were smiling.

"That's good. If you encounter any danger, don't be afraid. Just kill me and I'll cover for you. Protect yourself, because Hogwarts will be in danger soon."

"Okay, I'll take good care of myself!"

"Good girl."

After saying goodbye to Evangeline, Emeric was in a good mood. He planned to go to the garden to pick some flowers; it was rare to have nothing to do today. He had never had a moment of peace during his years at Hogwarts. He was either on his way to save others or on his own way to save himself.

"Airi, what are you doing here?"

"I'm in a good mood today and suddenly felt like arranging flowers, so I came here to pick some. Are you and Luna here to sketch? Did I wander in by mistake?"

"No, I just came to say that my brother has been looking for you these past few days, and there must be something he wants to tell you."

"Okay, thank you. Here, have this." Emeric took out a box of pastries and handed it to Ariana. He disliked Dumbledore more and more; he had even lied to his own sister.

After picking a bunch of flowers, Emeric walked back to the cellar, encountering many young wizards along the way who, seeing the flowers in his hand, also prepared to wreak havoc on the garden.

"Severus, I'm back."

Pushing open the door, he found the cellar pitch black. Emeric reached out and turned on the light switch, finding it odd. Severus shouldn't have classes at this time; if he had gone out, he would have left a note on the table, but there was nothing there.

"Strange, where did they go? They couldn't have been called away by Dumbledore again, could they?"

He guessed right; Severus really had been taken away by Dumbledore to do some work.

"What do you want? Dumbledore, if you don't tell me, I'm leaving." Severus dodged a hail of arrows and moved to a safe spot.

"Armor for protection."

"Severus, don't rush. We're almost at the center of the ruins. Our goal today is what's inside." Dumbledore blocked the rocks behind him. He hadn't expected so many traps. Luckily, he had called Severus, or it would have been dangerous.

"What the hell is that? Damn it, can't you watch where you're going?"

"Don't be so impatient, it'll be here soon. I received news this morning that this relic has been discovered, and it's said to contain a forest artifact. I was just thinking of apologizing to Ellie, wasn't I?"

"Why are you dragging me into this? Why don't you apologize to Grindelwald? You two are the perfect couple, okay? Believe me, if I get hurt here today, he'll be even angrier."

Severus was already thinking about whether to brew some magic potions to boost Dumbledore's intelligence. He had a feeling that Dumbledore's intelligence had dropped significantly this year. He wondered if Gellert had also lost his intelligence. He planned to go back and remind Emeric.

"Severus, stop daydreaming!" Dumbledore dodged the sword that suddenly appeared.

"You don't need to worry about me."

----------

A vase now sat in the living room, filled with pink roses, all of which he had picked from the garden. After arranging the flowers and seeing that Severus hadn't returned yet, Emeric rolled up his sleeves and tidied the materials cabinet, replacing expired materials and replenishing any missing ones.

After a busy morning, Emeric still hadn't seen Severus return by noon, and he became worried. If the contract hadn't told him that Severus was safe, he would have gone to look for him.

"Godfather, are you there?"

Draco's voice came from outside the door, and Emeric opened the door to let him in.

"What happened to Draco? Severus went out. If you're looking for him, you'll have to wait. I don't know when he'll be back."

"It's nothing, Father just asked me to ask the Godfather about this month's beauty serum..."

"Let me look, it should be here." Emeric walked to the potion cabinet. Actually, he had been brewing Lucius's potions for a year. Since Severus was too busy, he took over, since it wasn't difficult.

"Here you go." Emeric took out a few bottles and handed them to Draco.

"Thank you, Brother Ellie. I'll be going now." Draco put away the bottle and left, satisfied.

After cleaning up, he changed the sheets and blankets, and cleaned the ashes from the fireplace. The orders these days were rather difficult, so he had to wait for Severus to do them; he could only help out at most.

Time still seemed to drag on, so Emeric went to the kitchen to make some cookies, just in time to replenish Severus's stock.

On my way to the kitchen, I saw Hermione leading Ron and Harry toward the library; it looked like they were going to study all afternoon. Hermione had it tough, having to keep two troublemakers in check all by herself.

"Fufu, could you get me some flour? I also need cocoa powder and matcha powder." After thinking for a moment, he added, "And a bowl of nuts."

Emeric took out a box of molds, ready to make some cute cookies, adding nuts to make them even more fragrant. The plain cookies could be given away as gifts if Severus didn't want them, depending on how much stock was left.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore finally arrived at the place where the treasure was kept. He broke the last spell, put on dragon skin gloves, and picked up the box on the altar. It was said that it contained something that could increase the favorability of animals, and it would be even more effective on Silas.

"Cough cough." Severus choked on the dust and stood to the side, covering his nose.

"Severus, let's go back." Dumbledore put the box away and prepared to leave with Severus.

As the two walked back, Severus looked at the dust on the hem of his clothes and his mood worsened. He couldn't help but roll his eyes behind Dumbledore's back, thankful that he wasn't wearing a cloak, otherwise Dumbledore would have been even angrier.

By the time they returned to Hogwarts, it was almost evening. Severus had survived both meals that day on the snacks in his ring. If he hadn't been tired of them lately and hadn't eaten them much, he would have starved to death outside.

"Severus, you're back! I cooked some noodles, would you like some?" Emeric sat on the sofa, smiling as he looked towards the door.

"Yes." He drank the lemonade that Emeric handed him, then sat down at the table and ate with his head down, having not had a hot meal all day.

(I can't take it anymore, I slept from 6 to 10, it's almost Chinese New Year and I'm so busy...)