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

Chapter 68 Professor Cat is Angry

Emeric has been a child for a week now. Severus tried many methods and found that feeding him raw materials directly was the most convenient. Boiling them into potions would take time, but feeding him herbs directly only required checking if they would produce any toxicity, making it twice as efficient.

As for those that need to be processed before feeding, he only needs to prepare a little bit each day and feed it to the non-toxic ones. If the food is really hard to eat, he can put it aside for now. If there are alternatives, there is no need to make the child suffer.

"Severus, are you free this Saturday? We're planning a picnic and would like to invite you to come. It starts at 10 a.m. Don't worry about work, I think Albus can finish it. Bring little Ellie along, kids need to get some sunshine, it's good for their health."

"Airi, do you want to go?"

"Severus, could we have Fufu bake a cake and bring it over?"

"We'll be there on time, Pomona."

Sprout gently stroked Emeric's hair and took a small handful of washed blackberries from the basket beside her for them to eat. She was glad that Severus was willing to join their party.

"I'm going to class now. Goodbye Severus, goodbye little Ellie."

"goodbye."

"Airi, you eat it yourself. I don't like blackberries, so don't put it in my mouth."

He had always thought that Emeric's love of feeding others was an acquired habit, but it turned out to be innate. He had enjoyed bringing food to others since he was 2 years old, so much so that he had recently been able to taste all sorts of snacks and fruits, and even had a faint sweet smell about him.

Because Emeric was so adorable, he dragged him to Hufflepuff Plantation every day, and Sprout was happy to give Emeric some delicious fruit. With the fruit contributed by the little badgers, the two of them couldn't possibly finish it all.

"What would you like to bring for your picnic? We have two more days to think about it."

"I'd like to bring chocolate scones and milk tea, is that okay?"

"Of course! Is there anything else you'd like to bring?"

Let me think about it some more.

"No rush, we have plenty of time."

Severus took Emeric to the small herb garden in the Forbidden Forest. They had half a day of leisure today, which was a good opportunity for Emeric, who had been sleeping less these past few days, to get some exercise.

"Don't go outside this area, don't eat anything you don't recognize... Okay, just don't eat anything you don't recognize, and don't touch anything you don't know. Can you do that?"

"able."

"Very good, I hope Ellie remembers what she said. There are werewolves here. If you run around and get caught, I won't be able to save you. They'll tear you to pieces like a toy, and then you'll never see me again."

Severus's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery as he successfully startled the child. A sudden surge of mischievousness made him want to scare Emeric, both to keep him from running off and to satisfy his own urges.

Emeric followed closely beside Severus, clutching the hem of his clothes, afraid that a werewolf might suddenly appear and snatch him away, thus preventing him from ever seeing Severus again.

"Alright, let's go, it's time to go back for dinner."

Severus straightened up, gathered up all the herbs he had picked, took Emeric's hand, and prepared to return to the principal's office for dinner. Her soft little hand gripped his tightly, and a smile unconsciously crept onto Severus's lips, his entire demeanor softening and calming.

The flowing robe gently clung to the child beside him, and the man slowed his pace to accommodate the little one's short legs.

"Professor Snape, Lockhart is starting a dueling club, and that big vase is going to teach us how to duel!!!"

A series of howls came from the end of the corridor. Harry ran over from a distance and pounced on Severus. Compared to Professor Lockhart Snape, he was practically an angel. So what if he was a little fierce? It was all for their own good. Unlike that big vase who had no skills but was always bragging about himself.

"Gryffindor -5 points."

"Mr. Potter, let go of me. If you don't want to lose any more points, get your dirty hands off me."

"Professor~"

"Gryffindor deduction..."

"I was wrong, Professor, please help us, Xiaolong and I are so annoyed by him."

Harry blinked, looking at Severus with a pitiful expression. He remembered that Professor Snape would soften whenever Emerick made that face, but Harry completely forgot that he and Emerick were from two different houses, and that they didn't look alike.

"Mr. Potter, I'm just a Potions professor and I don't have the authority to decide on faculty members. You can't do me any good by coming to me about this." Severus paused for a moment. "If you dare to look at me like that again, I'm going to talk to Minerva about the education of the Messiah."

"Professor Snape, Lockhart wants you to be his dueling partner for tomorrow's second period. He'll probably be looking for you later. I'm here to give you a heads-up."

Harry finally confessed everything, hoping that Professor Snape's anger would be directed at Lockhart, not him.

"Oh, dear Snape, Lockhart invites you to be my rival. Don't disappoint my little fans, okay? It's a deal."

A peacock dressed in blue flew over, uttered those words, and then flew away.

?

The three standing there all wore expressions that were hard to describe. Harry quietly moved to the side, afraid that Severus's indiscriminate attack would hurt him, and slowly moved to the wall before stopping.

"Is he insane? Ellie, let's go find Dumbledore. This isn't over until we get an explanation."

After saying that, Severus picked up Emeric and rushed towards the headmaster's office. He couldn't stand it anymore; what was that old bee thinking? If all else failed, he'd even let Grindelwald be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—anyone but that peacock would do.

"Who dares to provoke Professor Snape? I haven't been startled by a cloak for days, and this sudden appearance almost gave me a real glimpse of Grandma."

"I guess Lockhart."

"+1"

"+1"

"I guessed it was him too, but why didn't the ghosts catch you? You didn't use any honorifics, or did you manage to evade them?"

"Is it possible that Ghost is also annoyed with Lockhart, and given that the professor doesn't have a good reputation, who would bother with him?"

Severus ignored the group of young wizards; he was now looking for Dumbledore to settle scores with, either kick Lockhart out or take Emeric home on vacation.

However, he'd be happy to participate in tomorrow's duel; he'd be quite willing to do so if there's a legitimate reason to beat up Lockhart.

Osmanthus Sugar Cake

"Albus Percival Woolflick Brian Dumbledore, you'd better explain to me why Lockhart went to see Severus?"

Severus had just entered when he heard McGonagall's voice. Dumbledore and Gellert, who were sitting opposite her, obediently lowered their heads and accepted the scolding. Neither of them noticed that there were two more people at the door.

"And you, Gellert Grindelwald, aren't you two too idle? One of you brought in that kind of person, and the other is coming up with terrible ideas. No one is leaving until this is resolved today."

McGonagall stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the two of them. They had gone too far. They made Severus clean up their mess, and just when Severus finally had a few days of peace and quiet, all sorts of other troubles kept popping up to bother him. It was all their fault.

"Are you mute? Why aren't you speaking? Hurry up and give us a solution, or one of you will go to work and the other will lecture Severus."

"Minerva, don't worry, we'll resolve this as soon as possible."

"How quickly is 'as quickly'?"

"Before next month?"

"Albus, remember the time you mentioned. And Mr. Grindelwald, if you keep giving me these kinds of advice, I'll write to Ms. Rozier and tell her that you're free to handle your organization's documents."

"Albus, if you don't finish, I'll grant Severus a long leave so he can rest properly. You'll be teaching the classes. Don't forget I'm the vice principal and have the authority to grant leave."

The elderly couple, whose lives had been taken by force, sat up straight instantly, promising to complete the mission and not let Lockhart bother Severus again.

"Thank you, Minerva. You're the only ones who care about me. I'm Dumbledore's student too, but he..."

Severus lowered his eyelids to hide the schadenfreude in his eyes. Having known Emeric for so long, he had to learn something from him.

The desolation in her words and the loneliness she exuded once again ignited McGonagall's anger. The furious witch turned to Dumbledore and began to question him about his conscience, asking why he bullied Severus all day long.

At this moment, Severus looked up, a gloating smile on his face. So this was useful after all!

"Minerva, look at Severus! Look! Severus is laughing at us!"

When McGonagall turned her head, she saw Severus holding Emeric forlornly, the child in his arms comforting him, the two of them looking like they were being bullied and depended on each other for survival.

"Albus Percival Woolflick Brian Dumbledore, how dare you say that? Severus had a hard time raising little Allie all by himself, and you're slandering him???"

"I'm not going to worry about you anymore. Severus, come with me. We're on vacation starting today."

"No, Minerva, I have to go to Lockhart's dueling club tomorrow. Let's wait until it's over."

He wouldn't let the chance to beat Lockhart slip by; he'd rest after he was done beating him.

"Good boy, Albus, aren't you ashamed?"

This was the first time Dumbledore had suffered such a huge loss in silence, and he couldn't get angry. He was so angry that he wanted to throw Lockhart out right now. "I will take care of it as soon as possible, don't worry."