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

Chapter 185 Students Return to School

"It looks like the school will be under construction for a long time."

"They'll be renovating by the time we graduate. How unlucky!"

"Alright, let's hurry back to the dorm and see if anything is missing. I left in such a rush that day that I forgot a lot of things; I hope Professor Snape didn't see them."

"It can't be..."

"Yeah, I'll pray these books are still in my closet, otherwise I can forget about graduating..."

The two Hufflepuffs took off running towards their dormitories, the only ones on the ground that were most vulnerable to damage. If they were scattered all over the place and caught, the main character inside would kill them.

Fortunately, there were many people rushing back to their dorms, so they didn't stand out in the crowd. However, when they passed Emeric and Dumbledore, they subconsciously quickened their pace, afraid that they would notice their guilty look.

A pile of stuff was floating next to Evelyn, who was on her way to set up the auditorium when she saw Emeric's leisurely manner and became furious. She even forgot about the bonus, reached out and grabbed him, and the two of them went to work together. If she hadn't grown attached to the place after being there for so long, she wouldn't have wanted to do such a thankless and arduous task.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't pull, you're going to fall!" Emeric was pulled forward by her and almost fell to the ground. With Severus not around, he was completely out of sorts. If he hadn't been thinking about checking on Draco and Harry, he would still be lying on the sofa right now.

"I'll go with you, don't pull me away!!!"

"I don't believe your words."

"If you pull me again, you'll lose your bonus this month!!!"

"Here's the money, now get to work!!!"

The two were arguing, which startled many people, especially Dumbledore who was following behind. He had just been thinking of asking Emeric to help pick up the students, but now it seemed that it would be faster for him to do it himself.

"Gail, let's go, Ellie's a bit busy," Dumbledore said, pulling Gellert toward the platform where the younger children who had returned late were still stuck. The older children, for some reason, were running incredibly fast; he vaguely remembered not assigning homework before the holidays. He could understand their speed when there was homework.

"Never mind, maybe they're in a hurry to see their classmates." Dumbledore made up an excuse for them, feeling that if he found the answer, something terrible might happen.

The poor first-year students managed to clear a clean spot with magic, while the older students had already run off. The helpful Hufflepuffs, in particular, were the fastest to leave.

"headmaster--"

"Principal, I'm so hungry~"

"The senior students ran so fast. They told us to wait and said they would come to rescue us in a little while, but now it's been a long while."

The children surrounded the two men, chattering excitedly, all complaining. Their pitiful looks tugged at Dumbledore's heartstrings. He patted the little heads beside him, took a handful of candy from his pocket and gave it to them, then pulled Gellert's hand so he could touch it too.

"Children, stay close to us, don't fall behind."

He and Gellert waved their wands together, and a colorful path of light unfolded beneath their feet. The young wizards, who had been holding back tears, instantly brightened up and curiously stepped onto the path; some of the bolder ones even started jumping.

Dumbledore watched with amusement, not stopping them from running around. He was confident that he and Gellert could keep an eye on the children. He would occasionally pat the little heads that came closer. "Children are indeed adorable," he remarked.

The person being lamented about had no time to pay him any attention. Gellert once again dodged the little brats who were jumping on him, particularly disgusted by the tear stains on their faces. His black robes, worn today, would easily become stained if anything got on them. He couldn't get angry at the children who had just cried; what if they started crying again later?

"Hmm, hmm," he mumbled a few perfunctory words, forcefully pulling his robe from the hands of the little Gryffindor beside him. He hated Gryffindors the most; his feelings at that moment were in complete agreement with Severus'.

Guanglu escorted everyone to the entrance of the Great Hall, and Dumbledore opened the door to let the children go in for dinner first.

The long tables of the four houses were already laden with plates, a dazzling array of delicious food filling the air with their enticing aromas. The young wizards blinked their big eyes, awaiting Dumbledore's command to dismiss them, their stomachs rumbling.

"Let's go eat. We can talk about the rest after you've finished eating."

"The principal is the best!!!"

At the command, the children who were originally clustered around him rushed to the dining table. If they hadn't been held back by the older children next to them, they would have grabbed the table with their bare hands.

"Hehehe, let's go eat too," Dumbledore said, pulling Gellert towards the professor's table. After sitting down, he felt very uncomfortable; there had been four people around him before, but now it was empty. "Fuck, I think—"

After waiting and waiting without seeing Fufu appear, Dumbledore called over a house-elf and told him to do something simple. "Gail, do you believe it or not that Elie must have had Severus take him away? Otherwise, Fufu wouldn't have failed to come when called."

"There's nothing I can do. Fawkes is a Thaddeus house elf. How can I make you a cake? I might not be able to make other things well." Gellert glanced at the dishes that had just been served, all of which were things Dumbledore didn't like to eat.

"Sigh," Dumbledore sighed. There was a meeting later that afternoon, and he definitely couldn't skip eating now. "Never mind, I'll wait until tonight. I'll just grab a bite now."

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"Severus, stop sitting in the sun, let's go fishing!"

"Felius, you go by yourself, I want to sleep."

"Alright, don't disturb Severus's rest. I'll go sea fishing with you. Pomona, do you want to come?"

"No, I'll go check out the plantation. Airi said there are many rare plants there."

"Okay, see you at noon."

The four of them parted ways on the beach. McGonagall and Frivi walked toward the boat with their fishing gear, Sprout carried a small basket and headed toward the distant botanical garden, leaving Severus sitting alone in the same spot.

As soon as he got ashore, he took out a deck chair and a parasol to prepare for bed. Emeric had left a lot of vacation gear with him, so he could go diving if he wanted to.

"Fufu, I want a cup of coconut water with a coconut milk jelly in it, and a piece of coconut pudding." Last time he didn't get enough, and Emeric kept telling him not to eat more.

"Fufu can't listen to the professor. You can only choose two at most. The young master said you can't eat too much!!!"

"Then coconut water and coconut pudding."

Severus made a very difficult choice of two items, never expecting that Emeric was waiting for him there. He thought he would be able to eat his fill this time, but he got stuck at the very beginning.

"You little brat, just you wait, I'll deal with you when we get back." He jotted this down in his notebook. Luckily, no one else was there, or it would have been too embarrassing.

"I want spicy seafood for dinner, is that alright?"

"Sure," Fu Fu nodded. "Young Master asked me to add two spoonfuls of chili sauce."

"?" He was so angry he laughed. He was going to kick Emerick out to sleep when he got back.