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

Chapter 196 The Trip Ends

"Al, what have you done now?" Gellert suddenly had a bad feeling.

It felt like Emeric was about to rush up to him, throw a tantrum, and then have Vinda bring over a bunch of documents.

"Hmm, which one are you referring to?" Dumbledore tilted his head, trying to recall, but couldn't immediately pinpoint which one Gellert was talking about.

It's normal for him to have sent a lot of letters to Severus lately, including some principal appointment documents, right? And it's normal for these appointment letters to have an effective date, right?

"???" Gellert's head was full of question marks. He took a deep breath and began to recall whether Dumbledore had left his sight in the past few days. Sadly, he realized that he had been having too much fun lately and hadn't been keeping an eye on him much.

"Let's go find Ambrose and Calvin. With them around, Ellie won't dare to cause too much trouble." Gellert chose to give up thinking. It was easier to find someone to protect them than to figure out how to deal with the trouble Dumbledore had caused.

"Gale, is it really necessary to go this far?"

"How could it be..." Gellert's voice betrayed his weariness. "You've forgotten the popping candy from last time, the garlic apple from the time before that, and the love potion and anti-aging potion that were so hard to guard against a long time ago." Every time Dumbledore caused trouble, he would get hurt along with him. Sometimes he really wanted Emeric to find the culprit.

"Alright, I put a headmaster appointment letter in the pile of documents, and it's already in effect by now." Dumbledore lowered his head, not daring to look Gellert in the eye. He knew he had messed up, and Emeric wouldn't let Severus go through so much trouble.

"Merlin..." Gellert sighed, feeling that the future was bleak.

He seriously considered that since things had already come to this, why not simply give Emeric a title? Maybe he'd be too busy to bother them. But his remaining conscience kept him calm, lest Emeric really go berserk and choose to take them all down with him.

"Let's clean up the mess before they find out, maybe they won't be so angry then," Gellert said helplessly.

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"Achoo!"

Emeric suddenly felt an itch in his nose and sneezed, instantly jolting Severus off his back. In a haste, he grabbed the cat's neck to steady himself.

"What's wrong?" Severus was afraid that he had been stung by something, so he quickly looked at the cat's head. Who knew if an insect might suddenly fly up and bump into him?

"Meow." The cat is alright.

Severus climbed off the cat's back, stared at its face for a while, and only felt relieved after finding no wounds. He reached out and ruffled the cat's head, feeling that this area would be a good place to set up a temporary camp and rest for a while. "Let's have lunch here. The scenery here is quite nice."

"Miya." Okay.

Emeric led Severus to the stream, which was the perfect spot for a temporary rest. He placed chairs and a table in the shade of a tree and sat down with Severus to rest.

On the small table between the two was fresh honey water. They had exchanged it for honey they had bought previously with bees when they passed by the beehive yesterday.

Severus ate the sweet and sour dried fruit bite after bite, paired with slightly sweet and fragrant honey water, the taste was simply wonderful, and occasionally he would pet the little animals gathered at his feet, a faint sense of satisfaction welling up in his heart.

"We'll come back next year," Severus said calmly, his voice revealing no reluctance, but his gaze remained fixed on the center of the forest. "We're going back tomorrow, aren't we?"

Time flies, and Emeric only has two days left in the month he has planned. With school starting next week, he can't help but go back.

"Well, you can come whenever you want. At worst, you can leave all the work to Albus and Gellert, and bring Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout with you, but not those two."

"Who told them to act without thinking?" Severus frowned, the image of that pile of documents resurfacing in his mind. When he got back, he would write to McGonagall and tell her how much work he had done, so that she would have more confidence when she scolded Dumbledore.

Even though Severus was unwilling, he had no choice but to leave with Emeric. On their way back, the two stopped frequently, occasionally visiting churches or local art galleries near their new city.

So when they returned to Thaddeus Manor, the house was piled high with documents. Calvin and Ambrose had also returned from their trip long ago, and they sat on the empty sofa, with the single seat next to them piled with envelopes of various colors.

"You're back." Ambrose was the first to spot them, pointing to the chair. "These are your things. Remember to read them and reply to those people. I've dealt with the howling letter for you; we haven't looked at the rest."

"Thank you, Father!!!" This touched Emeric, who quickly took out a gift and handed it to him. With their help, things would be much less troublesome.

"What's this?" Severus pulled a magically enchanted letter from the pile of documents, casually opened it, and found it was from Dumbledore. "He dumped the school on me?"

After reading the short letter, Severus laughed in anger. He didn't care about the people present, except for Emerick, Calvin, and Ambrose. "Dumbledore has finally gone mad. There's absolutely nothing in his head but syrup. Can't he think before he acts?"

"Severus?" Emeric, not having seen the letter, was somewhat confused. He reached out and took the documents from the man's hand, his face darkening.

Once this position comes along, they'll have no free time; just look at McGonagall before. They'll be so busy they won't even notice the passage of time, constantly focused on the task at hand.

"Let's throw the letter back," Emeric suggested. He couldn't think of a better way for the moment, so he decided to put more medicine on the envelope so that Dumbledore would have an unforgettable memory.

"It's no use. The appointment letter has already expired, and there's definitely a record of me at Hogwarts Castle. Even if you throw it back, it won't make a difference."

Upon hearing this, Emeric's face darkened. The thought of what Severus would have to do after the start of the semester gave him a headache. Fortunately, he had also applied for a professorship and could help share the burden.

"Poor kids," Ambrose said, hugging Calvin and mocking them with a smug look on his face. Anyway, no one was helping them with their work, so it didn't matter if they made Emeric angry with their laughter.

Severus let out a sigh of relief and resignedly sat down on the sofa. He waved his wand at the documents on his left, dividing them into three equal parts; this pile would be enough for him to finish before the start of the semester.

His resentment towards Dumbledore grew stronger, and if he could find the two of them, he would have already cursed them out, calling them two disrespectful old men.