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

Chapter 115 A Chaotic Day

These past two days, Emeric has been reading and doing exercises the moment he opens his eyes. Even the best students get anxious when facing exams, let alone the fact that Severus set a goal for him: if he doesn't get 8 Os, he'll be kicked out of the cellar. Keep in mind that he has 10 exams in total.

"Can you two be a little quieter while you're studying? If you don't get five O's, one of you will be sent back to Germany and the other will stay here," he threatened menacingly.

Lyra and Gallian, sitting opposite them, quickly separated, knowing that Emeric was truly capable of such a thing. Even with six O's, they didn't feel much pressure; Emeric's requirements weren't too high for them—it wasn't like he wanted ten O's in every subject.

The three of them stayed quietly in the library. Ariana brought Luna to find them so they could study together. As soon as the two soft little girls sat down, Lyra felt the air was sweeter. After seeing two resentful faces all morning, she felt a little uncomfortable.

"Airi, where are you in your review?" Ariana asked in a low voice, afraid that Mrs. Pins would hear her and kick her out, which would be terrible.

"Now that we've reached the realm of magical creatures, I am a magical creature myself. Why can't I protect myself? Aren't primates magical enough?" Emeric looked at Ariana with a faint smile.

This was the first time Ariana had seen Emerick act so erratically. She quietly moved her chair closer to Lyra and whispered, "What's wrong with Emerick? He doesn't seem quite right..."

Lyra quietly moved closer. "Ignore him. It's normal during finals week. It happens every year. Luna, come over here too, don't get caught in the crossfire." The three little girls huddled together for warmth, leaving Garian to face the crazed Emeric.

Just as Garian was about to run away, Ron rushed over. Luckily, he had learned to control his volume, otherwise they would have been blacklisted by Mrs. Pince.

"Eri, come with me quickly! Something's happened! Malfoy's going to kill someone!!!"

"No, Ron, wait a minute..."

"It's too late, let's go!"

Before Emeric could even put down his quill, he was dragged along at breakneck speed, running all the way to the Quidditch pitch. By the time they arrived, Salafina had already brought the situation under control. Draco stood in the middle of the Slytherins, glaring at the Gryffindors opposite him, while Harry was shielded behind him.

Emeric casually plucked a small snake and asked, "What happened?"

"They had a fight in Gryffindor. Someone insulted Mr. Potter, and when Malfoy heard it, he ran over and started arguing, and then a fight broke out. Professor Salafina just arrived and hasn't punished them yet."

"I understand, take it and eat it."

Emeric casually tossed him a biscuit and walked toward the crowd. He wanted to hear what the person involved had to say, and he was in a bad mood and wanted to find a chance to vent his anger.

"Mr. Malfoy hurt a classmate, Slytherin loses 10 points and has to clean the hallways for a week."

"Mr. DeCaseth's offensive remarks caused a fight. Gryffindor loses fifteen points and he is sentenced to two weeks of service in the cellars, supervised by Professor Snape."

Salafina handled the situation very fairly, which made both of them uncomfortable, so outwardly they calmed down. They glared at each other, turned around and left, and the crowd that had gathered together dispersed as well.

Draco pulled Harry to a corner away from the others' sight and coaxed him softly, "It's not your fault, don't be angry, it's that person's fault. Okay, Harry, hug me, okay? I'll pat your head, don't be angry."

"Ahem, gentlemen, can one of you explain to me what exactly happened?" Emeric interrupted their tender moment with a great lack of tact.

“Let me speak first,” Harry said. “That Mr. DeCaseth came right off the bat and said I didn’t deserve to be in Gryffindor, that I should go to Slytherin, and that I should be in the sewers.”

"Little Dragon was punished because of me, Brother Ellie, can I take Professor Salafina's punishment?" His eyes were full of longing, hoping that Emeric would give him an answer.

"Stop joking, it's not like you've never done work before, and it hasn't been long."

"Alright, you two. Salafina means she's not going to interfere with you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have punished you without assigning a professor to supervise you. As long as you clean up, she won't care who did it. On the surface, it's considered a fight between you two, which is why you're both being punished. Do you understand, you two silly kids?"

"Alright, I'm going back to the cellar to study now. Next time something like this happens, you can only argue, not fight. And if you hear a professor is coming, start crying, understand?"

At this point, Emerick sounded somewhat disdainful. He continued, "How come you haven't learned anything after knowing me for so many years? Harry is one thing, but Draco, how come you still haven't learned anything among a bunch of shrewd people?"

After saying that, he strolled back to the cellar, intending to tell Severus to prepare himself, as there might be a meeting to discuss this matter in a couple of days, so as not to catch Dumbledore off guard.

"Didn't you go to the library to study? Why are you back so early?" Severus was a little surprised. Why did Emeric suddenly come back? In the past few days, he had only come back around mealtime.

"Draco got into a fight with a Gryffindor because he was insulting Harry. I went over to check, and he wasn't hurt. Looks like the combat lessons every summer are working well; let's continue this year."

"Fighting? What's the punishment?"

"That man has to do two weeks of unpaid labor in the cellar, and Draco will mop the floors for a week."

"I see."

After a brief chat, Severus lowered his head and continued processing the leaves in his hands. These were very precious and could easily be ruined if not handled carefully.

Emeric placed a plate of strawberries on the small round table next to him; clearly, Severus hadn't eaten anything while he was away.

Soon, the small table next to the workbench was filled with water and fruit. Emeric sat on the sofa on the other side of the room to read a book. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the bubbling of the potion boiling. The two of them were immersed in their own world.

After a long time, Fu Fu suddenly appeared and called them to eat. The two of them were a little dazed, and their stomachs, which had been neglected for a long time, began to protest.

"Severus, are you continuing to brew the medicine this afternoon?"

"Well, this experiment is almost over. What about you?"

"Then I'll stay here too, I want to be the first witness!" Emeric smiled at Severus, his face beaming.

"Stop acting cute, we're not stopping you from staying here." Severus looked away. He couldn't stand Emeric's expression; every time he saw it, his heart would soften, and he would agree to any request the little rascal made.

After the meal, the two returned to the atmosphere they had before the meal. Emeric quietly read his book, while Severus stared at his cauldron. Both felt a deep sense of peace; they enjoyed the moment.