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

Chapter 113 Meeting on Saturday

Saturday morning at 10 a.m., Diagon Alley

Severus walked ahead, with Karkaroff following not far behind. He was going to take them to the Broken Axe Bar, but he forgot it was Saturday.

A group of young wizards looked at him and Karkaroff with strange expressions, wondering about the relationship between the two and thinking that Severus had a problem with his taste.

"Does the professor like this kind of thing?"

"Maybe they've been eating too much good food and are craving something new."

"But this is too bizarre; how do you find an old man?"

"How should I know? How did he get here? Help!"

"What are you three doing?" Severus asked, suppressing his anger as he looked at the three little badgers. Why were Hufflepuffs everywhere?

"Good day, Professor Snape. We're here to tend to the wand; Charms class has been a bit intense lately."

"Well, Professor, we'll be going now. We wish you happiness."

"?"

"No wonder the mermaids have been jumping out of the water lately. It turns out you guys have been filling your brains with the water from the Black Lake. Don't spread rumors. If I hear anything like this at Hogwarts, you'll be in trouble with your house points."

After threatening the little badgers, Severus breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at the distance. He suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable with the Broken Axe Bar; something about it seemed off.

"Keep going." He led Kakarov into Emeric's shop, where the private rooms upstairs were relatively safe and not many people would bother them.

"A cup of hot cocoa and a serving of Black Forest cake, delivered upstairs."

He had no intention of giving Karkaroff any money; he didn't want to spend a single penny on this guy, and Emmerich's money was his money too.

"Is this place safe?"

"Safer than Hogwarts. Besides the burning mark, what else do you know? Don't tell me there's no other information. Given your personality, you wouldn't be so careless."

"So what do you know? We can exchange information, can't we?"

Severus wasn't fooled, slowly munching on his cake without a care in the world. Emeric had no choice but to tell him everything he knew. Therefore, he and Karkaroff were now in a state of extreme information asymmetry.

He might know the same things Karkaroff knows, or even know them more clearly.

He was getting a little tired of the food, so he took a sip of hot cocoa. The unsweetened hot cocoa had a mellow aroma amidst its bitterness. He would be even happier right now if it weren't for that little rascal who wouldn't let him drink coffee.

"Alright, I'll talk."

"I received word that he was last seen in Albania, where supposedly all the animals have died. Maybe he's about to be resurrected by those animals; the increasingly active markings are proof enough. What should we do? He'll come to settle accounts soon, and neither you nor I will escape; we'll both die."

Karkaroff's mental fortitude was clearly not as good as Severus's; he began to panic after sitting for only a short while and spilled most of the information.

He stared intently at Severus, wanting to see him panic as well, wanting to confirm that he wasn't the only one who would be punished.

Unfortunately, Severus didn't give him any expression at all, only coldly saying "I know." It was such unoriginal news, news from three years ago, and it was only now reaching Karkaroff's ears.

"I'm not like you. You should worry about yourself." Severus thought for a moment and then added, "Just don't leave Germany. The master doesn't have time to go to Germany for a nobody like you." After this brief reminder, he turned and left the private room.

This little thing wasted his whole morning. When he got back, he went to Dumbledore to ask for compensation for lost work time. He thought it was some serious news, but it turned out to be just a trivial matter.

He's been to Albania countless times; what is there that he doesn't know? He doesn't even know about old news from years ago, only bringing it up now.

The two left the dessert shop one after the other. When they reached the ice cream shop, Severus stopped. He remembered that he needed to buy ice cream for Emeric. If he forgot to buy it, the little rascal would suffer all day.

He bought a medium-sized cup and stuffed it into his buttonhole. He planned to go straight back to the cellar. This place hadn't looked any different for years, and there wasn't much to see. If the students saw him again, that would be really bad.

----------

"Albus, why is Karkaroff here? That old geezer can't even manage Durmstrang, yet he has the nerve to run around like this. Tsk, I should have left him with more work before I left."

Dumbledore was curious; it was the first time he'd seen Emeric dislike someone so much. Even Lupin and Sirius hadn't received such high praise. Everything else could wait; his interest in watching the spectacle couldn't be suppressed.

"May I ask why you hate him so much? Logically speaking, he was your former headmaster, so you shouldn't hate him so much." Dumbledore tilted his head curiously.

"Ha, this Principal Karkarov is a competitive person from beginning to end. He doesn't care about student fights, bullying, or anything else. He only cares which family gives the most money and which student knows how to flatter him. You ask me why I don't like him?"

Mentioning this made Emeric flare up immediately. He had been so busy at Durmstrang because of Karkarov. When school started, he thought it was an isolated incident when someone provoked him, but then he got into three fights in the following week, and it wasn't until he beat someone up and sent them to the hospital that things finally calmed down for a few days.

"Tell me quickly what he wants, and I have something to tell you too."

"He came to discuss the Triwizard Tournament. Fudge wanted to restart the Triwizard Tournament to cover up Wormtail's escape, and we really needed such a tournament to lure out the rats hiding in the shadows."

Emeric nodded, seemingly accepting the reason, and he also told Dumbledore about what he had found out about the Barty Crouch family.

"That's all we know. To find out anything else, we'd need to go in and investigate, but our people can't get in. The rest is up to you, Grandpa Albus."

"Couldn't find Barty Crouch Jr.? That's not good news. I'll try to get in and take a look." Dumbledore frowned. He remembered that this was a die-hard Death Eater and he really had to go and check on him later.

"I'm going back now, Severus will be back soon." Emeric stood up and patted his clothes. He and Dumbledore had nothing else to talk about, and he was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would be assigned some task.

After leaving the principal's office, Emeric saw that it was still early and prepared to tidy up Severus's herb garden. The weather hadn't been good these past few days, and some of the herbs were quite delicate, requiring frequent attention and being particularly prone to illness.

On the other side

Severus went straight to the headmaster's office upon returning to the school. Dumbledore was waiting for his report, and of course, he also needed to have a good talk with Dumbledore about the matter of lost wages.

"So... he came here just to say this much?" Dumbledore was at a loss for words. He didn't know whether to praise Karkaroff for his prudence or scold him for being dim-witted. How many years ago was this? Was it really alright for it to reach Germany so late?