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

Chapter 155 Soul Fragments

Nurmengard

The two boys stood against the wall, staring pitifully at Hermione and Draco in the distance. The troublemakers had gotten into trouble again, as expected.

"What have you been doing?" Dumbledore asked curiously. With Draco and Hermione watching, he and Gellert had much less to do. Usually, these two troublemakers would be caught and dealt with by the other two as soon as they finished causing trouble, so they didn't have to put in any effort.

"It's nothing, Principal..."

"We didn't do anything..."

Ron and Harry kept quiet, intending to fool the inquisitive Dumbledore. If he found out they wanted to pluck Fawkes' hair, things would be even worse than they were now.

"Alright~ If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. Draco, Hermione, don't forget to have lunch later."

"We'll be there on time," Draco quickly agreed, afraid that the two careless ones might reveal it and drag him and Hermione into the mess.

After Dumbledore left, Hermione let out a sigh of relief and glared fiercely at Harry and Ron. "If either of you dares to come up with any more sudden ideas without telling me and Draco, you'd better explain to Mr. Grindelwald yourselves!!!"

"We promise to tell you before we take action," Harry replied, shaking his head. He could tell Hermione was really angry this time. What if she pulled Draco aside and isolated him? That would be terrible.

Draco accepted it well; after all, he used to pluck peacock feathers every few days when he was a child, and he didn't actually destroy Nurmengard. He was just afraid that Gellert would get angry.

"Alright, let's go, it's lunchtime." He spoke up to smooth things over, giving the two of them a way out.

When the four of them arrived at the restaurant, Gellert and Dumbledore were already seated and waiting for them, with a table full of various dishes.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, Mr. Grindelwald, we're late." Hermione quickly apologized. As the only one of the four who wasn't too afraid of Gellert, she was now in charge of communicating with the two adults.

"No, we just came down too early. Go wash your hands." Dumbledore didn't care about that and waved his hand to tell them to hurry up.

Gellert shook the letter in his hand, his attention completely focused on the letter Emeric had sent, which contained the information he had found and was to pass on to Dumbledore.

"Al, take a look at this letter. Ellie just delivered it."

"Airi's method sounds good, but we can't guarantee its effectiveness. If we really can't find a solution, we'll have to give it a try."

Dumbledore sighed, turned slightly to look at Harry diagonally opposite him, and said, "Harry, come here. Take a look at this letter and then tell me your choice."

"I'm willing to give it a try." Emeric's method at least seemed more feasible, and more achievable than letting him die and come back to life. As long as he could stabilize his soul and consume Voldemort's soul fragments.

"Then I'll go ask how to improve the stability of the soul," Dumbledore immediately decided on the next task. "The days ahead will be tough, so be prepared."

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"Severus, we need to go out to buy some things today; we don't have much food left at home."

Emeric put down his book and looked at Severus at the workbench. They would choose one day a week to go out; not going out all the time would arouse suspicion.

"I'll wrap things up, in about half an hour."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you."

Severus estimated the time. Although Emeric was now an adult and could go out alone without a problem, they only went on a date once a week, so he couldn't skip it.

Emeric raised his wand, aimed it at the dirty cauldrons, and moved them to the pool next to him. Half an hour would be just enough time for him to clean up the two cauldrons.

"Alright, let's go." Severus put away his gloves and knife and looked at Emeric on his left.

The two went to the living room, where Severus picked up the trench coat from the nearby hanger and put it on, hiding his wand in a hidden pocket in his sleeve.

"I'm all changed, let's go~" The kissing maniac kissed Severus's cheek as soon as he came in, and then pushed the door open and went out.

Spider's End was still a mess. Emeric dodged the drunken homeless man next to him and silently increased the distance between himself and Severus. No one knew if Voldemort had any spies here.

The man walked ahead, feigning impatience, his steps hurried and quick. Soon he reached the street, found a clean spot to stand, and waited for Emeric, who was lagging behind.

"Professor, you left way too quickly. Couldn't you have considered that I'm injured?"

"Oh."

Severus snorted and turned to walk forward without slowing down at all. Emeric sighed and followed behind, his face quickly flushed with the effects of exercise, and he coughed occasionally, looking quite weak.

As he walked through the crowd, Severus felt the shadowy figures disappear. He slowed his pace and waited for Emeric to catch up. Soon, a hand reached out from behind and intertwined with his fingers.

"How annoying, don't these people have anything better to do? They're always staring at us."

"I'm afraid you'll run away and not get the horn. Our young master is quite precious now." Severus didn't have that much resentment; he even had the mood to tease Emeric.

"Severus!"

"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore. Why do you like to act cute more and more as you get older?"

Severus pushed the head next to him away, but the warm breath still lingered on his ear. He couldn't help but reach out and rub his ear, trying to wipe away the damp heat.

Emeric was secretly laughing when he was pushed away, because he knew Severus was shy; his lips had just touched Severus's ear. Of course, a little rascal like him would do something naughty.

"I want a cheese roll," Severus suddenly said, his eyes darting toward the dessert counter in the distance.

"Shall we buy some ingredients? Should we add strawberries, or other fruits?" Emeric asked, holding two boxes of fruit. "Or maybe we can have them plain? Or should I make a little of everything?"

"Eat them all." Severus nodded slightly, quite pleased that Emeric had said he would do it all. The ones sold in the market were too sweet for his taste, so he had only looked at them and hadn't taken any.

"Okay, we're running low on flour and eggs, so let's buy some more. We'll also buy some milk, and we can bake egg tarts when we get home, okay?"

"Can."

As Emeric spoke, he picked up a bunch of dessert ingredients without realizing it, with very few proper ingredients. When he came to his senses and realized what was happening, he wanted to put some back; if he made so many desserts, Severus would skip meals again.

Upon realizing this intention, the man grabbed Emeric's hand to prevent him from touching anything in the basket.

"Okay, okay, I'll buy them all. But you have to promise me you'll eat on time, or I won't cook!"

"Hmph, now you're trying to tell me what to do." Severus not only refused to agree, but also got angry.

"Severus, have you forgotten that last month I was away from school for a day, and you only ate snacks and didn't eat dinner, and then your stomach hurt in the middle of the night?" Emeric laughed in exasperation. How could someone be so self-righteous? "I massaged it for you for over half an hour before you felt a little better, and you've completely forgotten that, haven't you?"

At this point, Severus's voice trailed off, and he reluctantly agreed to Emeric's request. That night, he felt unwell, but because of the contract, his pain was transferred to Emeric, and he couldn't even hide it.