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

Chapter 47 The Zhang Family

"Ambrose, when do you think Ellie and Professor Snape will be back?"

"It should be soon. I don't know if this decision is right. What if Ellie changes her mind someday?"

Ambrose put down his pen and thought about it seriously. It was hard to imagine that his love-struck son would change his mind. Judging from the way this kid worked a whole week for a Christmas present, unless Severus died in front of him, or even worse, his soul was gone, how could this brat possibly give up?

"Darling, do you think our son could change his mind? His love-struck mind is just as bad as Grindelwald's. He'd want to be glued to Snape 24/7. If it weren't for the fact that this little rascal is good at pretending, believe me, he would have been kicked out of Hogwarts by now."

Calvin paused for a moment. Emeric was indeed like that; his eyes were practically glued to Severus. It was only because he was good-looking and young that he was so successful. If he were an adult, he would have been beaten up long ago.

"Forget about thinking about it too much. What's done is done. Let's finish the work quickly so we can see them every day after they go home."

The damage caused by being in love is greater than all the documents on the table. Ambrose and Calvin sighed and then lowered their heads to work on the documents.

The person they were talking about, who was obsessed with love, was carrying Severus around Albania, but the person on his back was very unhappy and wanted to go back and find out what had happened.

"Americh Thaddeus, if you're not going back soon, you'll be staying here as a beast." Severus, unable to bear it any longer, used a leg-binding charm to bind Americh and walked towards the outer circle alone. He could now roughly sense his location in the forest and no longer needed a wild beast to lead the way.

Seeing Severus walking further and further away, Emeric realized he was angry. He quickly broke free of the spell, transformed back into a human, and followed obediently behind Severus, afraid that the man would really abandon him and go back alone.

The two walked one after the other towards the edge of the forest. With no one causing trouble, they traveled at an incredibly fast pace. In just two days, they had gone from the inner circle to the edge of the outer circle, and in another half day, they would be leaving the forest.

"Severus, let's have lunch. It's already noon, and a little more time won't make a difference as we continue our journey."

Emery pulled the man walking in front of her to sit down, took out lunch for two, set the table and chairs, and pulled the man standing next to her to sit down. The two of them quietly began to eat.

While they were eating, many small animals came to bring them things, trying to persuade the two humans, who were very skilled at grooming, to stay. However, the two indifferent people didn't care about the things at all. They would only start grooming when they saw something unusual, because their rings were now full of fur, enough to make several quilts.

Severus has even reached the point where the sight of fur gives him a headache. He doesn't even want to see Emeric's cat fur anymore and would rather walk outside than ride a cat.

Before sunset, the two finally left Albania. Severus Apparated with Americ home, changing locations twice. Severus led Americ down the street, looking for a place to have dinner and rest, as the young wizard's body couldn't withstand the strain.

"Severus, let's go with this place. It looks like French food, so it shouldn't be any worse than Indian food."

"Let's go."

After resting for about an hour, Emeric felt fine and nodded to Severus. They left the restaurant and found a secluded corner where no one would notice them.

"Apparition".

After traveling and stopping frequently, we finally returned to Aldrickson Manor at midnight.

"Severus, let's talk about it tomorrow, okay? I'm so dizzy and want to sleep."

Emeric hadn't figured out how to fool Severus yet; the intense physical exertion of the past few days had left him no time to think.

When he got back to his room, he planned to sneak up and ask his father and grandfather how he could get away with it. Severus seemed determined to get a definite answer from him.

He had actually considered making something up, but he didn't want to deceive Severus. If he told a little and concealed a little, it would be easy for Severus to find a loophole. If Severus found out that the last step was not a sacrifice but half a soul contract, he would be doomed.

This soul contract allows them to sense each other's state, such as whether they are injured or how they are feeling. If something happens to the other person, the contract can transfer half of the harm to the other party.

Only half of it is complete now, so he can only know Severus's safety. The rest will have to wait until the contract is completed, and he doesn't want to tell Severus about it.

Because of the incomplete contract, transmission could only be one-way, which perfectly met Emeric's requirements. Severus didn't need to know what he had done; this was what he wanted to do.

The Dark Mark made him uneasy; only in this way could he ensure that Severus was safe where he couldn't see him.

"Emerick, where are you going? Since you can't sleep, why don't you explain yourself? You can lie to me, if you believe in your words and can afford the consequences of lying to me."

"Severus, you're not asleep either? Hehe, I was sleepwalking, I'm going back now."

Just as he was about to slip away, his hair was grabbed, and Emeric had no choice but to beg for mercy, leading Severus into his room to talk.

"Severus, the final step is a sharing sacrifice. Albania is trying to stop me because they're afraid I'll get hurt. I trust you; you won't hurt me, will you?"

"Ha, Mr. Emeric does have some discernment, but do you think you can get away with it by saying nice things? Your brain is full of monstrous snot or mermaid slime, so sticky that even water can't get in. You really trust someone you only have a teacher-student relationship with? Would you do the same to anyone else?"

"How could that be? I'm not Gryffindor. Severus, you're the best professor at Hogwarts. Of course I'm willing to believe you. You're even willing to risk your life to go into the forest with me, so why can't I believe you?"

Emeric shifted the focus, drawing Severus's attention to his dangerous actions. If he persisted, he could use family secrets as an excuse.

With phrases like "You're the best" and "I believe in you," Severus was coaxed into relaxing his furrowed brow, though his anger hadn't subsided.

So, "I remember you owe me two apology letters in the forest, right? Here's another three-foot one, and remember to hand it in to me within three days. I hope I can see it on the dinner table the day after tomorrow."

After venting his anger, the belated drowsiness finally came over him, making his half-hour stand outside Emeric's door worthwhile.

"Alright, the old man needs to sleep now. You can write your self-criticism in your spare time."

In a good mood, Severus prepared to go back to wash up and go to sleep, waiting for the self-criticism to be written three days later. He believed that writing one self-criticism a day would wash away the mucus in Emeric's brain.