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

Chapter 197 Pre-School Meeting

Early in the morning, Emeric arrived at Hogwarts with Severus. As professors, they had to return to the school early to attend the Headmasters' meeting.

"It's rare to see the school so quiet. I hope not so many people will choose my class after school starts."

"Ha, how could Professor Thaddeus possibly lack students to enroll in his courses?" Severus thought of the love letters this person had received last semester, and his tone unconsciously carried a hint of sourness.

Emeric didn't notice the sour tone in his words, assuming that he had automatically changed his tone after returning to school and was subconsciously mocking him.

"That won't do. Too many people will disturb us, and I don't see anyone with a steady hand. Carving magic runes requires an exceptionally steady hand, otherwise you'll end up with a bunch of messy lines that could cause an explosion." Emeric didn't want to see a bunch of young wizards in the headmaster's office, so he frowned and refused.

"Heh." Severus chuckled coldly, then remained silent, as they had arrived at the meeting place. He didn't want to embarrass Emeric in front of others and planned to use his verbal skills on him later.

"Severus, Allie, come quick! Have you seen Albus? Why hasn't he come yet?" McGonagall gestured for them to sit down, brought over the cups and teapot from a distance, and poured each of them a cup of milk tea. "How was your summer vacation?"

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. We're doing well; we just got back from Albania yesterday. Let's go camping together next time!" Emeric took out the souvenirs they had brought back. "As for Albus... I think you could take a look at this, Professor... It seems he's not planning on coming back..."

Severus sat silently to the side. They had agreed before they came in that he would be responsible for being silent and downcast, while Emeric would handle everything else, ensuring that Dumbledore would get a scolding.

"Thank you, Allie. These dried fruits taste really good. Wait a minute?" McGonagall adjusted her glasses, looking incredulous. She looked at the entire parchment twice from beginning to end. "Albus is getting more and more outrageous. I'll have a good talk with him."

She took a deep breath, barely suppressing her anger. Before berating Dumbledore, she needed to finish the preparations for the start of the school year. "Severus, you go and take the headmaster's seat."

"Minerva, what happened?" Sprout asked with concern, wondering what they were up to. Afraid they would start arguing, he even considered separating them by himself.

"Don't worry, Pomona, Severus and I didn't fight. It's Albus who's not coming back, and he's dumped the principal's job on Severus too."

Severus obediently moved to the side; he didn't want to be scolded by McGonagall, and judging from her expression, someone was probably going to suffer soon.

"Why is Albus doing this again?" Sprout got angry too. The usually good-natured witch suddenly felt like swearing. If it weren't for the two children there, she would have definitely dragged McGonagall and yelled at Dumbledore.

She looked at Severus with a pained expression, "Severus, it's alright, we'll all help you, don't be afraid." Then she turned to Flitwick, "This semester, you should visit your college dorms more often, make sure they don't do any more strange experiments, and don't give Severus any extra work."

"Severus, should we find a teaching assistant for Potions class? The workload next semester is too heavy, and you probably won't be able to handle it all by yourself." Sprout always felt sorry for Severus and tried to find ways to reduce his workload as much as possible.

Severus, who was playing the role of a well-behaved child today, shook his head, glanced at Emeric slightly, and said after seeing him nod, "It's alright, Allie will help me with some of it. You and Minerva have already helped me a lot. When Dumbledore returns from his trip, I'll return the position to him. Don't touch the headmaster's office; Allie and I will live in the cellar."

"It's alright, Severus. You and Ellie move in. If he wants to come back, let him find his own place to live." McGonagall's anger grew, wishing Dumbledore would appear in front of her right now.

A while ago, the Daily Prophet published a report about Severus. McGonagall was heartbroken after reading it. She never imagined that her student had suffered so much, and that half of the responsibility for it lay with Dumbledore.

She had always believed that it was because she hadn't kept a close watch on the robbers that Severus had suffered so much, almost being scratched by a werewolf. At the time, she thought Severus had received the apology and compensation he deserved, but it turned out Dumbledore had suppressed the matter.

"Professor McGonagall, let's assign the students first. We still have a lot to do." Emeric interrupted their conversation. If they dawdled any longer, it would be lunchtime. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could go eat.

"Sorry to take up everyone's time, let's begin." McGonagall steered the conversation, listing out the general tasks and placing them in the center of the table. She then looked at Severus, "These are the arrangements for Gryffindor next term."

Sprout and Flitwick also placed the documents in the center, looking at Severus with encouraging expressions. "These are the teaching plans for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw next semester."

"This is Slytherin's plan." Severus also placed his own plan in the center. He and Emeric had finished this in just a few days of vacation; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to play outside for so long.

They quickly assigned tasks before the start of the school year. As in previous years, everyone's tasks were similar, except Severus had to attend a shareholders' meeting in the afternoon. The five of them went to Hogsmeade for lunch, a gathering they did every year at this time to reminisce about their summer vacation.

"Let's go, we're going to the meeting." Emeric led Severus through the campus, a perk they didn't usually get. They couldn't hold hands in public anymore after the semester started; the man said they needed to avoid suspicion so the students wouldn't notice anything.

If Severus hadn't gone to a meeting, Emeric would have almost forgotten that he was a shareholder; he hadn't paid attention to it since the school reforms were completed.

Emeric casually found a corner to sit down, intending to observe the group's attitude before deciding whether to sabotage them or cooperate for mutual benefit in the future.

Lucius, sitting next to the headmaster, raised an eyebrow when he saw Severus enter. He then suppressed his amused expression and told the smaller families around him not to cause trouble, or he wouldn't help Emeric if he got angry.

With Lucius keeping things under control, the meeting went very smoothly, and even the families that worshipped purebloods didn't say much. Emeric was planning to bring in two more people to get rid of those fence-sitters, so as not to annoy Severus.

After the meeting, Lucius stayed until the end, wanting to see Severus make a fool of himself. When there were no external enemies, Severus was the biggest threat.