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

Chapter 172 Finding the Crown

cellar

Severus had just returned from a meeting, and Emeric was forcing himself to stay awake and wait for him to have a late-night snack together, otherwise he would definitely wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

A small serving of shrimp wontons each—not so full you can't sleep, but enough to fill your stomach. Severus felt he'd gained a little weight recently, but Emeric kept telling him he was thin.

"Can't he hold meetings during the day? Why do he call you guys out every night? I can't take it anymore. I'm going to find the Crown tomorrow. Albus has been searching for so long and still hasn't found it. Has he gone crazy with his relationship with Gellert?" Emeric had a light bluish-gray tint under his eyes, showing that he had been staying up late a lot lately.

"I'll give you a sick leave note. Don't go to class tomorrow. I'm afraid you'll collapse in the classroom." Severus rubbed his head and pulled his hand to his shoulder. "You don't need to make me breakfast tomorrow morning. I'll eat in the auditorium. You can sleep in a little later. Go to sleep."

The two embraced, and Emeric kissed his face to soften his muscles and make him more comfortable. Lately, the weather had been getting colder, and Severus liked to sleep with the blanket over his head. But he wasn't alone in the bed, so Emeric would forcefully hold him close, feeling that covering his head wasn't good for his health.

The morning sun shone on the four-poster bed, and Severus buried his head in Emeric's chest, unwilling to get up. He struggled for a while, finally agreeing to get up before waking Emeric, his desire to resign reaching its peak.

He got up and went to the bathroom to wash up, casually tossing his pajamas into the laundry basket next to the sink. He then changed into his usual robe and shirt, both of which were custom-made and engraved with protective magic runes.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Severus saw Emeric hugging his pillow and couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "So clingy, he can't be without me for a second." He drew the curtains in the bedroom and turned up the temperature, worried that Emeric might get cold sleeping alone.

Severus hadn't walked alone in the castle in a long time, and he was unusually in the mood to have breakfast in the Great Hall. He was prepared to deduct a few more points, otherwise he would feel bad for himself.

"Gryffindor, running around in the hallway, deduct five points."

"Hufflepuff, you're being rude to the professor. Deduct 5 points."

"Ravenclaw, you called the professor by the wrong name, deduct 10 points."

......

Countless young wizards were terrified along the way, especially the first-year students, who were so frightened that they stammered.

All his good mood vanished the moment he saw Umbridge. In zero seconds, he decided he'd have cake and tea for breakfast—no one says you can't have dessert for breakfast. He completely forgot about Fufu; no one could stop him from eating cake.

----------

Emeric woke up to find it was already ten o'clock. He hadn't slept for that long in a long time, and he felt a little dizzy when he got up. He carefully prepared a large amount of food, intending to stay in the Room of Requirement all day. If he didn't find the diadem soon, he and Severus would die of sleep deprivation one day.

He slowly walked uphill carrying a small basket. When he passed the potions classroom, he left a bento box at the door and only left after Severus nodded to him.

As he strolled to the doorway, he noticed another group of people heading in. Upon closer inspection, he recognized Sirius Black and Lupin. A question mark appeared in Emeric's mind as he suddenly remembered that Dumbledore had indeed mentioned this matter some time ago, though he had long forgotten about it.

"How's your progress?" Emeric didn't stand on ceremony at all, not even bothering with small talk, since these two were always causing him trouble.

"I've only tidied up a third of the room where we store things, Merlin!" Sirius wailed. He felt pain all over his body, and the thought that there were still two-thirds left to do filled him with despair.

Emeric rubbed his ears, feeling like he was going deaf. Sirius's voice was making his head spin. "Keep your voice down, are you trying to attract the mice?"

"Did they get something else in?"

"Ha, you should ask Albus why the school is like a rat hole, with rats getting in every few days." He wanted to roll his eyes at this. Evelyn had told him yesterday that something had gotten in again, not counting Umbridge, which was the obvious source. In his opinion, this place shouldn't be called Hogwarts anymore; it should be called the Rat Hole.

"Uh... let's go inside and get to work." Lupin awkwardly smoothed things over, pulling Sirius inside. The two of them combined couldn't out-argue Emerick, especially since they needed his help. "The sooner we get to work, the sooner we can finish."

Emeric felt like sneezing as soon as he entered. There was so much dust inside that there was nowhere to step. He glanced around and saw a lot of things from the last century. He suppressed the urge to sweep them away with a whirlwind and carefully found a clean spot to stand.

"You guys have it tough too..." he sighed, found a pair of gloves, put them on, put the small basket in a dust-free place, and then joined them.

Sirius looked at Emeric with schadenfreude, remembering how Emeric had just complained about his talkativeness. He tossed the neatly tidied book aside, ready to call Lupin to laugh along, unaware that something was rolling down behind him.

"Clang!"

"Tsk, what a loud head."

"Sirius, I told you a long time ago not to litter. Look how bad it hurts now," Lupin nagged at Sirius. It was a habit he'd developed, and it didn't seem very pleasant.

Seeing his miserable state, Emeric was overjoyed and wished he could take out his camera and take a picture. It was a pity that Severus wasn't here to see it.

With more people working, the work was much faster. They finished a large piece in two hours. Emeric went to the door and took the small basket full of food, since magic couldn't be used here and they didn't have to go that far.

"Eat up, this is for you." Emeric was so tired his eyes were glazed over. After saying this to them, he sat down to the side with his lunchbox, staring blankly ahead, too exhausted to have any appetite.

His gaze pierced through the obstacles and finally landed on a sculpture in the distance, atop which rested a crown. Emeric's gaze was unfocused, and he hadn't noticed the crown at all until he turned his head to look elsewhere, at which point the jewel on it glittered.

His gaze was fixed on the statue. He called Sirius and Lupin over to check, "Look over there, isn't that the Ravenclaw tiara? Am I hallucinating from exhaustion?" His tone was full of self-doubt.

"It shouldn't be a hallucination; I saw it too."

"We'll find out when the time comes."

Sirius finished his food in a few bites and started walking towards his destination. Once he had a clear goal, he simply threw the things in the road to the side.

This time the progress was quite fast, and the three of them arrived at the sculpture in no time. Sirius reached out and took off the crown. He couldn't stand Emeric and Lupin dawdling, "Alright, our mission is complete. Let's hurry up and report to the headmaster. Maybe we can even take a bath before dinner."