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

Chapter 127 Reminiscing about the Past

Throughout the day, I saw many students trying to cross the age limit using all sorts of strange methods, but unfortunately, no one succeeded.

"Another failure."

"These two are the worst off; they've both turned into old men."

"I still think the one who wanted to jump in suffered the most; he even flew out of the auditorium."

The Hufflepuffs didn't have such grand ambitions; they were all obedient and well-behaved children, sitting in the Great Hall with a basket of snacks watching the excitement, and sometimes even commenting on the students who were up to no good.

Emeric put some more food in their arms and sat down to watch the commotion. Severus had been called to a meeting, so he could watch the excitement while he waited, which wouldn't waste any time.

"Thank you, senior Thaddeus."

"You're welcome. Tell me if there's anything else you'd like to eat." Emeric reached out and pinched their little faces. As expected of Hufflepuffs, their little faces felt so soft and cuddly.

The four sat in a corner of the auditorium, chattering and watching the commotion. Severus came in looking for someone, and if it weren't for a splash of green mixed in with the yellow, he wouldn't have been able to find Emeric, because apart from the color of his clothes, there was nothing out of place.

"Alright, I should go now. You guys continue." Almost the instant Severus entered, Emeric immediately smelled his scent, so he at least got up to say goodbye.

"let's go."

"Go back to the cellar, I have something to ask you." Severus was eager to know what Emeric had done to make Karkaroff still afraid of him, and even suggest to Dumbledore that he be kicked out.

"Click".

The cellar door clicked shut with a crisp sound. Emeric stood at the door waiting. Severus took off his coat, casually tossed it behind him, unbuttoned it with one hand to reveal his fair neck, and lazily sat down on the sofa.

"Come here and explain what you did at Durmstrang," Severus asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

When this was mentioned, Emeric was particularly proud. He was the one who beat up everyone at Durmstrang and eradicated school violence. So he couldn't help but start bragging about his past achievements.

"I was young then, and I couldn't stand seeing them bully others, so I used rather violent methods." He touched his nose shyly. If it were now, he wouldn't rely solely on force and end up covered in injuries. "Since they bully others because of their high family background and strong magic, then my magic and family are no less powerful than theirs. Let me fight them until they submit."

Severus couldn't understand this sense of justice, but he didn't comment on it. After all, Emeric hadn't gone astray; in fact, he could be considered a good kid.

"Then why did Karkaroff call you a troublemaker and have Dumbledore kick you out? Tell me honestly, what exactly did you do?"

After considering for a moment, Emeric explained, "After beating up all the students who liked to bully others, I realized that the professors actually bore more responsibility, so..."

"So you took care of all the professors?" Severus finished speaking for Emeric, then reached out and pinched his cheek. It was hard to imagine that such an innocent face hid a heart that loved to fight.

"Ugh... Severus...it hurts..."

Emeric's face was pinched until it bulged out. He tried to open his watery eyes wide and gently shook the man's sleeve, trying to get Severus to let go of his face.

"Looks like you've caused quite a stir. After all these years, Karkaroff still remembers you. He's given you such a generous gift. Aren't you going to catch up with your old principal?" Severus lazily stirred things up, making Karkaroff happy as long as he was unhappy.

"What's the point of reminiscing about that old man? I'd rather spend that time grading papers." Emeric looked disgusted. He would rather read the troll's papers than meet with Karkaroff. Both would shorten his lifespan, but reading papers would save him more time.

"Alright, just remember to hide well so no one sees you." Severus didn't insist that he was unwilling, since they would definitely meet on the day of the competition anyway, and there would be some excitement to watch.

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On the other side, Dumbledore was also very curious as to why Karkaroff was targeting Emeric. In order to find out the answer, he squeezed next to Gellert.

"Gail, do you know why Karkaroff hates Ellie?"

"I was the one who cleaned up the mess that little brat made in Durmstrang, how could I not know?" Gellert recalled the mess Emeric had made back then, that pile of trouble took a whole month to finish, and this little brat even said he felt sorry for his father and dad and didn't want them to know.

"No one dared to bully Thaddeus and Aldrickson's children, so those who didn't like him chose to bully his friend. That kid was Allie's tutor, usually like a little follower, so that group of people targeted him."

"They didn't dare leave any obvious marks on him, choosing instead to use some petty tricks to disgust people. Even if the child told the teacher, it was no use; his things were still thrown at him and his thesis was hidden." At this point, Gellert sighed, feeling sorry for the child as he got older and thought about these things.

"The kid felt that since he was taking the employer's money, he shouldn't cause trouble for Ellie, so he kept putting up with it. Plus, Ellie was just starting school and was excited about it, so she didn't notice that he was being bullied. It wasn't until later, when he broke down and wanted to jump off a building, that Ellie found out."

"Airi begged me to put that kid on leave of absence until everything was over, and I thought it was a small matter, so I agreed. I never expected that little bastard would almost turn the school upside down." Gellert gritted his teeth, his tone, which had just been filled with pity, was now full of anger.

"He beat every grade headmaster half to death, then bypassed me and had Wenda send people to beat up every professor who refused to help in the middle of the night. Wenda also joined in his nonsense. If I hadn't noticed that there were fewer people, I probably wouldn't have known until they came to demand an explanation."

"As you probably know, in two years, Ellie conquered the entire school, and spent half a year inserting his own people into each grade. That child also went back to school with the others."

After learning what had happened, Dumbledore was filled with emotion. He was very grateful that Allie had grown up and was able to handle things rationally. Otherwise, if things had turned out the same as they did at Durmstrang, he probably wouldn't have had a chance to reconcile with Gellert.

"Let's not talk about that. Karkaroff contacted you, didn't he? He asked you to kick Eli out."

"You guessed right. He said that Ellie would cause trouble and make it impossible for the three-school competition to continue, so it would be best to get rid of him now."

Gellert frowned as he listened, suddenly realizing he hadn't been too lenient with Karkaroff, lest he dare cause trouble for Ellie. He immediately sent men to stake out outside Hogwarts, ready to beat Karkaroff up the moment they saw him leave, just to keep him from disgusting anyone.