HP: Embrace the Darkness

Unable to find any useful information, Snape looked at Dumbledore, "Do you know where he is?"

"I thought you knew."

Dumbledore reluctantly stuffed Lemon Olaf into his mouth, using sugar to soothe his tired brain.

He came to Snape just to find out where Artes was going, to find out what he was doing, and why there was blood on the letters he wrote. As a result, Snape didn't know anything about it, and he didn't know as much as he did.

"Severus." Dumbledore's eyes were gleaming behind his glasses, "You said you didn't receive the letter, and he also said he wrote you a letter and no one responded. That letter..."

Snape and Dumbledore looked at each other, thinking of the same place - Cavendish Manor.

"Fox, I need you to take us to the gate of Cavendish Manor."

Dumbledore stuffed the last lemon sorbet into his mouth and gave instructions to the phoenix nestling in the bird's nest behind him, licking its feathers.

The word "need" in his words hit Fox's heart without any bias. The phoenix stopped licking its feathers, proudly raised its head and chest, and shook its body vigorously. The bright red feathers shone brightly in the trembling.

"No need." Snape said calmly, interrupting Phoenix's confusion, "The fireplace in the cellar is connected to Cavendish Manor, you can go directly there."

Fox blinked, his black bean-like eyes showing great doubts,

What do you mean?

It couldn't shake its palm-sized head and suspected that it had heard wrong. After all, it was the most beautiful phoenix. How could anyone refuse the phoenix?

Listen again, in case you heard wrong.

A few seconds passed and no other sound was heard. Phoenix's raised head drooped, finally confirming that the person in front of him was rejecting him.

It stared at the man who rejected it with wide eyes in disbelief, accusing him with its eyes.

Snape ignored this phoenix, who had as much drama as Dumbledore, and waited for Dumbledore's reply.

"In that case, let's go to the cellar."

Dumbledore didn't expect that Snape's cellar would have a floo network connection with Cavendish Manor, so he thought about asking Fawkes to send them there. Now that there are more convenient ways to travel, Fawkes is naturally not needed.

Then go to the cellar?

To the cellar?

What nonsense are you talking about!

"Chirp chirp chirp——"

Fawkes jumped up and down, not even caring about the feathers he had just licked, waving his wings and pointing at Snape, greeting Snape frantically, and scolding Dumbledore so much that he was embarrassed to look at Snape's expression.

Fortunately, Snape couldn't understand what it said, and he was concerned about the whereabouts of Artes, so he didn't pay attention to Dumbledore's embarrassed expression and Fawkes jumping up and down.

The two of them walked to the cellar in silence.

Hogwarts was very quiet during the holidays. There was no sound of the little wizards chatting and laughing in the corridors. Only the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves were interspersed.

Dumbledore intended to say something to break the awkward silence between the two, but Snape lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking, and his steps were particularly careless, slowly losing his former momentum.

At first glance, it feels like we are stalling for time.

It's really stalling for time.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Snape knew that he was hesitating and even wanted to escape.

He... didn't know how to face Asseth.

I don't know how to explain this misunderstanding to Asseth, and I don't know how to explain those three disgusting sentences and the magic wand pointed at him, which was sent out without a shadow.

Because there is no way to explain it.

The facts are before our eyes and cannot be erased by a simple misunderstanding.

Snape asked himself, if there was someone who doubted him, accused him, and insulted him indiscriminately, he would never forgive that person, ever.

The upset Potions Master moved his eyes randomly, unable to vent his regret.

He should have thought of it a long time ago, how could Ass...

There is only a small distance from the principal's office to the cellar, so no matter how much time is delayed, the time will come.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them were standing at the cellar door.

Snape stopped and looked at the cellar door hesitantly. Miss Medusa was so frightened by his eyes that she hid in the corner with Morpido.

Dumbledore had worked with Snape for many years and knew him fairly well. He didn't bother him when he stopped and waited quietly beside him.

It was just that the waiting time was inevitably boring, and he didn't dare to watch the Potions Master's show, so Dumbledore looked around to pass the time.

Perhaps the bloodstain on today's letter was still fresh in his memory, so when he saw a small, sudden brown mark on the ground, he immediately realized that it was bloodstain.

"Severus, are you hurt?"

Because there was blood on the cellar door, Dumbledore subconsciously thought that the injured person was Snape.

"what?"

Disturbed in his thoughts, Snape frowned and turned back, following Dumbledore's line of sight to see the marks on the ground.

Suddenly, his pupils tightened, and his brain flashed with lightning as he remembered the divine sword that had passed by Asseth at the cellar door. The arm next to the wand shrank as if it had been burned, and his fingertips were slightly bent.

"At that time... it was hit? How could it be hit? I obviously... moved away."

He muttered to himself, his voice mixed with inaudible panic and confusion.

Dumbledore didn't hear clearly what Snape was saying, but seeing how ugly his expression was, and the sudden blood stains on the ground, he could more or less guess the underlying truth.

He sighed silently, patted Snape on the shoulder, and pushed him toward the door.

"Let's go to Cavendish Manor first. No matter what, let's find Professor Cavendish first. We can find other things later."

Snape followed Dumbledore numbly, and followed him using the Floo Network.

The study at Cavendish Manor.

As soon as Joel drank the polyjuice potion disguised as Artes, he noticed that the magic pattern indicating that the manor's floo network was being used lit up.

Voldemort's night attack on the manor had just happened, and he had to be vigilant in preparing to cut off this strange connection. In Asseth's absence, he had to guard the manor.

Susanna, who was sitting on the sofa in the study, eating melon seeds and staring blankly at a pile of letters, poked her head out curiously when she saw his movements.

"Uncle Joel, what are you going to do?"

"Someone is using the manor's floo network. I'll cut it off just in case."

"Oh."

After satisfying her curiosity, Susanna withdrew her head and continued to stare blankly at the pile of letters in front of her.

"Floo, Floo, etc. - Floo? Floo! Uncle Joel, show mercy!"

Susanna jumped up with her butt on fire and grabbed Joel's wand-waving hand.

Joel was caught off guard and staggered under her pressure. He also dropped his wand and rolled several times on the ground before stopping at the corner of the sofa.

"If you don't have a reasonable explanation, I will write to Anna right now and throw you home."

A large pendant was forced to be hung on his arm, and the old bones almost fell apart. Joel's tone was very unkind.