HP: Embrace the Darkness

Athis and Snape lay in the Castle of Athis for more than a month, and finally remembered that they had a question that they had discussed for a long time but could not find an answer to - why Athis, who could see and contact souls during that time, could not see Snape, who was a soul.

In order to find the answer to this question, Ases asked everyone who might know the reason overnight, but the answers he got were all "I don't know".

In the end, it was Rowena who had a sudden inspiration and provided them with a new idea.

"Since those of us who can't see don't know the reason, why not ask those who can?"

Makes sense.

Ases returned to Seth Castle and plunged into the alchemy room to study ways to get in touch with Merlin, but because it was too difficult, there was no progress.

On the other side of the world, after Herbo sent away the last law enforcer, he heard that Athis was trying to contact Merlin, so he immediately paid a visit with a golden python.

Facing the two people's puzzled eyes, Haierbo threw the golden python in his hand to the ground and said, "Aren't you looking for a gentleman?"

"This..." Aces was speechless as he looked at the golden python coiled on the ground and asked politely, "Is its name Merlin?"

"What are you thinking about?" Haierbo's mouth twitched, "I mean, you can contact the gentleman through it."

"…Is it difficult for your brain to express itself clearly?" Being with Snape every day, Athis also developed the habit of speaking in a sarcastic way.

Hearing the familiar speaking style, Snape curled his lips in pleasure.

Haierbo had a blank expression on his face. He decided not to bother with Love Brain and pointed at the golden python and asked, "Do you want to contact Mr. or not?"

"Yes." Ases said without hesitation.

"Okay, wait."

Helbo recited a difficult spell, and the golden python coiled on the ground shook its head and stood up, staring at Helbo, and after a few minutes, it lay down again.

Aces and Snape looked at each other, saw questioning in each other's eyes, and shook their heads in tacit agreement.

They had never heard the spell that Helbo was chanting, let alone knew what language it was.

Helbo found a branch from somewhere and rubbed it on the golden python's head. The golden python shook it off after it woke up. He then stood up and shouted to Arcis and Snape, "It's okay, come and take a look."

"Let's go and take a look." Aces led Snape towards the golden python.

The golden python that was lying down just now stood up again, and its pea-sized snake eyes stared at the two people walking over. Its tail swayed, and an old and kind voice rang out.

"Aces, Severus, what do you want from me?"

Snape raised his eyebrows and looked at the golden python in surprise: "I can actually get in touch with him."

Ases was also looking at the golden python, and was amazed: "How did they do that?"

Hailbo snorted with pride, his nose turned up to the sky, "Secret."

Okay, it’s a secret.

As long as we can get in touch.

Aces and Snape exchanged glances for a second and reached a consensus.

The golden python waited until they finished talking before shaking its tail and said helplessly, "You haven't told me yet, what do you want from me?"

"Well, we have a question and would like to ask if you know the answer." Athis explained to Merlin.

The golden python nodded seriously: "What's your question?"

Aces glanced at Snape with a bitter smile, and the hand he was holding tightened by three points, "Why couldn't I see Severus or touch him at that time?"

"This question..." Merlin suddenly realized, "I think I may know why."

"Why?" Athis and Snape asked in unison.

Hailbo pricked up his ears calmly.

"It all starts with where wizards go after they die."

The golden python coiled up and spoke slowly, "After a wizard dies, his soul will be summoned to the kingdom of the dead. The reason why Severus did not leave is because he has a special ring on him."

As it spoke, the golden python raised its tail and lightly touched Snape's finger.

A faint mark appeared.

"Yes, that's it."

"This special ring resisted the call of the realm of the dead, thus leaving Severus' soul behind, but that was all it left."

"You should know that the soul cannot survive alone in the world?"

The three of them nodded in unison.

Merlin couldn't help laughing. He felt like he was coaxing three children at that.

"Our souls will gradually fade away while they remain in this world until they completely disappear. Normally, this period lasts three to five days, unless..."

Merlin kept it a secret.

Seeing that the three seemed to be in deep thought, he continued to explain: "Unless it is attached to an object and exists in another form, such as a Horcrux."

After this explanation, the three of them basically understood what Merlin meant.

Aces summarized it simply: "That is to say, after Siver became a soul, something was protecting him and at the same time separating us, preventing me from seeing him."

"Your understanding is correct."

"The one who provides protection is..."

While Athis was still asking, Snape suddenly had an idea. He turned his head to look at Athis, and kept rubbing the mark of the ring with his fingertips.

Seeing this, Merlin smiled softly.

"Don't you remember? It was you, Arces. Your love for Severus surrounded him and protected him, so he was always forced to follow you. Your love not only protected him, but also entangled him."

"To put it simply, what kept him was that special ring, but what really held him was your love for him. Your love helped him resist the call of the kingdom of death."

"It's quite incredible. If you had wavered, this barrier would have broken, but you didn't."

As the old man spoke, he became even more emotional. It was only after he returned that he figured it out clearly.

“Death is an unchangeable node, but love creates miracles.”

“This was the first time I really saw love truly triumph over death, and it was also the last time.”

"If then..."

Merlin shook his head and said nothing more. "Do you have anything else to ask?"

"Yes." Aces frowned in confusion, "If he is my love, then why can't I see Sif either?"

"You haven't accumulated enough experience, and you don't have enough control over your own strength. You can't see the essence through the surface of things. If you were in your current state, you should be able to see it."

In the final analysis, it is still a matter of strength.

Hailbo and Ases lowered their heads at the same time, feeling inexplicably ashamed, especially Hailbo. Ases was much younger than him, and he couldn't find any excuses even if he wanted to.

"I'm just a kid. It's normal, very normal." Ases found a good excuse for himself and began to mock Helbo with his eyes.

Not only did he mock himself, he also pulled Snape to mock along with him. However, Snape didn't want to join in such a childish activity, and after being pulled a few times he pretended not to know and just stood aside with his arms folded, watching Asis make a fuss.

In front of Merlin, Helbo dared not speak out his anger, and his face turned red.

Merlin shook his head in amusement.

"You two have a good relationship. I thought you would be closer... Never mind. You two have similar personalities, which is not bad. It's almost time. I should leave. If there is a chance, I'll see you next time."

The golden python lay back on the ground again and there was no sound.

Merlin finally left. He could no longer endure it. He took out his snake staff and pointed at Athis, shouting, "Come here and get beaten, you bastard!"

"Don't do anything, I surrender." Ases surrendered immediately without hesitation for a second.

Herbo's spell was interrupted. He didn't know whether to continue or stop. His face turned even redder, not much different from a tomato. Snape was afraid that he would explode with anger, so he glanced at Athis deliberately.

Aces instantly became obedient, winked at Snape, and spoke to comfort Helpo.

"Don't be angry, don't be angry, I was just joking. Look, except for us, no one else can see Sif."

Herbo snorted coldly and turned his head away without paying any attention to Athis. However, Athis had been in a particularly good mood since Snape's resurrection and didn't care at all that Herbo was giving him a cold shoulder.

"Or maybe you can go to Hogwarts and prove your strength? Godric has been alone in Hogwarts lately and he is said to be very bored."

Ases's skillful way of shifting the blame to others made Helbo feel familiar, and his anger dissipated unconsciously.

"He can't beat me."

Athis raised his eyebrows at Snape proudly and said, "See, the advice has been given."

Haierbo rolled his eyes, feeling that he was a bit redundant here, and ran away decisively.

The direction is to Hogwarts.

Hogwarts is a troubled school in every sense of the word.

The next day, Athis received a message from the Ministry of Magic, accusing Dumbledore of abusing his power by applying for two funds to renovate Hogwarts Castle in just one month.

As the culprit, Athis agreed with the Ministry of Magic's accusation against Dumbledore without hesitation, and before Dumbledore came, he took Snape to the north to meet with the president of the International Potions Society.

Dumbledore, who had come up empty-handed, was stabbing Athis in the heart and looked at Grindelwald dimly, "Al, I remember you were very familiar with Mr. Cavendish?"

Grindelwald had a bad feeling.

Half a minute later, Grindelwald, whose treasury was emptied, drew circles and cursed Athis, while Dumbledore, who got the funds, smiled happily and went back to ask people to reinforce Hogwarts Castle.

He is old, so he shouldn't work too hard. Let the young people do the hard work. By the way, it seems that Severus is still the headmaster of Hogwarts?

How about going to find the headmaster and taking a trip? Dumbledore narrowed his eyes and made a plan in his mind.

Professor McGonagall, who was far away at Hogwarts, had no idea what kind of headmasters she had. She looked forward to Snape's return and Dumbledore bringing back funds every day.

At this time, Headmaster Snape had successfully joined the International Potions Guild and became one of the elders.

In fact, according to the heroic president of the Potions Society, he was going to give his position to Snape directly, but Snape declined considering that he had to deal with personal matters and the headmaster's affairs recently.

For fear of scaring people away, the President of the Potions Guild could only continue working in tears. He also had to arrange the reception process with a smile on his face, and then watch Asis and Snape, with the word "freedom" written all over their bodies, leave.

It is snowing outside.

Ases conjured up a black umbrella and held it over the two men's heads.

The falling snow blurred the horizon. There were few pedestrians on the street and the world was unusually quiet. Occasionally, two people appeared on the road, but they walked away quickly. This gave the young couple a lot of space. Athis tentatively stretched out his hand, and Snape, seeing that there were not many people around, did not hide and let Athis lead him.

After succeeding, Ases quickly turned his head and kissed Snape, with the expression "pushing for an inch" written all over his face. Snape glanced at him but said nothing.

"Sev, do you plan to continue staying in Hogwarts or go somewhere else in the future?" Asis had wanted to ask this question for a long time, but he just never found the opportunity.

Snape was speechless for a moment. He had never thought about this question.

After coming back to life, his obsession with whether Athis was in front of him was beyond imagination. Apart from the potion, almost all his attention was on Athis. He didn't even read the letters sent by Dumbledore. He just stared at Athis every day, or monitored where the other party went.

"I don't know, what about you?"

"Me?" Athis tilted his umbrella towards Snape to block the snow flying in the wind, and took Snape's hand and put it in his pocket. "I want to inherit the position of head of the family. At least I can't leave until my younger brothers and sisters can stand on their own. So I will probably stay in England or Germany, but it's not certain. It depends on you. I want to be with you more. I have ways to solve other problems."

See him?

Snape was taking a long time to make a decision.

At the beginning, he didn't like the life in Hogwarts, and could even be said to hate it, but as time passed, he seemed to have a special feeling for Hogwarts, although he didn't want to admit it.

At the same time, he also likes potions very much and is not opposed to exchanges in the International Potions Association. He also seems to be not opposed to this country where it is always snowing.

Snape looked up blankly, and all he could see was snow. Was he going to stay here forever?

"I am not sure."

"Don't worry, the future is long and you have plenty of time to think slowly."

Ases thought Snape was being obedient as he stared at the snow, and he couldn't help but lean over and kiss him again. Both of their faces and lips were icy, and the kiss was like kissing an ice cream, sweet and cold, so sweet that it made his heart tremble.

"I'll go with you wherever you want to go. If you want to be alone, you can tell me."

"I assume I didn't say that." Snape put a finger against Aces's forehead to stop him from kissing him again, "and I didn't allow you to kiss me."

"Then..." Athis grabbed his fingers and kissed them gently. His eyes showed his love. "Can I kiss you now? My dear... Professor Snape."

Ases liked to call him Professor Snape, and when he did so, there was always a sense of sickness in his voice that he himself didn't even notice. Professor Snape, who didn't really eat sweets, was intoxicated by the sweet-smelling honey and actually nodded his head.

With permission, Athis was no longer satisfied with a simple kiss on the cheek. He lowered his umbrella to block the direction of the people, then put his arms around Professor Snape's waist, which was still well-defined under the thick clothes, and kissed his cold and sweet lips devoutly.

Half of Snape's body was covered by the black umbrella. He could not see anyone except Athis in his field of vision, so he naturally did not feel uncomfortable.

The two exchanged a passionate kiss.

After the kiss, Snape had a stern face, and the tips of his ears were slightly red, perhaps because of the wind or something else. He brushed the snowflakes off Aces' shoulders, held his hand and raised the umbrella.

"go home."

Asis adjusted the umbrella handle as he exerted force.

"Okay, let's go home."