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

Chapter 101 Guardian

8 PM, the cellar

"Knock knock".

Harry didn't know why Severus had called him to tutoring. He was a little worried that maybe the cellars were short of people to deal with the toads, so they tricked him into coming.

"Enter."

"Professor, what brings you here?"

Hearing this, Severus looked up at the door, put down the half-finished homework he was grading, and tapped Emeric across from him, signaling him to come and sit with Harry. Teaching one is the same as teaching two; there's no difference.

"Dumbledore asked me to teach you the Patronus Charm. I will only teach you once, and you can learn as much as you can."

Severus waved his wand, turning a piece of parchment into a blackboard that stood in the living room. He spoke and wrote down instructions, then stood beside the blackboard looking at the two students who seemed somewhat dazed.

"Where did you guys miss something?" Severus narrowed his eyes, questioning the intelligence of these two. It was written so simply and easily; they should be able to understand it after reading it once.

"Um... Professor, could you demonstrate it for us? I don't quite understand it from the text..." Harry, though young, was bold enough to ask the crucial question, stroking his beard, though he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Severus glared at Harry. Did he not want to demonstrate? If Emerick got angry when he saw that his Patronus was a doe, wouldn't it be Severus who had to appease him? But this problem needed to be solved sooner or later.

"I'll only demonstrate once."

"Protect the Gods."

As the wand spun, a cloud of silver smoke billowed from its tip, and a feline appeared in the center of the smoke. The smoke gradually solidified, revealing a silver panther standing before Severus.

He looked at the black panther in a daze. It shouldn't be a black panther, it should be a doe. His guardian spirit had changed without him realizing it, just like his fate.

"If you understand, then practice quickly. Today's goal is to create smoke. Can you do it?"

"I'll give it a try..."

I will try my best.

But they were stumped from the start because they didn't know which memory was most symbolic, so they could only rack their brains.

Severus leaned against his desk, lost in thought. He was pondering what was wrong with the Guardian. Logically, a Guardian born from the determination to protect shouldn't change, unless he had just unconsciously used his memories, and Lily wasn't in those memories.

What changed his obsession? He eliminated possibilities one by one in his mind, until only one answer remained: a boy who praised him every day, saying he was great and amazing.

Emeric felt Severus's gaze, looked up and smiled at him, and while Harry wasn't looking, handed him a small plate of biscuits to eat.

It was almost ten o'clock, and the two of them could only release a little bit of smoke, which made Severus very disgusted. In order to get rid of Harry in the cellar as soon as possible, he told them another way to summon the Patronus.

"Since I can't find any memorable memories, I'll just strengthen my resolve to protect them. That way, I can summon a guardian spirit." With that, he calmly watched the spectacle unfold. He picked up a cookie and popped it into his mouth, occasionally sipping tea leisurely.

"The determination to protect?"

Emeric had a clue. Wasn't the man in front of him the one he wanted to protect? At that moment, he strengthened his resolve and raised his wand.

"Protect the Gods."

A large amount of silver smoke spewed out from the tip of the staff. Soon the smoke condensed and began to form the shape of an animal. As the smoke decreased, a leopard appeared in front of him.

"Huh? Isn't that the professor's leopard? Um, Draco threw up, I'm off." Harry's eyes widened, he made up a story and ran off, feeling that staying any longer would be dangerous.

Harry ran away, leaving only the two people and the leopard in the room, staring at each other. Severus's cheeks were flushed, and the tips of his ears, hidden in his hair, were already bright red.

How is this any different from confessing your love?

The two of them thought of this at the same time, and subconsciously looked away from each other, both feeling a little embarrassed.

"Why aren't you taking it back? What are you doing leaving it outside?"

After saying this, Severus turned and left. He felt that something was very wrong here and he couldn't stay.

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Early in the morning, the young wizards gathered not far from the school gate. They were terrified of the cloaked figures outside, even though the professors had told them they wouldn't get hurt as long as they didn't get close.

"Children, what are you doing here? Go back right now! Or I'll go get Salafina. You know the consequences of breaking school rules, right?"

"We're leaving right away, Professor Flitwick! Please, please don't call Professor Amiloran over!!!"

The once-thronged crowd instantly dispersed. They were genuinely terrified of Salafina; even the most arrogant young wizards would tremble before her, like mice before a cat. Even though she wasn't fierce at all, her aura was enough to intimidate all the troublemakers.

Flitwick was very pleased with the results; it was fantastic that someone could keep these little troublemakers in check. For one thing, the Ravenclaw lab crisis had been significantly reduced. Thinking of this, he decided to send Salafina a bottle of wine to thank her for her contribution.

"I told you not to go near the door, and look what happened!" Sirius leaned against the wall, mocking the dejected young wizards. He was always happy to see the Slytherin brats get into trouble.

"Who are you, sir? What gives you the right to laugh at us?"

"Yeah, who are you?"

"How come just anyone can sneak into school these days?"

"Just because I'm your Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching assistant, you little brats are in for a world of trouble!"

Sirius Black stepped aside, making way for the ghosts lurking behind him. Now, having thoroughly studied the new school rules, he was no longer the same boy. "It's a pity, children, you will pay the price for your rudeness."

"Alright, you three come with me. One of you go to Hagrid's farm, one of you go to Professor Snape's place to deal with the toads, and the last one of you go clean the corridor. Any questions?" Blood Man Barrow was very satisfied with his arrangements, which made everyone uncomfortable.

"Okay, Professor."

The three Slytherin snakes looked dejected. Luckily, the teaching assistant didn't deduct any points, otherwise Professor Snape would have scolded them to death.

"Why are you at school?" Lupin, who was standing not far away, asked curiously. He didn't quite understand Sirius's thoughts, especially after the commotion they had caused earlier.

"I can't help it. There's a crazy elf and a portrait of my mother insane in Black's old house. I'd much rather mess with the young wizards at school than with those things," Sirius shrugged and continued. "Besides, Harry's here too. What's wrong with wanting to see my godson?"

He put his arm around his friend's shoulder and patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, don't overthink it. I haven't had lunch yet. Let's go to the auditorium for lunch."

Lupin, being pushed along, could only smile helplessly and follow Sirius's steps toward the auditorium.