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

Chapter 176 Arabella

Hogsmeade

A bloody smell wafted toward Emeric. He pulled Garian toward the source, while Lyra slowed down and lagged behind to avoid being followed.

Unexpectedly, his shopping trip today yielded a pleasant surprise. As Emeric walked into the alley, he saw a person covered in blood lying there, likely to be discovered any later. He took out a healing potion and poured it into the person's mouth, while Garian bandaged the wound beside him.

"Completely cleaned up."

Emeric waved his wand to wipe away the bloodstains around him, lest someone with a keen sense of smell come over and join the fray. He casually placed the wand aside, just in case it turned out to be a bad guy; the three fragile students couldn't withstand a beating.

"Young Master, is your potion expired? Why isn't this person awake yet?" Galian squatted down, poked at the person with a twig, and tilted his head to look up.

Then Emeric rolled his eyes at him and said sarcastically, "Do you think everyone likes to drink expired potions like you? This person is injured like this, how could he possibly recover quickly? I'm not a potions master."

"Take her back. She'll die if we leave her here." With that, Emeric took out a piece of clothing and draped it over her, covering her completely. He then had Garian support her on the other side and urged them to leave while there were still few people around.

"Change direction, there are people ahead." Emeric heard the little grass next to him cursing the people who had just passed by for being inconsiderate, so he casually sent a wisp of life to them.

The three spent a long time avoiding the students who were out playing, and the man still hadn't woken up by the time they entered the principal's office. Emeric was already considering whether to splash some cold water on him, otherwise Galian would continue to suspect that his potion had expired.

"Where's the headmaster?" Lyra interrupted, silencing Garian before he could finish speaking, lest Emeric be forced to drink a potion.

"He went to the Forbidden Forest."

"When are you coming back? We can't just leave the wounded here unattended."

"It should be soon."

Emeric looked at the ivy climbing the windowsill. It said Dumbledore would be back in half an hour at most, which was usually how long. Garian sat on the sofa, took out some cookies, and started munching. He had just used up a lot of energy and was now very hungry.

"Children, what are you doing here? What's this extra thing?" Dumbledore pushed open the door and came in, Gellert leading him by the hand. The two looked curiously at the unidentified object on the sofa, wanting to hear their explanation.

"We found her in Hogsmeade, covered in blood, lying in an alley. We were afraid she'd die, so we brought her here." Emeric took out an empty bottle. "I gave her a healing potion, and the bleeding stopped, but she's still unconscious. Do you recognize her?" He pulled off the cloak covering his head, revealing his pale face.

"Arabella? Good heavens, how did she get hurt like this? Gale, go and call Bobby over!!! Oh, and Severus too." Dumbledore picked Arabella up and put her on the sofa next to him, telling them to hurry up and get her.

"I have a special blood-replenishing potion here. Since she's one of us, let her drink it." Emeric took out a bottle of potion and handed it to Dumbledore. It was something Severus had researched to help him when he lost too much blood.

A short while later, Gellert returned with the two men. Severus was extremely impatient, but he calmed down slightly after seeing that Emeric was indeed there. As soon as Madam Pomfrey entered, she saw the patient on the sofa, rushed over, and began examining her with her wand.

Beams of red light shot out from Arabella's body, and Dumbledore's complexion improved considerably, indicating that Arabella's health was recovering. He looked at Emeric and the others beside him and asked about what had happened.

"I smelled blood. At first, I thought it was some small animal, but when I went over, I found her lying there." Emeric slightly embellished his curiosity. If Severus knew that he wanted to go see what was going on, he would definitely have to write a self-criticism.

Galian continued, "We saw that she hadn't woken up after drinking the recovery potion, and we were afraid she would freeze to death there, so we brought her back. Don't worry, no one saw her go into the school." With Emeric around, no one could approach them silently.

Leila described the cleanup work: "I cleaned up the footprints at the alley entrance and the smell of blood on her."

After hearing about their work, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want Umbridge to leave one day and then another to come seeking revenge the next; otherwise, Hogwarts could really be renamed a rat hole.

After completing a series of examinations, Madam Pomfrey looked relaxed. She fed Arabella several bottles of potions and said, "She'll be fine once she wakes up. Her injuries aren't a problem." Then she left; there were many children in the medical wing waiting for her treatment.

"Severus, what do you want for lunch? We'll probably be here all day, so I'll try to make something in the kitchen later." Emeric moved next to Severus, put his arm around his waist, and whispered to him.

The man ignored his fawning, narrowing his eyes at him. "Heh, Mr. Emerick, explain yourself. Why did you go over there even though you smelled blood? This isn't a safe time, I think you know that, right?"

He didn't believe Emeric's nonsense about thinking it was a small animal. He didn't know this person had the ability to communicate with plants and animals. He couldn't even come up with a plausible reason to lie.

"You're lying to me?"

Severus uttered two words indifferently, which made Emeric shudder. All he could think about was that he was doomed. He could only be thankful that he wasn't injured, otherwise he would definitely have been sent to sleep in the second bedroom.

"I brought men with me," Emeric grabbed Severus's sleeve and shook him, pleading in a low voice, "I was wrong, I'll go back and write two apology letters, okay? Can you please not be angry?"

"Since you knew I'd be angry, you still dared to do this?" Severus twitched a few times but couldn't pull his sleeve back, and glared at Emeric in anger. "If you want to argue with me, just say so."

"I was wrong, really wrong. I promise I will never take such risks again! If I do it again, you can do whatever you want with me."

"real?"

"real!"

"I've got it." The man leaned into Emeric's arms, reached out and pinched his cheek, retaliating for scaring him earlier.

While the two were chatting nearby, Arabella had already woken up and was reporting to Dumbledore what had happened.

"The Mysterio man has gone mad. He sent men to attack the Dursleys, trying to capture them to threaten Harry. A while ago, only a few Death Eaters came, but yesterday Bellatrix Lestrange brought about a dozen men. Luckily, they had already moved." Arabella took a breath and continued, "They couldn't find anyone, so they attacked the houses next door to vent their anger. I wanted to protect those Muggles, so they discovered me, and I desperately used Apparition to hide in Hogsmeade."

"I understand. Arabella, you rest now. We'll have a meeting this afternoon." Dumbledore released his Patronus to inform the others, "Children, you can go now. The adults can handle the rest."