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

Chapter 169 Arguing with a Toad

Severus looked at Dumbledore with a dark expression, not understanding why Umbridge was here. It was unusual that he wasn't having lunch in the cellars today; given the current situation, he'd rather not have come out at all.

He automatically ignored the cloyingly sweet voice beside him, glaring at Dumbledore demanding an explanation—after all, Voldemort hadn't given him any orders. If Umbridge dared to provoke him, he'd be sure to verbally abuse him until he was spitting blood.

"Uh... Severus, don't look at me, I can't help it either," Dumbledore said, spreading his hands and acting like a rogue. He suddenly brought up Lucius, "You can ask Lucius, he strongly demanded it at the Board of Governors meeting. Although I am the headmaster, I can't go against the Board of Governors."

Hearing this, Severus basically understood what was going on, but what did it have to do with him? Voldemort hadn't asked him to cooperate with this pink toad, and he'd find a way to scold her later; her pink clothes were making his eyes hurt and he couldn't even eat.

Emeric looked up at the professors' table, somewhat worried about Severus's eyes and appetite. Even sitting below her, he found Umbridge an eyesore, let alone sitting next to her. Right now, only the Hufflepuffs were focused on their food and eating with gusto; the other three houses seemed a bit distracted, their eyes occasionally drifting towards the professors' table.

"Brother Airi, is she really our professor?"

"Hmm, Albus said before dinner that it's only for one school year, so just bear with it. He might have to leave sometime." Emeric handed Draco a bowl of soup, telling him to finish it before leaving; after all, he couldn't skip a meal.

Today's meal was rather tasteless; Draco only managed to eat a little more because Emeric was keeping him in check. "Here, share this with Harry and the others later. Remember, you two should tone it down a bit this semester. Pink Toad probably has something to do with Tom, so don't let her find any fault with you."

Draco's face fell instantly. He hadn't expected to get rid of Barty and now Umbridge was coming. He sighed, nodded in agreement, put the food box into his brooch, stood up, glanced at Harry, and the two left the Great Hall one after the other.

Not long after they left, a voice came from the professors' table. Severus was mocking Umbridge, and it seemed like his insults were quite hurtful, otherwise she wouldn't have been unable to maintain her fake smile. Dumbledore, sitting next to her, wanted nothing more than to pull out a handful of sunflower seeds and nudged Gellert to watch with him.

"Don't look at me with that sticky, self-important gaze. You're nothing but a clown thrown in by the Ministry of Magic, who climbed to a high position through flattery and spies. You don't even have a basic understanding of magical theory, yet you dare to dream of becoming a professor. You're overestimating yourself." Severus's eyes were full of contempt, a mean smile curling at the corner of his mouth, his voice filled with sarcasm and disdain.

Umbridge was so angry her hands trembled. She pointed at Severus in a fit of rage, "I advise you to tone it down. Don't think you can get away with doing things behind my back." After saying that, she smiled again, as if she thought she had won, and continued to threaten, "The rules of the Ministry of Magic are not for someone as gloomy and eccentric as you to break. If I see you being rude and disobedient again, I'll have to put a good note on your record." She acted as if she was in charge at Hogwarts.

Hearing her threat, Severus showed no fear, but instead gave a strange smile. Umbridge sensed something was wrong and followed his gaze back, finding Salafina leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, staring at her with a half-smile.

For some reason, Umbridge disliked Salafina from the first moment he saw her, and was even a little afraid of her. Being stared at by her now made Umbridge feel like some predator was trying to hunt him.

"Ms. Salafina, is there anything I can help you with?"

"It's nothing, just wanted to remind Umbridge... um... Professor, the school has its own oversight department, so there's no need for you to punish staff and students." Salafina paused deliberately, and seeing that Dumbledore and Gellert didn't stop her, continued, "Neither the headmaster nor the board of trustees would, and couldn't, hand over power to someone who's leaving next year, would they?"

It was rare to see Salafina speak. If it weren't for what happened today, Severus would have always thought that she didn't like to talk and was the kind of person who would rather fight than talk. He never expected that she would have this side to her and be able to make Umbridge's hands tremble.

At this point, Dumbledore stepped in to smooth things over. After all, if the Ministry of Magic sent Umbridge away, they would just send someone else. Rather than sending in a smart person to outwit and outmaneuver, it would be better to keep this fool around so he could be more easily controlled.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. We're all doing this for the better of Hogwarts," he said, shielding Severus behind him to prevent Umbridge from saying anything that might offend her, in which case Emeric would definitely come out and deal with her. "Sarafina is in charge of this, so she's more sensitive about students' education. Don't take it personally."

Dumbledore had said all he could say, good and bad, so she could only smile and reply no, secretly keeping this grudge in her heart. Once she took control of Hogwarts, she would drive all these people out and make them suffer a terrible death.

"Let's go, we need to teach the children soon." Dumbledore turned to Severus, thinking of getting him out of there as soon as possible. He couldn't control the thoughts of fools; they were particularly prone to causing problems.

Severus was about to snap at Dumbledore after being shoved several times, but seeing Umbridge still there, he swallowed his anger, not wanting to lose face in front of outsiders. If Sprout or McGonagall had been there, he wouldn't have needed to say a word; they would have immediately started harassing Dumbledore and Umbridge—one was getting older and had more problems, and the other was trying to bully their student.

Emeric waited until they finished arguing before leaving, not wanting to miss out on any of the excitement. He hadn't seen Severus in full force in a long time, and he was starting to miss it, especially when the person being scolded had nothing to do with him—it was simply wonderful.

"Severus, we don't have classes this morning, let's go for a walk in the Forbidden Forest. The little herb garden hasn't been tended to all summer, I wonder how it is doing."

Severus was quite interested in the suggestion, because he thought of the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and wanted to comb some of their fur to use in his experiments. He nodded slightly in agreement.

the other side

Harry cuddled Draco affectionately. They would have to pretend to be strangers for another semester, so they wanted to spend as much time together as possible. Even if they could meet in the dungeons, it wouldn't be just the two of them alone. Severus and Emeric would be there, all lovey-dovey, and those two were much more affectionate than they were.