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

Chapter 171 Extra: Ellie's Transmigration 2

Emeric watched Tom pretend to wave his wand, a sense of accomplishment buoyed by his nervous expression. His smile widened, making him look every bit the villain.

Dumbledore could tell at a glance that Emeric was trying to scare the child, so he reached out and stopped him with his wand. "Alright, stop scaring the child. What if his magic goes out of control?" He gently squatted down and, like Emeric, faced Tom to talk to him.

"I'm sorry, my tone wasn't very good just now. I'm glad you have the ability to protect yourself, but this method was a bit too extreme, and you need to make amends for your mistake." Dumbledore patted Tom's head and took out another piece of candy for him. "Try it, this is candy from the wizarding world. It may not taste better, but it's definitely more interesting."

"Alright, that's enough with the sentimentality. Go apologize now." Emeric interrupted them, hands on his hips. He'd said so much, yet it was all less than a single piece of candy from Dumbledore. He was angry and was going to be the bad guy.

Tom forced a fake smile at Emeric. He didn't want to deal with this adult who looked mentally unstable; Dumbledore was far more amiable than him.

"Remember, this money is for you to spend. You're willing to give half of it to apologize, so don't say anything bad later." Emeric stood behind Tom and poked his little head to tell him not to talk nonsense.

"I know, I don't need your fake kindness."

"Huh?" Emeric chuckled in exasperation. Sometimes it was no wonder Dumbledore suspected him; his mouth was exactly like Gellert's—it could never utter a kind word. "Be careful you don't fall into my hands, or I'll call on you to answer questions in class every day."

"I'm not afraid."

"Oh?"

Dumbledore walked behind, watching the two bicker, and felt even more strongly that he should have a good talk with Gellert. It seemed that they hadn't sat down for a heart-to-heart talk since their problems arose. Ariana was one of them, and the rest of them had communication problems.

"Mrs. Cole, we are very satisfied with Riddle, but the young master is still traveling abroad and won't be back until the start of the school year. He'll stay with you for now, and someone will come to pick him up in September," Emeric said with a polite smile, handing Mrs. Cole a wad of pounds. "Oh, of course, we've decided on this child, so we should cover his living expenses. This should be enough, right?"

"That's enough, there's still a bit too much."

"Then let's consider him a good friend who's sponsoring him. Hopefully, when we meet next time, this child will have gained some weight; he doesn't look very healthy right now," Emeric said to Mrs. Cole with a smile, pinching Tom's little face.

"Yes, we will take good care of him."

After exchanging pleasantries, Emerick, as if he had just remembered, took out another sum of money. "Ah, I almost forgot your allowance. Here, take this."

"You can use it for whatever you want, but this is all you have until school starts."

Hearing the emphasis on the start of school in his words, Tom realized that this man might teach him, and he would definitely suffer if he didn't do things his way. Besides, this was the second sum of money he had received today, much less than what he was given to him privately, so it didn't matter if he shared a little.

"I'm sorry, madam. Here's the money as compensation for my prank."

"Thank you, my child." Mrs. Cole couldn't refuse the money. She suppressed her fear and reached out to pat his head in gratitude.

"Madam, we're taking the child out for a bit and will be back before dinner. There are some formalities that need to be completed in advance. As you know, the bigger the family, the more things there are to deal with." Emeric rubbed his forehead in distress.

"Yes, as long as his safety is guaranteed."

"Thank you so much for your understanding, Madam," Emerick said, taking Tom's hand. "Let's go."

The three left the orphanage and walked until they were in a secluded place. Dumbledore called Fawkes and led them to Diagon Alley once again.

"Now listen to Professor Dumbledore. Don't look at me, I really don't know what to do first when guiding students." Emeric disappeared into the ice cream shop next door, leaving the two of them awkwardly facing each other.

"Go buy a wand first." Dumbledore's head was throbbing from his words, and he couldn't help but wonder if Gellert was really alright, that he would actually know this unreliable person.

"Okay." Tom suppressed his curiosity and followed Dumbledore into the alley.

"Black tea ice cream and raspberry sorbet to go, and a milk ice cream too." Emeric was going to try and take some back for Severus to try; it wouldn't spoil in the ring anyway. The taste was slightly different, but overall it was pretty much the same. That morning in Gringotts, he discovered that his Galleons were actually working.

While he was leisurely eating ice cream, Dumbledore had already bought everything with Tom. When the two of them arrived at the ice cream shop, they found that he had ordered ice cream for them as well, and their anger subsided a little.

"I ordered milk and vanilla. You guys aren't allergic, are you? Don't be so serious since you've come all this way~" Emeric said while eating. He had almost finished his milk ice cream. "It's still early. We can go back before dinner time. Besides, what good food can you find at an orphanage? We might as well take him to eat his fill before we go back."

Dumbledore couldn't argue with him, and besides, he was genuinely hungry, so he casually picked a table, sat down, and started eating. Tom, looking around, simply sat down too; why not take advantage of someone's invitation?

Emeric finished eating first, cleared away the bowl, and then took out a bunch of small pastries from his ring and placed them on the table. These were things Severus didn't like, and things he himself disliked, but they were enough to fill his stomach when there wasn't much else to eat.

Dumbledore and Tom looked at the pile of things that had appeared on the table again, and they fell silent, unsure how to react to this person.

"you..."

"Don't be shy, let's eat together."

Emeric casually shoved a biscuit into Dumbledore's mouth, silencing him. Seeing this, Tom fed himself a biscuit, afraid he'd be given one too.

After resolving their lunch issue, the three finally returned to the orphanage. Tom stood at the door looking at Emeric and Dumbledore. Although the two were a bit crazy, they had indeed made his day very happy. If they could stay like this, he could pretend to be what they liked.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and go inside. Someone will come to pick you up on September 1st to take you to the train station, don't forget." Emeric reached out and pushed the man through the door, waved to him, and left.

After they returned to Hogwarts, Dumbledore suddenly remembered Emeric's accommodation problem; there was no office for him in this era.

Judging from his appearance, he wouldn't be able to go back anytime soon. Dumbledore felt a headache coming on. Living with him for a few days would drive him crazy. Who knew if he would eat people when he got hungry in the middle of the night?

"Ah~ I've made my choice, this classroom will do."

While he was lost in thought, Emeric had already chosen where he would sleep that night, and now he didn't know if the castle would allow him to renovate it.

"Give it a try. Your name is in the Professor's Contract, maybe it will work," Dumbledore suggested. He really didn't want to live with Emeric.

Emeric waved his wand, piling all the desks and chairs together, replacing all the windows and murals on the walls with solid walls, leaving only one window and door facing outwards, and casually taking out a travel tent and placing it in the center of the classroom so that he could take it with him in the morning.

"Then I'm off. You know where the Great Hall is, right? Dinner will be served there." With that, Dumbledore left. He was going to find Gellert and resolve their relationship issues.

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The next morning, Emeric resignedly got out of bed and went to the kitchen to cook. He forgot that this Hogwarts didn't have Fortune; last night's dinner was completely unpalatable, and he left after just one glance. Even the simplest meal he made was better than the one in the Great Hall.

"Albus, would you like some?" Emeric carried a plate of vegetable pancakes into the auditorium. The students hadn't arrived yet, only a few professors were there.

"Give me some." After tasting Emeric's cooking, Dumbledore found the house-elves' culinary skills rather unappetizing. He'd had a good chat with Gellert yesterday; at least he understood Gellert's thoughts after opening up. With more communication, they could eventually find a better way to get along.

After spending three days in this time and space, Emeric began to feel anxious. He spent almost all his time in the library, trying to find a way back.

"Sigh," Dumbledore sighed, patting Emeric's shoulder lightly. "We agreed to pick up Riddle today, let's go. Let's relax a bit; you might not find the answer if you continue like this."

"Phew—" He closed the book in his hand. He had roughly found a way back. He could go back as long as he completed what the space-time rift wanted him to do. But he didn't know whether he would have to wait until Tom went to school or until Tom graduated.

He stood up and followed Dumbledore. Now he could only follow the timeline; who knew, it might suddenly come to an end.

The two appeared at the orphanage gate. It was breakfast time for the children, and thinking that there wasn't much food at the orphanage, they decided to take Tom away and eat on the train.

"Is there anything else you need to pack?"

Tom shook his head. "I don't have much of my own stuff, so I don't need to pack anything." Apart from the few books he was carrying, he had nothing else.

"Alright, let's go." Emeric was annoyed and had no time for pleasantries. He took Tom's hand and led him outside, hiding the snake in his clothes as he went.

"You didn't even put your things away properly. I won't help you next time. I'll give them back to you at school."

"understood."

Dumbledore initially thought it was Tom's book, but when he saw that Emerick's hands were empty, he realized that Emerick was still a good boy and would take care of him even if he was impatient.

They watched Tom board the train, then had Fawkes take him back to Hogwarts. Emeric finally remembered something he'd forgotten: the bullying issue at school. Because he'd resolved it early on, he completely forgot about it. He turned the ring upside down and finally found the original proposal in a corner.

"Albus, here you go. I guess this was part of the reason I was sent here," Emeric shoved the entire system into Dumbledore's hands. "Follow this, and I can guarantee there will be far fewer bullying incidents. I've been testing this system for about eight years, and it's been incredibly effective."

As Dumbledore opened the file box, the aura of a time rift suddenly appeared. He quickly left behind the words, "Be kind to Severus Snape, he's my love!!!"

Having said that, he suddenly vanished from Dumbledore's sight. Dumbledore closed the file in his hand, recalling what he had just heard. "Severus Snape? That seems to be a man???" A look of doubt appeared on his face, wondering if homosexuality had become the norm 50 years later.

the other side

Emeric landed back in the principal's office, glanced at the clock on the wall, and prepared to go outside the Potions classroom to pick up Severus after class.

Everything returned to normal, except for the flapping of the butterfly's wings.