HP: Embrace the Darkness

The sunset was completely dim. After thinking for a moment, Artes decided to tell Snape.

He said goodbye to several unicorns and returned to Hogwarts Castle alone.

The question just now was lingering in his mind, and Asseth, who was thinking about it, didn't pay attention to the sad expressions of the little wizard walking in the corridor.

Earlier, the Potions Master, whose standards had become extremely demanding, couldn't change it even after half of it.

Angrily, he sent back all the papers that he considered unqualified and rewrote them all.

The little wizards who liked to rewrite dared not say anything, so they lined up one by one to go to the cellar to get their papers back. Now it happened to be the third and final batch.

A group of young wizards held a piece of parchment in their hands and walked heavily.

When I passed by Asseth, I managed to summon up the energy to say hello to him.

Asseth didn't pay attention to their expressions, and couldn't hear their voices. Although there was a smile on his face, it was more like a drawn mask nailed on, stiff and rigid.

The little wizards were confused.

The parchment in their hands fluttered lightly and swayed back and forth in their hands. The heavy weight before could not bring them back their attention.

Their eyes were still on Asseth.

Why is it that even their personable, gentle and polite alchemy professor doesn't see them now?

They have to write the paper again and get scolded again, and they have to be ignored again. Why are they so miserable?

This study is really tiring.

The little wizards who suffered repeated blows became autistic.

Artes paid no attention to their complex psychological activities, turned away from their sight, and walked towards the cellar alone.

The further you go into the cellar, the cleaner it becomes.

The little wizard who took away his paper had already returned to the lounge to rewrite the paper miserably. There was only Ass's footsteps in the corridor.

Finally, he stopped in front of the cellar door.

But one day, when he stood here again, he felt like he was in another world.

It seemed like he hadn't been back for a long time. For a moment, he didn't have the courage to raise his hand and open the door.

Time passed by, and Asseth stood quietly in the shadow outside the door, neither going in nor leaving.

Across the door, Snape stared at the map in his hand expressionlessly, his cold eyes seeming to pierce the motionless name at the door.

He had already seen the name walking back on the map, but he did not expect that the name would not move outside the door.

how?

Does this young master want him to invite him?

On the door, Miss Medusa is sleeping.

The tail was casually draped over Morpidou's body, while the rest of his body was coiled into a ball.

Her eyelids made of unknown material were closed securely, showing no sign of noticing the Ass who was standing in front of her.

Morpidot discovered it, but he was only responsible for the alchemical magic patterns in the cellar. He had no way to open the door for Asseth, so he could only worry.

He wanted to wake up Miss Medusa and open the door, but he didn't dare to offend her who didn't get enough sleep.

"Father--young master, won't you come in?" Mopidou asked, glaring at Qiqi Aiai.

"I……"

Asseth closed his eyes and opened them again, laughing at himself. He still didn't know what to say.

"Forget it, next time, just watch it carefully."

After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave.

boom--

The closed door suddenly opened.

Aces immediately froze on the spot and turned his head sharply.

The light outside the cellar is not bright, but compared to the light inside the cellar, it is already bright.

There seemed to be no fireplace or lights in the cellar. It was so dark that it was difficult to see what was inside.

And in this looming light and shadow, Snape stood at the intersection of light and dark behind the door. Behind him was ink-like blackness, but the light in front of him illuminated his expression.

His face was covered with a thick layer of frost, and his eyes were illuminated with the usual sarcasm, and he opened his mouth to ridicule.

"Look who this is? I really didn't expect-"

Aces looked at the person in front of him greedily.

The hesitation in my mind was shattered the moment Snape appeared.

All hesitations, not knowing what to say, and fears were all forgotten by him.

All he wanted now was to stay with Snape.

So before Snape could finish his sarcastic words, he took three steps at a time and hugged Snape heavily into his arms. The huge impact caused the two of them to stagger back into the cellar.

Although he can't open the door, he can still close it.

After the two of them entered, he nudged them with his tail and closed the cellar door smoothly.

Snape took several steps back before regaining his balance.

With a sullen face, he opened his mouth to clear the mind of this insignificant person.

"I need you, Sev."

The snake king's venom didn't say a word, but was interrupted by a few simple words.

He frowned slightly, not quite understanding what Asseth meant.

Just as he was about to ask, Artes lowered his head into Snape's neck and said the second sentence after entering the cellar.

"I am sick."

The fog in my mind in the past was swept away, and all kinds of strange anomalies finally had an explanation.

But this explanation is too heavy, so heavy that it scares people and makes them afraid to face it.

Snape subconsciously grabbed the clothes at Ass's waist, and his joints turned blue and white because of the force.

Days of doubts and speculations kept hammering his heart, and the subtle pain spread, making his voice slightly hoarse.

"What do you mean by sick?"

This action seemed somewhat insecure. Asses noticed that he couldn't help but frown and considered the draft again.

"Literally, I was diagnosed at a Muggle psychology clinic some time ago...post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental illness."

"The nightmares and hallucinations that occur at night are traumatic re-experiences. To put it simply, the scenes I fear will appear involuntarily, flashing back and repeating."

"In addition to nightmares, there was also the loss of control that day...my mind would repeat those episodes out of control, so sometimes I couldn't control my emotions and my magic power, and it would riot."

"These are the only symptoms I can confirm right now. There may be other problems that I haven't discovered. I don't want to hide it from you."

Aces was very calm, and what he said could even be considered coherent, but his voice was trembling, and the hand holding Snape was also shaking.

This is a physiological reaction and is beyond his control.

The effects of the medicine I took in the morning have not completely worn off yet, and now my mood swings are so strong.

Due to various factors, the body is forced to develop emotional somatization symptoms.

Feeling the shiver coming from his waist, Snape stopped asking questions and wanted to push Artes away to check his condition, but he really didn't know how to start.

Aces hugged him tightly, with his arms clasped around his waist and shoulders. There was no gap between the two of them. This posture was not easy to exert force.

There was no other way, so Snape imitated Artes' previous gesture of comforting him, patting him slightly with a slightly unfamiliar hand, and placing his other hand on the head buried in his neck, rubbing it thoroughly.

"Relax, don't think about other things, and don't make me say it a second time."

His comfort was useful to Asseth, and his trembling hands gradually calmed down.