HP: Embrace the Darkness

The clouds and trees are far away, and Russia's freezing cold winds from the far north are rushing over the mountains and ridges, but they can't get past the snow-covered Mount Elbrus all year round, let alone the UK.

So after Artes left, except for the letters he received on time every day and the subconscious hugs he rolled over at night, Snape basically forgot that there was such a person who went to Russia for him.

It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t have the energy to think about it.

He is too busy.

Voldemort has gone crazy recently and his behavior has become more and more wanton. In just one week, no less than three massacres have occurred in the British wizarding world.

The point is, before and after every act of annihilation, Voldemort holds two meetings.

One is to arrange tasks, and the other is to summarize.

We have to call everyone together, and it won’t work if we don’t go.

As a result, he would either go to Malfoy Manor for meetings every day or go back to Hogwarts for classes.

After working hard to deal with Voldemort, he had to be more vigilant to face Dumbledore, almost around the clock.

The word "miserable" is hard to describe.

Even worse than him are the Hogwarts students who don't know anything - double the pressure on them, and without the human-shaped pillow at night, the Potions Professor's temper has returned to his usual flammable and explosive temper. A small mistake in class can light a fuse.

In one class, half of the students can even be scolded for being autistic.

For this reason, the other three colleges are cautious in their words and deeds.

Even the Gryffindor cubs started teaching with their tails between their legs, trying their best not to touch the Potions Master's fragile nerve.

Merlin! They don't want to die young yet.

-

Another night, Snape returned from Malfoy Manor after a meeting with Voldemort. He didn't even have time to change his clothes before he walked straight to the principal's office.

The stone beast at the door of the principal's office saw that the person coming was Snape, and quickly opened the door without even asking for a password.

Snape also walked in without stopping.

"Severus? Didn't you go to a meeting? Why were you in such a hurry? What did he do?"

Dumbledore's pale face was not much different from Snape's.

He had to deal with the mess these days because he was biting Voldemort, a former member of the Order of the Phoenix, like a mad dog.

No, I just came back from St. Mungo's and saw Snape walking in a hurry.

"I'm not sure either." Snape shook off his black robe and sat down on the sofa. "The number of meetings he has held recently is not consistent with the number of meetings I have attended, so I only know now that he is looking for someone."

Dumbledore pushed up his glasses, his tired eyes exuding a breathtaking light, "Who?"

"I don't know. Lucius only told me that he would leave for a while to find someone, and asked me to take care of Mr. Malfoy." Snape leaned on the sofa tiredly, and the black and blue eyes were particularly obvious from this angle.

Dumbledore also leaned on the sofa, closed his eyes and listed all the suspects.

If you want to find someone, you have to leave, that is, someone who is not in the UK. There is only one person who has not been in the UK recently and has interacted with Voldemort at the same time.

Dumbledore opened his eyes and stared tentatively into Snape's eyes, "Mr. Cavendish seems to be absent from the British wizarding community recently?"

Snape was not surprised by his thoughts, but his face was still a bit ugly, "I'm not looking for Artes. Lucius's expression was wrong, as if he was scared, but his tone of voice was disgust and repulsion when he spoke."

"Fear, disgust, repulsion."

Dumbledore poured himself a glass of warm pumpkin juice, poured another glass for Snape, and forced it into his hand.

"When these emotions appear in a Death Eater, he looks like a dementor."

He looked at Snape who seemed stunned for a moment, "After all, not every Death Eater has a Patronus. Dementors should be the creatures they are most unable to resist. Of course, other possibilities cannot be ruled out."

"You want to know if my patronus is still a deer, so there's no need to be so tactful." Snape sneered, "It doesn't mean anything."

Dumbledore, who said nothing, touched his nose and said, "Actually, I feel the same way."

Hearing this, Snape's heart dropped for some unknown reason, but then he heard Dumbledore's next words.

"So it's still a doe?"

"boom--"

Snape put down the pumpkin juice hard, and the cup hit the table with an unbearable cracking sound. A crack snaked up and disappeared.

Dumbledore's eyes moved from the cracked cup to Snape's livid face, and he swallowed silently and nervously.

He swore that he really just wanted to find something interesting to talk about to comfort himself in his busy days, and had absolutely no intention of watching the excitement.

But Severus seems to have misunderstood!

"Ahem, let's get back to business. That Dementor - no, Dementors are not human beings. Perhaps the person Mr. Malfoy is looking for should have some relationship with Dementors? A friend or a master and servant?"

Dumbledore himself didn't know what he was talking about, he just kept wandering with his eyes closed.

Suddenly both people were stunned at the same time.

Snape had no intention of settling scores with Dumbledore. Following Dumbledore's train of thought, he suddenly remembered the man in black that Artes had casually mentioned during the chat one night.

There seemed to be some mention of dementors?

Snape frowned and recalled, but all he could think of was that drowsy embrace.

Dumbledore observed the change in Snape's expression and put down the pumpkin juice calmly, "Did you remember anything? Severus."

Snape looked over calmly, "I heard some rumors some time ago that he was looking for dementors, but I'm not sure whether it's true or not."

"Multiple coincidences are no longer coincidences." Dumbledore blinked meaningfully, showing some mischievousness in his tired eyes, "I'll go talk to him."

Snape's frown deepened.

"Don't worry, Severus, I'm not going alone. No matter how powerful Gale and I are, we can be considered among the top few. Even if we can't test it out, it won't be a problem to leave."

Dumbledore looked at Snape gently, and Grindelwald, who had been standing by the window, came over and nodded gently as if in answer to his words.

"You're overthinking. I'm more worried about Minerva who finds herself responsible for all the affairs of Hogwarts." Snape said back in a gentle tone.

Dumbledore, who was familiar with Snape, smiled and said nothing, and grabbed Grindelwald who needed to speak.

After Snape left, Grindelwald regained the freedom to speak. The first thing he did was complain about Dumbledore's favoritism: "Al, you always favor that Potions Professor. He has a worse temper than me. I have taken his class." There is no student who is not afraid.”

Dumbledore shook his head in disapproval.

"Severus is not actually bad-tempered, but he is used to holding those children to his own standards.

Once they couldn't keep up, Severus thought they were stupid and a waste of potions, and naturally had a bad attitude towards them.

And the kids who were criticized were afraid of him. If you are afraid, you will do worse next time, and then you will be scolded again, which will make you even more afraid.

The more afraid you are, the more mistakes you make, eventually forming an endless loop.

So Severus can't be blamed for his bad temper, nor can he blame those children. "

Grindelwald was thoughtful, but he didn't quite agree with Dumbledore's explanation.

Compared to Dumbledore's "reasonable" guess, he preferred Snape to make people fear him, in order to achieve the effect of intimidating students.

After all, if he remembered correctly, the Potions Professor seemed to have just graduated when he became a professor, and his reputation during his school days was not very good.

Without using some extraordinary means, can a young man who is not popular, is just starting out, or comes from the opposite camp really convince the public?