Chapter 442: Before and After the Funeral

"Still giggling?" Snape's cold voice came from behind. "Do you know how serious this is?"

"Ah, this, sorry." Harry scratched his head embarrassedly. "I will definitely next time..."

"Potter, take them to my office," Snape said distractedly. "McGonagall doesn't know Nikola's special situation; we'll see how to handle it in a while."

Snape flicked his hand with dissatisfaction, then turned around and disappeared from their sight.

Harry looked back. The two first-year students were already completely honest; they followed behind Harry without a word, while Zhang Qiu revealed a look of inquiry.

"Nikola, oh, Nikola Carnstein." Some scattered memories strung together in Zhang Qiu's mind. "Does Edith know about your matter?"

"Do you have anything you're hiding from me?" Edith asked.

"I..." Nikola was timid, not knowing how to speak.

"What exactly did you do last night?" Zhang Qiu also started looking at Edith's neck. Harry also realized belatedly and started observing those indecent red marks, and then he knew why Snape said the matter was very serious.

The color of one of the red marks was exceptionally bright, and there were two tiny red dots.

"Edith, is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?" Harry asked softly.

"No, I feel great." She pretended to be relaxed. "I even feel my body has become better."

"We have to wait for Mia to arrive to see." Harry looked at Nikola with some disappointment. "Now hurry to the Headmaster's office; don't let others hear."

"I didn't—" Nikola wanted to argue rashly, but he became silent again under Harry's gaze.

Harry knew Snape's changed password. After they walked into the Headmaster's office, they found Snape and Mia were already there.

"Nikola!" Mia said in a worried tone. "What did you do?"

"I, we just kissed, and then," Nikola's face flushed red; he was too embarrassed to continue.

"You didn't bite her, did you?!" Mia walked up and looked closely at Edith's neck. Then, her face also became colder and colder.

"I knew it." Snape closed his eyes and leaned back. "Potter, your absurd behavior this time directly harmed two people, and possibly even harmed me."

"Sorry, but I didn't intentionally suggest they kiss," Harry defended himself helplessly. "Besides, this matter... should just be an accident..."

"An accident with extremely serious consequences. Miss Swan, please sit down first and try to stay calm about what I'm about to say." Snape opened his eyes and sat up straight. "First, I want to tell you that Mr. Nikola Carnstein is actually a vampire."

"Oh." Edith accepted this fact very calmly. "What does it matter."

"Secondly, when he was exploring emotional boundaries with you, perhaps because of an instinctual outburst, he sucked some of your blood."

"Then I love him too." Edith remained calm.

"The most troublesome part of this matter is here, because he harbors love for you, so under instinctual drive, he injected some of his blood into you, which formed an 'Embrace.' You will experience a painful transition period in the next few days, and eventually... become a vampire."

"Oh, this is a good thing. This way he and I are the same kind."

Harry was already too surprised to speak when he heard "Embrace," and what surprised him even more was Edith's calm appearance.

"By the way, I've long heard that vampires have strong physical fitness. Should I be more convenient to catch the Snitch now?"

Snape was also somewhat speechless. Generally speaking, if a wizard learned they had encountered an Embrace, they would have an emotional breakdown, or even seek death. This was the first time he had seen a wizard care about Quidditch first.

"But your spellcasting ability will gradually weaken, and you might only stay at the level of about the fifth year for the rest of your life," Snape continued to popularize science for her patiently. "Moreover, the vampire group will receive a lot of unfair treatment in the Wizarding World, and your future life might be a bit difficult."

Edith looked at Nikola, then at Harry, and then boldly retorted: "But this is a problem you need to solve, sir."

"How can I solve it? Should I carve out a piece of land for you to build a country?" Snape waved his hand distractedly. "Then that's it. If you have no objections, you can go. We will find your parents to sign an informed consent form on the weekend."

"Don't worry, my Muggle dad will only say 'This is cool'." Edith stretched out two hands and made an excited gesture. "Let's go, Nikola, there are new adventures waiting for us."

"Try not to do strenuous exercise for these two days. If you have any discomfort, go to Madam Pomfrey in time. I will tell her." Snape said powerlessly. "Go, you two can go."

Harry cast an inquiring look at Snape, while cryptically pointing at himself.

"Mr. Potter," after the door of the Headmaster's office was closed tightly, Mia spoke. "Listening to Severus, this matter seems to have started because of you."

"It really was an accident." Harry felt somewhat aggrieved.

"I don't mean anything else, just," Mia's eyes revealed worry, "if I can't come back, I want to ask you to take care of that child. Nikola is still too young; he doesn't understand what responsibility is at all."

"I am willing to do my best, but I still wish you success," Harry said sincerely.

"Thank you," she said softly.

After Harry and Zhang Qiu left the office, they immediately started complaining to each other. They both felt they were just innocently involved in an accident. However, as they chatted, Zhang Qiu started to feel this wasn't an accident.

"Perhaps this was calculated," she said. "Snape knew about the two children long ago. He forcibly pulled us in just to find one more guarantee for them."

"Then why bother? Can't he do it himself?"

"He doesn't have Rider power, but you do, and you are the person Mia trusts more," Zhang Qiu explained. "This can reduce her concerns."

"But even if it was carefully designed by him, how could it be realized? He couldn't control how two first-year children would act at all." Harry gave an opposing opinion after a short thought. "You can say he used the situation, but you can't say he had a premeditated plan."

This matter was eventually quelled quietly, and even Harry and Zhang Qiu's detention was cleverly resolved by Snape in a way like "go help Hagrid patrol." All of this was largely due to Edith's open-minded attitude, or in Zhang Qiu's words, she was somewhat "dead pigs aren't afraid of boiling water."

"I find it hard to imagine what better news there could be." After returning from patrolling the forest that day, Harry heard Ron shouting in the common room. "Three minutes, Harry hasn't been able to catch the Snitch in three minutes."

"Edith is out of the hospital?" Harry said blandly. "I have a sad piece of news here, but for you, it should be good news: Aragog is dying."

"Ahahaha oh eh, mm, a tragedy," Ron pretended to be serious. "I will miss him."

"Are you talking about the big spider in Hagrid's yard? He hasn't moved much for a few months," Jin Ni on the side said. "Hagrid must be very sad."

"Yes, he is preparing to hold a funeral and invited me and Zhang Qiu," Harry said. "Do you want to go?"

"No." "No no."

"What a pity," Harry sighed. "Hagrid has always been a misunderstood person."

"You just go rarely. If you had chosen the Magical Creatures class," Jin Ni said helplessly, "you would discover where the problem lies. He actually never tried to understand us either."

In the end, the only ones who arrived at the scene to hold a funeral for Aragog were Harry, Zhang Qiu, and Professor Slughorn, who wanted to take advantage of the spider not being dead yet to pluck some venom. Then, they drank mead in Hagrid's hut. Slughorn got drunk from over-excitement, which was almost exactly the same as the divination Zhang Qiu saw.

"Next, he should do something that makes you happy," Zhang Qiu whispered.

"He's already so drunk he can't tell who is who," Harry glanced at Slughorn; his cheeks were flushed red.

"Ah, Harry, my boy!" Slughorn grabbed the neck of a wine bottle, his voice carrying thick drunkenness. "Do you know? I recently discovered a very interesting thing, simply unbelievable!"

Without waiting for Harry to ask, he continued on his own, "Our, *hic*, Professor Severus Snape, he has a sweetheart!"

This was old news; Harry smiled helplessly to accompany him.

"He? A sweetheart?" The wine glass in Hagrid's hand fell to the ground all of a sudden; he was the one with the least informed news.

"Yes, you must not know. That day he was brewing Felix Felicis, but encountered some problems. I smelled it immediately; after all, I am the expert in this area, you know?" He poured a mouthful of wine proudly. "At that time, at that time I told him the heat of the fourth cycle was a bit too high, and he could try at the, Harry, you must know..."

Harry knew nothing about Felix Felicis; he could only answer by avoiding the important and focusing on the trivial: "Because pouring it out and re-brewing is too much trouble."

"Aha! Yes, that is one of the reasons, but another is because he doesn't know the spiral star vortex stirring method, which is my best..."

"Professor, you'd better talk about Snape's sweetheart," Hagrid interrupted him.

"Oh, oh right, I asked him who the Felix Felicis was for, and he said, a friend," Slughorn burst into loud laughter, as if this were a classic joke. "Unless it's a master like me who specializes in Felix Felicis, ordinary Potioneers can't brew a few bottles of Felix Felicis in a lifetime. He must be giving it to a sweetheart!"

"Do you make a judgment based on this alone?" Thick doubt flowed in Hagrid's eyes.

But Harry wasn't doubtful at all; he clearly remembered Mia had a small golden bottle hanging around her neck.

"You still don't believe it, my big friend?" Slughorn said proudly. "Watch, he has already opened his heart. It won't be long before we can, we can—"

His words didn't finish; he just fell heavily onto the table, making a rhythmic snoring sound. ===== CHAPTER 443 =====