Averting Disaster by Losing Money

Eliana, blinded by rage, completely ignored the strangeness of the situation and roared back in an even angrier voice:

"Your grandmother is here!!"

"You damn scoundrel, robbing in broad daylight, and you dare raise your voice at me?"

She lunged forward and bit down hard on the person in front of her: "Pay me back!!"

Fearing the person would escape, she wrapped her legs around their knees like vines, ready to claw at their throat.

After all, she was just a little witch who had only learned magic for a few months. She definitely couldn't match these adult wizards in a magic duel. If this person directly used their wand, wouldn't she be finished?

But all magic required incantations, right?

She could solve it from the root!

As for the possibility of a silent spell from the other side—Eliana sneered. If this scoundrel was that capable, would he resort to such a primitive method as shoving her to steal her money pouch??

Pah!!

This Apparition was probably just him performing at a high level!

Eliana's claws dug into the other person's throat, leaving five deep bloody marks under her nails.

The man in black let out a heavy gasp and roughly ripped her off like peeling off a bandage.

Eliana was lifted by the back of her collar and dangled in mid-air. The person in front of her said coldly, "Look carefully at who I am!"

"I don't care who you are!" Eliana thrashed in the air like a wriggling maggot, "Even if you were Merlin..."

Her dizzying vision finally cleared, and Eliana met Snape's dark eyes, like two tunnels. She was like a chicken that had suddenly had its neck grabbed mid-crow and fallen silent.

She had never seen Snape so disheveled. His hair was messy, falling around his cheeks, with a few strands straying across his forehead. His neck bore bloody scratches, and his usually neat black wizard robe was wrinkled from her earlier wild thrashing, like a boar's charge. There was even a clear footprint on his backside.

--All her doing.

Upon realizing this, Eliana became even quieter.

Mainly, she felt that Snape, who could casually give away expensive Essence of Dittany and fill his entire office with rare potion ingredients, wouldn't be interested in her meager earnings.

Her feet left the ground, the virus was shut down, and her clever intellect reasserted itself.

Eliana, having regained her senses, was as quiet as a chicken.

Snape snorted and threw her down. "Awake now?"

Sharp pain shot up his wrist. Snape's expression remained unchanged, but his retracted hand trembled slightly.

It felt like his skin had been bitten through—damn it, what were Rich's teeth made of?

Snape was furious.

Dumbledore, that old bee, was getting more childish with age. Before Christmas had even begun, he'd already downed three pints of syrup, his cheeks so swollen they were almost as big as his head. To make matters worse, the tooth-strengthening potion was finished, forcing Snape to use his day off to buy him ingredients for brewing potions!

Not only was it a waste of money and effort, but upon returning home, he was chased down by Rich, who was apparently having a fit, kicked, scratched, and bitten him in the street.

What the hell! Why had he been bitten by dogs so often lately?

Snape's face darkened, almost like a burning ember.

"Rich, I'm assuming you still have a sliver of a brain. Perhaps you know how dangerous it is to Apparate onto someone—or is there an organ you're unhappy with and want to get rid of this way?"

Snape's voice was somewhat hoarse, but it didn't stop the venom from dripping out.

Eliana was dropped to the ground like a chick with a broken wing. Her already sore backside was assaulted again, the sharp pain striking her soul.

It wasn't Snape. She had grabbed the wrong person. The thief was probably long gone by now. Even if she returned to Diagon Alley immediately, she wouldn't catch him—her money was gone!!!

Eliana wailed and burst into tears.

Her sharp, earth-shattering cries made even Snape, who was still fuming and about to spew more venom, pause for a moment.

He hesitated, "What's wrong?"

"Wuwuwuwu----"

With someone to comfort her, Eliana wailed even louder. She curled into a small ball on the ground, tears streaming down her face, "It's gone, everything's gone, wuwu--"

As expected of a Gryffindor lion cub, her wails were more powerful than others, like a loudspeaker.

Snape thought distractedly.

But this human loudspeaker was too much. Seeing the curtains of the neighbors, who usually ignored all commotion, begin to stir, Snape, who didn't want to be embarrassed in the street, reached out and pulled her into the house.

Eliana was so engrossed in her crying that she didn't even notice she had been moved.

Snape had intended to wait for Eliana to calm down before speaking, but he couldn't wait ten minutes—this loudspeaker was truly capable of wailing. Her voice was high-pitched, sharp, loud, and continuous. He felt that listening any longer would affect his lifespan.

"Enough," he interrupted roughly. "What exactly is gone?"

Eliana sobbed, gasping for breath, "I carved walnuts for three months, wuwu. I saved up such a big pile, and I just went to Chinatown to sell them for Galleons, but I was robbed. Not a single one is left."

As she spoke, her sorrow deepened, and tears gushed out. Her money.

Her backside hurt, so she scooted on the ground to the carpet, changed her position, and continued to cry.

"I wanted to buy chicken legs, chocolate, cake, peanut brittle, and toffee for my younger siblings. They've been looking forward to it for a long time, but now I can only return with empty paws and arms, with my mouth open, wuwuwu. How could I face them? I promised everyone, wuwuwu."

Eliana cried, thinking that if she sat under London Bridge with a broken bowl, would kind passersby throw her a couple of pennies? It was a holiday, so maybe they would?

She really didn't want to go back empty-handed.

Snape's temples throbbed from her wailing, and he couldn't stand it any longer. He raised his voice, "Alright, stop crying."

Seeing that Eliana had no intention of stopping, he lost his patience and shouted, "Shut up."

"Hic."

Eliana was startled by him and wobbled in place like a penguin, her mouth puckered into a duck's bill.

But she did quiet down.

Snape let out a small sigh of relief and rubbed his forehead. "How much did they steal?"

As soon as this was mentioned, Eliana felt like crying again. "Twenty-three Galleons and seven Sickles, exactly."

What a huge sum of money, sob sob sob. She had planned to buy supplies for the orphanage and then use some of the remainder to buy herself a little Christmas gift to cheer herself up.

What was the point of her carving three months' worth of walnuts? Was it considered her voluntary spreading of Chinese culture?

The mere thought made Eliana's eyes well up with tears again.

"I thought it was something worth crying about like this," Snape scoffed, tossing a small money pouch at her. "Shut up. Consider it me buying my own peace and quiet."