The Last Goodbye

Pursing his lips, Harry knew that was his nervousness.The pitch-black eyes almost subconsciously glanced at the teacher's seat, and were instantly caught by the green eyes. Harry gave the other an encouraging smile in that short gap.The Sorting Hat sat firmly on top of the black-haired boy, and the young wizard on the teacher's bench put his fingers together and gently put it on his lips.The hat thought for a long time again this time, longer than it paused on Black's head.At last it trembled, and finally made up its mind - Slytherin!Cheers erupted from the long table, and Harry saw Black and Malfoy stand up and applaud, while Lestrange and Avery showed undisguised annoyance. Riddle calmly walked towards his house amid applause, and looked back at the teacher's seat once again before taking his seat.His guardian raised his glass to him, a complicated smile in his green eyes.

"Rhea Prince!"

Galatea called out the next name.A small figure moved up from behind the line.The little girl looked extremely nervous, and she never let go of her wizard robe.Inadvertently, she glanced up at the teacher's table, just in time to meet Professor Potter's gaze.The moment he saw that face, Harry almost wanted to stand up, but luckily he was stopped by Slughorn, who was quick-eyed and quick-handed.His actions still attracted attention, the students all cast curious glances, and Galatea also turned her head.The savior who came back to God smiled embarrassedly, and sat up straight again.The Sorting Hat landed on the black-haired girl's head, it thought for a moment, and then declared in a loud voice - Ravenclaw!There was cheering at the long table, and the girl finally relaxed her tense shoulders. Harry kept following her back, and the girl also turned her head and smiled at the friendly professor.She had a shy, shy smile—a smile that Harry could remember every time the young Severus Snape saw his mother.He couldn't help smiling back at the girl.Neither of them noticed that at the Slytherin table in the distance, a pair of black eyes were watching their every move.

The line of freshmen got shorter and shorter until there was only one boy left.He looked more nervous than any kid before him, his little freckled face stretched as hard as marble beneath his red hair.Under the gaze of hundreds of pairs of eyes, the boy showed a look of embarrassment, as if he was worried that the witch of the sorting house would tell him that everything was wrong and he shouldn't be here at all.The red-haired boy took one last deep breath and mustered up the courage to look at Galatea. "The last freshman of this year," the witch looked at the name on the parchment, "Quint Weasley!"

The boy walked forward quickly, the Sorting Hat fell on his hair, and then quickly gave the answer - Gryffindor!There was applause from the audience, and Quint breathed a sigh of relief.After he sat down, the parchment floating in the air disappeared.Then Principal Dippet stood up slowly, and looked at the gathered students with deep eyes. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" His thick and magnetic voice passed through the entire auditorium, "Freshmen, I believe you will find your home here. As for the others, I want to say to you... ’ he paused, then said loudly, ‘Welcome home!’

There was thunderous applause from the audience.The old principal looked at the students with a smile, stretched out his hands and raised them lightly, and countless foods appeared.The little wizards around the long table cheered joyfully, and there was also the sound of toasting and chattering in the teacher's seat. Harry watched the familiar scene silently.Every time he goes through it, he will feel that he has returned to the 11-year-old that he will never forget.For the first time, a smile that could be called happiness appeared on the young man's face - welcome home, Harry Potter.

The dinner party went on for hours, with food pouring onto the tables.After drinking and eating, Herbert Beery, a professor of herbal medicine, led everyone to sing the school song.Then the prefects got up one after another and led the students from each academy back to their dorms. Harry left the teacher's table first, blocking the Slytherin procession in the corridor.After explaining to the prefect, Professor Potter took Riddle away under everyone's curious eyes, and waved his hand to cast a sound-proof spell behind them.

"Do you like it here?" Harry asked casually. "Of course." Riddle replied briefly, and then gave the other party a knowing look, "Is there anything else you want to ask, Professor Potter?" The green eyes that were seen through just smiled indifferently, "Accio."

With a whoosh, the golden pocket watch flew out of Riddle's pocket, but the boy reached out at the same time and grabbed the metal chain of the pocket watch. With a light hook, the little thing obediently fell back into his palm.

Harry raised his eyebrows - such excellent reflexes should go to play Quidditch - the ex-Gryffindor Seeker thought fairly inwardly.

"Give it back to me, Salazar. And my book." The young man decided to go another way.He took out a black book from his robe, which was the other party's "History of the Rise and Fall of Black Magic".The books of the two people look very similar, they must have taken the wrong one while packing their luggage. Harry handed the book over, but Riddle didn't take it.The boy just weighed the pocket watch in his hand, "Who is Draco Malfoy?"

He saw it? Harry's eyebrows twitched slightly, "It's just an old friend." The black eyes on the opposite side narrowed, as if carefully trying to figure out the emotion in the green eyes. Riddle's fingertips lightly stroked the luxurious embossing on the watch cover, and then he said slowly, "Coincidentally, I also know a Malfoy, and I'm pretty sure it's his family crest. But in his family, there isn't a Someone called Draco."

"Give it back to me, Salazar." Harry ignored the other's assumptions. Riddle didn't respond to his request either, but added more genuine doubts to his scrutinizing gaze. "You told me that Salazar Slytherin was the founder of your alma mater, but just now Professor Slughorn said that you are a graduate of Durmstrang." His voice was always cold and soft, but at this moment it seemed mysterious and dangerous, "Harry Potter, Who are you?"

The green eyes stared cautiously at the black ones, and the owner of the eyes seemed to be really thinking about this problem, but then laughed, "It's so interesting... You didn't care much about what I did before, have you noticed?" Harry returned the sentence that the other party had questioned him before.Hearing what he said, Riddle didn't show the disdain or sarcasm he expected—on the contrary, a somewhat helpless smile appeared on the boy's face.

"Why are you always so slow..." Riddle said softly. Harry frowned inexplicably.However, the other party didn't say anything more, just returned the pocket watch respectfully, "Your book is in my box, I will return it to you in your office tomorrow morning." After speaking, Riddle bowed, "Good night, Professor Potter. "Then he walked past Harry in the direction of the Slytherin bedroom without looking back.The young man looked at the back of the other party suspiciously - he clearly felt the loss of the ward, but he didn't know why.

Not far away, Riddle stopped at the corner of the corridor.

"Harry Potter," he called the other party's name loudly, "don't go where I don't know."

The boy left the last words, and the long black swing of the wizard robe disappeared outside the white marble wall.The person who was left behind sighed, put away the gold watch, and shook his head to get rid of the inexplicable emotions in his heart. Harry walked alone through the silent marble corridor, followed the guidance of the moonlight to the edge of the lake, and sat down next to a huge weeping willow.The humid air at night is mixed with the smell of lake water and the sweetness of green grass.He took a deep breath of the familiar smell, then raised his face to look at the distant castle.Hogwarts in the night has a magnificent beauty, as if across time, it will not change.

Harry closed his eyes. Finite Incantatem.

The breaking of the curse caused tiny waves in the air.The young man breathed a sigh of relief.But at this moment, a huge roar suddenly came from all around—!A golden firework exploded between heaven and earth.The heat wave swept across, and Harry had no time to cast a spell to resist, so he had to throw himself on the grass.The water along the shore of the lake evaporated a white mist.Something was lighting up the mist. Harry raised his eyes and saw a large golden-red bird hovering above his head in the night sky.

"Fawkes!" He recognized the phoenix at a glance.The big bird twittered and fell into the mist.With a swipe of the young man's right hand, the mist was blown away.On the grass not far away, only the golden phoenix and the wizard who fell unconscious beside it remained.The phoenix screamed again, and its quivering feathers flew to Harry's shoulders.The savior looked at the man on the ground, whose face was covered by long messy hair, but he clearly knew who it was.

"Professor, wake up!" He knelt down and tried to help the