Doomed to be an enemy

This is a low-key coffee shop. At seven o'clock in the evening, the young Bartley Greenton opened the door, and smelled the mellow coffee smell in the shop amidst the crisp wind chimes.He unconsciously relaxed his nerves. "A cup of coffee, thank you." He came to the counter, took out a handful of banknotes from his clothes, a few coins fell on the table, and were about to roll into the hot water machine, "Oh! God!" Katie, the new clerk, hastily covered some of it, but apparently that wasn't all.

However, a miraculous thing happened, the extremely fast coin barely stopped after a circle around the edge of the table, and simply lay down on the table.

"Sorry." Bartley blinked and said innocently.

"Mr. Greenton! What happened again?!" "Oh, Emily, keep your voice down." Bartley watched in embarrassment as a beautiful woman with big curly hair came out of the back kitchen with an angry expression on her face. "You caused me to lose half a month's salary last time." She lowered her voice and said angrily.

"Emily, I, I'll pay you, how about it?" Bartley hurriedly took out all the banknotes in his pocket, Emily stared at the large pile of crumpled banknotes, her face turned red and white, white and white again. Hong, "I don't need your banknotes." She forcefully pushed away his extended hand, pointed to the only empty table and said, "Go and sit down there, quietly, and don't cause trouble for me."

"No problem." Bartley grinned and shoved the coins back into his pocket tactfully.He took off his windbreaker and sat in a hidden booth—it was blocked by plants, and Emily had left it for him in advance every time.Thinking of this, the young man couldn't stop smiling.

At this time, the wind chime rang, which meant that new guests had arrived.Bartley was not a curious person, but obviously there were no seats in the store at this time, and the only empty space was opposite him.So, he stretched his neck and glanced at the door.

This glance made him open his mouth in surprise.A tall man in a well-tailored, rather expensive-looking black coat entered, and he seemed displeased with the fullness of the store.

"Is there no room?" The man's voice was deep and beautiful, with a bit of inexplicable penetrating power, but his tone was a little impatient. "Sorry, we're fully booked here." Emily's voice made Bartley break out in a cold sweat, and just as he was about to reach into his inner pocket, a clear and innocent voice said, "I saw that Someone is going to check out."

As if responding to his words, Bartley heard the shout of "waiter" from the booth next door behind him.This made the man snort inexplicably, and his gaze swept over. Bartley only had time to catch a glimpse of a shorter boy coming out from behind the man. He quickly retracted his neck and hid behind the bonsai plant. He heard Emily kick The sound of kicking high heels came to the seat behind the booth, "Hello sir, £12, thank you for your patronage."

Bartley stared at the lines on the table, feeling a penetrating oppressive force slipping past him, the hairs on his neck were about to explode.

"Sit." After a long time, a man's voice came from behind the booth.Bartley almost held his breath, not daring to move.As a young man who had just been selected as the editor of Wizards Weekly, he listened anxiously and excitedly.

Who would have thought that the giant of the wizarding world, the Dark Lord, would also come to a coffee shop in the Muggle world?Although this cafe is across from the Leaky Cauldron.Fortunately for Bartley, the other party hadn't used the Silencing Charm or Soundproofing Charm - maybe the Dark Lord doesn't care much about Muggles, he thought.

"Shall we go back later?" the boy whispered.

"I have an appointment for dinner, and you only have 15 minutes." The Dark Lord's voice could not hear much ups and downs, which seemed a bit indifferent. "But today is my birthday..." "I don't care, I thought you knew who you were, Winchester."

There was an awkward silence.Bartley felt his lungs aching.He had a sharp nose for news—the dark lord's secret.He quietly took out a piece of parchment and began to record their conversation.

It's a pity that the rest of the booth was silent.Bartley looked at his watch. Fifteen minutes would be up soon, and he had no doubt that the Dark Lord would leave on time - he didn't seem to have much patience with the kid, even though they came together.

"Will you accompany me tomorrow?" Winchester asked weakly with a minute left.This time Bartley could answer instead of the Dark Lord, because everyone knew that a meeting between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix would be held at the Ministry of Magic to discuss the construction of the arena.As the leaders at that time, Mr. Potter and the Dark Lord will be present at the last moment and will not participate in the previous discussions.

"No." Sure enough, the Dark Lord said firmly.

"You should drink less of this kind of drink in the future," he said in an unhurried tone, "I remember you like to drink pumpkin juice."

"I don't like pumpkin juice—"

"Winches." The Dark Lord's voice became indifferent. "I thought you knew why you were here with me."

Bartley listened a little strangely, maybe this is a little hobby of the Dark Lord?How do you say that in Muggle terms, obsessive-compulsive disorder?

15 minutes is up.They left the cafe, and when they passed by the booth, Bartley saw the back of a stumbling head through the leaves of the plants, and the playful messy hair came into his eyes, Bartley's pupils shrank, and Mr. Potter's The figure flashed through his mind.

"Emily—"

After watching the two people walk into the Leaky Cauldron Bar opposite, Bartley Greenton jumped up and knocked over the hot coffee that Emily had just put on the table, spilling the cup and plate. table. "Bartley Greenton!" said Emily angrily.

"I pay, I pay!" Bartley hurriedly took out all the pounds from his pocket and piled them on the table—it was almost half a month's salary. "Honey, there is something I want to ask you for your help." He grabbed the woman's arm and said pleadingly.

Emily stared at him with an ugly face for a while, then sat down angrily. "What's up?"

Bartley said to the woman with a mysterious and flattering expression: "I remember, there is that, that machine that can take pictures in your store." "That's a monitor." Emily looked at him suspiciously, "What are you doing? That’s not open to outsiders.”

"I just want to take a look at those two people who just entered the store." Bartley said nervously.Emily nodded reluctantly: "You can only watch, you can't take pictures." "Oh, don't do this..." Bartley insisted that Emily agree to take him to the monitoring room.

"Tien, call up the surveillance from 10 minutes ago. The guest at deck [-] just called and said that the key may have been left behind. But we didn't find it." Bartley was ordered not to speak by Emily, and he looked at this side in amazement at the moment. Real-time surveillance video of the wall.Soon the security personnel called out the video at that time.

The picture is very clear because there is a camera installed at the door.

When Bartley saw the young man following behind the tall man, exposed to the camera, Emily praised: "This child is really beautiful."

Yes, although the black hair is disheveled, it looks very playful, his skin is fair and rosy, his face is not delicate but quite delicate, especially a pair of rare green eyes, he stares curiously at the people in the cafe Furnishings, gestures are polite but not extravagant, no matter in terms of body shape or appearance, they all look very similar to Mr. Potter.

— except for the missing lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

Bartley opened his mouth in surprise.

The wind at night is always a bit cool.At LeMay Manor, Harry huddled on the four-poster bed after finishing his official duties, and the surrounding curtains were drawn down.He took out a black notebook from under the pillow, took a quill and ink from the bedside, lay down on the bed, opened page 25, and started writing.

are you there?

There was too much ink, and Harry watched as the writing with the large ink dots slowly disappeared.Perhaps disgusted by the ugly handwriting, Voldemort's reply was a few seconds late.

in.

Harry bit the tip of his feather and wrote complainingly:

Why do you have to put the discussion in the Supreme Court.I don't like it there.

It is more deterrent to wizards with ghosts in their hearts.You can sleep till ten, little boy, we're the last to show up.

It took a while for Voldemort's answer to appear, and the beautiful round characters made Harry a little ashamed.Harry reluctantly wrote: Well, don't let the dementors show up.Unless you want to expose my Patronus.

If you have not privately summoned it to be seen.

Voldemort's answer made Harry squint his eyes, and wrote vigorously: I didn't do that, maybe I should remind you of this sentence.Keep the lions out of Malfoy Manor.

I'm not that horny, little boy.

This time Voldemort's rebuttal was quick.Harry was about to shoot back, but stopped, he had better ideas.A smile flickered in Harry's emerald green eyes, and the quill scribbled quickly: Am I the only one who seems to feel this way?

He also wrote:

I miss you... It's a pity that the Patronus is still entangled in my body and I still can't touch it. I feel a little uncomfortable.

Harry stared at a large ink dot that appeared out of nowhere, and bent over laughing silently.He wrote again: Oh!Merlin, did you teach it badly? !

go to bed early.

The line almost tore the paper.Immediately afterwards, another line of scrawled words appeared: Do not pay attention to the media recently, and do not express opinions.my boy.I'll take care of everything.

It didn't take long for Harry to know what Voldemort meant.Early the next morning, all the members of the Order of the Phoenix who rushed to LeMay Manor looked at him with worried eyes, "Did something happen that I don't know?" Just when Harry couldn't help showing doubts When he saw the strange, inexplicable expression, his eyes couldn't help but turn into sympathy, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix who knew it were angry.

"I knew the Dark Lord was uneasy and detaining Harry to recuperate in Malfoy Manor, so he had such a dirty idea." Turning around, Remus Lupine said suppressing his anger. "If you talk too much about rumors, everyone will believe that the Order of the Phoenix should fight back." Sia Flamel calmly directed the house elf to burn all the newspapers in the Flamel Manor. "Lucius Malfoy is already doing it." Alastor Moody's face was gloomy, which made his scarred cheeks even more terrifying, but fortunately he knew to lower his voice: "The Dark Lord's one-sided desire, It has nothing to do with Potter."

Even if there is a relationship, it must be clarified.

After Lucius Malfoy received the news, he almost crawled out of bed and rushed to the newspaper office. He was busy all night.The editor of Wizard Weekly was the first to get the news, but unfortunately, the deputy editor of the Daily Prophet also appeared at the Leaky Cauldron last night.

For this matter, Lucius Malfoy never let go of his frown.

He asked the newspaper to write a sharp article, and printed a special edition of Wizard Weekly before the Daily Prophet was published.Slightly different articles were similarly published in other media secretly controlled by the Order of the Phoenix.At dawn, when a large number of owls flew out of the window, he was still not very optimistic.

This incident made the atmosphere between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters unprecedentedly tense.Or rather, the unilateral emotions of members of the Order of the Phoenix.The Ministry of Magic received a lot of shouting letters, because everyone knew that the Ministry of Magic was Voldemort's territory.

This made the "Duel Arena Construction Seminar" held at the Ministry of Magic during the day unprecedentedly gunpowder-like. By eleven o'clock at noon, when Harry apparated to the location designated by the Ministry of Magic, Noldo was already waiting with the guards. "Go this way, Harry." Alastor Moody arranged a special passage, so Harry didn't see anyone else on the way.

Thinking of Voldemort's instructions, Harry calmly pretended he didn't know anything.

Outside the Supreme Court, two members of the Order of the Phoenix opened the door, and the moment Harry walked in, the court fell silent.A reporter raised his camera but was stopped by Harry's guards who followed in. "Photography not allowed!"

They escorted Harry to the front of the seats on the Order side - an entire row was reserved as a mark of respect. "Mr. Potter", "Mr. Potter"... When Harry walked by, members of the Order of the Phoenix stood up one after another and spontaneously bowed to him.Harry nodded politely in response, and took his seat in the middle of the first vacated row, while his guard sat in the second row.

"Harry." Noldo Prewett handed Harry a stack of parchment, "This is the result of the discussion, please take a look." "Thank you." Harry took it and put it in front of him Flipping through the table, his face was calm. Before Voldemort arrived, the Death Eaters on the opposite side were also not quiet. They whispered to each other and pointed at Harry.Harry really didn't know what Voldemort had done, but he could guess that the problem was in the newspapers.He had actually experienced the harm of public opinion when he was in the fifth grade. Compared with the isolation and helplessness at that time, this strangeness now can no longer make him feel angry or angry.

He is calm.He was even looking at this draft proposal seriously.Harry frowned slowly.

"It's too harsh."

Alastor Moody switched places with Noldor, and said to Harry: "The members of the Order of the Phoenix need to vent their emotions. To be honest, I want to beat them up too." Moody lowered his voice, "Potter , I have suppressed the proposal of a duel between you and the Dark Lord, at least it is not appropriate at this time."

He straightened up, because the door of the Inquisition Chamber was opened again, and the tall figure of Voldemort walked in, his black wizard robe slipping over the dark marble floor, cold and ominous. "Long time no see, my friends." Voldemort said softly.Dozens of Death Eaters stood up at the same time and watched respectfully as the Dark Lord slowly walked to the front row and sat down opposite the leader of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Also..." Voldemort stared at Harry—fairly.He said softly, "Our guest." There was a fearful anger in the air on this side of the Order, and Harry could almost smell it.

Barty Crouch Jr. respectfully presented the written proposal, and Voldemort held it in his hand and flipped through it: "Very good, it seems that the bloodiness of wizards has not disappointed me." He said softly. "Voldemort." Harry said calmly, "I don't think the outcome of a duel should be judged by death. At least the participants should be given a chance to admit defeat or even draw."

The courtroom was eerily quiet. Voldemort put down the parchment, "Little Barty—"

"Owner."

Voldemort said softly, "Amend the draft and divide the duel into three levels according to the judging criteria. The highest level ends with death, the second level ends with surrender, and the first level ends with time. Participants need to sign a voluntary agreement." Voldemort Tapping the table with his fingertips, "What do you think, Harry Potter."

"I'm fine with that," Harry said quietly.

Voldemort smiled, picked up the quill, and signed the last page of the draft.In the eyes of everyone, Harry also picked up the quill without saying a word, and signed his name.The dossier was collected by the staff of the Ministry of Magic, put into a special box and carried away.

The quiet atmosphere was broken in the next second——

White paper airplanes whizzed up from the Order of the Phoenix and hurled them all over the Death Eaters - which made the scene a little out of control. "Wait—" Harry watched this scene in surprise, and the next second Moody hurriedly stuffed a piece of red-gold parchment and patted him on the shoulder. "Throw it to the Dark Lord." "You said just now that the time is not right—" "Now it is, don't worry, this is the lowest level of duel."

Harry swallowed calmly, raised his wand and tapped the parchment, it shrunk itself into a paper airplane, and when he looked up, he saw Voldemort raise his eyebrows and stare intently.He stroked his bone-colored wand, a charming, lazy smile appeared on his handsome face, and he stretched out his arms soundlessly.

Harry threw it subconsciously, and the paper airplane ignited and stood out among the parchments. Voldemort watched him slowly fall into his palm, the flames couldn't hurt his white and slender fingers at all...

This scene was photographed by a reporter who couldn't help but secretly raised his camera. As a result, the largest and most conspicuous sections of the major newspapers and magazines the next day were covered by "The Star of the Savior Challenges the Dark Lord", "The Opening Ceremony of the Duel Field--Two Camps" "The Duel of the Chief" was full of similar titles, and the major newspapers then attached a list of duels, which was a dizzyingly long list.Quite tacitly, the members of the Order of the Phoenix all chose a second-level duel in which one side concedes defeat.

The farce in the trial court almost turned into a wrestling between the two sides. When Harry realized that the scene was about to get out of control, he stood up suddenly, "Quiet—!" He unconsciously used a loud voice—this made the Order of the Phoenix The wizard closed his mouth and stopped cursing and yelling with the Death Eaters. Harry's face was stern, and his eyes slid over several young wizards who had already taken out their wands, "This is not a duel field." put down his hand.

"I think everyone knows the purpose of the dueling field, and I'm looking forward to it being built soon." Harry said calmly, looking at Voldemort with emerald green eyes.These words almost made all the members of the Order of the Phoenix applaud in their hearts.

Voldemort showed a lazy smile - no one dared to throw paper airplanes at him even during the riot just now. "I'm looking forward to that day too..." he said softly, "Harry Potter." Rubbing the name with the tip of his tongue, it was like a sympathetic whisper.

All the media was on fire, and the wizards who subscribed to the newspapers were almost out of stock.Fred and George invested a lot of money to open the market, which was publicly published in Wizard Weekly, and the joke shop in Diagon Alley was crowded with people every day, and it was extremely hot.Everyone is discussing the result of the duel between the leaders of the two camps.

Things have come to this point, and Winchester, who was pushed to the public by Voldemort, has become an uncertain factor. Obviously, Voldemort has plans for the leader of the Order of the Phoenix. This was published after Rita Skeeter interviewed this little man. This article fully clarifies this point.She highlighted the personal admission of the person involved that he was forced to learn the preferences and behavior of the savior, and even dress. "But he didn't touch me." Winches said aggrievedly in the interview.

After this caused an uproar among the people, their attitude toward the Dark Lord's behavior changed somewhat.

As soon as Harry returned to LeMay Manor, he was arranged for intensive training by Seaa LeMay and Alastor Moody.When the public opinion outside became more lively, he had to deal with attacks from at least a dozen magic puppets every day.Alastor Moody was in charge of teaching him dueling techniques, and he wisely and decisively only in the context of Harry's reflexes.

This allows the training to continue until nine o'clock every afternoon.After taking a shower, Harry climbed into bed wet and quite tired, well, let alone pay attention to the media now, he didn't even have the energy to read the newspapers.The only pleasure he had was curling up under the quilt and writing a few sentences in the notebook Voldemort had given him.

Are we really going to duel?

Harry couldn't resist writing.Then, as expected, a line of words appeared immediately after.

My boy, do you have to ask that every night?I gotta say, yes, I've accepted your gauntlet.

Voldemort answered patiently.Then a new line appears.

Dry your hair before lying down.

Harry stared at it with mixed feelings.