the Gambler

Dumbledore's sudden visit was unexpected by everyone. He took off his snow-covered traveling cloak and hung it on the hanger at the door. Mrs. Black in the portrait rarely made harsh comments, as if after the Regulus incident , the witch restrained a lot.Maybe she felt guilty about her youngest son, but Harry could still clearly see the admiration in her eyes when she looked at Tom.It seems that even so, the pursuit of black magic in the bones of the Black family has not diminished by half.

"I wish to speak to Tom."

Tom didn't show a surprised expression, but seemed to be looking forward to it for a long time.Harry watched the two disappear into the conference room.

"I saw the report, it's a very sensible decision. But I have to doubt your real intentions." Dumbledore said seriously, "Voldemort will not let it go. With his personality, this is just to put away his hatred for Harry." The value has once again reached a new level, and as a key person influencing your decision, Harry will be even more dangerous."

Tom shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know what you're planning, but I promise, no one can hurt Harry under my nose, not you, and neither can Voldemort."

"Everyone thinks that Voldemort didn't attack Hogwarts because he was afraid of you, but we all know it's a lie," Tom looked up into Dumbledore's eyes, the wand in the old man's hand pointed directly at himself, that The shape of the magic wand is very strange, like a human bone.Easily brushing off the other party's hostility, he continued to state absently, "You are not as powerful as they imagined. During the first rise of Voldemort, you organized the Order of the Phoenix to fight against him. I already know that the headquarters is the old house of the Black family. Exactly. The address, dear Walburga, was kind enough to inform me of this information."

The aura around Dumbledore became extremely cold.

Tom waved his hands and said calmly: "I know your secret society, and you can also contact Voldemort to destroy it and kill all the wizards easily. After all, the personnel are not as impressive as before, isn't it? I heard that during the last war, the Death Eater The gangsters killed a large number of members of the Order of the Phoenix, and those who were captured joined Voldemort's side out of fear—”

"But you won't do that." Dumbledore firmly concluded that if Tom really intended to reveal the secrets of the Order of the Phoenix, he would have defected to Voldemort long ago.Tom was an elusive wizard, ever so at school, and even more so now.He needs to figure out the purpose of the other party, as the prophecy said, Tom's role is decisive.Dumbledore frowned: "Tell me what you want?"

"I want Harry, and I want you to stop interfering in our affairs. In return, I will temporarily spare everyone in the Order of the Phoenix."

"How do you ask me to trust you? You are not someone worthy of trust."

"I will not make an unbreakable oath, and similar spells and contracts are not allowed to bind me, Dumbledore. You know you can only choose to trust me, and I," Tom spread his arms and sneered, "anytime Destroy this verbal agreement. Wait patiently, the time I need has not yet come, the only promise I can give you is that I will never side with Voldemort. We both know he is a madman, I will not allow him to touch Harry," Tom added, "at least not yet."

Dumbledore carefully considered the answer he had just heard. His eyes seemed to penetrate Tom's body and look into the depths of his soul.The uncomfortable feeling made the latter get goose bumps all over his body.

"That sounds unfair, doesn't it? But you can't say no." Tom smiled.

"You finally came to me, I'm still wondering how long it will take. Occasionally I suspect that splitting the soul will lower IQ, it seems that you still received the message I put in the newspaper—" Tom sat on the armchair near the fireplace Next, he knew that he was now in Voldemort's dream world.

"How dare you inherit Gaunt's title before me!" Voldemort's voice was filled with anger, hissing with Parseltongue, and he uttered harsh words. He grabbed Tom's lapel and lifted his young self in front of him. "I will kill you."

"Just because I'm smarter than you?" Tom pulled the cloth out of Voldemort's hand and replied indifferently, "I didn't expect that you didn't think of taking advantage of your blood for so many years. You let me down."

"You ungrateful bastard! You know that as long as I give the order, those little Slytherin snakes will swallow you up. Do you think you have the strength to fight me?" Voldemort said angrily, the red snake Hitomi could make everyone's legs go weak, but it was of no use to Tom, who knew that Voldemort couldn't do any real harm to himself here.

Tom rested his wand on Voldemort's chest: "Do you really think that bunch of air-wasting idiots can devour me? You overestimate their IQ. I'm looking forward to you killing me - your young self," the boy said sullenly. With a ruthless smile, "This is definitely a good feeling. Although I don't want to affirm the old bee's consideration, I must admit that I am very interested in the consequences of this. Do you think my death will take you away? After all I am your past-"

The words made Voldemort tremble with rage.

"As you told me earlier, Dumbledore, not the Ministry of Magic, has the means to send me back to the past, and you can't send me back by force. It's a pity, I don't know how long I will stay in this time and space," Tom said in He found a comfortable position on the armchair and sat down again, never leaving his eyes from the man in front of him, "If I go back, you will still get the title in the end, so this is not something to be angry about. For now, I need more This location."

"Moreover, passing the bloodline certification can further strengthen my position in Slytherin, and make those little snakes docile. This is a win-win situation." Tom noticed that Voldemort had accepted this statement, and the man's hostility weakened A lot, he continued, "Hold your anger, I don't want Harry to come to his senses."

Voldemort ruffled his hair irritably, pursed his lips to calm down his violent emotions.Tom smiled contentedly.

"Now, tell me which soul pieces I have absorbed."

The firelight in the study flickered on the dark red floor-length velvet curtains, casting overlapping ghost images.The room is not bright enough to match the famous haunted house.Voldemort drank the gin in his goblet. He had finished all the stories about the Horcruxes, and the requester was resting his chin in thought.The uncomfortable silence was finally broken by Tom, and a red light flashed in his blue eyes.

"You reabsorbed the Hufflepuff Cup, Ravenclaw Crown and Nagini."

"I think I've recounted it clearly." Voldemort sneered, "Or is it that your hormone-filled brain can't even comprehend such a simple message? It seems that Harry Potter is not a good influence."

Tom ignored Voldemort's cynicism and said calmly, "I hope you don't destroy those things. After all, they are unique treasures, and the ancient magic power entwined on them is of considerable value."

"I didn't. Nagini is a Horcrux after all."

"I suppressed the soul piece in the Slytherin locket." Tom pulled out the golden necklace from his clothes, and the cuboid-shaped locket swayed in the firelight, "To be honest, I have no intention of giving up eternal life easily , but Harry doesn't need to know that."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes, his knuckles rattling.This menacing gesture caused Tom to raise half his eyebrows and examine the angry face with interest.This time it was the latter who put on the sarcasm: "A little surprised? Of course, the result of such strict protection measures is like this. Surprised? I have to admit that I was not much different from you at the time."

"What do you mean?" A cold tone.

"Guess where I got that?" said Tom cheerfully. "Kreacher, the house-elf."

Voldemort looked puzzled.

"Of course you don't remember the names of lowly beings, let me give you a hint. Regulus Arcturus Black, I hope you do."

"The young Death Eater." Voldemort pinched the bridge of his nose, he remembered the black-haired Black boy, 16 years old, an age too young for a Death Eater.Recommended by Walburga.Voldemort himself didn't really care. To be honest, he didn't like having such a child in his subordinates who couldn't take responsibility for his actions.If it weren't for Sirius Black's defection, Regulus Black would not have become Voldemort's tool to win over their family.He still remembered the adoration in the kid's eyes as he looked at him, like all his Death Eaters.Stupid but loyal.

Voldemort said calmly, "I took his house-elf to the cave."

"Regulus Black is obviously immature, or is it a failure of yours?" Tom said lazily, shaking his glass. "He was so frightened by Kreacher that he made a decision that would destroy himself. He Take the elf back to the cave, get out the real Slytherin locket, and put the fake one back in the stone basin. Become a member of the Inferi himself."

Voldemort laughed grimly.

"I guess he also wants that stupid house-elf to destroy my Horcrux? Poor thing, he doesn't even know what he's capable of."

Tom didn't make any comment on this, he waved his hand to signal Voldemort to stop pointless reprimand.Hey, he doesn't have that much time to waste on the other side's hysterical performance.Tom leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on Voldemort: "I need that fake locket, no one is more suitable than you. You want to absorb this Horcrux, don't you? This is the bargaining chip."

Voldemort nodded: "Deal. On the day you go back to school after Christmas, I will organize the Death Eaters to attack the Hogwarts Express. Find a chance to sneak out, and of course, take Harry with you. I miss him a little." Pretty little face."

Tom snorted coldly, this extra condition was within his expectation.If he was madly infatuated with Harry, so was Voldemort.Anyway, he didn't think it would be too easy to arouse suspicion if he could get rid of Harry on the train.Still—Tom's hand slid into the pocket, and the round metal surface inside reminded him of another important thing.Yes, he had wanted to do this for a long time.

"I will design the part here, and you'd better not let me down."

"Disappointed?" Voldemort smiled smugly. "The word itself has nothing to do with me."

"I wish the deal a success. I'm leaving if I have nothing else to do. I don't want to leave sweet Harry alone in bed." Before Voldemort could speak, Tom disappeared from the dream world without a trace.

Harry rolled over in his sleep and put his head into Tom's arms, the Slytherin grinning under his throat, circling his fingers through the boy's messy black hair, and Harry let out that feline bewitched sound. The special purring sound when loving//caressing.

Tom propped up his upper body on his elbows, and the faint fluorescent light from the tip of the wand hit Harry's sleeping face, showing a strange beauty.He turned his body sideways and looked at the boy's face carefully. The wizard beside him was in line with all his imagination of a partner. He was strong, brave, confident and beautiful, and had the belief that he would never admit defeat.Even if it was stubborn in a way Tom had never seen before, he still damn liked it.

The slender and beautiful fingers slowly slid down Harry's outline, resting on the boy's slightly parted lips.Tom leaned down and whispered in the sleeping boy's ear.

"Only a fool would give up."