the Gambler

In the kitchen of Hogwarts, there is a beautiful chiffon cake on the long table in the middle.Contrary to the cheerful atmosphere surrounding the dark-haired boy, the house-elves hid in mournful faces and dared not speak.Finally, an elf in a pink dress bravely walked up to Harry, with a voice full of self-blame: "If Master Potter wants to eat cake, just ask Winky to do it! Winky must have failed to satisfy the master, so we can't eat it." Let him do the cooking himself, Winky is a bad elf, and Winky has let Master Potter down!" Saying that, Winky slammed into the table leg hard, and even spilled the icing sugar from the jar above it all over the table.

Harry let out an exclamation, quickly hugged the cake to his chest, and said in a blunt tone, "Winky! I order you to stop hurting yourself! Damn it, I didn't mean to hurt your self-esteem at all. Cooking is just my hobby. Hobbies understand Is it just what I like to do! My God, you house-elves are really good at horns, and I have absolutely no dislike for you, really. You are a very good elf!"

"Master Potter thought he had hurt Winky's self-esteem!" A sharp sob sounded, and Winky looked at Harry with eyes full of respect, as if the other party was his own god, making the latter very uncomfortable.Winky lifted up her skirt and flicked it on her face, shouting excitedly: "Master Potter is the most benevolent wizard Winky has ever met! Winky is very happy to be Master Potter's elf!"

As soon as Tom got into the kitchen, he saw the scene in front of him. His eyes followed the cake in Harry's hand to the tabletop covered with icing, and then to the house elf who looked like eggplant frosted next to him, and he quickly got a reasonable explanation.He raised his eyebrows with interest: "Can you cook?"

"Want to try it?" Harry said without looking back as he carefully placed the cake back on the table.

The silence of the room greeted him.Harry turned around just in time to meet Tom's struggling expression, and sometimes he liked to tease each other very much, so Tom showing a particularly out-of-character look would make Harry feel more human.Now, for example, he knew very well that Tom didn't like sugar at all.But given the fact that he is trying to repair, or make up for, the love bond, Tom will force himself to do something that will make Harry happy.Compared with those serious topics of political stance, a cake is nothing to worry about.

"Don't look like that, I'm sure I didn't drug it," Harry said happily, he dipped his fingers into a lump of cake and put it in his mouth, the silky cream slowly melted on the tip of his tongue, and the boy smiled contentedly .Thinking of something, Harry's face suddenly became ugly, "Maybe I should put something in it, considering you designed me more than once."

"That's all in the past, dear." Tom said quickly, he leaned his body on Harry's back, passed the boy in a hugging posture, and seemed eager but unwilling to pick a piece of cake to taste.If he was honest with himself, Tom would admit that Harry was good at crafting, but dessert was not really his hobby, and he didn't want to encourage Harry to continue to torture himself.Tom flirts again: "You actually look tastier and more addictive."

"Control your hormones," Harry said angrily, pushing Tom away.

"It's such a waste." Tom murmured, stretched out his finger and dipped a smear of icing sugar into his mouth, the tip of his pink tongue emerged from between his parted lips from time to time, Harry couldn't restrain the blood from rushing to his groin, the embarrassment made him Close your eyes tightly, no matter how much Tom teases, it can't change the boy's decision.Harry could hear a slight smack of tongue in his ears, and then, Tom's hand covered his smooth neck, something powdery fell down, and a soft and moist thing slowly stuck to it——

There was a crackling sound coming out of the air, and Harry quickly pushed Tom aside, turning just in time to meet Dobby's bright smiling face: "Great Mr. Harry Potter! Great Mr. Albus Dumbledore! Dobby has a message! He wants you and Mr. Marvolo Gaunt to go to the principal's office!" The elf took out a small piece of parchment from the dirty apron and stuffed it into Harry's hand, his round eyes swept across The table was full of icing, and finally settled on the hot cake, "Does Mr. Harry Potter need Dobby to keep the cake warm? Send it directly to your room?"

"Then I'd be very happy, Dobby."

"Dobby is honored! Mr. Harry Potter!" Dobby snapped his fingers, a light golden barrier wrapped the cake, and the next second, the house elf disappeared with it.

"Dumbledore always spoils my good things." Tom got up from the ground, waved his hand to wipe off the frosting all over his body, and said in a vicious voice, "It's better that he really has something important!"

Dumbledore hadn't shown up in the principal's office yet, and he had nothing to do anyway. Harry looked at the surrounding furnishings with an obsessive expression.To his left, Tom lolled back in the firm armchair, a masterful gesture that made the Gryffindor who glanced at him snort.The sound of the sculpture spinning sounded, and Dumbledore stepped into the room in a hurry. His hair and beard were a little scorched black at the end, and his robes also had traces of fire. It looked like he had just gone through a fierce battle.Harry couldn't help wondering, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Tom was serious too.Reaching to untie his coat and hang it on the hanger, Dumbledore turned around with a weary smile, the shadows under his eyes adding to their suspicion of his poor health.

"Mind my question, sir?" Harry frowned. "You just got back from the war?"

"Ministry of Magic, no one thought that Voldemort would choose to raid there. He destroyed the barriers surrounding the Ministry of Magic building. You can imagine how bad the situation was. Before I came back, at least a dozen wizards lost their lives. Among them There are only five Aurors who actually participated in the battle, and the rest are innocent Ministry of Magic officials," Dumbledore sighed deeply, "Eighteen wounded patients have been transferred to St. Mungo's Hospital. The situation is not good. Too optimistic."

"What about the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Sturgis Podmore and Dedalus Diggle gave their lives for justice, and Arthur was slightly wounded." Dumbledore looked at Harry sadly, which made him old for his age.Harry realized that the headmaster had turned blue, his eyes had clouded a lot, and he looked very weak.As if to prove Harry's conjecture, when the boy's eyes fell on the cursed right hand, Dumbledore pulled his sleeve down, blocking the inquiry's sight.

"You're dying slowly," Tom said suddenly. "Voldemort is telling the truth, and you can't fight him. Worse, he may have already guessed the address of the main headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Although it's unfortunate, it's not impossible." Dumbledore said frankly. He always had an extraordinary calmness when facing death, which is what Tom and Voldemort hated the most. "The Order of the Phoenix is ​​still alive." Black's old house, Sirius, Remus and Bill are trying to strengthen the defensive magic."

"You don't intend to move? Bellatrix must know the address of Black's old house, and Narcissa Malfoy, they were all born there." Harry clenched his fists and looked at Deng in disbelief. Bullido, "You know how dangerous that would be, tying up the lives of all members of the Order of the Phoenix! Voldemort can kill them all in one go!"

"We all know the cruelty of war, Harry. Often the most dangerous place is also the safest. Most people have already evacuated, and some will continue to stay." Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged, Fox raised his neck It yelled at the old man, its beautiful golden eyes swept across the three present, and then it flapped its wings and disappeared.

"Anywhere, you can move them elsewhere, there will always be a safer place than Black's old house." Harry bit his lower lip in thought, "Hogwarts, you can let them live in Hogwarts!"

"I can't, Harry. The lives of students are the most precious. They are the future of the wizarding world. Regardless of the outcome of the war, I believe Voldemort would not choose to harm them. But if the Order of the Phoenix came to Hogwarts, it would Be the fuse/fiery/lead for him to trigger the final battle, when the time comes, no one can stop him from destroying the power of the Light Side, even if it needs to destroy a generation of wizards."

"Those words just now are not the real reason why I came to you." Dumbledore said. At this time, there was a rustling sound of quill pen and parchment in the principal's office, and the cabinet next to him was opened, revealing that he was constantly twisting his body Albums that want to get out of control.They waited patiently for a while before the heavy book dangled and fell in front of them.Dumbledore reached out to dust off the dust and said calmly, "Bathilda Bagshot gave it to me."

"The author of A History of Magic?" said Tom. "I hear she lives in Godric's Hollow, and she's getting old."

"Age is not really the obstacle that covers the bright eyes. Many times, it is the influence of the outside world." Dumbledore opened the photo album, Harry poked his head, and found two young and handsome wizards on it, the one on the left with reddish-brown With medium-length hair and the corners of his mouth slightly raised, he seemed to be a very gentle person, and Harry thought he looked a little familiar.The one on the right is a completely different type. The blond boy has a sly smile on his face, which is somewhat similar to Tom's temperament.Harry recognized Grindelwald's face, even though the Dark Lord in this photo was younger than the one Tom gave him, the flamboyance in his brows and eyes hadn't diminished by half.That was a very charismatic wizard.Harry swallowed, he stole a glance at the pensive Dumbledore, and then at the red-haired boy again.

"This is you and Grindelwald?" Harry felt his throat tickle, and it took a lot of effort to speak.

"It was taken on my birthday. I lived in Godric's Hollow, and it was a dreary summer, so hot that there weren't even teals frolicking in the pond. I was just out of school and hated Muggles, and Maliciousness made my younger sister, Arianna, weak and sick, and Aberforth had to finish her studies, so I had to give up the opportunity of further study and rejected invitations from many people. In the first-floor hut, you can imagine my aggrieved and bored."

"You hate Muggles?" Harry and Tom raised eyebrows and exchanged glances.

"Yes, it used to be. I've never been ashamed to admit it," said Dumbledore. "Bathilda introduced me to Gellert, and perhaps she felt that Albus, who was lonely at the time, lacked his peers." So we became good friends. That might be a little complacent. Two equally talented young men were attracted to each other, and soon, we became inseparable. Gellert also hated Muggles, and we hit it off. Start thinking about forming a new order in the wizarding world."

Harry said nothing.

"Two months later, Gellert told me the real reason he came to Godric's Hollow, which became the source of his power to rule Europe later," Dumbledore said with a low face, "Deathly Hallows. He came to seek The answer behind Freer's story."