the Gambler

"Dumbledore gave us something interesting." Tom held up the photo album in his hand, and the last page opened was Grindelwald and Dumbledore in high spirits.Their heads were resting on an object in their hands, and parchment paper was scattered all over the place. The warm sunlight shining on them looked very beautiful.Dumbledore looked up at Grindelwald, who smiled brightly back.In anyone's eyes, the relationship between the two is very close.

match made in heaven.Harry didn't know where the absurd idea was coming from, and he shook his head to clear it away.

"Where's the fun?" Harry frowned suspiciously.

Tom pulled the photo out and turned it over to the back, where there were only two rows of tiny cursives.

For the greater good.

Harry frowned and grabbed the photo to carefully observe the words on it. He looked at Tom in confusion. The latter raised his upper body with a sarcasm in his tone: "Remember? Dumbledore often said this sentence .In fact, this became Grindelwald's slogan to justify his crimes. Funny, who would have thought that this was an idea given to him by Dumbledore? According to him, Grindelwald and Dumbledore were just short After getting along for two months, they didn't mention this short friendship in the future. When you suspect that Grindelwald didn't start the war here because he was afraid of Dumbledore, I took it as a silly joke."

"What do you mean?" Harry couldn't hide his curiosity.

"The reason for their separation was deliberately omitted from Dumbledore's conversation today. It may have been a disgraceful experience," Tom said disgustedly. "This answer can only be obtained from Aberforth. He hates his brother. If we're lucky, he'll fill in the blanks for us."

"You avoided my question, that's not a virtue." Harry pushed Tom on the shoulder, causing the latter to drop straight onto the bed.

"They're not that simple of a relationship. They're strikingly similar to us."

"Dumbledore and Grindelwald are lovers?"

"That's my guess. Dumbledore delayed choosing to duel Grindelwald for five years, and oh, don't be fooled into thinking that love is what keeps them from killing each other. No Dark Lord will give up his goal for that, love itself will Make people vulnerable."

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"I'm different from him, I'll talk about that later." Tom avoided Harry's teasing gaze and continued to speak, "After Grindelwald was defeated, he was imprisoned in the Nurmengard Tower, which is ironic because he built it himself. Prison. Although Dumbledore told us he was the master of the Elder Wand, Voldemort didn't know, and I guess he will go to Nurmengard to visit the former Dark Lord."

Harry decided to pay Aberforth a visit. He hadn't yet had the courage to ask Professor Dumbledore directly. Even though their relationship was very close, he had noticed that the old man was always trying to bypass this memory.Although Harry didn't think Dumbledore was ashamed of it, it seemed that it was indeed an incurable scar on his heart.

Harry turned his head and glanced at Tom, who was sleeping soundly, and tiptoed out of bed. He got into the bathroom barefoot, and was ready to go out after a brief grooming.By this time, Tom was wide awake, his hair fell limply on his full forehead, and his eyes were sleepy.Harry saw his body stretched out like a big bird, his fair skin looming under the pajamas.Tom stroked his bangs carelessly, and said slowly, "Where are you going?"

"The Pig's Head Bar."

"I'll go with you." Tom climbed down from the soft four-poster bed, and the moment he passed Harry, he bumped Harry's shoulder. "I won't let you run around alone again. I'm very, very unhappy." Tom pressed a possessive kiss on the boy's chin, "Never."

That night, Harry and Tom found Aberforth Dumbledore, the owner of the Pig's Head Bar, through a secret passage.After the two briefly explained their intentions, they got Aberforth's promise.

"You know Grindelwald? Of course, you are the one Dumbledore loves the most, and I wouldn't be surprised if he told you all the secrets." Aberforth whispered, and the fire light It was very gloomy.Harry felt a little inexplicably happy, and hearing from others that the headmaster valued him strengthened his confidence.

"No, I heard it from Bathilda." Harry lied, "while we were talking about the Hallows."

Aberforth suddenly felt as if ice water had been poured over his head. He trembled, his wrinkled fingers digging into Harry's skin, and his eyes clouded.His lips trembled and he exhaled: "Do you know the Deathly Hallows?"

Harry nodded, he glanced at Tom, and continued to speak under the latter's agreeing gaze: "The ancestral invisibility cloak of the Potter family and the ancestral ring of the Gaunt family are Deathly Hallows. I think Professor Dumbledore has told you gone."

"Yes, he mentioned it to me," said Aberforth. "I'm also surprised he didn't take all the Hallows for himself. He's a greedy man who wants a lot."

"Mr. Dumbledore is the greatest wizard." Harry couldn't help defending the old man, and Tom snorted coldly beside him.

"You, like them, belong to Albus from beginning to end. In your eyes, every inch of his skin is shining, right? He cares about you very much. Indeed, after all, no one can silently watch over you for more than ten years. A boy grows up without giving affection, sometimes I suspect that he holds you in his palm, which makes you grow up to such a naive and ridiculous appearance."

Harry wanted to refute, but finally bit the back of his tongue.Something told the boy that Aberforth was just complaining and not targeting himself in particular, and he sneaked across the dimly lit room, stopping for a moment at Ariana's portrait.The happy expression on the girl's face was replaced by sadness, and she stretched out her arms, trying to hug her brother through the frame.Harry's eyes slowly slid down to the table directly below, which was the only dust-free place in the whole room, and there was a row of photos on it, without Dumbledore's figure.

"You hate Mr. Dumbledore because of Ariana." This sentence sounds strange, but Harry is not used to calling him Albus.

Aberforth spat.

"Everyone he loved came to a bad end," said Aberforth. "Did he tell you about poor Ariana? She was killed by three Muggle boys at the age of six because of uncontrollable magic. Attack, they drove her crazy. Father was also in Azkaban for teaching those bastards a lesson, and he didn't want to tell the Ministry of Magic what happened to Ariana because they'd put her in St Mungo's for good."

Harry writhed uncomfortably, remembering Neville's parents.

"Since then, Ariana has become insane, she can't control her magic power, but most of the time, she is still the timid girl—" Aberforth looked up at Ariana, and squeezed out a stiff "My whole family lived in seclusion, I took care of her, everything was perfect, but when I was 14, I left home to study, and only Albus stayed in Godric's Hollow. There was an accident, Aberforth paused, "Arianna's magic exploded, and the mother unfortunately lost her life. Albus was depressed for a while, I guess he felt guilty, and he was very peaceful during that time. Even if he didn't want to Give up research to be with a crazy younger sister."

Harry felt his throat dry.

"Then Grindelwald came along, a boy as gifted as Albus, and they hit it off, and started tinkering with those messy plans, leaving Ariana aside," continued Aberforth, with a dry laugh, " Grindelwald is like lightning tearing apart Albus's cloudy sky, you can imagine how charming the sunlight jumps on his beautiful blond hair. Of course, Albus is just like those stupid Muggles , overwhelmed by his charm. But I know that guy is not a good person, he tried to persuade Albus to build a new wizarding order with him, and let Muggles submit to our feet—” Aberforth glanced at Tom, "Yes, just like you, he also hated and hated Muggles in the past. This is something that people can't imagine now. Probably no one except Bathilda remembers this. After all, Grindelwald is her grandnephew."

"And then, I finally blocked Albus. I told him that he could only choose one between Grindelwald and Ariana, and Grindelwald was very angry. He thought we were a stumbling block." Aberforth's Flame trembled violently with anger, "He has always been such a ruthless guy, trying to take everything from Albus to catch him, I should have noticed his danger, but my fool who is addicted to love My brother didn't notice. We had an argument, the three cast spells on each other, and no one noticed Ariana's emotions," Aberforth's voice was thick with sadness, "she died, and in the chaos it was impossible to determine what was real. Who is the murderer. Grindelwald fled in a hurry, and I left Godric's Hollow. There is no one left who is worthy of my nostalgia."

Sniffing heavily, Aberforth pushed the dirty glass towards Harry and said in a commanding tone, "There's a bottle of gin on the bar, fill me up, boy."

Not wanting to make the wizard's already bad mood worse, Harry took the cup and walked out without a word.Soon, there was the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets outside, and Aberforth waved the door shut, fully focusing on Tom.

"I can feel the shadow of Grindelwald in you, just like the shadow of Albus in Potter." Aberforth said softly, his piercing blue eyes seemed to look into the depths of Tom's soul, "Handsome, hysterical, brutal and brilliant, you look at Potter like Grindelwald looks at Albus. Crazy possessive—" Aberforth said after a long silence, "No, Seems a little different, you love that boy."

Tom frowned, but said nothing.

"Arianna's death is a scar that goes deep into the bone marrow, along with those ruined wizard families. Don't play with people's hearts, young Dark Lord, Albus has never been able to forgive Grindelwald." After finishing these words, He pushed the stunned Tom out of the door, and the heavy wooden door bounced back almost hitting the boy's nose.Tom clenched his fists.

This is a warning.