the Gambler

With nowhere to go during the holiday, Harry and Tom decided to stay at Hogwarts.Without the hordes of students, the castle was terribly quiet, even the portraits and ghosts were much more peaceful.As long as you look out of the window facing the black lake, the white marble tomb that reflects the dazzling light in the sun will come into view.

The four long tables in the auditorium disappeared, replaced by eight square tables placed in the middle.There were not many people who stayed in the school, and some people had the same thoughts as Harry, thinking that Hogwarts was still safer than their own.When the two opened the door, the empty hall was already full of people. About thirty students shared all the seats with the professor. Harry and Tom sat down in the vacant seat that Draco deliberately left, and he swept around Surrounded by surprise, most of them were familiar faces, and most of them were Slytherin students.

"I told my father that I would stay in school." Draco casually sliced ​​off a piece of deboned veal steak without looking up.

"He agreed?" Harry directly forked the freshly cut beef from Draco's plate and stuffed it into his mouth. The latter glared at him viciously. Harry smiled indifferently and turned his hunting eyes to the others. After receiving the message, the Slytherins quickly wrapped their arms around the food, blocking Harry's view.

Draco raised his chin in Tom's direction, and said in a low voice: "It seems that his agreement with the mysterious man was successful, and my father expects me to climb up faster, and I hope I can bring you down. Very constructive advice, real."

"So that's why the other Slytherins stayed." Harry asked after a short silence. "If you had to face your parents on the battlefield, what would you do?"

The whole table fell silent, and everyone looked at Draco seriously, eager for a useful answer from the other party.This is probably something all Slytherins struggle with, they just haven't been forced to make a choice.Draco put down his fork, eyes far and wide, and Harry waited silently for him to recover from his contemplation. Two minutes later, Draco opened his mouth slightly and glanced at Harry: "I don't want to kill them, the Malfoys will never fight each other."

"I know." Harry froze and looked away, Tom's eyes were still fixed on Draco.

Then, Harry heard Draco's feeble reply: "I don't want to be a Death Eater, completely surrendered to the Dark Lord. Torture and killing make me sick, Harry, I can't do it, you understand?" Before Harry could speak, he murmured again, "I can't. I cherish my life very much, and I'm also very timid. At least I can ensure that someone will protect me by staying here. If I go to the Dark Lord, He'll throw me in the field like a chicken—"

Harry turned his face to Draco.

"I want to survive, this is the safest choice." Draco said, "Mother will definitely support my decision, and on the father's side, I don't know what answer I will give-I want The whole family is doing well."

"I'm glad to hear the truth, Draco." Harry smiled at him, reassuring the boy, "I'll do my best to protect you, at least no one will die if I can't."

Tom didn't speak, and his expressionless face seemed to be immune to what happened just now, but Harry could feel the vague anger on the other side.The atmosphere became awkwardly unobtrusive, at least from Harry's perspective, and everyone else threw themselves back into the meal.Tom's lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.Harry's Hedwig took this awkward moment to interject, throwing the cylinder of newspaper in front of her master.Harry let go of his suspense, eager to find something to distract his attention. Tom was faster than him, and the huge headline of the "Daily Prophet" appeared on it.Harry leaned forward and gasped.

"Scremgeour is dead?"

"Torturated to death." Tom said coldly, "What information does Voldemort want to get from him."

Now the auditorium became silent again, and everyone stopped their movements and listened to their conversation.

"What do you think?"

"He's forcing you to make a decision." Tom said sullenly, "Godric's Hollow, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and the Ministry of Magic. Although I still have doubts about the last one, I know his thoughts too well. Voldemort is starting to lose his temper." .Now that the biggest obstacle is gone, Dumbledore will try to get your wand."

"Hogwarts can't protect me." Harry straightened up. "If I stay here, Voldemort will find a way to get in."

"I won't let you out," said Tom sharply, grabbing Harry's wrist. "You'll have the best protection if you stay here."

"And the worst death," added Harry, looking at Tom indifferently.

"Stop your stupid heroism!" Tom pushed Harry down hard on the dining table, the plates clanging and clinking, pumpkin juice spilled all over the table, and a lot of food was swept to the ground.With unconcealable anger in Harry's eyes, he bent his elbows away from Tom, who quickly grabbed Tom's wrist, and with a snap, Harry's left hand dropped powerlessly.Tom grabbed Harry's shoulders aggressively and threw him to the ground: "I'll remove all your joints if that's the only way to stop you."

There was the sound of a chair being knocked to the ground nearby, screams of panic mixed with the chaos, several wands were pointed at Tom at the same time, and Harry spat and growled for them to put away their weapons.Under the sharp eyes of the boy, Professor McGonagall raised his hand, and everyone watched the development of the situation motionlessly.Harry bent his body, kicked hard, and threw himself at Tom in a wild beast-like posture, grabbed Tom's arm and slammed it hard against the hard floor. The wand spun and flew four or five meters away.Tom raised his head and hit Harry hard on the jaw, grabbed the boy by the neck and rolled over to hold the struggling Gryffindor down.Harry spat out an Iron Armor Charm, and Tom was sent flying all over, hitting the wall.

Seeing that things were getting worse and worse, Professor Flitwick made a quick decision to lock the two furious students where they were.

"You big liar!" Harry yelled.

Tom looked confused for a moment.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're a liar! At least Voldemort hasn't plotted against me!" Harry said angrily, "Get out of my sight!"

where is wrong.

Tom could read the exact message in Harry's defiant gesture, the accusation was not a casual one.Tom didn't know how to explain it. He admitted that he had cheated Harry many times, and now he finally shot himself in the foot.The funniest thing was that he had no idea which lie Harry was referring to.Harry's closed eyes told Tom he hadn't meant to.Tom looked sideways at the other person. Patience had never been his strong point, but if it was for Harry, he was willing to wait.

Harry's avoidance continued until the day Hermione and Ron returned to school early.Tom finally couldn't help but broke into the Gryffindor tower where the three met, grabbed Harry before he went up the stairs, and said forcefully, "You have to talk to me."

"Go away."

"Calm the fuck out of me! Damn it!" Tom grabbed Harry's neck hard and slammed the boy's head against the solid wall.The loud sound startled everyone. Ron and Hermione pointed their wands at Tom almost at the same time. The suffocation made him feel like he was dying, and he struggled to break free, but Tom was stronger than him, and the iron clamps cut off all the possibility of the boy inhaling oxygen.

Tom let go of Harry's hand just as the white light started to appear on Harry's retina, and Harry gasped hard, thinking he was going to die, which terrified him and made him realize again that it was Tom Gaunt he had been dealing with, Not an ordinary 17-year-old Slytherin, but the young, brutal Dark Lord.

Tom reached out and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of Harry's eyes due to his dry cough. This extreme change of mood only made the boy panic even more.Harry shrank back involuntarily.Tom never took his eyes off the boy. He grabbed Harry's arm, pulled the trembling wizard into his arms, and gently stroked the mark on the other's neck with his tears-stained fingers. You do this as punishment. I hope you know-" Tom grabbed Harry's neck again, this time not to the point of being uncomfortable, but Harry was still shivering with fear, and the man's warm breath hit his ear Side, "I'm a psycho. And you, your recent behavior makes me very dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, if you were replaced by anyone, I would kill you without hesitation. I am glad that I love you, Harry Potter." He murmured and pressed Harry's head firmly on the table. As long as the boy raised his eyes, he would see the flat newspaper. The report of the Death Eaters attacking Hogsmeade burned his eyes again. Harry felt his anger flare up again.

"Go to hell!" Harry pushed Tom away angrily, the air exploded faintly because of his soaring magic power, and collided with the opponent's, sparks flickered around, "How dare you choke my neck and swing A gesture of charity! You are a psycho! I should have realized it earlier!"

"I have always admitted that my state is much better than your evasion!" Tom's hair flew up, and Harry could feel a force pushing against his body, but he had no intention of retreating.Tom didn't give Harry a chance to refute. He crumpled the "Daily Prophet" into a ball and slammed it hard on Harry's face. Furious Tom.The black-haired wizard closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, the heavy pressure disappeared.

"Anytime an attack on Voldemort is reported, you'll be down for a while and then turn on me. You can't separate me from Voldemort, and even though we've kissed so many times, I can still feel your love afterward. Guilty." Tom pursed his lips, and the helpless sigh still leaked out, he reached out and stroked the boy's cheek, "I'm not Voldemort, at least I'm not him now, I didn't kill your parents, I didn't kill Digger He didn't kill those wizards here - all his actions have nothing to do with me, the only one who died because of me was Myrtle, and she was just an accident, we all know it."

Harry let out a hoarse laugh.