the Gambler

The long-lost Quidditch match, this is perhaps the most exciting thing for all students under Umbridge's intervention.The first game of this season is Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Before the game, even the deans of the two sides were secretly competing, let alone the players. Many people in Gryffindor were defeated by Slytherin. Lin cast a jinx, and of course, they redoubled their revenge.

Every Quidditch season is cold, the castle is gray under a blanket of frost, and the students in the stands wear thick felt hats.Three-quarters of the auditorium was covered in bright red and gold, with only the silver-green Slytherin land at the far end.At breakfast, Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table with the listless Ron, who looked as if he had been kissed by a dementor, with a pale face and glassy eyes.Now with the pre-match tension building, Ron looked even worse, his knuckles turning white from the broom and his whole body shaking.

"It was a mistake, Harry, I shouldn't be in the competition," Ron said in a panic.

"You're just nervous, you can do it." Harry couldn't help but frown when he recalled Ron's performance in the goalkeeper selection. It can be remedied, but the simple ones always make mistakes.But Harry is very confident in the Gryffindor team. Since he joined, he hasn't seen a loss to Slytherin. Almost every year, the Quidditch Cup is lying in Professor McGonagall's showroom.

When Harry took Ron, who was in a trance, to the changing room, Angelina gave a long series of speeches as if possessed by Wood, and Ron became more and more disturbed during the process.The two teams meet in the middle of the pitch, and Slytherin's new captain is a big, dumb guy named Monta, who's as domineering as Flint, and he's holding Angelina's hand with a lot of strength, but luckily Girls have long been prepared.

As Mrs. Hooch whistled, Harry quickly rose into the air, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron's bright red hair floating behind him.He flew around the pitch, squinting his eyes for the Snitch, and Malfoy did the same at the other end of the pitch.Monta caught the Quaffle and threw it at Harry's head, which he dodged easily with his head down.The twins chased the Quaffle out, sending the ball to Goyle's ass in unison, and the big man fell off his broom, howling.

When Harry listened to Lee explaining that Ron missed a goal, there was a neat singing sound in the Slytherin stands, full of satire on Ron, and the sound began to expand slowly as Ron lost the ball again. to the entire pitch.Harry looked at his red-haired friend uneasily, his nervousness seemed to overwhelm his hearing, and he didn't realize the ridicule at all.

"Do something! Harry!" Angelina yelled at the stunned boy when she flew to Harry, Harry immediately came to his senses, the score on the board had become forty to ten, and Slytherin was leading It cost Gryffindor a full thirty minutes.To make matters worse, Ron was completely out of shape, and his panic made the broom tremble.Harry focused quickly, he now only hoped to find the Snitch and end the game quickly.

Harry ducked and brushed past Crabbe's Bludger, and as he looked around the pitch, a flash of light flashed across the Slytherin end.The boy urged the broom to rush over there, almost at the same time, Malfoy also caught up. The broom he used was the latest model, which was faster than Harry's.Harry turned the Firebolt//The arrow leaned towards Malfoy. The Snitch's turn was more beneficial to Slytherin, but Harry had no intention of giving up. He wanted to win the game no matter what.

The two broomsticks dived straight to the ground, and there were exclamations one after another from the stands. Malfoy stretched out his arms, and his fingertips were only a few centimeters away from the Snitch.Malfoy would never do anything risky.Harry bit his lip and jumped up from the broom. He grabbed the struggling ball and rolled onto the sand. Malfoy's nails scraped hard across the back of his hand, and a long line emerged on it. bloodstains.

Harry got up from the ground, showing the Snitch with open palms.Deafening cheers erupted from the whole field. He watched the other team members with smiles on their faces, lowering their brooms and flying towards him. Their joy was suddenly replaced by panic. Harry turned his head and saw a black Bludger approaching Fly towards his head.

Can't dodge.

Concussions were inevitable, and Harry could imagine the shattering sound of the ball hitting his skull when he closed his eyes.There were shrill whistles, angry howls and mocking hisses.

But the expected thud and excruciating pain were absent.Shock is the only word that can describe Harry's mood at the moment. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the Bludger hover a centimeter from the tip of his nose, and then hit the ground hard, causing a cloud of dust.Almost at the same time, Crabbe fell off the broom, and Snape and McGonagall cast several levitation spells in succession before the troll slowly landed on the ground.Harry noticed that Crabbe's face was covered with blisters, and the latter was touching his cheek in panic, and screaming horribly from time to time.

Someone pulled Harry's arm. He turned his head and saw Tom's serious expression. The twins' arms that were outstretched to hug the boy stopped in mid-air under Tom's cold gaze.Umbridge excitedly pushed through the crowd and squeezed in front of Tom. The pudgy witch carefully observed the expressions of Harry and Tom, with a weird smile on her face.

Harry's stomach was heavy.

Sure enough, Umbridge took out a roll of parchment from his arms, and said triumphantly, "It is not allowed to cast hexes on classmates!" Her beady eyes turned to Snape, who looked up. She raised her chin and snorted, then looked at McGonagall and said, "I said earlier that violent sports like Quidditch should be banned—"

"This is ridiculous!" McGonagall protested fiercely.

Umbridge continued with a smirk on his face: "This made me realize the correctness of the Ministry of Magic, Minerva. I have contacted the minister, and he thinks I should have the right to sanction all students, including expulsion." Punishment. Of course, if they don't do unbearable things, I will not use this power lightly."

"You are not the principal, and you have no right to force students to withdraw from school!" McGonagall yelled.

"I'm a senior investigator from the Ministry of Magic!" Umbridge raised her voice, and everyone around her covered their ears in unison. Noticing their reactions, Umbridge put on her disgusting smile again, and she used that sure-fire Looking at Mag with such eyes, "Are you implying that Dumbledore wants to defy the Ministry of Magic's decision? Or is it that he himself wants to mobilize students to resist the Ministry of Magic?"

"It's all your own imagination. We all know that the principal should have the most power in the school."

"The Ministry of Magic is." Umbridge sneered. "Of course soon, Dumbledore will no longer be the headmaster in power at Hogwarts."

"What do you mean by that?" snapped in Snape's cold voice, and Harry noticed that his expression was particularly gloomy.

Umbridge shrugged.

Harry's feet gave way as soon as he stepped into the lounge, and his scar was burning hot for the first time since he last saw Voldemort.In either case, Harry was sure that the other party was angry, or outraged.It looked like something was bothering Voldemort, and Harry didn't know why he knew, he just felt that way.

"Your scar hurts?" Tom bent over Harry's forehead, his expression darkened, and Harry could see the pain lurking in the boy's eyes, and suddenly he had a terrible thought.

"You can feel it too?" Harry almost choked.

Tom nodded sullenly, his eyes seeming to look into Harry's soul, which made him feel uncomfortable, and Harry mustered up the courage to ask, "What do you feel? Anger?"

Tom continued to nod, and he hesitated for a while to answer: "I also saw some blurred images, Muggle manors and slender fingers, as if seeing through my eyes. Then when you are in pain, those images will be Disappeared together."

"You need to tell Dumbledore, Harry!" Hermione's horrified scream made Harry wince, his already bad mood was even worse now.Especially when he thought of how much he believed in Dumbledore, but the other party hadn't contacted him for half a month, Harry couldn't believe that he had thrown Tom to himself so easily.

"He already knew, Hermione," said Harry grimly, his pain seeming to be improving.

"You know what, your scar often hurts?" Tom squinted his eyes, and he tentatively stretched out his hand to the famous lightning scar, which hurriedly avoided.The painful memory of being touched by Voldemort the last time was still engraved in his bones, and Harry didn't want to experience the feeling that life was worse than death.Tom withdrew his hand, and he looked carefully at Harry's face: "This is the scar left by the Dark Lord."

Harry's whole body seemed to be drenched in ice water, and Hermione and Ron's expressions became extremely grim.He closed his eyes to block Tom's probing vision.Harry didn't know how to explain this connection, he was exhausted now, and he just wanted to find a place to rest where no one was around.

Tom seemed to have misunderstood Harry's reaction. He grabbed the sleeve of the boy who had just started walking, cast a silencing spell around the two of them, and said in a slightly apologetic tone: "I shouldn't be in front of you." Speaking of that bastard, he killed your parents, it's definitely not good." Tom considered the next words, Harry could see that the other party was uncomfortable, and after about a minute, he looked up at Harry again There was a firm light in his eyes, "I've never told anyone—I'm an orphan too."

Harry was so shocked that he couldn't speak, and he didn't expect that the secret Tom continued to reveal would make him feel sorry for him, even though he knew that kind of feeling was wrong, the boy in front of him was not an ordinary person, but a growing up A murderer full of crimes.

Tom seemed so determined that if Harry hadn't been so close, he could hardly have heard him speak.

"My mother, Merope Gaunt, a pureblood of Salazar Slytherin, fell in love with a lowly Muggle, old Tom Riddle, and conceived me. That stupid witch thought My love will be rewarded. After she told old Tom her identity as a witch, the bastard left her without hesitation. I was born on the streets of London on New Year's Eve, and she died the day she gave birth to me." Tom said tightly Clutching Harry's hand, he'd never said that to anyone else, and didn't know what had driven him to such a decision.Perhaps seeing Harry's pained eyes?

"I grew up in an orphanage, they are not friendly people, so I don't understand the importance of parents, and I can't appreciate the so-called love," Tom's expression was devoid of emotion, and Harry horrified through the link I found that the other person was really not sad at all, as if those things had nothing to do with me, "Love means nothing to me. Maybe I wasn't born for love in the first place."

Harry didn't know what to do, he didn't even know if he needed to comfort the other person, Tom didn't have any negative emotions.He hesitantly stretched his arms around Tom, who seemed a little surprised but didn't resist, just letting Harry wrap his arms around him.Harry closed his eyes and buried his head on Tom's neck, sniffing the nice cold fragrance from Tom's body.

Now that Harry understood Dumbledore a little bit, maybe he could really change Tom, if he taught him to love?