the Gambler

Today is Christmas Eve, the whole castle is shrouded in thick snow, the students are happily playing snowball fights on the field, and people can be heard excitedly talking about Christmas gifts from the early morning, and those familiar music hovering overhead.However, this pleasant atmosphere did not extend to all places. In a certain corner of the library, a black-haired Slytherin smashed the ink bottle on the table, and the black ink dripped all over the table. Waved away the stains, and used 'Restored' to repair the cracks on the bottle.

Tom was so angry that he hated Christmas, not only because he was born on that disgusting holiday eve, but because of such a boring celebration, he even had to smile and thank all the students who gave him presents, most of whom he didn't even No impression.Tom glanced at the packages piled up into a hill. He didn't intend to burn them directly. Maybe he could pick up some useful things to sell. He needed a lot of Galleons to accomplish his goal.Tom hoped at least those stupid Slytherins would know to send something expensive.

This is not the reason for Tom's extreme anger now, he clenched his fists and looked at the empty seat in front of him.

Harry didn't come.

Tom's anger caused fierce protests from the glass of the entire library. If Mrs. Pince hadn't wanted to come over to see what caused this weird situation, Tom might have destroyed the table in front of him without restraint.He gave Harry too much preferential treatment. Perhaps his repeated tolerance made the boy feel special. Although Tom admitted this, he had no intention of letting him escape again.

Harry needs to learn to accept his place, and Tom is more than happy to teach the boy himself.

Tom gripped the wand hidden under his cuff, and he smiled the same elegant and charming smile at the students who greeted him, even if now he just wanted to curse the smirk off their faces.Tom will get what he wants, and Harry can only choose to submit.Yes, just imagining Harry's angry emerald eyes made every cell in Tom's body tremble with excitement.

As if sensing the presence of the other party, Tom looked out the window in the direction of the Black Lake. Under the well-growing beech tree, the famous Gryffindor trio were sitting around discussing something intensely. Harry even Waving his hands and making gestures, he looked particularly carefree.Completely forgot the agreement with myself.The sudden rage swept through his body, and Tom quickly ran down the steps. Many people looked at the abnormal performance of the model student with surprised eyes.Tom now hated the Hogwarts rule of not being able to apparate so much that he wanted to wipe the annoying smile off Harry's face immediately.

Tom pulled out his wand from a long distance, and a red light shot straight from the tip of the wand//To the three talking and laughing, Harry turned around sensitively, and wrapped Hermione and Ron behind the barrier with the amulet .Tom's sudden outburst silenced the surrounding snowball fight crowd, who watched with bated breath, remembering how the two had put each other in St. Mungo's Hospital for nearly a month.They couldn't see the last confrontation with their own eyes, so they wisely chose to step back this time to give them a duel field and fight outside the area.

Harry frowned, he knew why Tom was angry.It's just being let down, Harry doesn't think he's done anything wrong, he never promised to meet him today, Tom's talking to himself is bothering him, hell, he's never been around tall boys one of those people.

"I don't think it's necessary to involve them." Harry pointed his hand in the direction of Ron and Hermione, never taking his eyes off Tom's wand.

"If they are the reason for pestering you, I have the qualifications to teach you a lesson. No one can waste my time." Tom lowered his voice and slowly approached Harry. His posture screamed absolute confidence, which made Harry bear Can't help sniffing.

"Then you shouldn't have approached me in the first place, and this won't be the last time I do that." Harry also took a few steps forward.

"You said it yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tom threw a spell at Harry. The boy dodged sideways and returned the same attack. The spell hit the tree trunk, and the whole snow was covered by his head and fell on the hemispherical barrier.People around admired it, and no one noticed when Tom put on the protective shield.

"I don't like to fight in this kind of situation." Tom released a huge fireball casually. After the high heat quickly melted the snow on the whole field, he approached Harry. The thick mist continued to flow out from the gap, and the soil dried quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I don't like to involve innocent people." Harry tilted his head to signal Ron and Hermione to withdraw from the battle, and the presence of his friends would distract him.

"They are not innocent." Tom cut the mud ball with the wind blade, and sparks splashed all over the venue like rain. Many people exclaimed and patted their clothes on fire, and some who wanted to complain were watching After seeing Tom's fierce expression, they silently chose to shut up, and moved a certain distance to the outer circle.

Harry squinted his eyes and paced around Tom. The latter did the same thing. They only had each other in their eyes. This tense atmosphere made everyone forget to breathe. The overwhelming magical power was entangled together, and the air burst faintly. The sparks clearly spoke of the strength of the two.Harry was the first to move. He summoned a snow-covered figure. In the next second, dense ice edges swept across the field like a machine gun. Tom stopped them in the air with a storm, and the ice edges were vertical. It goes deep into the // ground when it falls.Before Tom could fight back, Harry leaped at him through the gap, and the tall boy dodged sideways. He reached out and grabbed Harry's arm and pushed the boy down. The latter used his strength to spin and swept across Tom's body With both feet, he turned over and pressed him to the ground with the hands that clamped each other.

"Always so confident in your melee ability, my dear?" Tom sneered, "It's a pity that we are wizards and not Muggles."

Harry froze in place, he could feel something wrapping around his body, he lowered his head in surprise, at some point vines broke through the ground and bound his limbs firmly, pulling him away from Tom forcefully.Harry struggled hard, his wrists had been worn out into bruises, and the boy who was still unable to free himself could only watch Tom get up gracefully from the ground and smooth out the wrinkles on his clothes.

Tom tilted his head and smiled smugly. He appreciated Harry's annoyance. Seriously, didn't he think he couldn't help it?Tom has always known that hand-to-hand combat is Harry's strong point. If this only advantage over him is erased, Harry is not much different from an ordinary adult wizard in his opinion.

"Can't move, sweetheart?" Tom put his hand on Harry's cheek provocatively, and the latter turned away, he couldn't help laughing out loud, and then challenged the boy in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "So pathetic , no different from those useless waste."

Harry glanced at the Slytherin who was watching the battle with a mocking smile in the distance, and he said with that offended expression: "This is really insulting me."

"Oh?" Tom raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You said yourself that we are wizards." Harry raised the corner of his mouth, and the next moment the ice edges on the ground wobbled and flew into the air. They quickly turned around and shot towards the two of them like arrows. Tom bent over to avoid it. Watching how the ice edge pierced into the immobile Harry's body.The contemptuous smile on his face became more and more obvious.

"Didn't you guess that I could hide?" Tom looked at the bruised Harry with the eyes of a brainless monster. To be honest, his expectations for Harry disappeared at that moment, maybe he never Overestimated boys to begin with?

"Oh, of course I guessed it, and I know you'll be distracted by it." Harry raised his head and smiled, with blood-stained bangs drooping in front of his eyes, which made Tom feel that the scene was so gorgeous that he couldn't take his eyes off it.He knew that the danger was slowly approaching him, but he couldn't suppress the excitement that burst through his chest.In the blink of an eye, Tom watched with admiration as Harry broke free from the vine cut by the ice edge and fell on himself. The blood dripped on his cheeks. He stuck out his tongue to taste the fishy-sweet liquid, and his eyes grew darker.

Tom kicked Harry away, and the boy jumped back to avoid it. The white light from Harry's wand hit Tom who was too late to get up, and a large amount of blood gushed out from the cut abdomen, soaking the soil on the ground.Tom ignored the excruciating pain and cut Harry's right arm with the same spell.

Hermione held her breath as she watched the confrontation between the two. She thought it was a hunt. Tom's eyes gleamed with a cruel cold light. In fact, as long as there is a sign of trouble, it will launch an attack instantly.And Harry, like a prey trapped in a trap, is a prey that will fight fiercely. He has sharp claws and fangs, and he is vigilant about Tom's every move.No, it's not that simple of a relationship.Harry's posture was also that of a seasoned hunter, his tense muscles and light breathing showed that he was ready at any time.Harry and Tom are more like two hunters, they fight each other until one is the prey.

This tense atmosphere was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm glad you didn't intend to kill each other this time, but Christmas is not the way I remember celebrating it." Madam Pomfrey said in a mocking tone after quickly healing their wounds.

"Bobby is right. I'm curious about what made you guys act like a duel." Mag squinted his eyes and looked at the innocent expressions of the two of them carefully. Oh, don't think this can deceive her, she almost got a point. Winclaw's, for Rowena's sake!

"Tell the truth." McGonagall said seriously.

"Harry let me go," said Tom nonchalantly, as if that explained everything.

Mag's eyes widened and he said in disbelief: "Just because of this?"

"Well, I don't know if he's sick," Harry rolled his eyes. "St. Mungo should have checked his head last time."

Tom crossed his chest and glanced contemptuously at Harry's blood-soaked clothes: "Then they should also check if you have suicidal tendencies, and break free in this way, really?"

"What? You mean that Harry made it himself?" McGonagall examined Harry with shocked eyes, and the boy averted his eyes uneasily. He hoped that his red cheeks were not exposed to the witch's eyes.

Tom sneered.

"This is the most exciting Christmas I've ever heard." Madam Pomfrey interjected, her face was quite ugly, "I can't believe that Minerva called me over to deal with two young men with high hormones, oh, Couldn't it be more interesting to start a duel because of a date being pigeonholed?"

"We're not dating!" / "This has nothing to do with dating!"

Harry and Tom retorted at the same time, and then they stared at each other fiercely.

"Shut up!" Madam Pomfrey yelled, her wonderful vacation was ruined by this incident, and now she had the urge to tie the two of them to the hospital bed, damn it, they had only been out of the hospital for less than half a month moon!The witch took a few deep breaths. The cold air made her calm down a lot. She grabbed the shoulders of the two boys and forced them to face each other. "Now wish each other a Merry Christmas."

There was a moment of silence that greeted her, the witch increased the strength in her hands, and saw the two flinch with satisfaction.

"Merry Christmas," said Harry sullenly.

"I don't know what the point of celebrating this day is."

"what?"

"Why do we celebrate the birthday of a man who can't even protect his own life? Muggles describe him as the son of God, then he should have supreme power, but he is willing to be crucified instead of showing his own strength ability?"

"Jesus obeyed God's will and sacrificed himself to save the common people. His tolerance and mercy are the manifestation of God's love for the world?" Harry replied uncertainly.

"But what did he do? What he advocated was not implemented at all. In the Muggle world, all kinds of discrimination are still prevalent. There are wars and famines everywhere. Some countries even push other countries down under the banner of maintaining world peace. The abyss," Tom stared at Harry's beautiful green eyes, and said in a statement tone, "if my memory is not wrong, there have been many major wars in recent years, and this long-term accumulated resentment is even more difficult to control. Get violent, bloody and brutal — darker and more turbulent than Jesus was."

"If what is recorded in the Bible is true, Jesus ascended to heaven No. 40 days after his resurrection. Stupid human beings are still longing for when he will come back to earth and establish an ideal country. If it is more difficult now than when he first appeared Hell, why is he still sitting at the right hand of God? His so-called love?" Tom continued, "Why should we celebrate his birthday when he didn't do anything?"

Mag couldn't help interrupting this inexplicable discussion: "Just tell me Merry Christmas!"