the Gambler

If anything lifted Harry's mood, it was undoubtedly the second lesson with Headmaster Dumbledore.But that turned out to be very wrong.

It wasn't cold outside Hogwarts, but the crackling matches in the headmaster's room were still burning in the fireplace.Dumbledore had apparently just returned too, his traveling cloak was dripping with droplets, and even his hair and beard were damp.Noticing Harry's focused gaze, Dumbledore waved his wand, and the effect of the Drying Charm was outstanding, and the old man now seemed to be nestled in a warm room.

Where did Dumbledore go?

"I believe you are aware of my absence these days," said Dumbledore calmly, seeing Harry's interest, and he added, "No, I can't tell you what I've been up to just yet, since This class is very short, and one of the memories I was going to show you has been briefly skipped, so I will roughly recapitulate."

The headmasters in all the portraits lifted their spirits. Although they still pretended to be dozing off, they obviously moved closer to the frame.

Dumbledore didn't care, he pulled out his chair and sat down, his good hand kept tapping on the table, as if he was thinking about how to tell a story.Harry waited patiently for about half a minute before he began to talk: "When I first met Tom, he was only 11 years old, and I was the professor responsible for guiding him into the wizarding world. As I said earlier, he was born In the Muggle London Orphanage, I learned from Mrs. Cole that he was a special boy. There were many vicious accidents around him, and all orphans who hurt or tried to hurt Tom were punished," said Dumbledore Looking at the suspicion in Harry's eyes, she nodded, "That's right, I thought so too about the magical accidents that often happen to underage wizards. But Mrs. Cole suspected that Tom took two of the orphans to a cave by the sea to do the same. What, because they're not quite right when they come back."

"He was consciously taking revenge on others." Harry immediately knew what Dumbledore meant.

"That's right, unlike ordinary wizard boys, he has shown extremely high talent since he was a child, and he can manipulate according to his own wishes. Tom has always thought that he is different. After knowing that he is a wizard, his joy is even more obvious. "Dumbledore fell into the memory, "I noticed in the short time I dealt with him that he was a clever and alert boy, and he could be very charming in the face of his 'kind'. But the dark side of him made I couldn't ignore it, so I decided to keep an eye on him."

"What dark side, sir?"

"He likes to take other people's things as his own. It doesn't need to be precious. He just enjoys the pleasure of depriving others of their happiness. He has stolen a lot of orphans' things." Dumbledore waved his wand to open the cabinet, and the Pensieve dangled He flew over the table with a dull thud, "Besides, he hated his own name and despised Muggles. Tom hates being associated with mundane things, I think you remember this—" He Pull out the diary that Harry destroyed in the second grade from the drawer, "The fact that I didn't tell you at the time, I will tell you today. What exists in this diary is not just memory, he is the carrier of part of Tom's soul." .”

Harry's eyes widened in horror, staring in disbelief at what was in front of him.

"You should realize that Tom was only 16 years old at the time, and he had already given up his name and used the name Voldemort to control the Slytherins. He had no friends and didn't need friends," Dumbledore was silent for a while, "I I don't know how he managed to split the soul, it's pretty advanced black magic."

"But why did he split his soul?" Harry couldn't help interrupting Dumbledore.

"Immortality, Harry," said the old man with a pensive expression. "In fact, that's why I need Horace. He once told young Tom about the method of splitting souls. I guess that's why he gave Voldemort the first chance. He thought it was his own fault, so he chose to escape and even changed his memory."

"You can't convince him to hand over the real memory?" Harry frowned.

"I need you to get his memory, that may be the key to our defeating Voldemort. Harry, this is a difficult task, but I believe you can do it." Dumbledore's eyes flashed behind the half-moon lenses, "He gave you an Elixir of Felicity. The Potion of Luck is a nice thing."

Harry nodded. Anyway, he didn't think about how to use this potion. According to Hermione, the so-called good luck of the Felix Elixir is just to improve the original ability. Doesn't work.Harry had wanted to keep it against Voldemort, but now that he has given up on it, maybe it will come in handy sooner.Slughorn was interested in himself, and he had a crush on Lily, and maybe Harry could take advantage of that, especially now that Tom had fallen out with him, and he had a lot of time to induce Slughorn surrenders the real memory.

"I guess you already have plans?"

Harry told Dumbledore frankly about his plan, and the old man nodded approvingly: "It seems that you have benefited from getting along with Tom, and I am glad that you have started to use Slytherin's shrewd characteristics to think about problems, oh, don't So surprised, boy, the Sorting Hat told me that he once planned to put you in Slytherin. You can be very smart if you want to. The OWLs test results last semester also show this. Many professors talked to me Thank you for your progress, congratulations."

"Thank you, sir."

"Okay, that's the end of the chat. Now we need to proceed to the second story today. I asked around and found out that Tom is fascinated by his own life experience. The sorting hat seems to tell him that he is a descendant of the great Slytherin. This It made him even more arrogant. He used this identity and his extraordinary intelligence to win over many people," Dumbledore nodded, "They caused many incidents at Hogwarts, but no one came forward to testify. This may be Tom's powerful Leadership. Yes, a large percentage of these people would later form the rudiments of the Death Eaters."

Dumbledore took out a small bottle of silver liquid from his arms and poured it into the Pensieve. He reached out and stirred it a few times before explaining, "This was when Tom was 16 years old. Melon got the relevant memories, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would actually talk about Tom Riddle Sr. and the Gunters, who were so secretive about the incident that summer."

Harry bent his body towards the stone basin, his head plunged into the icy liquid, his body twirled, and as soon as his toes touched the ground, he appeared in front of a dilapidated house, the whole room was very dirty, the ceiling and Thick cobwebs hung over the tables and stools, but it was young Tom and dispirited Morfin Gaunt that really caught his eye.After a brief conversation filled with disgust, the memory faded, and Harry looked at Dumbledore in bewilderment.

"What happened next, sir?"

"There was a murder at Riddle's old house. The Muggles were very nervous until the Ministry of Magic intervened in the investigation. They soon found out that it was the killing curse. So they found the only wizard in this village. The most hated person in the Dell family." Dumbledore said, "Morfin didn't even need a veritaserum to confess to his crimes, he could even tell details that only the murderer knew, and his wand was exactly the one in the murder. The Dell family's weapon, so the Ministry threw him into Azkaban."

"But you don't think so. I think it was Tom who really killed the Riddles." Harry felt as if someone was strangling his neck, and he almost choked out this conclusion.

"Yes, your observation is very keen." Dumbledore looked at Harry with sympathy in his eyes, "Morfin died in prison, the only strange thing is that he was very careful when he was arrested." Annoyed, muttering about losing his family heirloom," Dumbledore put the ring inlaid with black stones on the table, "it is this Gaunt ring, and it is also the ring that appeared on Tom's hand later, which confirms my The speculation. Tom Riddle killed his father's family and planted the crime on his uncle. He implanted a false memory in Morfin, which is why the memory suddenly disappeared."

Tom really killed his own father.

The last expectation was also strangled, and Harry felt cold in his extremities, so Tom who said that in the Chamber of Secrets meant it seriously.Aware of Harry's pale face, Dumbledore waved him to rest. The moment Harry opened the door to the principal's room, he heard the old man's voice from behind:

"Next class, I'll tell you another story."

Harry pressed his forehead against the cold window, he was so anxious now that he didn't want to see Tom's face at all.Maybe he was also confused by the other party's appearance, and he frowned thinking how long he hadn't seen the boy as Voldemort anymore, Harry let out a long sigh.

He didn't know what to do, Tom was Voldemort, or was slowly becoming Voldemort, if he hadn't come to this time and space, he would have murdered the last of his relatives by now.The Myrtle affair was clearly on the horizon, and Tom had never felt guilty about his crimes, so how could he expect her to change?So unrealistic.

That's why he was hiding in the Room of Requirement, Tom couldn't find himself.Harry sighed again.Waving his arms, a series of numbers appeared in the air.He bent down to pick up his schoolbag, and as soon as he stepped out of the door, someone waiting in the corner grabbed his arm.

"Tom, can't you do something else worthwhile? Don't waste your precious time stalking."

"I don't think it's stalking, it just happens to be here, little cake."

"For me it's stalking. Also, stop using that ridiculous nickname." Harry was tired of those flirting tricks, and maybe he was nothing more than a challenging target in Tom's eyes.

Undefeated by Harry's resistance, Tom slowly passed his ten fingers through Harry's and held it: "I prefer to say that it was fate that brought us together, honey."

"Fate has told us to kill each other. A little shame?" Harry stomped impatiently.

"It's cruel, but I've never believed in prophecy stuff. Shame won't get me there, my love."

"Obviously I still have this thing, so please get out of here."

"Try it, Snowbubble?" Tom said slowly, approaching Harry.

"Just shut your mouth, I said where do these weird nicknames come from? You don't always use this to call your lover, it's so sticky, no wonder you can't find a girlfriend."

"I didn't know you cared so much about my private life. In fact, these are what Abraxas used to call girls. I just borrowed them. By the way, to answer your question, I haven't formally dated anyone. They almost followed each other. Climb into my bed. If you want to know, I can tell I've fucked Walburga and Abraxas."

"That works the same charm to get rid of your excess hormones," said Harry fumingly, not in the mood to play games with Tom at all right now.

"Are you jealous, dear?"

"Be less narcissistic."

"Why not follow your heart, you want me, Harry, as much as I want you."

"Whatever you think, Tom, I need to leave." Tom's insinuation was so explicit, so obvious that Harry couldn't help the embarrassment that threatened to show on his face.He was a little hypoxic, and the comfortable breath from the other person slowly slipped into his nose, that familiar smell——

The Love Potion Harry smelled in Slughorn's Potions class.