war and peace

Apparation can only go outside the Hogwarts castle.Sirius had secretly told Harry before he entered the castle that he would come and see him when he got a chance.This gave Harry his first genuine smile since the attempted kidnapping.Professor Roald stood on the steps of the castle watching them say goodbye with no expression on his face.No one noticed that since he appeared today, he has been in an extremely bad mood.

Harry was delighted to find someone waiting for him when he returned to Gryffindor Tower.Tom was sitting in an arm-chair with a book on his knees, and on the table beside him was a plate of rich pastries and warm milk steaming. "Professor Roald sent it from the kitchen." He frowned at Harry's appearance, "Do you want to take a shower first?"

Harry shook his head.He plopped down next to Tom and grabbed a pineapple sandwich and popped it into his mouth. "Had Hedwig reported to you?" He asked while studying the colors of the dim sum. "I interrupted your vacation..."

"It's all trivial." Tom looked at him with a look of indifference, "You were the one who was attacked...why don't you look very worried?"

"What's the use of worrying?" Harry shrugged.Could he tell Tom he'd been through a fight worse than this attempted kidnapping?There was a fine line between life and death, and the attack didn't look like it wanted his life.Besides, if he couldn't do anything about these Death Eaters and was worried to death, what would he do when he faced their leader?He took killing Voldemort as his ultimate goal! "In my opinion, it's not as important as filling your stomach first."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "You're more optimistic than I thought," he said inquiringly. "I thought you'd be nervous at least for a while... After all, didn't you hear that Voldemort is back? Is that why the Death Eaters want to get you?"

Harry almost choked the pie crust out of his mouth. "How do you know?" He stared at Tom. "I haven't said a word yet!"

Tom spread his hands, closed his book and placed it next to Harry's dinner plate. "Any guess can be made. Professor Dumbledore said that Voldemort has returned, so his men probably wanted to capture you in order to gain his trust, but they failed." He leaned forward slightly, "I said Right?"

"Why did Professor Roald tell you everything?" Harry reluctantly admitted that everything Tom said was true, "I was not told the news for sure until tonight." And it was Dumbledore who Piggybacked on the statement to Fudge!

Tom didn't think so. "That's the difference," he said, "Obviously Dumbledore wants to protect you."

"Then I'd rather he tell me." Harry suddenly lost his appetite. "Or does he think it's better for me not to know? I know what I'm supposed to do, and I..." His voice froze in the middle, because what he wanted to say next was "I'm going to kill Voldemort." ".He pressed his chest in his heart, and almost slipped his tongue just now. "I can do something, too."

Tom gave him a deep look.Harry suddenly felt a little guilty, and he took a big gulp of milk. "I heard them talking," he changed the subject. "Except for Nott who seems to be smarter, the others don't know if they know what they are doing."

"Really? Do you know who it is?" Tom frowned. "Aren't they too confident in themselves, just calling each other's names so bluntly?"

"I don't think that's the reason." Harry took another big gulp of milk, which was just the right temperature and made his stomach feel extremely warm. "Because when my godfather and the others arrived later, he didn't call him by name—I mean Nott, he should just think that I'm underage, and testifying against them has no legal effect." Harry looked at Tom with a puzzled look on his face. , so he gave a rough account of what happened tonight.

"But they're not afraid of you telling Dumbledore?" Tom continued sharply.

Harry smiled approvingly at him. "I think they may both know what the other is doing...but they can't do anything without solid evidence. That's probably the case."

"Anyway, that's a bunch of idiots," Tom finally concluded. "Five grown wizards!"

"Maybe," Harry shook his hand hastily, "I wouldn't be able to get my wand back without the help of Dobby—the Malfoy house elf—" It hit the wall and was taken advantage of by Nott, Harry automatically ignored this, "Sirius and the others arrived in time, otherwise the result would be really hard to say."

Tom declined to comment, and Harry's statement certainly didn't sway his point of view, judging by his critical expression.

They went up the spiral staircase together and went back to the bedroom.Harry took a quick shower and flung himself on his four-poster bed.When he touched the soft touch, he forgot that his luggage was still unpacked, and also forgot about the thrilling events of the night, and fell asleep almost immediately.

He came to a very gorgeous place.The stone pillars on both sides extend directly to the gate, and the tops of the pillars are decorated with curly buttercup leaves, and the smooth mirror-like obsidian ground glows with a faint golden light under the flames.A few dragons with eyes wide open protruded from the pointed dome, their bodies swayed, and flames spewed out from their mouths from time to time.With such a degree of intersection and density, people can't help but suspect that passing through such a road must not be something worth looking forward to.

But it seems that everyone has arrived.He retracted his gaze and looked at the round hall in front of him.Above is an open-air domed vault, painted with intricate symbols and images.Stained glass windows adorned in a circle, from the wall under the dome to a height of about ten feet above the ground.Bits of starlight shone down, reflecting a circle of people in black robes below.They all buried their masked heads, and no one dared to look directly at him.There was a dead silence all around, except for the sound of the fire dragon, there was no other movement.

"I know you're all surprised," he began, marveling at the deep elegance of his voice. "Why did it take so long for me to summon you, didn't I? I wondered," he said softly, looking around at the hoods one by one. Ask, "I've given you enough time, haven't I?"

He stood up and walked around a golden coiled dragon candlestick in front of him. The sound of footsteps echoed in this huge circular space. "What I said last time, I think you all remember it?"

A man on the right suddenly came out, and he fell to his knees. "Master," he said, trying to hide the tremor in his voice, "it was originally tonight that we were going to present you with a gift... We believe that it will perfectly meet your requirements... However, someone has spoiled it... ..."

He nodded slightly, motioning for the man to continue talking.But a wave of anger rose from his heart...he already knew...he wants to see how these people justify themselves...

"It turned out that everything went well...we have caught him...but a house-elf helped him and untied my Binding Curse and Tongue-Locking Curse..." The voices of the people on the ground became smaller and smaller.

He sneered. "Oh?" he asked softly. "A house-elf? Huh?"

The man stared straight down, as if expecting an instant crack in the floor so that he could slip through. "Yes..." he said grudgingly, trying not to notice the snickers and discussions around him, "the Malfoy house-elf."

Another hooded figure had stepped forward. "It's the subordinates who can't teach well," Lucius Malfoy's voice was eager and fast, "but I can swear, master, I never asked Dobby to do it..."

Two jeers drowned out his voice. "Not you, Malfoy?" said a large Death Eater. "I've never heard that house-elves can disobey their master's orders!" There were muffled echoes from around.

"I don't know..." Lucius Malfoy almost nodded his head to the ground, "I will definitely teach it well..."

"Oh? Do you tell it to wash the lid of the teacup? Or let it pinch its own ear with tongs? Next, it will still interfere in the next event, and you will continue to educate?" Another big man said in a low voice, not concealing his tone Live gloating.

Lucius Malfoy gave them both a hard look.

"We're talking about another topic now," he said softly, walking slowly up to Malfoy, who immediately dropped his head. "Nott, keep talking." He glanced at the two big men behind him, and they immediately fell silent.

"The people from the Order of the Phoenix arrived later, and we were forced to retreat..." Nott leaned down, and if you looked carefully, you would find that he was shaking, as if he was waiting for a Cruciatus curse.

"Finished?" he asked, looking at the person on the right and nodded slowly.

He circled in the middle of the rotunda. "I hate losing..." he said slowly, with no emotion in his tone, but several people shuddered involuntarily. "Especially something dishonorable like this, running away with its tail between its legs..."

There was a slight chuckle and rustling, clearly a small and premeditated event.Hijacking the savior, if you succeed, you will probably immediately be promoted to the celebrity in front of the Dark Lord, but now you fail, I don't know how many people will secretly laugh.He glanced around coldly, and the voice disappeared immediately: "Nort, what else do you want to say?"

"We will definitely make a more comprehensive plan next time, master!" Nott almost said this in a hurry.

"Next time?" he repeated coldly, his anger rising again. "Do you think that Potter will be foolishly unprepared next time, or that the Order of the Phoenix won't send more people after this incident?" He circled around the kneeling man, "Or do you think that without Lucius? house-elf, and you will succeed?"

Nott could not speak, the hem of his robes trembling.

He flicked his robe and strode forward. "If I were you," he said with disgust, "you should determine which partners are reliable before you act, instead of grinding your guns before the battle or only doing a disservice." His sharp eyes swept over the others, "not like now , are watching you bear their mistakes for them..."

A large Death Eater immediately knelt down, as did the smaller one beside him. "We are terrified, master..."

He frowned. "Crabbe, Goyle, didn't you two have a lot of fun when you laughed at Malfoy just now? What about now? Huh? Do you expect me not to know who disgraced me?" At the end, the tone of his voice could be crushed. .

There was the sound of two heavy objects falling to the ground.A group of Death Eaters moved aside one after another, because the two were rolling on the ground with pained expressions, but there was no sound. "This is interesting? Huh?" No one saw when he took out the wand, and the other three people who knew the situation looked at them in shock, "Don't try to deceive the Dark Lord..."

"Nott, stand up." He put his wand back into his robes, let Crabbe and Goyle continue to roll, and walked back to the dragon candlestick. "Remember, stay in the Ministry of Magic, this is your duty, don't worry about anything else."

Nott's eyes widened behind the mask.The Dark Lord... forgave him?But this is obviously not the case, because he pulled out a smile, and anyone who saw it wished they hadn't seen it: "You think it's a good idea to steal the savior? Huh?" He didn't wait for Nott to answer, and turned directly to That circle, "You all think so? Regret that you didn't take the lead?"

The Death Eaters shivered collectively.

"Listen to me now, keep your ears open," his voice was like a winter wind, "Potter is mine, and no one can touch him." He flicked his wand quickly Suddenly, Nott, McNeill, and Travers all fell to the ground, seemingly suffering the same punishment as Crabbe and Goyle.

"I will do this myself," his anger subsided a little, "if someone does it again...the end will not be so simple."