war and peace

December brings more snow and an avalanche of homework for fifth graders.Tom is a prefect, which means he has a lot more extra work than anyone else: supervising the decoration of the castle (hanging weeping ribbons on the fir trees and keeping troublesome Peeves away), watching the class The first and second years, who had to stay indoors because of the cold rain outside (fortunately, the Slytherins were all obedient to Tom), took turns patrolling the corridors with Argus Filch ( Harry has to say that, in terms of paranoia, the young Filch is no different than 50 years later), and so on.

There was another Quidditch match before Christmas, and Harry, uncharacteristically, wasn't looking forward to it.Because when the first Quidditch match was held this semester, he rushed to watch it excitedly, only to find that the players were playing copiously, and there were very few students in the stands.To use their description of this, it is "you can fly on a broom, and apparation is more convenient and quicker at critical moments"...

Well, once again Harry is aware of the times difference.In a time when both Muggles and wizards were at war, it's not surprising that people weren't interested in things like Quidditch matches.Headmaster Armando Dippet once wanted to cancel the game altogether, but Professor Dumbledore insisted on leaving an activity for the students to "breathe the air freely", and the Quidditch game was able to continue (although Ha Leigh thinks that few people really care if it works).Then Harry thought that the reason why Voldemort was not proficient in broomsticks later was that apart from his not wanting to rely on external forces, the influence of the situation was also a factor that could not be ignored.

As the holiday draws closer, there are fewer students in the castle, and there are only a handful of students who stay in school—Harry was surprised to find that he and Tom (Slytherin) were the only ones at the dinner on Christmas Eve. It’s true that the students who wanted to stay in school were driven back by Tom, and those from other colleges, presumably their families would not miss the rare opportunity to meet during the war).There are two tall coniferous trees in the auditorium, with small golden balls and shiny icicles hanging on them, and a beautiful little fairy made of candy on the top, and the wings made of transparent sugar pieces are still slightly fan.And the dishes on the table were also extremely rich, and Harry guessed that the house-elves at Hogwarts must have tried their best.

At the dinner table, Professor Slughorn still praised Tom, because he was rooted in the library, and there was no day when he would not go. "It's Christmas break, Tom," he said, smiling, holding a half-bitten piece of candied fruit in his hand. "I don't think my old bones worked as hard as you did!" A college dean glanced at it, and it was clear that it was an attitude of showing off.

Tom pursed his lips and smiled, looking a little reserved, and didn't say anything.Harry peeked at his expression, and felt that his size was just right, not to embarrass Professor Slughorn, nor to offend other professors by being too complacent.

"Harry, hard work is a good thing...but as Tom's roommate, sometimes you should remind him that he needs to rest, huh? Both of you are too thin..." Professor Slughorn turned to remind Harry.

I am being cared for by the way... Harry thought silently, then nodded like Tom and remained silent.

Professor Slughorn seemed satisfied at last.Then he turned to Dumbledore and started talking about the Christmas presents he had received this year. "A gift basket of sweets, huge...Chardonnay brandy from St. Aubin, you know, from Burgundy in France. It's not easy to get such a bottle in these days. ..." Speaking of these, his eyebrows were beaming, and his ginger mustache trembled.

Harry had just brought himself a small plate of buttered peas when he heard Principal Dippett's voice: "It's true that they are too thin... Come on, you all eat more, today is Christmas ..." And with a flick of his wand, a mountain of roast meat and turkey piled up on his and Tom's plates.

Tom is really popular, which proves his charm once again.Seeing the same loving expressions on the faces of the other professors, Harry didn't forget to thank him hurriedly.Then he reached for another plate of marmalade and shoved it in Tom's direction.As far as Harry knew, Voldemort's taste was bland, but he would definitely finish eating the food he didn't like in front of all the professors.

Looking at the plate of yellow-orange-orange sweet and sour jam, Tom's hands paused.He glanced back at Harry, who was already working on his share of meat.He withdrew his gaze, lowered his head slightly, and a smile flashed in his black eyes that he didn't even notice.

Dumbledore listened to Slughorn's ramblings about Christmas, and slowly cut the sausage under his hands, but kept his eyes on Harry and Tom's movements.Of course they didn't escape him, and he was a little taken aback: it looked like Harry was telling the truth, that he really knew what he was doing, and it seemed...effective.

To be honest, the last time Harry rejected him so bluntly was really unexpected.And besides that, he showed a degree of understanding of what he was doing behind the scenes.At the same time, he also produced a fake file that was basically perfect. If he hadn't gone to France to verify it, he would definitely not have revealed it.Dumbledore was quite skeptical that Harry chose France because he had fully considered the current war situation—this greatly reduced the possibility of him revealing his secrets.

It all goes to show that Harry is not your average fifth grader at all.He refused to tell himself the truth, but just looking into his clear and determined emerald eyes, he knew that Harry was actually a man of firm conviction and unshakable conviction.Obviously a person whose origin is a mystery, but when it comes to Harry, Dumbledore finds himself naturally inclined to the idea that "he can be trusted".

Dumbledore got himself another toffee finger.Harry has a fascinating trait: Gryffindor's enthusiasm and Slytherin's shrewd mind at the same time (Voldemort: Dumbledore, are you finally old and dim? Harry just learned a little bit of me! ), sounds contradictory, but to be honest, Harry is not at all inconsistent.Maybe he can really deal with the indifferent and scheming Tom Riddle...Harry is right, he and Gellert on the other side of the channel need to worry...

Slughorn next to him had already begun to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of brandy.Dumbledore closed his eyes slowly.When it was opened again, no one noticed that there was such a trace of sadness inside.

After the dinner, Harry went back to the dormitory early to sleep.But not long after he lay down, he woke up again from a familiar dream.Old Muggle buildings...the sky with snowflakes...the cold and hard stone steps...the empty streets...the windows with yellow lights...the air with the smell of food...the feeling of hunger... …Harry was sure he'd had a similar dream before, but when he opened his eyes and saw a black velvet bed curtain trimmed with gold - when he was spending Christmas at 12 Grimmauld Place in his first year...

Harry blinked his eyes, blinked hard again, and finally matched the scene in the dream: it was Christmas in Muggle London, to be precise, the place was near the orphanage where Tom stayed... No wonder he had such a dream!That was Voldemort's memory, and he realized now that one of those old Muggle buildings was an orphanage!Harry rolled over and sat up, looking at the bed opposite: it was empty.Damn, doesn't Tom have to sleep?Harry got up quickly and started pulling the sweater on himself.Based on his guess, Tom was probably in the Chamber of Secrets.

It was getting dark, and there was still heavy snow outside.As soon as he reached the corner of the hall on the first floor, a gust of cold wind blew over with snow particles, and Harry couldn't help tightening his collar.A thick layer of snow had accumulated on the field, as did the top of the tower in the distance.Harry was about to go upstairs when he suddenly noticed a dark figure on the steps at the edge of the field.Moving closer, Harry saw that it was Tom.He was standing there, looking up to the sky, motionless.

Sleepless in the middle of the night and ran to the courtyard to watch the snow scene?

Harry was almost helpless. "Tom," he called, walking over, "you can't always be like this..." Then he saw that Tom was covered with snowflakes, some of which had melted on him and hung in little icicles. "How long have you been standing here? You're almost turning into a snowman..." Harry tried to pull him under the eaves, but he met a bone-chilling hand.Now he was really shocked: "For Merlin's sake! Do you want to freeze yourself?"

Tom's eyeballs that were originally fixed in the sky rolled, but his body still didn't move.

"Ice melts! Waterproof and moistureproof! Warm like spring!" Harry saw that he couldn't reason with Tom, so he pulled out his wand directly.Then he tried the temperature on Tom's hand. The snow had melted and dried, but it was still cold.It is estimated that he is not far from freezing, so even the effect of the warming spell did not work so quickly. "You should be sick if this goes on... Shall we go back?" Harry asked tentatively.Tom didn't look quite right tonight, as his dream had shown.

The black-haired, black-eyed boy turned his head to look at him, but remained silent.

Harry sighed inwardly, then took off his robe and let Tom wrap it around him.When tying the neckline, Harry was dismayed to find that both the lurking Tom and the young Voldemort were half a head taller than him...but Harry finally helped him put the coat on Well, then cast a warming charm on himself, and stood side by side on the steps with Tom looking at the snowflakes.

Presumably none of them had a decent Christmas as kids, not even one.Feeling the cold wind slapping mercilessly on his face, Harry couldn't help thinking.When he was a kid at his aunt's house, a small biscuit would have been a good Christmas present.Needless to say, Dudley's gift is completely incomparable.

Perhaps his happiness relative to Voldemort is that he lived in a peaceful and economically prosperous age, there was no world economic crisis in his childhood, and there was no World War II in his youth.His parents died protecting him, and Voldemort's parents abandoned him one after another.Compared with the thin soup and water in the orphanage, although he didn't have enough to eat, he still had some bread to satisfy his hunger—at least he didn't have the experience of still being hungry on Christmas Eve.Dudley was always bullying him too, and there were more Muggle kids in the orphanage.Those cold contempt and hostility are sometimes more hurtful than cursing...

So they are alike, but end up being different people.

When Harry came back to his senses, a layer of snow had also accumulated around his feet.Then he discovered that the person next to him was still motionless, and the temperature was still freezing.Harry couldn't help getting a little angry, and he pulled the other's exposed hand, "I say! You must go back to the fireplace in the cellar, and you can't..." Before he finished speaking, he felt the hand He moved slightly, gripping himself tightly.Harry froze for a moment, then saw those black jade-like eyes that looked even deeper in the night, and finally did what he had wanted to do from the beginning but never dared to do: stretched out his arms, and stretched out his arms It is the person in the memory who is in his arms.

Tom Riddle looked down at the head on his chest.Harry told him to go back, dried his clothes, took off his own coat... He was worried that he was freezing, he was worried that he was sick, he was worried that he was unhappy... No one had ever cared so much about him, not because of him Not because of his handsome appearance, not because of his ingenious flattery, but because of him... Every year from Christmas to New Year, his mood is quite low.Previously, it was just speculation about his life experience, but now knowing that his biological parents abandoned him and left him, he felt that his heart had been frozen into ice.

But now, there was a warm feeling coming from the place where the head rested.The pulse and heartbeat are slowly recovering, why are they beating so loudly?He broke away from Harry's hand (the latter murmured dissatisfiedly, and simply hugged his waist more tightly), untied the robe Harry had put on him, and then covered them both in it, hugging him the person in front of you.Gryffindor lions always have such a reckless energy... Tom felt that the person in his arms trembled at his movements, but he didn't want to let go at all.He gently rubbed his chin back and forth against the other's hair, feeling that the warming spell seemed to be finally working.

The two of them stood there, snowflakes whirled and fell nearby, and it was dark and quiet all around.In the Transfiguration professor's office on the second floor, the curtains fell silently.