[HP] Dearest Enemy

Brussels is known as the "Capital of Europe", and a large number of wizards gather here.Harry intended to stay here for a few more days, and Tom had no objection.Where there is light, there must be shadow, and this beautiful city is no exception.Tom easily found the dark wizard gathering area in Brussels, and after a few trips without telling Harry, he gained a lot.Besides the Cutting Edge Dark Arts Revealed which Tom wanted, he got a couple of other books.It is not difficult to hide these books, but it is completely impossible to study them under Harry's nose.But it didn't bother him, and Tom thought of a solution on the way back to the house.

The method is very simple, that is, he proposes to Harry that he will continue to study the curse instead of Harry.Tom now has a certain understanding of the principle of the curse, and with the previous improvements to the potion, coupled with the current relationship between the two, Harry has no reason to refuse his request.

After returning from Flamel's house, Harry was in a bad mood, but he didn't want to worry Tom too much, so Harry didn't show anything.It is simply impossible to study black magic without being able to use magic.But if he asked Tom to help and let him take over the research, it would be a happy thing for Harry and Tom.Tom had shown himself to be adept at using the Dark Arts, a type of magic that he himself was very interested in.

Harry was hesitating, he still didn't dare to let Tom get in touch with black magic too much, Tom's astonishing ability to learn and understand surprised him.Harry knew that Slytherins like to use any means to achieve their goals, and many extremely talented wizards work with darkness.Most of the deepest black magic is linked to evil, and possesses very powerful power because it is free from the shackles of morality.But this kind of power can corrupt people's hearts, and Harry is completely uncertain how far Tom can stick to his bottom line.Voldemort's crazily chasing after power is not just caused by his childhood experience. Chasing power is almost the instinct of every ambitious man.

Because of this, Harry absolutely could not compromise with Tom.

"No, Tom. I don't agree." Harry's stubbornness made Tom feel deeply frustrated.

After everything he'd been through, Harry still didn't want to expose him to the Dark Arts too much.Tom pursed his lips and went to the window to breathe heavily.Harry wasn't cut out to be a researcher, as Tom discovered while helping him comb through material related to the curse.Harry lacked the keen intuition to discover the key points of the problem. Although he could judge the correct direction, he was not careful enough in details.Tom speculates that this is probably the fundamental reason why Harry has been researching time magic with little success.Judging from Harry's class, he was more suited to be a leader than a scholar.

Of course Harry could see his real purpose in wanting to study the curse.After all, Tom felt that Harry still didn't believe in his abilities.The thought made him feel like a fire was burning in his chest.Even at this point, Harry was still unwilling to give him complete trust.

"You don't believe me." Tom stood at the window and turned his back to the green-eyed man sitting on the sofa, "You never believed me."

Harry had no way of refuting it.

"What happened in the future?" Tom turned to look at him. "It made you so distrustful of the people around you. Have you ever trusted anyone?"

It took Harry a long time to speak: "I trusted Alex, but I couldn't tell him everything either. I'm sorry, Tom, I can't."

Harry buried his face in his palms, and Tom watched him for a moment, then turned his head back to face the window.He had thought it would never happen again between himself and Harry, but he was wrong.The gap between the two is revealed as soon as the honey-sweet love subsides a little.The initial lingering and passion now seems like an illusion deliberately created by the two to please each other, and there is no truth at all.

That night Tom kept looking through the materials the two had collected, and went back to sleep very late.Harry's eyes were closed on the side of the bed with his back to him, but Tom knew he wasn't fast asleep.He lay down on the bed and wrapped his arms around Harry's body, pressing his face against his shoulder.

"Harry, do you love me?" Tom asked softly.

Seconds later Tom heard Harry's muffled reply, "Love."

"If I really become the kind of person you worry about, will you leave me?"

Harry rolled over and stared at Tom's dark face.Tom reached out and stroked his cheek.

"I...don't know." Harry finally lowered his eyes.

With a feeling of boredom in his chest, Tom touched Harry's forehead, and without saying goodnight, turned over and closed his eyes.

"Tom." Harry called softly, but the people beside him didn't move, as if they didn't hear them at all.

"I don't want to see you like that, and I don't want to think about it," Harry whispered. "If you're like that, then I..."

Then I will have to kill you, that's what Harry swore in front of Dumbledore.

"Why are you so sure?" Tom turned back angrily. "I just want to know."

Harry sighed: "Can you guarantee that your mind will not be corrupted by those evil things? Can you guarantee that you will not be confused by power after possessing absolute power? Pull it back, Tom." And I don't have that much time to look at you all the time.

Tom snorted, "Just because of this?" He rolled over and sat up, propped his body on his hands, and looked down at the green-eyed man, "Harry, I'm not a child anymore, I won't be so uncontrollable. Why? Why is it so difficult for you to trust me once in the past? You can guide me and prevent me from going astray, don’t you even have this confidence in yourself? "

"I really haven't." Harry put his palm on his cheek, "You once said that you would not give up your ideals for me. Although you are here now, your ideals have never changed. You long for Power and prestige, black magic is the shortcut that gets you to power, that's why you went to work for Borgin-Bock. Am I right?"

Tom frowned slightly: "What's wrong with chasing power and honor?"

"I'm worried that power will blind you." Harry said softly. "There are too many examples in both the wizarding world and the Muggle world. You are too young, Tom."

"Harry, I don't want to hear you say this." Tom leaned down and kissed his earlobe, "I just want to do what I want to do, I want to help you, it's good for both of us. Don't be so insecure about yourself , Harry. If anyone can stop me when I go astray, it's you."

Harry sighed barely audibly, running his fingertips through his short hair.

"If you're still worried, I can swear to you." Tom said solemnly, looking Harry in the eyes.

The two looked at each other for a while, Harry shook his head, and took the black-eyed youth into his arms: "No, don't do it, I agree." You don't have to carry those heavy things like me, that's enough .

After successfully convincing Harry, Tom took over the research on the curse.It was only then that he discovered how much research Harry had done to study the curse, and what he had sorted out before was just the simplest part.Tom quickly sorted out all the clues under Harry's explanation, and a few days later he came to the same conclusion as Harry: the curse on Harry's back could not be removed without the cursed object in the first place.

Tom also noticed Dumbledore's mistake in timing.The mark of the curse will indeed become deeper due to the loss of vitality, but the curse itself will not stop the corrosion of vitality because of not using magic.Tom didn't know that Harry already knew that he had less than three years to live, and he didn't know how to tell Harry the shocking and depressing news.

Harry couldn't just die like this.So is there any method in black magic that can help him extend his life?Tom began to rummage through all the information he could find, almost to the point of forgetting to sleep and eat.

Harry was getting more and more worried as Tom got book after book about the Dark Arts from nowhere.Although I promised Tom to let him investigate, some black magic is still not suitable for him to know.Harry flipped through all the books Tom had read, and finally found the book "Secrets of the Cutting-Edge Dark Arts", and his heart skipped a beat.You should trust him, Harry told himself, and since you've promised Tom, you should trust the boy.Harry finally put the book back where it belonged, but still felt uneasy.

Tom didn't pay attention to Harry's worried look, all his energy was taken up by research these days.Some theories in those books completely overturned his previous cognition and certain concepts of magic. What attracted him was no longer the method to save Harry, but the black magic itself.Of course, the purpose of in-depth research on black magic is still to save Harry, but the direction of research is not limited to curses, and Tom's views also begin to show some extreme tendencies when discussing with himself.Harry reminded Tom not to forget his bottom line, but Tom thought Harry was making a big fuss and didn't take Harry's warning to heart.

Pandora's box has been opened.

"Harry, do you know about Horcruxes?"

Harry was having his afternoon tea when Tom asked the question.He raised his head in astonishment and looked at the black-eyed young man who asked him a question, and forgot to answer for a moment.

"Harry," Tom raised an eyebrow slightly, "you know?"

"Why do you ask that?" Harry asked eagerly, putting down his glass.

"I've been looking up magic related to the soul recently." Tom replied frankly, handing the book in his hand to Harry, "Horcruxes are mentioned here, but there is no explanation, I guess it should have something to do with soul magic. "

"Soul, time and life are questions that can never be answered." Harry forced himself to remain calm. "Why are you studying these?"

"Just curious." Tom replied casually. He didn't want to tell Harry why he wanted to study souls, because that would make Harry ask him about his three years of life. "You must know what a Horcrux is, so Can you tell me?"

"How much do you know?" Harry asked back, feeling his mouth go dry.

"How to split a soul and make a Horcrux," Tom answered frankly, "and how to put a split soul back together."

"So, what else do you want to know?" Harry stared at him closely.

"What will happen if the soul is split?" Tom replied, "and whether the soul can be split a few more times."

Harry's pupils constricted suddenly, and he stood up involuntarily.Tom looked at him calmly.

"You want to make a Horcrux?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"Of course I don't." Tom spread his hands. "You're too nervous, Harry. I'm just curious. I know it's common sense that a broken soul is never as good as a whole soul."

Harry observed Tom's expression. Tom looked a little helpless, and handed him the heavy book in his hand: "This is very comprehensive. You must know Horcruxes, so can you answer my question now?"

It seems that he is superstitious, Tom knows the importance of a complete soul.Harry took a deep breath and sat back again: "Splitting your soul will make your soul extremely unstable, and it will affect your thinking, personality and many other aspects. Only the most evil and stupid wizards will do this. Splitting the soul is an extremely evil act, and splitting the soul several times means that your sanity will no longer exist. A wizard who splits the soul is not worthy of being a human being, he can only be regarded as an evil creature."

Tom frowned tightly.

"You'd better not think about Horcruxes," said Harry irresistibly. "I won't allow that to happen."

Tom said nothing, lost in thought.

Towards the end of the summer, Tom began to go out frequently, sometimes early in the morning and not returning until nearly midnight.The two had been staying in Nuremberg for almost a month at this time. In addition to sorting out the research results along the way, they also needed to earn a little money for the next travel expenses.At first, Harry didn't care about Tom going out, because he knew that Tom didn't want to waste time. However, when Harry woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night one night and found that Tom still hadn't come back, he began to suspect Tom's motives for wandering outside.Recently, he heard from the Muggles living nearby that someone was missing. For some reason, Harry always unconsciously associated these disappearances with Tom.

However, after that night, Tom went home much earlier, and the time spent thinking at the desk became longer and longer.Disappearances still happened from time to time. Harry knew that it was too easy for a wizard to hide evidence, and it was not easy to catch evidence.But there was nothing unusual about Tom's performance. He would still laugh and talk to Harry about new things, take a walk or chat with Harry, but none of these could relieve Harry's nervousness.