the Gambler

The trial went unexpectedly smoothly, and Harry couldn't help but sneer at Fudge's livid face, obviously disappointed by Tom's confession.Harry had never found Fudge so annoying, he had always been kind to himself, and he was disappointed that the wizard was plotting to cast Harry out with such a fake look on his face.

The next time passed in the blink of an eye. Except for the controversy brought about by the intensified "Daily Prophet" outside, life has always been ordinary, which is very rare for Harry.He and the Weasleys even played a small Quidditch match at the Burrow, only to discover that Tom was not very good at flying, and the latter dismissively stated that this kind of mindless sport has no meaning for his life plan.

The day before boarding the Hogwarts Express, Hermione also appeared in Grimmauld Place, and she gave Ron a cheek kiss, which made the blush on his face never fade away.Ginny told Harry in a low voice that they had been communicating every day before coming here, and that they were not far from confessing to each other. Although they were as slow as Ron, they might not be able to make up their minds for a while.It was hard for others to see it. Harry had always known that his two friends had some chemistry, and he was glad that their relationship had finally taken a step forward.

The crowd went directly to platform nine and three-quarters of the port key. The twins waved goodbye as soon as they landed and went to find their friends. Ginny hesitated for a while before leaving, and finally looked at Harry with affectionate eyes, which made the boy a little terrified. .The remaining four people quickly found the car at the back of the train. Fortunately, no one has found it yet.

After a while, the siren sounded to remind everyone to get on the train. Through the window, Harry saw many little carrot heads rushing into the train with big smiles on their faces.It looks a little silly, did he himself look like this before?Harry wrinkled his nose and turned his head to look into the box. Hermione and Tom were reading thick books, Ron was struggling to fight against the gummy in his mouth, Hedwig and the piglet were flapping their wings in the cage, Harry's In the end, the girl couldn't hold back and pecked the little fur ball with excess energy.

When the train started to move, Hermione folded the books and put them on the corner of the table. The witch gave a 'you know' look to the bewildered Ron, who was even more confused.

"We need to go to the prefect's box." Hermione said impatiently. Ron had a look of sudden realization. He turned to look at Harry with a twisted expression. Harry guessed he didn't want to feel abandoned, although Harry did feel a little disappointed when the two of them first received the prefect badge, but that emotion was quickly replaced by the joy that his friend became a prefect.

"I don't like this troublesome position, and I can't hang out with you anymore," Ron said firmly. "Nasty meetings and rules, but you can deduct Slytherin points. Uh, we'll be back soon .”

"Before that we have to change into school uniforms, don't forget the prefect badge." Hermione picked up the shiny golden badge from Ron's dropped pocket and handed it to the red-haired wizard who kept nodding in gratitude, and turned to Harry Smiling, "Just accept the instructions from the student council president and then inspect the corridor, it will be quick."

As the two said, Harry didn't even have time to read the three chapters of "Hogwarts, a History", the compartment door was opened again, Ron and Hermione appeared outside the compartment door holding hands, pay attention Catching Harry's sight, the two let go of their hands hastily.Ron scratched the hair on the back of his head and sat down where he had been.Hermione's expression was a bit struggling, and after thinking for a while, she met Harry's suspicious gaze and said, "We met Zhang Qiu just now. Uh, that, she asked us to say hello to you, although I think she would rather come by herself, she Looking prettier, like, um, coming out of Cedric's shadow, she blushes when she mentions you, I think she's interested in you."

Hermione's words made Harry's heart skip a beat. He had always liked that very beautiful oriental girl with long black and thick hair. She was also a Ravenclaw Seeker with an exquisite figure.But Cedric's death is a big obstacle in Harry's pursuit of Cho, and he doesn't know how to face the girl.

Noticing Harry's bewilderment, Ron broke the awkward atmosphere.

"Where did Marvolo go?" Ron looked around. The boy who was sitting next to Harry disappeared at some point. It wasn't that he cared about Tom's situation. He just wanted to be ready at any time. Terrible.

"He went to the bathroom. Well, he said he wasn't used to changing clothes in front of outsiders. He was worried that you would suddenly come in."

"But he can change in front of you," Hermione said suddenly.

"Oh, come on, Hermione, I don't even want to know that he doesn't treat Harry as an outsider! This kind of reminder is completely unnecessary!" Ron wailed, covered his face, and made a motion of vomiting into the air.

Harry ignored Ron's exaggerated performance. The sound of footsteps in the train aisle made him look up to the direction of the sound source. Malfoy was looking into the box through the glass door. When he noticed Harry's gaze, he pulled it away. The compartment door came in, Crabbe and Goyle after him.Malfoy looked even more arrogant than last year, which Harry guessed had something to do with his being a Prefect.

Malfoy looked around, his eyes lingering on the empty seat beside Harry for a moment, an emotion that Harry couldn't read flashed in the boy's eyes, before he could figure it out, Malfoy quickly focused on Harry With a mocking expression on his body and face.

"Your boyfriend doesn't stay with you? He probably understands that you're crazy. That's amazing, Saint Potter, not everyone is entitled to this disease." Crabbe and Goyle let out deafening laughter , Malfoy was obviously satisfied with his rhetoric, and the arc of the corner of his mouth became wider and wider.

"Whether you're crazy or not has nothing to do with you, or do you want to know if Marvolo is my boyfriend?" Harry narrowed his eyes, and pronounced Malfoy's name in a teasing tone that Tom used to address Harry , "Draco—" The wizard who was named looked at Harry in amazement, as if the boy had grown two heads, "You are very interested in my private life, which makes it hard for me not to care about Marvo Luo's suspicion," Harry tilted his head and continued to tease the other party, "Could it be that you have a crush on me?"

This wasn't the reaction Harry had imagined, he thought Malfoy would definitely throw a rage or cast a jinx directly at himself, but damn it, the other party just bit his lower lip, and there was a faint blush on his pale face, which made Harry feel super thriller.He was joking on purpose, for Merlin's sake!

"Malfoy won't fall in love with Potter. Be careful what you say to me. Only those with aesthetic problems will like scarheads!" Malfoy blushed and took a step back, quickly opened the car door and ran out. Crabbe and Gao Erl didn't seem to understand what was going on, but followed the blond wizard anyway.

Ron stared at Malfoy's disappearing back with his eyes widened in surprise. He didn't recover for a long time. He made a sound of "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Seriously, you didn't see the look on his face when he ran away, Merlin, I never thought the confrontation with Malfoy would end so easily! I mean you didn't see his toe-high at the prefects meeting With an angry expression, he now has the right to punish his classmates, I thought he would cling to you like brown sugar and abuse his power whenever he finds an opportunity!"

"He did have that plan," Hermione said, and she looked at Harry with a strange light in his eyes. "He looked a little annoyed just now, what do you think, Harry?"

"That's normal," Harry shrugged. "Anyone who is humiliated will behave like this."

Hermione was about to say something, but the compartment door was opened again, and Tom appeared outside the door with a puzzled expression, he moved the books piled up on the seat, turned to Harry and asked, "What happened just now? Malfoy looked at me weirdly."

"It's okay." Harry reopened the book, although he was not in the mood to read at all now.

It was still raining this year, and Professor Graplan was standing in front of a large number of carriages with a lamp. Harry knew that these were the carriages used to pull the first grade and above to the castle in previous years. Harry remembered very clearly that those were not drawn by horses.But this time it was different, he clearly saw that those brackets were against some weird creatures.Harry turned his head to look at Ron, who didn't seem surprised, and he looked back at the carriage.

"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the skeleton horse with bat wings pulling the carriage. Ron and Hermione squinted their eyes, but they didn't see anything.Harry repeated the question.

Hermione frowned, staring straight at the air in front of the car, she turned her puzzled eyes to Harry, and the witch shook her head: "Actually, I didn't see anything, Harry, what the hell are you showing us? Harry turned to look at Ron, who shook his head too.

"Only I can see?" Harry was puzzled, he obviously saw the strange horse sticking its head out in front of him, the empty pupils piercing through the skin and looking into the depths of his soul, this feeling It made Harry shudder, he thought it was a bad omen, especially since only he could see it.Even Tom frowned at him.

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and saw her friend's panicked expression, but the comfort she wanted to utter was interrupted by a sudden voice beside her.Everyone turned their heads at the same time to see a strangely dressed Ravenclaw girl with long blond hair and a dazed expression standing beside them. The witch's eyes were fixed on the direction Harry had been looking at. 'The Mad Girl of Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood. ' Hermione reminded softly.

"Actually, I can see them too. They have been pulling the carriage since the first day of reporting," Luna said in the same trance voice, and Harry felt that the girl had always been awake in this posture, "strange aren't they creatures? In fact, wizards have a lot of prejudice against them, and that may have something to do with the need to see them for their particularity."

"You have to be crazy to see it." Seamus' voice sounded coldly beside them, and the sarcasm in his tone made Harry clench his fists. Really, he's had enough of this stupid Gryffindor!

Luna showed no offense at all, reaching out to caress the strange creature, whose breath condensed into a white mist in the cold night sky.The girl just spat out a word, and everyone's faces became extremely pale.

"Thestrals."

"Only those who have truly experienced and understood death can see thestrals." Tom narrowed his eyes and stared at Luna's face. He was obviously interested in this strange girl. Unlike others, Tom could only see the surface. He knew that a girl must have something special about her.

Luna turned to face Harry, and she stretched out her right hand to gently comb the boy's hair like a wounded cub.Harry looked up and met the girl's lake-blue eyes, which were lighter than Tom's pupils and matched the girl's appearance.

"Cedric's death wasn't your fault, Harry," said Luna, tilting her head. "He's always been there for you, and he never hated you."