the Gambler

Christmas is coming soon, the warm castle is covered with big trees of mistletoe, and there are kissing couples everywhere. Harry showed a disgusted expression to the couples who wished to be entangled together.Having had an unpleasant experience, he sensibly avoided the girls who would stand below and wink at him whenever he appeared.Since this semester, there have been quite a few girls who have courted him. Blushes and gifts mixed with love potions are commonplace. He doesn't understand where the sudden irritability comes from.

Harry pushed open the door of the Great Hall, and Hermione and Ron were sitting in the same place, whispering, both flushed.Hermione glanced up at Harry, with a bright smile on her face, and was still fiddling with the stew in the bowl with one hand.Hermione carefully examined Harry's body, and when she knew he had fainted suddenly, she scolded the boy like Mrs Weasley did for nearly an hour, and finally pulled Harry into her arms forcefully.Occasionally, Harry wondered how on earth a witch could have so much power, but wisely decided to keep the question to himself.

She looked behind Harry and asked furtively, "Where's Marvolo?"

Harry stuffed the sandwich into his mouth, took a slow bite, shrugged and said, "He doesn't like Christmas."

"Why?" Ron asked, tilting his head. "No one gave him a gift?"

"I don't know." It was a lie, but Tom sure didn't like Harry talking about him, "actually his presents almost filled our Christmas tree."

"Home?" Hermione asked in a low voice, and she glanced at Ron's direction from the corner of her eye, who was struggling with the roast beef on the plate, "Have you guys melted to this level?"

Hearing the hint in Hermione's words, Harry shook his head: "No, we are just friends. Since we have lived for such a long time, it is not too much to call it home?"

At least not in a relationship.Harry added silently in his heart.

Hermione muttered a few words and changed the subject: "Then who are you going with tonight?"

"Oh——" Harry suddenly realized that he had completely forgotten about finding a partner. He scanned the entire hall inadvertently, and found that many girls showed very sweet smiles when they received his gaze. She even blushed and waved to him.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said angrily, "You don't think about your partner at all, do you? Seriously, the boys couldn't be more slow," she lowered her voice again, "But I suggest you choose a partner." Right man, if Marvolo sees a girl at Slughorn's Christmas party with your arm, Merlin knows what he's going to do. By the way, is he after you? "

Harry nearly choked on the pumpkin juice.

"Then, he is indeed pursuing you." Hermione said with certainty, "You haven't considered going to the Christmas party with him, you know, the thing about you dancing last time has not subsided, it's better to just sit on the rumors, anyway Neither of you intends to bring a female companion."

"Why do I think you're trying to trick me? And who knows which Slytherin girl he invited?" Harry said indifferently, "Those witches are eager to stick to him. By the way, the rumor you just said is not true." Will it still be the original one?"

Hermione looked at Harry with that knowing expression, and said as a matter of course, "What do you think?"

"Can't they put my private life aside?" Harry said angrily.

"Obviously not," said Hermione. "Oh, Marvolo doesn't have a partner. If he invites a certain girl, the whole of Hogwarts will know. Now he's the only one who rejects a lot of rumors about witches," she turned to look at Stein In the direction of Leitlin's long table, Daphne was chatting excitedly with Astoria, "The Greengrass sisters are all engaged. Apart from them, I don't think Marvolo would like other girls."

"They are indeed beautiful." Harry nodded, evaluating sincerely.

"Boys only pay attention to appearance." Hermione snorted, and her expression suddenly became a little gloating. "Anyway, he didn't invite anyone, so he probably came for you. If my observation is correct, so far dare you The witches you've proposed to invite can't come to the auditorium for various interesting reasons."

"what reason?"

"For example, Lavender suddenly developed small blisters on his face, no matter how much concealer cream he used, they couldn't cover them up." Hermione said cheerfully, she had never liked Lavender, even after knowing that Ron was her real boyfriend, the witch still She couldn't help giving Ron a sneak peek, and what was even more annoying was that she made it clear that she liked Marvolo, but after being rejected, she immediately launched an offensive against Harry, trying to persuade the boy to invite her to the Christmas party, who knew what was going on.

"Oh." Harry tried his best to appear like-minded with Hermione, but it failed. Fortunately, Hermione was very happy and didn't notice.He took a few mouthfuls of food again and said goodbye to the two of them in a hurry. Hermione cast a knowing look, and Harry twitched the corner of his mouth a few times. On the way back to the room, he stopped by the kitchen and packed a bunch of food. Which one do you like.

"You'll come with me tonight," declared Tom, with irrefutable firmness, after eating. "You'll come with me."

"It's weird, two boys together." Harry turned over a page of the book, and he was already familiar with the spells written in English, which seemed to be more suitable for casting without wands than spells written in Latin. And there is no need to keep your mouth shut, because most people can't understand it anyway.

"I don't care, if you make an appointment with someone else, I'll make it clear to you that she will be in the medical wing throughout the Christmas holiday." Tom sat on the window sill, his legs dangling in mid-air and kept shaking, humming little song.This was the most relaxed state Harry had ever seen.

To be honest, Harry had no intention of going with Tom, so the possibility of throwing Slytherin away was much smaller, and his main task was to get news from Slughorn.How nice it would be, Harry thought sarcastically, to tell Tom that his plan was to defeat Voldemort.

"Actually, I have no intention of going with anyone. I don't need a partner."

"That's more convenient, and I don't need it."

"Do you know you're annoying?" Harry said sarcastically.

"I know how much you like me, honey."

Harry and Tom didn't speak along the way. The former was embarrassed, while the latter held his head high and accepted the gazes of all the onlookers.Harry could feel the jealous eyes of the witches resting on them, but Tom made no attempt to explain.When the two were about to approach Slughorn's office, loud music and voices came through the crack of the door.

Slughorn's office was more than twice as big as the last time Harry saw it. Strangers were everywhere, obviously the famous people the professor called.He found Slughorn's fat figure in the gaps between the crowd, wearing a single-breasted gold robe, the fabric stretched tightly over it.Harry took Tom to the place where Hermione and Ron were, took the opportunity of the two to force the latter into the chat, took out the Felix Elixir and poured it into his mouth.

Five minutes later, Harry felt his thoughts clearing up.There is a strange force flowing through the limbs and bones, as if everything will succeed.

"Harry, you're here!" Slughorn excitedly pushed his way through the crowd to Harry, and without giving the latter time to react, he grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him towards a small wizard, who was still standing beside him. looking at the uninterested vampire, whose eyes hungrily lingered on the naked//exposed neck of the nearby witch.Harry listened bewilderedly to their long babble, and suddenly realized that Slughorn hadn't shown the same stiff look he had seen Tom when he came to him.He glanced in the direction he was coming from out of the corner of his eye, Tom didn't seem to realize he was leaving, and was arguing with Hermione.

Felix Felicia is truly a potion of luck.

"Harry is a potions wizard! Talented like her mother! Everyone wants him in their class!" Slughorn suddenly shouted. "Even Severus forgot to tell me about Harry's talent." -"

Harry watched in horror as Snape, who had been in hiding for four months, was drawn gloomily into the center of the discussion by the slightly drunk Slughorn. The man raised his huge hooked nose and snorted disdainfully.Suddenly someone bumped into Snape from behind, and all the red wine in his glass spilled on Slughorn's clothes.Slughorn screamed, "Merlin! This fabric can't be magically removed, I need to go back and get another one!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Harry quickly grabbed Slughorn and walked out through the open door. After a while, he heard the sound of the door closing.Harry stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around, only the sound of music was blocked behind the door panel.He shook his head and cast away his doubts, focusing on the professor.Great, he's just short of the chance to be alone with a man.

For some reason, a bunch of white lilies appeared on the floor in front of her, which was extremely beautiful under the bright moonlight.Slughorn was stunned for a brief moment, then whispered out Harry's mother's name.

"Good people don't last long, and your parents are the best I've ever seen, Harry. The war was terrible, and they were so young—" Slughorn said sadly, "You remember your parents Is it?"

"Remember, sir, even though I'm only one year old," said Harry, "every time a dementor approached me, that memory kept replaying in my mind. Mom could have been let go, Voldemort himself said Yes. But she stood in my way. That bright green light—"

Slughorn sniffled heavily.

"I grew up in a Muggle family who hated magic, and they didn't like me very much." Harry choked up, his shoulders kept shaking, and Felicia seemed to be kind enough to help, and he could feel his vision slowly being blurred by water vapor .The boy wiped away the tears with his hand, exaggeratedly, he needed Slughorn's sympathy, "I don't want to see more people like me, without parents by my side. If I want to build a better future, I will Need to kill Voldemort, no matter how difficult it is." Slughorn looked at Harry with guilt in his eyes, and the latter decided to try again, Felix had planned.

"Professor, your memory is very important. Mr. Dumbledore needs it to find a way to defeat Voldemort."

"Beating the Dark Lord is too difficult for a child," Slughorn whispered.

"This time, the Daily Prophet didn't lie, Dumbledore and I were the only ones who heard the prophecy," Harry lied calmly, "The prophecy said that I was the savior and could defeat Voldemort. Don't you want to avenge Lily? ? If you are afraid that Voldemort will know that you are helping me, I can cast the Forgetting Curse on you after getting the memory."

"Harry—"

"But I hope you are as brave as your mother. I admire you, Professor." Harry continued, "That memory may not be honorable to you, but it is an important step in defeating Voldemort. For me, that's pretty brave stuff."

A struggling expression appeared on Slughorn's face. Slowly, he stretched out his wand, brought out a silver-white silk thread from his temple, and handed it to Harry in an empty glass bottle.The man's face was covered with tears, and his voice was trembling with tears: "I hope you can fulfill our expectations, you have the same eyes as Lily, Harry."