[HP] Similar but different

It was obviously impossible for Bellatrix to be unresponsive while being pointed at with a wand.She reached for her own wand too, but halfway through she realized that it was an awkward situation - Voldemort was still sitting between them. "Master!" She called out hastily, her wrists froze in the air.

It wasn't once or twice that the big snake suddenly appeared while they were talking, and little Crouch, like her, didn't expect that this time there was a savior behind him.He instinctively wanted to separate the two of them, but he noticed that his master took a deep breath, so he stopped moving knowingly.

"Nagini," Voldemort couldn't help but feel a headache, "what are you doing?"

The big snake swam over and coiled itself around the man's feet. "Nothing," it hissed, "I just wanted to be with you."

I don't know if it was an illusion, but Harry always felt that he heard deliberate innocence and a lot of bragging in this sentence. "Your pet just told me something," he couldn't help breaking the stage, "I think it's necessary to check with you—" His wand was still pointing at Bellatrix, but his eyes were on Voldemort, "I didn't know she was here until I walked in."

However, Voldemort turned a blind eye to the tense atmosphere. "Nagini told you something?" he repeated softly, looking down at the snake. "Tell me, is what Harry said true?"

The tone was flat, but it was by no means a compliment.Nagini should have heard it, and was very upset: "I just want to help you!"

Voldemort was unmoved. "Do what I tell you to do and do me a favor."

If he didn't say it and did it, it was called trouble, Harry caught the subtext.Although he felt that Nagini probably really wanted to help Voldemort, and Voldemort's reaction was too cruel, but this is not the time to fight for the rights and interests of the big snake. "It says I only see what I want to see. Is that true? What am I missing?"

For the first time since Harry entered, Voldemort was looking him in the eye. "What Nagini said was angry, you don't have to worry about it."

"I don't..." The big snake seemed to want to refute, but after receiving Voldemort's calm eyes that were almost nothing, it angrily retracted the scarlet snake letter.

Harry didn't know if it was normal for him to see puffiness in the snake, but he was sure Voldemort was hiding something from him. "in the end……"

Voldemort ignored Harry. "That's all for today," he turned to order the two subordinates, "I'll talk about it next time if there are any problems."

Harry looked up.Little Crouch bowed respectfully, and then pulled Bellatrix out.Although Bellatrix was still staring at him, there was no resistance - she didn't know when she put down her wand, her face was pale, and her lips were trembling.

What's the reaction?He didn't do anything?

Harry wondered for a moment, then guessed the best possibility—Nagini had ushered him in, he could speak Parseltongue, and the two of them had just been arguing like no one else.Even if Bellatrix was an idiot, he should have realized that he was really special in Voldemort's eyes.

This conclusion should have pleased Harry, but he couldn't be happier now.He watched the two go - he gave Bellatrix a look of veiled hatred without fear - before turning back to Voldemort. "You really didn't tell me something, didn't you?"

"This is nothing new."

Harry was surprised that the other party recognized it straight away. "So what is it this time?"

"Didn't you just see it?" Voldemort asked back, but his tone was as flat as talking about the weather.

"It's not that!" Harry realized, feeling that he had been cheated. "I'm not talking about Death Eaters, Order of the Phoenix, or Ghost Riders...I'm talking about our relationship!"

Voldemort's face remained unchanged. "No," he denied, "you know everything we need to know. Prophecies, blood, wands, souls..."

Harry interrupted Voldemort before he could finish talking about the Horcruxes. "You're talking about real facts! But according to Nagini, it's about feelings!"

"Really, Harry?" Voldemort actually smiled, albeit lightly, "I never knew Nagini could be an empathy adviser."

Harry couldn't help but glanced at the pile of diamond-shaped hills - just now the big snake didn't get Voldemort's approval, and stuck its head under its body in annoyance.And he doubted very much if Nagini could understand English, would he explode with anger now. "You mean it's talking nonsense?"

"I said that from the beginning," said Voldemort, standing up. "It's almost time, I still have things to do."

He didn't go on, but the intention of seeing off the guests was obvious enough.Harry glared at him. "You swear you're telling the truth?"

"Of course." Voldemort said casually.As if seeing Harry's suspicion, he added, "I can swear that what I'm about to do next has absolutely nothing to do with anything you care about."

At this level, if you insist on it, you can only quarrel, and Harry has no choice.Soon, Voldemort left the tent, and after much thought and thought, he followed.

Under normal circumstances, once Voldemort turned dark, Harry would never be able to follow him, but today the Dark Lord took a rare approach of walking.It was supposed to be very close, Harry couldn't help thinking, and secretly glad that it was dark enough that Voldemort might not notice him behind?

Leaving aside the latter matter, the former was soon confirmed—within a few steps, Voldemort entered the field.

Harry's eyes widened at the incredulity.

The Dark Lord suddenly became interested in Quidditch?impossible.

How many Muggles did the Dark Lord hide inside for torture?More nonsense.

Guessing without a clue, Harry could only give up all ideas for the time being.He didn't wear the Invisibility Cloak today, fortunately he had already learned the Disillusionment Charm in Dumbledore's tuition.This is quite necessary, because there are many wizards inside who are doing work such as reinforcing shelves and arranging display panels, a busy scene with bright lights.

...so what exactly is Voldemort up to?

Harry was getting more and more confused.He cautiously picked places where there were few people, and made a few detours.Just when he suspected that he had lost track of the other party, singing suddenly came from not far away.

It was a young woman's chorus, so melodious that it couldn't be described in words, and it was inexplicably familiar.Harry was stunned for a moment, then he recognized that the source of the sound was from the center of the field, and hurried over.When he bypassed the last barrier, he finally found out why that sense of familiarity came from——

mermaid.

In the middle of the towering auditorium, the huge venue was divided into two.Half of it is a normal lawn, and the other half has become a blue ocean.The mermaids are inside, sometimes gather and sometimes disperse, and beautiful musical notes flow out of their throats.Under the illumination of the surrounding headlights, the splash of water when the silver fish tail hits the water surface is as bright as pearls.

Harry opened his mouth unconsciously.He had never seen such a strange sight—not just the venue—why could the mermaid sing on the water?

He ducked down and walked closer under the cover of the scaffolding that had not been completely dismantled.Then he found that these mermaids were completely different from the ones he saw in the Black Lake of Hogwarts.They have fair complexion, slim figure, long blond hair wetly draped over their shoulders, and paired with sapphire-like eyes, they are astonishingly beautiful and incomparable.

Bulgaria didn't have these in the previous games, so they are the mascots of the Dutch team?

Harry didn't have to think too hard about it, he knew they were going to make a splash at the opening ceremony.He continued to move cautiously until he was hidden behind a wooden post closest to the merman.

"...Perfect," came a strange man's voice, "No one will have any objection to this kind of performance."

This statement was echoed by many, as if they were in a dress rehearsal.

"No one would have thought that we could cooperate with the moving mermaid in such a short period of time," said another man, with some complacency. "It's all thanks to you, Roald!"

Harry was taken aback.He thought that Voldemort just found a place with many people to get rid of him, but the other party was really here?He couldn't help poking his head out, and sure enough, he saw a man in the middle of the crowd—well, the one in a suit and leather shoes.

"...not necessarily," Voldemort's voice was very soft, and it was a little vague in Harry's ears, "I didn't find them..."

He didn't know what he said later, and a group of people laughed, as if they thought it was a polite word.

Harry hid in the shadow cast by the pillar, completely bewildered.Voldemort?Mermaid?Suit?What is the connection between this?He couldn't figure it out, so he could only risk poking his head out again——

The conversation in that group had become how to maximize performance, and Voldemort was no longer part of it.He was squatting alone on the edge of the outrageously large pool, with several mermaids gathered in front of him.Because it was too far away, Harry didn't know what they were talking about, and could only hear the crisp laughter of the mermaid occasionally.Maybe they're fascinated by men, and more and more mermaids are joining that circle.

It would be impossible to say that Voldemort fell in love with a mermaid, but Harry inevitably turned sour.Thinking of the last sentence the other party left him—"I can still swear that what I'm going to do later has absolutely nothing to do with anything you care about"—that feeling turned into irritability.

He was expected, and Voldemort knew that he would follow him; but although the Dark Lord told him not to care about what the big snake said, is this sentence another way of "you can only see what you want to see" Express?

If this speculation is true, according to Nagini, the facts are obvious.No matter from which aspect, it is impossible for him to seek confirmation from the big snake, he must find out by himself——

What the hell is he ignoring?

The author has something to say:

There is a prize quiz, what is it that Harry ignores and Lao Fu doesn't say?

Because the difficulty may be relatively large, I will give two hints: first, the mermaid is an addition, not the main thing; second, JKR interviews have hinted.

Before the update of the next chapter, that is, before nine o'clock this Sunday (12.17), the first person who guesses correctly will get a customized set of this article [although it is not yet available.