[HP] Similar but different

The next day is Monday.Harry's eyes were open almost until dawn, his head full of what happened last night.Ron asked him to have breakfast, and he only answered vaguely, without lifting the velvet curtain——

He really needs to be alone, to get a good sense of what's going on.

Harry could have sworn he hadn't expected the conflict over the portrait to end with them kissing deeply.At least, whether it was a portrait of himself, or when Voldemort called him in his head, all he wanted to do was pull Voldemort from behind the portrait, and nothing more.

But he probably should have realized that Hermione was a euphemism when she said he cared too much for Voldemort.Or, when he discovered that he was only surprised by their accidental touch, which was too intimate, he should have discovered what that dangerous feeling was growing.Going forward, maybe his despair at Voldemort's desire to start a war should have alarmed him?

In any case, it was too late to think about anything now; as he had said last night, none of them could go home.

Regret?

Harry asked himself.To be honest, he didn't dare to pat his chest to assure that he was doing it exactly right; his performance last night was so tight that he couldn't say it was not possible without hormones.But when it comes to mistakes, he doesn't admit it either.Right and wrong have never been used in emotions, let alone he has never been good at controlling them.

That's the problem.He didn't need to be reminded that he did know what Voldemort had meant to him as a "grossly wrong decision" - what would his friends think of that?What about the rivalry between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters?And the horrific crimes that Voldemort and the Death Eaters have committed before, including killing his parents?

The parents made Harry's heart throb.He wouldn't forget this any more than he'd been naive enough to think Voldemort had changed his mind.

It's paradoxical; it's as if one moment they're glued to each other, and the next they're pointing their wands at each other and dueling.

Harry hadn't figured out what to do with this conflict.Perhaps only one thing is certain: he will not be like Voldemort, whose first reaction is to deny, and after being exposed, he wants to pretend that nothing happened; he will not hide from his true heart, so he will put it into practice, Continue to face foreseeable difficulties.

...and what did Voldemort think?

Harry tried to put himself in the Dark Lord's role.Voldemort was undoubtedly contradictory too, he could read it in the other's actions and thoughts; but when it came to the reasons, I'm afraid it was completely different from him——

Dumbledore once said that Voldemort has no friends; the Death Eaters are Voldemort's subordinates, and Voldemort doesn't care what they think at all, let alone the Order of the Phoenix; It was a mistake to make a Horcrux to live forever, and it is possible that the Horcrux was recovered, but the degree of remorse is unknown.

So what was the real reason for Voldemort to insist that he was wrong, and to let go of that thought reluctantly until the last moment?

Harry thought that when Voldemort mentioned bad decisions, the other party must have selectively let him read the part about him, cleverly hiding his own; and if he had to guess, he could only think of prophecy and hostility, strength and longevity.

This made him think for the umpteenth time that he was Voldemort's Horcrux; as long as he didn't die, Voldemort wouldn't die either.In addition, they still have a lot of past to face, and the future is not optimistic at all.

It might be easier to pretend nothing happened, he mused to himself, but simplicity isn't always best.He also thought that if there were problems with both of them, Voldemort's problems were definitely bigger than his - never frank, wrong and rude in rejecting courtship, could he expect the Dark Lord to figure out his feelings?To be precise, does the Dark Lord really know what love and other positive emotions are?

Harry sighed heavily and threw himself face down into the pillow.Why did he fall in love with his nemesis, who was also a super difficult Slytherin?

After barely sleeping for a few hours, Harry was called out of bed by Ron to go to Potions class.A little sleep couldn't save his dark circles at all, and Hermione was taken aback: "What's wrong with you? Is it..."

"The portrait is back," said Harry briefly, listlessly. "I think I need your help to free him."

Hermione took the drawstring bag from Harry and opened it to look inside. "Uh..." she said hesitantly, "His hands seem to be tied somewhere outside the frame."

Ron had long been curious about Harry's portrait, so he quickly took it and took a look. "So you can see it?" He was taken aback, "And why is it like a stick figure?"

"That's about as good as I can draw," Harry replied gloomily, walking down the stairs leading to the cellar first.

Ron suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing, and quickly winked at Hermione.Hermione gave him a hard look before she said, "How did you get this picture frame back? You went to his office again?"

Harry knew what Hermione really wanted to ask. "He asked me to go. He promised not to use portraits in the future."

"Really?" Ron was even more surprised, "You succeeded?!"

But Hermione didn't show much joy. "What did you tell him?"

"Just... annoy him to death," Harry said, pulling out his prepared lines - he wouldn't be able to tell the truth if he was killed, at least not right now, "His portrait has a lot of things to do, but one of my , nothing can be done.”

"What is his portrait going to do? Do you know?" Ron asked with interest.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know the specifics, but I'll figure it out sooner or later."

With the Potions classroom in sight, Hermione reluctantly accepted the answer. "Well," she whispered, "I look forward to hearing the good news about your Occlumency."

Given the growing complexity of the situation, Harry wasn't sure he could bring Hermione the good news.In fact, the atmosphere of the next two tutoring sessions was as weird as ever—Voldemort's Legilimency was always dabbling, and he found himself noticing how the other's slender fingers turned his wand lightly; Eyes lingered on him, but Voldemort was never looking at him when he opened his eyes.

Harry and Cho's relationship could only be described as a complete failure, but he knew that it was by no means a success as they were doing now.For both of them, new opportunities were necessary to move the relationship forward; worse, he probably couldn't count on the Dark Lord, who apparently had zero love experience and struggled to resist love, to do it.

Then Harry was thinking about this and ran into Dumbledore head-on, when passing by the statue of Boris the Stupid on the sixth floor.

"Harry?" the headmaster reminded him, "watch your way carefully."

"Ah... I'm sorry, Professor." Harry recovered and apologized quickly.

Dumbledore's blue eyes studied Harry carefully through half-moon spectacles. "How are you doing recently?" He asked softly, "It's been a month since school started, and I'm not sure if I should look for you."

"Anytime, Professor," Harry replied without thinking.

Dumbledore gave a small smile. "So that means I can ask you about Occlumency?"

"Of course..." Harry said, his hesitation stemming from shame at his own progress and embarrassment about his feelings. "It's better than before, but not as much as it should be, I think."

Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "It's not wise to rush, but I'm glad to hear that you're really serious about learning it."

Harry nodded.Facing the headmaster, he felt a strong sense of shame—Dumbledore had extremely high expectations and trust in him, and he might be betraying them.In order to make himself feel less guilty, he changed the subject and said, "They—I said Death Eaters—still have no news?"

"Oh, this." Dumbledore seemed not at all surprised that Harry wanted to know, "I think as long as Voldemort stays at Hogwarts for a day, his men will not do anything to offend me."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, which he didn't realize was to be expected. "Yes," he mused, "if he still wants what he craves..."

"Do you know his exact purpose, Harry?" Dumbledore asked with concern.

Harry nodded, then shook his head again. "He should want power, but I don't see how he wants it."

"Can't you see?" Dumbledore showed a thoughtful look. "Perhaps you missed certain details?"

Harry was tempted to say that if Voldemort really wanted power from him, he'd only deserve a "D" for his performance so far.But Dumbledore's remark about ignoring details reminded him. "Speaking of which, I saw Mrs Gray leave crying, and he was in that corridor."

"Mrs. Grey?" repeated Dumbledore, a faint gleam in his eye.After a few seconds, he asked again: "Maybe I should ask you, have you noticed the color of his eyes?"

"Of course it's black." Harry was a little confused. "Though sometimes there are red flashes, like when he saw the gold cup and locket at Hepziba Smith's... No, I think it should be less?" He spoke more and more slowly, until suddenly pause. "Are you saying...?"

"It seems that my argument is indeed supported by evidence," said Dumbledore, for the first time showing satisfaction.But that satisfaction soon turned to worry. "How did you see that red light? Did you piss him off?"

Harry rolled his eyes sharply.The guilt came running back, stronger than ever, and he couldn't look Dumbledore in the eye. "We've been having a hard time seeing the same thing," he said vaguely. "Is there anything else, Professor?"

This concealed dodge reaction... Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. "The latest trip to Hogsmeade is scheduled for next weekend," he said. "Sirius asked me to tell you that he'll be waiting for you at the Shrieking Shack."

"Great!" Harry tried to look happy, not more worried. "Then... I'm going to tell Ron and Hermione right away! I'm going first, Professor!"

Dumbledore stared at Harry's back as he hurried away, his eyebrows began to knot.Something must have happened that he didn't know about...

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It seems to see the Shura field, atypical ╮(￣▽￣")╭