[HP] Similar but different

About half an hour passed.

Tom carefully exposed half of his face from the side of the picture frame, and returned to his usual place after making sure that there was nothing unsuitable for onlookers in the room. "he's gone?"

Voldemort nodded slightly.He was still remembering the flushed cheeks when Harry left, a little casually.I didn't think about it when I did it, and I realized that I was shy afterwards, which is very in line with Gryffindor's impulsive and reckless character.

Tom watched him, but said nothing.

The silence continued for a while, until Voldemort could no longer ignore the anomaly. "Do you have something to say?"

"Obviously." Tom was still staring closely at Voldemort. "I was just guessing, but you really..." He seemed to choke.

"Really what?" Voldemort answered without any special reaction.

Tom took a deep, imperceptible breath.He had already thought about it during the time he left, and now he just needs to say the organized language: "I think you have changed."

The tone and content of his words made the atmosphere serious, but Voldemort still had no particular reaction. "Appreciate further details."

"I don't know exactly what happened to your previous relationship," Tom said, frowning, "but tonight, your reactions have exceeded my expectations at least three times."

"I already knew the last time." Voldemort nodded, as if he wasn't one of the people who had lost his mind earlier. "What about the first two times?"

Such calm made Tom choose his words more carefully. "If I'm not mistaken, you didn't want to meet him in the first place. You couldn't fail to see what he was up to. And if you decide not to waste time with him, or leave him a real chance, you have at least one There are hundreds of ways for him to find you."

Voldemort made no rebuttal.He was still looking somewhere on the table, and the candlelight cast dim shadows in his eye sockets. "the second time?"

Tom's brow furrowed even tighter, but he continued. "You then tried to convince him. There was nothing wrong with that approach given his particular circumstances. But I noticed that your statement was essentially based entirely on his position. Since when did you put yourself in someone else's shoes? Let alone On the thing you despise most? Or do you pretend so that he..."

"So that he can carry out what he just declared?" Voldemort said blankly.

Tom's eyes widened slightly. "So you did it on purpose." He suddenly realized, "You hit him right!"

"Actually, only half." Voldemort leaned forward slightly, not quite sure. "I've never had unrealistic hopes, and he has. Then I have to force him to face reality—either get out, this is his last chance; or..." His voice suddenly became low, "Whether No matter what, he can't quit."

Tom didn't show any more surprise, but his brow didn't loosen. "You do want him."

"What's the problem?" Voldemort smiled back. "Harry is already mine."

"I agree with you very much. It doesn't matter what you do to him if you want: kill him, or take him to your bed." Tom nodded slightly, then shook his head again, "but listen to what you just said What's the last chance to get out?"

"Because of the Dark Lord's generosity?" Voldemort replied half-heartedly, resting his chin on his long forefinger.

Tom stared at him for a moment, then shook his head slowly again. "Let's be honest, if I didn't see the previous situation, I just saw him or you pushing the other person against the wall to do something, I wouldn't be surprised until now."

Voldemort's eyes, which had been hidden in the shadows, finally lifted up, dark and unfathomable. "Just state your conclusion."

Tom met that look, and for some reason had a bad feeling. "As I said just now, it doesn't matter what you want to do to him—whether it's destroying him because of a half-prophecy, testing him out of fear of the unknown, or staying away from him because he can't obtain more powerful power and guarantee the safety of his mind. Take a step back, even if he can really make you sexually motivated," he paused, "it doesn't matter. But the premise of it doesn't matter is that you regard him as a potentially threatening enemy, or may be of value to you things without involving disdainful feelings."

"What?" Voldemort asked calmly, "You mean I'm tempted? Do you think I have a heart?"

For the first time since the conversation began, Tom hesitated.After hesitating for a while, he replied: "I don't think so. But you acted today as if you had: I can't think of any other reason to explain your behavior except that you developed affection for him."

"So you mean, if I have a heart, it's only for Harry?" Voldemort asked softly, still very calm.

Tom hesitated again. "Are you acquiescing?" His tone was full of doubt and uncertainty, "And you are still implying that you have accepted this change...or degenerate?"

Voldemort didn't get angry, nor did he answer directly. "He's different."

The words sounded endless, but Tom quickly understood, and real surprise appeared on his face for a moment. "Indeed. Even by mortal standards, he is different. Although his ideas are different, he seems to be sincere to you in some ways-anyway, I can't imagine when I will voluntarily throw away my wand." He said in "some way" Putting the accent up and down, I tried to figure out Voldemort's expression more carefully, "But why are you?"

There was a long silence in the room.

"Perhaps it's because I've never met anyone like that?" Voldemort answered with a question, after almost enough time to fall asleep, in an ever-lower, less certain voice.

He didn't go on, but the meaning behind it was self-evident.Neither of them expected it to go this far; in other words, it couldn't have turned out this way if it wasn't Harry.

Tom's stunned silence was replaced by doubt. "Does it have something to do with the way you recover the Horcrux? After all, the state of the soul has a non-negligible impact on thinking and even emotion?" He tried to propose a possibility that he could understand better.

Voldemort shook his head. "I can't be sure." He curled up his fingers supporting his chin until they were pressed against his raised joints, his eyes were out of focus, "No one has tried what I do, and any possible sequelae are unknown."

This is the complete truth.The Dark Lord's emphasis on Horcruxes is obviously higher than his usual contempt for feelings; when he knew the harm of splitting the soul to himself, he became more cautious in dealing with it.

"Well, we can deal with this matter slowly." Tom had to make a compromise—because if it really involves the soul, it is impossible to solve it immediately, "Just talk about Harry...Although the prophecy is there, I will I don't see that he has the trait of being the first to strike first. This may be a common problem among them, after all, Dumbledore doesn't have it either. From this point of view, Harry may be a very safe choice; " He changed the subject suddenly, "But you think, why is our little friend here today?"

This question is too obvious to need an answer at all. "Dumbledore told him about the diadem." Voldemort pouted almost at the same time when he met the portrait's clear gaze. "It's no wonder he can hold back."

Tom nods. "Harry's motives are easy to understand, and so are Dumbledore's. But who can guarantee that there won't be any threats next time, next time?"

Voldemort pursed his lips, but did not answer.Instead, he got up, and raised his hands, half-open, to face the wall Harry had just pushed him past.The ancient lead limestone seems to be drawn by the invisible, slowly moving to the sides, revealing a new hidden space——

A faint green candle was lit inside, and the flame was suspended three inches above the candle body out of thin air. The not-so-bright light reflected the tall glass jars filled with deep black liquid standing all around.Some jars appeared to be empty, while most contained pale human limbs floating up and down.In the innermost jar, a pair of scabbed, sharp-nailed hands scratched at the sides, looking and sounding creepy.

But none of the people and portraits present had this kind of reaction. "Perfect creation." Tom looked in and sighed sincerely.

"Dumbledore didn't expect this either." Voldemort put his hands behind his back, a sneer appeared on his lips.

"Oh, I'm sure they've racked their brains to know, but they'll never know what we can do." Tom looked away, staring intently at Voldemort. "But a few more, maybe Dumbledore can guess that it has something to do with the Resurrection Stone?"

"He cannot verify it," said Voldemort icily emphatically. "He will not get what he most wants."

"Are you talking about the Soul Stone or the truth?" Tom asked with certainty, "I don't know if I should mention Harry again... Dumbledore may use him to obtain the information he wants."

Voldemort paused for a moment. "In order to destroy me, I believe it is possible for Dumbledore to do something so that Harry and I die at the same time. But so far, he has no reason to do so..."

"Because he prefers the boy, or because we haven't given him a reason?"

"You're on point." Voldemort shrugged slightly. "If you ask me, no matter what the reason is, what matters is the result. What you said may indeed happen; but thinking in reverse, why did Dumbledore let Harry come to me alone?"

Tom had an air of appraising the gains and losses. "Are you saying that Dumbledore can only do so..." he wondered, "if he had to make his final choice, he would indeed try to have you die with the Potter boys?"

"That sentence is still inscribed over the entrance to Nurmengard," said Voldemort, not without sarcasm, "for the greater good, isn't it?"

At last Tom was convinced. "Then even if you really like him, it's not a completely bad thing. After all, with Harry's Occlumency, you must have got news about the Order of the Phoenix before our news leaked to Dumbledore." Confidence, "Let's see who is more skilled."

Voldemort didn't answer.

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Congratulations to Tom the Portrait for joining this brainstorming film starring in the luxury lunch [Hello