the Gambler

"A warm welcome gift, Minerva." Voldemort's icy voice came from the darkness, and his scarlet pupils shone with a strange cold light in the moonlight.

"Perfect greeting, don't you think?" McGonagall said, frantically flicking the wand at a speed that Harry couldn't believe, and the golden light rod rose from the ground, trapping Voldemort in the middle.She flicked her wrist again, and the dagger shot at Voldemort from all directions, and the latter flicked his wand, and the metal clattered against the shield, clattering and clattering.Voldemort smiled smugly. Disgusting creatures slowly crawled around him, and they rushed towards McGonagall at a speed that the naked eye could not catch. Tom reacted quickly, and those things quickly turned into sticky liquid.

Suddenly, Professor Flitwick appeared next to McGonagall. He swished his wand, and black flames burst out from the ground. This flame felt unusual, chasing after Voldemort as if alive.Harry watched in astonishment as the flame transformed into the shape of a beast, opening its mouth made of flame and sharp claws, and pounced on the Dark Lord.Voldemort flicked his cloak. Harry didn't know what he said, but the flames slowly disappeared, leaving only a large blackened mark on the ground.At this time, Principal McGonagall had pushed all the students back into the castle, and Harry and the others stretched out their wands at the same time, shooting light of different colors at Voldemort, but the target disappeared like a gust of wind.

"Hermione, go to the headmaster's office and Floo to inform the Ministry of Magic. Ron, go to the bottom of my suitcase and find the double-sided mirror, contact Sirius, and let the Order of the Phoenix come straight in. Draco, get all the Volpes knights to gather Come to the auditorium! Bryce," Harry quickly ordered, "shoot the Dark Mark over the castle!"

"Huh?" Bryce opened his mouth wide.

"This is the quickest way to remind the students!" Harry stretched out his wand and cast the Shattering Curse at the huge stone statue. The loud explosion sound echoed in the silent night. The snake emerges from the skull.The entire castle was surrounded by terrified shouts, and professors in pajamas rushed out one after another.

"He's somewhere in the castle." Tom broke the tense atmosphere, "He didn't leave."

McGonagall frowned: "Before catching Voldemort, everyone gathered in the auditorium!"

Harry walked through one empty classroom after another, towards the warm auditorium.The surroundings were silent, there was no chattering or chaotic footsteps, because all the students were gathered in the hall, and the entire castle was empty.He turned the corner and walked down another corridor, just in time to hear muffled voices coming from the corner.Harry stopped, hiding his body in the darkness.Even from a long distance, he can easily recognize who is talking to.

"Mom!" Draco's voice sounded anxious, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"That's the best idea." Narcissa was more anxious and sharper than Draco, "You heard what that—that young Dark Lord said! He's waiting somewhere in the castle Move, soon, soon he will call all the Death Eaters—no, not only that, but giants, werewolves, vampires and spiders, all dark creatures, you don't want to face them."

Draco's face was pale as marble, and his lips quivered silently.

"I've discussed it with your father, before we have time to run out, the Malfoy family has an anonymous property in Scandinavia, we can hide there to avoid the limelight, nothing will happen, at least for a short time No one here can find us," Narcissa grabbed Draco's equally trembling shoulders with trembling fingers, "We can hide until the end of the war. This place will soon become a battlefield, I don't think it will take long It will come out. Dumbledore is dead, and the Knights led by the Potter Kid cannot stand against the power of the Dark Lord."

"That's just the difference between early death and late death, Mom," Draco said timidly. "Not even a man like Karkaroff survived half a year after Rise of the Dark Lord. Once the war is over, we will be killed by everyone." Hunt down. No matter the light side or the dark side."

"I think what Xiaolong said makes sense, Sissy." Lucius said after a long silence, "staying here, if Potter and the young Dark Lord win, our crimes can be mitigated. You know that boy has been There's eccentric heroism that won't allow us to be randomly thrown into Azkaban to rot."

"I'm sorry," Draco said, looking very embarrassed.

"It's too late, you know we will do everything to keep you safe." Lucius said coldly, "At least next time you make this kind of decision, discuss it with your parents first. I have carefully considered your suggestion. It is indeed a risky approach, but there are excusable circumstances."

"Thank you, Father."

"Okay." Lucius took the lead in pushing open the wooden door of the auditorium, and the warm light shone far to Harry's feet. He saw the Malfoys walking in with each other supporting each other, and Draco followed behind.There was a moment of silence in the auditorium, and soon, various noisy voices rang out again.

Harry trotted a few steps and slipped in before the door closed.Nodding to his friends who were waving vigorously, he quickly walked across the hall in the direction of Ravenclaw.Many people noticed Harry's strange behavior and looked up at him curiously.

Harry's attention was not on the students.He called out to Lady Gray's pearly white body, "Helena!"

The ghost turned quickly and floated beside Harry.The boy took out the crown from his pocket, and Helena opened her mouth wide in surprise, her translucent body seemed to freeze a bit, and her slender fingers just penetrated the crown, unable to really touch it.The beautiful woman covered her heart, sighed, and smiled at Harry: "I'm glad you didn't lie to me, Harry. If you can, I hope you can help me protect it. I never thought that after nearly three It's beautiful to see this treasure again after centuries, isn't it?"

Harry nodded approvingly.

"The one who wears the crown will have wisdom," Helena said softly. "That's what my mother told me. I tried it, but it didn't work. I've been thinking for the past two days, maybe I have nothing to do with it— Sir Nicholas said that the sword of Gryffindor can only be wielded by a true Gryffindor, not for blood but for courage."

Sir Nicholas is Nearly Headless Nick's real name.Harry frowned and thought for a while, realizing that this was indeed a possibility.

"I'll lend it to you, Harry Potter, for the wise to use it well."

"For Hermione?"

Helena let out a coquettish chuckle, which made her look even more beautiful.

"I'd suggest you use it," Helena said softly, her translucent palm slowly touching Harry's cheek, and Tom's angry gaze only made the ghost more pleasant.Taking it as a small revenge, Helena leaned forward slightly and placed a cold kiss on Harry's forehead, "You have always had unsolvable mysteries in your head, maybe wearing this will help you find out Helpful clues?"

Harry placed the diadem on top of his head, and he could feel a strange force dispelling the fog in his head, refreshing after a long day of exhaustion.He felt that his thinking was very clear, as if the answer was at his fingertips.As if entering another spiritual world, it is shrouded in white light, and the singing of the phoenix is ​​faintly floating in the air, which is clear and sweet.

Harry closed his eyes and opened them again after adjusting to the sudden bright light.This is an empty room, full of thin threads like spider silk, densely packed in layers.He was drawn to a large chrysalis that seemed to be breathing continuously.Harry slowly approached the target, peeling away the cocoon-like objects wrapped in layers in front of his eyes, and the sleeping bodies of Voldemort and Tom appeared inside.

They look like mirror images.

Harry grabbed the string that was holding them both together and gave it a tug, it looked very strong.He walked slowly along the silk thread to the other end, where there was a smaller cocoon, and the person sleeping inside was himself.Harry snapped back to where he was.

Then, he knew what the answer had been bothering him.

"Thank you, Helena." Harry said cheerfully and ran towards the headmaster's office, he had something urgent to tell Dumbledore.

The enchanted ceiling was originally bright with stars, but in an instant, it became cloudy.Harry and Tom jumped out of their seats for the first time, wands clutched tightly in their hands.A pair of huge black hands tore open the air, everyone screamed involuntarily, and the professors also stood up, watching Voldemort stepping out of the darkness without haste.On his pale snake face, the slit-like pupils briefly rested on Harry and Tom, and the lipless mouth curled into a cold and cruel smile.

The nerve told Harry that the other party was going to make a dramatic move in front of everyone.Voldemort never seemed to pass up an opportunity to display his arrogance, as Tom did.Harry cast a quick glance at the Slytherin at his side, who visibly read him with a twitch of his mouth.

Voldemort took out a grey-yellow mouse from his pocket, and under the horrified eyes of everyone, it slowly turned into a squat man with thinning hair hanging down his greasy forehead.Peter Pettigrew sniffed hard, noticing his surroundings, he took a few steps back tremblingly.Voldemort snorted disdainfully, grabbed Peter's arm, and summoned all the Death Eaters.When the continuous crackling sounded in the air, Voldemort threw Peter aside, and the green light hit the opponent's chest directly, without even a chance to whimper, and he became a lifeless corpse.Many Death Eaters suppressed their trembling bodies and looked away.

"The final battle has begun," Voldemort announced loudly.He took one last look at Peter Pettigrew's body and let out a disdainful snort.It wasn't really cheating on Harry, he'd just died completely.

Professor Flitwick shot the spell quickly, and Voldemort disappeared like a gust of wind, leaving Peter's body prostrate on the floor.