the Gambler

"You shouldn't be so impulsive." Tom said in a steady voice. He stuffed the book into the bag and leaned against the wall to watch Harry tidy up.

"Isn't this exactly what you hoped for?" Harry met Tom's gaze, his displeasure was obvious, and the latter just raised his brows, "You want to find a chance to leave for a while, your behavior this morning It's clear you want to take your anger out on Lavender."

"You know me better than I thought. Yes, I do need to relax. It's easy to be nervous in an environment full of lions, isn't it?" Tom glanced at the Slytherins gathered in the distance Said, "I also have my own things to deal with, and it's better for you to vent your anger on those little snakes who don't know what to do or not?" Harry was about to refute when Tom stopped him, "I Not someone who can be changed, Harry, I may restrain myself in front of you, but not hurt them? Obviously not, Slytherin's code of conduct is completely opposite to that of Gryffindor, and we have no loyalty."

Tom bent down and picked up the schoolbag on the stool: "Slytherin can only obey."

"Don't kill them." Harry said hesitantly. He knew that Tom didn't care about other people's lives. It can be seen from the fact that he has no regrets about Myrtle's death until now. , the other party will not do too outrageous things.Slytherin or not, he wasn't about to face Tom with blood on his hands just yet.

"Restrain yourself, I have my own measure." Tom left the next sentence indifferently, and took the lead out of the classroom.

Professor McGonagall appeared in front of the four of them at some point. Her face was tense and she looked quite tired. She opened her hand to Harry, and there was a note in her palm. Harry recognized It was written in Umbridge's exaggerated rounded font. Knowing that this was a note to inform the witch about Harry's punishment, every student who was sent to solitary confinement would first notify their headmaster.It's not that Harry hasn't been through this before, damn it, he's a frequent visitor to Lockdown, probably second only to the Weasley twins, but he's never seen Professor McGonagall look so serious.

"You need to come with me, we need to have a good talk about your yelling in Professor Umbridge's class." Professor McGonagall frowned.

It was Tom who spoke first, and he met the witch's stern gaze frankly: "I don't think it's necessary, Harry has realized his stupid behavior against the Ministry of Magic," here Harry snorted, Tom didn't care, "Minerva, you should know not to meddle in my affairs. Harry belongs to me completely now, even if I discipline him, I will do it myself."

"He's not yours!" / "I'm not yours!"

"It will always be mine." Tom's indifferent tone made Harry furious. The party receiving the hostility played with the tie on his hand, and a cruel cold light flashed in his eyes. He watched Professor McGonagall raise his From the corner of his mouth, he spat out chilling words in the usual tone of talking about what to eat today, "How about a deal? I can help you get rid of Umbridge, the one without any trace."

Professor McGonagall let out a heavy inhalation sound. She stared at her young alumnus with rounded eyes and hurriedly added when she saw the other party's complete seriousness: "No, it doesn't make sense. If Umbridge leaves, there will be another one." One comes over, and it's useless to do anything until the Ministry of Magic's nose can't be completely avoided from sticking out into Hogwarts affairs."

This time it was Harry who was surprised. He didn't know that Professor McGonagall would seriously consider Tom's proposal, or did she believe that Tom really had a way to drive that annoying witch away?Harry didn't know what method the boy would use, but it was definitely not a pleasant one.It seemed that Professor McGonagall was more dissatisfied with her than Harry had imagined.He has already seen Umbridge's interference with Principal Dumbledore. He should not only evade the power of the old man, but also want to interfere with the operations of the Order of the Phoenix. If it is true that the attack on Diagon Alley was carefully planned as Tom said, Fudge had long known that Dumbledore was the leader of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Since there is no other important matter, I will go to the Slytherin lounge when Harry is in confinement." Tom explained to Professor McGonagall, noticing that the other party's pale face quickly teased, "Don't show such a frightened expression, you His vigilance made me feel that I am the legendary Dark Lord."

Professor McGonagall immediately cleared up his emotions, suppressed the panic that was exposed, and said calmly: "I'm just worried that you will attack the Slytherin students." Harry nailed his palm hard so as not to let out a revealing gasp, He felt for a moment that his heart was going to jump out of his chest.Ron and Hermione had similar expressions, but fortunately they stayed behind Tom and Harry.

Harry didn't have a good time during the whole dinner, and there were discussions all over the place they passed by. This time they seemed to have grown bolder, and they didn't intend to hide it on purpose. Harry heard many people look at him with malicious eyes. look at yourself.He glared unabashedly at the ignorant crowd, which only made them talk about him louder behind their backs.

"Ignore them," said Hermione, pulling Harry's sleeve to attract the boy's attention. "I don't see any point in explaining to them, and I don't think they believe you."

"What does this mean?"

"Honestly, Harry, you sometimes annoy me with your dullness. After a summer's break, they've been taught that the headmaster is an old fool. Who do you think will believe what you say? After all, we only see You showed up with Cedric's body, no one really knows how he died," Hermione raised her voice under Harry's angry gaze, "Don't look at me like that! Harry Potter! You know me very well And Ron believe in you, but they are not us, and will stand behind you unconditionally—"

"I--"

Hermione interrupted Harry's defense with a frown: "Many people now suspect that you deliberately arranged this play, and Tom's sudden appearance has deepened this guess. I don't know how to explain it, but you have to endure it for a short time Their attitude, unless the Dark Lord decides to show himself. But as the Headmaster said, he'll need time to make a comeback, and I don't know how long it will take."

"Yeah, buddy, we can only wait for things to develop, why not take the opportunity to enjoy the peace, anyway, they won't believe no matter what we say." Ron took a bite of the chicken pie and said vaguely, "No matter what happens, We all need to take our part, and they have to live with the consequences of their choices."

"Then I'm going to be involved anyway," Harry complained, he looked up at Tom on the Slytherin table, "I almost got caught today, I don't know how long I can keep it from him."

"I'm so scared that my legs are weak." Ron chewed his mouth full of food, "It would be too bad if something happened."

"I think he's figured it out." Unlike Hermione's calm voice, Harry could see the struggle in the girl's eyes. "He just needs a chance to prove it. He'll be with Slytherin this week. I think he will Seize the moment and talk."

"Oh, Merlin, this is terrible!" Ron coughed violently, and Harry hurriedly handed him a goblet full of pumpkin juice, and the latter fell back all at once, his face still blue.Ron turned his head and secretly looked at Tom with a calm expression, and quickly turned his head back, fearing that he would be discovered by the other party. He looked at Hermione with a worried look: "Then what should we do? I mean that Harry will not be able to follow the next time." he."

"I'll go back to Gryffindor Tower later, you guys are waiting for me in the lounge." Harry got up from his seat, and he stuffed a sandwich into his mouth, "I have something to give to you."

There were not a few wandering figures in the entire castle. Harry left early. He ran directly to the suite on the third floor, and took out a folded piece of parchment from a box full of locks and spells, and it flowed like a silver liquid. His robes—the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak, he had been careful not to let Tom see, and now he was going to give these two precious treasures to his friends, in any case, watching Tom was necessary.

The three chatted for a short time, and Harry was reminded by Hermione of the time of confinement. He muttered a word and then got up from the armchair weakly. He became the focus of the whole lounge again and didn't pay him too much attention. His own hostility is obvious enough, and it's not too bad.Harry took a deep breath to calm his emotions, and he shouted with all his strength: "If you think I'm crazy, stay away from me! Don't expect me to wipe your ass!"

The boy quickly passed the aisle, and kicked an unoccupied armchair on the side. The loud noise made the living room that had just become noisy instantly silent. Harry was very satisfied with the effect. He stood near the doorway and sneered: "Wait Let's see. Let's all wait and see who's the real idiot."

As the words fell, Harry slipped out of the doorway, leaving the noise of the room behind.

Umbridge's office was on the fourth floor, a room Harry was familiar with. He had been reporting here so often that when Harry opened the door, he thought he had entered another world.The whole place was covered in pink and lace, and it looked full of girlishness, but what caught Harry's attention the most was the wall facing the door, on which were hung many plates, each with a cat making a pose.Thinking that the current owner of the room was Umbridge, Harry suppressed the sour taste rising from his stomach.

"Mr. Potter, good evening." The witch's sticky voice pulled Harry out of his daze. She pointed to the small table beside her and motioned Harry to sit down. There was a strange quill on the table, but there was no parchment.Harry frowned.Umbridge walked up to him shaking his head, and said slowly in that gentle tone, "In order to punish your grandstanding, I need you to copy 'I shall not lie'."

Harry felt that his anger rose immediately, but he had no plan to continue to confine him to the witch. Now he must not extend the time to leave Tom. He knew that wizard too well. During this time, the other party would definitely try to figure out his identity. He just hoped that Ron and Hermione could spy on each other smoothly.Harry replied to Umbridge in a particularly polite voice: "There's no ink here—"

"Oh, no need for ink." Umbridge smiled, and she smiled like a crumpled bun.

"Then how many times do I need to copy?"

"Until you remember your mistakes, dear Mr. Potter." After she finished speaking, she turned her head and buried herself in the parchment, not knowing what she was tinkering with.

When Harry wrote the first sentence on the parchment, there was a knife-like mark on his hand. He was surprised to see that line of words appearing on the back of his hand. There was no difference between the crooked characters and the parchment.Harry frowned, and in the blink of an eye, the wound healed again.He tried to write another sentence, and the wound opened and closed in the same way.Harry looked up just in time to meet Toad's smiling expression, he gritted his teeth and swallowed back the pain that was about to leak out of his mouth.

I don't know how many hours passed, Harry felt like it had been years, and the back of his hand was burning.After Umbridge smiled mildly and promised to continue tomorrow night, Harry flew out of the office, and now he felt bad, and he suddenly understood why Tom needed to vent, and yes, he also felt that he could do anything to anyone. Those who stood in the way cast a curse.