the Gambler

The only sound in the silent bedroom was Harry's soft snoring.Tom carefully removed Harry's hand on his waist, walked barefoot to the door, held the handle and gently unscrewed it. After the creaking sound, the boy on the bed opened his emerald green eyes.

"Blake." Tom spoke to the shadow at the end of the corridor, and the rustling sound brought a handsome black-haired man under the moonlight.

"Riddle." Sirius frowned. "Or, Voldemort?"

"Even though I hate this name, I still want to be called Riddle." Tom raised his chin towards the study, Sirius nodded, and the two disappeared into the dark corridor at the same time.Harry had spent a long time in the next room imitating the Wiretapping Charm Tom had taught him, and he now had a ball of golden thread wrapped around his hand.

Not yet, Harry reminded himself, stuffing the contents into airtight glass jars and tiptoeing back into the warmth of the bed.

Tom took the armchair facing the door and sat down. Whatever the argument, he wanted to make sure that his escape route would not be obstructed, not that he needed to escape.He couldn't kill Harry's godfather, and that was what bothered him the most.

"Say what you want to say." Tom leaned on the armrest, his eyes scanning the entire study room. The Black family's collection of books is huge, just as they have always stood, and most of them are books on black magic.

"You like Harry?"

Tom raised half an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were implying that I came out to talk about that."

"Answer my question, Riddle!"

"Of course I like him." Tom rested his head on his chin. "He's the most stubborn and rebellious person I've ever met. If I didn't love him, Harry would be a corpse now."

"He loves you. I noticed the way Harry looked at you the same way Lily looked at James, maybe deeper than that. At least Lily hates James rather than hates him, but she still loves him dearly. I I believe Harry didn't tell you that Lily was indifferent to James before the sixth grade, and the reason is largely related to Snape. Lily is a kind and stubborn witch, and she is very protective of her friends." Little Sirius squeezed the armrest tightly and met Tom's blue eyes firmly. The man in front of him was slowly becoming the Dark Lord, he was sure.

"Severus Snape?" Tom hummed in response. "That explains his two-faced attitude. His hatred for Harry comes from James, and his protection comes from Lily."

"He's protective of Harry?" said Sirius in disbelief.

"Harry's character may be very similar to Lily." Tom continued without responding to the other party. "If she had been so brave, Harry would also give up her life for the one she loved. I can't allow that. No one can hurt What belongs to me, except myself."

"I won't allow you to hurt him!" Sirius jumped up from the chair, threw himself at Tom's body and was bounced away by the invisible barrier.

Tom couldn't help clicking his tongue, and looked at the struggling man with disdain from top to bottom: "You have no right to ask me, let alone stop me, Sirius Black. Besides, you can't even match Harry's current strength." Tom squatted down, grabbed Sirius's messy black hair and lifted the other's head, "Maybe he needs to grow up quickly. Complicated relationships are his weakness. Voldemort has proved this point more than once."

"What do you want to do?" Sirius spat out a mouthful of blood with difficulty.

"Cut off all his links, as long as Harry has me." Tom let go of his hand, and his cold laughter echoed in the empty room, "Don't be afraid, Blake. You still have value."

Harry pushed Tom away from Merlin's beard, who had just finished listening to last night's conversation and was in a very bad mood.Especially Tom's attitude towards Sirius, seriously, what does he think he is?Grimmauld Place is the house of Sirius!

He is the Dark Lord.The voice in the back of his head said mockingly.

Oh yes.Harry pouted uncomfortably.

Harry hurried to the kitchen, where Sirius was already sitting at the end of the table waiting for him, the man had a bright smile on his face, as if nothing had happened last night.Tom followed Harry in, his dark gray eyes dimming indistinctly.

"I had a pleasant conversation with Blake last night." Tom picked up a knife and fork to cut up the chicken, and said nonchalantly.Sirius looked at each other in astonishment.Harry frowned.

"What did you talk about?"

"Touching godfather," said Tom dryly. "He threatened me not to hurt you."

"And you declined," said Harry, "because you hated being threatened."

"As expected of my soul mate, who always knows me," said Tom cheerfully, "so I punished him a little. I hate being disobedient," he glanced at the stiff Sirius, "next time I There's no guarantee he's still breathing."

"Touch him and I'll make you pay." Harry's cold gaze cut into Tom's body like a knife. "You know I will."

"Oh, this really breaks my heart." Tom put down the knife and fork, took a nearby scarf and wiped his mouth, "I will continue to tolerate him until he loses his value, you know, death is still too kind .”

"As if I'd give you a chance."

"You won't." Tom tapped the table lightly, "So you have to stay by my side forever. God knows what I will do after leaving you, maybe split my soul again?"

Harry wanted to punch Tom in the nose, really.

"Walburga." Tom turned around, and the woman in the portrait nodded slightly, "Tell me if you got anything from Voldemort?"

A choked scream emerged from Kreacher's thin torso.His huge eyes narrowed into slits as he glanced uneasily between Mrs. Black and Tom.Wrinkled old faces crowded together.The moment the elf was about to snap his fingers, Tom fixed him in place.

"You know." Affirmative tone.

Kreacher shook his head so hard that Harry was afraid his head would be shaken off.Tom looked up at Mrs. Black.

Getting what Tom meant, Mrs. Black said sternly, "Tell him, Kreacher."

"No, Kreacher can't, ma'am—" Kreacher's rough and hoarse voice made Harry cover his ears, and he kept banging his head on the fireplace, as if feeling that these punishments were not enough, he raised the red-hot poker to stick to his chest.Harry subconsciously disarmed the opponent's weapon.The gray, bloodshot eyes stared fiercely at him.

"Sirius Black!" Tom raised his voice.

"Kreacher, as the head of House Black, I order you to tell the truth." Sirius grabbed Kreacher's bony body and shook it vigorously, "Tell me!"

"Kreacher can't, Kreacher promised master Regulus, Kreacher would destroy that locket, but Kreacher didn't," he said as tears flowed into his giant pig's nose, the moment Sirius let go , he rushed to the burning fireplace again.

"I order you to hold still!" Sirius yelled, Kreacher collapsed on the ground in an instant, and Harry pinned the house-elf to the floor with his arms.Sirius lowered his voice. "Tell me about Regulus and the locket. That gold locket that used to be in the living room?"

Kreacher nodded.

"Why did Regulus destroy it?" Tom interjected.

"Master Regulus is the greatest master. He is very good to Kreacher, and Kreacher likes him very much. Master Sirius—" He raised his head and gouged out the black-haired man, his lips were trembling, as if he wanted to put The curse swallowed, "The mistress is very sad, but the master Regulus knows the greatness of the Dark Lord, and he wants to help the man so that wizards no longer need to hide. The Dark Lord can make people with magic over Muggles and Muggles. Above the Mudblood!"

"I won't let you say the word Mudblood!" growled Sirius.

Kreacher flinched.

"Go on, Kreacher." Tom noticed that Walburga had also gone quiet. Perhaps she had been wondering about Regulus's whereabouts for so many years, and no one knew where his body was.

"Master Regulus joined the ranks of Death Eaters at the age of 16. One day he suddenly told Kreacher that the Dark Lord needed a house-elf." Kreacher trembled even more, "Kreacher was taken to A cave by the sea, with a large black lake and a small boat. There is a stone plate full of poison on the small island in the center, and the Dark Lord asked Kreacher to drink everything in it."

Tom clenched his fists. The description was so familiar that he could even picture the scene in the cave in his mind.Not far from the orphanage where he was born, the seaside where he goes once a year, he once took two orphans into a deep cave.

"What happened next?" Harry asked quietly, he could see Kreacher's panic.

"After drinking that thing, Kreacher saw a terrible picture, his whole body seemed to be burned by flames, but the Dark Lord kept laughing, and kept laughing, and he ordered Kreacher to drink all the potion, and then took out the pendant Put the box in the basin. He refilled the potion until it covered the locket." Kreacher could hardly support the weight of his body and collapsed on the ground, "He left Kreacher on the island, Kreacher thought I was about to die, and the corpse in the water slowly crawled towards Kreacher, trying to drag Kreacher in—"

"How did you get back?"

"The master Regulus ordered Kreacher to leave. He, he became very strange after he came back. One day he asked Kreacher to accompany him to the cave again. He drank the poison inside and put the same locket in the cave. Inside, he gave Kreacher the real locket." The house-elf's tears mixed with snot," he ordered Kreacher not to tell anyone in the family that he wanted Kreacher to destroy the locket .Kreacher tried everything, but no matter what, he couldn’t destroy the box! Kreacher is not a good elf, and Kreacher can’t fulfill the entrustment of his master Regulus!”

"What happened to Regulus?" Sirius grabbed Kreacher's slender arm, noticing the painful expression of the house elf, he let go of his hand as if he had been scalded, the sadness on his face showed that he had already guessed Regulus Les results.

"He was dragged into the water by the Inferi!" Kreacher wailed and hit his head on the floor, and the sound of the bump was mixed with Mrs. Black's sobs in the portrait.Sirius had clearly accepted the great stimulation and sat motionless on the ground.

Harry threw himself at Kreacher, hugging the elf's thin body tightly, green snot slid from the wrinkled skin and wiped the front of the boy's brand new robes.In Harry's arms, Kreacher cursed in a low voice that the half-breed had defiled the noble and ancient Black family lineage. The anger that should have been suppressed by the latter was suppressed by the latter. After an unknown period of time, Kreacher finally stopped talking to himself.

"Stop, Kreacher, stop!"

Kreacher continued to struggle, and the force made Harry feel that several of his ribs were broken. He turned his help-seeking gaze to Sirius, who was stunned for a moment before he could react.

"Kreacher, listen to me." Harry lifted the house-elf's sagging head, "Regulus is a brave man, and so are you," Kreacher shook his head, and Harry continued, "Regulus He gave his life to bring down Voldemort, don't you like him? We want to fulfill his last wish. Can you help us?"

Kreacher nodded.

"Bring it to us, Kreacher, please," Harry said softly.