[HP] Dearest Enemy

Alex left quietly and didn't return until a week after the Christmas break.Tom, who was back at school, was in a good mood when he was no longer an eyesore. This good mood remained until the guy with the arrogant hair appeared at the door of Harry's office again.

"Good evening, Harry, Tom." The short-haired man lazily knocked on the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's door as usual, grinning with a familiar smile.

Tom felt his mood drop to freezing point in an instant.As usual, he nodded slightly to the man who entered the room, then turned his gaze back to the homework that was still being corrected.

"Good evening, Alex." When this guy who always came to harass him appeared, Harry breathed a sigh of relief silently, and invited his friend who had been missing for half a month to sit down in his old seat.Tom watched their every move from the corner of his eye, and hummed inaudibly.

"What would you like to drink? Tea? Beer? Juice?" Harry asked.

"Tea, thanks," Alex said casually.

Harry saw a trace of boredom and nervousness under Alex's usual lazy and relaxed smile, and turned to Tom who was still grading homework.He was going to say something to Alex that he didn't want Tom to hear.

"Tom, go back today and come back the day after tomorrow."

"Okay." Tom was a little surprised, but didn't ask anything. After packing up his things, he walked towards the door, "Good night, Harry."

"Good night." Harry himself walked Tom to the door and closed it, before turning to the man reclining in his armchair.

Harry obviously had something to say to the pompous guy, and Tom didn't want to pass up the opportunity to eavesdrop.After taking a brief look at the surrounding situation, the boy called out Nagini in his Parseltongue, who was hiding in his robe just after hibernation.

"Go and listen to what they said," said Tom. "Better remember it. I'll wait for you in the dormitory."

"Is there any reward?" Miss Snake blinked her eyes twice.

"How about your favorite blueberry biscuits?" Tom said helplessly.What's wrong with this guy, Al, biscuits, it's still such an expensive high-end product...

"Okay, okay, we agreed, you don't want to be rambunctious!" Nagini happily slipped in from under the door of Harry's office.Tom watched the little snake's tail disappear behind the door, looked around again, the corner of his right lip slightly curved, and walked slowly towards the cellar as if nothing had happened.

"...Dumbledore is worried?" Harry poured tea for his friend, and frowned involuntarily.

"There are people in Germany who have been staring at the island of Great Britain. It's not a day or two since they wanted to set foot on British soil." Alex took a sip of tea with a rare serious expression on his face, "You know, the Muggle war hasn't happened yet. In the end, we are hostile to Germany, and Grindelwald is manipulating their leaders." Harry nodded, and Alex continued, "But Grindelwald does not allow his men to interfere too much with the British wizarding world. Many People say it's because Grindelwald is afraid of Dumbledore, I don't know if these rumors are true, but you know, all rumors have a basis."

Harry considered for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "How much trust do you have in Dumbledore?"

Alex looked at his friend in surprise, and replied without thinking: "As long as it is for our country, I can give my life to him."

Is that really the case? Harry was speechless for a while, and it was hard to tell whether the expression on his face was more worried or more sad.

Alex observed Harry for a while and said, "Why do you ask that question?"

"Even if he let you die, would you be willing?" Harry asked word by word without answering.He had a bad feeling, maybe because he didn't know about Dumbledore's concealment and betrayal at the last moment, maybe because he witnessed the memory of Severus Snape, he didn't want to be with Dumbledore again When it comes to relationships, he doesn't want the friends around him to be his people, although at that time Harry himself once declared loudly to the Minister of Magic that he was "Dumbledore's people through and through."

When complete respect and trust encounter complete betrayal, the unbearable pain will give people the illusion that the soul is torn apart, and the scar that cannot heal will be with you for life.

"You're acting weird today, buddy." Alex leaned closer to his friend's face, but those green eyes were full of worry, and even a little confused.Alex narrowed his eyes in surprise, and looked at Harry, "You...don't trust Dumbledore?"

Harry looked at him.After going through that deception, he couldn't bring himself to believe and trust that man completely again, but at some point, he had no other choice, and Dumbledore stood firmer than anyone else against dark wizards: "I think I trust him."

Alex was stunned for a moment because of his friend's rare trance tone.Today's Harry is really strange, no, it's been a little strange since I told him that he was going on a business trip during the holiday.Alex recalled the situation when he saw Harry in contact with Dumbledore, and suddenly found that Harry always had a cautious and deliberate alienation from Dumbledore that was difficult for others to detect.Harry said just now that he thought he trusted Dumbledore, which meant that he didn't actually trust the wise man recognized by European wizarding circles very much.

"I don't trust him completely." Harry shook his head gently, with a flash of pain in his eyes, "I admit that Dumbledore's wisdom and talent are like a peak. But it is because he is too wise and sees too thoroughly that he makes some decisions that are unimaginable or acceptable, and his decisions are unquestionable. If you don’t work for him under his command because of family reasons "Harry put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Then promise me, Aaron, don't get too involved in Dumbledore's plan, I don't want to see you become what I don't want to see."

He didn't want to see a second Harry Potter or Severus Snape, he didn't want to see another one who worshiped and admired Dumbledore, even after he died, knowing that he had been deceived and betrayed According to the script he set to end himself.His arrival had changed the world so much that he wasn't sure if Alex would be used as a bargaining chip by Dumbledore again, or even the outcome of the ongoing war.But if these changes were possible, Harry would do everything in his power to prevent them.

Sirius once said that some things are worth paying for, but Harry, who has experienced wizards and Muggle wars, feels that life is more important than anything else.Alex didn't tell Harry where he went missing for two weeks. Harry speculated that he might have sneaked into Germany, and he believed his guess was accurate.Harry knew how dangerous Germany is now, and he would lose his life if he was not careful. He couldn't just watch his best friend take risks.

Alex opened his mouth.Harry's eyes were so sincere that he didn't know how to refute for a moment.Alex suddenly felt that Harry must know more about Dumbledore than most people, making it difficult for him to ignore the sincerity and hidden meaning in his friend's words.But this was a matter between him and Dumbledore, even Harry, he couldn't give him a satisfactory response.

"Is this the request you made because you won me?" Alex quickly changed back to his usual joking face.Harry froze for a moment, then retracted his hand somewhat dejectedly.

"If you think so, so be it," he murmured, shaking his head after a pause. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, thank you, Harry, I'm glad to have a friend like you." Alex stood up, "Don't worry about me, I have my own measure. If I need your help, I will come to you .”

Harry nodded, reached out and gently hugged his friend who was taller than him.Alex patted Harry on the back and said goodnight to his friend.

"That's all?" Tom frowned after listening to Nagini's report, a little displeased.The little snake that had crawled to the side of the biscuit box nodded vigorously, with a firm tone.

"Yeah, that's all." Seeing that Tom didn't object, Nagini happily climbed into the biscuit box to eat, ignoring the thoughtful master beside him.

Tom stared at the silver-green patterns on the wallpaper, subconsciously stretched out his long fingers and tapped regularly on the table.Judging from what Nagini overheard and Dumbledore's previous surprise visit, Alex seems to be doing something dangerous for the old bee wandering around, and Harry, who is not involved, seems to be interested The old bee was very aware of his intentions, and guessed what kind of danger the prickly-haired guy was in, so he reminded and warned him.Of course, a cunning person like Alex would not casually disclose his secrets to his friends. It is worth noting Harry's attitude.

Harry distrusted Dumbledore as much as he did.This shows that Dumbledore's influence on him will be much smaller than others.It is undeniable that in many cases, the seldom-spoken Principal Dippet is like a decoration in the auditorium, and Dumbledore is more like the master of Hogwarts, regardless of whether there are not many people in or out of the school. Dissenting, most of the students and even many professors thought it was their luck that Dumbledore could condescend to stay at Hogwarts as the vice-headmaster and professor of transfiguration. People who feel inappropriate about this are very popular in the school, Tom is one of them.He didn't like the tall figure of Dumbledore who would appear at any time like a ghost. Tom would rather be caught by Harry and deduct [-] points when he was visiting the Forbidden Forest at night, and he would not meet that dog who likes to pretend to be crazy in the corridor during the day , The old bee, who pretends to be kind, said a few gossips to him.

But it was quite annoying that Harry should be so worried about that pompous guy in Alex.Poor Alex Palampeon... Tom stopped what he was doing and snorted coldly.

"Nagini. Stop playing, Nagini."

Tom yelled twice, and the little snake rolling in the biscuit box raised its head full of debris, and looked suspiciously at the gloomy master.

"What's the matter, Tom?" The little snake blinked his eyes and spat out the bright red letter, "Ah, Tom, you don't seem very happy."

"I'm not very happy." Tom didn't have the intention of pretending in front of the simple snake, "Nagini, I've assigned you a task."

"Is there a reward?" The little snake asked reflexively.

Tom frowned helplessly: "Yes."

Nagini twisted happily twice: "Okay, okay, let's talk."

"Go around Harry's office every day, the one you're in today," Tom ordered. "Listen to what he's talking to whoever. Don't let him or anyone else see it. Go quietly."

"So can I hang out somewhere else when he's not in the office?" Nagini asked.

"Yes, but it's best not to let other people find out." Tom said as he stretched out his fingers to stroke the biscuit crumbs off the little snake's head. "If you eat all the biscuits today, you won't have any rewards next time."

"Ah, Tom, you can't do this!" Nagini twisted twice in protest, and wrapped his finger around the boy's fingers, "I promise I won't eat all the biscuits at once next time, why don't you buy them for me again, Tom... "

As soon as Arafat entered the dormitory door, he saw the little snake with argyle pattern raised by Tom twisting around his finger, while his roommate propped his head on the table with the other hand, leading With a smirk on his face when he was teasing people, he chatted with the snake with the ability he inherited from Slytherin, and the whole room was full of weird hissing sounds from one person and one snake.

Alfred shuddered.Although he was gradually used to this kind of scene, those non-human dialogue voices still made him a little uncomfortable.

"You're back, Al." Tom noticed the roommate at the door and glanced at him as a greeting, "What brand of biscuits did you buy for Nagini last time? This glutton took all the biscuits left in the box today." Finished."

"You'll go bankrupt if this goes on, Tom, don't spoil her too much." Alfat said, but as soon as the words fell, the friend who was teasing the snake turned his head and smiled harmlessly.

"It was you who gave Nagini the first expensive biscuit, dear Al," said Tom meaningfully, in a voice as soft as water, "so you'll have to pay at least half the price of the biscuit."

What?The corner of Alphat's mouth twitched involuntarily, and the next second he rushed towards his friend who was smiling very badly: "Tom! If you don't blackmail me, you will die!"

The black-eyed boy neither evaded nor fought back, allowing his friend to strangle him in protest.The kid had been getting more and more reckless recently, and his behavior had the tendency to develop into a Gryffindor, but Tom didn't say anything, and was even quite conniving.Because besides Nagini, the only person who can joke with him so casually is Alfart, and Tom is reluctant to let him respect himself like everyone else.