[HP] Comparative

The answer was beyond all Harry's expectations, and he couldn't help being taken aback. "Why? If it's just about the wand, there's no need at all..." He rubbed his nose sheepishly. "I mean, I was too reckless then."

"You're just too excited, I can see that." Tom took the initiative to help him out, "In comparison, my attitude towards you is too indifferent."

Not just indifference, maybe a little hostility...

Harry thought, but there was no way he'd say it now. "It's okay," he said, beginning to suspect that he was a little narrow-minded, "I can understand, really..."

"Is that so?" said Tom softly. "Then I can only serve as a foil to your nobility. Because there's never been anyone like you before who just wanted to know me."

Harry's eyes were wide open and he wanted to refute the other party's words that were close to giving up on himself, but he suddenly became dumb when he heard the back. "...what do you mean 'just wanting to get to know me'?" he asked, not realizing that he was shocked to the point of panic.

"I guess you're thinking, everybody likes me. But they either think I'm smart, or they think I'm handsome. That's why I don't feel comfortable with you near..." Tom gave him a smile, But in Harry's eyes, there was a well-hidden bitterness in that smile, "After all, my life experience so far has brought me this realization—

"There is no such thing as gratuitous kindness, especially when...

The long eyelashes drooped down, half covering those jet-like eyes, "It's on me."

By the end, his voice was almost inaudible, and the unspeakable loneliness couldn't be more obvious.

Harry stared at Tom, his lips twitched slightly, but no words came out.Does this mean that no one in the orphanage likes Tom?No one liked him until Hogwarts?But there is still a part of him that doubts himself and fills him with insecurities?

A voice in Harry's head was shouting don't just stand there, do something: driven by the urge, he took two steps forward and gave Tom a firm hug.

It wasn't until two seconds later that Harry really reacted——

He was tiptoeing hard, and their chests were pressed together through the prefect badge and cloth.There was a faint vibration below it, which was the heartbeat of another person.And Tom's whole body was stiff: he stood there like a stake, without any reaction, as if he was totally unexpected and at a loss...

Harry let go of his hand a little so that he could turn his head to see the expression on the tall boy's face.Coincidentally, Tom also turned his head at this time.The tips of their noses collided, their lips rubbed past each other, and the fluff on their cheeks was even more clearly felt by the breath.

When he met those heavy black eyes again, Harry's heart skipped a beat.He stepped back quickly and let go of his arms. "I'm sorry," he apologized in a panic, not knowing where to put his hands and feet, "I'm too presumptuous..."

Tom just stared at him without moving, which made Harry even more nervous.After a long time, the tall boy said, "Don't force yourself, Harry." His tone seemed to be lower than before, "That's not your problem."

Harry's eyes flickered at first, and he didn't dare to look at Tom at all, but he couldn't bear it any longer. "I won't force it!" He retorted fiercely, and his anger rushed to the top of his head, "Besides, that's not your problem!"

How could a man like Tom fail to respond to a hug?

Unless he's never experienced anything like it...the cold fingers, the pale skin, there's a reasonable explanation for all of this...

Seeing Harry get emotional, Tom finally blinked. "Are you angry?" he asked Harry, in disbelief, but with a touch of calmness. "Don't be too loud, I don't want to bring anyone else in."

Only then did Harry realize that the two of them were still at the party. "Okay," he agreed, still a little annoyed, "I just don't want to hear you say that! That's not true at all, you deserve better—"

Having said this, Harry stopped abruptly.He was thinking of Tom's background when he said "deserves better," and he shouldn't have been overly aware of that. "I'm sorry," his mouth seemed to have self-will, anyway, it used to not consciously apologize one after another in a short period of time, "I know you don't want to say...you don't want everyone to treat you preferentially for other reasons, I Can understand..."

Hearing these words, Tom showed a little surprise on his face. "How do you..."

"Aha, Tom, so you're hiding here!" A hearty voice suddenly broke in, it was Professor Slughorn, "I've been looking for you for a long time...Oh, Harry is here too?"

Harry was taken aback, but Tom immediately put on his good student face. "Harry and I were talking," he explained. "Is there anything you want from me, sir?"

Slughorn's cheeks were flushed, and he had obviously had a lot to drink.His eyes stopped on Harry for less than half a second before turning away, oblivious to Harry's unusual nervousness. "Of course I introduced you to my former students," he said triumphantly, holding out his hand to Tom. "You're my favorite student, and I'm sure they'll like you too... Come on, Tom , come with me..."

"Okay, sir." Tom nodded kindly, then turned to Harry, "I'll excuse you first."

Harry shook his head, indicating that he was fine.He watched Tom follow Slughorn into a lively little circle, and belatedly wondered if anyone had noticed them.Although it was accidental, he didn't want Tom to get involved in any strange gossip...

Fortunately, everything is normal.People were busy drinking and drinking, and no one gave a look to the dark corner.Harry couldn't help but quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and turned out from behind the potted plant, intending to find Hermione.

Harry didn't realize that Tom was watching him stealthily out of the corner of his eye while he was dealing with the people Slughorn wanted him to know.Seeing the messy-haired boy walking towards the brunette girl with a clear goal after poking his head, the tall boy's eyes were dark and thoughtful.His fingertips brushed his lower lip as if inadvertently, exactly where they had just touched.

The banquet may have lasted several hours.Possibly was used because Harry didn't know when it was going to end - after Neville finally emerged from the crowd, the three of them took it together and quietly left there.

No one was full, so Harry decided to go to the kitchen to get some food, and Hermione volunteered to join him.He had thought that Hermione might want to preach to the house-elves again that they should have wages and rest days, and tried to persuade her to go back.But as soon as she turned the downward staircase, she quickly asked, "Are you okay? I mean, Riddle just asked you..."

"Oh," Harry understood as soon as he heard it, "it's nothing serious." He said vaguely, internally resisting the idea of ​​telling others what Tom had just said as a sign of weakness, "he just thought he was on the train before Treat me badly."

Hermione opened her eyes wide. "He apologized to you for this? Oh..." She believed it and was a little moved, "He is really a careful person."

Seeing that she wasn't suspicious at all, Harry felt guilty again. "Professor Slughorn is right, and you are right," he admitted. "I swear, I won't tell anyone else what you told me. After all, he deserves better."

"Oh, Harry..." Hermione's round eyes widened, "What the hell did Riddle tell you? You're completely on his side now!" There was some surprise in her tone, but more is to relax.

"Come on, you're talking like I've said bad things about him before." Harry complained dissatisfied.

"You're not, but you're not very supportive of Slytherins either!" Hermione pointed out shrewdly.

Harry was momentarily at a loss for words.But before walking to the hanging picture with many fruits, he still found out the reason: "My mother once told me that the college does not represent whether a person is good or bad. I have never hated Tom—" At the time, he couldn't help reviewing his previous slander against Tom in his heart, "I even like him a little bit."

Hermione looked at him and suddenly burst out laughing. "Really?" she asked, apparently not taking Harry's statement seriously. "I thought you liked Cho! Look at the way you look at her!"

"What..." Harry's face flushed quickly, "I didn't! And I guess she's already with Cedric." At the end, he couldn't help but feel a little downcast.He and Cho had met at a Quidditch match, but he'd never worked up the courage to ask her out.

Hermione patted him on the back understandingly. "It doesn't matter, there are many good girls at Hogwarts. You can always find a girlfriend if you want."

Harry didn't listen to this.Because until now, he only felt that embarrassment when facing Qiu.In addition, Cedric was a nice person, and he couldn't question Qiu's vision.Finally, why did he have to find another girl as a girlfriend when Cho found someone else to be her boyfriend?

By this time, the two of them had reached the kitchen entrance, so Harry didn't need to express his resistance.He reached out and scratched the big pear, which giggled.Then, the whole painting was opened backwards, and the two of them were let in.When they climbed out of the hole again, their hands were full of pies, bacon and pumpkin juice, and walking was quite strenuous.

Although Harry wanted to hurry back to the tower, as he passed the foyer, he noticed the new notice posted above. "The Triwizard Tournament—" he read aloud, to take care of the shorter Hermione, "representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive at six o'clock in the evening on Friday, October 10. Afternoon classes It will end half an hour earlier, and then please send your schoolbags and textbooks back to the dormitory, gather in front of the castle, meet our guests, and then attend the welcome banquet."

The two looked at each other, and then Hermione showed a clear look. "I knew it," she let out a deep breath, "Professor Slughorn must have known the news a long time ago, and he just held the banquet today."

Harry thought so too. "Who do you think will be our warriors?" he asked, while running through his head quickly the seniors who attended the banquet today, the answer was so obvious that he didn't want to admit it.

"I guess it's Cedric Diggory," said Hermione, exactly as he was thinking.But as if to take care of Harry's emotions, she immediately added: "But I believe Riddle is better than him."

"Yeah," said Harry, stepping a little gloomily, "I'll support Tom when he's old enough. It's a pity he doesn't want to be there himself..."

Hermione stared at him in surprise. "——What did you say?" She screamed, then realized that she had overreacted, and hurriedly lowered her voice, "How do you know he doesn't want to participate? Did he tell you?"

It was only then that Harry realized he had slipped up. "No," he paused, rummaging for words, "I mean, uh, he never showed that he wanted to, did he?"

"He didn't," Hermione reluctantly nodded, but she was not persuaded at all, "but that's the same as not wanting to participate!"

"...Didn't you also say he wouldn't participate?" Harry thought of another reason.

Hermione choked on her own words for half a second. “But that’s still the same thing as not wanting to participate!” she retorted, a little distraught. “Well, I’ll admit, I just don’t like the idea that the other two schools might have a better chance than us.”

So Hermione actually wanted to see Tom compete and win the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry understood right away. "One more week, maybe Tom will change his mind..." He deliberately used his most optimistic tone, although he didn't think the other party would do that at all—

Tom even refused the help offered by Professor Crouch, how could he be willing to go into the muddy water?

Then again, wasn't Tom saying he didn't need to prove to everyone what they already knew, was he also trying to persuade Professor Crouch to change his mind?If so, he has completely misunderstood Tom...

The author has something to say:

Tom Riddle: You see what I want you to see, and you hear what I want you to hear.

Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angels who voted for [Bazooka]: Xia Shuixiliu, KK, Tang Chenxin 1;

Thanks to the little angel who threw the [grenade]: 1 cute little moon rabbit;

Thanks to the little angel who cast [Mine]: 1 Zier;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:

18 bottles of tea; 10 bottles of Lucille;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!