Dumbledore was still wearing his star robe and a pointed wizard hat. The whole person looked like he had stepped out of a fantasy novel, perfectly in line with people's stereotypes of wizards. Next to Dumbledore
Hermione wore a gray woolen coat, a black plain skirt and a dark gray scarf. Perhaps because of the cold winter, Hermione's face was a little pale.
"Hey, I'm back!" Tom waved to Hermione and greeted him warmly. Hermione and Dumbledore also smiled back at him. Tom, who was fully focused on Hermione, didn't notice.
There was a hint of bitterness in Dumbledore's smile.
"Professor Dumbledore, you have gained a lot today!" Tom took out the Hufflepuff gold cup wrapped in dragon skin from his arms and handed it to Dumbledore.
When Tom returned from the expedition, he felt much better after seeing Hermione. Combined with the three happy events of defeating the Death Eaters, sweeping Gringotts, and successfully confiscating one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, his mood was visible to the naked eye.
has gotten better.
"This is..." Dumbledore opened the dragon skin package and was shocked by what was inside.
"Riddle's Horcrux was taken from the Lestrange family's vault. You must remember to return the remains of the cup to me after destroying it. This is a relic of Ms. Hufflepuff - of course, if you can repair it
, that's great!" Tom babbled, fearing that Dumbledore would drink the cup.
"Okay." A smile appeared on Dumbledore's old face.
"It's getting late, let's go back for dinner first!" Seeing that Dumbledore was still looking at the Horcrux, Tom didn't bother to brave the cold outside with him, so he grabbed Hermione's hand and rushed to Hogwarts Castle.
go.
But as soon as he got his hands on it, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Hermione's hands were much colder than usual.
"What's wrong, your hands are so cold?" Tom asked with a smile.
Hermione also smiled and replied: "It's too cold outside."
"Yeah, look how cold you are, your face is pale." Tom held Hermione's hand and breathed inside.
"Dumbledore is really shameless. There is no need to wait outside. It would be better to stay in the castle."
Hermione:......
The last trace of color disappeared from her face.
She uneasily took her hand out of Tom's hand and sped up her pace towards the castle.
"Hurry up, you'll miss the main course if you wait any longer."
"Okay." Tom followed Hermione, and the two of them quickly ran across the lawn in front of the castle and hid inside the castle.
As soon as you enter the castle, you can feel a sense of warmth. The house elves worked diligently to keep the furnace in the castle extremely strong, and they might be able to burn down a small forest in one night.
Feeling this warmth, Hermione thought of the hundreds of house elves in Hogwarts. She wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words when she reached her mouth.
It's not necessary. Talking about these things will only burden Tom. Can't we spend the last time together?
Hermione wanted to be selfish for once. She took off her scarf with a smile and handed it to Tom.
"I have a new shower gel, do you think it smells good?"
"Huh..." Tom exhaled a cold breath after entering the warm realm. When he heard this sentence, he subconsciously wanted to say: How do I know?
But then, a scarf with warmth and fragrance was stuffed into his hand.
So that was it. Tom sniffed the scent on the scarf and felt it smelled inexplicably good.
"fragrant!"
"That's good." Hermione handed the scarf to Tom and led him straight into the auditorium.
[Should I hope you remember my taste, or should I hope you forget my taste? Maybe only Merlin knows the answer]
Compared with when Tom left, the atmosphere in the auditorium was much more harmonious. The main reason was that the Ministry of Magic responded with extremely rapid force, raiding the settlement of the escaped prisoners of Azkaban, and allowing them to get what they deserved.
"Punishment". As for the details of the punishment, the Daily Prophet did not mention it.
After hearing what the Ministry of Magic said, everyone felt that the overall situation seemed to be stable and getting better again, and the uneasiness and anxiety in their hearts naturally disappeared.
As for the issue of Gringotts, it was dealt with in an understatement - the wizards in line all took out their assets, and not a single Knut was missing. One or two people could not dispel their doubts, but it was the same for one or two hundred people.
The wizards waiting in line felt a little shaken.
Did I wait in line for hours just to take out dozens or hundreds of gold coins and take a look?
The human heart is the easiest thing to change.
Minister Bones took the opportunity to announce that the Ministry of Magic would carry out a series of bank reforms. Although wizards still habitually checked their balances in the vault, everyone's doubts were instantly eliminated.
The changes in Gringotts didn't stir up any controversy.
Since it's nothing serious, why not discuss the Yule Ball?
When Tom and Hermione entered the auditorium, they noticed the Christmas fever. The girls sat together in groups, whispering, and observing the passing boys with scrutinizing eyes, as if they were picking prey. It is natural in this regard.
The disadvantaged boys were much more passive. They gathered together like a group of mice trying to put a bell on a cat, discussing with sly eyes how to "catch" a girl and invite her to attend the Christmas ball with them.
High-end hunters are often too lazy to disguise themselves as prey.
After Tom walked into the auditorium, he felt countless pairs of hot eyes looking at him. Many girls made no secret of their interest in Tom. After all, he was to some extent more dazzling than the warriors of the Triwizard Tournament.
There are three warriors, but only one student has won the Order of Merlin, Tom. And in the first project, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the content of the first project is simply to see who can get help from Tom Yoder first.
.
How could girls not be attracted by such a dazzling boy? So even though he seems to have a partner, girls still feel like digging a couple of hoes first.
After all, in their eyes, there seemed to be no gap between themselves and Hermione. After discussing it with their best friends, they felt that "I have the advantage" and as long as I got the A, I would win.
Then why not A?
Many little witches are secretly planning how to take action.
Compared to Tom, Harry and Ron were in a much worse situation. At this time, the two of them were secretly making action plans at the Gryffindor table.
"Oh my God, have they grown up together?" Harry couldn't help but want to complain. Since the Azkaban prison break crisis was resolved, he had wanted to find an opportunity with Ron to resolve the matter of Yule Ball partners.
But what surprised them was that the relationship between the girls at Hogwarts suddenly heated up. All the girls went in and out of the lounge in groups, and there was no chance of meeting a girl who was alone.
This made Harry and Ron very depressed.
"Maybe we can use a rope to pull one out," Ron said, half jokingly, half sincerely: "Do you have a target?"
Not far away, Ginny stopped her spoon and her ears perked up.
Harry was silent. Of course he had a goal! He knew exactly who he wanted to ask as his dance partner, but he couldn't muster the courage.
Ravenclaw's Qiu Zhang is one grade higher than him. She is very beautiful, an excellent Quidditch player, and very popular. If she can be invited to be his dance partner...
Ron on the side saw at a glance that Harry already had a goal. As a friend, he advised: "Listen, if you have a goal, then go ahead and invite him! I dare say not many girls will refuse you."
Not like me..."
Ron's tone was full of bitterness. Ginny, who was not far away, also turned bitter in an instant. She lowered her head and started to deal with the steak in front of her.
He was right, Harry could be considered a popular candidate. Although he did not become a Hogwarts warrior, he still had another identity: the Boy Who Lived, which was enough to attract many witches.
After listening to Ron's persuasion, Harry raised his head and glanced at the long table in Ravenclaw House. He saw Qiu Zhang laughing with several of his friends.
He gradually became more determined. But when he looked back, he saw Tom sitting at the table with his head bent on cooking, and a plan that Harry thought was very good appeared in his mind.
"It's too embarrassing to speak directly. How about asking Yoder to deliver the message to me? He was once a member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and he should be quite familiar with Qiu Zhang..."
"Maybe it's a good idea, but -" Ron began to discuss the feasibility of this strategy with Harry, but just as Harry was listening to Ron's plan, a sharp pain stabbed into Harry's head like a sword.
, his scar burned again, the food on the golden plate disappeared in front of him, and Ron's voice gradually became hazy...
He was now standing on a barren hill, with a few scattered figures standing around him.
"Are these just a few people?!" His voice was high-pitched and cold, and anger burned in his heart. He was angry, and he still couldn't understand why his power disappeared in an instant?
Harry could still feel the pain in his left arm, as if someone was cutting the flesh on his arm with a knife.
A female voice sounded: "I'm very sorry, Master... The people from the Order of the Phoenix followed us to the Lestrange Manor, and the dementors also followed... We, we can't resist it - but as long as you
If they give them a little time, they will definitely come over... Right now they may be trying to make ends meet with people from the Ministry of Magic..."
"This is betrayal!" Voldemort roared, "Anyone who dares not to come after I initiate the call is a traitor!"
"When they saw that I suffered a secret loss at the hands of Dumbledore, they started thinking about what they shouldn't be, these traitors!" Anger and fear lingered in his heart. He was angry at the "betrayal" of his men, and he also
Frightened by this feeling of betrayal and separation.
He vented for a while, and the anger in his heart gradually subsided.
"I can understand their difficulties." Voldemort, who had regained his senses, suppressed his dissatisfaction with his subordinates. Although he could not understand love, he knew that he was indeed at a disadvantage now and could not be too harsh on his subordinates. Sometimes, he could not be too harsh on his subordinates.
We must also learn to understand.
"It doesn't matter if we can't be summoned this time. There are always some things that need to be dealt with." He said lightly.
Bellatrix breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her master had forgiven those Death Eaters who had "broken their promise". She also understood that it was the best choice to be more tolerant to the remaining Death Eaters now, but if her master was firm,
, she would not let those people go. Seeing that her master did not pursue the matter to the end, she felt that everyone was happy.
"Okay, let's go find our 'friends' first and see if we can get a place to stay from them." Voldemort made the next step. As he spoke, he covered his withered skin with his right hand.
's left arm.
The pain in his left arm made him regretful. He had such a good opportunity and failed to kill that old man! Damn brown-haired girl!
But after the image of the spell hitting her flashed through his mind, a smile appeared on his lips: it's not easy to be a hero——
The pain in his arm started again, and Voldemort knew it was time to deal with this hidden injury.
After being injured, he looked for many ways to heal, but with little success. In the end, he could only choose the worst solution.
Horcrux.
He needs to take out a fragment of his soul and let this fragment be "eroded" by Dumbledore's curse on his behalf, so that he can transfer the curse to a Horcrux and eliminate Dumbledore's influence on him at the cost of a Horcrux.
The curse imposed.
He paced on the desolate hilltop, and blurry pictures flashed through his boiling mind: lake, cabin, Gringotts, Hogwarts——
Before the next picture appeared, the scene in front of Harry suddenly became blurry. He opened his eyes and returned to reality. At this time, he was sitting in a lively auditorium, with delicious food in front of him and classmates in his ears.
Lively, cheerful sounds.
"Harry, are you okay?" Ron's voice rang in his ears. When Harry turned his head, he saw his good friend looking at him anxiously. Only then did Harry realize that his back
Already wet with cold sweat.
"You, you just, suddenly -" Ron carefully prepared his words, but it was still difficult to express Harry's state just now.
"It's him." Harry lowered his voice to ensure that only Ron could hear his voice: "He was very angry because many of his servants were caught, and some of them seemed to have chosen to betray. After talking to Dumbledore
During the battle, he was injured, and he is trying to find a way to heal..."
Ron frowned: "Merlin, can you—"
He stopped talking and his eyes widened.
"Yes, I suspect that this scar connects me to him. I can see things when he has violent mood swings." Harry looked serious, "I'm afraid that dream during the summer vacation was not a dream."
Ron shrank deeper into his seat in fear: "So he's really back?"
Harry nodded, "I'm afraid that's the case."
Ron thought for a while, but was no longer so nervous, because according to Harry's description, the mysterious man seemed to have been beaten badly by Dumbledore.
"The situation is getting better, isn't it?"
Harry glanced at Tom and Hermione but did not answer Ron's question.
————
Four thousand words combined into one chapter!
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