The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

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 conforming to 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 looked a little pale.

"Hey, I'm back!" Tom waved to Hermione and greeted her warmly. Hermione and Dumbledore smiled back at him. Tom, who was focused entirely on Hermione, didn't notice that there was a hint of bitterness in Dumbledore's smile.

"Professor Dumbledore, you have gained a lot today!" Tom took out the Hufflepuff golden 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 his victory over the Death Eaters, his sweep of Gringotts, and his successful capture of one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, his mood had improved visibly.

"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 the matter, 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 took her hand out of Tom's hand uneasily and quickened her pace towards the castle.

"Hurry up, you'll miss the main course if you linger 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 burn the furnaces in the castle so powerfully that they might be able to burn down a small forest in one night.

Feeling this warmth, Hermione thought of the hundreds of house elves at 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 the 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 barrier. 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]

The atmosphere in the auditorium was much more harmonious than when Tom left. The main reason was that the Ministry of Magic responded with extremely rapid force, raiding the accommodation of the escaped Azkaban prisoners and giving them "the punishment they deserved." As for the details of the punishment, the Daily Prophet withheld the details.

After hearing what the Ministry of Magic said, everyone felt that the overall situation seemed to be getting stable and better again, and the uneasiness and anxiety in their hearts naturally disappeared.

As for the problem of Gringotts, it was dealt with in an understatement - the wizards in line all took out their assets, not a single Knut was missing. One or two people couldn't dispel their doubts, but one or two hundred people were like this, and the wizards in line were 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 banking reforms. Although the wizards still habitually went to the vault to check their balances, the doubts in everyone's minds were instantly eliminated.

The changes at Gringotts didn't stir up much fuss.

Since there's nothing serious, why not discuss the Yule Ball?

Tom and Hermione sensed the Christmas fever as they entered the Great Hall. The girls sat together in groups, whispering, and observing the passing boys with scrutinizing eyes, as if they were selecting prey. The boys, who are naturally at a disadvantage in this regard, are much more passive. They gather 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 Christmas with them. prom.

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 received 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 wife, the girls still think that they need to dig in 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." 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 much worse off. 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. Ever 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 came in and out of the lounge in groups, and there was no chance of meeting a single girl.

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 has a goal! He knew exactly who he wanted to ask as his 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 invite him! I dare say that not many girls will refuse you. Not like me..."

Ron's tone was full of bitterness. Not far away, Ginny also turned into a bitter look 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 favorite. Although he did not become a Hogwarts warrior, he 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 of Ravenclaw Academy. He saw Qiu Zhang laughing with several of his friends.

His heart gradually became firmer. 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 Yodel 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 is angry, and he still wonders 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 things they shouldn't have, these traitors!" Anger and fear lingered in his heart. He was angry at the "betrayal" of his men, and he was also frightened by this feeling of betrayal.

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 cannot understand love, he knows very well that he is indeed at a disadvantage now. He cannot be too harsh on his subordinates, and sometimes he must learn to forgive.

"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 promises". She also understood that it was the best choice to be more tolerant to the remaining Death Eaters now, but if the master was determined, she would not let those people go. Seeing that the master did not pursue the matter to the end, she also 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 arrangement. As he spoke, he covered his withered left arm with his right hand.

The pain in his left arm made him feel a little regretful. He had such a good opportunity and failed to kill the old man! Damn brown girl!

But after the image of the spell hitting her flashed in 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 his injuries, 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. Curse imposed.

He paced on the desolate hilltop, blurry pictures flashing 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 the lively and cheerful voices of his classmates in his ears.

"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, ensuring that only Ron could hear his voice: "He was very angry because many of his servants were caught, and some seemed to choose to betray. After talking to Dumbledore He was injured in the battle, 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 something when his mood fluctuates violently." 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 so."

Ron thought for a while, but was not so nervous anymore, because according to Harry's description, the mysterious man seemed to have been beaten badly by Dumbledore.

"Things are getting better, aren't they?"

Harry glanced at Tom and Hermione, but did not answer Ron's question.

————

Four thousand words combined into one chapter!

Good night. By the way, please give me monthly tickets and recommended tickets.

Thank you Mr. Zhongliegong for your alliance, I love you. I was really happy when I saw you saying that you had finished reading this book. As for your worries, they are completely unnecessary and will not happen~