[HP] Comparative

It was half past dinner time when Harry came out of Professor McGonagall's office.He was sleepy all over, unable to lift up his energy or appetite, so he simply returned to the tower directly.It wasn't long before Ron and Hermione hurried through the portrait hole.They were both relieved to see him sitting at a table in the corner of the common room.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Ron asked, striding over the students' miscellaneous objects on the ground, "I brought you something to eat!"

Harry shook his head, took the beef and mashed potato pies from his friend, and put them on the table. "Thanks, Ron."

His mood was far from positive, and Ron and Hermione exchanged a worried look - with so much going on these days, neither of them could care less about maintaining their previous politeness.

"What happened after you and Riddle left?" Hermione asked with concern, sitting down in the armchair beside Harry. "Professor Slughorn's opinion?"

Harry shook his head again. "Not Professor Slughorn, but Professor McGonagall."

"Professor McGonagall?" Ron exclaimed in surprise when he took a seat on Harry's other side. "I thought..." He suddenly stopped talking, and changed to: "Why did you admit it at that time? Just say something to fool the past, and Riddle will not pursue you."

Whether it was complaints or suggestions, Ron said it very firmly, but Harry didn't think so at all-none of them noticed that there were other people around at the time, until Tom blocked Harry's spell; , Tom wants to take care of it.

"I don't think it's a good idea to lie to Tom," he explained dryly, evading the point.

Ron immediately wanted to object, but he couldn't form a suitable sentence for a long time. "But I don't think he'll favor Malfoy," he murmured at last, unconvinced, "and you're using twin wands with him..."

Objectively speaking, Harry thinks that Tom just did what a prefect should do today, and no one is taking sides.As for the twin wands... the thought of the tall boy's attitude of not saying a word or looking at him made him feel panicked.

Hermione seemed to read this depressed mood, and quickly winked at Ron. "Leaving that aside, Harry, what does Professor McGonagall say about that?"

"Retention," Harry replied, still listlessly, "three times."

"Three times?!" Ron and Hermione exclaimed in unison.

Harry could only explain further: "Because there is no Academy Cup this year, she thinks that the deduction of points should only be reflected in the confinement." And he is a recidivist, and she feels that adding one confinement is obviously not enough.

"Then what does she want you to do?" Hermione asked hastily.

Harry shook his head a third time, too depressed to care about the confinement right now. "I don't know yet. She said she will let me know the morning after tomorrow."

"The morning after tomorrow?" Ron repeated, looking disbelieving. "Isn't that the first day of school? As the beginning of a new term, it's too..." Under Hermione's warning stare, he didn't go on, and instead patted Harry on the shoulder sympathetically. "Whatever it is, we'd better keep it a secret," he added disgustedly, "or Malfoy will probably go crazy with joy!"

Malfoy's name seemed to remind Hermione of something else.She looked at Harry, full of concern, but also cautiously: "You and Riddle quarreled, Harry?"

Startled, Harry waved his hands instinctively. "No...why do you ask, Hermione?"

"Do you remember the buffet dinner held by Professor Slughorn last time?" Hermione said, biting her lower lip lightly, "You were not in a very high mood then... That feeling is a bit similar to now, so I guess you have had trouble with him a long time ago."

Harry believed that Hermione could not have known what had happened at the lake on Christmas night, or that he had wanted Tom to tell him who had revealed Hagrid's secret.Whether it's a quarrel or an unhappiness, it's too general to describe the relationship between him and Tom, but she still keenly grasps the possible connection, which is really careful and clever.

"Nothing," he again categorically denied, while trying not to show the urgency of having no money here, "Why can we two quarrel?"

To anyone other than Harry and Tom, there really is no reasonable answer to this question.Hermione frowned after thinking for a moment. "But I still think it's weird between the two of you... It's like..." She glanced at Ron suddenly and didn't continue.

Ron never liked to talk about the Slug Club, and only Harry noticed the small, fleeting gesture.Hermione could mean that he and Tom look like her cold war with Ron, but that's unlikely.If he's not mistaken, his two friends are currently in the ambiguous stage where they have a crush on each other.As for him and Tom...

If Tom is willing to talk to him like before, he should probably thank Merlin!

Such a comparison made Harry feel even worse. "I'm a little tired, I want to rest first." He stood up, walked two steps before remembering the dinner that Ron brought him, turned around to take it, and climbed the stairs of the boys' dormitory.During this process, he lowered his eyes and looked at no one.

Ron and Hermione were left in the common room by him, looking at each other, speechless.

The next day is the only holiday left for Christmas.Having been here so many times and having experienced conflicts with Malfoy, none of the three of Harry had much hope of seeing Hagrid.But they went down the hill again to knock on the door of Hagrid's cabin.Harry was ready to persevere, but as soon as his hand touched the rough door, it creaked open.

"Hagrid!" None of the three of them expected such luck, and exclaimed in surprise.

The half-blood giant didn't seem to dare to look directly at them, his eyes hidden in the messy hair were very red and swollen.He turned sideways to let the three of them through the door.Too excited, Yaya ran over to them and wagged his tail affectionately.

"You're finally willing to open the door, Hagrid!" Hermione said happily as she squeezed in first.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "I already knew that, and you don't need to lock yourself up."

After Ron came in, Hagrid closed the door and turned around. "I didn't know you knew, Harry," he said, choked up, "Dumbledore was here last night, he told me."

"If saying that makes you feel better, Hagrid," added Hermione cautiously, "I've already guessed it, but I don't mind, really."

"I'm probably the only one who doesn't know. The two of them have done a great job of keeping secrets." Ron said, pretending to give the other two an angry look.

Hermione looked at the ceiling, and Harry pretended not to hear. "We've got your back, Hagrid. You don't have to care what everyone thinks," he concluded, "especially a reporter who can only talk nonsense."

Hagrid watched them, a faint smile on his wet face. "Find a seat, I'll get you something to eat."

Although the three of them were not interested in challenging the strength of their teeth, they still sat down and watched the half-blood giant take out a plate of cake from the cupboard, and then joined them.Hermione made an impassioned critique of Rita Skeeter's work ethic, with Harry and Ron filling her in here and there.As for the abusive letters Hagrid received, Hermione said disdainfully that they would be best destined to be burned to ashes in the fire.

"Ah, that's pretty much what Dumbledore said," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes. "It's impossible to please everyone."

"And blood relationship is not something you can decide," Harry added immediately, "think of my aunt's family!"

Hagrid laughed again.He put his hands down, a little uneasy. "Thank you for saying that, Harry. But..." Harry thought he was going to say that Aunt Petunia and the others are not giants, and was thinking about how to refute, but he asked, "Are you all right yesterday, Harry?"

Harry froze. "Of course it's all right," he said quickly, without turning his head—he didn't want Hagrid to worry about himself for him at all—"Malfoy deserved it, and I don't regret it at all."

"But Dumbledore said you were going to be locked up," Hagrid continued, his uneasiness becoming more apparent, the chair creaking as he moved unconsciously, "I appreciate you standing up for me, but... "

Harry hadn't thought about it at all since entering the cabin.Hearing Hagrid mention it at this moment, his heart sank suddenly. "You're making it sound like a Potter who cares about detention." He mimicked James's nonchalant tone and raised eyebrow, hoping to fool him.

Hagrid had figured it out, sure enough. "You and your dad are really similar," he couldn't help sighing, "sometimes I think you are him..." Meeting Harry's gaze, he hastily added: "But he was more mischievous at school, You're a better kid overall!"

Harry snorted.Based on what he had heard about the "great achievements" of the group of four, the mischievous description was too conservative, far from the true level.But he held up a hand and said solemnly, "I swear I won't tell him that."

Hagrid couldn't help shaking his head, Ron and Hermione were also amused, and the atmosphere in the cabin finally relaxed.The four chatted about something else, and finally the topic turned to the Triwizard Tournament.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," Hermione leaned forward, "how is your golden egg research going, Harry?"

Harry guessed that Hermione might be worried that confinement would affect his progress - she never forgot to remind him of the game. "I think it's close," he mumbled, not wanting others to know that he wasn't making any progress.

"Oh, that's good." Hermione didn't notice the problem, her face suddenly became clear, and she didn't ask any more questions.

Hagrid watched Harry carefully. "I know you can do it, Harry," he said bluntly, "you'll win the championship and beat them all..."

Lying to Hagrid didn't feel the same as lying to anyone else.Harry was filled with guilt at the thought of the disappointment on that unshaven face.On the way back to the castle, he thought carefully for the first time about taking Cedric's prompt to take the golden egg and try it out in the prefect's bathroom.

But before that, he had to deal with the punishment first.Harry had just sat down at the breakfast table on Monday when he received a familiar note.He opened the note, and there were only a few short lines inside.

"Your first detention will begin at eleven o'clock tonight. Wait for Professor Crouch in the foyer.

—Professor McGonagall stays”

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hmm~

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

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