Harry Potter and the Return of Voldemort: edited the post on page 32 - Page 20

Originally posted by: maitsp

nice update. it's going to be fun to see harry, ron, hermione, ginny and tom working together without anyone else - at least until the army joins in...

look forward to finding out about the servant for sure.

hope you saw my reply on page 23

Thank you 😊

Yes, I saw it. It is as good a guess as any. You'd love discovering the identity of the servant in the upcoming parts. 😛😃 And BTW your logic is gud 😃 We'll all see if it turns out to be true or not 😛😃😃

😃 This is to inform all readers that my exams are only a month away and writing frequently in between all the study is getting quite difficult. I am not going on a break but posting quickly and frequently will not be possible. Say, instead of daily I may be posting once in two or three days. Kindly, bear with me in this crucial time. My exams end on Sept 11. After that I can promise daily posts 😃

No problem dear

all the best. thank you for taking time to write

its ok no problem

In the upcoming days the only thing that lifted Tom's mood after everything that had happened was tea with Alex in Porch's hut. All three of Tom, Duds and Porch met Alex that day. He had brought Lily along. Apparently she had asked if she could come and he had written to Porch asking his permission who had replied she could. They were glad Alex had at least attempted to make friends.

"So, how's it been going so far?" Porch asked him handing him a cup of tea.

"Thank you." He took it graciously although he was sitting quite uncomfortably inside Porch's stifling hot hut. Lily and Alex sat on Porch's bed while Porch and Duds took over his tea table. Since, no space was left for Tom he settled himself on the floor among rooster feathers. "It has been going well. I like many subjects, except for flying lessons."

Porch and Tom both sniggered. Neither of them had been very fond of flying either. "Don't worry, it'll only last your first year. You won't have to mount a broom after that if you don't want to." Porch replied.

"I hope not."

"But it's not just the lessons." Lily spoke up. "Madam Hooch doesn't look well these days either."

The three of them stared at her. She was observant. Madam Hooch hadn't been well and in the first quidditch match of the season had caught a nasty bludger in her shoulder. She hadn't been the same since. She had already indicated to Tom she might be leaving as soon as her course completes.

"She'll come around." Tom smiled at her. "We all saw the first match of the season, it's only the aftereffects of that match. She'll be fine."

"Speaking of," Alex turned to Tom. "Are you alright? I heard you were in the Hospital Wing again."

"Really, where do you get your news?" Tom asked him surprised.

Alex and Lily exchanged a look that said quite plainly that they had a secret.

"You can tell us, we won't tell anyone." Duds winked at them.

"Yeah, we're awesome at keeping secrets!!" Porch added winking at Duds and Tom, both of whom burst out laughing. They all remembered what a disaster they had to go through to hide Duds.

"Go on, we promise no one else would know." Tom egged Alex on who still looked unsure.

Lily waited a few seconds than as if she couldn't hold herself anymore started. "It's not anything forbidden, but we have made friends with a house elf."

Alex, who looked encouraged by her, continued. "His name's Twix. He comes cleaning in the dormitory often. The day you left the Wing, in the night he came in collecting laundry, and he was already carrying a bloodied shirt and a pair of jeans. When we asked him who these belonged to, he told us those were yours. He had collected those from the Wing. He was worried about you too but said something about his aunt not being well, and not having enough time to see you."

Porch and Duds weren't laughing anymore. Whatever had happened, they had no intentions of sharing it with Alex. The two of them had only known what Harry had told Lavender. But Tom knew everything. He sat thinking what to say when Alex spoke up again.

"He told us Seth and Malcolm were in the Wing too. The three of you didn't try to kill each other off, did you?" Alex asked innocently and a huge smile flickered on Tom's face.

"No, we didn't. Why would we do that?"

"They could, I know they hate you and why would you take their beating all the time? Don't you want to get back at them?"

Tom looked at him seriously. He had been sitting on the floor with his knees up, his back to Porch's table's leg. He sat straight, crossed his legs and looked into Alex's eyes. "Yes, they could and there is no reason I should like to get caught by them. It's only very unlucky of me to run into them when I am least expecting them." He paused smiling to convey to him that his questions hadn't upset him but he must understand answers to those questions. "In answer to your final question, no, I don't want to get back at them. Their deeds are their own and mine are my own. They could choose to be horrible to me, and I could choose to forgive them. They could choose to hate me and I could choose not to. Revenge, never gets us anywhere."

"Would you say the same for the man that killed my parents?" Alex asked as Lily stood up.

"Alex, we talked about this. You promised you wouldn't talk about him." She turned to Tom. "He hasn't been listening to me. He keeps thinking about that man."

"You don't know what it's like..." Alex disregarded her and continued awaiting Tom's answer.

"Lily's right, Alex." Porch spoke up as Lily sat back down. "You can't keep thinking about him. We're looking for him. We'll find him."

Alex ignored him. "Someone promised me they would find him, I hope they keep it." He stood up, put the cup of tea down on the table and started leaving when Tom grabbed him from behind again.

When Alex stood in from of him again he started calmly. "Yes, I promised you I will find him. I will keep that promise. But none of us ought to find him for revenge; we ought to find him for justice."

"What's the difference?" Alex asked confused.

"Justice has rules and revenge knows no law. One must uphold one's constitution. We have a Ministry that will serve us justice. We do not need to seek revenge."

"You can say that, you didn't lose your parents, did you?"

Both Duds and Porch stood up at this. Neither of them had seen Alex's rudeness before. "Is that how you speak to your elders?" Porch asked nearly scolding him.

Lily looked scared and Alex, although, was adamant, seemed scared. Tom stood up too. He turned to Porch. "It's alright." He smiled gulping down. He turned back to Alex. "You are not the only one in this room who has lost your loved ones, Alex. All three of us, Duds, Porch and I lost our parents at some point in our lives. We do know how you feel."

At this Alex looked embarrassed. "I am sorry." He muttered looking down at his shoes. "I didn't know."

"It's alright." Duds patted him on the back as Porch and Tom sat back down. Alex sat back down too and for the next hour, no one spoke of death or revenge or anything that would put out their good mood. Alex had become quite kind to them since he had realized that he wasn't the only one who had suffered a loss. Soon the talk turned to how Neville used to be with the three of them and time flew until it was dusk and time came for Lily and Alex to leave.

At the door, Alex turned back to Tom. "Can I ask you something?"

Tom, although, quite scared at the prospect of being asked something that he wouldn't be able to answer, couldn't deny. "Yes?"

"Do you remember them, your parents?"

He thought for a moment, sighed deeply and shook his head.

Alex didn't ask anything else and walked away in a good mood.

Originally posted by: asha_mehta

No problem dear

All the best for your studies

Thank you 😊

Originally posted by: maitsp

all the best. thank you for taking time to write

Thank you 😊 Trust me I love writing myself 😊 Thank you for taking time to read 😊

Originally posted by: nilusoni

its ok no problem

all the best for exams

Thank you 😃