HP North Star's Radiance

Cedric Diggory leaned against the wall, pale and dazed. His girlfriend, Cho Chang, held him tightly, her voice nasal as if she had just been crying.

When Cho Chang mentioned Mr. Diggory, Cedric closed his eyes tightly, his expression filled with pain and sorrow.

Could it be that something happened to Mr. Diggory?

Mr. Diggory is an employee of the Ministry of Magic. If something had truly happened to him, the Daily Prophet should have reported it.

The next day, Praris finally got the news about Mr. Diggory. It was only a small section—not even as large as a single gossip item.

Three days ago, Amos Diggory, an employee of the Department of Magical Creature Control at the Ministry of Magic, died unexpectedly in the Weasel Hills forest not far from his residence. Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge expressed his deepest sorrow over the passing of Amos Diggory.

Minister Fudge stated, "Amos has always been a reliable colleague and a respectable official, serving the Ministry of Magic diligently for nearly twenty years. However, according to the relevant investigation, this was an accident. Amos has always been passionate about mountaineering, but he is not young."

"It's like they think wizards are made of paper!" exclaimed Mr. Ogden, a former member of the Wizengamot. "We all know this is burying our heads in the sand! Who would go hiking in the middle of the night? Amos was deliberately murdered by Death Eaters!"

Minister Fudge responded: "Mr. Ogden and Mr. Diggory have a deep friendship, and we understand the grief of their loved ones. But this is not a reason to create unwarranted panic."

(Mr. Ogden is accused of assisting Mrs. Mark Bans and the Fairy Subversion Group. For details, please see page 6 of this newspaper.)

The Death Eaters have begun their operation?

Praris quickly sat up, opened the box on the bed, and began to check the dates on the envelopes one by one.

A week ago, Mrs. Priscilla and Winnie would send a letter regularly every two or three days. But five or six days ago, not a single letter arrived.

Prarese locked the box, sat down, and began writing a letter, asking Hermione to meet with her as soon as possible.

Chapter 108 Three Changes of Ownership

Meanwhile, Prarese was hastily writing a letter; over there, Hermione was rolling up her sleeves, determined to get things done!

She recruited students for Harry, and all those interested in learning Defense Against the Dark Arts gathered at the Hog's Head.

Harry thought it would be difficult, but he couldn't bring himself to dampen Hermione's enthusiasm.

Harry thought dejectedly, "What if, in the end, the parchment only has the names of the three of them and Prince?"

“At least we’re truly united,” Hermione whispered to Harry, encouraging him. “We’re even united as a Slytherin, what can’t we do?”

The Sorting Hat warned of unity, and they have exceeded expectations!

"What is this!" Harry exclaimed, pointing to the top of the parchment, dumbfounded. "How are we going to explain this signature to Ron?"

Praris Prince—this Slytherin prodigy, besides being fond of hiding his identity, always manages to create a variety of quirky and unusual pseudonyms.

The absurdity of this name is only rivaled by Harry Weasley Granger.

"Why should I ask you to explain?" Hermione put away the parchment and said firmly, "This is my pen pal!"

“We can’t keep this from Ron.” Harry frowned. “Of the three of us, only the two of us know the truth. What will Ron think?”

Harry has had enough of being kept in the dark.

Putting himself in Ron's shoes, he didn't want Ron to experience the same feelings he did.

“No, it wasn’t the two of us who kept it from Ron.” Hermione pointed to herself and said clearly, “It was me who kept it from you two. It’s just that the person in charge gave you a back door.”

Harry seized the opportunity to ask the question he had always wanted to ask: "Hermione, why don't you have to swear an oath?"

“Not an oath, but an unbreakable oath,” Hermione corrected Harry, enunciating each word clearly. “Obviously, my mouth is much tighter than the locks of Hogwarts. Relax! I’ll tell Ron when the time is right.”

After saying that, she waved to Ron, who was waiting near the Pighead Bar.

"move!"

After saying that, Hermione jogged towards her destination.

To Harry's surprise, there were far more people than he had expected.

He even spotted his former rival, Cedric Diggory, in the crowd.

Cedric truly kept his promise made at the start of the school year—to believe in Harry.

As Zacharias questioned Harry, Cedric suddenly stood up: "I can tell you!"

“I can tell you, Zacharys,” Cedric repeated, “that my father, Amos Diggory, died three days ago at the hands of the Death Eaters, simply because I nearly witnessed the return of the Mystic.”

Harry stared wide-eyed at Cedric, his breathing quickening.

Mr. Diggory is dead?!

For a moment, the students present began to whisper among themselves and discuss the matter.

“Cedric, I admire you. In Hufflepuff, nobody doesn’t admire you!” Zacharias questioned him aggressively. “But after all, you didn’t see the return of the Mystic, did you?”

“The Ministry of Magic’s investigation shows that your father died suddenly while climbing a mountain,” Zacharias told Cedric, who had just lost his father. “This reason is completely unreliable.”

Qiu Zhang quickly stood up, grasped Cedric's hand tightly, and tried to give him some strength.

“Smith,” she said gently but firmly, “Do you think Cedric would lie about his father? Do you think Cedric wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of dark magic? Do you think Mr. Diggory would go to the woods in the middle of the night for no reason?”

Zakaria wanted to say something more: "We need the truth; we can't substitute emotional speculation for objectivity—"

"Enough, Zacharys!" Hermione interrupted him loudly. "You might be well-suited to be an investigative journalist, but I don't think that's what we're discussing today!"

Hermione swiftly quelled the disturbance and brought the topic back to the study of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Susan Burns was the first to mention Harry's Patronus, and the others followed suit, talking about Harry's achievements over the years.

Cedric even brought up the events in the maze, especially emphasizing Harry's ability to continuously cast spells to knock away the giant spider.

Finally, everyone present signed their names on the parchment, awaiting the next gathering.

As the gathering ended, the students rose to say goodbye, with Cedric, Cho, and Cho's friend Mary being the last to leave.

“I…” Harry instinctively stood up as he saw Cedric and the other two approaching. “I’m sorry.”

Cedric stopped in his tracks, his Adam's apple bobbing as if he wanted to say something.

Harry could no longer see Cho Chang; his eyes were only on Cedric. He still had strange feelings for Cho Chang, but guilt towards Cedric was almost overwhelming him.

Harry used to hate Mr. Diggory, and he can't say he likes him now either.

He once narrowly lost to Cedric on the pitch because of Dementors, and Mr. Diggory boasted about it. This summer, countless media outlets used Mr. Diggory's testimony in an attempt to prove that Harry was insane.

But it was Harry who asked Cedric to testify in front of Fudge that drew the attention of the Ministry of Magic and brought Cedric into the media spotlight.

Cedric left the cemetery early, and it was Professor Sinister who eventually came to the rescue—Mr. Diggory instinctively escaped this ordeal.

A quiet sadness filled Cedric's eyes.

“Harry,” Cedric paused for a moment, “you don’t need to apologize for this. All the choices were my own. It wasn’t you who killed my father, it was the Death Eaters.”

A house with an extremely high concentration of Death Eaters.

"I am very sorry, very much—" Voldemort said coldly, "I patiently taught you, giving you extraordinary abilities, yet you are unwilling to return to my side!"

“Bitch!” Mrs. Burstd screamed. “Master! I will kill her for you! Kill this traitor!”

"Foolish!" Voldemort shouted at her.

Voldemort said, "I smell the stench of fear. And of course, worry—but no guilt!"

“You know my power better than anyone else,” Voldemort said softly, “yet you still betrayed me.”

“Teacher!” Winnie trembled all over, shaking like a leaf. “It is precisely because you are too powerful that I dare not return to your side. You know, I am a coward; I don’t even dare to kill people.”

“I’m so scared!” Winnie crawled on her knees toward Voldemort. “Master, I’m terrified! They’re going to lock us all up in Azkaban, so I lied to Dumbledore and told him I was forced to do it.”

"Is that so?" Voldemort crouched down, grabbed Winnie's chin, and looked into her grey-blue eyes.

In her memory, Winnie held her head, talking to someone she didn't know: "You don't know how powerful he used to be, but I saw it with my own eyes. Dumbledore couldn't stop him! Dumbledore got old, and he couldn't stop his expansion in the past."

With tears streaming down her face, Winnie looked up at her changed teacher: "I betrayed you, how can I ask for your forgiveness? How dare I return to your side?"

“Liar!” Mrs. Burst said angrily. “You only returned to your master because of that spineless coward, Purnell!”

Mrs. Burst was involved in the Owl Post Office incident. She found Purnell's excessive tact rather dull and regretted not being able to see her panic and desperate state.

Winnie quickly grabbed Voldemort's robe: "Master! Master! Please forgive me! I know you hate traitors the most, but even when I was captured, I never revealed the identities of the other Death Eaters to anyone, nor to anyone—".

“Winnie, you coward Winnie,” Voldemort whispered. “You beg for my forgiveness? Of course I will not forgive you! I need people with brains, people who are loyal and unwavering, people with courage to help me reclaim my cause.”

“Wormtail and Lola are brainless, you and Wormtail are cowards, and you are not loyal enough,” Voldemort said in a pleasant tone. “But it doesn’t matter, I can guarantee your loyalty! Your close friend Purnell is a guest here, and your performance will determine her life or death.”

“Your wavering—” Voldemort said softly, “will become a source of her suffering, and this is my punishment for you.”

Hogwarts, the Astronomy Tower.

Hermione brought a bunch of yarn, and she cast a spell on it, making the yarn and knitting needles manage themselves.

"I want to knit more clothes for the house-elves," she said.

Prarese sat in the high-backed chair in Sinesta, her eyes lowered, her head propped up by one hand, and her legs slightly apart.

Praris said calmly, "Perhaps you can understand that, for them, there is a difference between clothes."

“Yes, but at least let them know that someone is working for them.” Hermione’s eyes shone brightly. “The blueprint is drawn up for those who think they are superior, but I can’t draw it up for myself! If I can’t completely liberate house-elves, then at least I should do what I can, shouldn’t I?”

“I admire your enthusiasm, but I don’t think the house-elves will appreciate it,” Praris said calmly. “This kind of pointless thing shouldn’t take up your time.”

Hermione laughed: "But you've done a lot of things that didn't do you any good."

Prarese sighed. At times like these, she always felt like Professor Snape, grumbling and doing a bunch of lousy work.

Shaking off these thoughts, Praris asked carefully, "Have you received any letters from the base recently?"

“We don’t always do things for personal gain.” Hermione seemed a little doubtful. “Surely not? They were the ones who contacted us last time… Did something happen?”

“Winnie might be in trouble.” Prarese closed her eyes. “I haven’t received a single letter from home lately.”

"No way, maybe the situation is just not good," Hermione said hesitantly. "We haven't received any letters from Sirius either."

“There’s a difference between something that’s never been there and something that suddenly disappears,” Praris said coldly. “Amos Diggory is dead, and the Death Eaters have already begun their operation.”

Hermione nodded gravely. "Cedric told us. But Dumbledore forbids Miss Brown from leaving the house and has Sirius keep an eye on her. Under those circumstances, what could possibly happen to her?"

“But Ms. Priscilla will go out.” Praris took a deep breath. “If I were Mysterio, I would choose to send someone to follow Ms. Priscilla and wipe out all of Dumbledore’s supporters.”

“But Dumbledore is the keeper of the stronghold, and there is no safer place in the world than the stronghold,” Hermione immediately refuted Prares’s point of view. “Even if the stronghold were right in front of them, they wouldn’t be able to see it.”

Praris nodded. "Then there are only two choices: kill Ms. Priscilla or capture her. The Man of Void hates Dumbledore and needs to establish his authority. But Mr. Diggory has just died, and the Ministry of Magic is on high alert. Although the Ministry has covered it up, those in the know are aware of the situation."

“Then the only option is to capture her and let Winnie walk right into our trap.” Praris said sharply, her tone icy. “On the one hand, it will weaken Dumbledore’s manpower and shake the supporters Winnie has gathered. On the other hand, it will coordinate with the Ministry of Magic’s actions, dampen the enemy’s arrogance, and boost the power of the Mystic—maximizing our gains.”

Hermione stared at her in astonishment: "Then...then what about Mr. Brown?"