HP North Star's Radiance

As long as Mrs. Burstd is alive, this is an unsolvable problem. Millison cannot betray her mother, nor can she obey her mother.

If Mrs. Burst were truly a thoroughly evil person, Millison might not have suffered so much.

But Mrs. Burst sometimes felt that she was doing Millison a favor, and that following Voldemort was a path to a bright future.

“Be smart, Millison,” Mrs. Burstd often said. “How can you become stronger, gain your master’s favor, or improve if you remain so dull?”

Myrtle's washroom.

"Can you guarantee that a Weasley won't suddenly appear on your end?" Prarese asked Hermione through the two-way mirror.

Hermione said helplessly, "I can't guarantee that, but I have nowhere else to go."

She couldn't very well go to the myrtle's washroom, could she?

They'll both be caught by Umbridge!

Hermione gave a brief overview of what happened during the Christmas holidays: Arthur Weasley's attack and rescue, Harry's scar and broken dreamcatcher, Sirius's autism and the Occlumency class that would be held tonight.

"A dreamcatcher?" Praris said in surprise. "That thing actually works?"

“Of course,” Hermione explained. “Although its effect is minor, it occasionally pulls Harry out of his nightmares.”

Praris shook his head: "It's a pity I don't have any more raw materials, otherwise I would have made ten or eight for Potter."

"What!" Hermione's mouth dropped open. "You can make dreamcatchers?"

Prarese said matter-of-factly, "Hermione, I did it!"

Hermione's eyes widened. "No, I mean, why did you give Harry a dreamcatcher?"

“It’s normal for Ron Weasley to be wary of me,” Prare said frankly. “I was the one who told Professor Snape about your Norwegian Spinosaurus breeding.”

"Huh?" Hermione was completely stunned.

Praris said seriously, "If you ask me, you guys raising dragons will burn Hogwarts down! I still want to go to school!"

Hermione lowered her head in shame: "I already tried to persuade Hagrid—"

“But he’s incorrigible.” Praris shrugged. “I often ask Draco to do something productive, but it’s no use. However, I was quite naive in my first year and had some simple ideas, so I came up with the dreamcatcher for apologizing.”

"Could you—make some more dreamcatchers?" Hermione asked expectantly, her eyes sparkling.

Praris shrugged: "Its raw materials are mistletoe, elderberry, and bird snake feathers. The first two are fine, but where do you find bird snake feathers?"

“Besides, according to your description, the Dreamcatcher is practically useless now.” Praris narrowed his eyes. “The connection between Mystic and Potter is becoming increasingly close, and a simple Dreamcatcher can’t intercept it. Rather than relying on external forces—he should focus on learning Occlumency!”

“Harry is very resistant to Professor Snape’s teachings—” Hermione said dejectedly.

Prarese interrupted Hermione: "Hermione, there are many things we resist in our lives, and it's not that we can avoid doing them just because we think we can resist them."

After saying that, Praris sneered and continued, "To be honest, I'm also reluctant to be on the same side as Weasley and Porter!"

“I resist Weasley’s endless questioning, but I will tell myself that he is a Gryffindor, his uncle died at the hands of the Death Eaters. He hates Slytherin, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“I resisted Porter’s endless soft-heartedness, hesitation and irritability. But I would tell myself that his situation was not easy, and everyone has a time when their psychological endurance hits rock bottom. The helplessness in the face of reality and the mental pressure from the mysterious man made him suffer.”

“Even you, Hermione,” Prarese said, “there are things I don’t want to explain, like now. But I have to explain to you, for our cooperation, for our common goal.”

Hermione opened her mouth: "I didn't expect—"

I didn't expect Praris to have so many complaints about the three of them.

But Hermione isn't the type to get stuck in her emotions; as long as Prareas's points are reasonable, she can accept them.

“Prareth, I understand,” Hermione said. “It’s raining. To avoid getting wet, I can use an umbrella or take shelter under the eaves, but I can’t ask it not to rain.”

The only thing Harry can change is himself. He either has to accept the task of learning Occlumency from Snape, or he has to accept that the Dark Lord is using his brain as a backyard.

The latter is absolutely unacceptable.

“I’m trying to convince Harry,” Hermione said with difficulty, “to at least make it more palatable to him.”

“As for Sirius…” Hermione sighed, “He used to be ‘jail’ with Mr. Brown at the outpost. They couldn’t stand each other and argued back and forth, which was quite a spectacle.”

Hermione said, "But now Sirius is the only one at the outpost, and he's always in a bad mood."

Praris said nonchalantly, "When Milison was in her first year, she felt great when she found out that there were people in Gryffindor who were slower than her to learn the Levitate Charm—it's always better to have cellmates than to be alone."

"How did you manage to brush it off last time?" Praris asked again.

Hermione said defiantly, "Can't I accept a gift from a pen pal? The most ridiculous thing is that Ron thought I was talking to Viktor!"

“He likes you.” Prarese said the most explosive thing in the shortest terms.

Hermione shook her head and said bitterly, "I don't think he has romantic feelings for me. Maybe he just thinks I shouldn't like other people."

“Possessiveness is also a form of liking,” Prarese said. “Or do you prefer Krum?”

"Huh?" Hermione was taken aback. "We're just pen pals, exchanging information about studies and local customs and such."

“The desire to share is also a manifestation of liking someone.” Praris smiled. “Draco would often chatter on and on about his things to me, sometimes even more noisily than the Cornish elves.”

“Hermione, do you remember what Master Victor said?” Prarese said softly, “If we want to live a good life without regrets, we must fully respect the rules of this game of life, to feel, to experience, and to go through it.”

Hermione blinked. "You mean—"

“Winnie and the others say that life is a journey, and love is the encounter along the way. Hermione, don’t be stingy with having an encounter on your journey,” Praris said cheerfully. “Whether it’s Weasley or Krum, as long as you’re willing, go and experience it, feel the feeling of loving and being loved.”

Praris said with a hint of bias, "I don't think Krum is bad either. He has the same discerning eye as me, and he can see your strengths even when you don't try to show them off."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh: "Are you praising Viktor or yourself?"

“Miss Granger, I’m praising you so highly!” Praris said without reservation.

After talking with Prader, Hermione was in a great mood. She put away the two-way mirror and prepared to talk to Harry.

The breakfast the next morning was a Welsh specialty: seaweed and oat pancakes.

Praris sat down next to Milison: "Weren't the pancakes good today?"

Milison, pale-faced, handed Praris a newspaper and forced a stiff smile: "Look."

Draco leaned closer to them and immediately spotted the contents of the newspaper. He flicked the paper, smiling smugly, and said, "What great news, isn't it?"

Praris struggled to keep his breathing steady, revealing not a trace of trembling or unease.

Ten hardened criminals, all Death Eaters, have escaped from Azkaban!

Although Sirius Black has been exonerated, the Ministry of Magic is still quick to pin the blame for the prison break on him.

Conspiracy theories within the Ministry of Magic suggest that Peter Pettigrew's escape was likely an act by Sirius Black to clear his name.

After all, Sirius Black ran away before he could go to trial, so he wasn't truly innocent.

Sirius Black is very likely the mysterious man's servant, and the poor little dwarf may have already died in some deserted corner, unable to reveal the truth.

This prison break was most likely orchestrated by Sirius Black, who was outside helping his cousin Bella Lestrange.

In their desperate attempt to shift blame, the Ministry of Magic and Fudge went to extreme lengths; anyone who didn't know better would think he was possessed by Rita Skeeter.

They completely forgot that Bella Slytherin was Narcissa Malfoy's older sister!

Praris put down the newspaper and focused on eating her seaweed and oat pancakes as if nothing had happened.

But everyone knows that things are completely different now.

The escape of Voldemort's loyal followers signifies the further resurgence of the Death Eaters' power, but also foreshadows the increasingly difficult future for the Order of the Phoenix.

After the diary comes the crown, and after the crown, what else? If Horcruxes are endless, how can this struggle be won? When will it end?

Prarese could not answer these questions for herself, just as Dumbledore could not answer where the other side of victory lay.

He would only tell her to believe in the power of love.

Doesn't she love her family enough?

What has love changed?

She only saw her happiness slipping away little by little, Winnie, Ms. Priscilla, Professor Snape...

Reason told her that Horcruxes are a type of soul magic, and that the soul cannot be divided indefinitely.

When emotion questions reason, how much are these limitations?

One, two, three, four, five are finite, one hundred, one thousand are also finite—aren't they?

It was as if Praris had swallowed not a seaweed and oat pancake, but a whole block of ice.

A chill permeated her entire esophagus, stomach, and intestines, making her shiver uncontrollably.

Behind her, lost in thought, Draco was excitedly talking to Crabbe.

People's joys and sorrows are not shared, but this is the path she chose herself, and no matter how painful it is, she can only bear it alone.

"I saw it!" Hermione exclaimed urgently into the two-way mirror. "I saw those messages—what's wrong?"

“I’m not happy,” Praris said calmly. “Miss, everyone has unhappy times.”

Hermione said, "You look really peculiar when you're unhappy. I thought you'd just killed someone."

“We can try to avoid talking too much nonsense,” Praris said coldly.

“Listen, Praris, there’s no time for sadness!” Hermione said confidently. “Like you said, everything that happens can be used as a tool. The Ministry of Magic really made a terrible move this time!”

Chapter 121 Bonus Chapter~

“A bad game?” Praris squinted. “Tell me about it.”

“They’re talking nonsense, releasing speculative information as official news, which undermines people’s trust in their authority,” Hermione said clearly. “Remember when I had something on Skeeter? If she can attack us, why can’t we attack the Ministry of Magic?”

Praris rested his chin on his hand: "They've laid their oversights on the table, and if we just miss out—"

Prarese and Hermione said at the same time, "What a pity!"

Praris gave a barely perceptible smile: "Hermione, you may not know this, but your teacher Brown used to have some trustworthy connections in the media. There are some people who, for some bloody reasons, are willing to serve the Mysterio's adversaries."

Too many people have died at Voldemort's hands. Who doesn't have a family?

After Winnie switched allegiance to Dumbledore, she turned to writing and contributing manuscripts. This diminished her practical skills, but it also brought other benefits.

Prareas cautiously provided several names and mailing addresses, indicating that Hermione could have Skeeter contact these people. They were highly likely, without regard to profit, to offer Skeeter's articles large pages and prominent placements.

These were all reliable connections Winnie had revealed to Prarese when she was planning to earn extra money by writing articles.

This doesn't mean that Skeeter, having been a journalist for so many years, didn't have his own channels.