HP North Star's Radiance

Prareas often offered Hermione practical advice and helped her analyze situations. But this time, Prareas's attitude changed.

She asked Hermione, "What's your demand? Do you want Ron to admit his mistake, or do you want him to continue being all lovey-dovey with Lavender?"

Hermione was taken aback. She hadn't thought about the question in detail; she had just instinctively opened the two-way mirror at this moment.

Prareas said earnestly, "Hermione, this isn't your feeling, it's Ron's feeling! Even if he's your good friend, how can you expect him to love someone else in a certain way?"

“But that’s not right,” Hermione said urgently. “If he still loves Lavender, he shouldn’t hurt a girl like this. If he doesn’t love Lavender, he should tell her the truth, instead of faking illness, lying, and trying to cover things up!”

Hermione knew Lavender suspected her of having an affair with Ron, just as others had suspected her and Harry before. She was long used to this world that always confined relationships between men and women to the realm of love!

“Then why don’t you just tell Ron that?” Praris said meaningfully. “He won’t take it lightly.”

Hermione was a little conflicted. She sensed that something seemed off, but Prareas's words made a lot of sense.

After Hermione left with mixed feelings, Prarese shook his head—at the thought of the complicated emotional relationships between these people.

During the summer vacation, Hermione was still hesitating between Ron and Krum until she finally decided to choose Krum.

Even though Hermione and Ron had a falling out later, she was still happy for Ron to be in a relationship.

Hermione felt that Ron always had some inexplicable inferiority complex, but he also had his merits. As Prader said, only a truly kind person could tolerate a friend's success.

This relationship will allow Ron to discover that someone also loves him passionately, and it will allow Ron to see his own strengths—Hermione is so happy for Ron!

Hermione noticed Lavender's dissatisfaction early on when the two were just starting to date. She had long hoped that Ron would properly explain their relationship to his girlfriend.

After all, everyone has their own boyfriends or girlfriends, so how can friendship become an obstacle to love?

But Hermione never expected that she would witness Ron deceiving Lavender!

Prarese saw more. She suspected that Ron and Lavender's relationship was driven by impulse and spite. Now that the impulse had subsided, the true nature of their relationship was beginning to emerge.

More precisely, Prareas thought that Ron's impulsive and spiteful act was perhaps directed at Hermione. But Hermione already had someone else in her heart; she wouldn't examine her relationship with Ron through the lens of love, so how could she possibly discover the problems within it?

Therefore, Prareas suggested that Hermione express her thoughts.

Prareas temporarily set aside Hermione's complicated feelings, which were like a tangled ball of yarn, and focused on the Horcruxes.

Praliss is intelligent, that's for sure. But her reluctance to directly confront Voldemort limits her perspective, preventing her from further exploring the Horcruxes.

If Praliss wants to know more, she can only go to Dumbledore, but Dumbledore will definitely ask her about Draco.

When intelligent people have an understanding and willingness to communicate openly, things become much easier. Conversely, if they lack this understanding, things can become extremely difficult.

At this moment, Praris and Dumbledore are engaged in a battle of wits from afar.

Dumbledore knew that Prader was fully aware of Draco's movements. Prader also knew that Dumbledore knew she was fully aware of Draco's movements.

But neither of them wanted to lose the initiative regarding Draco, so they decided against being the first to speak. Their only option became to pretend they knew nothing and gamble on the other being more anxious than they were.

Praris certainly couldn't wait indefinitely, and Draco certainly couldn't afford to either. Draco would make a choice at any time, but it might not be a good one.

Dumbledore couldn't wait any longer. Three students had already gotten into trouble, with Ron and Harper falling victim one after the other.

The Ministry of Magic and Scrimgeour cannot remain silent. They will certainly put pressure on Dumbledore, and may even demand that Hogwarts temporarily close.

At least, Dumbledore has spoken with Professor Snape. The content of their conversation is unknown, but Dumbledore must have urged Professor Snape to figure out what Draco was doing and to resolve Harper's problem as soon as possible.

what--

Praris thought sadly, "This isn't exactly a bad opportunity, is it?"

By discovering that "Dumbledore was urging Professor Snape," she could pretend that he had conceded first and taken the initiative. Dumbledore could also pretend that he hadn't conceded at all, but he didn't expect Prader to find out.

Wait!

Prareston immediately straightened up.

Is it possible that this was a scheme devised by Dumbledore to give both sides a way out?

He knew that neither he nor Praris would back down on this matter, so he offered this concession that killed two birds with one stone, a concession that only Praris could see, and which was not really a concession.

Chapter 178 Dumbledore's Plan

In late March, greenery quietly climbed the hillsides of the Scottish Highlands, and daisies and primroses bloomed in abundance.

When you love someone, you become vulnerable and can be manipulated.

This is true for Ms. Priscilla Chan and Winnie, it is true for Draco's parents and Draco's relationship with Prader.

Prarese, carrying his cork bag, entered the school infirmary and calmly said to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, let me examine your novice."

“I am truly grateful!” Dumbledore stood up, extended his hand, and said cheerfully, “Harry was always interested in my new gloves, so I had to give him one as well.”

"But when I handed him the glove, he didn't want it anymore." Dumbledore even seemed a little disappointed. "I specifically picked out the best-looking one, the purple one!"

Uh--

Praris blinked.

Is it possible that Harry was worried about Dumbledore's hands, rather than being interested in the women's long gloves?

"Also?" Praris asked.

“Scrimgeour was also curious about my new gloves, so I gave him a green one,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “But he didn’t want it.”

Scrimgeour, however, had a different idea. He suspected that Dumbledore's injuries had worsened and questioned whether Dumbledore could still fight Voldemort.

Praris reached out and removed Dumbledore's gloves, then began pressing different parts of his palm: "Any unusual reaction?"

“Sometimes my joints are a little stiff,” Dumbledore said gently. “Occasionally they hurt.”

Praris said sternly, "Sir, you are not taking good care of your hands. Usually, it's the patients who come to the doctor."

Dumbledore had a feeling of seeing a younger version of Madam Pomfrey—does every doctor have this kind of presence? Even a Potions apprentice temporarily acting as a doctor.

“I’m too busy to deal with it,” Dumbledore argued. “Severus says he doesn’t care about it either.”

Snape, of course, didn't care about that; he was a butcher who killed without burying the dead!

Once the hand is severed, his task is complete, while limb regeneration is a separate research topic for Prares.

Of course, on the surface, they were pulling at Dumbledore's newbie, but in reality, it was a game of wits and strategy.

Dumbledore hinted at the perilous situation, while Prader used her own achievements to pressure Dumbledore into making concessions. This was also why she used the pretext of an inspection to come to the Headmaster's office for a meeting.

Dumbledore, however, shamelessly insisted that he didn't care much about the hand—he was tired of living and still had plans to die.

"You actually know that Professor Snape is very busy?" Prareas said in surprise. "I thought you were so busy that you wouldn't know anything about this!"

Prarese mocks Dumbledore for treating people like machines, while also hinting at the sacrifices made by the uncle and niece.

“It seems so. It’s frustrating, Prarese, but adults always have so much to do,” Dumbledore said. “We always willingly give our time and energy to the children.”

Dumbledore said, "Thank you, but Snape did it voluntarily."

Praris pouted: "It's really regrettable. I'm starting to want to go back to being a minor."

“I also miss the old days,” Dumbledore said gently, “but we can’t go back.”

"Child, you're already on a sinking ship!"

Praris snorted and turned to rummage through a cork bag on the chair.

“Would you mind using Muggle medication?” Prarese said. “These are leftovers from my growing pains, calcium and vitamin D—perfect for your situation now.”

“Oh?” Dumbledore took Prares’s medicine bottle with interest. “But I don’t see my hands growing.”

Praris said expressionlessly, "You should have taken off your gloves a long time ago. They don't get sunlight, so calcium absorption is slow, which is why your joints hurt."

Dumbledore stared at the calcium tablet for a while, and Prareth assumed he was pondering its taste. Unexpectedly, he asked a rather blunt question: "Prareth, if I don't take off my gloves, will this medicine work?"

Praris stared at him expressionlessly, his gaze extremely intimidating.

Seeing Pralis's expression, Dumbledore actually dared to smile at Pralis!

Praris coldly uttered a single word: "No."

“Sir, this is just medicine.” Praris glared at him. “Medicine cannot completely replace a person’s own physiological functions; it needs sunlight!”

Dumbledore was beginning to believe Snape. Prader was indeed going through a rebellious phase and was nothing like the adorable girl he was in his early years.

At the time, they had just had a small argument about the student's murder.

“Dumbledore, if you want another hand chopped off, you can come to me,” Snape said coldly. “The rest is all her own research.”

Dumbledore said, "I thought it would be the same asking either of you."

"Hmph!" Snape pouted and rolled his eyes. "As if you've never cleaned up Potter's messes when he misbehaved!"

If Prares had listened, there wouldn't have been a newbie like Dumbledore!

Not to mention her messy affair with Draco; Snape wanted to deduct points from both of them just thinking about it! He could only repeatedly remind himself that he was the Head of Slytherin!

After some back and forth between Prarese and Dumbledore, Dumbledore finally agreed to switch to lighter gloves and not wear them when no one was around.

Prareas estimated that Dumbledore intended to feign that his hand was "incapacitated" in order to demonstrate weakness to the enemy.

This is also why he didn't stop tutoring Harry Potter individually. People generally believe that Dumbledore was intentionally grooming Harry, and that if his health deteriorated, he would certainly not stop the process.

“I really don’t want to talk about feelings with young people,” Dumbledore said gently. “It makes an old man like me feel envious and remind me that I’m getting old.”

Praris disagreed: "If you can love the dead, how much more so the living? Being older isn't a problem."

Dumbledore laughed heartily: "You mean Miss Warren? I was quite surprised when Nick told me. Mrs. Pomfrey also hopes that I can offer Barron the job of school doctor when he graduates."

"You agreed?" Praris asked.

Dumbledore smiled and said, “No, I told Madam Pomfrey that unless Barron can obtain a certificate that meets the requirements for recruitment at St. Mungo’s, and pass the test that I commissioned her to set.”

Unlike other positions, Dumbledore would not joke about students' lives as a school doctor.

If Barron believes that Myrtle and Madam Pomfrey can give him connections when looking for a job, his mindset may change in the future, and he may start using relationships as leverage.

Dumbledore asked Madam Pomfrey to set a test of character to ensure that Barron truly enjoyed the work of a healer and was not just there to stay at Hogwarts.

"Do you approve of this kind of feeling?" Praris asked.

Dumbledore smiled: "I've seen all kinds of feelings."

Can Prarese say that many novels based on Dumbledore have crossed her mind?

This includes: Dumbledore and his nemesis Grindelwald; Dumbledore and his prized students Scamander and Harry; and even Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall (written by a Gryffindor graduate, can you believe it?)...

Prarese was genuinely grateful that she was good at Occlumency and had a good understanding of micro-expressions and body language; otherwise, she would have been thrown out by now.