HP North Star's Radiance

Cough!

Praris smiled and said, "I hope Barron can pass your and Mrs. Pomfrey's test... If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

After saying this, Prareus picked up the cork bag, gave Dumbledore a slight bow, and prepared to turn and leave.

"Praris, don't rush off!"

Dumbledore didn't expect that as soon as he started the conversation, Prares seemed to have forgotten what they were talking about, and turned away with an attitude that "everything will be fine after the check-up."

"Hmm?" Praris asked, puzzled. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

What could Dumbledore do? He smiled and said, “A clever man who takes a roundabout way of thinking never gets back on track, does he? I don’t think you came here just to check my hands.”

Praris smiled slightly and placed her bag back on the chair: "So, what do you think I'm doing this for?"

The eyes of the old man and the young man clashed fiercely.

“Scrimgeour came to see me; he’s very concerned about Ron Weasley’s poisoning,” Dumbledore said. “Do you have any leads on this?”

Praris slammed Slughorn: "I think Professor Slughorn needs to pay more attention. How can a Potions professor not even know his own food is poisoned?"

Praris's words were completely illogical. If Slughorn hadn't even opened the bottle of mead, how could he have smelled poison in it?

“I don’t think it’s Slughorn’s fault, is it?” Dumbledore said gently. “He’s old and has a wide circle of friends. Besides, who would suspect their colleague or student of poisoning them?”

Praris suddenly realized, "That's true, I misunderstood."

Dumbledore then asked, "Who do you think would poison the wine?"

Praris looked thoughtful for a while before saying, "Professor Slughorn's enemy, I suppose."

Dumbledore was somewhat exasperated. He led the person to the door, only to find that the other person was lying through their teeth, holding the key and claiming they didn't know where it was.

But he couldn't really treat Pralis like Snape—the girl covered her eyes out of love, and she hadn't actually harmed anyone.

“Prareth, bad things don’t stop happening just because we don’t open our eyes,” Dumbledore said earnestly. “If we love someone, we won’t stand by and watch them go down to the abyss, will we?”

Interestingly, Dumbledore's expression was asymmetrical when he said this.

A Muggle psychology book, The Analysis of Emotions, published when Prarese was five years old, states that when people are emotionally intense, they may briefly flash inconsistent expressions, which usually occurs before or after trying to control their emotions.

Dumbledore didn't want Prader to discover his true feelings. What he was trying to conceal was his deep empathy and sorrow for that statement—an emotion he could clearly use to help persuade Prader.

Prareas didn't think Dumbledore could fake it to that extent. He genuinely empathized, but was unwilling to use similar experiences as a means of persuasion.

Praris sighed.

Dumbledore probably knew this too, right? If Prarese had been determined, she wouldn't be here, and there would be no chance of her being persuaded. But Prarese's presence meant she could be persuaded, which is why he asked her to stay.

Hearing Prass's sigh, Dumbledore immediately looked at her. Her eyes were filled with sorrow: "Sir, but if we love someone, wouldn't we be willing to go to hell for them?"

They both knew that Praris was referring to Draco. Draco loved his family, which was why he was willing to take on this "hellish" mission.

“We’ll have a better way,” Dumbledore said, a sly glint in his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be hell.”

Praris straightened up: "You mean..."

“Draco wants to kill me,” Dumbledore said bluntly, “but I’m afraid he can’t, in every sense of the word.”

When Dumbledore says he can't do it, he's referring to both his ability and his mindset.

Dumbledore said in a casual tone, "But I can 'die' in the eyes of others."

Praris gasped: "You mean—faking death?"

Dumbledore nodded: "I asked Harry to get the number of Horcruxes from Slughorn. I know you provided them with some assistance."

Harry discussed Prader's psychological theories during his private lessons with Dumbledore.

“Now we have destroyed four Horcruxes,” Dumbledore said. “I believe the number of Horcruxes will not exceed ten, but will be more than six.”

"Six?" Praris said, counting on his fingers. "Ginny's diary, the crown and the trophy I saw, and the one that hurt your finger—it seems to be the ring. These are the four we destroyed."

Prarese speculates that the fifth one might be a Slytherin relic that has not yet been found.

Dumbledore's words confirmed Praris's guess: "I think the fifth one is a Slytherin relic. And Voldemort used Bertha Jorkins' death to turn his pet Nagini into a Horcrux. That's the sixth one."

The reason he didn't hide these details from Praris was because Praris already knew about Horcruxes and had helped destroy two of them.

“Once you determine the number of Horcruxes, you'll know if there are any others besides these two,” Praris said thoughtfully. “Then you can fake your death and escape, lowering their guard…”

However, two things puzzled Praris. First, why was Dumbledore so certain that the number of Horcruxes exceeded six? Second, and...

“But Headmaster Dumbledore,” Prares said earnestly, “Draco has no ability to kill you. Your plan to fake your death is far too convincing!”

Chapter 179 Repentance and Redemption

“Of course, that is indeed the case,” Dumbledore said calmly. “In due time, someone will ‘do’ this for him.”

“Replace?” Praris lowered his eyes and pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly looked up at Dumbledore. “You mean—”

Dumbledore's gaze was calm as he slowly nodded.

Praris braced himself on the table, stood up abruptly, and glared at Dumbledore: "You can't do this! Don't you know your authority, your standing in everyone's eyes?"

Her voice trembled, her eyes reddening: "Your followers, all your teachers and students will hate him—how is he going to get through this?"

Dumbledore said calmly, "Severus is the man I trust most."

“I understand, I understand!” Praris said with a mocking smile, pushing back his chair and taking two steps back. “No wonder you told me! I was part of the plan too, wasn’t I?”

To Dumbledore's closest teachers, Prader was a blood relative of Snape. To others, Prader was a genius student personally trained by Snape.

If Prader was unaware of the plan, she could easily discover the truth. If Prader didn't cooperate, no one would believe Snape had actually killed Dumbledore.

"Does he know?" Praris smiled bitterly.

Dumbledore closed his eyes with a heavy heart: "He's willing to do it."

Praris suddenly raised her voice and cried out in a mournful voice, "Does he know that you included me in your plan too?!"

Dumbledore fell silent, and the portraits of the headmasters behind him also couldn't help but close their eyes.

Praris smiled knowingly: "So you also knew that as long as I was included in this plan, even if it was just for cooperation, the professor wouldn't agree to it outright!"

Dumbledore certainly knew.

Severus Snape did not take care of the girl so that she would suffer.

He had few family ties and almost no friends. Even within the Malfoy family, relationships were fraught with self-interest.

After the war, in order to improve Snape's mental state and give him something to rely on, and also to provide security for Sylvia's poor child, he persuaded Snape to accept Prader's existence.

Prarese's excellence was a pleasant surprise, and she also gave Snape a touch of humanity.

At every faculty and staff meeting, no matter how long or short, Snape would always bring a handmade mug with "Potions Master" written on it, with the side with the writing facing the other colleagues.

Ignoring the stares of his colleagues, Snape said lazily, "It was a gift from a student. They have good taste, don't they?"

Sinister rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a moment, then said excitedly, "That's Prarese's handwriting! Can I have her make an astronomer's cup?"

The atmosphere around Snape instantly turned tense. He said coldly, "Although I accepted the gift, I think she has too much free time. Otherwise, how could she have time to do such a boring thing!"

Sinister immediately shrank back, quietly lifted his chair, and moved it a few inches toward Professor Sprout.

Professors McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick all lowered their heads to suppress their laughter, leaving the others completely bewildered.

Dumbledore didn't believe that true repentance required constant bitterness and resentment. He was happy to see Snape like this, after all, Snape was actually only in his thirties—he was still so young!

But in this war, in order to achieve final victory, Dumbledore had to exploit Snape's guilt, exploit the love between people, and even exploit his own life—he never excluded his own life from anything that could be exploited!

In fact, when Dumbledore and Snape discussed this matter, Snape didn't hesitate for long. Compared to the oppression and torture Snape suffered under Voldemort, this was nothing more than an act.

Snape did not cherish his own heart, but Prarese's first reaction was precisely to worry about Snape's feelings.

Dumbledore was happy for Snape, but also saddened that he had to ruin such happiness.

Dumbledore said almost cruelly, "But you will know that this plan will not be canceled even if you do not participate."

Snape would only exclude Prader from the plan, not withdraw from it. He knew that only he could do it, only he could do it well, and he had to do it.

Prareas stared intently at Dumbledore, his dark eyes gleaming in the lamplight. "Sir," he said, "the most terrible thing in the world is not a broken heart—hearts are meant to break. The most terrible thing is to harden your heart like stone."

After saying that, she grabbed the cork bag and hurriedly ran out, leaving Dumbledore alone with a melancholy sigh.

In the portrait, Headmaster Dippet whispers behind Dumbledore, "This boy doesn't seem like a Slytherin..."

Delis said softly, "Some things come above self-interest. She has been loved and knows how to love others."

“I think Prareas is just like a Slytherin in every way,” Phineas snorted. “She doesn’t even listen to Dumbledore, does she? She has her own ideas!”

Only Slytherin truly understands Slytherin.

Dumbledore agreed with Phineas, saying that one characteristic of Slytherins was a certain degree of contempt for rules, a kind of inner disobedience.

Ambition itself is a form of disobedience to fate.

Dumbledore then recalled that despite Prasles's many accomplishments and formidable fighting prowess, she had never actually faced their enemies directly.

When she sought the crown, her only opponent was her own desire. When she destroyed the Cup, she and Dumbledore didn't even need to fight.

Knock knock knock—

Knock knock knock—

Snape frowned, unable to think of anyone who would dare to knock on his door with such arrogance.

Before he could even ask a question or say "please come in," the door was opened directly.

Snape thought to himself, his face grim; he knew perfectly well.

Besides Praris, who else can open this door so easily?

boom!

Praris slammed the door shut, cast a few anti-eavesdropping spells, quickly dragged over his chair, and sat down heavily.

Her dark, pearly eyes glared at Snape, and she said coldly, "You never told me—how could you accept such a request? Spit can kill!"

Snape, who was about to lecture Prares on manners, paused for a second.

Then, he calmly said, "Too many people hate me, too many people curse me. Miss, according to your thinking, I would have died countless times."

“I won’t allow you to say that!” Praris couldn’t stand the word “death.” “You did a job you didn’t like for him, you were his spy, you went through fire and water for him… You’ve done so much! Do you really owe Dumbledore so much? To endure this humiliation for him forever and ever!”

“Forgive me for asking this question.” Snape gave her a deep look and asked in a low voice, “Plares, are you pitying me? Or are you just feeling sorry for me?”