HP North Star's Radiance

"...The witch's tone was very similar to that of Praris Prince, my old client whom you're looking for. Even if it wasn't her, judging from the herbs she bought, she was a highly capable apothecary..."

Finally, Bradley wrote the Death Eater Yaxley's name on the envelope.

Bradley thought to himself:

"Praris, blame me if you must! It's your cheap wolfsbane potion that ruined Lord Voldemort's plans!"

Since your Head of Slytherin has now betrayed Dumbledore and returned to Void's side, consider this my way of reuniting you, teacher and student!

Bradley had to think that way, otherwise he wouldn't be able to justify betraying the girl he watched grow up.

While Praris can be a bit harsh at times, and knows all the prices of various herbs, leaving him no room to maneuver, she is still just a child who has just come of age.

For a person to do evil with a clear conscience, they either have to accept that they are a complete scoundrel, or they have to convince themselves that it's not really evil. Bradley is the latter, and so is Draco over the past year.

Draco sat on the balcony of his bedroom, staring blankly ahead, mechanically wiping his violin with his hands.

More than half a month had passed since Dumbledore fell before him. He couldn't bring himself to kill Dumbledore, so Mr. Snape took over the task for him.

After that, the Death Eaters secretly carried out a large-scale prison break, including Draco's father Lucius—the family was finally reunited.

Despite Mr. Snape's efforts to emphasize that Draco acted precisely when Dumbledore was weak, that Draco cleverly planned to let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, that Draco lost his wand before entering the Astronomy Tower, and that Draco cornered Dumbledore, thus providing Snape with the opportunity to murder him...

However, Draco's family did not regain favor because of Draco's actions.

Yes.

They remain the weak, the cowards, and the losers.

Malfoy Manor became a stronghold for Death Eaters, who came and went freely in Draco's house, treating it like a roadside inn!

That year, all of Draco's actions—acting against his will and forcing himself to commit murder—became a joke.

Draco still remembers how that chaotic night ended.

"Draco! Draco!" Narcissa rushed over and hugged Draco, kissing his face repeatedly. "You did very well, you did very well..."

Aunt Bella's face turned extremely pale, and she shouted at Draco, "You didn't kill Dumbledore! You didn't kill Dumbledore with your own hands! You didn't complete your master's task!"

“Enough, Bellatrix.” Snape patted his cloak and said calmly, “Draco has done well; the master’s request has been fulfilled.”

Draco felt his mother hug him tighter. In a voice only Draco could hear, she said over and over, "Draco, it's okay, that's enough..."

Professor Snape killed Dumbledore in his place. Prader worried about his soul, his mother understood the pain he was enduring, but his aunt thought Professor Snape was a cunning fellow who stole the honor that was within their grasp.

Aunt Bella would sing praises of Voldemort in front of them whenever she had the chance, and occasionally curse Snape for his despicable deeds, but she didn't care about Draco's conscience at all—she only cared about Voldemort's so-called great achievements.

Voldemort, on the other hand, only felt that he spared Lucius because of his leniency... What did Draco's year of suffering and torment amount to then!

Draco couldn't help but whisper to Narcissa, "Mom, the path we chose was truly the right one..."

"Draco!" Narcissa exclaimed in surprise, quickly covering her son's mouth. She shook her head hastily and said, "What are you thinking!"

Draco forgot that his mother didn't have Occlumency surgery, and what he said could very well harm his family.

So he had no choice but to swallow all his words back down, like swallowing a sharp knife.

Accompanied by these unhappy memories, the magic violin slowly rose and played "Lascia ch'io pianga" (Let me weep) in the lowest possible voice before him.

Draco hugged his knees, remaining silent for a long time, stroking the small bottle of Felix Felicis in his hands.

He remembered that the last piece this violin played was "Salut d'Amour." He also remembered the last time he danced with his loved one to the music of a violin.

Back then, his thoughts about the future were limited to shallow and joyful love, without the heavy burden he carries now.

He also recalled that even Dumbledore, on his deathbed, had been generous in showing him kindness, while those to whom his family had been loyal had pushed him toward the abyss, taking their loyalty for granted and trampling on their dignity and feelings.

These were dangerous thoughts, but his mother had him learn Occlumency from his aunt, allowing Draco to think so brazenly while cautiously hating his master.

Knock knock—

Narcissa slowly pushed open the door and saw her son sitting quietly in a high-backed chair on the balcony, his hands wrapped around his knees without any regard for his image, his face as pale as paper, and sad music lingering in the air.

Narcissa wasn't interested in music, but like any loving mother, she could easily sense her son's feelings through it.

“Draco,” Narcissa said softly, “we should go to the meeting.”

The music stopped abruptly, just as Draco was forced to halt his performance.

"Are you sure there are no other Horcruxes besides Harry and that snake?"

In Southend, dark clouds gathered, pressing down on the sea—a storm was brewing.

When Prarese left Boginbock, he took a dagger with him and is now sharpening it with a whetstone until it shines.

Beside her were two small black vials, each about the size of a Felix Felicis vial, filled only two-thirds with liquid—the basilisk's venom.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances," Dumbledore said.

His words earned him a vicious glare from Praris: "What do you mean by 'accident'?"

“I saw the diary, and I chopped the crown, the chalice, and the ring with my own hands.” Dumbledore paused for a second, “but I did not witness the destruction of the Slytherin locket.”

Logically, Harry personally used snake venom to neutralize the Horcrux. Dumbledore handing the locket to Harry meant nothing more.

Dumbledore's words were full of trust: "But I believe Harry can do it all—this isn't the first time he's destroyed a Horcrux."

Praris sneered, "You should know that if anything goes wrong here, even if we kill the snake, the mysterious man could still emerge from the locket, and all our efforts will be in vain."

Chapter 198 Action

4 Privet Road, London.

At 4:50 a.m., it was already light in England.

Harry had to bury his burning head under the covers to prevent the morning light from raising its temperature.

It wasn't until he returned to Privet Drive and sat on the carpet tidying up his things, touching the gold locket, that Harry suddenly remembered something—Dumbledore was dead.

From the dead of night at the Astronomy Tower until that moment, Harry was first busy thinking about the locket and the RAB, then he served as a security guard for Prader's research, then sat with Ginny for a long time doing nothing else, then attended Dumbledore's funeral... and finally returned to Aunt Petunia's house on Privet Drive.

He read the Daily Prophet to get the news, explained to his aunt and uncle what he would have to face as an adult, his gaze gliding over the name "Dumbledore" in the newspaper—ignoring it, and remarked that it was good that no one else had died that day.

After leaving Hogwarts, Harry began to live a nocturnal lifestyle. He would sleep for long periods during the day and get up at night to stuff leftovers and bread into the refrigerator, then lean against the refrigerator door and gulp down ice-cold milk until his stomach ached... Strangely enough, none of his aunt, uncle, or Dudley bothered him.

This was when things were still relatively good. When things were bad, he would go out at night with a flashlight, reading the tattered book of poems word by word, looking at the annotations written by Dumbledore, and savoring the emotions that permeated them, emotions that belonged to Dumbledore.

When you're unhappy, your dreams can be cruel, replaying over and over the scene of Dumbledore falling with his eyes open, without even any context.

It was just death, pure death.

Sometimes Harry wished he could bang his head against the wall, preferably knocking himself unconscious—he didn't want Voldemort to see Dumbledore die, fearing Voldemort might feel even the slightest bit of pleasure. But he was also afraid that if he actually passed out, he would uncontrollably reveal the information in his dreams.

Emotions can affect a wizard's spellcasting ability. He tried to use Occlumency to sever his connection with Voldemort, but he was never able to do so.

Winnie said knowingly, "Harry, your feelings right now are like a live volcano. It hasn't erupted, but it's always burning hot inside you."

His unstable emotions prevented him from effectively using the Occupational Therapy.

On days like these, Harry, who used to be forced to eat poorly in this house, now has little appetite of his own. Because of his unhealthy lifestyle, Harry rarely sees anyone else in the house and hardly speaks.

Sirius repeatedly tries to communicate with Harry through the two-way mirror, hoping to comfort him, but he can never find his godson during the day, so he can only stay up with him at night.

He tried to make jokes, act silly, and rack his brains to come up with words of comfort to Harry, but to no avail.

“Harry.” Sirius Black, who looked even more normal and healthy than Harry himself, said from the mirror, “Why don’t you come to the Order of the Phoenix?”

"No."

The person who spoke up to argue was neither Moody, who was temporarily in charge of everyone's arrangements, nor Winnie, who liked to contradict Sirius, but Harry himself.

Perhaps because he hadn't spoken to anyone for a while, Harry spoke much more slowly, as if he were constantly rehearsing his lines in his head, or organizing his thoughts.

Harry said with absolute certainty, "Dumbledore said that this is the only place that can truly protect me until I reach adulthood."

Lupin said, "Accepting death is something you can only process on your own. It takes a lot of time, and it can only be done by yourself."

Having experienced the deaths of his parents and his best friend and his wife, Lupin used his own experience to persuade the other members of the Order of the Phoenix to stop worrying about Sirius Black's two-way mirror every day.

Until one day, Harry sat on his bed, watching the sun slowly rise before going to sleep. It looked like a bright red egg, or a burning, beating heart.

When he woke up, it was already dark. Boundless loneliness filled his body and soul, like a primitive social outcast wandering alone in the night.

For an entire day, he didn't think about anything. He simply emptied his mind, like a paramecium in a ditch, letting his thoughts wander without any emotion or thought.

After that day, Harry miraculously cheered up again, as if he had completely forgotten that he had lost Dumbledore.

He finally dared to reread the Daily Prophet's reports about Dumbledore, moved by the sincere condolences of some and infuriated by the nonsense of others.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix were unaware of what Harry had gone through, but they all tacitly avoided mentioning Harry's dejected and painful days. Unless absolutely necessary, they rarely spoke of Dumbledore and actively prepared for Harry's transfer before he came of age.

And so, July 27th arrived.

According to Moody's plan, George and his father Arthur would be in one group, Fred and Lupin in another, Purnell and Kingsley in yet another, Mundungus and Winnie in the third, Tonks and Sirius in the fourth, Fleur and Moody in the fifth, and Harry and Hagrid in the sixth.

"Why can't I be with Harry!" Sirius was the first to object.

“You’re the most dangerous one! Sirius!” Moody roared. “Voldemort’s primary targets are you and me! They can easily believe you’ll try to stay with Harry because you are—”

"Harry's godfather." Sirius proudly puffed out his chest, taking over Moody's words, which earned him a disdainful glare from Winnie.

Winnie slid open the Dursleys' refrigerator, pulled out a tub of yogurt, and started scooping it out. "Alastor, I have a question. Why don't we ask Professor McGonagall for help?"

In Winnie's opinion, although Hagrid was loyal enough, he was far less powerful than Professor McGonagall.

“Hogwarts needs McGonagall,” Moody said without turning his head. “Dumbledore has already… If something happens to McGonagall, I don’t need to explain anything further!”

They cannot allow Hogwarts to fall completely into the hands of the Ministry of Magic or even the Death Eaters. Minerva McGonagall is undoubtedly the next headmaster and protector of the students that Dumbledore has groomed.

Bill was originally a good choice; Praris Prince had already kept Bill away from the tragedy of becoming a werewolf.

But Prince's medication had side effects. Bill Weasley now sported a flawless new face, couldn't see the light of day for at least a month, and had to drink supplements and eat nutritious foods at the Burrow every day... Moody refused to let patients join the program.

Ron and Hermione, who are children, were not allowed to participate in the program because there were already enough of them.

Sirius Black's group and Moody's group are the most dangerous, equipped with the relatively strong Tonks and Fleur. Purnell was brought along to counter the former Death Eater Winnie.

Moody believed that suspicion was a prerequisite for better trust, so he didn't hesitate to doubt his own people. As long as Purnell was present and not within Winnie's protection zone, Winnie could be absolutely certain he was one of her own, without any need for doubt.

Therefore, Moody handed Mundungus to Winnie and privately told her: if Mundungus dared to betray him, kill him on the spot.

Former Death Eater Winnie grinned and secretly made an "OK" sign with her hand.

Their targets consist of twelve safe houses, including the Burrow, Tonks' parents' house, the Moody's house, the Kingsley's house, and Aunt Muriel's house. Each safe house has a secret agent who holds a temporary key to number twelve Grimmauld Place.

The time allotted for using the door key is limited, and there is only one chance to use it.