HP North Star's Radiance

“I remember now!” Harry suddenly slapped his forehead. “I’ve seen it before—I mean, right when I first came here! In the glass cabinet next to the mantel!”

Harry remembered it as a dull, dark silver box engraved with writing he couldn't understand. It might have been ancient runes; if Hermione had seen it, she might have known what it was!

Praris took a deep breath, feeling completely disoriented: "Is your brain filled with Dionysus's wine, causing you to lose your mind?!"

“I’m so sorry…” Harry lowered his head in shame. “That was two years ago. I really don’t have your memory.”

The three of them sighed simultaneously. It really wasn't Harry's fault; many people were still looking for their glasses while wearing them!

If anyone's to blame, it's Sirius Black. He treated Kreacher and Regulus so badly that he was completely oblivious to something so important.

Sirius closed his eyes: "Tell me everything about Regulus... and the locket."

This is a story about a young boy whose ideals have collapsed and who willingly walks towards destruction.

Voldemort borrowed Kreacher from Regulus, using him as a test subject and ordering him to drink a potion from the cave. In agonizing torment, Kreacher, driven solely by Regulus's demand to return home, Apparated away from the Infernal's clutches.

Voldemort probably never imagined that Kreacher would return alive. He despised all weak, cowardly, and lowly creatures, like Peter Pettigrew, Winnie, and Kreacher.

Kreacher told Regulus everything, and Regulus began to act "strangely," taking Kreacher to the cave again.

Regulus drank the potions, replaced the locket, gave the real locket to Kreacher, and then drowned in the lake.

At this point, Praris and Harry both bowed their heads in remembrance of Regulus's sacrifice.

Sirius suddenly stood up, letting out a strange roar, and frantically pounded on the wall until he was covered in blood.

Kreacher failed to destroy the locket—it was a Horcrux, of course. But he also had no one to turn to for help, as Regulus forbade Kreacher from telling Volbuga that Orion had also died that year.

“This is the price of your arrogance,” Praris said, shaking his head at Sirius. “You’re doing what you think is right, but do you understand your brother? Have you ever seen into his heart? Do you know why he wouldn’t come with you and why he made those decisions?”

"Just like with Peter Pettigrew, do you really treat him as a brother and not a follower? Do you understand what he's thinking? You look down on Kreacher, but Kreacher understands your brother even better than you do. At least he could see that Regulus was upset at the time."

Prareas was certain that Regulus's heart was far from calm on the day Sirius left home. But Sirius didn't care; he just wanted Regulus to be as "brave" as he wanted—but bravery is different for everyone.

A lion chasing its prey is brave, and a python fighting an eagle is also brave.

Harry didn't dare let Prader continue; Sirius looked too distressed. He quickly said, "But Montdongues is dead. How are we supposed to know where he put the locket?"

This question made Prarese realize for the first time in his life that thinking could be a painful thing.

Praris slapped his forehead and hissed, "We need to find out where Mundungus usually sells the goods he gets his hands on..."

"Knockdown Alley!" Harry nearly jumped up. "Boggin Burke!"

Praris shook his head: "No, I just went there not long ago—what exactly is your interest in Borgin-Bock!"

Harry sat down dejectedly: "What if Mr. Borgin has already sold him..."

“Bogin has never seen a locket!” Praris resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"how do you know?"

"Just pretend I know everything!"

"Do you know where the locket is?"

"That's an interesting question! If I knew, what would I be thinking about here? What would we be having for dinner?"

Praris and Harry were arguing back and forth, making quite a scene.

Sirius Black finally calmed down from his burning emotions. He looked down at Regulus's locket, and as if making a decision, reached out his hand to it.

Chapter 205 Reunion

Fate is a great screenwriter. It cruelly took everything away from Sirius Black, yet it also gave him a chance to start over when he had nothing left.

Every day that Sirius Black lived after being placed in the Department of Mysteries was a rebirth. He truly touched the edge of death and realized that he couldn't bear to part with Harry—the boy he hadn't truly fulfilled his duties as godfather.

Being saved by Winnie Brown was a conflict for Sirius. He hadn't expected that the person who saved him was this former Death Eater who disliked him, yet he was also relieved that he hadn't left Harry all alone.

Sirius was jolted awake by Winnie's scolding and was also touched by the happy memories that Mrs. Purnell had told him about her and Sylvia's daughter.

His life had been stagnant for a long time at the age of 22. It wasn't until he faced death and lived that his true 23rd year finally arrived.

Sirius Black,

I think I made a mistake that made a friend very, very, very angry.

Hermione thinks I should sincerely apologize to her, but... it feels like there's a hurdle in my heart.

To put it bluntly, I'm reluctant to admit it. It's like admitting it would make me a despicable person. But I also feel I should apologize to her; I really did make a mistake!

When you were young, what would you do if you offended a female friend of the same age?

Harry

Female friends? And they have to be the same age!

Sirius doesn't even have many male friends!

If he had to choose, would Lily count? Would the charlatan Sylvia count? And if he had to force it, would Winnie, Molly, and Purnell count? Sirius scratched his head, trying to find witches his own age with whom he had normal relationships, but he couldn't even gather enough for one.

Or should we include our relatives as well?

My cousin Andromeda is a woman!

If he really angers Lily, he won't even have a chance to apologize before his best buddies give him a "mixed doubles beating." As for Sylvia? She'll curse Sirius with bad luck. When Sirius actually does have bad luck, she'll consider it revenge and won't need to apologize.

Sirius, pen in hand, pondered for a moment, then climbed from his desk onto his bed, and rolled onto the floor.

He found this even harder to write than the divination assignment. He managed to write a little bit, but it turned out to be copied from James's previous assignments!

"...Write a long apology letter, explaining your thoughts and mistakes, asking for the other party's forgiveness, and promising that you will not repeat the mistake..."

perfect!

Sirius Black lay on the floor with his arms outstretched, staring blankly at the ceiling, when a thought suddenly occurred to him: Was this considered fulfilling his duty as a godfather? It seemed that he was helping Harry resolve his teenage anxieties about friendship through his efforts.

This thought made Sirius feel happy. He put his hands behind his head, crossed his legs, and hummed a song with a carefree air.

Back to the present, Sirius was completely calm. He pulled out the note Regulus had written, stuffed it into his suit jacket pocket, and then handed over the fake locket.

Harry and Praris's discussion came to an abrupt halt.

Harry watched Sirius's actions and saw him hand the locket to Kreacher!

Sirius's voice was low as he said, "I admit I hate you, Kreacher. But Regulus is happy to give you the locket—you deserve it."

"Ah!" Kreacher suddenly screamed, snatching the locket from Sirius's hand with lightning speed, as if afraid Sirius would change his mind.

Kreacher frantically stuffed the locket into the tattered rag he was wearing. He clutched the locket tightly to his chest and vanished with a thud.

Seeing Sirius's behavior, Harry remarked, "It's a pity Hermione isn't here, otherwise she would definitely praise you lavishly, Sirius!"

Harry described the incident as if a teacher were praising a student for being "great," which made Sirius feel incredibly embarrassed—he hadn't gone that far before!

There's still no lead on Mundungus's case, so Prader has arranged for Harry to inquire with members of the Order of the Phoenix about Mundungus's life. She herself plans to find time to go to Diagon Alley to investigate Mundungus's whereabouts.

"Why am I the one asking?" Harry paused, taken aback. "Aren't you staying?"

Praris replied matter-of-factly, "Of course not! My summer vacation isn't over yet, don't expect me to do everything! Goodbye!"

After saying that, Praris left in a hurry, still on the first floor trying to refuse Ms. Prie's small cake with a lethal amount of double the cream, but failed miserably.

"Take it to go!"

"Really, you don't need to!"

"This is delicious!"

I'm leaving!

"Don't be so polite, child, take it with you!"

After the chaotic battle, Praris stood expressionless on the bustling street of Grimoire Place, carrying a large portion of cream cakes, feeling utterly desolate.

The living room of a house in Southend, by the sea.

"So kind of you?" Dumbledore said with a smile. "You even brought me a gift when you went out! Ah—this was made by Prim, wasn't it? That's what her grandmother, Mrs. Purnell, did."

Ironically, Prarese hadn't expected that Ms. Prie also took her mother's surname, which might be one of the reasons why Ms. Prie favored her.

“Don’t get too excited, sir,” Prareus said, sitting opposite Dumbledore. “One good news, one bad news.”

The good news is that Harry is still alive; the bad news is that the Horcruxes are also still alive.

After listening to Prares's words, Dumbledore remained silent. After a long while, he said, "I understand your doubts. To fight Voldemort, we must unite all forces as much as possible, and Mundungus can always bring us some inside information—this is essential."

Then, Dumbledore sighed helplessly: "But in war, death is unavoidable."

“Why don’t you say you’re sad?” Praris said calmly. “Why don’t you say you feel guilty? Why don’t you say you’re in pain over Mundungus’s death? I know that, after all.”

Almost every member of the Order of the Phoenix chose to join because of Dumbledore. If any of them died, Dumbledore would be heartbroken and filled with guilt. He could only repeatedly tell himself that this was the price that victory had to be paid.

Although Mundungus was not a purely good person, Dumbledore couldn't help but think so. He wasn't heartless; he just had to maintain the composure expected of a leader.

“Sir, I won’t bother you.” Praris stood up and said to Dumbledore, “Let the rain fall as much as it wants, but let the sun come out quickly, lest the wet season be too long.”

Praris went up to the second floor, the place where her magic had gone out of control. She sat cross-legged on her childhood bed—it was a bit too small to lie down—and tapped on the two-way mirror.

Several minutes later, Snape's face appeared on the other side. He said sarcastically, "Anyone who didn't know better would think that you had been killed by the enraged Dark Lord and sacrificed to the snakes!"

"I thought the Death Eaters were all under Voldemort's wrath?" Praris said calmly. "Don't worry, neither Dumbledore nor I are injured. The Order of the Phoenix lost Mundungus, George Weasley lost an ear, but the others' injuries are not very serious."

Prareese meant that she didn't contact Snape immediately because she knew he was deceiving Voldemort, while she herself went to the Order of the Phoenix to find out what was going on.

"Can't be cured?" Snape asked.

Praris shook his head and said, "Last night must have been chaotic, there's nothing we can do about it. I didn't get there until the afternoon, it was too late."

She believed that Professor Snape's actions in injuring George were not his intention.

Snape changed the subject, saying, "The Dark Lord was furious and flew into a rage. He seized everyone and used Legilimency on them, and killed some who hadn't kept their mouths shut as a show of force."

It seems Professor Snape has successfully gotten away with it again. Voldemort believes that one of his men let slip the information, leading to last night's assassination attempt on Nagini.

“The Dark Lord is currently inspecting the Horcruxes everywhere,” Snape said, staring at Prareus. “He returned from Gringotts, punished Bellatrix, and left again not long after.”

Praris nodded. Voldemort could only check the cave, Gringotts, and Riddle's old house. Once he confirmed that all of these had fallen, he would probably start to go mad.

The problem is, the locket is still missing.

If the locket has already been destroyed at this point, the final battle could begin at any time, but the unknown whereabouts of the locket put our side at a disadvantage.

"Are you alright?" Praris asked softly.