HP North Star's Radiance

Ah—Sylvia?

Prareas could understand Dumbledore's decision not to mention Ariana, since she usually didn't think of Sylvia either.

This wasn't because she was a cold-blooded daughter; it was simply that she didn't know how to deal with Sylvia's existence, or perhaps it should be called helplessness.

She found it difficult to find a suitable emotional response to her biological mother amidst all the different attitudes.

She couldn't bring herself to hate Sylvia; after all, it was Deepell, not Sylvia, who had sent her to the convent. And without Sylvia, she wouldn't have Snape, her mentor and father figure.

Praris couldn't feel love for Sylvia either. The older Praris got, the smaller Sylvia became. Even when he was little, his memories of Sylvia weren't pleasant.

Praris and Sylvia spent five years together, but if we exclude the parts they don't remember, that's only two and a half years. And for about six months of those two and a half years, Sylvia suffered from prenatal depression.

For the remaining two years, due to the secrecy law, Sylvia could not openly conduct her work, only saying that she was a stargazing enthusiast who occasionally wrote short articles on the subject. Then, she secretly used magical items right under her husband's nose.

Praris, whose magical talent was revealed early on, could only follow her mother's example and hide it from her father.

Of course, she didn't see herself as a monster, but she had a gut feeling that she was an oddity to others.

Praris discovered early on that even though the neighbors praised Deeper as a top student from a prestigious university and a "genius," he didn't have extraordinary memories or the analytical abilities Praris possessed. Sylvia then showed her that her magical abilities were also an anomaly.

Under such circumstances, it would be difficult to assume that Sylvia would grow up happily if she didn't have a second child... in reality, that's hard to say.

However, Praris did have fantasies about her parents while she was in the monastery.

“Go ahead and say it,” Praris said calmly. “There’s nothing unacceptable.”

Her life was actually very simple, like riding a bicycle. Unfortunately, the bicycle caught fire, the ground caught fire, everything was on fire, because this place was hell!

—Is it okay for her to insult her father?

If there was anyone in the world who could rightfully hate Depp, Prarese believed it would be herself. But she didn't hate him; she simply felt nothing for him, like seeing a rat crawling by on the roadside.

Okay, actually it's because she can't ride a bicycle at all, so is there anything more unfortunate than that? No.

"Severus met Sylvia at Malfoy Manor." Dumbledore's words caused a huge stir, even surprising Praris.

“That’s impossible,” Praris said firmly. “She broke up with Winnie because of the mystery!”

“Severus and I both thought so,” Dumbledore said with a sigh, “but things are far worse than we imagined.”

Now, Snape and Axley are Voldemort's two most trusted lieutenants. Snape has the upper hand over Axley in intelligence regarding the seven Potters. Axley has also made significant contributions to the control of the Ministry of Magic.

Snape couldn't ask about Sylvia's matter himself, fearing it might be a trap for him, but that brainless Yaxley came to him to brag about it.

Thus, Snape learned the whole story of the Sylvia incident so easily.

Sylvia is truly brain-dead. The Death Eaters and Voldemort's perception of Sylvia stems from the files of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—Axley controlled Director Sinkennis.

So what they got was Sylvia's punishment file, learning that she was a Gryffindor and about her crimes.

Secondly, the wizarding world does not have strict entry and exit regulations or household registration systems. After Ryan and Irene broke off their relationship, no one knew about Snape and Sylvia's past relationship.

What Dumbledore was really worried about was what the Death Eaters would do with Sylvia's divination abilities, and what the current state of Sylvia's divination abilities was.

“That’s how it is,” Dumbledore recalled. “Sylvia was indeed skilled in divination, but not to the point of being a prophet. But Severus learned that her abilities had greatly increased, and he feared…”

“Does the prophet mean someone like Professor Trelawney?” Prarese said. “Then there’s no need to worry too much.”

Trelawney is the type who's "sometimes psychic, sometimes not... psychic." Nobody knows when she'll be psychic, and by the time they realize it, it's usually too late.

Chapter 211 Lobbying

“Not all prophets are the same.” Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. “Professor Trelawney’s prophetic abilities are not consistent, but that doesn’t mean every prophet is like that.”

Dumbledore knew a true prophet with full prophetic abilities. Although prophecy doesn't completely predict the future, the existence of a prophet is still quite troublesome.

“As far as I know, Sylvia didn’t have the ability to foresee the future,” Praris said calmly. “Otherwise, she would have known long ago that she would kill Dipple.”

Dumbledore shook his head: "No, prophecies aren't like that. In fact, prophecies are sometimes just a small scene of the future."

“Perhaps Sylvia witnessed William’s murder, but she doesn’t think she would do it. She would assume it was someone else’s perspective, or doubt whether it was a mistake on her part.”

"In fact, according to the file, she argued that she had no intention of killing William and that it was all an accident."

“Then what do you want me to do?” Praris asked. “Or rather, what is your purpose in keeping me here?”

Things started to get worse.

After a chaotic escape, Harry and his friends finally returned to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

But the wizards associated with the Order of the Phoenix suffered severe persecution; they destroyed Dedalow Dygo's house, used the Cruciatus Curse on Tonks' parents, and turned the Burrow upside down.

Harry hated his aunt and uncle, but the Order of the Phoenix made the wise decision to make sure they were all settled before leaving. Hermione was also grateful for the things she had done that had upset her.

Ron pestered Lupin, who had returned to the Black family's old house, to ask about his family. But Lupin didn't talk much about it; instead, he wanted to abandon the pregnant Tonks and risk his life with Harry and the others to carry out Dumbledore's dying wish.

Harry and Lupin had just had a big fight, with Lupin believing that his decision to marry Tonks was a mistake. He felt that Tonks was being ostracized by other wizards, and even Andromeda and Mr. Tonks were secretly worried about it.

“You should have thought of these things from the beginning!” Harry said angrily. “Did these things only come to light now? You only come to say you’ve wronged Tonks after she has a child, do you think that’s right?”

Lupin said painfully, "I was blinded by love and made an irrational decision, which I still regret to this day."

“You dare tell Sirius these things!” Harry kicked the sofa like Lupin. “Tell him—tell him you’re going to abandon Tonks! Do you have any conscience? In fact, from the moment you had the thought of regret, you’ve already wronged Tonks!”

"Harry! Harry, please don't do this!" Hermione cried as she grabbed Harry.

Hermione stopped Harry from causing trouble, but not from scolding Lupin, because she still remembered Prares's comments about Ron.

Prarese once said, "Love eventually wears down to conscience. If Ron treats Lavender like that, then he is clearly not a man with much conscience."

Hermione only reluctantly forgave Ron after he bravely admitted his mistake and was slapped by Lavender.

Hermione frantically wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and shouted to Lupin, "Remus! I think Tonks must have been fully prepared before choosing you."

"Wasn't her mother the same? Sirius's cousin also betrayed her family to be with Mr. Tonks. Tonks knew what was going to happen all along; she saw it all when she was a child!"

“No, she doesn’t know!” Lupin sat on the ground and pounded his head with his hands. “Nobody knows what happens to a werewolf’s child. I’ve never heard of a child whose parents were werewolves before he was born. He’ll be ashamed of my existence!”

“If you just run away like this, I’ll be even more ashamed of what you’ve done!” Harry struggled to control his emotions, forcefully pried Hermione’s hands off, and pointed at Lupin, saying, “My father may have been a jerk at school, but I still have reason to be proud of him—because, in the last moments of his life, he was still standing in front of me and my mother!”

“If he abandons me and my mother like you did and goes off to do other things, I’ll be ashamed of him for the rest of my life!” Harry said through gritted teeth. “As a son, I’m telling you! Unless you’re dead, you shouldn’t leave your wife and children behind!”

Harry's chest heaved as he uttered, "When you taught me Defense Against the Dark Arts, I never imagined you were such a coward!"

Lupin fled in disarray, but Harry was still furious.

He paced back and forth in the living room, panting heavily.

After a while, Harry said to himself, "I don't regret saying that, even if he hates me for it—as long as he can figure out what kind of responsibility he should bear."

London in August is sunny and bright.

A young woman, with a well-proportioned figure, was wearing a brown leather top, riding breeches, and boots. Her hair was styled in a high bun, and she held a cigarette in her hand.

“You’ve gone astray.” Stella Stewart threw her cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, her face cold. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything, and no one will know you said those things to me—get on with it!”

Praris shook his head: "I'm not leaving."

"You're insane!" Stella roared at her, suppressing her anger. "Listen to your nonsense! Whose side are you going to take?"

“Harry Potter,” Praris said calmly, “I hope you can help them when they get into the Ministry of Magic.”

Stella rushed up to Prader and pointed at her, yelling, "You're a Slytherin! Have you forgotten how they insulted us? Have you forgotten who your mentor was? Mr. Snape killed Dumbledore!"

"Wake up!" Stella glared at Praris with exasperation. "There's no turning back for Slytherin!"

Praris remained calm, without a trace of confusion in her eyes. She spoke slowly and clearly, "Stella, do you think I've been fooled by them? Yes, but we're the ones who've been fooled. The one who's been fooling us is the mysterious man—he's using us as pawns."

“I don’t think so,” Stella sneered. “In fact, things have only recently started to improve at the Ministry of Magic. Mr. Snape deserved much greater honors, but he only became the Headmaster of Hogwarts now. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“No, don’t we deserve this?” Praris approached Stella and said softly, “We already have the help of the other Slytherins, we are close allies, and we have great power. Like you, you should have been sitting where you are now long ago.”

“But!” Praris paused, and Stella’s gaze gradually shifted to her. “If the Void hadn’t lured so many Slytherins into becoming his followers, causing almost the entire generation of Slytherins to disappear—either dead or imprisoned—we would be far more powerful and of higher status than we are now, wouldn’t we?”

Stella swallowed hard, her eyes flickering.

“The mysterious man is of mixed race,” Praris said with a smile. “Did you know that?”

Stella immediately turned to look at Praris, her face filled with astonishment: "What?"

Praris reached out and gently tapped his temple, smiling as he said, "Nothing could be more real."

“You know, I don’t actually support the theory of bloodline, and you don’t care about that either.” Praris’s speech suddenly quickened. “But whenever I think about how so many Slytherins sacrificed themselves for this idea, only to find out it was just a complete lie, I feel heartbroken for them.”

A tear welled in Praris's eye as she said emotionally, "Stella! Draco became a Death Eater before he was even an adult, and he wanted Draco to kill Dumbledore! If... if it weren't for Professor Snape!"

She raised her head, refusing to let her tears fall, and wiped them away with her bent index finger: "He doesn't care about our lives or deaths, he doesn't care about our souls, he doesn't care about Slytherin! He only cares about his own interests—we've all been used by him as a knife, and once the blade is dull, he discards us without a second thought."

Stella took a step back helplessly, only to bump into a sycamore tree behind her: "I need to think...think."

“I don’t reject the idea of ​​the mysterious man; victory always comes at a price.” Praris gently placed his hand on Stella’s shoulder, looking directly at her with tears in his eyes. “But what if the price is us and our loved ones, and all the so-called victory is a lie?”

“I understand your thinking.” Stella patted her face, trying to cool down her overheated mind. “But the Death Eaters have another goal: to conquer death. The Mystic has been resurrected, at least that’s true, right?”

Praris shook his head, then suddenly laughed: "You believe that? If Potter could kill the Man of Darkness once, he can do it again. Perhaps you don't know, but he planned to assassinate Potter around the time he came of age. What do you think the outcome would be?"

Stella recalled that she hadn't heard anything about Potter's death. Now, the ministry was spreading rumors that Potter had killed Dumbledore and was issuing a warrant for his arrest.

“Guess,” Praris asked with a mocking laugh, “how many times has this happened?”

Stella felt it was absurd; if the Mysterio was just a tyrannical fraudster, what would become of Slytherin's future?

Praris lowered her voice, her words earnest: "Senior, this is our last chance. You don't need to personally express your stance; just pretend to be oblivious and help them when you encounter them, that's enough..."

Stella closed her eyes, and after a long while, she said, "Okay, I promise you."

Soon, she apparated and left with a jumble of thoughts, leaving Praris standing there.

“A very splendid lobbying speech.” Dumbledore smiled and emerged from somewhere.

Praris took out a handkerchief and a mirror, tidied her appearance, and asked curiously, "Which part of my statement was a lie?"

Dumbledore shook his head honestly: "No."

Being with Praris is both a comfortable and torturous experience. When things are peaceful, she's a reliable ally; when trouble arises, she always inspires fear.

But Dumbledore didn't think it was a big deal. He himself had walked both paths, both possessing immense power. Since Prasris was using her talents to promote ultimate peace, there was nothing to be suspicious of.

“I suspect,” Praris said, looking up at the sycamore seeds, “that if he needs Sylvia to get some information, either he wants to find the locket to put his mind at ease.”

“Not bad,” said Dumbledore.

Praris frowned: "I don't know if it's because he didn't choose the divination artifact, or if Sylvia's directions weren't clear enough, but he didn't find the locket."

Dumbledore asked gently, "So, what do you think he's still looking for?"