HP North Star's Radiance

"Where are we going to find the sword?" Hermione asked, frowning. "Hogwarts?"

The three people looked at each other, and then they found themselves in a dead end.

Hogwarts already has Snape and the newly appointed professors, the Carol siblings; for them to go there now would be like walking into a trap.

Finding no immediate way to destroy the Horcrux, Hermione stumbled upon a mysterious mark in Beedle the Bard's Tales. He recognized it as Grindelwald's symbol—something Krum had told him about at Bill and Fleur's wedding.

“This must be a hint from Dumbledore,” Harry said confidently. “He believes you can find something in this!”

“Perhaps—” Harry looked down at the book, “we should go find Luna’s father.”

Hogwarts.

Prareas sat at the Slytherin table, surveying his surroundings.

At the long tables of other houses, there were far fewer people than usual, while Slytherin had only a few fewer people than usual.

Praris noticed that Meryl, the girl who always seemed to idolize Praris, and Liam, who took Slughorn Potions with them, were among those absent. There were others, of course, but Praris didn't know them well.

She whispered to the two people beside her, "Where are Meryl and Liam?"

“Meryl is a Mudblood,” Daphne replied casually. “As for Liam—”

Pansy quickly said, "Isn't Liam mixed race?"

“Well, you’ll have to be able to prove that first.” Daphne rested her chin on her hand, idly playing with her fingers. “I didn’t realize you and Liam were so close.”

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Pansy said in a shrill voice. "Don't you know who I'm close to?"

After saying that, Pansy looked at Praris with a flicker in her eyes. Praris placed her hand on the back of Pansy's hand to soothe her.

Pansy's connection to Liam's unprovable mixed-race identity has extended to Praris.

A week or two ago, Stella thought that Harry and his friends had let the wizards being interrogated on the tenth floor escape in order to create chaos.

But Prader and Dumbledore knew this wasn't the case; Harry and his friends were indeed rescuing people. Taking these wizards with them wouldn't make their escape easier; it would only make them more of a target and easier for the Death Eaters to spot.

At that time, Prarese accused Harry of meddling and mocked them, saying they were better off not falling into the hands of the Death Eaters because of it.

Dumbledore gave him a disapproving look and said to Praris, "You'll understand when you get back to Hogwarts."

On the way back to school, Pansy told Praris that Astoria's sister Grace was missing. Compared to the cover of the train compartments, sitting at the long table in the Great Hall made it much easier to see that many wizards were missing, including some Praris had met before.

—Even though she was a Slytherin, a Slytherin who wasn't very popular with the other houses.

Survival is the first instinct of humankind, but there are other things beyond mere survival.

Prader still felt Harry's actions were reckless and that there were safer ways to handle things, but she began to acknowledge the value of those methods. Perhaps some Hogwarts students were among the group of arrested wizards whom Harry had released.

At the faculty table, Dumbledore's former seat had been taken by Professor Snape—he should now be called Headmaster Snape. But Praderne wasn't comfortable with the title; she preferred to call him Mr. Snape.

The two professors, who were Death Eaters, did not replace the original two professors. Instead, they sat together to Mr. Snape's left, while the first seat on his right was occupied by Vice-Headmaster Professor McGonagall.

The wizard closest to Snape should be Amicus Caro, this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The witch further away is his sister, Alecto Caro, this year's Muggle Studies professor.

The two Death Eaters were whispering and pointing at the students before Praris arrived.

As is customary, Professor McGonagall led the first-year students into the room and had them stand in front of the long table to await their sorting into their respective houses.

“The new prefect is Lydia,” Daphne suddenly whispered to the two of them.

Neither Praris nor Pansy were very surprised, but Pansy was very happy for Astoria: "Great, we have to write to Milison and tell her that she has always cared about Leah."

When Astoria first enrolled, Milison took a liking to her on the train.

But Prarese wasn't as excited as Pansy; she looked at Daphne, and Daphne looked back at her.

Daphne knew Praris understood what she was thinking, and she gave a mocking laugh: "Prefect? ​​She'd better not cause any trouble!"

“Trust Leah,” Prarese said calmly. “She’s not a girl without sense.”

Pansy then remembered that, because of Grace of Hufflepuff, Astoria held a friendly stance towards Muggle-born wizards. In Hogwarts, which was controlled by Death Eaters, such a stance was by no means a good thing.

Just then, the Sorting Hat, as it always did, began to sing loudly:

A net woven from silver and green silk threads imprisons the ancient castle.

The crows on the tower no longer caw, and the venomous snakes of the cellar take center stage.

Some people claim this is a new order, while others understand it's a real prison.

The Sorting Hat was forced to speak, reluctantly fulfilling its old duties.

If you listen carefully to your heart, you will hear freedom calling out within it:

When the soul is imprisoned by shackles, when books are arbitrarily cut.

False choices scatter us, while true choices boil deep within our souls.

Brave lion, do not let the darkness wear away your claws!

Wise eagle, see through the dagger hidden beneath the lie!

Loyal badger, you are my steadfast guardian beneath the mud!

But beware of the cunning and shrewd snake!

The snake charmer's flute music will lead you astray!

My voice is imprisoned, and my words of wisdom are hard to utter!

But the ancient bricks and stones of the castle bear witness to every scar and every glory!

When you choose to face the light, you are a warrior worthy of respect!

Before the Sorting Hat had even finished singing a few lines, the Carol siblings' expressions changed drastically, and they gripped their wands, ready to stand up!

Snape blocked their way with one hand, his face cold as he whispered something to them.

The Carlo siblings were indignant and retorted with sarcasm, but in the end they withdrew with unpleasant expressions.

"I've always been worried that Voldemort will close Hogwarts," Harry told Praris on number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Praris looked at him like he was an idiot: "No, he won't."

"Why?" Harry pressed.

Praris couldn't understand what was going on in his little head: "Why do you think he wants to shut down Hogwarts?"

“Uh…” Harry said hesitantly, “If Hogwarts is destroyed, Muggle-born wizards will not be able to receive an education, but pure-blood wizards will still have family education—in this way, the newly grown wizards will all be pure-bloods who have been brainwashed by their families.”

Praris let out a long "Oh," and said, "What you say makes some sense—it's just not much. If the mysterious man thought like you, we could save ourselves a lot of trouble."

Harry had a feeling that Praris's words weren't entirely what they seemed.

“Hogwarts is the alma mater of almost all British wizards, and its very existence is a unique symbol,” Praris said. “As long as Hogwarts continues to operate, it can create the illusion that a new regime is beginning to maintain order.”

The Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts are the two cores of the British wizarding world—which is one of the reasons why Dumbledore chose to become the headmaster. As long as the two maintain a semblance of normalcy, the wizards' desire to rebel can be weakened.

“Secondly, this facilitates the Death Eater regime’s brainwashing education.” Praris spoke these terrifying words in a calm tone. “Brainwashing through family education is too slow; concentrated brainwashing is much faster. As long as the professors are replaced with Death Eaters, we can concentrate on instilling pure-blood ideology into lower grades and newly enrolled students.”

It can also prevent pure-blood traitors like Weasley from educating their children normally.

"Keeping students under the control of the Death Eaters means everything is under their supervision, making it difficult for them to cause trouble—just like the DA back then."

Closing schools will unleash more dissidents.

Let the students with the strongest rebellious spirits go out and start fires everywhere like flaming snakes, leaving your subordinates struggling to cope?

Voldemort wasn't that stupid!

"For parents, these students are hostages. The children of the Death Eaters are here, and the children of the Order of the Phoenix are here... Parents who care about their children are destined to be constrained."

Parents like Narcissa, who are Death Eaters, would not dare to be disloyal for the sake of their children. Parents like Weasley, who are Order of the Phoenix, would not dare to openly and fiercely rebel for the sake of their children.

This way, any young student wandering around outside can be arrested. These people are either unidentifiable half-bloods, Muggle-born, or simply their target—Harry Potter.

The Sorting House process is a regular part of the overall system, and only the Sorting Hat can accomplish this. It is for these reasons that Professor Snape was able to prevent the Carrow siblings from disrupting the Sorting House.

The Sorting Hat also showed restraint, neither directly calling for a student uprising nor directly striking to abandon the Sorting House.

After the Sorting Hat finished singing the Sorting Song for the year, Professor McGonagall began calling out the students' names and having them sit down one by one to await their sorting.

Despite the fact that many students were very dissatisfied with Snape as the new headmaster and opposed the appointment of Death Eaters as professors, they still applauded the arrival of every student from their house.

Everything was harmonious and joyful, as if nothing had happened. Even the initially nervous freshmen happily ran to the long table belonging to their respective colleges.

See, this is called "paralysis".

For some ordinary students, nothing has changed, so what's the point of resisting? For freshmen, the situation at Hogwarts is far less terrible than their parents describe, and they can easily relax.

Among these students, Prasris smiled and applauded each Slytherin born. It was as if she had beaten up the Death Eaters during the summer vacation, thinking they were trying to rob her, which was why she had given them a good beating.

After the Sorting Ceremony concluded, the new headmaster, Snape, stood up and delivered his first address. His expression was very serious, and his sharp gaze swept across the room.

"I am Severus Snape, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts. Before this year's speech, I would like to introduce the newly appointed professor—Professor Amicus Carroll, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Snap—Snap snap snap!

Snape himself was the first to applaud, followed by the Slytherin students. Surprisingly, Professor McGonagall clapped with a cold expression. The other professors quickly followed suit, while the remaining three house tables hesitantly punctuated the applause with sparse clapping.

Amicus Caro stood up and clapped in response.

"Professor of Muggle Studies, Alecto Caro."

With the previous applause as a prelude, the applause this time was much more unified than before.

"The weak policies of former headmaster Dumbledore contributed to the chaos at Hogwarts."

Snape's first words stirred up some of the students. He quickly raised his voice and used his gaze to quell the commotion.

"Starting this semester, Hogwarts will enforce the highest standards of discipline. Any violation of school rules, questioning of authority, or participation in illegal activities will face the most severe punishment, and Professor Carol will be responsible for overseeing this..."

After announcing all the rules, Snape glanced at some students with a warning look and said coldly, "Perhaps some of you think you can challenge authority, but that's the most foolish idea. Any student who tries to play the role of a so-called hero will have the opportunity to drag others down with them and get punished."

The speech finally ended, and Snape announced that the students could begin their meal.

Draco, who usually shouts and attracts everyone's attention at times like this, suddenly seemed to find the Hogwarts food unique and kept eating with his head down.

Harper, sitting among the sixth-grade students, said cheerfully, "Did you see those Gryffindors' expressions? They're so delightful!"

Praris glanced at Harper out of the corner of his eye, then dismissively looked away—a clown, a defeated opponent, nothing to fear.

After finishing their meals, students in their second year and above returned directly to their dormitories, while freshmen were led by their class leaders as usual.

Astoria looked at Praris with anxious eyes, while Praris smiled and nodded calmly at her.

Daphne, standing beside her, asked suspiciously, "What are you two doing, exchanging glances?"