HP North Star's Radiance

Lisa turned her head away irritably and said angrily, "Stop talking nonsense, Weasley! I'm not like you guys, I won't break the school rules!"

"Really?" Ginny crossed her arms, pressing him aggressively. "Not today, but what about tomorrow? Not tomorrow, but what about the day after? The school rules are getting stricter and stricter, and they keep changing. Are you really so sure you won't make a mistake someday?"

Lisa's eyes flickered, and her expression began to turn somewhat unpleasant.

Ginny waved her hand dismissively and said loudly, "Fine! Then go ahead and report them all! Let everyone take their eyes off each other and stick them on! Since we can't trust our classmates anymore, we might as well not sleep at all! Who knows if there's a pair of eyes watching us in the dark while we're dreaming!"

“Say whatever you want!” Lisa said, her eyes red. “This is a Ravenclaw issue, what does it have to do with you, a Gryffindor! In any case, my intentions are good, I’m doing this for the sake of Ravenclaw, say whatever you want about me! I have no regrets!”

After saying that, Lisa covered her face and ran out crying.

The Ravenclaws present exchanged glances, some silently averting their gaze and remaining silent, while others hesitated for a moment before chasing after them.

Lisa ran straight down the stairs next to Praris and the others, successfully letting Ginny and the others see the Slytherins watching from a distance.

“I thought—some people were really a monolithic group!” Pansy said with a pointed sneer. “But it doesn’t seem so great, does it?”

Daphne covered her mouth cooperatively and exchanged a smile with Pansy. Praris took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and said, "Let's go, we're going to be late."

After saying that, Prarese turned around and went up the stairs first, followed immediately by Pansy and Daphne. Before leaving, Prarese made a funny face at Ginny and the others, and then ran away with a giggle.

Pansy caught up with Praris, grinning smugly, and said, "These guys, they still have the nerve to talk about us Slytherins! They bully Lovegood themselves and even give her nicknames. Now—they've put on another good show of accusing each other!"

“My mother told me that she had a ghost named Myrtle back then,” Daphne said, playing with the end of her hair. “It’s said that Myrtle was Ravenclaw’s, and she died after being bullied and running into the bathroom!”

"Is Oliver Humbell also a Ravenclaw?" Praris asked.

"what?"

"The girl who mocked Myrtle."

Daphne shrugged, saying nonchalantly, "Who knows? All I know is that the girl who bullied Myrtle found her body. How ridiculous! We Slytherins all have friends, but Myrtle didn't have any other friends looking for her? She had to rely on her enemy to collect her corpse!"

Praris remembered that Myrtle had once said she had no friends. At the time, Praris thought Myrtle meant that all her friends had graduated and were no longer at Hogwarts, so she had no friends. She hadn't realized it meant she had no friends in the literal sense.

Isn't Ravenclaw good?

Praris doesn't think so.

In her eyes, Professor Flitwick, Winnie, Barron, and Myrtle were all very friendly. Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood, whom she didn't know very well, also seemed quite nice. But among these people, Winnie had been a Death Eater, and Myrtle was somewhat eccentric.

In addition, there are some people who made mistakes, as well as some conflicts between Ravenclaws that Pansy and Daphne mentioned.

Human nature is complex. We cannot generalize and simply categorize a person as good or bad, and then say things like "people from one college are good" or "people from another college are bad".

After class, Praris immediately found an opportunity to go to Myrtle's bathroom and give her Veela's soap.

Myrtle floated around the washroom, giggling, repeatedly emphasizing, "Plares, never—never before has anyone given me such a gift. Oh no! In fact, never before has anyone given me a gift!"

Praris had to remind her, "Myrtle, I'm sorry, it doesn't work on ghosts."

Myrtle clasped her hands to her chest and muttered to herself, "If Baron were willing to share it with me... what nonsense are you talking about! I'm already dead, how could the things of the living be of any use to me!"

"Oh, right, I had forgotten that I was already dead..." Myrtle suddenly fell into grief and burst into tears, "Why—why did no one give me gifts when I was alive! Now that I'm dead, I only get a gift after I'm dead, and I don't even know what romance feels like!"

“Myrtle!” Praris quickly comforted her, “The past doesn’t matter, what matters is the present. Now you have a gift, and I think you deserve it, so I’m giving it to you!”

Myrtle's emotions were like a Quellin's, fluctuating wildly and unpredictably. She said happily, "Really? You think I deserve it, you think it should belong to me, right?"

"Yes."

"Quick, quick, Praris, blow it up!" Myrtle exclaimed suddenly, "I want to be the first to use this bottle of soap with you!"

“But Baron—”

"That's not important!" Myrtle exclaimed excitedly. "Blow it, blow it!"

Praris sensed things were starting to go in a strange direction. Under Myrtle's expectant gaze, she had no choice but to slowly unscrew the cap, pull it out, and blow bubbles into the air.

Aberforth may always fool the Death Eaters, but he doesn't fool Praris at all. The bubbles blown from the soap are all a beautiful rose pink, looking especially girlish and romantic.

Myrtle flew happily through the bubbles like a child, exclaiming, "Plares, I think you're wrong! My soul feels romance, I love your gift!"

Praris couldn't hear what Myrtle was saying.

She stared at the soap bubbles in a daze, and then she realized that the dilapidated washroom in front of her had turned into a clock tower, the mirror into the clock tower's glass window, and snow was falling outside the window.

In the quiet winter, Praris could only hear the sound of the wind, the turning of the clock tower's mechanical parts, and... the melodious sound of a violin.

Praris chuckled softly and blinked, snapping out of the reverie. Her willpower was strong enough that the soap had very little effect on her.

The illusion lasted only a second or two, and Myrtle didn't even realize that Praris had been affected by the soap liquid; she was still grinning foolishly.

Myrtle directed Praris to place the soap bottle next to her favorite faucet, saying, "I'm going to find Nick and show him the gift I received!"

"Don't say it was a gift from me!" Praris quickly reminded her.

Myrtle readily agreed and quickly flew through the wall, probably to show off to the ghosts all over the school.

The Petit sisters were denounced, leading to their punishment along with Gryffindor, while Ravenclaw received a "pardon" due to Lisa's report.

At the lunch table, the Gryffindors suppressed their anger, trying their best not to look at Lisa on the Ravenclaw side with angry eyes—it seemed they had been reminded by Neville, Ginny, and others.

Whether they watched it or not, whispers still circulated among the students. As soon as Praris entered the Great Hall, he overheard a Gryffindor student saying, "If you ask me, if nobody listens to this rule, it's useless. As long as we unite, everything will be the same as before!"

Actually, it's still different. Even if no one reports it, if someone is caught by accident, it will still implicate the whole group. That's why Lisa did what she did.

A division has emerged within Ravenclaw, and conflicts have arisen between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

Praris couldn't help but admire Professor Snape's brilliant move. In Wizarding Chess, it was a perfect strategic maneuver.

"Pulling" refers to one side attacking another side's piece, but behind the attacked piece are pieces of greater strategic value, preventing the attacked piece from moving and thus depriving it of its freedom.

In the past, DA was responsible for the consequences of his actions, and if he made a mistake, it had nothing to do with other students.

However, under the system of collective punishment, Professor Snape's actions were still directed only at the resistance organization, the DA, while the DA could not ignore the thoughts and attitudes of other ordinary students. If they acted rashly, they might implicate ordinary students who were not directly involved. Therefore, they were caught in a moral dilemma and unable to act freely.

While keeping the DA in check, he also forces ordinary students to make a decision: either sacrifice themselves, suffering punishment alongside the DA despite doing nothing, or sacrifice others, exchanging their actions for temporary "safety" for the group. This serves to sow discord between the DA and other students.

For a moment, Prareas felt that he was still too young and could not learn even a tenth or a twentieth of Professor Snape's skills.

While this tactic was effective, Ginny's response was equally powerful. She shifted the conflict from between students to between students and the leadership, pointing out that the root cause of the situation was the new school rules, not the DA. She then warned the wavering students about the possibility of widespread fear and sleepless nights.

While the response was good, it still couldn't perfectly solve the problem—as evidenced by the rivalry between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, as well as the internal divisions within Ravenclaw.

Lisa couldn't eat and sat at the table wiping away tears: "How can you blame me? If Petil hadn't broken the school rules first, would this have happened? She knowingly broke the rules; she didn't consider the consequences!"

After what happened, Lisa couldn't admit she was wrong. She could only prove her righteousness by demonstrating that the Petit sisters were the ones who disregarded the bigger picture.

Lisa's friends comforted her, saying things like, "It's okay," "What's done is done, don't think about it too much," "You were doing it for everyone's good," and "Don't be sad, it's not your fault."

Padma, who had just returned from the office, stood at the dining table, glaring at Lisa, her shoulders heaving with anger. "I really misjudged you. When Parvati and I were punished in the office, we insisted it was all our own doing, and had nothing to do with anyone else, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor. But you...you..."

In the faculty seating area, three seats were empty, belonging to Snape and Carol, Professor McGonagall covered her forehead with one hand and remained silent, while Professor Flitwick sighed heavily.

Well, the Ravenclaws were at a loss for words. Lisa did all this for the sake of the group, and as a member of the group and as a beneficiary, no one could blame Lisa. But Padma wasn't someone who disregarded the group's interests either; she and her sister were also trying to excuse the two houses.

“I’m afraid your hopes have been dashed!” Padma said, tears welling in her eyes. “Alector Caro said that your report proves there are indeed bad ideas within Ravenclaw, so Ravenclaw must also be punished!”

Lisa was struck dumb. She hadn't expected that her seemingly "rational" decision, made for the sake of the group, would be completely useless. She had become a "traitor" and had failed to help Ravenclaw.

“To no avail,” Praris uttered calmly.

Pansy clicked her tongue and shook her head, saying with emotion, "I love watching this! If there were more shows like this, my life wouldn't be so boring."

More? Prarese couldn't help but shake his head inwardly; Professor Snape probably wouldn't be able to handle it.

In order to split the resistance, Professor Snape deliberately introduced school rules and specifically punished only Gryffindor, all to incite hatred—truly taking a calculated, open scheme to the extreme.

But the good teammate Amycus thwarted Professor Snape's plan with just one move: he increased the punishment for Ravenclaw.

In this way, the benefit of whistleblowing changes from protecting one's own college to suffering the consequences of one's own actions.

Since reporting doesn't protect the college, who would report it? From then on, students might stop violations, but they wouldn't report them anymore. The system of collective punishment remained in effect, but its effectiveness was greatly reduced.

Who recruited these incredibly stupid Death Eaters?

Oh, it's Voldemort.

Chapter 243 Praris's Help

Watching a work of art become damaged is like seeing a worm bite into a plump, red apple—it's regrettable.

Professor Snape's maneuver was an extremely precise and ingenious display of strategic skill. He simply issued a rule, yet it caused a great deal of turmoil among the students, creating discord among them.

On the side of the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Snape undermined the students' resistance and effectively protected them; on the side of the Death Eaters, Snape sowed discord among the students and suppressed resistance, thus maintaining his rule.

Unfortunately, no matter how well an individual performs, they can still be dragged down by their teammate's tiny brain.

As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Praris was momentarily at a loss as to whether to be happy or unhappy in the face of the Carol siblings' foolishness.

Even Ginny was speechless: "I must be crazy to think I should thank Amicus Caro."

After Alecto and Crabbe knocked on the bathroom door last time, Prarese asked Professor Snape for another two-way mirror and gave it to Ginny as a way for her to contact D.A.

Ginny accepted the mirror with pleasure and still believes that Hermione was its last user.

Praris gave a wry smile: "You should thank Amicus Caro. Otherwise, if Professor Snape had followed his lead, Lisa Dupin would never have regretted reporting him, and you would have faced irreconcilable internal conflicts."

“It’s not ‘you,’ it’s ‘us.’” Neville keenly reminded Praris, then clenched his fist and said, “This move is too ruthless. Besides the fake Galon and the Room of Requirement, I think we need to take a more covert approach.”

To gain someone's sincerity, you must show your own. Naveen believes there's no need to hide this from Praris; honesty is a way to demonstrate DA's sincerity.

Praris knew about the fake Galon not long after DA was founded. Moreover, given Praris's capabilities, if she really intended to report it, DA wouldn't be able to hide it no matter how hard they tried.

Neville couldn't help but feel relieved that Praris wasn't their enemy, otherwise the DA would probably have been finished long ago.

Praris did not deny that it was "too harsh," but said indifferently, "The sir is doing it for your own good—your resistance will only invite more vicious punishment from the Carlo siblings, which is an unnecessary loss."

“But if even we don’t resist, the other students will be even less likely to have the idea of ​​resisting!” Ginny disagreed with this view. “I understand what you mean. You think that not resisting can protect more people and preserve the greatest number of living forces, which is the most beneficial approach.”

“But Praris, in this process of forbearance, we may not be able to regain the courage we’ve lost,” Ginny said righteously. “When the real, fierce war breaks out, will we really still have the courage to fight, to resist, and to strive for victory?”

Prarese and Snape's ideas are the most Slytherin-esque, and also the most astute, opportunistic, and effective.

According to the master and apprentice, the best outcome would be for the students of Hogwarts to live well without suffering too much or making unnecessary sacrifices.

Yes, that's good. Do you think the DA, represented by Ginny and Neville, wouldn't know that they'd suffer much less if they groveled under Death Eater rule? They're not masochists who deliberately seek out hardship!

“You know the answer to that question yourself, Praris!” Ginny looked at Praris with unwavering eyes. “The Death Eaters are powerful now, and Snape is riding high. Why are you still helping us behind the scenes?”

“Because Mr. Brown and Mrs. Purnell are still wandering around somewhere unknown, right?” Ginny’s eyes gradually reddened as she thought of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were missing. “Plares, Neville and I have the same answer as you.”

Praris was caught in the middle, feeling deeply conflicted. Everyone was making the right decisions for their own side, but these decisions were contradictory.

"Alright, alright, stop lecturing me!" Praris said with a headache. "Harry didn't learn Dumbledore's stuff, but you've picked up a few bits and pieces from somewhere, and you're spouting one rhyme after another to me!"