HP North Star's Radiance

The entire classroom was completely silent, as if everyone's vocal cords had been cut.

Amicus slowly turned his head to look at the wand lying on the ground, then turned his head back very slowly.

Neville was thrown aside, clutching his chest and staggering a few steps, letting out a cold laugh—at this point, he could actually laugh.

Amicus ignored Neville's subtle actions and scrutinized each student's expression with sharp eyes.

Some were surprised, some were puzzled, some breathed a sigh of relief, some gloated, and some looked around helplessly... Praris was the puzzled one.

She frowned slightly, her lips parted slightly, and her dominant left hand was linked with her best friend Parkinson's, the two girls acting like conjoined twins. Her body leaned slightly towards Parkinson, who, while looking around, craned his neck to get closer to Praris and whispered something.

Amicus had a good idea of ​​the level of black magic among the students present. He wasn't entirely sure about the level of their other magical abilities. But Praris was different; this girl was highly skilled in all kinds of magic, making it hard for Amicus not to have some suspicions.

"Who did it?" Amicus's voice was deep and threatening. "If no one answers, then everyone will be punished!"

Crabbe immediately shouted, "Professor, it must have been Gryffindor! Only they would protect Longbottom!"

“That’s not necessarily true!” Ernie retorted loudly from the crowd. “Anyone with a righteous heart would be happy to do that!”

Ernie had misunderstood Harry, but since fifth grade, he had openly expressed his support for Dumbledore and Harry. He wasn't afraid of punishment, only of betraying his own sense of justice.

Neville forced himself not to look at the crowd, only staring hatefully at Amicus—he was afraid his gaze would give him away.

"Great! Great!" Amicus clapped his hands loudly. "Then you two will be punished together!"

Amycus picked up his wand with a grim face, then rushed into the crowd, pulling Ernie out with one hand and Neville with the other, dragging them out of the classroom.

As soon as Amykus left, the classroom erupted in chaos.

This is the second time in six months that the seventh-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class has encountered problems. The students are worried about Neville and Ernie's condition, and also curious about who is so powerful as to knock away the wand of an experienced Death Eater.

Pansy's eyes sparkled as she looked towards Gryffindor, but she called out to Praris, "Tell me, who did this? Can you figure it out?"

“It’s complicated.” Praris pondered for a moment. “I don’t think any of the students here could draw their wands faster than my eyes could, but I certainly didn’t see anyone make a move to draw their wands.”

Daphne hissed, "Perhaps it's wandless magic?"

"Wandless magic, a disarming spell, and you still managed to hit an experienced Death Eater precisely?" Draco said sarcastically, fiddling with his fingers. "You think you're the Dark Lord?"

Prareas looked at Draco, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.

Unlike Slytherin and Ravenclaw, who remained detached and indifferent, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were experiencing a complex mix of emotions.

Slytherins are simply curious, Ravenclaws are both exhilarating and curious, while Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are much more complex.

Everyone was certainly relieved to have humiliated Amycus. But Neville and Ernie, on their way, didn't know what terrible punishment they would face.

“You tell me—” Parvati asked worriedly, “why did that person knock Carlo’s wand away?”

"Maybe it's not human!" Lavender said whimsically. "Maybe it's Dumbledore's ghost, protecting Neville!"

Lavender's superstitions have expanded from divination classes to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

“I mean, it makes no difference, does it?” Parvati added. “Anyway, we’re both being tormented by the Cruciatus Curse, and now Ernie is involved too…”

Simo interrupted Parvati: "No, there's a difference!"

The Gryffindors around him all looked at Seamus, making Seamus a little nervous.

He stammered, "Didn't you see Amicus Caro's expression? He was provoked by Neville, completely enraged by him. If we let him get away with it, he might not stop when he uses the Cruciatus Curse."

It is well known that excessive use of the Crucifixion spell can drive a person insane with pain, or even cause them to die from convulsions.

"No!" Seamus suddenly raised his voice. "I don't even know if Amicus has calmed down yet. If... I'll go find Professor McGonagall!"

After saying that, Simo ran out of the classroom like a gust of wind without saying another word—this time no one stopped him.

Seamus hadn't returned yet, but Amicus Caro had. Everyone agreed that he had left Neville and Ernie to be tortured by his sister.

Amicus gripped his wand tightly and once again instructed the students to divide into groups and cast Cruciatus Curses on each other.

Most students couldn't master the Crucifixion spell, their skill level was abysmal. The DAs, on the other hand, had undergone willpower training and could barely resist this level of Crucifixion spell—at least they wouldn't suffer excruciating pain.

Amicus's face never lit up; he looked ashen, as if his sister had suddenly died! He walked through the crowd and finally spotted the idle Praris.

“Prince,” Amicus said, his gaze falling on her with suspicion, “why aren’t you practicing?”

Praris seemed more self-righteous than anyone else: "Professor, our class is an odd number, and you took my opponent away too!"

The meaning of "singular" is that even after two people leave the classroom, the number will still be odd.

As long as Ernie's partner isn't completely out of his mind, he won't be an opponent of Praris, the "future dark wizard" who once knocked Neville unconscious.

Naturally, without Neville as a rival, Praris was left alone.

Amycus certainly wouldn't stand to see Praris watching the show. But as long as Snape remained the headmaster and was still favored by the Dark Lord, he would never allow Amycus to harm his good student.

Having run out of ideas, Amicus, seething with anger, gave Praris a lizard and told her to practice on it.

Praris, that strange witch, actually studied dark magic as if it were ordinary magic—she even took the initiative to discuss the development of the Crucifixion with Amicus.

Amycus had no interest in hearing her bizarre research: a feasibility study on extending the duration of the Crucifixion's effects by controlling its intensity.

He claimed that he also needed to check on the other students' learning progress, and then leave the strange woman behind to try and see if his slow and steady approach to casting spells could make the lizard endure the pain for longer.

Chapter 245 A Reprimand

After Amicus left, Praris placed the lizard in his palm and carefully observed its appearance.

When Pansy returned from Parvatina, he gave Praris a terrible idea: "Seimor Finigan went to see Professor McGonagall, and doesn't he have his partner with him?"

“Oh? I forgot!” Praris tilted his head, looked at Pansy, and his lips twitched. “That’s a good suggestion—Crawb, what do you think?”

In the last lesson, Amycus proposed the following arrangement: Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff.

Ernie has been captured by Amycus, so his Ravenclaw opponent can now practice with the extra Hufflepuff.

But Seamus was a Gryffindor, and when he went to Professor McGonagall, the extra person became a Slytherin—that is, Crabbe.

Crabbe froze, his already short neck shrinking almost to nothing. He turned his head extremely slowly, like a rusty machine, to look at the two girls, his face filled with resentment towards Pansy's "good" suggestion.

“Don’t you have lizards?” Crabbe said through gritted teeth.

Praris held up the lizard, a gentle smile on his face, but uttered cruel words: "Professor Carlo said that we will be facing real enemies from now on, not toads and lizards. Compared to these cold-blooded animals... I think real people are closer to actual combat, aren't they?"

Crabbe enjoys casting the Crucifixion on others, but he absolutely does not enjoy being cast the Crucifixion on others—he doesn't have any particular fetishes!

Of course, Crabbe had seen Prarese joke before, but he was never the one being joked about. This made him wonder if this woman was serious.

The image of Praris killing the Silver Arrow Frog, the effortless way she defeated Longbottom, the scene of Longbottom falling unconscious... Crabbe's mind was filled with the ruthlessness of Praris using dark magic. He couldn't help but swallow, his hand gripping his wand tightened, and he subconsciously took a step back.

"You're here." Draco strode over, saw the lizard in Praris's hand, and said disdainfully, "What, another ugly reptile? If you ask me, you should appreciate some powerful and beautiful creatures, like dragons."

“Are you talking about yourself?” Praris said with a laugh.

Draco pursed his lips, suppressing a proud laugh, and quickly changed the subject: "What are you doing?"

Pansy couldn't stand the two of them being so lovey-dovey and immediately replied, "Praris is going to practice the Cruciatus Curse with Crabbe!"

“She didn’t say she wanted it!” Crabbe said urgently.

Pansy exclaimed "Eh?" and looked at Praris: "No?"

“They didn’t say anything,” Praris said with a fond smile, “but it’s possible.”

Crabbe's forehead began to sweat as he considered whether to launch a surprise attack on Praris, but worried that his skill level would be insufficient to achieve the desired effect.

"Hahaha!" Draco laughed dismissively. "Look how scared you are! Crabbe, you don't actually believe their lies, do you?"

Prares's sharp gaze slid across Crabbe like a thin blade, leaving a faint, numbing sensation on his skin.

The next second, she looked at Draco, and said with a smile, drawing out her words, "Yeah—how could I?"

After saying that, Draco, Pansy, and Praris chatted casually for a few minutes before quickly dispersing to continue practicing. It's common to slack off a little during free practice; going too far is just asking for trouble.

Crabbe left too, returning to Gore's side. Gore asked, looking rather foolish, "How much longer until get out of class ends? I really want something to eat, anything at all!"

Crabbe didn't answer Gore; he reached up and touched his back, finding it sweaty.

According to Draco, Prarese was joking with him, but the man didn't find it funny, much less did he think the woman would joke with him—perhaps only Gore would believe such a perfunctory explanation.

There has always been a subtle inequality within Slytherin; otherwise, Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't have acted as Draco's lackeys, following his every command.

Among the Slytherin students, Prader Prince was always the one who didn't have to worry about anyone's opinion: from the beginning, she was always sarcastic towards Draco, never gave Zabini a friendly look, and had close friendships with some Slytherins of high status, and so on.

Slytherins like Crabbe and Goyle, who are relatively mediocre, wouldn't bother trying to embarrass her. As for joking? That's even less likely!

After Draco's family went downhill, Crabbe repeatedly became impatient and angry when trying to comply with his demands—an attitude he would never have shown before.

Now that Draco's mission has failed, the Malfoys have become a laughing stock among the Death Eaters, and Crabbe is even less willing to be Draco's sidekick!

Crabbe glanced at Praris out of the corner of his eye, and felt in his heart that it was because of his unwillingness to be inferior that this woman had repeatedly tormented him, and even wanted to use him to practice dark magic!

He thought he had been discreet, but was horrified to see Praris glance in his direction.

She gently held the little lizard, turned its head towards Crabbe, and made its two red eyes look directly at him, as if to say, "I see you." Crabbe was so frightened that he quickly looked away.

How Crabbe treats Draco is between the two of them; Praris doesn't care.

Everyone is independent; Draco doesn't care who Prares befriends, and Prares doesn't interfere in his relationships.

But Crabbe is really annoying. Last year, Praris kindly helped him break the curse, but he talked nonsense. This year, he's addicted to reporting people, and when he saw Praris in the bathroom, he even dared to question her.

This couldn't go on, so Praris decided to give him a little lesson, to teach him to distinguish between the big and small kings and to know who he shouldn't mess with.

During free training, most people neither use the Cruciatus Mantra nor use it on their classmates.

But Amicus was now carefully observing each student, trying to find out who had attacked him, and had no time to deal with the students, allowing the seventh-grade students to escape again.

As soon as get out of class ended, the Gryffindors rushed out like sheep released from their pen, eager to know Neville's punishment.

“If only Millison were here,” Pansy complained. “Nobody’s asking me for any new gossip anymore.”

Praris calmly said, "Go to the auditorium for dinner, and you'll soon find out everything."

Hogwarts students don't pay much attention to Muggle etiquette and prefer to chat while eating.

Sure enough, during lunch, chattering came from all directions, and Praris quickly gathered the "intelligence" and figured out the situation pretty much.

Amycus handed Ernie and Neville over to Alexios, instructing her to punish them severely. But before Alexios could finish, Seamus brought in Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall, of course, would not tolerate Alecto's corporal punishment of his students. She believed that Neville and Ernie had only said a few wrong things, and that someone else had used the disarming spell on Amycus.

Professor McGonagall meant that, according to Hogwarts tradition, those who talk back to professors should be punished with detention and after-school service.

Alecto, however, was not about to let her easy victory slip away. She claimed that times had changed, and that she and her brother now had oversight authority and the right to punish disobedient students.