HP North Star's Radiance

In this way, the risks of the matter would be effectively controlled. After all, Praris, like them, did not want the matter to be exposed.

Do you trust and care about Praris's safety?

Of course.

Neville was deeply moved by Praris's help and care, as well as her recent plan to remove his scars.

But gratitude and friendship can't decide everything. Neville isn't just Praris's ally and friend; he's also the leader of the DA. So many people joined the DA at their call, and he has to be responsible for their safety.

In addition, his injury served as an example to some extent, igniting the flames of resistance, but it also frightened some people with the ferocity of the Death Eaters, causing them to back down.

DA needs a truly iconic victory, and striking at the Slytherin “genius” and thwarting the Death Eaters’ “evil” plans is undoubtedly the best option.

Everything has completely reversed from the beginning. Ginny, who was excited to "help" Praris, seems a little hesitant, while Neville, who has discovered the drawbacks, reveals a hint of interest.

Their most genuine reactions did not escape Prarese's notice, and that was exactly what she wanted.

“I don’t think it’s impossible,” Neville suddenly said. “Praris, you said ‘you don’t want to die.’ I think you must have had the thought of not doing it, but you had to.”

“DA doesn’t just include those who aren’t here. Prarese, Ginny and I are DA, but you’re DA too! You became DA even before us.”

“I think we can refine this plan. Since there’s Truth Potion, there might be an antidote in Slughorn’s office. We can steal the antidote first, drink it before the battle, and that will ensure your identity and actions aren’t exposed.”

If you only consider the pros and cons, the matter will forever remain at the level of deciding whether or not to do it. But if you start considering solutions, it becomes "how to do it," and the scales of choice have already tipped to the side of "doing."

Neville's words were quite touching. While we can't rule out the possibility that he was trying to gain benefits for the team, they were also sincere.

“Is it possible—” Praris said slowly, “that I have the antidote for Truth Poison, a large dose.”

If Alecto learned from the lack of truth serum, wouldn't Praris learn from Alecto's plan to use it?

Praris hadn't considered the truth serum at the time. The situation was too urgent and too dangerous; Neville could be in the same hospital room as his parents or even go to heaven at any moment.

Once she thought about it, she began to observe Gryffindor's actions. Fortunately, Finegan rushed out to find Professor McGonagall, so she didn't have to find a way to force him.

With Professor McGonagall's involvement, she'll definitely steer things in a favorable direction. And both Professor Snape and Slughorn will find reasons not to give Alexios the Truth Potion, let alone Alexios herself.

However, this excuse can only be used once, not a second time. The matter was resolved smoothly, but Praris did not let his guard down. Instead, he immediately confirmed that Slughorn had the antidote and then worked tirelessly in secret to prepare a sufficient supply of the truth serum antidote.

Upon hearing Prarese's words, Neville and Ginny understood—she had agreed to carry out the sabotage plan.

The next morning.

Prarese walked toward the auditorium, a crossbody bag slung loosely over her shoulder, yawning as she went.

"Did you go thief last night?" Pansy joked.

Praris, with one hand in his pocket, said listlessly, "I'm studying—are you scared?"

"Wow!" Pansy exclaimed in surprise, "If you're studying so hard, then we—ah!"

Before Pansy could finish speaking, Praris was bumped hard, and her crossbody bag flew off her shoulder. The bag wasn't fastened properly, and its contents spilled out like petals.

"Damn Gryffindors, are your eyes filled with shit?!" Pansy hurriedly helped Praris up, shouting in a shrill voice, "Are you in such a hurry to meet Death or to reunite with your gruesome family?!"

Neville really knows how to pick people! Praris felt like she'd been rammed by someone riding a rocket crossbow. She gasped, grimacing as she stood up, clutching her shoulder.

The effect was very good and perfect; the only downside was that she was in pain.

The big Gryffindor retorted defiantly, "What are you doing? What rude talk! I didn't do it on purpose—I'll just help you pick it up!"

Pansy roared back angrily, "You're the ones who destroyed it! What do you mean by 'help'! I'd kill your grandfather and then send you a coffin, wouldn't you like to thank me?!"

To Pansy's surprise, several Gryffindors actually helped pick up the things. This was even stranger than Salazar Slytherin showing kindness to Muggles!

"Put it down! We don't need you!" Praris suddenly shouted, and the next second she openly pulled out her wand in the corridor, "Notebook, fly here!"

The Gryffindor was just a hair's breadth away from getting his hands on the parchment notebook sewn together with cotton thread. Unfortunately, Prareas was faster than him in bending down.

Praris frowned, as if enduring some kind of pain, her right hand gripping her wand and notebook tightly, her gaze sharp and cold as she stared at the Gryffindor.

Chapter 253 The Badger's Battle

The incident occurred during breakfast time, when people were coming and going at the entrance of the auditorium. Upon seeing this, some people stopped to watch or began to whisper among themselves.

“Ah,” Praris said coldly, “If your parents had done even the slightest bit of work in your upbringing, they would have told you that if you bump into someone, you should apologize first, instead of touching other people’s things without permission.”

In other words, Prarese was saying that this big Gryffindor had no manners. To put it more bluntly, she was mocking him for being an orphan, implying that this was why he was so ill-mannered.

This may have been a response to Pansy's words, but anyone who knows the inside story would find it hard to imagine that Praris would retort in this way.

As a witch who can be described as having no parents, it's hard to tell whether she's cursing, still hoping for a "parent" relationship, or mocking herself when she says such things.

Normally, picking up something after bumping into someone implies making amends, but this Gryffindor clearly wasn't. He neither apologized nor offered any veiled criticism, so it's no wonder Prareas was being sarcastic.

Having failed to get what he wanted and been scolded, the big Gryffindor looked furious, as if he had swallowed a bowl of slugs. He left in a huff.

Pansy rolled her eyes and made a reversed "V" sign to show her disrespect.

With the help of Pansy and other passing Slytherins, Prader's sparse belongings were quickly packed away. She then changed the way she carried her backpack from slinging it over her shoulder to wearing it across her body, giving a cold glance at the Gryffindor dining table.

“That’s it,” Prarese complained. “Sir, they must be after my lab notes.”

“Experimental notes?” Snape’s gaze was even more subtle than Prarese’s. “Miss, you mean…notes?”

Based on Snape's understanding of Prareas, the lab notes would be to Prareas what a bicycle is to a fish—useless.

“Of course, the notes.” Praris seemed completely unfazed by the absurdity of his statement. “This is just one of the things worth noting!”

Snape adjusted his posture, a hint of barely perceptible interest in his voice: "Tell me about it."

On the night she was "faked," Praris returned to her laboratory—the abandoned classroom located underground—after finishing her class.

As soon as she reached the classroom door, she keenly sensed that the protective magic she had set up had been triggered.

“A clue,” Prarese tried to explain. “Do you understand? Someone tried to get into my lab.”

Snape fell into thought: "Last night was..."

“Professor Amicus Carlo is in charge of patrolling the underground structure,” Praris answered without hesitation. “But Professor Carlo seems to have noticed nothing. This means that the visitor must have planned this!”

Snape hadn't yet fully figured out Prareas's plans, but he figured Prareas must know it too.

Therefore, all he needs to do in this situation is give his normal response—and if there are any additional needs, Praris will naturally give hints.

“Miss, your idea is interesting, but this isn’t the Daily Prophet or the Wizarding Weekly. I don’t need a Skeeter who’s obsessed with conspiracy theories,” Snape said casually. “The first thing sounds like a perfectly normal bump. As for the second thing…”

“In fact, nothing happened, didn’t it?” he said softly. “I think you and Lovegood’s daughter would have something in common. She always says things like ‘bumper flies’ in class, no matter where it is, but no one has ever seen her.”

Praris hurriedly explained, "Sir, I'm not joking."

"Alright, alright, no need to say anything more," Snape said dismissively. "I'll note your request and tell Professor Carol to increase patrols and security."

Prarese left the headmaster's office "worriedly," thus completing his unconventional "information" to Professor Snape.

Snape's last words were not just a perfunctory response to Prareus; he said he would remind Amycus, and he did just that.

At the request of Snape, who was essentially his superior, Amycus had no choice but to personally make a trip to the abandoned classroom.

He leaned his weight to the left, tapped his right foot lightly on the ground, pursed his lips, turned his mouth down, and glanced perfunctorily over the rudimentary "laboratory".

“I don’t see anything wrong,” Amicus said impatiently. “Miss Prince, if the experiment isn’t progressing and you’re under a lot of pressure, just say so. You’re so young, don’t act like Alastor Moody, always paranoid and thinking someone is trying to harm you!”

Prares's demands and Snape's warnings forced the Carol siblings to send away the trolls they used to torture students.

According to Snape, this was not just a matter of the precision of experimental research and development, but more importantly—one of the Dark Lord's purposes in keeping Hogwarts alive was to maintain stability.

The trolls' presence was too obvious, and they lacked normal intelligence, unlike the Death Eaters who could control the degree of punishment for students.

The students still at Hogwarts are all half-blood or pure-blood, so any private torment they might endure isn't a big deal. But if someone actually died, it might have some unpleasant consequences—some reporters, taking advantage of not being on home soil, would make outrageous statements about their supposed fearlessness.

The Carlo siblings had no choice but to abandon using the troll as a "tool" and instead choose to torment the students even more afterward to make up for their dissatisfaction.

What infuriated Amycus even more was that he had spent time learning about the improved euphoric potion from Praris, preparing to put on a dutiful performance in front of the Dark Lord. Unexpectedly, Snape quickly diverted the Dark Lord's attention with a few words, babbling on and on about things Amycus couldn't understand.

The improvement process of Prares was logically clear and the ideas were complete. The final effect also met the expectations of the first stage, achieving the minimization of side effects and the precision of the effect.

Compared to other wizards who spend months on anything and see nothing, such efficiency and ability are beyond reproach.

But what does this have to do with Amycus!

Amycus painstakingly provided Prares with excellent experimental conditions, only to have Snape reap the rewards. How could he not be furious!

Snape ignored Amycus's resentment.

Voldemort wanted his subordinates to work efficiently without hindering each other, but he also didn't want them to have too many friends or family. Voldemort would only feel uneasy if the Carrow siblings and Snape were no longer at odds.

As a result, Amicus, who used to be a supporter of Praris, now speaks irritably and doesn't bother to look closely.

“I don’t think so,” Praris warned seriously. “Even if those rebellious students don’t know that I’m working for the Dark Lord, they’d still be happy to sabotage my research.”

"Here are my experimental notes and reports, my usual instruments, some rare herbs and magical animal products, and my interim experimental results. Among them, some of the potions were created by accident, and I may not be able to figure out in time why they turned out this way."

Anyone who has done experiments knows that sometimes, even following the same steps, you may not be able to reproduce the same results.

Thus, in the process of making a certain potion, incomprehensible traditions or strange rituals are formed.

Until someone discovered that you don't necessarily have to wear a plain robe and cut open the mistletoe like a druid when making potions to succeed; you just need to wait the same amount of time before adding the mistletoe—as for why some wizards would imitate druids when making potions, don't ask!

In short, yes, the reason the potion failed to brew was that the crucible temperature was not high enough.

Similar to this absurd reason, sometimes when a potion is brewed, a desired effect is achieved, but it cannot be replicated in a short time. Finding the cause takes time, but if the original potion is contaminated or destroyed before the cause is found, it is undoubtedly a devastating blow.

Praris, with a look of "I'll endure it" on his face, tried his best to explain these principles to Amicus, emphasizing the importance of protecting the safety of the "laboratory".

But Amicus couldn't understand, he only understood that Praris was emphasizing the importance of protecting the dilapidated classroom.

"Alright, alright!" Amicus said irritably. "Alectual and I will be careful! Just keep those notes and stuff safe for yourself!"

Praris said coldly, "I hope so."

“Miss Prince, instead of worrying about these things that haven’t happened yet, you should focus more on your own mission!” That idiot Amicus actually started lecturing Praris. “The Dark Lord appreciates your previous achievements and the next phase of your plan, but don’t mistake this for the end!”

He chuckled twice: "It won't be funny if you fall down and get hurt!"

Praris's expression turned ugly. He glanced at the experimental records on the table with a hint of malice, then quickly looked away and said stiffly, "Of course, I will not disappoint the Dark Lord's expectations."

Amycus left with a suspicious look in his eyes, only to encounter his sister, Alecto, on the second floor. He smiled sarcastically and said to her, "That student Snape probably thinks his joining us is already a sure thing!"

“Prince?” Alecto said lightly, playing with his fingernails. “She’s well-behaved in my class, what has she been up to?”

After hearing Amicus's words, Alecto scoffed, "That little bitch is probably having some trouble with her experiments and can't get over it! Ah, aren't all people like that?"

Alexo and Amicus didn't take it seriously. The siblings lacked understanding of potion experiments and didn't believe anything was off-limits. As long as the notes and potentially leaky materials were safe, nothing else mattered!

Praris had initially thought that the Carlo siblings would be at least somewhat wary, but it turned out that the two of them were truly unconcerned!