HP North Star's Radiance

Voldemort received both the accident report and the collection of failures, but he also received a promise from Prareas—a complete research plan for the next phase.

Alecto was stunned. This wasn't what she wanted; she wanted punishment! How the Dark Lord would punish her!

Chapter 259 Sober Madness

People with more important goals don't get stuck in one emotion and can't extricate themselves; Snape was like that, and so was Prader.

—Unless the emotion itself is part of the means.

Prarese's experiment was progressing, but she couldn't let it appear to be going smoothly, otherwise the Carlo siblings wouldn't fall into her trap.

When faced with a project that seems poised for success, the Carlo siblings are prone to thinking, "It's the final stretch, just one more push," and fail to let their guard down.

However, if they are faced with an experiment that seems stagnant, their less-than-healthy mental state can easily make them irritable, feeling that their daily patrols are a waste of time, and they eventually can't help but slack off.

In the abandoned classroom, Praris walked back and forth between several crucibles, recording their condition.

"So, this is what you do every day?"

Draco sat in Praris's usual chair, sprawled on the table, idly playing with her toad and lizard.

He also had a good talent for potion-making, so he could naturally tell that the potions in these cauldrons were not primarily for negative purposes.

Knowing that Praris hadn't done anything dangerous, Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

Praris chuckled, took off her pointed witch's hat, held it above Draco's head, and then put it down: "That's right."

Draco, "sealed" by the witch's hat, lay down and remained motionless, muttering, "How elaborate! Even when brewing potions, you have to wear a hat."

“Hide my hair inside,” Praris gave a very simple reason: “The steam from the potion will make my hair smell and get dirty, and it will also make it oily.”

Professor Snape wouldn't care about such things, but Prader and Snape are different; she always tries her best to improve her working and living conditions.

Prarese sometimes felt that his mentor was somewhat pessimistic. He taught Prarese how to climb the social ladder and achieve a better life, but he himself refused Felix Felicis, didn't believe in luck, had no demands for quality of life, and treated himself as a work machine without any aspirations.

But as soon as she finished speaking, the two of them simultaneously remembered Gryffindor's insult about Professor Snape's greasy hair, and coughed awkwardly a few times in unison.

“Stop teasing Frog and Lizard,” Praris asked. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have anything to do? Aren’t you going to review NEWT?”

Draco was brought to his senses by the three questions. He quickly took off his witch's hat and said sourly, "You don't welcome me? I knew Pansy was right—you like challenges, and you're not interested in things that are too easy."

For example, in Wizard Chess, Praris rarely plays Wizard Chess voluntarily; it offers no challenge whatsoever and is simply bullying.

Praris chuckled: "This is a classroom. Who's making a scene on my turf? Tell me, besides you and Professor Carlo, who's been allowed in here lately?"

Draco felt relieved to hear Prares's question, but he denied it aloud: "Prares, you actually compared me to Professor Carlo, is that it?"

“In your eyes—” Praris said with a strange expression, “have you stooped so low as to compare yourself to that fat man? Don’t worry, your face still has an overwhelming advantage.”

Draco is objectively good-looking. Even Harry, his arch-enemy, during their heated arguments where they used all sorts of foul language, never directly called Draco ugly. Besides, if Draco weren't good-looking, Pansy wouldn't have been so infatuated with him in his early years.

However, although he was good-looking, he did not quite fit the mainstream British aesthetic. Most girls preferred Cedric, who was handsome, energetic, and had a good personality.

Draco looks too pale, especially in the last two years, and his mouth is just too nasty. He usually mocks people before they even appear, so almost no one pays attention to his appearance; they're too busy getting carried away with their emotions.

Draco didn't glare at Praris—he didn't have the guts—so he glared fiercely at the two cold-blooded animals: "Looks like you care a lot about your looks."

“That’s right—” Praris said slowly, causing Draco to look up and stare at her with wide eyes. “If it’s your appearance, of course I care. As for the others, what do they have to do with me?”

Draco was completely satisfied. He asked Praris for an empty crucible and started doing his homework: boiling the catalyst.

"Your naming skills are really terrible," he complained casually. "The frog is called Frog, the lizard is called Lizard—and they're still alive."

“Almost dead, but brought back to life,” Praris retorted lightly. “And what does it matter compared to you? The fire dragon doll is called Drakon.”

In a way, Draco is making a fool of himself. Prarese's pet frog is called a frog, her pet lizard is called a lizard, and Draco's toy dragon is also called a dragon.

If we really have to compare them—

Draco stubbornly insisted, "That's ancient Greek! It has historical significance."

“You named the doll,” Praris said pointedly. “That’s adorable.”

Draco's pale face suddenly regained some color.

At first, he felt the compliment was very intimate, but then he felt that it was too...too...too...he couldn't find the words to describe it.

"You really love bringing up old grievances!" Draco could never win an argument with Praris, so he could only mutter this under his breath.

Praris said very modestly, "Who told me I have no other strengths but a good brain?"

Perhaps Draco could only say something to match this: "What can I do? My family has no other advantages but plenty of money."

But Draco didn't say that. He said, "It's strange, you don't seem unhappy or upset at all."

That was such a rude remark. The other person was perfectly fine, and he said that what was normal was strange. Fortunately, Praris knew Draco very well and understood what he meant in a second.

“You’re worried about me?” Prarese said shrewdly. “You think I’m in a bad mood, troubled by something—the task I’m currently undertaking?”

At first, Praris thought this guy was just bored and didn't want to be the Carol siblings' hunting dog like Crabbe, so he came here to cause trouble.

Prareas thought that perhaps it was because Draco had pretended to be angry about the losses a while ago, and now he was pretending to be worried about the stagnation of the experiment that he had such thoughts.

Draco said dryly, "Yes, it seems I was overthinking it, and I actually had the illusion that you were vulnerable. What could possibly trouble a witch like you, who is like a dragon mother?"

Praris liked to describe her as a "mother dragon."

Dragons are powerful and beautiful creatures. Female dragons are stronger than males of their kind, especially when they have offspring, they possess extraordinary sharpness and attack power.

On the other hand, it's not so important. The main point is that Draco likes dragons, and he describes Praris as a female dragon.

“Just pretend you believe I’m weak,” Prarese said.

Draco chuckled dismissively: "What do you mean by 'pretending to believe you're vulnerable'? You can even pretend..."

He blinked and stopped what he was doing: "What do you mean by 'pretending'?"

“I won’t lie to you,” Praris said calmly, “but I also won’t tell you my whole plan. Are you willing to do that?”

Draco's catalyst was ruined. He extinguished the fire, roughly removed the crucible, and looked somewhat agitated.

“Praris,” Draco suddenly said, “do you think I’ll agree if you tell me? What if I don’t?”

Praris calmly said, "Then let's pretend we know nothing, no matter what I'm going to do."

Frustrated, Draco kicked a pile of desks next to him, but the desks were flimsy and broke in two.

“It’s alright,” Praris said calmly. “Whatever choice you make, it’s all the same to me. So, whatever decision you make is fine.”

Draco said sarcastically, "Then why did you even tell me! Is it funny to watch me like this!"

“Don’t you want to know?” Praris lowered his eyelids. “You’ve always felt uneasy, haven’t you? I know far more than you do, and there’s an unequal relationship between us.”

The Malfoys' plans weren't always known to Draco. Sometimes, Harry even knew the outcome before Draco. He could only passively accept it all, like accepting the family's decline and his father's imprisonment.

Nothing changed when it came to Praris. Draco could never control what Praris did, and Praris could easily find out what Draco didn't want him to know.

In Praris's presence, he received guidance, protection, and acceptance, but there was also an undeniable imbalance and passivity.

“You don’t seem to spend much time with me, but you’ve been secretly watching me, haven’t you?” Praris said with an air of complete control. “So, you know I’m on a secret mission, you know I’m not feeling well, and you know I came home late last night.”

Draco remained silent, clearly having been told the truth.

“I can only tell you this,” Praris said, making a startling statement, “I don’t want to complete this mission, so I must use every means to prevent myself from completing it.”

Draco jumped up, knocking over his chair in the process: "Are you crazy!"

“Precisely because I am very clear-headed.” Praris spoke steadily and clearly, his gaze gentle yet firm, “I must admit, I oversimplified things…”

After the euphoric agent was created, Professor Snape said that Voldemort was very satisfied with her work.

This satisfaction stems from the recognition of Prader's abilities. It demonstrates that Voldemort and Snape's judgment was correct, and it also proves Snape's ability to mentor students, earning him Voldemort's praise.

In Prarese's view, this was enough. It showed that she hadn't been perfunctory, and it also proved the competence and loyalty of both teacher and student.

Before and after Operation DA, Praris planned radical potion experiments and drew up a more idealistic blueprint for a second phase of experiments. While the details seemed reasonable at first glance, their idealism became apparent upon closer inspection.

Think about it!

The first phase claims to moderate the drug's effects and prevent addiction caused by a sudden drop in efficacy. The second phase, however, introduces an antidote or neutralizer to immediately neutralize the effects—isn't that a sudden, precipitous withdrawal? These two are practically impossible to coexist; it's like trying to have it both ways!

Let's look at the ideas for reducing costs and production difficulty. If Voldemort weren't suffering from dementia, he would have discovered that Prareas had included enhancing the potion's efficacy, reducing production difficulty, and decreasing production costs in one plan—yet another contradiction.

To enhance the efficacy of medicine, one must focus on the raw materials, production ideas, processes, and methods. The former is directly related to cost, while the latter relates to the difficulty of production.

This is also why Snape concluded that Prareth had no intention of doing it—the report was elaborate but full of loopholes.

However, given the previous success, who knows if this is just nonsense or a promising future? So, Snape didn't stop the report but handed it in.

Prarese had considered that if she didn't propose a plan for the next stage, Voldemort would make demands, so she might as well DIY a plan herself.

But at the same time, she pondered another question: how could she avoid completing the second phase of the experiment? Even if she had to compromise, how could she stop the experiment at the second phase?

Gritting his teeth, Praris decided to push himself in the second phase, hoping that even with significant side effects, he could still meet the requirements of the second phase.

So the question is, why did Prares say that they stopped at the second stage?

She had considered that if she completed the second stage, Voldemort might be blinded by his previous success and develop unwarranted expectations regarding the study of the soul.

Therefore, either the second phase cannot be completed, or the second phase will be barely completed, but the third phase is nowhere in sight.

Prareus's solution was to demonstrate the dangers of soul research, making Voldemort hesitate about the safety of the matter and voluntarily abandon the third phase.

To this end, Prarese designed a very radical experiment—she demanded artifacts related to Dementors and Boggarts.

Voldemort approved it, giving her a Boggart and a fragment of a Dementor's cloak—heaven knows how Voldemort did it, that this thing could exist independently of the Dementor!

Of course, these choices are not without basis.

Given the principle that antidotes are often found near highly poisonous substances, and since Dementors can absorb souls, they are inherently connected to the soul. Is it possible that the solution to Dementors' destruction lies in eliminating them?

Boggart could sense people's inner fears, which is the inspiration for spiritual elixirs—perception, which is closely related to the study of the soul.

The radical experiment was "very successful." The test turkeys died on the spot, the abandoned classroom was almost turned into a ruin, and the Boggarts were completely disorganized. In addition, the DA's actions that night made it a spectacular and lively event.

Prarese directly attributed the herb burning incident to the experiment, providing an external excuse for its failure and making it seem even more plausible.

Snape was impeccable with the reports, and he couldn't have done any better—at least he would never have considered experimenting on Boggarts and Dementors.

Dumbledore's concerns were not unfounded; Prareus was driven to near madness by his own ambitions.

Chapter 260 An even greater crime

Through the horrific results of his experiments, Prarese has directly demonstrated the dangers and uncontrollability of research into the soul.