HP North Star's Radiance

Prasris is not like the current generation of Slytherins; she is more like the Slytherins of Voldemort's younger and most powerful era... proud, intelligent enough, and possessing an almost cruel ruthlessness.

After his "death," his capable and loyal old comrades were either tortured in Azkaban to the point of declining abilities or lost their lives—if Barty Crouch hadn't been killed by his son, Voldemort would have made him wish he were dead.

But all of this is too positive; she seems to possess only the positive aspects of Slytherin, to the point that she doesn't quite resemble a Slytherin.

After several attempts to test her, Voldemort discovered that this girl could indeed feel fear, possessing a Slytherin-like sense of self-preservation. But as long as punishment didn't directly affect her, she felt it had nothing to do with her—she really was still a student!

Today, Voldemort sensed Prasris's unusual ambition once again. Prasris craved a sense of accomplishment that was "groundbreaking," the glory of having her talents recognized, rather than the simple wealth and power that other Death Eaters sought—that was too vulgar for her!

For Voldemort, such subordinates are both good and bad; for now, they are still relatively easy to control.

This is a nested doll-like game of "you predicted my predictions, and I predicted your predictions," comparable to a brilliant game of wizarding chess. Praris deliberately plays himself in this half-real, half-fake way, blurring the lines between reality and illusion, in order to deceive Voldemort.

After each such contest, as she left the drawing room, Prass felt physically weak. She wasn't afraid of Voldemort, yet she still experienced this physiological reaction.

When a person can analyze and understand something, they deconstruct it to some extent, and pain and fear become tangible. This makes the sense of oppression created by Voldemort ineffective against Praris.

Prass wasn't afraid of Voldemort, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about the destruction he could cause.

Dumbledore and Harry truly despised and were not afraid of Voldemort, while Prasris was both similar to and different from them. They saw themselves as isolated individuals, and even if they had families, their families were prepared to fight Voldemort to the death and were not afraid to face their demise. But Prasris was not like that.

Over the past seven years, she has diligently and meticulously woven a network of emotions that belongs to her alone. She cares about everyone involved, and most of them are not the type to be fearless and reckless.

It was because of these loved ones and family members who longed to live that Prader was willing to risk her life. If she were still the Prader who took a picture of herself as a family portrait, what would Voldemort have to fear? She wasn't incapable of fighting, nor was she a coward!

However, similarly, if Prader remained a lone wolf, there would be no need for her to confront Voldemort. She had already fled when Dumbledore's predicament was discovered.

Human beings' greatest source of strength is their bonds, and their greatest weakness is also their bonds; they are two sides of the same coin, interdependent and inseparable. The choice between emotion and self-interest, the agonizing dilemma of life and death, was a subject Slytherin explored throughout his life.

Slytherins can be more timid and cowardly than people imagine, and at other times they can be more courageous and daring than people imagine.

Long ago, Pralis disapproved of the Sorting system, feeling it was a recipe for internal division. But gradually, she began to see the system's rationale and accept herself as a Slytherin.

In the process of growing up, everyone will unconsciously look to others for themselves and learn some of the qualities of those around them.

Hogwarts is a boarding school, where students are away from their families during adolescence and have the opportunity to grow into people completely different from their families. What influences them are their own choices and the people around them.

Each student learns from predecessors who share similar traits or make the same choices, and forges their own path. For example, Prareas possesses some qualities of both Snape and Stella.

Her thoughts stopped there. Praris paused, calmly looking at the Death Eater standing before her—Peter Pettigrew.

Little Pettigrew still looked timid and hesitant, his face full of unspoken words, as if he wanted to say something but didn't have the courage to speak.

"What is it?" Praris asked coldly.

Little Pettigrew opened his wet, constantly flickering eyes, his gaze filled with fear and a strange longing. He moved his lips, his voice barely a whisper: "Praris... can I have a little... no, no, I mean, do you still need people to experiment on?"

"Oh?" Praris looked Pettigrew up and down with a playful gaze, and said sarcastically, "What right do you think you have to inquire about my mission? Or do you think you're worthy of my potions?"

Praris walked straight ahead, completely unaffected by Pettigrew's presence. As she brushed past him, she sneered, "A word of advice—this belongs to the Dark Lord. If your master gives it to you, you're in luck. If not, you'd better just watch!"

Little Pettigrew immediately trembled, realizing what terrible things he had said and what outrageous things he had done, and froze in fear.

"I've lost my mind!" Little Star thought in horror.

Pettigrew originally hoped to obtain the potion under the guise of serving a witch named Praris, but his cowardly nature betrayed his true intentions.

For someone like Voldemort, that potion wasn't exactly addictive; its effects were more of a "long-lasting" lingering effect, its harm to reason lurking beneath the unfathomable surface.

For Pettigrew, the difference was like heaven and earth, making his craving for potions more pronounced—but still within manageable limits. The longer he stopped taking the potions, the weaker his cravings became, far from overcoming his inner fear.

Voldemort had sensed Pettigrew's desire as soon as the effects of the drug wore off, but he dismissed it. Voldemort found it laughable and didn't even bother to reprimand Pettigrew.

He deliberately placed Little Pettigrew in front of Praris, so that Praris would personally crush Little Pettigrew's dignity and witness the fate of the loser and the weak.

The crown of success is already laid out at the finish line of victory, and the fate of failure is narrated by the poor little worm, Stardevi. Wise people will naturally know which path to take and which not to take.

Chapter 287 Easter

Watching helplessly as Little Pettigrew fled in disarray, Praris lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment.

A short while later, she turned and walked back to the drawing room, deciding to tell Voldemort about Pettigrew's unusual behavior.

Yes, Voldemort looked down on this matter, taking Pettigrew as a reminder to himself. But Praris had just been pretending how well he had kept Voldemort's mission a secret!

No matter how indifferent Voldemort was to this matter, no matter how much Praris seemed to be making a fuss about reporting it, and no matter whether Voldemort would punish Pettigrew for it, Praris couldn't help but take it to heart and had to maintain the flawless facade of his persona.

To be honest, Praris was actually a little envious of those Order of the Phoenix members who were on the front lines, going head-to-head with the Death Eaters, and fighting each other to the death.

Praris possesses immense power, yet he is confined here, forced to be cautious, hesitant, and restrained for the sake of those he cares about. Even though he has laid mines for Voldemort every time, he still feels stifled.

To put it bluntly, she was somewhat hoping that the final war would come sooner so that she could also roll up her sleeves and blow all this garbage into the sky, to make up for the "endurance and perseverance" she had endured during this period.

Patience... patience... some sacrifices are needed for the ultimate goal of victory. Before embarking on this path, Praris was prepared to abandon some external things—including his own dignity.

As a recognized genius, doesn't Praris have any self-respect? Would he be able to kneel down before Voldemort and say those heart-wrenching things at any time?

No, absolutely not, she had her own pride too. In her early years, Praris was unwilling to even think a little bit about it, to yield to Sister Mayne, or to say a few nice words, preferring to accept being punished and sent to the storeroom.

But having chosen this path, Praris was determined to play the role of a Death Eater. At this point, talking about self-respect or pride would seem inappropriate and would only drag down Professor Snape and Draco, who were also under Voldemort's command.

As expected, Voldemort didn't take Pettigrew's desire to heart, showing a contemptuous laugh, and instead casually praised Praris's caution.

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Prader reported to Snape, and the two reviewed her response together, making adjustments to some details.

Before long, the Easter holiday arrived—spring had truly come.

Large patches of yellow daffodils, white wild sesame, and pale purple violets bloom along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, while bright primroses and yellow irises sway by the Black Lake. The water level of the Black Lake is rising, and the color of the water appears lighter when viewed from the windows of the Slytherin common room.

Spring has arrived at Hogwarts, but the students have no time to appreciate it; they are all too busy rushing home.

In previous years, the three Slytherin girls did not go home for Easter. They would receive packages from home, share Easter eggs with Prader, and then go to the dining hall together for a large, sizzling roast leg of lamb.

But this year, neither Slytherin nor any other house student wanted to stay in this high-pressure environment any longer; they preferred to go home for the holidays.

Those DAs hiding in the Room of Requirement were destined to miss their chance to ride the Hogwarts Express home. But they weren't discouraged; instead, they enthusiastically prepared for their Easter.

Simo made a wish to the House of Response, hoping to conjure up some paint. Some of the paint that appeared had completely dried up, while others, after being mixed with water, could barely be "revived."

"How interesting!" Hannah, who had stayed behind specifically to spend Easter with the trapped DA, clapped her hands and laughed, "Look! We've resurrected the paint during the Easter holidays!"

Upon hearing Hannah's words, everyone burst into laughter, thinking it was a brilliant joke.

The boys were in charge of mixing—no, mixing resurrection paint—like mixing cement.

The girls enthusiastically colored various round objects: small plates, buttons, old round coins, small round mirrors, broken toy balls, etc. Then they hid the colored objects for their friends to find.

Seamus found the red-dyed Quaffle and shouted, "The Quaffle is now a Quaffle!"

The Quaffle is red, and the Runner is black.

Neville found the broken alarm clock that Hannah had hidden; it had been dyed yellow—the color of Hufflepuff.

“Ms. Sprout is right. Neville, you are very thoughtful,” Hannah praised Neville generously. “I thought it would never be found! After all, it was originally a brass alarm clock.”

Neville lowered his head somewhat embarrassed.

In the past, he could never find what he was good at, and he was slow and clumsy in everything he did, lacking any confidence.

Ms. Sprout would always comfort him, saying, "People who run fast tend to miss the scenery along the way; it's easier to notice the details if you do things slowly!"

Neville couldn't leave, but Ginny chose to stay. She decided not to go home for Easter, but to stay with Neville in the House of Requirement, sharing his fate.

Not long ago, Prarese warned Ginny that the Death Eaters might use her to blackmail Harry and the others.

"Just like me and Draco," Prarese said.

Ginny's eyes widened: "How are they the same!"

Praris smiled but remained silent.

Long after the locked-room incident, Ginny vowed not to be a burden, not to be the one who needed to be saved. Now, Ginny believes she has succeeded.

Remembering Prareas's warning, Ginny's gaze fell on the small medicine box not far away. The next second, she slowly stood up, her eyes becoming somewhat strange.

The small medicine box was usually placed on a makeshift "table" made of several small boxes. Now, behind the side of the table, there was an inconspicuous little bamboo basket covered with a dusty cloth.

Ginny hesitated for a moment, then walked to the medicine box and reached out to lift the gray cloth... Underneath the gray cloth was a basket of eggs.

She noticed a small piece of parchment on top of the egg, with two flowing, round English letters written on it: "PP".

Ginny suddenly felt a tightness in her chest and her eyes felt hot. She whispered, "Neville—come here!"

Easter games have turned into a competition to see who can find the most "Easter eggs," with Neville grinning foolishly in the crowd while holding an alarm clock.

Hearing Ginny's voice, he left the crowd without thinking, walked towards her, and asked with a smile, "What? Aren't you going to come and play with me?"

“It’s an Easter present,” Ginny said.

Neville's gaze fell on the bamboo basket, and he too paused for a second: "This is truly amazing..."

He never left the Room of Requirement, and the Carol siblings and their lackeys never managed to get in, but it was a miracle that Praris was still able to bring in such a large basket of eggs.

“It’s a house-elf.” Neville had a sudden inspiration. “Ginny, do you remember? When we decided to steal the Gryffindor sword, we thought about having a house-elf deliver it—their magic is different!”

To support Hermione's cause of liberating house-elves, Neville listened to many of Hermione's "speech" and passively absorbed some knowledge, which is now finally coming in handy.

Ginny shook her head, disagreeing: "How does she manage to get house-elves to do all the work for her... I mean, not every house-elf is Dobby, and she's not Harry!"

The house-elves at Hogwarts are not friendly to the students. They carefully keep their distance, working diligently in the kitchen and laundry room, and quietly cleaning the common rooms.

“Respect them?” Nawi guessed.

Ginny shrugged. "Hermione just respected them too much, which angered them. The house-elves thought it was an insult to them."

Neville and Ginny couldn't understand it and could only explain it as part of Praris's abilities; she could always do things they couldn't imagine.

Ginny carried a basket and distributed the eggs to her classmates.

"Where did these come from?" Simo asked, holding the eggs with great surprise. "Why didn't you take them out before?"

Seamus may have meant no harm, but Ginny and Neville took it to heart and responded cautiously.

Ginny cleared her throat and shouted, "This is a friendly gesture of support from a friend—Happy Easter!"

Upon hearing this news, everyone present was greatly encouraged and cheered.

Some of their struggles have been accompanied by significant sacrifices, with new members joining and others gradually leaving out of fear. Knowing that there are others supporting their struggle and sending them gifts is a morale-boosting thing for DA.

Everyone received an egg and happily began painting real Easter eggs.

Unlike DA's bittersweet approach, Praris boarded the Hogwarts Express.

Aside from summer vacation, Hogwarts only has two holidays during the school year: Christmas and Easter, with the Easter holiday lasting two weeks. They also celebrate Halloween, but there is no dedicated holiday for Halloween.

"Aren't you staying at school?" Draco asked.