HP North Star's Radiance

Snape's face was almost expressionless: "Tomorrow Tom will take you to King's Cross Station. You will board the train at platform 9¾."

Praris paused for a moment. She had never heard of platforms being non-integer numbers, but the magical world was naturally different from the Muggle world, just as ordinary people couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron. Platform 9 3/4 probably had a hidden way of entering, similar to the Leaky Cauldron.

Since Tom was there to take her there, she wouldn't have trouble getting in. Besides, she wasn't the only one starting school; there must be other people who needed to get into Platform 9¾.

“Okay,” Praris nodded.

Snape gave her a deep look: "I suppose you don't want to go back to the convent, so you won't be foolish enough to do anything outrageous."

Prarese disliked such threatening words, as if they assumed she was bound to make a mistake. She couldn't help but wonder if Sister Mayne's words had some influence, but when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

She looked at Professor Snape and nodded obediently: "Of course, I don't think I've caused you any trouble during this time."

“That would be best,” Professor Snape said, withdrawing his unfathomable gaze and turning to leave.

Snape left, leaving Prareus alone to let out a long sigh.

She knew all along that fate would never favor her. All peace, happiness, and tranquility were temporary, like bubbles under the sky, drifting and eventually bursting silently.

Prader didn't dislike Snape, nor did she dislike his wariness. In fact, she didn't dislike anyone. Everyone judges others based on their own perspective.

If Prarese were in Snape's shoes, she would also pay more attention to potential troublemakers to avoid them causing problems for her job.

The next morning, Praris, carrying her suitcase, got into the truck Tom used for deliveries.

Tom used to be a little afraid of Praris, but now he has completely forgotten about it.

He was filled with emotion and rambled on about trivial things: "Little Pry, youth is so short, and the innocent days are so easily lost. Now, when I think back to my days at Hogwarts, I wish I could go back. Sigh, I hope you can enjoy your youth like any other child."

Praris took the owl cage from Tom and said dismissively, "I don't understand what you mean. I'm just an ordinary child, of course."

Tom got into the driver's seat and said, "Little Pry, there are all kinds of people in bars, I've seen all kinds of people. Trust me, when you grow up and look back, it won't be a big deal."

Prarese didn't know what to say. She knew Tom's words didn't apply to her life, but she also didn't reveal her past preferences to others.

She could only offer a polite smile, a response that wasn't really a reply.

Tom, of course, felt that everything would pass. He was quite old, almost bald, and had very few teeth left. When a person faces only life and death, everything else seems less important.

Moreover, the Leaky Cauldron brought Tom not only long-term benefits, but also a stable frequency of interpersonal interactions in his later years, which is already a very good condition for an aging wizard.

King's Cross Station arrived quickly. Praris got off the train, pulling his suitcase with his left hand and carrying an owl cage with his right.

Tom opened his mouth, unsure if what he said was too much, but he said anyway: "Platform 9¾ is between Platform 9 and Platform 10. You just need to bravely rush towards the partition in the middle."

Prarese is clearly exceptionally intelligent, but Tom still wants to see her as a little girl about to start school.

Praris paused for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, Tom. Um, your buttered bread was delicious. I'll definitely go back to the Leaky Cauldron during my vacation."

She admitted that she had deliberately tried to scare Tom; she hated the way he stared at her. Most people's thoughts were laid bare before her, and Tom was no exception.

To her surprise, Tom, whom she had intimidated, now took the initiative to remind her how to enter the station.

Ah, she's so conflicted. She hates it when others show her malice, but she finds it even harder to accept kindness from others.

"There are other people here all alone, just like him?" Harry Potter couldn't help but wonder as he prepared to board the train.

On platform 9¾, the noise of people talking, the rolling of luggage wheels, and the hooting of owls made his heart race.

Perhaps it wasn't the noise that made his heart race, but rather the excitement. He was about to enter a magical world!

But one thing Harry Potter couldn't ignore was that he seemed to be the only one there alone; everyone else had friends or family with them. That is, until he saw the girl in the simple black dress—she was pulling a suitcase as she walked past him.

She didn't seem excited at all, neither happy nor sad, as if she were just strolling around the street.

Perhaps she wasn't a freshman? Maybe only a freshman like him would be this excited! But the thought that he wasn't the only one like this made Harry feel a little better.

Praliss had no idea what Harry Potter was thinking; she only noticed that a disheveled boy had been glancing at her a few times.

Praris thought to himself that his living conditions were quite ordinary; his glasses were broken and hadn't been repaired, and his clothes were too big, looking like they had been given to him by someone else.

Glasses can be repaired with magic, yet he wore broken ones. His expression reflected both excitement and unease in the unfamiliar environment, coupled with the absence of any relatives. This suggested he had no wizarding relatives and likely grew up in a Muggle family. This Muggle family was either extremely poor or treated him poorly.

It's clearly the latter, because although his clothes didn't fit well, the material and style were quite good.

On the contrary, his owl was one of the more expensive ones, his suitcase was large and difficult to carry, and it looked like it was full of things.

This indicates that his financial situation had suddenly become much better.

A windfall? Either someone paid for these things for him, or it was an inheritance.

Praris shook his head. That's enough. He was just a stranger he passed by.

Another reason Sister Mayne targeted her was because she knew too much—she discovered Sister Mayne's sweet romance with Mr. Matthew, who was in charge of purchasing, which infuriated Sister Mayne.

Praris found an empty box and placed her suitcase in the corner. She sat down by the window and looked out at the bustling scene.

She found it difficult to empathize with these children's feelings; perhaps their families were wonderful enough that made them reluctant to leave.

Praris felt a pang of sadness: when she was five years old and had lost her memory, had she also held her parents' hands like this, reluctant to part?

The train departed, leaving the students' families behind, leaving the station behind, gradually leaving London behind, and leaving Prasris's past far behind.

Praris got up early and was a little sleepy, so he dozed off in the carriage and slept until noon.

Around noon, she was awakened by the train vendor's voice. She waved her hand to refuse the vendor's sales pitch, then took out an egg sandwich made by Tom from her crossbody bag and ate it.

After finishing her meal, she wasn't sleepy anymore and took out a book of poetry to read. The monastery had many books, mostly collections of poems or the "diaries" of saints, as well as miscellaneous books donated by believers. These books were written in French and English, and some of the older books and poetry collections were written in Latin.

Praris was not entitled to take the monastery's book, but it was given to her by a believer who saw her reading in the garden.

The poetry collection is the work of a down-on-his-luck poet, praising concepts of beauty and love from beginning to end, such as "love can conquer all" and "love can save all".

Sadly, love could not save the poet. He froze to death on a cold winter night. The remaining manuscripts were taken by the landlord, who felt they brought bad luck, to burn as fuel. Only a portion of the poems remained, which the landlord's son sold cheaply to the editor who published the book.

The only purpose of this poetry collection for Prarese was to calm her mind, empty her brain, and prevent her from overthinking and analyzing.

Gah!

The carriage door was suddenly pulled open.

"Have you seen a toad? Neville lost a toad."

This abrupt intruder had thick, long brown hair, a good complexion and physique, and appeared to come from a wealthy family. He had already donned his Hogwarts robes, seemingly very excited about starting school. He was helpful to his classmates but somewhat reckless in his words and actions, and seemed to enjoy showing off.

She is an outgoing girl who likes to show herself and comes from a well-off family.

“What kind of toad?” Praris put the poetry collection on the table. “If you’re talking about a golden-backed toad with a black belly and brown connecting parts, I saw it five minutes before the train departed, in front of the door on the left side of the aisle in the third carriage.”

The girl paused for a moment, then turned to look at the round-faced boy behind her.

“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know what a golden-backed toad is, but Laifu does look like that,” the boy said awkwardly.

The girl turned to Praris and said excitedly, “My goodness, I don’t know how to thank you! It seems we’ve gone the wrong way; we should have looked further ahead! My name is Hermione Granger, and this is Neville Longbottom. Your memory is amazing! I’d love to chat with you sometime, but I have to go with Neville to the third carriage now!”

Chapter 4 Sorting Ceremony

Praris shook her head. It was highly likely that the toad was no longer there, but what did it matter to her whether or not she could find the toad?

When Praris awoke again, the sky had turned violet, and in the distance were layers of mountains and dense forests.

She pulled the book off her face, turned her head, and it took her a while to adjust to the car lights.

The voice that seemed to wake her was amplified by amplification magic, reminding the students to get off the bus in time.

Praris walked in the middle of the crowd and looked back. The little wizards, packed tightly together, looked like a group of black ghosts in the night.

The road in front of the train was slippery, the sky was dark, and the road was narrow. The young wizards walked very carefully, but still wobbled along.

The only thing Praris could think of that was more difficult to walk was the road to church in winter. Every Christmas Eve, Sister Maine would take them to church to pray.

It was dark and snowing, and she trudged through the snow, her steps uneven, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow. When she reached the church, she could barely feel her legs. Whether God exists or not, the moment she saw the church's light, she felt she was about to meet Him.

Compared to Christmas Eve, the road at this moment seemed less challenging.

As you walk to the end of the road, a majestic and ancient castle suddenly appears in the distance, with a dark and bottomless lake below it, where many small boats are moored.

Praris boarded the ship with the crowd, and with her excellent eyesight, she began to scan all the buildings in sight:

Outside the castle lay a dense jungle, which Praris guessed might be where the Magical Creatures class was held. The castle had many pointed towers, not clearly visible in the darkness, but its architectural style resembled that of the early to middle Middle Ages. Inside, the castle was brightly lit, and the students who had walked with her mostly looked at her with curiosity, suggesting that students from other grades had likely arrived at the castle by other means.

Soon, they disembarked and came to a huge oak gate. The leader was a giant several times their size—somewhere between an ordinary person and a giant; Praris thought he must be a hybrid giant.

Hagrid the Big Guy knocked on the door, and it opened straight in without anyone pushing it.

Appearing behind the door was a tall witch dressed in a green velvet robe. Her expression was serious, and her eyes were sharp, causing Praris to hallucinate Sister Maine, whom she disliked the most.

Excuse me, this is an offense to the witch. Praris lowered her head silently, suppressing her wrong thought that this was "transference."

Because the witch's serious expression resembled Mayne's, she couldn't help but see her as Mayne. However, judging from the witch's characteristics, she was generally of an upright character and wouldn't be as angry as Mayne would be when her secret was discovered, nor would she target Praris for it.

If one assumes that the witch will target them, this self-suggestion will inevitably lead them down a path of confrontation. This, then, seems entirely unnecessary.

Professor McGonagall, of course, had no idea of ​​the turmoil in Prader's heart. She opened the foyer doors and led the students forward.

The students were led to an empty room that was much smaller than the lobby or hallway, where they were introduced to the next steps.

In short, as Prarese already knew, they would go through Sorting, attending classes, relaxing, and participating in activities with students from their own house. Their performance was the house's performance; their successes and failures were tied to the house's overall score.

Prarese disliked these rules; she was more of a lone wolf than a member of the group.

Under such rules, if a person makes a mistake, it will affect the entire college and may even be criticized by classmates with a strong sense of group honor.

On the other hand, such rules are not very friendly to the relationship between colleges. Ordinary students are concerned with how to increase their own college's points through performance, while some more flexible individuals may try to achieve their own success by taking advantage of the failures of others.

Similar to a zero-sum game, one side's success comes at the expense of the other. By lowering the scores of competing colleges, one's own college can win the College Cup.

"You don't seem nervous at all?" the girl next to Praris asked curiously. "Do you know something?"

The students around her were discussing the college selection process, but the girl was unaware that Praris's thoughts had already wandered far away.

Prarese's calm demeanor led Milison, who was standing next to her, to assume that she was already familiar with the sorting system.

Praris chuckled. "Don't overthink it. We'll find out soon enough. It's probably an open secret, a quirky quirk of our predecessors."

The girl who spoke to Praris was a dark-haired woman. She looked much healthier than Praris, and was very tall and had a solid build.

Compared to her, Praris probably looks like a malnourished little vampire.

The girl nodded, as if she agreed with Praris's words: "When I become a senior, I'll bully freshmen like this too... Do you think I'd be so kind as to tell them the truth?"

“No,” Praris said softly. “I would say your idea is brilliant. We’ve had such a fun experience, how can we selfishly let freshmen skip this step? It’s part of the orientation ceremony, isn’t it?”

Oh no, she hasn't even become a mischievous adult yet, and she's already started doing bad things.

"Hahaha!" the dark-haired girl laughed happily. "I like you! My name is Milison Burst."