HP North Star's Radiance

"Minerva!" Professor Flitwick burst out from nowhere, followed by two other heads of the house. He raised his wand and roared, "Stop! I won't allow you to kill anyone more at Hogwarts!"

Flitwick's magic struck Snape's armor, which instantly came to life, pressing down tightly on Snape's iron arm.

Snape's hands were bound, and he could only struggle to try to remove them.

At this critical moment when the enemy outnumbered us, a voice rang out from Snape: "All curses are broken!"

A beam of light shone from behind Snape and spread rapidly. It removed the armor that had "betrayed" Snape's hands and turned Professor McGonagall's "dagger" back into a torch, which fell down with a clatter.

—It's Praris!

Almost everyone present had this thought at the same time.

Praris doesn't often engage in fair duels; she prefers to ambush others without their knowledge, so she frequently uses silent spells and wandless magic.

The power of magic without a wand is far less than when using one. To achieve the same power as when using a wand, she must have greater magical power, more precise control, and greater skill than others.

Her deeper understanding of spells and this demanding approach to magic, to some extent, made her magical abilities far surpass those of her peers. However, this was still not enough for her to break through the spells of Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall in one go.

This is because they became complacent.

Professor Flitwick didn't kill him, and Professor McGonagall relaxed slightly upon seeing him. Trust can sometimes lead to mistakes.

“Praris!” Professor McGonagall shouted in exasperation, “He’s a Death Eater, a murderer! And now he’s going to kill even more people!”

Prareus, who was kneeling on one knee, stood up and spread his arms to block Snape from being seen by anyone.

She said calmly, "No need for you to tell me. Do you think this is the first time I've met Principal Snape? —Vice Principal McGonagall, he's also family to me, he's my professor!"

Professor McGonagall, her hand trembling as she held her wand, said, "Do you know what you've been doing all this time? Your mother... your mother will be disappointed in you..."

“She has no right to say that,” Praris said coldly. “Wasn’t it them who disappointed me first?”

Harry and the others, unaware of the inside story, exchanged bewildered glances with Slughorn, while the three heads of the house who knew the truth fell silent.

"Get out of here."

Everyone was stunned. Those standing opposite saw the coldness on Praris's face vanish in an instant, replaced by confusion.

She turned around, somewhat confused, and asked, "Sir?"

Not only Professor McGonagall and the others, but even Prarese herself had never heard Snape speak to her like that.

Snape berated Prareus with unprecedented malice: "Get out of here! You hot-headed fool! Who gave you the audacity to interfere in my battle? Your job is to serve the Dark Lord, not to put on some sentimental show for me—it disgusts me!"

Professor McGonagall immediately shouted, "Get out of the way, Praris!"

For a moment, Professor McGonagall almost blurted out, "You want to protect your loved one, but he might not appreciate it!"

But those words were too cruel for a child who had lost both his father and mother at a young age, and Professor McGonagall couldn't bring herself to say them. She only hoped that Prader would see through Snape's true nature and break free from the false affection.

Before Prader could say anything, Snape raised his wand. Professor McGonagall instinctively took a defensive stance, only to be shocked to find that Snape's attack wasn't aimed at them, but rather—at Prader!

A powerful spell shot towards Praris. Professor McGonagall's eyes widened, and she instinctively rushed towards the child, forgetting that she was using a wand.

boom! boom! boom!

The magic exploded, kicking up countless plumes of smoke and dust.

While everyone's attention was focused on Prasris, Snape shattered the stained glass window in the corridor, leaped out, and his contemptuous voice echoed through the smoke: "Foolish girl, acting on emotion! Just as stupid as your mother!"

Chapter 297 Pansy's Choice

Moonlight streamed through the broken stained-glass windows onto the corridor. The smoke and dust gradually dissipated, but the floating ash still swirled in the air, leaving only her stone statue standing there, unmoving.

Snape's move was completely unexpected. Even those who knew he had killed Dumbledore couldn't have imagined he would attack Prarese.

But at this critical moment of life and death, Praris didn't move an inch, seemingly trusting her without regard for life or death, or as if she was gambling that her teachers and family wouldn't really hurt her.

Fortunately, the series of spells exploded around her but did not actually hit her.

Professor McGonagall stopped, first letting out a sigh of relief, then letting out a frustrated "sigh." This sigh was a mixture of her own impulsive decision to run on foot despite having her wand in hand, her sympathy for Prader, and her disappointment in Snape.

Harry stepped forward and shouted angrily, "Plares! You reacted so quickly, why didn't you dodge!"

Praris stood beside a pile of shattered bricks. She brushed the dust off her cloak and said calmly, "No need."

"Fortunately..." Ms. Sprout managed to utter a comforting word, "Snape still has a conscience."

“That’s not because he has a conscience!” Harry’s face turned red. “It’s because Voldemort—the Man of Darkness still wants to use you through him, doesn’t he? He just sees you as a pair of handy dragon-skin gloves!”

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise, quickly slapping him on the shoulder. "Don't say that!"

Those words were so hurtful!

Prader had repeatedly stood up for Snape and spoken up for him in front of others. She had no other family, only him. Yes, exposing Snape's ruthlessness might help Prader wake up from the deception of familial affection, but it was undoubtedly rubbing salt into her wounds!

Praris held his chin high, his tone as usual, seemingly unaffected: "You... and all the heads of the school and professors, the Dark Lord is about to besiege Hogwarts. Don't you have more important things to do than I do? Wasting your time on me is tantamount to courting disaster."

As soon as her arrogant voice fell, Harry clutched his head and screamed, then knelt down with a thud, startling everyone around him.

"He's coming!" Harry shouted to the professors. "Quickly—evacuate the students and seal off the castle!"

The deans immediately sprang into action, discussing what to do as they walked.

Before Professor Flitwick even left, he began casting protective magic on the castle. Professor Sprout muttered about her little plants and children. Professor McGonagall warned Slughorn to keep an eye on his students, or else she would turn on him without mercy. Hermione and Ron had already helped Harry up, one on each side, and both of them looked down at him with concern.

Only after Harry returned to normal did Praris calmly ask, "Completely rid of it?"

All three looked at Praris, and Harry nodded instinctively. She nodded again and asked, "Was the feeling much stronger than before?"

Harry nodded again.

“Very good,” Praris said.

Under the puzzled gazes of the three, she pulled a bottle containing a few drops of clear liquid from somewhere in her robes and handed it to Harry.

“Next time—” Praris lowered his voice and said carefully, “Next time you feel this way, drip it on the thing you want to destroy, and then cut it with your swords. Remember, it must be at that moment, no matter how much pain you are in, understand?”

Harry stared at Praris in astonishment.

They had come to find Praris, hoping this witch who understood Horcruxes could help them break the spell on them. But before they could even speak, Praris, with precognitive insight, produced what they needed.

“What is this?” Hermione asked.

Prareas looked at Hermione, his tone softening, and said to her in a perfunctory tone, "Too much curiosity is not good for you."

Harry held the bottle in both hands, his eyes trembling as he looked into his palms. He suddenly said, "Phoenix tears...it's phoenix tears, isn't it?"

In his second year, Harry was bitten by the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Fawkes arrived just in time and healed him with his tears—Harry had not forgotten a single thing about Dumbledore.

Praris neither said yes nor no, but simply looked at him silently. Her calmness seemed to say: See? I told you too much curiosity is no good.

Harry seemed to have thought of something, so he stopped asking, simply gripped the thumb-sized bottle tightly, stuffed it into his pocket, and nodded firmly.

“I understand,” Harry said. “Thank you, Praris.”

Footsteps gradually began to echo from upstairs and downstairs, making the entire castle seem to come alive.

Praris withdrew his gaze and walked towards the stairs behind them.

"Where are you going!" Hermione asked urgently.

Prarese turned around and said softly, "The Slytherin common room... Hermione, I also have people I need to protect."

She left those words behind and strode downstairs.

The further down you go, the more people you see in Praris.

Of course, the students from the other three academies also saw Praris. The moment their eyes met hers, they quickly looked away as if they had encountered something. Praris, however, remained calm and continued walking downstairs.

"Prince!"

"Miss Prince!"

"Praris!"

……

Once inside the underground building, the situation completely reversed, with the students calling her name repeatedly with a mixture of worry and anxiety.

“Miss Prince, what’s going on?” fifth-year prefect Aiden Selwin asked anxiously. “Professor Slughorn wants us to assemble in the Great Hall.”

As he finished speaking, Astoria ran over and stood next to Praris.

Praris said in a firm and unquestionable tone, "Selwyn, Lydia, do as Dean Slughorn says, fulfill your duties, and wake everyone up, especially the younger students."

With such a commotion, even a pig should be awakened. However, it's possible that some people, like Praris during the first-year Halloween party, are somewhere else unaware of the situation. After all, the possibility of Slytherin students going on a nighttime stroll cannot be ruled out.

Aiden responded with "oh, oh, oh," completely disoriented and flustered, before Astoria forcefully pulled him away: "Idiot! This way!"

Seeing this, Prass frowned. She could only interpret it this way: Professor Snape thought it better to have an obedient fool than an extreme pure-blood prefect who longed to become a Death Eater. At least Aiden's background was flawless, only his intelligence was slightly lacking.

She walked against the flow of people, passing one dormitory room after another with its doors open, the noise in the distance growing louder and louder.

"Let's go! Please!" Daphne's composed and elegant demeanor crumbled completely, her voice almost overflowing with despair. "Merlin, aren't you the one most afraid of death? This is clearly something terrible has happened!"

That's right, every gathering is the result of something big happening.

Pansy's voice came from the end of the girls' dormitory corridor: "Don't I know?! Don't you think I know something bad is going to happen?! But Praris isn't here!"

“Plares, Plares, all you know is Plares!” Daphne shouted bitterly. “Get this straight, we’re all doomed, but she’s not! She’s smarter than us, stronger than us, and better at judging situations—she has Headmaster Snape! It’s none of our business!”

Pansy's voice trembled with tears: "There are four of us. Millison isn't here anymore, and I can't lose Praris too... I don't know how scared she was when she was left out alone in first grade..."

Daphne said, "I really am—"

"I'm here!" Praris gasped, leaning against the wall. "I'm here, Pansy, come with me to the auditorium!"

Pansy rushed over like a stun spell, crashing into Praris and hugging her tightly: "You scared me to death!"

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Plares is right! Pansy, we can put on this kind of sentimental act anytime, let's go!"

Pansy nodded, clutching Praris's sleeve tightly, and followed closely behind her.

Some say Pansy is willful, but Praris thinks that's just her sharp edge. Some say Pansy is cowardly, but Praris thinks that's human nature. Some say Pansy loves gossip, but Praris thinks gossip is a common hobby for wizards; otherwise, Rita Skeeter's articles wouldn't be so popular. Some say Pansy isn't pretty enough, but Praris thinks those who say that lack aesthetic sense and judge by appearances.

Finally, some say that Prarese is truly a friend-sister who judges Helen by her own standards. Prarese believes that Helen pales in comparison to her friends.

Prarese was certain that Pansy would be determined to find her, because, putting herself in Pansy's shoes, she was just as determined to find her.

In the auditorium, Professor McGonagall stood in the open space in front of the principal's seat and gave a speech, instructing Filch and Pomfrey to lead the students to evacuate.

Prarese saw from afar that the Order of the Phoenix had also appeared there, including Ms. Priscilla and Winnie—the two of them stood together and smiled at her.

The Slytherin students left Prares in the first two spots, with Slughorn in front of her.