HP North Star's Radiance

Slughorn looked hesitant, his feelings complicated after hearing the gossip about the relationship between Praris, Sylvia, and Snape.

To be honest, he had previously thought highly of Sylvia Prince and even asked Praris if she knew her. The old man, while appreciating the family's extraordinary talent, also helplessly acknowledged that they possessed some negative talents.

“What if we’d rather stay and fight for Hogwarts!” Ernie suddenly stood up and shouted, his words receiving a round of applause.

Professor McGonagall said with satisfaction and caution, "Students of sufficient age are allowed to stay."

“What about our things?” Lisa exclaimed. “Our luggage…and the owl!”

Professor McGonagall said, "There's no time to worry about that now. Your safety is the most important thing."

"And what about Professor Snape?" Astoria called out. "Where has he gone?"

After a moment of silence, Professor McGonagall's gaze briefly fell on Praris. She said, "He's gone. Hogwarts is now entirely in my hands."

Professor McGonagall longed to say something more direct, but she couldn't bring herself to.

Professor McGonagall was heartbroken when Prareth used the Cruciatus Curse on Neville. She felt utterly helpless when Prareth stood firmly by Snape's side.

But this girl also diligently assisted Madam Pomfrey, served Hogwarts, healed Bill without hesitation, and openly asked the Carrow siblings to get rid of the troll... Professor McGonagall never wanted to think of her as a bad girl.

Just as she still firmly believes to this day, her student Sylvia had some unavoidable circumstances or twists of fate, like Sirius.

Many students cheered when they heard that Professor McGonagall was now in charge of Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall gestured for the students to quiet down and continued, "...Everyone must act quickly and obey the prefect's orders..."

Suddenly, another loud and penetrating voice echoed through the auditorium. Like a winter wind, it pierced everyone's eardrums with its icy chill, causing some students to squeal like a flock of quails, huddle together, and look around in panic.

“I know your preparations—they are futile. I have no intention of killing any wizards; on the contrary, I have great respect for Hogwarts and its professors.”

After the initial shock came a deathly silence, as if everyone's vocal cords had been severed.

His voice was seductive, like the apple that tempted Eve: "As long as you hand over Harry Potter, no one will be harmed, the sun will rise as usual, and nothing will change except my reward to you—I will wait until midnight."

Voldemort's voice finally faded, but the silence didn't end. Everyone craned their necks, looking around like meerkats, trying to find Harry.

Praris had no interest in that; she placed her hand on Draco's hand, who was sitting to his right, trying to calm his trembling body.

"What are you afraid of?" she said gently but firmly. "I'm here."

Suddenly, Pansy, who was sitting to her left, stood up: "He's over there! Potter's over there! Hand him over! It will all be over!"

Pansy seemed to have abandoned all other thoughts, leaving only one idea: sacrifice one Harry so that everyone could live peacefully.

What does Potter's life or death mean to her? Of course it does! Didn't you hear what the mysterious man just said? Push Potter out, and the sun will rise as usual!

Don't talk to her about morality! Come on, can morality restore everything to normal? No! She, Pansy Parkinson, is simply unethical and immoral!

Chapter 298 Before the War

The moment she finished speaking, the students from the other three academies immediately stood up like a startled pack of wolves.

Pansy's body was still trembling, but not because of the wary and hateful gazes of the crowd. She couldn't help but wonder, had all these people gone mad? Were they truly fearless? Even if they weren't afraid of death, weren't they afraid of witnessing their loved ones lying dead on the spot?

She racked her brains but couldn't understand it; it was beyond her comprehension, just as people in ancient times couldn't understand moths flying into a flame.

Seeing this, the Slytherins were not to be outdone.

Prasris stood up even before Slytherin did. She shielded Pansy behind her with half her body, gripped her wand tightly in her left hand, and stared intently, ready for battle at any moment.

The professors present knew that most Hogwarts students were upright and wouldn't hand over Harry. But they also knew that while the other Slytherins were another matter, Prader's gesture meant she would definitely protect Pansy, just as she had dared to stand alone against several headmasters for Snape.

Sometimes, they even wondered if the Sorting Hat had made a mistake. Compared to Slytherin, her courage was too much like a Gryffindor. But on second thought, compared to Slytherin, her wisdom was more like a Ravenclaw, and her diligence, kindness, perseverance, and tolerance made her more like a Hufflepuff.

"Minerva," Dumbledore said with a wink and a smile in my memory, "truly excellent wizards often possess the fine qualities of multiple houses simultaneously."

Ron, standing in the crowd, muttered to himself, "Praris is alright, but why is he a Slytherin?"

In the midst of this tense standoff, Professor McGonagall said decisively, "Thank you for reminding me, Miss Parkinson. You and Mr. Filch can leave the auditorium together—the other students can leave as well."

At the Slytherin table, the table clattered and made a racket. Most students walked out without hesitation, but some did not, including Pansy, who was asked by Professor McGonagall to be the first to leave.

“Let’s go,” Pansy said, pulling Praris’s arm. “It’s not safe here anymore.”

But she didn't pull on Praris's arm.

Praris reached out and pulled Pansy's hand down, gently shaking his head: "Go, Pansy."

"What do you mean?" Pansy stared at her blankly. "How can I leave if you don't leave?"

Praris smiled bitterly and said, "I can't leave."

"Are you kidding me?" Pansy was a little confused. "Why can't you leave?"

Praris stared intently at Pansy, then glanced at Daphne, who was struggling with her sister not far away.

She remembered a book she had seen on Professor Snape's shelf that said: "To connect with others, one must be prepared for pain, but one can never avoid interacting with others, so pain is an inevitable part of life."

Prare had experienced this lesson countless times herself, and she didn't want Pansy to have similar feelings, but Pansy had to endure the pain from Milison and herself one after another.

“Because I’m the same as Draco,” Prarese said, her voice seemingly floating in the clouds, making Pansy breathless. “So, I have to stay here; I have no other choice.”

The witch's poison has already been administered; we're just waiting for it to take effect at dawn. Whether the witch herself is here or not makes no difference.

But Praris cannot leave.

Once she's gone, Voldemort becomes wary and stops taking the Soul-Gathering Potion, causing the poison plan to collapse. Harry's last chance of survival is once again hanging on his shoulders. If Prader is gone, and the person she loves dies on the battlefield by a hair's breadth, how will she accept it?

Winnie won't leave, because if the Order of the Phoenix fails, Voldemort will kill her first. Lady Priscilla won't leave, because Winnie is here. Draco won't leave, because his parents are on the battlefield… Prairie and all these people share the same thought.

But Prass couldn't bring herself to say any of these reasons; she couldn't tell Pansy her true identity unless Voldemort completely disappeared from the world.

Pansy felt a sudden rush of heat in her head, her ears ringing, and she could hear nothing more. After a long while, she stammered, "You are...you are...a Death Eater?"

If the Death Eaters left at this point, it would be tantamount to betraying Voldemort, and they would be courting death.

Praris closed his eyes reluctantly and nodded heavily: "Pansy, you should go. It's the best thing for me if you leave, so I can have one less thing to worry about."

"Bastard!" Pansy raised her fist and pounded Praris's shoulder, growling, "You're a complete bastard, you tricked me so badly... Merlin, save me, what do you want me to do?"

“Pansy, I can protect myself.” Praris let Pansy hit herself. “You go. I’ll come find you when it’s all over.”

Pansy looked up, her face already streaked with tears, sobbing uncontrollably, yet still managing to suppress her sobs: "For any one of you, I've thought of staying, even if it meant death. Dying with friends is better than living alone. But I can't do it... They see me as shameless... Yes, I am shameless. But they don't know why I'm shameless. Millison is standing behind those people, among the Order of the Phoenix. Going against the Mystic will kill her, so it's better for Potter to die. But you... but you..."

Her words were incoherent and lacked any clear logic, but Prasri understood them. Pansy pushed Harry out not only for Prasri's sake, but also for Millison—Millison had actually joined the Order of the Phoenix!

As a Slytherin, Pansy understood Voldemort's terror all too well. She knew that going against Voldemort meant certain death, which is why she hoped to use Harry to buy her life and then deal with Millison's problem.

If it were just Praris on this battlefield, Pansy might have hesitated to risk her life—she had actually considered choosing this dangerous path—to stay. But now she had friends on both sides of the battlefield, and fate had cruelly torn her in two. Helping either side would be tantamount to harming the other.

Praris took a deep breath, hugged Pansy tightly, and finally made up her mind to say, "I'm serious, Pansy. Go, just for our sake... We're in this together, and we'll go back together. Don't ask why, I love you."

She kissed Pansy's cheek and pushed her away.

Praris had once considered uniting all forces by any means possible, but secretly hoped that Pansy would make her own choice. Now that the day had come when Pansy wavered, Praris didn't want to see Pansy make that choice and hoped she would stay away from the battlefield.

Pansy was pushed back several steps, her eyes wide, but Filch pulled her away. As she was being led away, she kept looking back, tears streaming down her face like raindrops.

Filch didn't know why Pansy was crying; he only knew that Vice Principal McGonagall had told the girl to retreat first, and that she had already dragged it out long enough.

Praris noticed that Daphne was almost driven mad by Astoria while she was arguing with Pansy.

Daphne was at her wit's end. Her position differed from Astoria's—nor was it opposite. She couldn't let this brat drag the whole family down with her, nor could she stand by and watch her die.

So Daphne made the best decision a Slytherin could make. She dragged Astoria to Slughorn and made her kneel down before him.

I don't know what kind of sweet words this older sister said, but she miraculously succeeded in entrusting her younger sister to the current dean.

Praris saw Daphne take two steps back and said in a cold, harsh tone, "Astoria, you know I won't let Mom and Dad lose all their children to protect you—goodbye!"

Daphne took two steps back, turned around and left resolutely without the slightest hesitation.

Praris sighed.

This is her fault, and she needs to make amends.

Slughorn felt like slapping himself.

How could he have agreed?!

How could he have agreed?!

Slughorn, Slughorn, you can't even guarantee your own survival, and you're bringing along this... this... well, this child says she's an adult... no, she only turned 18 last month!

"Lia!"

Slughorn looked up in surprise and saw Praris walking towards them. By this time, almost all the Slytherin students had left, leaving only Praris, Astoria, and Evan.

Praris walked up to them and stopped, then pulled a bottle of Felix Felicis from his pocket!

Slughorn secretly praised his good eye. Praris was indeed a talent, and he was clearly a master at brewing Felix Felicis—look at that luster!

If Praris had noticed what Slughorn was thinking, she would have thought it was because Voldemort used the best and most expensive materials for himself, which was why it was of such high quality.

Prarese placed the Felix Felicis in Astoria's hand and said carefully, "Lia, I have nothing to say. Don't make your sister sad."

"What about Draco?"

"He already had it."

After saying that, she glanced at Evan, who was standing somewhat awkwardly to the side. The Slytherin boy stood there awkwardly; he didn't have a sister kneeling before him, nor did he have Felix Felicis, but he stood there nonetheless.

Praris turned and left. She did not stay in the Great Hall, nor did she head in the direction of the retreating army. Instead, she walked towards the Death Eaters.

She recalled her last conversation with Evan, the boy who had refused her invitation but promised not to reveal the secret as long as the Mystic lived, with the elf Barney as a witness to the spell.

Evan said with some shame, "I understand what you're saying. But... I'm sorry, I'm a coward. If only one day I could be as brave as Meryl."

Now, Evan Travers has done it.

“Praris is gone.” Milison, who had been hiding behind Hagrid, peeked out. “Thank goodness she’s gone. I was worried she wouldn’t leave, especially if she saw me here! Meryl, let’s hurry over!”

These four people made Slytherin's long table no longer empty.

As soon as Praris stepped out of the castle grounds, the mark on her left forearm began to burn – Voldemort was summoning her!

This was the first time Praris had been summoned and the first time she had experienced such a feeling. Her heart was pounding, and without thinking too much, she answered Voldemort's call.

In the presence of Voldemort, hesitation is tantamount to having ulterior motives.

It turns out that Voldemort's summoning leads to a special magical connection that allows her to Apparate to Voldemort's side, provided she leaves the castle, which still has protective magic.

Surprisingly, as soon as she landed, Voldemort's wand—which was also Dumbledore's wand—was pointed at her.

“My dear child…you promised me that the Soul-Gathering Elixir would make me…more powerful and ‘stable.’ So, explain the fluctuations I just felt.”