HP North Star's Radiance

“Harry…” Dumbledore’s eyes were filled with shame and unconcealable pain. “My only promise to you was to tell you the truth. And the truth is that I love you as much as I love my own child. That’s why asking you to make this choice is my greatest pain.”

Dumbledore stepped forward, his bright blue eyes fixed on Harry: "I did not choose Prasris or Severus over you. I chose to let as many people as possible live in a world that we can buy with our sacrifices. This includes the man I just saved, and everyone in the castle who fought for us."

Harry gradually quieted down, staring at Dumbledore for a long time, as if re-examining this so-called greatest wizard whom he had both respected and doubted.

Chapter 301 Saint or Sinner?

Dumbledore didn't shy away from Harry's scrutinizing gaze; such gazes were all too commonplace for him. Long ago, he had known clearly that he wasn't perfect, and he was able to face all his inner flaws.

But when he faced Harry, his voice became extremely low and filled with guilt—no kind person could make such a decision without feeling ashamed: "Yes, Harry, I have charted a path to death for you, a cruel decision. But now... I will make the only compensation I can offer—I will not let you walk this path alone."

Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, Voldemort's voice boomed like thunder. He amplified his voice to make sure everyone could hear him.

Harry and Dumbledore both looked up in the direction the sound came from, even though they couldn't actually see Voldemort.

“Look at you, fighting and shedding blood for him. But tell me, where was the great Albus Dumbledore when you needed him most? He tricked you into using your own flesh and blood to hold off my army, while he himself hid away. Is he a leader or a coward?”

Voldemort feigned confusion, his tone filled with condescending pity. The battle had temporarily ceased, and everyone looked towards the Death Eater army, whispering amongst themselves about what had happened.

"Of course he's still alive!" Voldemort shrewdly exposed the truth. "He's crawled back from his grave like a rat in the gutter, using the most despicable tricks! He preaches love and fearlessness of death to you, yet he himself flees from it in the most wretched way! He orchestrated a year-long deception targeting all his followers!"

"Why is he hiding?" Voldemort asked himself, answering, "Not to protect you, but to protect himself. He's afraid of me, afraid of losing his life and his good reputation, even willing to sacrifice the savior boy he's nurtured—Harry Potter! Do you hear me? Potter! You're just a shield for him!"

The crowd was completely out of control and became chaotic. The discussions grew louder and louder, and even though everyone here had voluntarily stayed to fight Voldemort, doubts and wavering began to emerge.

If Dumbledore really didn't die, what was he doing while he was fighting his bloody battle, while his loved ones were falling? Did their sacrifice seem somewhat foolish and ridiculous?

“Albus Dumbledore!” Voldemort shouted, spreading his arms wide. “Now, come out and face me, or you will be just as I accuse you of being, a complete fraud and a coward!”

In the Forbidden Forest, Snape stopped in his tracks and looked towards the battlefield. He spread his left hand, shielding Prareus behind him: "Let's see what's going on."

When Prarese was burying his mother, he anticipated that Voldemort would react.

Voldemort was a cowardly and self-preserving individual, possessing a Slytherin-like sense of self-preservation. However, he wasn't a fool; Dumbledore could only deceive him temporarily.

Voldemort would soon realize that since Dumbledore was not dead but had not shown himself, it meant that Dumbledore did not have the power to truly intimidate him.

Voldemort will use this incident to force Dumbledore to come out. He wants to use this opportunity to dethrone Dumbledore and prove that Dumbledore is not a god, but an ordinary person.

“Dumbledore can’t go—we should go back and try to persuade him,” Praris said, frowning. “No one knows his condition better than I do. He’s completely incapable of fighting Void right now; going would be suicide. Unless he shows up, who can prove he’s still alive besides us, Harry, and Hermione?”

Aside from Voldemort, only his own people knew that Dumbledore was still alive, so why would he go and die?

After Dumbledore faithfully fulfilled his promise, Prarese began to see him in new eyes—not as a collaborator, but as a true friend.

Snape paused for a moment, then said, "Dumbledore will definitely go."

"Why?" Praris asked. "This is not a wise decision."

“Prareth, reason is something we only talk about,” Snape said calmly. “Gryffindors are good at making unwise decisions.”

“Harry, this is not a wise decision.” Dumbledore placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders, his gaze gentle yet firm. “But it is a decision that must be made.”

"No!" Harry's eyes widened, and he reached out to grab it, but only grasped at thin air—Dumbledore's Apparition was so good that even the best Seeker couldn't catch him. "No—Dumbledore, no!"

Harry fell to the ground, but felt no pain at all. He was furious that Dumbledore was still alive, but he never wanted Dumbledore to die.

He believed in Dumbledore's power, especially after discovering that Dumbledore was still alive, but he also heeded Dumbledore's words—"I will not let you walk this path alone."

Harry was about to embark on a dead end, so how could Dumbledore accompany him on this path... to his death? He ran out like a madman, stumbling and crawling, completely forgetting that Hogwarts now allowed Apparition.

The Death Eaters and the rebels cried out in surprise as they spotted a familiar figure in the clearing: a long robe with a moon-white background and gold patterns, bright blue eyes, and a gentle, loving face.

Dumbledore spoke, his voice not loud but very clear: "What Tom said... is mostly true."

No one cared who "Tom" was; everyone was only concerned with Dumbledore's words. His candor caused a stir, but it also silenced all other discussions.

"I have indeed survived with the help of a clever friend, and deceived almost the entire world," Dumbledore frankly admitted. "I have indeed feared death, and for what I considered to be a just cause, I have chosen the path of lingering on."

As soon as Dumbledore finished speaking, a student in the crowd shouted, "Dumbledore! We believe you're not that kind of person! As long as you're alive, none of that matters!"

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore gave a bright, childlike smile and shook his head slightly.

“Thank you, Mr. Lewis, but this is important,” Dumbledore said. “I have gone into hiding not for fame, but for duty—a duty I cannot leave to a child to bear alone. I have lied not for myself, but so that more people may have the chance to live.”

Voldemort sneered: "Dumbledore, there's nothing shameful about trying to survive, but lies are not. Of course you can say you're doing it for justice and for more people—who can't say nice things? When people want to make excuses, a hundred are easy to come by."

“Take this as an excuse,” Dumbledore replied casually. “Today, I stand here not as anyone imagines… a great wizard, that’s just a symbol, a symbol that’s long dead. I stand here simply as an ordinary old man, an old man who has made many mistakes, but is still willing to use his last strength to correct them, to protect something important.”

“The dear friend who saved my life once said something to me that I really liked,” Dumbledore said, gazing towards the Forbidden Forest, where only lush, dark woods stretched out. “She told me that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

"If my efforts can prove to the world that even a flawed life still has a beautiful thing worth sacrificing for, and that even a selfish and fragile person is still willing to choose a path of redemption to benefit more people... then, Tom, this is my final answer."

In the Forbidden Forest, Prasris held her head high and closed her eyes. It was in Southend by the sea, and she vaguely knew that Professor Snape might have committed some mistake that he himself could not forgive, but she neither investigated nor thought about it.

"Aren't you curious at all?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

Praris said, "If you're curious, why don't you tell me?"

"No," Dumbledore said.

Prarese said, "I'm not curious unless Mr. Snape himself is willing to tell me."

"Even if it might be dark, vile, or disgusting?" Dumbledore asked.

"You have a rich vocabulary of adjectives," Prarese said.

"I'm not curious," she repeated. "Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. When Professor Snape made his current choice, he was already redeeming himself for his mistakes."

It feels good to admit you're a bad person, because you won't feel guilty about doing bad things afterward. Prarese was like that a long time ago.

But the consequence of this is that she finds it difficult to allow herself to be a good person again, even if she comes to a kind environment and receives a kind education. Once she starts to do something even a little good, even just forgiving other people's mistakes, it makes her previous acts of intimidation, manipulation, and harm to Fiona and others seem even more egregious.

It wasn't until she saw that sentence that she had a reason to forgive herself, even though it made her left and right brains seem to be fighting each other, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

Is Dumbledore a saint?

Many people think so.

Was Dumbledore a sinner?

Many people think so too.

But Dumbledore no longer wanted to be a sinner. He wanted to atone, so he stepped forward and abandoned his potential future.

Without a word, the battle began.

Voldemort was not facing Harry Potter. At this moment, he did not have the obsession to use the Killing Curse to take revenge and reclaim the place he had lost seventeen or eighteen years ago.

He twirled his wand and unleashed several powerful bolts of black lightning—the Soul-Gathering Elixir had made him strong again.

Dumbledore pulled at the water of the Black Lake, transforming it into a powerful ribbon of water that used its gentleness to block Voldemort's black lightning. The lightning, enveloped by the water, became an electrified water whip, which instead lashed out at Voldemort, shaking the ground.

"Dumbledore is still as strong as ever." Fred and George high-fived and whistled loudly.

During the previous battle, a massive explosion occurred in the corridor, and the three brothers thought they were doomed. Unexpectedly, a Slytherin used a protective spell that no one had ever heard of to block the attack in the middle of the corridor.

"How did you do that!" Percy was utterly astonished.

Meryl grabbed one of them with each hand: "Stop talking nonsense! Get up! This is all Evan is good at!"

The Slytherin was named Evan Travers, the boyfriend of Meryl Streep, a Muggle-born witch under the protection of the Order of the Phoenix. Evan said he found this powerful protective spell in a tattered book in his family and practiced it for almost a year.

He practiced just one spell for a whole year!

"I told you I would protect you," Evan proudly told his girlfriend, Meryl.

Fred laughed heartily: "It feels really strange to be saved by Slytherin."

"Then you can go die," Meryl said bluntly.

"That's not surprising," George said.

Percy forced out a joke: "Thank us—we've proven Travers's reliability."

"It's so cold." Meryl forced a smile.

Evan stood to the side, running and grinning foolishly.

Back on the battlefield, the electrified water whip shot towards Voldemort like a dragon, the powerful impact shaking the ground. It took Voldemort considerable effort to defeat it, scattering it into a rain of water.

“The battle is still even.” Snape raised his wand, opened his magical umbrella, and shielded himself and Praris.

Prareth's Insight Charm was easy to learn and use, and Snape watched from a distance as well.

Praris shook his head thoughtfully: "No, Dumbledore didn't break the man's attack; he merely neutralized it. He didn't create the power himself; rather, he channeled the power that already existed in the environment."

"Dumbledore used Voldemort's black lightning to turn the Black Lake into an electrified water dragon, turning Voldemort's own methods against him, and combined with his own magic, he achieved a great effect with minimal effort... He was conserving his power."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Voldemort flew into the air, brandishing his wand and summoning a massive Fiendfire, attempting to crush Dumbledore from both the air and the ground.

The raging fire spread like wildfire, roaring and evaporating all the raindrops along its path, visibly distorting the sky.

Praris was startled. How should he deal with this? The Fiery Blaze could not be extinguished. He could either use the Curse of All Ends or the corresponding antidote.

However, under such an attack, Dumbledore's individual power of all curses was ultimately insufficient to completely destroy it. As for breaking the curse... breaking the curse was certainly possible, but Dumbledore would have to be burned to death before he could do so.

Unless... there is some way to hold back the raging fire.

Sure enough, Dumbledore and Prasri thought of the same place, but the experienced Dumbledore still thought further ahead than the merely clever Prasri.

Before this, the giant water dragon was shattered by Voldemort, turning into a torrential downpour that soaked the soil beneath Dumbledore's feet.

With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore effortlessly transformed the damp land into a vast magical swamp, holding back the Fiendfire, and then used the corresponding dispelling spell to break the Fiendfire.

Voldemort repeatedly unleashed increasingly powerful and terrifying magic, all of which Dumbledore effortlessly neutralized. It was as if everything was a mockery of Voldemort's pursuit of immense power.

Chapter 302 Rushing Towards Death

In the Forbidden Forest, Prareus turned to Snape, a clear look of doubt on his face: "Sir, is Dumbledore's use of magic perhaps too masterful? He seems to be taking longer than I expected."

Snape usually ignored or mocked such nonsense. But now he calmly replied, "If I had seen Dumbledore before."

Dumbledore is currently on Prader's drug. Due to these interfering factors, even Prader himself cannot determine Dumbledore's true condition, let alone Snape, who hasn't seen Dumbledore in person for a long time.

Dumbledore's understanding of Hogwarts and his mastery of magic were so exquisite that he seemed to anticipate three steps ahead, each move meticulously planned and executed. This rendered Voldemort's powerful attacks as easily as a clay ox sinking into the sea, leaving everyone present in awe.

However, under the Insight Charm, it was impossible to ignore that Dumbledore's lips were gradually losing their color, and his breathing was becoming rapid.

“This is bad,” Praris said. “Maintaining such a large magical swamp with advanced Transfiguration and simultaneously breaking the curse on the Fiendfire cast on the mysterious man seems to have exhausted Dumbledore’s strength.”

Indeed, Dumbledore cleverly utilized the water spilled after the water dragon's destruction, effectively using it for two purposes and making it a highly efficient fighting technique. However, Voldemort's Fiendfire was powerful enough that an ordinary mud pit would have been dried up long ago. Dumbledore must have put in considerable effort to hold off the Fiendfire for so long.

Two defeats shattered Voldemort's composure. He had assumed that Dumbledore, hiding and clinging to life, was incapable of opposing him, at best merely putting on a brave front. Seizing this opportunity, he was determined to show everyone how easily he could tear the greatest white wizard apart, like a piece of paper!