HP North Star's Radiance

Side Story: Sylvia's Choice 5

Prarese accepted her mother's advice and learned to be tolerant of classmates who were not as smart as her, and tried to find their strengths.

“Joey can sing; she’s learning in the choir.”

“Phoebe knows boxing, and her mother also taught her martial arts.”

"Jack can draw; he can draw eleven kinds of animals."

……

Winnie was working on her manuscript, Mrs. Willow was teaching Sylvia how to make desserts, and Prarese followed her mother around like a little tail, telling her about what happened at school.

"Really?" Sylvia asked her daughter, pulling a bit out of the tangled dough. "Pubi, you've made a friend, haven't you?"

“Yes, Phoebe said she wanted to be my teacher,” Prarese relayed her new friend’s words in full. “She said, ‘It’s always someone else who’s the teacher, I want to be one too.’ And I agreed.”

Mrs. Willow laughed heartily: "That's great, then we won't be afraid of you being bullied—Hill, Holly was always bullied when she was little."

"What should we do then?" Sylvia was genuinely worried for Holly Willow from ten or twenty years ago. "Holly must have fought back by now!"

Very Gryffindor idea, Winnie thought.

Mrs. Willow's eyes widened: "No, how could you hit someone? Holly did nothing wrong, it was those students who were in the wrong. I transferred her to another school, and everything has been fine ever since!"

Sylvia was gradually recovering, though at a slower pace than Winnie was finishing her manuscript. She even began to worry: what if she wasn't better by the time Puby went to Hogwarts?

“This is already a miracle,” the doctor reassured Sylvia. “Ms. Prince, your recovery is much faster than others. Isn’t it too far-fetched for a child to worry about not getting into Cambridge University in ten years?”

At the doctor's urging, Sylvia finally put aside her worries about the future and focused on fighting the difficulties at hand. But what was more worrying than her illness was the unreliable Winnie.

Winnie was punished by the child's mother for teaching Praris an offensive spell.

Sylvia finally realized who the most dangerous person in the house was! Her dearest friend and former Death Eater—Winnie!

She was truly thankful she hadn't committed suicide. If she had left young Prarese in Winnie's care, given Prarese's talent and Winnie's Ravenclaw-esque eccentricities, anything could have happened.

After educating the older ones, Sylvia then addressed the younger ones, reminding them of the dangers of abusing magic and warning Praris not to use magic in front of Muggles.

Praris couldn't help but ask, "Mom, why is that? Magic can save a lot of trouble."

“Because of the law, the laws of wizarding states this,” Sylvia said patiently. “And, we cannot rely on magic; what if there is no magic?”

"Why is there no magic?" Praris pressed. "Isn't magic something we're born with?"

Family is the most important and influential teacher. With Sylvia around, Praris dared to ask his own questions, without having to think alone or go through experiences to find the answers.

Sylvia said, "When a wizard experiences significant setbacks and grief, it affects their ability to use magic. And, Poppy, what if someone with stronger magic than yours appears? What if you can't defeat them?"

“To become stronger.” Praris tilted his head. “A scheme, or a trap.”

Sylvia shook her head: "What if you're not as strong as others? Some people might have stronger magical talent, some might have studied magic longer than you... some people have both. In that case, what's needed is something other than magic, like you said, a scheme or a trap."

“I understand, Mother.” Praris nodded. “Magic, like everything else, is power. We are the ones who use power, not the ones who are controlled by it.”

Sylvia herself couldn't even say that she jumped too fast.

To pursue her writing career, Winnie bought a vast collection of Muggle books, piling them up like a mountain. Prarese would read these Muggle books to Sylvia, who had trouble sleeping, like a little adult trying to lull her mother to sleep.

Sylvia has a talent for divination, but she can never predict what book Winnie will buy, nor can she predict what book her daughter will use to amuse her.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a fine bedtime read, and the evil Muggle Strickland in The Moon and Sixpence makes Sylvia want to pick up her wand.

As for the emotions that Winnie was trying to express, Sylvia didn't understand them. She believed that Strickland and Deepple were essentially no different, only in the number of people they hurt and the ways they were hurt.

“The character’s perspective does not represent the author’s perspective. Just because he is the protagonist does not mean that the author supports him.” As an author, Winnie said, “You hate him simply because you empathize with those three female Muggles. That is exactly what Muggle authors want readers to feel—that under the grand cloak of idealism lies a naked, twisted body, selfishness, prejudice, and madness.”

After she finished speaking, she turned to Prarese and criticized him: "Puby, this can't be a bedtime story, your mother won't be able to sleep."

Praris quickly grabbed the book and ran away.

Sylvia said slowly, "Winnie, what does Puby want to tell me?"

Winnie smiled and said, "Perhaps, Puby wants to tell you that she supports you."

Praris will eventually find out Depp's fate, but how can Sylvia tell her daughter that her father abandoned her and her mother took revenge on him? Even Sylvia herself doesn't think she's entirely right; she also made mistakes by concealing and hindering Depp's ideals.

But Praris answered Sylvia with "The Moon and Sixpence"—Strickland paid the price for his ideals, whether right or wrong.

Prarese would tell Sylvia bedtime stories, and Sylvia would teach her daughter to play divination.

Yes, play.

This is more like a game.

After drinking black tea together, the mother and daughter would look at the tea leaves and drop melted wax into water to see the shapes, among other interesting little games.

Sylvia and Winnie once took Praris's retinue to the countryside to look at the stars together.

“This is Polaris.” Sylvia looked up and pointed to a star in the north sky. “It’s your name, Praris.”

“Pubi, the North Star is not a fixed star. The North Star now is not the North Star of the past, but there will always be a North Star guiding the north.”

"In astrology, the North Star is the guiding star. Your mother agreed to name you after the North Star in the hope that you can find the constant amidst change, always adhere to your true inner direction, and find your way home when you are lost."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Extra new generation

At the end of August 2015, James was about to enroll at Hogwarts.

The whole family was overjoyed to hear the good news of sending their child to school.

There was no way around it; James was just like their twin uncle, loving to joke, loving to play pranks, and loving to tease his younger siblings just because he was older—simply because he thought it was fun.

Ginny finally understood Molly's pain and got angry about it quite a bit, eventually rescuing the two children from her eldest son.

“It’s not time to be happy yet!” Ron couldn’t help but remind Harry. “We might soon receive a letter from Praris telling us how many rules James has broken and urging us to take him back as soon as possible.”

“Ron, you’re so stingy,” Harry complained. “You won’t even let us have a day or two of fun.”

Ron shrugged and said in a nonchalant tone, "Lavender said Mercury is in retrograde recently, you'd better be careful, bro."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ginny knocked on the door: "Harry, stop chatting with Ron here and hurry up and pack James's luggage. Make sure there's nothing that shouldn't be in the suitcase!"

"What should not be there?" Harry asked seriously.

“Like Albus,” Ron said honestly. “I heard him say when I walked in—'I’m going to broaden their horizons.' That kid is much more generous than I am!”

Ron mimicked his nephew's tone, sounding as if he were showing off something amazing.

Ginny was startled, then turned around and roared, "James Sirius Potter!"

Harry quickly slipped away from Ginny, now thinking that cooking dinner was a good job, at least it would keep him away from some of the bloodshed.

Even though they were saying goodbye to the Dark Lord, Harry and Ginny were still reluctant to part with him.

In Ron's words, people who own beagles complain every day that they destroy the house, but when it comes to actually giving them away, they can't bear to part with them—Ginny glared at him fiercely.

James was overjoyed at being able to go out and have fun, and he didn't wilt even after his mother spanked him, which made Ginny feel that something was off.

“What did George and Fred give you?” Ginny stared at her eldest son with a dangerous look. “Tell me the truth, where did you hide them?”

“Mother—” James twisted himself like the snake on Asclepius’s staff and said in a sickeningly sweet voice, “You don’t even want to believe that your son is about to leave home!”

Ginny maintained her smile: "I'm happy to believe you, James. But I believe your father even more—Harry, check me over!"

Harry had to go to the eye of the storm and, relying on his Auror's "sense of smell," find all of his son's treasures. So much so that when Sirius returned home, he only found a pouting, unhappy James.

“Harry, don’t be so harsh on James!” Sirius said, showing a bit of affection for his grandchildren. “When you were young, when I was young, James—I’m talking about your dad—when he was young, who didn’t like to do something interesting?”

Seeing his backer arrive, James cheered, "Sirius is right!"

"Sirius, do you bring fireworks to school?" Ginny asked calmly.

Sirius immediately turned his gun on James: "That's not right of you."

Ginny nodded in satisfaction.

"At least we should take it step by step!" Sirius Black suddenly said, "Bringing some decoy bombs is one thing! But why bring fireworks to school!"

James, Harry, and Sirius were kicked out by Ginny.

Harry felt this was very unfair, as he had done a great job—he had cooked dinner, washed the pots and pans, and hung the clothes out to dry!

Sirius is teaching his child that if a prank is discovered as soon as it's done, it's a failure, and the child needs to practice more!

Ron wins a great victory, achieving the accomplishment of not being kicked out by Ginny, only to discover that his sister has forgotten he's still there.

“Harry, I’d rather have been kicked out with you from the start,” Ron said dejectedly. “I dare say I’m on par with her dwarf Pu in her eyes.”

"It's not that high-class." The eldest nephew slammed his uncle.

The next day, the whole family went to take James to Hogwarts. Harry pushed the cart full of luggage, Ginny carried Lily Luna Potter, and Sirius carried Albus Prince Potter.

Lily was crying, while Albus seemed more composed than his sister, simply looking around curiously.

Ginny started to get a little sentimental: "How I looked forward to going to school with you back then!"

“Now you see me every morning when you wake up,” Harry said with a laugh. “After seeing me so often, you’re starting to get tired of it.”

"You're so annoying!" Ginny glared at Harry indifferently. "James, don't miss us too much. Mom and Dad will write to you often."

“If you’re not writing to criticize me,” James said with a grin, “Mom, you’re welcome to write every day!”

Ginny's sadness vanished instantly.

James stood on tiptoe, and Ginny knelt down so he could kiss his sister's cheek: "Lily, don't miss me too much, I'll be back for Christmas! And you, Albus."

Harry's got a headache. His brother's coming along too, right?

Albus nodded, burying his face against Harry's neck, refusing to be kissed by his brother—a kind of reverse orientation.

The train arrived, and Ginny gave her a long lecture, afraid her son would destroy Hogwarts. She'd never seen him misbehave at school, but hadn't she seen his twin brothers do anything wrong? That wasn't just school rules; it was practically a guaranteed way to break the Hogwarts leaderboard.

James hummed and moaned, "Mmm, ahh, in one ear and out the other."

“Don’t forget to tell Neville and Pray that we love them!” Ginny said as she hugged James.

James said, "Mom, should I be glad there aren't any old bats or weasels here?"

Ginny didn't lecture him on respecting the professors; she simply said, "Just talk to Neville. I'm really terrified of receiving letters from Prader now!"

The train finally departed. Ginny's worry shifted from that her eldest son was bringing contraband to school to that he was making contraband at school.

"Altany!"

On the train, James heard someone calling out, and he couldn't help but click his tongue. The most annoying guy in the world had appeared.