HP North Star's Radiance

He took a deep breath and pointed to his chest: "If you don't believe me, then do some divination. Divinate me however you believe in! Or, use the Fidelity Charm and have Harry and Hermione witness for us! Or... just take a knife, open my heart and see if... if you're the only one inside!"

As soon as Ron finished speaking, Lavender pounced on him, raised her head and kissed him fiercely, as if to make up for all the kisses she had missed over the years.

They embraced and kissed passionately, like they were in a battle, even eating Ron's lipstick. Lavender's ornaments jingled and tinkled like a love song.

Between kisses, Lavender couldn't help but say, "I believe you, Roro!"

Ron sweetly called Lavender by her nickname: "I love you, Lav!"

The rose quartz crystal shone brightly under the light.

Extra Chapter: Daphne's Short Story

The story begins with Mr. Greengrass recounting his family's glory to young Daphne.

Of course, mixed-race and Mudbloods are unreliable; only purebloods are truly one of us. With Astoria about to be born, the purebloods will gain a new member, and everyone should be happy about it.

Daphne was also very happy.

But young Astoria was in poor health, and her mother devoted all her energy to her younger sister, leaving Daphne feeling dispensable. She had to do something to make herself noticed.

"Dad, is the Minister of Magic a pure-blood?"

When Daphne asked this question, Mr. Greengrass, who had just finished get off work and picked up Astoria, immediately put his younger daughter down and began talking to his older daughter about the politics of pure blood.

Little Daphne's mind immediately started working, revealing the shrewdness inherent in a Slytherin, which allowed her to find her own way of surviving.

From then on, whenever Daphne tried to get her father's attention away from Astoria, she would ask him questions about pure-blood ideology, and her father never fell for it.

Astoria didn't like talking about such things. The little sister wasn't interested in her older sister's daily ramblings about abstract concepts; she preferred chatting with her mother about the Witch's Weekly and interesting little story collections. She also didn't understand why her older sister sometimes got inexplicably angry with her, and why her mother always criticized her for not being gentler with her younger sister and not acting like a proper older sister.

"Okay," Astoria said to her mother, "Duffy didn't say anything!"

"You should learn from your sister," Mrs. Greengrass said, exasperated. "What witch is like you!"

Daphne snapped, "So what if I'm spoiled? Only Leah is a daughter in your eyes, not me!"

"What are you saying!" Mrs. Greengrass exclaimed in surprise.

Purebloodism is Daphne's natural haven.

Entering Hogwarts was like a fish falling from a fishbowl into the sea; the Slytherin environment made her feel suffocated.

Of course, Daphne's classmates were all purebloods, and many of them supported pureblood ideology. The only one she couldn't understand was Praris Prince.

Daphne has never heard of anyone with that surname!

"Many wizards died in the last war, didn't they?" Milison said nonchalantly. "It's normal that we can't find them."

Daphne tried twice but received no answer. However, Prince was overly familiar with the magical world and had never contacted his family, so he was probably an orphan.

It is very offensive to touch on other people’s sad past, for example, Daphne always knew about Mr. Burst but never said anything.

Daphne didn't ask any more questions, but simply assumed that Prince, being so outstanding, must be a pure-blooded wizard.

Pureblood and purebloodism are Daphne's safe haven, always have been.

In her second year, Daphne was never afraid of any basilisk, since she was a pure-blood wizard. Later, when the Mystic was resurrected, she wasn't worried at all, since she was pure-blood and a pure-blood advocate.

In the first few years, only summer vacation made her unhappy. Astoria would ask her about school all the time, so she could only express her frustration by writing letters to her girlfriends.

Later, Astoria also went to school.

The weather was awful on the first day of school, and I don't know what weird thing happened. When all the lights went out, Daphne instinctively grabbed her sister's hand, and then regretted it, as if she cared about that brat so much.

Daphne couldn't understand why her mother preferred Astoria; her sister had only ever hurt her, whether she was young and frail or later associated with the Mudbloods.

After a year of studying, Astoria had actually become friends with the Mudbloods of the Hufflepuffs, a disgrace to the Greengrass family.

Dad was angry and Mom was heartbroken. Daphne was secretly pleased while she was unhappy with her sister, because Dad was starting to approve of her more and said that the Greengrass family would still have to rely on her in the future.

That night, Daphne couldn't sleep after hearing those words. She was so excited that she started keeping a diary from that day forward, writing that sentence on the first page, and fell asleep holding the diary.

Yes, she is Greengrass's future.

To Daphne's regret, her mother was indeed disappointed by Astoria's depravity, but she became more attentive to Leah and tried to find a way to correct her younger daughter's thinking.

Therefore, Daphne frequently adopted the role of the older sister, using pure-blood ideology to educate her younger sister, which earned her father's approval.

What infuriated Daphne was that Mrs. Greengrass would frequently criticize her: "You never keep an eye on your sister at school, and you didn't stop her from befriending Mudbloods. Now we don't know what to do!"

"Is it my fault that she made a mistake?!" Daphne was so angry she almost fainted.

Later, her mother even spent 500 Galleons to buy a potion with no official name, claiming it could cure the little wizard's rebellion. As a result, she successfully got Leia to drink it and enter St. Mungo's.

Daphne was both annoyed and amused, and didn't know what to say.

Did Mom favor Leah, but did Dad really favor Daphne? Not really.

Daphne knew that her father wasn't really that attentive to either of the children. And since Daphne was saying things he wanted to hear, he was happy to chat a little longer.

Her life was an absurd farce, but Daphne had to keep playing the part to maintain her crumbling dignity.

When Daphne saw Praris return to class, she breathed a genuine sigh of relief. She could tell that Praris didn't endorse pureblood ideology and was willing to help Leah. Her return to class at least proved she wasn't a Mudblood.

Sometimes in life, Daphne thought, there's no need to worry so much. Just as she never investigated why she didn't receive more care from her parents, knowing too much would only increase her sadness.

During the final battle, that crazy girl Astoria actually stayed behind. Daphne was furious and wanted nothing more than to knock her unconscious and drag her away, only to discover that she was no match for her sister—it was all Praris's doing!

Daphne didn't know what she was thinking either; she only knew that she couldn't die because she was the future of Greengrass. What about Claria? She couldn't take her with her, and staying meant certain death!

She's probably gone mad.

Doesn't she hate Astoria?

Why would he kneel down and beg for this crazy girl?

Daphne couldn't understand herself.

She must have really gone mad.

"Duffy/Daphne!"

Astoria and Slughorn were both taken aback, never expecting Daphne to go to such lengths for her sister.

Slughorn, with a look of "I owe you guys," gritted his teeth and agreed. Daphne immediately felt that her kneeling was well worth it—after all, she hadn't really sacrificed anything.

"Duffy..." Astoria said remorsefully, "I'm sorry, I'm always so willful... If I have the chance to come back, will you forgive me?"

"Your parents put so much effort into raising you," Daphne said viciously. "If you don't come back, I will never forgive you for the rest of my life."

Daphne walked away gracefully, leaving Hogwarts with the retreating group. Pansy cried the whole time, but Daphne didn't shed a single tear.

"Aren't you sad?" Pansy sobbed. "What if something happens to Leah?"

"If sadness were useful, those tears would be enough to resurrect Dumbledore," Daphne said sarcastically. "Besides, Astoria is a blood traitor! She's now on the opposite side of the Man of Void; I only pray she doesn't bring disaster to the family!"

Daphne saw the astonishment on Pansy's face, but she ignored it.

In the pitch-black night, Daphne Apparated to her front door and saw that the house was brightly lit, with warm light shining through the windows. She paused slightly, and her heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, relaxed for a moment.

For a moment, she even had a pitiful, extravagant hope that she would receive her parents' care after she opened the door.

The mother, who had been sitting on the sofa covering her face, suddenly stood up, staggered over to her, and looked past Daphne's body, anxiously looking behind her: "Daphne? Where's Leah! Why didn't she come back with you?"

Daphne couldn't help but laugh. She laughed at herself for always having so many pathetic fantasies about family. The lights in the house, burning late into the night, weren't there to welcome her home, but to await the absence of Astoria.

"She refuses to come back," Daphne said coldly.

"How could you laugh out loud?" Mrs. Greengrass grabbed Daphne's shoulders, saying anxiously, "That's your sister! Even if you don't like her, you shouldn't abandon her to her fate. How could I have raised such a cold-blooded daughter!"

Daphne yanked Mrs. Greengrass's hand away and said coldly, "I haven't even asked why I have a mother like you! Since I came into this world, have you ever cared about me? Have you ever asked if I'm okay? You didn't even ask if I tried, and yet you said I don't care about Astoria! Is that how heartless you see me?!"

Daphne admits that for a fleeting moment she had a despicable thought: that her willful sister would never come back. Then she could become the only daughter in the Greengrass family and reclaim that one and only love.

But now she understands, she understands completely.

Even if Astoria doesn't come back, her mother won't love her or cherish her more because of it. Her mother will only hate her, hate that it was her who came back, hate that she couldn't bring Leah back.

Daphne stiffened her neck, tears streaming down her cheeks.

This was the first time she had cried since starting school.

This tear was shed for Daphne herself.

She suddenly understood what she had been thinking when she knelt down. That moment was her attempt at self-redemption through Daphne, that pathetic clown. She pleaded with Slughorn to protect Astoria, not only for her sister and family, but also to save herself from being killed by her mother's resentment.

"Alright, alright!" Mr. Greengrass frowned. "Stop talking... What kind of behavior is this!"

On this extremely cold night, Daphne sat alone on her bed on the second floor until dawn. She didn't sleep; she just sat there all alone, like a stone statue.

The sun was high in the sky when Astoria returned.

She shouted excitedly, instantly enlivening the entire house. She hugged and kissed her parents, exclaiming, "Daddy, I'm home! Mommy, I'm home! Great, great! I drank Felix Felicis, I'm perfectly safe! I'll spin you around!"

The excitement belongs to them, and has nothing to do with Daphne.

She just watched coldly as her younger sister rushed over and hugged her, saying excitedly, "I'm back, whole and unharmed! You promised to forgive me, didn't you?"

"I never agreed to that," Daphne said.

Her words immediately dampened the lively atmosphere, but Astoria wasn't discouraged. She just smiled and said, "I don't believe it... How awkward!"

The war was over, but things hadn't returned to peace—Plares was probably of mixed race. Daphne silently distanced herself from her roommate and friend of seven years.

"Why?!" Astoria pestered Daphne, "What's so good about pure-blood ideology? What benefits has it given you? I only see what it has made you lose!"

"Benefits?" Daphne stared intently at her sister, scoffing, "Yes! It has given me benefits, always has. It's just that you don't need such benefits, and you look down on them!"

Astoria stared at her blankly, then asked tentatively, "What is it, Duffy?"

Daphne desperately wanted to tell Astoria the truth, to tell her how much she hated her for pretending to know nothing. But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Telling the truth would be tantamount to admitting Astoria's pitiful and pathetic state, tantamount to throwing her self-respect to the ground and trampling it underfoot.

"Get out," Daphne said, "before I lose my temper."

Pansy also tried to persuade Daphne, but she couldn't understand what Daphne was insisting on. Everyone else treated pure-blood ideology as a useful tool, but it seemed that only Daphne took it seriously.

But if Daphne gives up on this commitment, what will her past life have been like? She pushes the boulder called "pure-bloodism" up the mountain again and again, not because there is any beautiful scenery on the mountain, but because she no longer knows what else she can do to anchor her value in existence besides pushing the boulder.

She didn't like or endorse pure-blood ideology; she simply needed it. It was the only straw Daphne could grasp, her only foothold in this family.

Daphne secretly guessed that Praris understood everything, which was why she hadn't taken any steps to try and change Daphne. Praris's understanding wasn't because she knew everything about Daphne's past, but because she probably already sensed that Daphne couldn't abandon pureblood ideology—it was a matter of principle.

There's no turning back in her life; she just can't help but look back with longing from time to time. This isn't because her life is so bad, but because she can't get better.

To become better would be to negate everything she had in the past, to negate all the efforts she had made to gain love, and to negate Daphne.