HP North Star's Radiance

She has never seen Sylvia, the form Boggart conjured, since she was five years old, which suggests that this was a fear she had not overcome before the age of five.

Prarese almost laughed at herself; before the age of five, her greatest fear was her own mother with a magic wand. Her childhood tragedy hadn't even begun in the convent; the gears of fate had already been set in motion long before that.

Those days of fantasizing about whether her biological parents might regret abandoning her or come back to her were as laughable as a circus clown.

Praris wandered aimlessly through the castle, not thinking about anything, just letting her mind go blank, drifting around the school like a ghost.

She had read a quote many years ago: "To begin to think is to begin to be destroyed." The more you ponder the meaning of your existence, the more you reflect on where you came from, and the more you rummage through the "loose threads" on others, the easier it is to become trapped in the quagmire of the past and unable to extricate yourself.

These are precisely the things Prares used to love doing most: exploring the hidden secrets within himself and others.

Her Hogwarts and Slytherin "family" changed her; she no longer relished such things, but chose to do them and obtain them. She used the love given to her and the knowledge she gained to build a Praris that belonged only to the present and the future.

Praris stopped and looked at the ugly, hunchbacked, one-eyed witch statue in front of him.

The witch's statue has only one eye, yet it stands here year after year, its existence undiminished by its imperfection. Praris has a past of abandonment, but many still love her and hope she can grow up healthy and happy.

Trying to figure out why Sylvia abandoned her is incredibly foolish. She did it, it happened, that's the fact, there's nothing to ponder.

Miss Winnie once said, "My strength lies in the fact that I have the courage and ability to give up everything in my past and start over at any time."

This isn't always limited to achievements. Letting go of self-pity and self-deprecation about one's misfortunes also requires a firm resolve.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh, Praris?!"

Granger's voice suddenly rang out behind Praris.

Praris turned around and looked at her with a puzzled expression: "Miss Granger, are you running a marathon?"

Granger was taken aback: "What? A marathon? How do you know about marathons?"

Prare said frankly, "Is this rare?"

Granger said anxiously, "I don't know, it doesn't matter. Hey, move aside, I need to get something. You won't tell anyone else, right? Like before."

"Probably," Praris said warily. "Have you encountered the power of the mysterious figure again?"

"No! Separate left and right!" Granger looked like he was in a real hurry. "It's not the mysterious person, but you won't want to know what I'm planning to do. Goodbye!"

"Oh—goodbye."

Praris pinched her brow. She had just told herself not to delve into the past, but Granger's hurried appearance had interrupted her plans.

Okay, it's just a little bit of curiosity, right?

We can't just stand by and watch them steal Slytherin's hard-won victory, can we?

Let her think about it. Granger took the Invisibility Cloak from the secret passage behind the witch's statue. The Invisibility Cloak was Potter's gadget. Dumbledore warned him at the beginning of the semester not to use the Invisibility Cloak to challenge the Dementors' profession.

To be fair, she had a pretty high level of trust with Granger, perhaps because Granger knew he couldn't fool Praris no matter what. So he simply stopped hiding the fact that he had the invisibility cloak.

Crabbe and Goyle had told her that they had seen "Potter's head" at Hogsmeade. The fact that Potter left the Invisibility Cloak here suggests he used it to leave the school and go to Hogsmeade. But this process was interrupted, so he had to temporarily hide the Invisibility Cloak in the secret passage.

The person who interrupted Potter was Professor Snape, who had been brought in by Draco and his friends.

Before the exam today, Draco was bragging everywhere that Buckbeak was definitely going to die, and Granger even considered asking her, a Slytherin, for help—though she refused. This is why Granger thought, "But you wouldn't want to know what I'm planning to do."

In short, Granger plans to use the invisibility cloak to rescue Buckbeak.

From Draco's family's perspective, they love Draco and have the ability to retaliate against Buckbeak for harming him, so why not? From Granger's perspective, rescuing her friend's animal friends is something she should risk everything for.

From Prarese's perspective, Buckbeak was wrong, but not deserving of death. The one who truly needed a lesson was the tactless Rubeus Hagrid.

Praris sighed. Since it wasn't something that involved fighting the mysterious man or gaining a hundred or two points, she didn't need to get involved.

Praris stood by the window in the corridor, where he could see Hogwarts' vegetable garden, Lady Sprout's greenhouse, the Whomping Willow, and the Forbidden Forest.

The setting sun cast a warm glow, like red-hot iron. Running in the fading light were Granger and her friend Potter.

Granger, you took the invisibility cloak but didn't use it?

Praris blinked and fell into thought.

As dusk settled, Praris changed into her bathrobe and sat on the windowsill reading Stella's textbook.

After finishing the NEWT exam, Stella, with a look of resignation, packed up all her upper-grade textbooks and gave them to Praris.

"Have you considered the possibility that...?" Praris asked hesitantly.

"No! You can't!" Stella interrupted Praris. "No 'what if'! These books are all yours, you don't need to give them back!"

Praris was amused by her exaggerated manner.

At that moment, Praris was sitting on the windowsill reading a book, while the giant squid outside leisurely scurried back and forth.

Praris couldn't help but turn to look at the lake outside the window. Being a human was definitely not as good as being a giant squid. In the Black Lake, giant squid had plenty to eat and play with, and they didn't have to worry about what to do tomorrow.

Milison seemed to think Prares was worried about the exam. She sat down at Prares's feet, clenched her fist, and said confidently, "Pray, don't think too much about it! I'm sure you'll still get the highest score."

“No, it’s not about that. I just feel like something’s not right.” Prareas frowned.

She wasn't worried about Sylvia at all; she had already figured it out that afternoon in front of the one-eyed witch statue.

She just always had a bad feeling, a sense of unease, like a centaur seeing a bright fire, a Muggle seeing a black cat, or a wizard seeing a black dog.

"Why don't you go to bed early tonight?" Milison said with a grin. "There's no problem that a good night's sleep can't solve."

Praris smiled and shook his head: "There are too many troubles in this world that a good night's sleep can't solve."

But Milison has a point; perhaps she really was too tired, which is why she was so restless.

Praris found the calming pillow that Ms. Sprout had given him, and with it under his pillow, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Prarese is someone who hardly dreams. Sleep is a highly functional thing for her; if it weren't for maintaining a good mental state the next day, she wouldn't even need to sleep.

She falls asleep very easily, always lying down and falling asleep as soon as she wakes up, only to wake up when it's already dawn.

But this time was different; she had a dream, which was unusual for her, and the scene in the dream was very clear. First, she saw a person, a Gryffindor student who looked a lot like Potter, arguing with another boy.

The boy who looked like Potter got very angry, and then he ran towards the Whomping Willow at an incredible speed. Shockingly, for reasons unknown, the Whomping Willow didn't react to his arrival at all, but instead revealed a tunnel.

Praris's gaze followed "Potter II" into the tunnel, where he found a young Professor Snape—and a werewolf going mad!

Praris sat bolt upright. Her clothes were completely soaked with sweat, and her hair was also drenched in sweat, turning into streaks.

"Milly! Millie!" Praris whispered in the darkness.

Milison peeked out from under the covers, still half asleep, and asked, "What's wrong, Play?"

"Where did you put your moon phase chart?" Praris asked in a flustered tone.

Millison was a little confused. She said, "What's wrong with it in the astronomy textbook?"

“I want to see what day it is today,” Praris said as she got out of bed.

Pansy sat up and said, "Hmm, the moon's almost full, isn't it? I saw it when I came down—how could you not have figured that out?"

Praris felt a headache coming on, and she breathed heavily: "Which dorm is Selwyn in?!"

Catherine Selwyn was awakened by the knocking on the door.

Being a prefect is no easy job, and being a prefect in Slytherin is even more troublesome, especially when every student under you has their own ideas.

Chapter 63 End of Semester

"Look at you, disturbing someone's sleep over something so trivial?" Selwyn's smile almost cracked open. "Miss Prince, if you have nightmares, just brew yourself some calming medicine and drink it down—okay?"

“Miss Selwyn, I never joke about such things!” The deep voice could not conceal Praris’s firm tone. “Professor Trelawney said that mystery favors me.”

“I think the dream foreshadows that Professor Snape is indeed in danger. We can confirm it by going to his office. I swear on my reputation that if I am punished, I will take full responsibility.”

Pras's memories of life begin in the convent, and the influence of the Church on her is self-evident. St. Francis once dreamed of a palace, which Muggles called "the Lord" guiding his destiny.

Praris, of course, never believed in such things. More like a publicity stunt than a sign of destiny.

But in the wizarding world, one of the reference books for OWLS divination classes is "The Dream Interpretation Guide." Dreams connect the future and the past, and are closely related to the wizard's brain, memory, and soul. At the Waggadu Magic School in Africa, they even announce a young wizard's enrollment through dreams.

She was just a student, and dreaming of her respected teacher being in danger sounded more like the result of wild imagination. But Prareas had long suspected that there must be some unspoken connection between her and Professor Snape.

Professor Snape had taught her how to multitask while conducting research and had secured for her the privilege of not returning to the monastery for the summer. He had assigned her extra summer homework based on her talents and had cleaned up the mess with her using the ceremonial slips. He had also given her two months to consider the elective courses and had specifically asked her about the details of the Boggart affair.

Professor Snape wouldn't have given any extra attention to anyone else. His praise for Draco was more like a cold, emotionless compliment to a relative's child, and his treatment of the Potter trio, whom he disliked, was even more brutal and harsh.

Even though all of this was masked by harsh words, his tolerance of Praris almost reached the point of being called forbearance.

This is why Prarese dared not disregard her dream. If Professor Snape's kindness towards her stemmed from a connection between them, did the professor also share a mystical link with her?

Perhaps it was blood ties, or perhaps it was the teacher-student relationship that arose from his kindness towards her.

If the dream were real, and Praris dismissed it as a nightmare, she would surely regret it later.

Selwyn gave her a meaningful look, then grabbed the cloak from beside the bed: "If you're the one who has to take responsibility, what's the point of having prefects?"

“Miss Prince, of course I can choose not to believe you at all. After all, it’s not our place to worry about Professor Snape’s safety.”

“But Flint and Farley both say you are a formidable genius. I don’t know if you’ve discovered something and are planning to use a dream as an excuse. But once I choose to believe in you, it’s my own responsibility.”

After saying that, she raised her voice and said to her roommates, "Miss Prince is having some minor health issues. I'm taking her to see Professor Snape. Please leave the door open for me!"

What happened next was beyond Selwyn's explanation; everything seemed to confirm what Praris had said.

They knocked on Professor Snape's office door, but he was not there. Prarese then asked Selwin to go to Lupin's office.

"Why Lupin, uh, what about Professor Lupin?" Selwyn asked.

Although not to the extent of Hagrid's prejudice, the Slytherin students held a strong grudge against Remus Lupin, and Prareus's choice greatly puzzled Selwyn.

Praris offered no explanation. Embracing the spirit of "the more lice, the less they itch," Selwin went to knock on Professor Lupin's door anyway.

Surprisingly, Professor Lu Ping wasn't in his office either!

Selwin's expression gradually became uncontrollable. Could they even find a single teacher on duty at the school? She looked frantically at Praris and asked, "Prince, what should we do now?"

Selwyn felt as if Prarese was Gemma Farley, and she was the underclassman. As a prefect, she was actually asking Prarese for her opinion!

Prarese pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders and said firmly, "Go find Professor McGonagall!"

Walking through Hogwarts Castle at night, the empty school made Selwyn unusually uneasy. Moonlight streamed through the corridor windows, casting a hazy white veil, making her feel as if she were on the border between dreams and reality.

A flustered Selwyn finally breathed a sigh of relief at Professor McGonagall's door; at least there was an adult he could count on in this castle!

Professor McGonagall, who opened the door, was also surprised to see Selwin and Prareas: "You two—you're still not asleep at this hour!"

Praris decisively used Selwyn's guess: "Professor McGonagall, Miss Selwyn was forced out by me. I have a bit of a talent for observation, and some clues gave me a bad feeling, which was confirmed not long ago. Quite coincidentally, tonight is the night of the full moon, and we didn't find them in the two professors' offices either."

Professor McGonagall's expression changed drastically after hearing Prarese's words: "How could that be!"