HP Starlight

The days began to count down as Esther continued to practice various spells every day, the penultimate fourth month before graduation, the last Easter holiday at Hogwarts, and the last summer semester.Esther became sad every night, she lay in the dormitory and watched the scenery of the Black Lake until very late to fall asleep.I'm afraid I won't be able to appreciate it again in the future, she thought to herself.

Leona and Orion only see them occasionally when Esther goes to the library, and they have their hands full preparing for the NEWT exam.

"If you have time, can you help us draw the key points of Potions?" Leona finally couldn't help complaining.

"Why don't you each take a sip of Felicity Elixir and see which chapter your intuition tells you to read, and then you can focus on which part to review." Esther said jokingly, in exchange for Orion's rolling eyes.

Finally, in the last week of May, Professor Snape spoke the second words to her after the Yule Ball. "At the Quidditch pitch at nine o'clock in the evening, explain the third item." Snape's voice was dry as if reading a potion formula, and Esther nodded silently to show that he heard it.

It was almost nine o'clock when Esther came out of the dungeon and ran into Harry who was about to leave the castle.

"I don't know what it is this time." Esther said casually.

"I don't know, I hope I don't need to solve another mystery." Harry grinned.

They walked to the pitch and were taken aback by the maze of low walls.

"Hello!" Mr. Bagman walked towards them, all smiles on his face. "In another month, Hagrid will be able to make them twenty feet tall. Of course, they will return to their original shape after the Triwizard Tournament. Guess Guess what we're going to do?"

"Maze." Viktor reacted first.

"That's right," Mr. Bagman said. "It's a maze. The third item is very simple. The Triwizard Cup is placed in the middle of the maze. Whoever touches it first will get full marks."

"Just go through the maze?" Fleur asked.

"There will be a lot of obstacles, and Hagrid has provided a bunch of animals... There are also some spells that have to be broken, and so on. Also, the champion with the most points goes into the maze first," Mr. Bagman looked at Est and Harry , "Then Mister Krum, and finally Miss Delacour. Isn't it fun?"

"Okay, let's go back to the castle if there is no problem, it's a bit cold..." Mr. Bagman said and led the way back.

"Can I have a word with you?" Viktor said to Harry.

Esther looked at Harry and asked him with his eyes if he wanted to accompany him.Harry shook his head.Esther then went back to the castle by herself.

Although it is said to be a fair competition, Esther feels that his advantages should not be wasted.She takes a little time every day to turn into a bat and go around the field a few times, trying to memorize as many routes as possible.After a month, she has engraved the route of the maze in her heart.Hagrid's animal Esther is relatively familiar and does not pose a threat.She is confident that she will be the first to reach the finish line.

Esther didn't see Harry much because he wanted to make up for the spell, but she asked Leona to send her notes over the years, which I believe would be useful.In fact, she still wanted to draw a map of the maze for him, but she was worried that her Animagus identity would be exposed, so she gave up.Of course, there are also some selfish desires to win.

On the morning of the game, Esther transformed the vial of Felicia into a necklace pendant and hung it around his neck.Although it can't be drunk directly, but carrying a bottle of lucky potion with him is like carrying the goddess of luck with him, which doubles Este's confidence.And soon Esther felt as if she was really blessed by the goddess of luck, Professor Snape came to talk to her for the third time.

"Miss Collins, gather in the meeting room next to the auditorium after breakfast. The relatives of the warriors will come to watch the finals, so you can meet up." Snape said flatly, turned and left.

Esther couldn't believe it. She immediately finished her breakfast and hurried to the conference room.She pushed open the door anxiously, and Aunt Connie was indeed sitting inside.A bouquet of fireworks bloomed in her heart, and a stone fell to the ground.She ran over and threw herself on her aunt, unable to speak for a while.

"Okay, okay, you're a big girl now, don't act like a child anymore." Aunt Connie patted Esther's back lovingly. "Why are you taking part in such a dangerous activity?"

"I think it's okay, so far there is no fatal danger." Esther said with a smile.

"It seems that you have really grown up. My aunt told you to hide it well, and you insist on getting ahead." Aunt Connie pretended to be angry and said.

"I was chosen by the Goblet of Fire, not because I wanted to be famous. Besides, I haven't been reported on much until now, and I hide it very well." Esther stuck out his tongue mischievously.

"Come on, Headmaster Dumbledore has already talked to me. You can do whatever you want," said Aunt Connie resignedly.

"What did he talk to you about?" Esther asked suspiciously.

"Your safety and mine. He's more comprehensive than I thought." Aunt Connie whispered.

Esther was still confused, but Aunt Connie didn't want to explain any more.Other warriors came in one after another.Viktor looks a lot like his dad, and Fleur's mom is just as pretty.Harry's relatives are his godfather Sirius and Mrs Weasley.Mrs. Weasley enthusiastically praised Aunt Connie for Esther's brave performance in saving her little daughter the year before last, which made Esther very embarrassed.

Aunt Connie let Esther show her around.Esther accompanied her aunt to walk from the Astronomy Tower to the basement classroom. She never knew that her aunt was in such good health that she would not be tired after walking all morning.She wanted to show her aunt what the Slytherin lounge looked like, but it was inconvenient for everyone to review in it.So after lunch, Esther took her aunt to hang out in the grounds outside the castle.

At dinner, the Slytherins were uncomfortable with the addition of a Muggle at the long table.Esther didn't mind very much, anyway, she was about to graduate, and bloodline was no longer important to her.And with Orion taking care of her, no one dared to make irresponsible remarks to my aunt.

As dusk fell, Dumbledore announced the start of the third match in five minutes.Esther left the auditorium with the other three warriors.The smell of gunpowder between Slytherin and Gryffindor is strong again.

When the stands were full of spectators, the professors walked towards the four warriors in the center of the arena.Professor McGonagall said to them, "We're going to patrol the outside of the maze, and if we get in trouble and want to be rescued, we'll shoot red sparks into the sky. Do you understand?"

Esther nodded and glanced at Professor Snape in the distance, but he didn't pay attention to her.Disappointed, she walked to her entry position and waited for the game to begin.

The whistle sounded, and Est quickly rushed into the maze.The hedge closed behind him, blocking out the sound from outside.The silent environment made Esther's ears extremely sharp, and she quickly rushed to the center of the venue according to the memorized route.

But soon she found that the hedge was constantly changing, and she remembered that the route was not correct.Frustrated, she orientated her wand and began to find her way again.

The new road is not smooth, and she soon encounters her first big trouble, a huge snail.Her first reaction was to turn around and run.But the snail didn't want to let her go.Esther ran a long way before throwing off the snail, and smoke had already started to rise from his body several times.Suddenly she heard Fu Rong's cry, which seemed not far away from her.She raised her wand nervously, but there was nothing.

"Show me the way!" Esther continued to look for the direction.With her wand pointing north, she knew she needed to take the fork on the left.But just as he turned the corner, a silver doe stood in the middle of the road.Esther felt uncomfortable for a while, she knew that this was Snape's Patronus, but obviously this was not Snape's transformation, but a Boggart. "Funny funny!" Esther said dejectedly.Without looking back, he walked through the blue smoke after the explosion.

Red Hood, Goblin, and Sinkpunk in the Mire are all easy to deal with.Esther races through one obstacle after another.Suddenly, her intuition made her back tighten, and she pointed her wand at the back, but it was Viktor who came out.Esther put down her wand and said, "Scare me, you're here too."

Viktor didn't speak, and Esther subconsciously felt something was wrong with his stiff expression.But before she had time to react, Viktor cast a spell on her, "Cruciate!"

Esther instantly felt tens of thousands of needles piercing all parts of his body at the same time.Every nerve was twitching, and the searing pain made her almost let go of her wand.

"Drowsy!" Esther squeezed the spell out of his head with the last will.Viktor fell to the ground, but Esther's nerves were still throbbing.The surrounding bushes began to wrap around Viktor's body.Esther fired a red signal with his wand.He is being controlled, this is Est's judgment, and he needs to be sent out for inspection as soon as possible.

Finally turning the last corner, Esther saw the Triwizard Cup, but also saw Harry at the same time.She ran quickly towards the finish line, and so did Harry.A Slytherin and a Gryffindor, they are friends and rivals.Esther ran over with all her strength, and suddenly the bushes stretched out branches full of thorns and entangled her like crazy.In an instant, countless wounds were opened on the skin, and the blood gradually infected the silver and green coat.

"Esther!" Harry changed direction and ran to her. "Bones to pieces!" he yelled, blasting the thorns and pulling them from Esther.

"Thank you..." Esther grinned in pain, and staggered up from the ground.

"We don't need to fight each other, do we?" Harry's green eyes looked at Esther, "We are friends, we all belong to Hogwarts. Maybe we can be together?"

"Together?" Esther really didn't think about it that way.Slytherins value victory, and when it comes to winning or losing, they try their best to defeat their opponents, but they never think that they can win together.

"Together!" Harry's eyes sparkled.

Esther and Harry walked to the finish line, as discussed, and touched the Triwizard Cup at the same time.

For a moment, Esther felt as if his navel was hooked, and the wind whistled in his ears as his feet left the ground.The Triwizard Cup dragged her and Harry forward in the swirling colors.

I don't know how long it took to fly, but Esther was thrown to the ground. "What's going on?" She quickly got up and looked around vigilantly.

"No idea, the Triwizard Cup is the Portkey. But I don't know where this is," replied Harry, looking nervous too.

Est looked around, it was a cemetery.Her strong intuition told herself that this was not a good place and she had to leave immediately.She walked over to Harry, "Hold on to me, we're Apparating away, it's not safe here."

But Harry suddenly covered his head and yelled, seemingly in great pain.Suddenly a loud and cold voice said, "Kill those who are in the way!"

"Avada Kedavra!" a shrill voice yelled.

As soon as she heard the sound, Esther sounded the alarm in her heart, and she put a frost shield in front of herself.Seeing the green light coming, she subconsciously supported the shield with all her will and magic power.The green light dissipated when it hit the shield, but Esther was also greatly consumed.She fell on her back and couldn't move, and her soul was shaken again due to the huge consumption of magic power.

A big snake slid by, and she heard Harry scream, someone chanting, "Father's bone...servant's flesh...enemy's blood..."

Harry screamed heart-piercingly, but Esther was anxious but helpless.She heard another cold, relentless voice, "Stretch out your arm."

Esther didn't know what happened again, and could only hear the screams of Harry and the previous man.She desperately tried to regain control of her body, but in vain.She still couldn't move.

Suddenly there were more people around, but no one looked at Estedo.She heard them whispering to Master, and some whining from Voldemort.

In addition to Wormtail, Voldemort named the Death Eaters one by one: Lucius, the Lestrange couple, McNeill, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott...

"There are six less Death Eaters here..." Voldemort's cold voice pierced Esther shuddering, "Three died for me, and one has no guts to come back...he will pay the price. The other, I think, is to leave forever I killed him...of course he will be put to death...there is one who is still my most loyal servant, and he has returned to my service."

Esther silently figured out who Voldemort was talking about, and suddenly she felt a warm feeling in her fingers, as if she was slowly regaining control over her body.

"...You all know my goal - to conquer death. On the road to longevity, I will go farther than anyone else..."

Esther tried to make herself recover faster, she was not sure if Voldemort would kill Harry directly.

"Now—we duel," said Voldemort grimly and brutally.Esther thinks this is good news, at least Harry can last for a while.She didn't expect Harry to win, but she would be able to Apparate Harry away after she recovered.

Suddenly, a phoenix singing sounded, which seemed to hasten Esther's recovery.Many people's voices encouraged Harry, and one of the soft voices that lifted Esther's heart was Harry's mother, Lily.Finally Harry's father showed up too.Esther heard him say, "Get the Portkey, it'll take you back to Hogwarts."

Esther didn't know why, she thought Harry's dad was talking to her.She glanced quietly, and it was true that a more real soul than a ghost was looking at her.She suddenly understood what she should do.She rolled towards Harry while everyone's attention was on the golden light connecting Harry's and Voldemort's wands.She tried to roll, but found she couldn't get up, so she kept rolling until she held Harry tightly. "The trophy is coming!" she shouted, pointing at the Triwizard Cup.Harry tacitly cooperated with her to grab the flying trophy.Together they were taken back to Hogwarts by the Portkey.

Esther felt dizzy and was lying on the ground limp, only her hands were still holding Harry tightly.

"We're back, Esther! We're back!" Harry shouted excitedly to Esther.Esther let go of Harry's hand, but his expression did not relax.Aunt Connie picked her up worriedly, "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Esther replied wearily.She anxiously found the black figure, and then grabbed his sleeve tightly, "Professor, be careful, Voldemort is back, and he is going to kill you. Hogwarts has Death Eaters arranged by Voldemort." Esther tried hard Say every word clearly.

"Son, you need to rest. I told you you shouldn't get involved," said Aunt Connie angrily.She urged Madam Pomfrey to send her to the school hospital so that Esther could not speak again.

Esther drank Madam Pomfrey's potion and felt much better.Esther described her experience in the cemetery in detail, and Aunt Connie looked at her seriously, seeming very unhappy.

"So you saw him resurrected with your own eyes?" Aunt Connie asked with a straight face.

"Not with my own eyes, I couldn't see that angle at the time." Esther said truthfully.

"And you made him discover that the Killing Curse didn't kill you," continued Aunt Connie.

"The Killing Curse didn't hit me, they just didn't pay attention," Esther argued.

"So he must have noticed you. Come home with me, Esther, and let's go and hide." Aunt Connie persuaded.

"No, Auntie, I want to stay here." Esther said firmly.

"You're not Potter, so you don't have to face him." Aunt Connie became irritated.

"If it wasn't before, then it is now. Auntie, I've seen him before, nothing to be afraid of." Esther smiled to comfort her aunt.

Aunt Connie wanted to say something more, but the door was suddenly opened, and a delirious person who looked like Professor Moody was sent to the school hospital.His hair was cut unevenly, and Esther suddenly realized that the Death Eater hiding in Hogwarts was Professor Moody.She was annoyed that she had given up her doubts about Professor Moody for a clue of a golden egg.Had he been found out earlier, Voldemort would not have been resurrected, and Professor Snape's life would not have been in danger...

"You need to sleep for a while, don't think about anything." Aunt Connie interrupted Esther's thinking, and handed her the purple potion that Madam Pomfrey had sent her earlier.Dreamless sleep potion, the amount of this cup can probably sleep until breakfast tomorrow, Este estimated in his heart that he drank it all in one gulp.Soon her eyelids became heavy, and she didn't know anything after that.

But before the expected breakfast, Esther was woken up by a loud noise.She stared blankly at the ceiling, as if trying to figure out what those voices were saying.

"... Voldemort did give orders to him before, Connelly, and the deaths of those people were just a by-product of Voldemort's comeback plan. The plan succeeded, and Voldemort returned to his body," said Dumbledore.

Esther finally understood what they were saying.

After a long silence, Fudge's voice stammered, "The mysterious man...is back? Nonsense. Stop joking, Dumbledore..."

Esther was surprised by the Minister of Magic's reaction, he didn't believe it.

"Minerva and Severus have undoubtedly told you," said Dumbledore, "we have heard the confession of Barty Crouch Jr.Under the influence of Veritaserum, he tells us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, how Voldemort freed him from his father and used him to capture Harry.Let me tell you, the plan has worked, and Crouch Jr. has helped Voldemort come back. "

"Listen, Dumbledore," Fudge said with a slight smile on his face, "you—you can't really believe this, can you? Don't be kidding, don't be kidding...he must think he's following You-Know-Who order. He is a madman and cannot be taken seriously, Dumbledore..."

"Tonight, Harry and Esther were sent to Voldemort when they touched the Triwizard Cup. They witnessed Voldemort's return from the dead. You can go to my office and I will explain it to you. But you can't ask them questions tonight, They've been through a lot tonight."

"You - uh - you're going to take everything they say, aren't you, Dumbledore? Two kids, one of them..." Fudge gave Harry a quick, queer look.

"What do you mean?" Sirius growled questioningly.

"You must be reading Rita Skeeter's article, Mr. Fudge," whispered Harry, who was also awakened.

Fudge blushed slightly, but he was not affected at all, "He is a Parseltongue, you never told me, and there are some weird behaviors..."

"You probably mean that his scar hurts all the time?" said Dumbledore coldly.

"So you admit he did feel pain?" said Fudge quickly. "Pain? Nightmares? And perhaps—hallucinations?"

"Listen to me, Connelly," Dumbledore took a step towards Fudge, Esther had never experienced such a powerful force in this kind old man, "Harry is as clear-headed and sensible as you and me. I believe , Harry's scar only hurts when Voldemort is lurking nearby or is particularly intent on killing people. And you can't pretend the two of them were hallucinating together and Esther was there."

Fudge took half a step back, but stared at Esther stubbornly, expecting some different answers from her mouth.

"Sorry, Mr. Minister. Voldemort is back and has regrouped his Death Eaters. We've heard everyone's name, if you want to know." Esther said steadily, making her words sound reassuring.

"Yes, we saw it with our own eyes, those Death Eaters were right beside him, and Lucius Malfoy—"

"He was acquitted, of a very old family,--generous to a good cause--" retorted Fudge irritably.

"McNeil - Avery - Knott - Crabbe - Goyle -" Harry continued to name them one by one.

"They were all convicted of not being Death Eaters 13 years ago!" said Fudge angrily.

"Peter Pettigrew." Esther's voice was very soft, "He's also going to summon dementors, giants, and some magical animals, just like he did before."

"Ridiculous," Fudge whispered, stepping back step by step. "This is all a story you've heard before, isn't it? It's crazy that you and Potter talked nonsense together..."

"Connelly, you have lost your due judgment." Dumbledore looked at him with burning eyes, "If you are obsessed with obsession and insist on going your own way, we have no choice but to part ways. You do what you think is appropriate, I—I Do as I wish."

Fudge was furious, as if he had been seriously threatened.He waved his fingers and said, "Yes, yes, Dumbledore, I have always given you full freedom. I have always treated you with great respect, even if it is hiring a werewolf, keeping Hagrid, or doing something without consulting the Ministry of Magic." I've been silent about deciding what to teach my students. But if you're going to go against me—"

"The only thing I'm going against," said Dumbledore, "is Voldemort. If you're against him, we're still on the same side."

For a moment Fudge rocked back and forth restlessly, twirling his bowler hat with both hands.Finally, he spoke, with a hint of pleading in his voice, "He won't come back, Dumbledore, he can't..."

Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore. As he walked, he raised the left sleeve of his robe and stretched out his arm to show Fudge, a black skull with the mark of a snake spitting out.Everyone in the room watched this scene in amazement, Aunt Connie showed an expression of hatred that she had never seen before, and Esther felt a throbbing pain in her heart.

Snape didn't pay attention to the other people's eyes. He said hoarsely to Fudge, "Look, look, Dark Mark. It's not as obvious as it was an hour ago, when it was charred black, but you Still visible. Every Death Eater bears the brand Voldemort has placed on them. It is a way of identifying each other and Voldemort's signal to call them back to him. When he touches a Death Eater's mark We had to apparate and be next to him. Over the past year, the mark has become more and more obvious. Karkaroff's is the same. Why do you say Karkaroff ran away tonight? Both of us feel the mark in Burning hot, we all know he's back. Karkaroff fears Voldemort will retaliate against him, he's betrayed many of his fellow Death Eaters, and surely no one will welcome him back among them."

Fudge kept shaking his head in shock, refusing to accept the truth.He looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what tricks you and your people are playing, Dumbledore, but I've heard enough. I'll get back to you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the school." The way schools are run. I must go back to the Ministry."

He walked to the door and turned back, standing between Harry and Esther's hospital bed, "The reward for you two, one thousand galleons, you share equally, there should have been a ceremony, but now..."

He didn't want to say anything more, put on his hat, strode out of the room and closed the door heavily.

As soon as he left, Dumbledore turned to look at Mrs. Weasley beside Harry's bed. "There's some work to do, Molly... If I'm not mistaken, I can count on you and Arthur, right?"

"Of course not." Mrs. Weasley's face was pale, but her voice was very firm.

"Excellent, send Arthur a message for me. We must inform anyone who can be persuaded by us to see the situation. He has access to people in the Ministry of Magic who are not as short-sighted as Connelly. Tell him today I'll be in touch with him directly soon, too, about what happened tonight. He'll have to play it safe, though, and if Fudge thinks I'm meddling in the Ministry—"

"I understand, leave it to me." Mrs. Weasley hugged Harry and walked out of the room quickly.

"Minerva," Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in the office as soon as possible. If Madame Maxime is willing to come with her, invite her to come too."

Professor McGonagall nodded and left without saying a word.

"Bobby," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "excuse me, can you go to Moody's office, there is a house-elf named Winky who is dying of pain, please comfort her as much as you can, and then send her back home. Kitchen, I think Dobby will take care of her for us."

Madam Pomfrey nodded in surprise, but also left.

Then, Dumbledore turned to Sirius, "Sirius, you set off immediately, and inform Remus Lupine, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher—old seniors, tell them I will contact them as soon as possible."

Sirius nodded.He looked at Harry, patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, and left.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, turning to Snape, "you know what I'm going to tell you. If you're okay...if you're ready..."

"No problem," Snape said.He was paler than ever, and there was a gleam in his cold eyes that Esther had never seen before.

"Good luck, then," said Dumbledore, with a look of undisguised worry on his face.

"No!" Just as Snape was about to walk out of the room, Esther finally couldn't restrain himself and yelled out loudly.

Snape stopped and glanced back at Esther.He pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.Then he turned and walked out of the room firmly.

Esther looked at the disappearing figure at the door, and a feeling of despair surged up, making it difficult for her to breathe.She clutched the clothes on her chest tightly, and suddenly felt something cold.She stared blankly at the bottle of Felix Elixir transformed into a pendant, as if awakened from a start, she turned over and got out of bed, and ran towards the door.

"Esther!" Aunt Connie called her, trying to stop her.But she disappeared into the dark corridor outside the door as if she hadn't heard it.

Snape walked quickly, Esther chased to the field outside the castle and saw the tumbling black robe. "Professor!" She shouted out of breath, her weak body made her cry weak.

Snape finally stopped, Esther rushed up and stood in front of him panting, turned the pendant back into Felicia and handed it to Snape.

"Take it with you," Esther begged.

"I don't believe in luck," Snape replied curtly.

"But you really need some today, so that he can do it without meeting him." Esther tried hard to keep his voice from trembling.

Snape took a look at the potion bottle and held it in his hand.He walked past Esther towards the school gate.

"Wait until you come back," Esther called as Snape stepped out of the school gate.With a snap, Snape Disapparated and disappeared into the night.

The author has something to say:

Guess if the professor used Felicia?