Mysterious Journey

Chapter 967 Prophet and False Prophet

Snap.

Snap.

Accompanied by two soft sounds of air cracking.

Hermione and Erina appeared at the end of an unfamiliar spiral staircase.

They heard a buzzing murmur from above, mixed with a clear voice. It was Cho Chang's voice. Obviously, they had found the right place, because according to the timetable, their Divination class was with Cho Chang, who was in her third year.

"Professor Sybill's classroom is up here, Miss Kaslana, Miss Granger."

Two house-elves summoned by Erina bowed and said softly.

Although most young wizards now know about the existence of Hogwarts house-elves, they still adhere to the rule: avoid appearing in front of students unless necessary. Even when using Apparition for transport, they usually stop in uninhabited areas near their destination.

"You can notify us whenever you need us."

Snap. Snap.

Two more soft popping sounds.

"This is... Eh? What was that just now..."

Hermione pointed to where Dobby and Burly had been standing and looked around the surroundings.

"Well, I call this - the house-elf summoning spell."

Erina explained casually. By this time, the two house-elves had disappeared. "Remember to keep it a secret, okay? This is one of the few privileges of the Hogwarts head chef. But it's usually done in an empty place. As for their method of movement, it's just Apparition."

"But 'Hogwarts, A History' says that Hogwarts is enchanted to prevent anyone from Apparating—"

"That's right, but house-elves aren't people, are they?"

Erina winked mischievously and didn't explain too much in this regard, instead playing with words.

The house-elves' magical system is different from wizards; their inheritance seems to be etched in their bloodline.

When they reach a certain age and magical level, they automatically unlock "spell slots." This is also a characteristic of most magical creatures. They don't need to be taught to master extraordinary powers like wizards. Because of this, deciphering their magical principles is very difficult.

"But—"

"Okay, don't get hung up on the details. It's not time to study house-elf magic or the Hogwarts ban yet."

Without giving Hermione a chance to continue asking questions, Erina took Hermione's hand and walked toward the platform above.

"Time is running out, we should go to Divination class - you don't want to be late for your first Divination class, do you?"

Perhaps, sooner or later, the "House-Elf Rights Protection Association" will eventually be born.

But before that, Erina wanted to have more quiet time for herself.

If Hermione awakened her "racial equality" consciousness as in the original story, hoping to liberate all the house-elves, then Erina, as the head chef of the Hogwarts kitchen and in charge of nearly a thousand house-elves, would definitely be a proper big bad.

Erina didn't want to become an evil slave owner in "Little Beaver's" eyes, and even less did she want to show the cruel world to Hermione so early.

"Okay, you're right," Hermione muttered, "Then tell me after class. We agreed not to lie."

They climbed the last few steps on the left and reached a small platform. Most of the class was already there.

There was no door on the landing. Erina nudged Hermione, who was looking around, and pointed to the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plate. Obviously, unlike other professors, the Divination classroom was not located in a classroom along the corridor.

"Sybill Trelawney, Divination Professor," Hermione read softly, somewhat puzzled. "How are we supposed to get up there?"

"Hermione? Oh, I see, you chose Divination this week, right?"

Cho Chang turned around when she heard the voice and waved friendly to Hermione, explaining with a smile.

"Don't worry, Professor Trelawney will open the door for us when the time is right."

"Open the door? But... what does 'when the time is right' mean—"

Just then, as if answering Hermione's question, the trapdoor in the ceiling suddenly opened.

A silver ladder was placed in front of Hermione's feet, and everyone on the platform fell silent.

"You go first," Erina said expectantly, so Hermione climbed onto the ladder first.

She arrived in the strangest classroom she had ever seen.

In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all; it was more like a mixture of an attic and an old-fashioned tea room.

The narrow, confined space was crammed with at least twenty small round tables, surrounded by floral armchairs and plump little cushions. Everything in the room was illuminated by a hazy red light. The curtains were tightly drawn, and many lamps were covered with dark red scarves.

It was stiflingly hot, and a fire was burning fiercely beneath the crowded mantelpiece, on which sat a large copper teapot, emitting a strong, nauseating smell.

A row of shelves lined the circular walls, crammed with dirty quills, candle stubs, many tattered playing cards, countless shimmering crystal balls, and a pile of teacups.

Erina came to Hermione's side, and the other third-year students were whispering together in groups.

"Where is she?"

Hermione frowned, looking around.

She was very uncomfortable with the atmosphere here, although it seemed more "magical" and "mysterious."

But she still preferred a more open and bright place like the Charms classroom, at least she wouldn't feel out of place and suffocated.

A voice suddenly sounded in the shadows, a soft, indistinct voice.

"Welcome," the voice said. "It's so nice to see you in the material world again."

Hermione's first impression was seeing a huge, glittering insect.

Professor Trelawney stepped into the light, and she discovered that she was very thin, and large glasses magnified her eyes several times. She was wearing a light, transparent shawl with many glittering metal sequins.

She wore countless beads and chains around her thin, long neck, and many bracelets and rings on her arms and hands.

"Sit down, my children, sit down."

She said, so the students awkwardly climbed into the armchairs or slumped onto the cushions.

Erina, Hermione, and Cho sat around the same table.

"Welcome, students, and, of course, welcome our new students..."

Professor Trelawney sat in an armchair in front of the fire, looking inscrutably at the two "transfer students" sitting in the front row.

"Welcome to Divination, my dears. I am Professor Trelawney. You probably haven't seen much of me before. I find that descending often into the hustle and bustle of the school grounds tends to cloud my Inner Eye - but I have been watching you, I knew you would come."

Hearing these absurd remarks, Hermione sat up straight nervously, exchanged a glance with Erina, and said nothing.

Professor Trelawney gracefully adjusted her shawl and continued.

"So, you have chosen Divination, the most profound of all magical arts. I must tell you upfront that if you do not have insight, I am helpless. In this field, books can only teach you so little..."

Hearing this, Erina glanced at Hermione with a smile - the show was about to begin.

If the battle between Luna and Hermione belonged to a daily confrontation between "inspiration" and "computing power", then Professor Trelawney for Miss Granger was equivalent to fighting in the abyss battlefield, where neither the environment nor the strength of both sides was conducive to Hermione's performance.

Sure enough, Hermione was very surprised to hear that books were of little help in this subject.

"Many wizards, despite being talented in the field of bangs, various smells, and sudden disappearances, cannot see through the mysterious veil of the future." Professor Trelawney continued, her large, frighteningly large, shimmering eyes looking from one tense face to another, eventually stopping on a calm face, "This is a talent that few possess. You, child—"

She suddenly spoke to Erina, which surprised Erina, who had originally planned to be a bystander.

"Why did you choose Divination, or... what do you hope to get from this class?" Trelawney asked softly.

"Well..."

Erina pondered for a moment and replied extremely obediently.

"I hope... to meet the unknown self?"

"A good answer. I find the aura around you particularly bright, my dear."

Professor Trelawney paused for half a second, then nodded thoughtfully. The firelight illuminated her long emerald earrings, making them sparkle.

Meet the unknown self?

This sentence sounded a bit interesting.

Maybe next year she could consider adding it to the welcome speech for the new students.

However, the reason Professor Trelawney looked at Erina at the beginning was not because she had foreseen this sentence in advance.

Before class this afternoon, Dumbledore specially pulled Professor Trelawney aside and told her a very secret little secret.

Another... witch with the Sight?

Trelawney's gaze swept across Erina's delicate face, and Dumbledore's words quietly drifted through her mind.

As a descendant of the famous seer Cassandra Trelawney, she naturally knew that wizards who could predict the future were real.

But on the other hand, although Dumbledore generously invited her to serve as the Divination professor at Hogwarts, it did not mean that Sybill Trelawney would lose herself because of this - she had long and clearly, and frustratedly understood that she might not have inherited most of her ancestors' prophetic abilities.

In order to achieve the teaching goal as much as possible, Sybill developed a dramatic way to allow students to better understand prophecy.

But...

In the flickering firelight, Professor Trelawney took a deep look at Erina.

Albus Dumbledore, such a wise and knowledgeable person, if he thought this child had the Sight, then the credibility of it was even more reliable than her own judgment, and this was the first time she had met a truly talented child in all her years of teaching.

Professor Trelawney suppressed the chaotic thoughts in her heart and continued calmly.

"This year we will learn the basic methods of Divination. In the first semester, we will focus on interpreting tea leaves. In the second semester, we will start learning palmistry. In the summer semester, we will start learning about crystal balls - I mean, if we finish learning about fire omens..."

Perhaps this statement is a bit extreme, even inhuman.

But in a sense, the existence of Divination class is mostly to wait for such young wizards.

And now, her other important responsibility at Hogwarts has finally arrived - she has to find a way to use herself as a medium to pass on the wisdom and prediction skills left by her ancestors in this era - this is also the family motto of the Trelawney family.

Try your best to protect the prophecy, so that the later "prophets" will not be born in a world that does not believe in prophecy.

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Hooray!