It has been true since time immemorial that weekends are short and weekdays are long.
The fact that a leisurely, class-free weekend passes by quickly is a truth written even on the Emerald Tablet.
The weekend I had enjoyed after my meeting with Professor McGonagall vanished in the blink of an eye.
In other words, it meant we had to start attending classes again today.
A fresh wave of annoyance washed over me. The agony of sitting still and listening to things you already know is a feeling that those who haven't experienced it can hardly imagine. *Sigh.*
In that sense, my favorite subjects were those that could introduce a 'variable,' regardless of whether that variable was good or bad.
Whatever could alleviate my boredom was my most important criterion for judging a subject.
For that reason, my decision to take Divination was a rather obvious choice.
Divination was a subject where the content was bound to change constantly.
Harry and Ron, who had signed up without much thought, and even Hermione, who must have signed up using the power of her Time-Turner, were all enrolled, so it was decided that we would take the class together.
And so, on the Monday after the weekend, on our way to our first Divination class, Harry asked me, "Master, what do we do in Divination?"
I dredged up memories of my old Divination classes and explained.
"Simply put, it's a subject where you divine good and bad fortune in the future. Of course, that doesn't mean Divination can tell you everything."
Most Seers were often unable to see even the immediate dangers facing those around them. Or, if they did see them, they were unable to avoid them.
That was why being able to see the future did not guarantee a happy life.
It was also why I had lost interest in the field early on.
Some might ask if Divination is related to time magic, but to explain in detail would be complicated, so I'll skip it. The two are entirely different concepts.
In any case, while it was true that I had little interest in Divination, this particular class looked, at a glance, like it would be fun.
I was certain of this the moment I saw Professor Trelawney, who taught the class.
I held back a laugh and muttered to myself, *'A class taught by a fraud is always entertaining.'*
A fraud who had even managed to deceive herself—how amusing was that!
When I looked at her with my 'eyes,' I could see her Seer's consciousness, which shone with a golden light, veiled by the black curtain of a charlatan.
Perhaps she herself didn't even realize she was a Seer.
Even setting that aside, Professor Trelawney was clearly an interesting person.
Her eyes, which observed us with the sharpness of a hawk as we climbed the ladder into the Divination classroom, were filled with a tension and a languor meant to conceal that tension.
Her sharp gaze soon fell on Neville, who had bumped his head on the ceiling while scrambling up the ladder.
Then, once everyone was seated, she gave Neville a very benevolent smile and said, "Child. Yes, you. Would you bring me the plate on your right? The first one will break, so bring the second one as well."
Neville flinched at her words, then brought two plates from the shelf to his right.
"H-here you are, Professor… ah!"
Just as Neville was about to hand her the plates, his nervous hands must have lost their grip, because one of the plates fell to the floor and shattered with a crash.
Professor Trelawney smiled at Neville as if to say it was alright, then accepted the second plate he offered as if she had expected it all along.
Just as she had said, the first plate had broken.
The other students looked at Professor Trelawney with a kind of awe.
I, too, was impressed by her skill.
*'All the tools in this room are for show.'*
It was no accident that Neville broke the first plate. She may have been able to fool the others, but I could see it.
I could see the magic that had been cast on the plate to momentarily shift its center of gravity.
Of course it would flip over and drop.
And such spells weren't just on the plates.
The shelves, the floor tiles, the ceiling—all sorts of things were enchanted to 'stage' these situations.
Of course, if she repeated it, the children, who weren't fools, would realize it was a sham, so she couldn't do it often. But it was certainly enough to leave a deep impression at the beginning of the class.
Harry and Hermione seemed to have noticed something was off, but they looked uncertain.
Hermione whispered to me, "Doesn't something feel strange? Or is it just me?"
When I shrugged, Hermione turned away with a pout.
Unfortunately for me, the rest of the class was a rather unremarkable Divination lesson.
Reading the future in tea leaves. Divining fortunes.
The little bit of fun was her occasionally throwing out prophecies at the students.
"Oh, Divination is the most difficult and complex of arts. Unfortunately, it seems that by next year at the latest, one of you will leave us forever."
"Goodness me. Neville, it seems misfortune clings to you this year."
Most of her words were no better than curses. It seemed she enjoyed watching the students flinch and tremble at her prophecies.
Hearing his, Neville's face went completely pale, and his eyes seemed to well up with tears.
The interesting thing was that while Trelawney tossed out these predictions, she herself believed them to be a kind of cold reading.
The irony was that my eyes could see her Seer's consciousness occasionally emitting its golden radiance when she spoke these fake prophecies.
Professor Trelawney acted as if she wouldn't be satisfied until she had delivered a gloomy prediction to every single student, and finally, she arrived in front of Harry.
She looked at Harry with a very serious expression and said, "You… were born under the influence of Saturn. A great aura of death surrounds you…. Your life may be in danger tonight. Be careful, my dear."
Of course, her words had no impact on Harry whatsoever.
On the contrary, he nodded with a serious expression and said, "The fate of my death is indeed great. I die almost every night, you see."
"Ah, oh? I… I see."
Trelawney gave Harry a strange look, as if this wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting, and subtly moved on.
Harry may have been unaffected, but Hermione was clearly displeased by the comment. She bit her lip and whispered to me, "She seems more and more like a fraud."
Whether she heard Hermione's whisper or not, Professor Trelawney's next target was Hermione herself.
The professor let out a sigh as soon as she looked at her.
"Oh, dear. Child, you have a goal that is both very simple and terribly difficult. That path is a thorny one."
Her face turning bright red with anger, Hermione asked Professor Trelawney, "And you would know what that path is, Professor?"
"Do not worry, child. Acceptance is always the hardest part. Both of the future, and of the heart."
Paying no mind to Hermione's fuming, the professor moved on to the next student. I could swear, at this point, she was enjoying herself.
And finally, Professor Trelawney stood before me.
I asked with a smile, "So, what unfortunate prophecy do you have for me?"
"Ah, yes… But you do talk like a little old man."
Trelawney answered with a reluctant tone before putting on her usual 'prophetic' expression and murmuring, "You… hmm… Venus, you appeared under Libra. Is your birthday in the summer?"
As an orphan, I couldn't be sure, but my birthday was probably in the dead of winter.
However, I just gave a faint smile and didn't point this out.
"Be wary of past connections…. A dark fog clouds the path ahead of you."
She put on a spooky face, but when I showed no reaction, she seemed to lose interest and turned her attention to another student.
In the end, by the time the class was over, her grand performance of fraud and prophecy seemed to have successfully secured her a few followers.
She offered a warm smile to the several students who were gazing at her with captivated eyes.
"Now then, children. For the next year, let us navigate the traces of this dangerous and difficult future together. That is all for today!"
As the class ended, the students began to murmur as they climbed back down the ladder.
Opinions on the class seemed to be divided into three broad categories.
First, those who were captivated by Professor Trelawney. Second, those who, while not fully convinced, were interested in the field of prophecy itself.
And finally, those who showed extreme disbelief in Divination as a whole.
It seemed Hermione belonged firmly in that last group.
The moment class was over, Hermione spat out angrily, "I don't care what anyone says, that professor is a fraud! Telling Harry he has the omen of death, that Aisen's path is shrouded in fog, and telling me my path is a thorny one! It's all just guesswork! Divination is clearly imprecise and has no credible basis! Don't you guys think so?"
Harry nodded in agreement.
"Setting aside whether Divination is an imprecise discipline, I think Professor Trelawney is definitely faking it."
Having learned some Legilimency, Harry had probably figured out that Trelawney didn't even believe her own prophecies.
Ron, on the other hand, tilted his head and asked, "But didn't Professor Trelawney predict that Neville would break the plate at the start of class? Maybe she's not a complete fraud?"
Hermione fumed even more.
"Oh, honestly. Predicting that Neville would drop a plate doesn't even count as a prophecy. If that's a prophecy, then I can make one too! Neville will forget the dormitory password today. How's that?"
Just then, a voice drifted from up ahead.
"Ma'am, I can't remember the password. Could you let me in…?"
"No."
Hearing this, Hermione exclaimed triumphantly, "See? Divination is all a scam! Aisen, you think so too, right?"
The arrow was suddenly pointed at me.
Professor Trelawney was a fraud, but it wasn't that she wasn't a Seer.
However, saying that would clearly put Hermione in a bad mood, so I changed the subject.
"By the way, Hermione. Did the professor's comment about your goal remind you of anything?"
"W-wha, huh?"
"You reacted as if you thought of something."
"…You're imagining things!"
Her face flushing, she turned sharply into a dead-end alley and vanished from sight.
However, when we followed her into the alley, there was no one there.
Ron said, completely bewildered, "Wait, wasn't she just… right there? There's no other way out!"
It seemed obvious that she had used the Time-Turner to go back in time, so I answered nonchalantly, "What are you talking about? Hermione went her own way after Divination class."
"Huh? What? No, that can't be right!"
The quick-witted Harry caught on and played along.
"Ron, what's wrong? Hermione left for another classroom as soon as this one was over."
"No, Harry, you too? She was right here just a second ago!"
Naturally, we had no intention of giving Ron the answer he wanted and continued to play dumb. Ron's face grew paler and paler.
Finally, Ron, his face ashen, muttered, "It's divine punishment…. It's divine punishment for not believing in the prophecy…"
Strange things happening at Hogwarts was just another day at the office.
But being only a third-year, it seemed Ron still lacked this fundamental understanding.
***