Everyone stood up and slowly approached Professor Trelawney, looking at the two parchments on the table. They all shuddered when they saw the two words on the parchment, written in different handwriting but with the same meaning—it didn't seem like a coincidence.
Even Ron looked at Harry and began to suspect.
"An acute observation, an astonishing talent!" exclaimed Professor Trelawney in a sing-song tone. "Boy, I've been teaching at Hogwarts for fourteen years, and you're the most gifted student I've seen in Divination."
The young wizards emitted a sound of uncertainty, amazed by Professor Trelawney's appraisal of Tom. It was the first time they had seen a professor praise a student in such a way.
Hermione also made a strange sound, like a cat with a ball of yarn in its throat. She was perplexed by what had just happened, beyond her knowledge.
It was impossible for Tom to be in collusion with Professor Trelawney, so they were truly doing the same reading. Did Tom really have the gift of prophecy? Hermione thought to herself, but it wouldn't be good if the exam answers were exactly the same as the liar's, would it?
Could it be that Professor Trelawney had a genuine talent? A thought crossed Hermione's mind. She couldn't reach a conclusion, but she was sure of one thing: Tom and Professor Trelawney must have roughly the same level of prophetic talent.
Professor Trelawney seemed extremely pleased, and she even had the feeling that she had found her soulmate—at last, after so many years, a student who could keep up with her thoughts.
"Yodel, isn't it?" Although she didn't know him, Professor Trelawney recognized all the students in the class. After all, at the end of each year, she asked Dumbledore for a list of the students who had enrolled in her class for the following year, and then she noted their faces and names.
"No need to continue with other classes, with your talent, you should distance yourself from the hustle and bustle of the school and dedicate yourself to Divination. With your talent, you could be the next seer!"
The students around couldn't help but tremble. A "seer" is a wizard who is born with the ability to see the future through the Inner Eye. All prophecies made by a seer are recorded by the Ministry of Magic and stored in the Hall of Prophecies in the Department of Mysteries.
The title of "seer" carries a lot of weight in the magical world. The only two surviving prophets are Cassandra Vablatsky, author of "Unfogging the Future," and Gellert Grindelwald, the first Dark Lord. One of them is elderly, and the other is in prison.
As for Professor Trelawney, I'm afraid she won't be called a prophet until she has made a powerful enough prophecy.
To leave other courses and study Divination? From Professor Trelawney's point of view, this was like "Focus on one thing and you'll succeed." But in Tom's eyes, it would be wasting his entire life.
Learning Divination won't save a wizard. Or, to put it more elegantly, it wouldn't help him in his future career. In Tom's opinion, Divination was the biochemical subject of the magical world. Is biochemistry and civil engineering important? Of course, they are, but would you want to study them? Or if you had the chance to do it again, would you? Would you want your child to major in materials, civil engineering, or biology?
This course is a trap! Tom knew exactly how bad Professor Trelawney had been before meeting Dumbledore. It was best to avoid getting into that pit. He wanted to learn Divination, but he didn't want to learn just Divination.
So he shook his head. "Professor, I would prefer to be an adventurer."
Professor Trelawney sighed, "The North Tower of Hogwarts Castle will always be open to you... if your eyes haven't been blinded by then."
An indifferent Professor Trelawney lost interest in continuing to read. She was about to return the teacup to Harry when, as she grabbed it, she took another look at the remains inside.
She gasped, screamed, and dropped the cup from her hand. Dean Thomas, who was beside her, was quick enough to catch the teacup, which was on the verge of shattering.
"Professor, what did you see?" he cautiously asked.
Professor Trelawney, her face pale, took the teacup from Dean's hand and remained silent for a while before saying, "I see a Grim. Did you see a Grim?" She looked at Harry, piercing him with her large eyes, causing Harry to shudder.
But there was a problem—what was a "Grim"?
Harry wasn't the only one who didn't understand.
Professor Trelawney was as surprised as if she had met an Egyptian who didn't know Nasser.
"Ominous! It's a bad omen! I just saw a large dog lurking in the cemetery in your teacup. That's the most sinister omen, the omen of death!"
All eyes were on Harry, and Harry himself felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over him, recalling the large black dog he had seen after fleeing "home," remembering his encounter on the train, remembering the man whose name he couldn't even mention...
But Hermione was a little different from the others. She addressed Professor Trelawney.
"Professor, does divination only show bad omens?" She didn't let herself be swayed by the atmosphere in the classroom; instead, she calmly analyzed, "Professor, you only saw bad omens. Is there any good news?"
Professor Trelawney looked at her coldly and said, "You have no sense of the future, my dear, since I see a small aura around you; your questions confirm it. I'm sorry to say, but this state of yours can have a profound effect on your future relationships..."
Hermione tried to argue, but Tom tugged at her sleeve to calm her down for a moment—Harry was about to lose his temper.
Professor Trelawney was bored, and it was time to end the class, so she declared it over.
Once the class was over, Hermione and Tom deliberately sought a corner where no one else was present, and she rummaged around her neck, taking out the golden Time-Turner necklace.
She brought it closer to Tom, also placing the chain around his neck and flipping the hourglass.
Time began to reverse.