The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 22 The First Divination in the Castle

"Achoo! Achoo!"

As soon as she entered the dormitory, before she could even find her bed, Ino sneezed several times in a row.

He could guess without even thinking that there was a lot of discussion about him outside.

Because no matter what, he overshadowed Malfoy at the Sorting Ceremony and amazed the entire Slytherin.

"Sigh, as expected... It's only natural that people will talk about me."

Ino rubbed her sore nose and then looked around the "preferentially treated" double room.

A bright green cashmere floral rug, two separate single beds that exude the scent of pine, and thick, dark green bed curtains.

Even just looking at it from the side, you can tell it's at least two centimeters thick. It's not hard to imagine the tranquility that someone sleeping inside will enjoy once the canopy is drawn.

The lamps, ceiling, bookshelves, desks, sofas... everything in the dormitory is either green or cool-toned.

"Okay...that's so Slytherin."

Ino found a nameplate with his surname on one of the beds, then rolled over and lay down. The soft bed allowed him to briefly forget all his troubles.

……

Gryffindor Common Room.

The red lion flag representing the academy hung in the air.

The spacious lounge was furnished with several long tables, next to which were comfortable sofas and armchairs. A dark brown fireplace sat on the left, and on the right was a life-size portrait of a witch.

If the Slytherin common room feels mysterious and cold, then Gryffindor feels warm and bright.

"I didn't expect it to be just a hat. I thought I was going to fight a troll. George and Fred have fooled me again, again..."

In the dormitory, Ron sat on his bed, muttering complaints.

At this moment, Dean Thomas, another roommate, couldn't help but speak up:

"Be grateful. At least you have your brothers at school, and three of them at that, unlike us... who might get bullied at any time."

Although Dean is of mixed race, his father passed away early, and he has always lived with his mother in the Muggle world, so he is well aware of the huge difference between having an older brother and not having one in a school.

These words drew frequent nods from Harry, who was standing nearby.

"That's right, that's how Dudley is. He never dares to bully classmates who have older brothers, even if that classmate looks very thin."

"Okay, you guys might have a point," Ron said nonchalantly.

He didn't want to continue the topic, mainly because he hadn't expected Harry to side with someone else this time.

But ending the topic didn't mean falling silent. After a moment's thought, Ron started a new round of discussion.

"Did you see that today? That black-haired Slytherin, he sorted his house faster than Malfoy. Look! The Sorting Hat didn't even bother to touch him. I always thought Malfoy was bad enough, after all, his whole family are dark wizards."

"My grandma said that academies don't determine whether a person is good or bad; what determines a person is their heart."

Neville, who had remained silent until now, bravely voiced his opinion.

"What else did your grandma say? She was just trying to comfort you, afraid you'd get assigned to Hufflepuff and then become despondent," Ron said without turning his head.

"But I think Neville has a point! It's like when I was in elementary school, we were divided into classes, and I didn't see what made the people in the 'elite class' so outstanding."

Andy, as always, sang a different tune.

Seeing the slightly awkward atmosphere in the dormitory, Harry quickly interrupted, "Aren't you guys sleepy? Tomorrow's first class is Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. Don't we need to preview the textbook beforehand?"

It's hard to imagine that, perhaps having just entered Hogwarts, Harry still had the concept of previewing textbooks in his mind.

"Dude, come on! Do you think they'll make us conjure a dragon right off the bat? At most, they'll make an apple or something. As long as you know the right spell, you can just wave your wand."

Ron shared his opinion again.

Harry, on the other hand, thought for a few seconds and then nodded in agreement.

Knowing nothing about magic, he was more inclined to believe Ron, who had grown up in a magical world.

"You're right, Ron! There's no way they'd turn us into dragons right away."

On his first night at school, Harry completely abandoned the idea of ​​previewing the textbooks.

……

Slytherin dormitory.

"I can't lie down anymore, or I'll be ruined..."

With his eyes closed, Ino muttered to himself to cheer himself up. He found that the bed in the dormitory seemed to have a magical power, making people not want to get up once they lay down.

Its softness was comparable to the downy swan-feathered bed he had when he visited the Duke's house in the fantasy world.

And so, about ten more minutes passed.

Ino finally broke free from the bed and got up to sit at her desk.

He glanced back at the magical bed and vowed never to touch it again except when he was actually sleeping.

Now, he was replaying the day's events in his mind, from the moment he entered the station at 9¾, replaying every single thing that had happened.

Despite careful consideration, the problem remained undiscovered.

"Since reasoning cannot defeat magic, then we must use magic to defeat magic."

Ino unbuttoned his shirt and then pulled an antique-looking die from the inner pocket.

"I will not encounter any danger this school year! I will not encounter any danger this school year..."

After repeating the divination instructions to himself three times, he decisively threw the dice.

"Ding ding ding!" The wooden dice flew out in circles, making a crisp sound as they scraped against the table.

On the table, the dice were spinning continuously.

A dozen seconds later...

"Phew! Time for bed!"

Ino picked up the dice from the table and walked towards the bed without looking back.

Such decisiveness was entirely due to the results of the divination.

Because the number rolled on the dice was a rare '5', which means that his chances of being safe throughout the entire school year are as high as 80%.

After two years and countless divination practices, he knew very well that the result was almost perfect.

As for the legendary existence of the numbers '1' and '6', ha... he has never rolled those two numbers since he got the dice.

This is actually normal, because there is never absolute success or absolute failure in anything, so an 80% probability is already quite rare.

After all, most of his previous divination results were basically "3" and "4", which were just rough guesses.

Closer to home.

Having received a reassuring result, Ino felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders, and she lay comfortably on the bed, completely enveloped in the soft bedding.

At this moment, he once again experienced a long-lost sense of relaxation, just like when he used to travel around with his teacher Hans, without having to worry about anything or care about anything.

Perhaps it was because they had let go of their mental burdens, or perhaps they were exhausted from a whole day of bumpy train travel.

In short, it wasn't long before even breathing could be heard coming from inside the dark green bed curtains.

New book release, a new journey begins. Thank you to all the big names for your support.

Please add this to your favorites! Please recommend it! Please vote with monthly tickets!

Please add this to your favorites! Please recommend it! Please vote with monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)