Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 783 Prophecy and Return to School

The voices of Mrs. Pince and Violet echoed in her ears as she drew three little turtles in the blank space of her Potions homework, and two more Raffles next to her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework...

Simo was writing and drawing unconsciously with his quill pen until he almost smudged his completed metamorphosis assignment. He then suddenly realized what was happening, quickly put away his assignments, stuffed the quill pen and ink into his pocket, and got up to leave the library.

The journey from the library back to the Gryffindor Tower, which should have only taken a few minutes, took him nearly half an hour. He was even misled by the Knight of Cadogan onto the spiral staircase, causing him to walk several extra laps.

Back in the common room, he sat on the sofa in a daze and slowly fell asleep.

The firewood in the fireplace burned quietly, occasionally making a soft crackling sound. This sound entered my mind and gradually outlined my dream.

Time flew by in the dream, as if it had been fast-forwarded. For some reason, apart from him, his former friends quickly graduated, got married, and got promoted. In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed. Some busybody organized a class reunion, and the venue was chosen to be the Hogwarts Library. And everyone agreed to it.

Simo thought it was outrageous, but then agreed to attend the party.

In the dream, classmates and friends gathered together, chatting about their recent lives. Loren had become the legendary wizard depicted on a Chocolate Frog picture card, his adventures featured in storybooks; Hermione was the Head of the Department of Law Enforcement, her campaign headlines filled with news of her candidacy; Harry was the Auror Captain, a part-time Quidditch player, and had just won the World Cup during the summer; Ron, whose future career was unknown, had a ton of red-haired children gathered around watching him play with firecrackers, squeaking and chattering away…

Even Dean found a job at a Muggle company and used magic to rise to a management position.

Just as Seamus was struggling to pull out fireworks in a corner of the party, the entire place suddenly fell silent, with only Mrs. Pince and Violet's voices echoing.

"Look at that gentleman. Everyone else has achieved great things or at least built happy families. Only he is still the same as when he first enrolled."

"Who?"

"Who else could it be but Mr. Finigan, the fireworks enthusiast?"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the students in the room turned to look at him. Countless unspoken gazes were fixed on him, and Mrs. Pince and Violet's voices echoed in the library for a long time.

"I'm not!"

Simo opened his eyes instantly.

The fireplace was still burning quietly, and the rare winter sunlight shone through the window into the lounge, making it warm and comfortable. However, he felt a thin layer of sweat on his back, a slight chill, a dry mouth, and a sore throat. The only sound in the quiet lounge was his panting.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from the portrait cave.

Dean walked into the common room and paused for a moment when he saw him: "Weren't you in the library?"

Seamus swallowed, trying to soothe his dry, sore throat. "There weren't many people in the library. Mrs. Pince kept an eye on me, so I came back first."

"Why are you staying here?"

"I was sitting here resting when I accidentally fell asleep."

"Then why are you covered in sweat?"

"I had a nightmare."

"What kind of nightmare?"

"..."

Simo gradually fell silent, the dream he had just had resurfaced in his mind, and he felt that it might be some kind of prophecy, since he had just been preparing to do his prophecy homework.

The prophecy must not be revealed to the person involved, otherwise it will gradually come true.

Except for prophets.

He thought for a moment, then shook his head: "That's not important. What's important is that I won't go to the library before the start of the semester."

"You've finally come to your senses. I've said it before: instead of rushing to finish your homework now, it's better to wait for Loren and the others to return to school so they can learn from you."

"No! I still want to do my homework!"

"?"

Dean's face was full of confusion.

Every holiday, they would resolve to change their bad habits and study hard. Sometimes it was from the bottom of their hearts, and sometimes it was just following the trend. This would usually last for about half a month, which was understandable. But now they're already halfway through seventh grade and will be graduating soon. It's too late for them to realize this now.

Who are they to each other? Who are they pretending for?

"We got the key to the broomhouse from Hagrid, so we can borrow the brooms from the team's practice sessions. We're planning to have a flying snowball fight. Do you want to come?"

"I……"

Simo was about to refuse, but the sunlight outside the window was so bright that it sparkled on the snow, a rare sight that hadn't been seen for months.

"I can only play for half an hour; I still have homework for my divination class."

"Let's go then!"

……

The rare good weather lasted for several days, and the sun was shining all the way until the day we returned to school.

In the courtyards of two houses in Hampstead, on the outskirts of the city, the snow had melted slightly and then refreezed. A thin layer of ice covered a few branches and leaves, the hazy, transparent ice outlining the veins of the leaves and the texture of the branches. Covered with snowflakes, it shimmered beautifully in the sunlight.

However, based on past experience, these trees should not survive the winter; they will wither and die when the ice and snow melt.

Artificially cultivated green plants are like this, fragile and vulnerable.

Fortunately, the plant seller has been around for over ten years. They own the shop and the forest farm, so they won't run away. Their after-sales service is also quite reliable. Once the snow melts, we'll dig up these trees, return them to the seller, and get some better trees that survived the winter.

Grandpa Bates, wearing a down jacket, stood under the tree, carefully examining the roots.

Loren, who was already inside the house, had packed his things, put on his scarf and gloves, and slowly came to the courtyard to say goodbye: "Grandpa Bates, it's almost time, Hermione and I are going back to school."

"Should I go straight back to school or go to the station?"

"Go straight back to school."

"Going back to school... then I won't see you off."

"Take good care of yourself at home, maintain a regular schedule, and eat well, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Bates turned around, frowning. "I should be the one saying these things. Take good care of Hermione at school, help her maintain a regular schedule, make sure she eats properly, understand?"

"..."

Who exactly is this Grandpa Bates?

Loren looked up at his expression, his eyes narrowed slightly, and with a meaningful smile, he slowly approached him.

"He's almost eighteen, and you still want to hug him? He's like a child who hasn't grown up!"

Bates pretended to be disgusted, but still opened her arms and made a hugging motion.

"I don't even know who cried when they first took me to school."

Loren quickly uttered those words, then kicked the tree trunk and used spatial teleportation to disappear from the spot.

Snowflakes fell softly, not burying Bates, but covering his shoulders and head, sticking to his hair, eyebrows and beard, making him look like a snowman.

It has a nose and eyes, and even its glaring angry expression is exceptionally vivid.

……

The sun shines brightly, and the snow is sparkling.

The gates of Hogwarts were half-closed, and the boars on the marble statues on either side were about to take flight, but were buried in ice and snow. The path behind them was covered with snow and stretched out to the grounds, to the greenhouse, and to the castle hall.

Loren reached out and tentatively pushed the door open; it wasn't locked at all and opened very easily.

He shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval as he walked into the school gate: "Given the situation two years ago, this level of security would have caused serious problems. We've only had peace for a few days, and I think even the Hogwarts professors have fallen into decadence..."

Hermione walked beside her, pretending not to hear.

Although he could teleport directly back to the castle, he still chose to land at the school gate. Hermione knew him well and knew that it wasn't out of respect or reverence, but because no one had walked this road for almost a month, and he simply thought it was new and fun.

In fact, there were footprints left on the snowy road, which looked like they were left by Hagrid, while other normal footprints were buried by the snow.

Strolling along the school paths, I admired the scenery I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as the plants that were beginning to sprout life in the snow and soil.

Hermione remained silent for a moment, while Loren muttered to himself.

When Loren passed by the Willow Tree, he saw that it was also covered in snowflakes. Thinking that it probably hadn't been active for a long time, he went over and scratched its knots. The branches immediately trembled and shook, scattering snowballs that piled up into a lifelike snowman.

Hermione stopped when he approached the Whomping Willow, and fell silent as she looked at the snow on his hair and eyebrows.

"Hiss, it's a bit cold."

"..."

Hermione silently brushed the snowflakes off his shoulders, her touch a little too hard, making his coat slap loudly. Then she took his arm and led him toward the foyer.

"Why are you in such a hurry? We came back a day early, so we're already among the earliest students to return to school."

"The road ahead is still long, and I'm worried we won't reach the castle before dark."

"You seem to be implying something."

You misheard me.

"You don't think I'm wasting time by walking and stopping so much, do you?"

Loren raised his voice slightly, his expression seemingly somewhat indignant: "I just haven't seen these old friends in a long time, and I miss them a bit. Can't I even say hello after all this time?"

"..."

Hermione remained silent; this man's desire to perform was igniting, and the more she engaged with him, the more enthusiastic he became.

After walking for a while, the two of them naturally quieted down. At some point, their arm-in-arms became a clasp of hands, and they walked at a steady pace, sometimes looking at the roadside plants and trees, and at the forbidden forest not far away, discussing what it was like inside the greenhouse after being cooped up for so long.

As we slowly approached the Quidditch pitch, we could hear their shouts and cheers from afar, a scene of great enthusiasm.

……

Winter days are short and nights are long, and before you know it, the sun is setting in the west.

Simo rode on the team's practice broom, wearing old, discarded windproof sunglasses with snow stains around the edges, like a white border. These were left by snowballs that had hit the glasses and hadn't been wiped clean, but this didn't stop Simo from thinking he looked cool.

Flying snowball fights are so much fun...

Just then, he suddenly noticed a snowball flying towards his right front. It was coming with great speed, comparable to a whistling ball, and it looked like it was going to land on his face.

Based on his initial assessment, it was no longer possible to escape at this point.

Simo quickly raised his broom and climbed up, using his sturdy back to receive the snowball. Sure enough, it didn't hurt or itch at all; he barely felt anything.

These are all lessons learned from snowball fights over the past few weeks. When a snowball flies in front of you, don't panic. If you panic, you'll try to catch it with your face. Instead, stay calm and use your thick back or arms to catch it. You must avoid your face and neck because snow will fall into your collar and get very cold.

Don't ask him how he knows.

Speeding up to shake off Dean's sneak attack, Simon was about to scoop up some snow and make a snowball when two figures suddenly appeared at the edge of the narrow field of vision through his sunglasses, and he froze.

It's Loren and Hermione.

With his sharp eyes, he immediately recognized his roommate, and also the top student in the grade next to him. The two walked hand in hand, close to each other, slowly approaching the court. It seemed no different from usual, but he clearly remembered that the return to school was tomorrow. How come they were already back?

「!?」

Seamus turned around and looked closely; it was indeed Loren and Hermione.

Looking up at the sky, the sunset glowed on the horizon, and the sun had set in the west sometime earlier, about to sink behind the hills.

When?

He only played for less than half an hour!

The feeling of time flying by in his dream returned, and a nameless panic enveloped Simo. He hurriedly landed at the edge of the field, put down his broom, and was about to leave.

Dean landed beside him, looking at him with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong with you?"

"I need to go back and do my homework."

"?"

Dean looked puzzled. Following his gaze, he also saw two students who had returned to school early: "Loren and Hermione returned early, so we can refer to their assignments tonight. There's no need to rush!"

"I said I would only play for half an hour, now I need to go back and do my homework."

"But you've already played for six half-hour sessions, let's play for another half hour."

"No, I need to make the most of this half hour to do my homework."

"But there's only half an hour until dinner. How many problems can you solve?"

Looking at his resolute expression, Dean figured that the man had caught a cold from sleeping in the lounge without a blanket, and probably had a fever, making him delirious.

"..."

Simo did not answer, but turned and walked away, leaving the swirling snow and the afterglow of the setting sun behind him.

Dean didn't understand because he didn't have the talent for prophecy. He would understand at the class reunion ten years later. By the time he worked hard to become a manager in a Muggle company, Dean could only play with his classmates' children, struggling to pull out fireworks, and then be talked about by Mrs. Pince and Violet in front of the whole class.

As Simon thought this, he reached up and wiped the sunglasses on his face, thinking that Dean would remember his back view, and that he would remember that back view again at the library reunion ten years later.

……

The glow of the setting sun slanted down from the top of the tower, shining on the fireplace in the divination room and on the sparkling crystal ball.

The divination room was not filled with the strong, pungent smell of spices, but only with a faint aroma of sherry.

Trelawney picked up his glass, took a sip, and stared intently at the crystal ball.

This crystal ball was left to her by her great-grandmother. It is very old and has magical powers. When used with sherry to activate the magic of the third eye, one can glimpse the distant future.

In the first week of this academic year, I made several predictions for the students who were newly enrolled in the divination course, but none of them came true. I had to make a few more vague and general predictions to fill in the gaps, otherwise they would have to drop the course this semester.

She stared for a long time, until the bottle of wine was empty without her noticing. Only then did she write down the prophecy that had appeared in her mind on the parchment, muttering to herself as she wrote:

"This is all guided by the Heavenly Eye..."

(End of this chapter)