HP: Those Years Sleeping with the Half-Blood Prince

Lily giggled and sat down next to Severus. "I'll probably choose ancient runes and divination. Muggle studies..."

She wrinkled her nose. "I think I know enough."

"A wise choice," Aris noted on his form. "Ancient methods like nihilo and arithmetic are a suitable combination."

"And you, Aris?" Ian asked.

"Ancient practices such as scripture, arithmetic divination, and the protection of magical creatures," Aris answered fluently, "three disciplines that can combine theory with practice."

Kevin's eyes widened: "Three doors? Are you sure you can handle it?!"

"I've calculated it in detail," Aris said calmly. "Required courses, elective courses, plus necessary rest time—three courses can maximize the use of time."

There was a moment of silence in the cubicle.

"...You win." Kevin muttered, pulling out a bag of Chocolate Frogs.

The topic shifted several times, from the books we read during the summer vacation to the new joke merchandise from Diagon Alley, and then to speculation about the tactics of the new Slytherin captain.

……

The train whistles, and the towers of Hogwarts Castle emerge from the mountains in the distance.

Kevin stopped arguing about the new broom handle, Aris closed the folder, and Lily straightened her robe.

The group got off the bus with the flow of people and arrived at the auditorium.

The Sorting Hat changed the song to one about the early disagreements and eventual reconciliation among the founders of the four houses; the melody was a bit drawn out.

There weren't many new students this year; Slytherin only had three new first-years, and they quickly settled down at the end of the long table.

As Ian sat down, his gaze habitually swept across the long table, the casual feeling of the mixed seating of different grades from last year had faded considerably.

The upperclassmen from prominent families sat together talking about something, their gazes toward the lowerclassmen filled with consideration.

Severus sat down next to Ian and also noticed this silent restoration of order.

"The class distinctions are more pronounced now," Ian said in a voice only the two of them could hear, as he picked up the pumpkin juice jug and poured himself a glass. "Looks like some people haven't been idle this summer."

"As always," Severus replied in a low voice, without any surprise. "Strength or bloodline, you have to have one of these to move up in the hierarchy."

……

The elective course officially started in the second week.

The arithmetic and divination class was held on the seventh floor of the castle, in a circular room with a ceiling enchanted with a slowly rotating star map.

The classroom was filled with small round tables, each with a complex crystal astrolabe and a bunch of charts covered with strange symbols.

Professor Basilda Baburin was young, with thick brown curly hair and eyes that seemed to see right through people.

Without wasting words, she directly asked them to produce their birth dates and times.

"Today, we'll learn the most basics," Professor Babling's clear voice echoed in the quiet classroom, "through your personal birth chart, observe certain...prominent points in your life trajectory. Don't be nervous; this is more like a mathematical exercise to understand yourself."

As requested, Ian wrote his information on a star chart film using a special silver chalk, and then placed it on the crystal star chart.

The faint light inside the horoscope begins to flow, and tiny points of light travel along the markings, eventually leaving marks of light or dark at specific intersections.

Severus was at the table next to him, his movements serious.

Professor Babling paced slowly among the tables, occasionally stopping to point to a particular intersection and offer a few quiet comments.

She walked to Aris's table first, looked at it for a moment, and said calmly, "The logical trajectory is exceptionally clear, but pay attention here, Mercury's shadow area. Be careful not to rely too much on deduction and ignore the warnings of intuition."

Aris nodded seriously and immediately wrote it down in his notebook.

Then she strolled over to Ian’s table.

Ian had no feeling about his birth chart; to him, those light spots and their trajectories were just complex geometric shapes.

Professor Babling leaned over and stared for a long time, so long that Ian began to feel uncomfortable.

She touched a spot on the astrolabe with her fingertip. "Very interesting..."

Professor Barblin looked up. "Mr. Burke, your astrological chart indicates that at some important juncture in time, you will... face death..."

The air in the classroom seemed to freeze for a moment, and people at the next few tables secretly glanced over.

Ian's heart skipped a beat, but he maintained his composure, even raising an eyebrow: "That doesn't sound good, Professor. And then? Is that all the astrological chart says?"

Professor Barbling seemed somewhat surprised by his calm reaction. "And then? The trajectory takes a turn and is reborn here. The shadow of death looms over you, but fails to engulf you. It's more like a checkpoint, only..."

She touched the obscure intersection with her fingertip again. "Through its price, the horoscope does not show it, perhaps greatly, perhaps slightly, but it must exist."

She straightened up. "Record the coordinates of this intersection on your birth chart and the associated runes. This is a key marker in your personal destiny, and we will learn how to track its cycle of influence in the next lesson."

After saying that, she walked to the next table.

Ian lowered his head and began copying down the coordinates, when he felt a gaze cast his way from the side.

He glanced at it out of the corner of his eye.

Severus was looking at his astrolabe when the silver chalk in his hand stopped moving.

His face remained expressionless, but Ian noticed a hint of panic in his eyes.

It was just a fleeting moment.

The next second, he seemed to realize Ian's glance out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly turned his head away, his gaze falling on his own horoscope. His fingers loosened their grip on the pen, then immediately tightened again, and he began to write on the star chart membrane, his movements faster than usual, with a hint of imperceptible impatience.

Ian withdrew his gaze and continued copying down his coordinates, a slight ripple stirring within him.

After class, Severus said he was going to the library to look up information, while Ian went back to his dorm alone.

As soon as I stepped onto the last step leading to the entrance to the Slytherin common room, I heard a conversation below, deliberately hushed but unable to hide its excitement.

"...My father said that the Travers family's stance this time is very clear, and it's not just about tradition..."

It was the voice of Prefect Everett Travers. Another, more composed male voice responded; it was Sabine, the seventh-year student: "Otto, be careful. There are too many people and too many eyes in the castle. Regulus also meant that, at this stage, screening is more important than being ostentatious."

Ian continued walking down the steps without stopping, his expression unchanged. The two men, standing in the shadows near the entrance, stopped talking abruptly when they saw him.

Everett Travers immediately flashed a formulaic smile: "Bock? Back from the library?"

"Mm." Ian nodded.

"I heard your potions business with Snape is doing quite well," Everett said casually. "They've even got people in Gryffindor asking about it. You're smart."

"It's just a little extracurricular activity, nothing compared to how much you, Prefect, care about the academy," Ian replied succinctly.