A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 217 Divination Lesson

The next day, while having breakfast in the auditorium, Irving received his new class schedule.

He ate his pie while checking his schedule for the day. He had seven classes to teach.

Divination and arithmetic divination classes are both at 9:00 AM, followed by a herbalism class. The first class in the afternoon is about protecting magical creatures and ancient runes, and the last class in the afternoon is about transfiguration. There is also astronomy in the evening.

Because each student chooses different courses, elective courses are not scheduled according to the college, but rather arranged based on each student's available time.

For example, Owen's Magical Creatures Protection class and Ancient Runes class are both in the first period of the afternoon, but Draco, who also chose these two courses, only has Magical Creatures Protection class in the first period of the afternoon, and their first Ancient Runes class is scheduled for tomorrow.

Draco suddenly appeared beside Owen, looking at his schedule and saying, "This schedule... how are you going to attend classes, Owen? Don't tell me you can create clones!"

Harry and Daphne also looked over curiously, staring wide-eyed at Owen's schedule.

"How do you know I can't create clones?" Owen smiled mysteriously and slowly folded up his timetable.

"Heh, I'd like to see your performance." Draco raised his chin.

Irving pinched the folded timetable between his index and middle fingers and gave it a sudden shake; the thin timetable instantly transformed into a beautifully designed tarot deck. He smiled and handed the deck to Draco, saying, "Draw one? Let me guess whether it's the Magician or the Fool?"

Draco glanced at him sideways, ignoring him. Playing this kind of game with Irving always made him feel like he was being played.

In the end, Harry randomly drew a card, his expression froze slightly as he looked at it, and then gradually became more relaxed.

Irving shuffled his cards with a flamboyant flourish, yawned lazily, and casually remarked, "So it's the Wheel of Fortune. Feels like this is a destined beginning."

Harry rolled his eyes and tossed the Wheel of Fortune card back to Owen. He knew this guy couldn't possibly be wrong about the cards, and even if he was, he was just messing with him.

"Ouch! I'm so sorry!" a little witch exclaimed as she passed by Harry from behind, spilling pumpkin juice on his back. The little witch quickly apologized and frantically grabbed tissues from the table next to her.

"It's alright." Harry waved his hand dismissively and cast a cleansing spell on his robes.

Irving glanced in this direction, then lowered his head and continued fiddling with his tarot cards.

After breakfast, they went their separate ways to their classes. Except for Owen, Harry, Daphne, and Blaise all had Divination class, so they decided to walk together towards the North Tower.

The divination classroom was located atop the North Tower, a ten-minute walk from the castle. Owen led his group along a shortcut, but a long flight of stairs still lay ahead.

They finally climbed to a platform where a painting hung on the stone wall. In the painting, a short, stout knight in armor was energetically dueling with his pony, shouting rhythmic and loud slogans.

"The valiant Sir Cadogan will never compromise!" shouts the knight in the painting, only to be kicked over by his pony.

Blaise glanced at it with amusement, and the diminutive knight in the painting drew his sword with a "whoosh," shouting angrily at the group, "You bunch of scoundrels, how dare you trespass on my private property! Draw your swords, you villains!"

"Ah, I'd like to draw my sword too," Blaise shrugged, grinning. "Too bad I don't have one."

The consequence of his foul mouth was that, for the rest of the journey, Sir Cadogan in the painting chased after them, shouting as he passed through frame after frame.

After they finally climbed up a small platform, panting, they were finally able to get some peace and quiet. Owen took a deep breath, wondering why Hogwarts didn't have an elevator. Or rather, if only he could ride a flying broomstick to class…

Several students had already gathered at the platform; Hermione, Neville, and Ron were all there. A brass plaque hung on the round trapdoor in the ceiling, reading "Sybil Trelawney, Divination Instructor," but the trapdoor was tightly closed.

They waited listlessly for a while, until all the students in the class had arrived, before the trapdoor slowly opened. A silver ladder was lowered from the inside and landed at everyone's feet.

The students climbed up the ladder and found themselves in a strange classroom with twenty small round tables crammed together, surrounded by printed fabric armchairs and bulging little cushions, like an old-fashioned teahouse built in an attic.

The curtains were drawn tightly, and everything around was bathed in a hazy red light. The fire in the fireplace roared, making the room unbearably hot. A teapot burned on the fire, emitting a strong, nauseating aroma.

The students in the class sat around in armchairs, whispering among themselves.

Professor Trelawney emerged from the shadows and said in her soft, indistinct voice, "Welcome. It's so good to finally see you in the material world."

She was very thin, and wore enormous glasses that magnified her eyes several times over. She was draped in a shawl adorned with shimmering metallic sequins, wore countless beaded chains around her neck, and had many bracelets and rings on her hands, making her look at first glance like a giant, glittering insect.

"So, divination is supposed to be this mysterious and strange?" Blaise shifted restlessly in his chair.

"No, I think it's just a personal hobby," Owen said absently, staring blankly at the teapot on the stove. At least Mr. Grindelwald was somewhat normal.

For the sake of his own sense of smell, Irving was considering whether to send Professor Trelawney some fine black tea, since at least its aroma was much more pleasant.

"Welcome to the divination class, my children," Trelawney said, sitting in an armchair.

She first inquired about Neville's grandmother, making Neville anxious and worried about her condition, and then warned Parvati Petil to be wary of a red-haired man. Next, she predicted that someone would leave forever around Easter, and told Lavender that her greatest fear would happen on October 16th.

Trelawney's words made the students look at her with trepidation, fidgeting as if they were awaiting trial.

Owen blinked, tilting his head in confusion. The current plot was clearly very different from the original story, so why were Trelawney still saying the same few lines?

Has the plot mysteriously taken a turn back to where it started?

"Do you think what she said will come true?" Harry asked in a low voice. He still held prophecies and divination in awe, after all, it was a prophecy that had influenced his entire life.

Irving hesitated for a moment, then shook his head seriously and said honestly, "I don't know either."

Although Trelawney's behavior in her normal state seems like she's just fooling people, if you really want to put it into perspective, her predictions seem to come true.

For example, Trelawney predicted that Neville would break the teacup, and that prediction came true.

However, if Trelawney's predictions were to come true, she would predict the death of one of her students every year, and it never came true.

Irving still felt that it was like astrology and fortune telling in the Muggle world. If people believed in their authenticity, they would receive a strong psychological suggestion from them and consciously match the things happening around them to the descriptions, thus creating the feeling that the other person was very accurate.

Just like when Neville broke the teacup, Irving himself could cleverly achieve the same effect by using psychological suggestion.

However… Owen carefully observed the oddly dressed divination professor for a while and concluded that she clearly didn’t seem to know anything about psychology.

He thought that either Trelawney had developed an instinct through long-term deception, or her prophetic bloodline could indeed allow her to see some vague signs. However, these signs were inherently ambiguous and difficult to interpret. When she strongly grasped a certain sign, that was when she would utter the true prophecy.

"Hmm, this is interesting." Owen became genuinely interested and his attitude became more serious. However, he wasn't sure if he had the talent for prophecy; it seemed that no prophet had ever appeared in the history of the Shafik family.

Thinking this, he followed Professor Trelawney's instructions and took a teacup filled with tea. He frowned and drank the tea, the strange taste filling his mouth and making him feel listless.

"I don't think I can glean any omens of the future from a bunch of damp, brown stuff," Harry said listlessly, swirling his teacup.

Owen swapped teacups with him and, referring to his memory, deciphered the shape of the tea leaves in Harry's teacup. He had already read the book "Seeing the Future Through the Fog" once and had almost completely memorized it.

He squinted, trying to discern the shape of the tea leaves, but unfortunately, he didn't get any strange premonition. He looked at the tea dregs that resembled some kind of bird; the book described it as "a sign of recent worry about a friend's situation or bad luck in finances."

That doesn't seem very accurate. Harry should be more worried about himself than his friends' situation. As for his bad luck... unless some brave soul manages to rob Harry of all his money in Gringotts.

Irving twirled the teacup in his hand, his expression becoming even more dejected.

Harry looked at Owen's teacup, referring to the textbook in his hand, and said, "I think this piece looks like a fish, which means you'll have good luck. Wait, there seems to be another fish here, which means... means your love is coming!"

Trelawney walked behind Owen, looked at Harry's teacup, and suddenly said, "This is really not a pleasant cup. Eagle...darling, you have a mortal enemy!"

Harry looked up and said in a flat tone, "Yes, Professor, I know." Everyone knew that Voldemort was his mortal enemy.

Trelawney didn't speak. She moved a few steps to the side, changing her perspective to continue observing the tea leaves. Suddenly, she exclaimed, snatched the teacup from Owen's hand, and lowered her frighteningly large eyes to examine it closely.

After a long while, she clutched her chest with a shimmering hand, closed her eyes, and screamed, "Oh no! My dear child... This is an omen! That creepy dog ​​that haunts the cemetery! It's a bad omen, a sign of death!"

Harry listened with a blank expression, surprisingly unmoved. Everyone knew he was in danger; after all, Bellatrix had openly attacked the train…

"I don't think it's an omen of bad luck, Professor!" Hermione, sitting on the other side, suddenly stood up and retorted sharply. She had long been fed up with Trelawney's rambling manner.

Trelawney looked at her with displeasure and shook her head to indicate that she did not have the talent for prophecy.

Owen curiously peered into Harry's teacup. After looking at it from several different angles, he could vaguely make out a shape that resembled an animal, but it could also easily be mistaken for a tiger, a bear, or a mouse.

He sat back down in his seat expressionlessly, having given up on divination and the like.

Trelawney gripped Harry's shoulder, tears welling in her eyes, as if he were about to be laid in a coffin. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes and placed Owen's teacup on the table.

Trelawney glanced into the teacup, then clutched her chest and slumped into a nearby chair, gasping for breath. After a long while, she exclaimed in utter shock, "My God, what did I see? Another ominous sign! A terrifying shadow! It foretells that you will be swallowed by the shadow of death!"

Those surrounding Trelawney stared wide-eyed, covering their mouths with their hands. For the first time, Owen was receiving the undivided attention of the entire class.

Hermione took a deep breath and raised her chin in disgust. Daphne pouted, looking worried and dissatisfied.

"What kind of shadow is it, Professor?" Owen asked with impeccable manners, his expression revealing his deep curiosity.

"My poor child, don't ask me...it's best not to tell..." Trelawney said weakly, "This is the first time, the first time in history! Every year I see signs of death on people, it's an ability given to me by my divine eye...but this is the first time I've seen two terrible signs of death at the same time!"

Owen blinked helplessly and exchanged a glance with Harry. He picked up his teacup, pulled out a piece of parchment, and carefully copied the pattern of tea leaves.

"I understand, Professor," he muttered. "Actually, it's alright. At least compared to love or something, I think this is pretty good."

"Why?" Harry asked, having heard him. He sat next to Owen, like two brothers in misfortune.

Owen raised an eyelid and said calmly, "Do you know how much of a waste of time and energy it is to be in a relationship? It means I'd have to spend a huge portion of the time I would spend researching magic on some troublesome and boring trifles. If I chose to do that now, I must have lost my mind."

Harry stared at him speechlessly for a long time before finally managing to stammer, "Isn't it about squeezing in time for sleep?"

"I was meditating," Owen corrected earnestly.

At that moment, Trelawney sighed and announced the end of get out of class. The students left the classroom one by one down the ladder, each silent and somewhat dejected.

On the way to the greenhouse, Daphne comforted him with a very gentle expression and tone, "Don't take Professor Trelawney's words to heart, Owen, Harry. I've heard from older students that she predicts a student will die every year, but it has never come true."

Harry nodded absentmindedly, then said thoughtfully, "Actually, when I was at Flourish and Blotts, I saw a book called 'Omens of Death,' and it had a big black dog on the cover... Do you think it's really an ominous sign?"

“The ominous legend has been around for a long time, Harry.” Blaise’s expression was somewhat serious. “Although most of the time it’s just stories adults tell children, my mother’s friend, a very capable Auror, did see a black dog as big as a bear. She fell ill two days later and died soon after. My mother even attended her funeral.”

"I've heard similar rumors too." Daphne nodded, her golden hair bouncing playfully by her ears.

"I see..." Harry said calmly. "But I think it might not be so bad if it were a big black dog." He knew that Sirius Black was also an Animagus, and that he transformed into a big black dog.

They walked down the long staircase, floor by floor. Owen glanced at the bright sunlight outside the window and suddenly said, "I'm going to my arithmetic and divination class now."

"What? We're about to have Herbology class!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"Ah, I'll be there soon, bye-bye." Owen winked mysteriously with his left eye, waved, and disappeared into another corridor.

"So, what exactly is he up to?" Blaise shrugged.

Owen slipped into a secluded storeroom, took out his pocket watch, and saw that it showed 10:43. Then he pulled out the long, thin gold chain from his collar and turned the delicate little hourglass hanging on it three times.

He felt himself flying backward at breakneck speed, with blurry colors and shapes flashing around him, but he couldn't see anything clearly. His eardrums were throbbing, and he couldn't hear any sound.

Soon, he felt his feet touching solid ground again. He looked around and found himself still standing in the storage room, nothing had changed except that the sun outside had tilted slightly downwards.

"It's been three hours now." Owen glanced at the pocket watch in his hand; the hands still pointed to 10:43.

"So my time didn't go backwards; rather, I returned to three hours earlier." Owen leisurely stuffed his pocket watch back into his pocket, then glanced at the sketch of tea leaves he had drawn in his divination class. "At this point in time, there are two versions of me."

"In other words, this method cannot extend lifespan. The total amount of time is fixed; I'm merely borrowing time from the future," he thought. "So, I should be reaching adulthood earlier than expected."

He then thought that it probably wouldn't be of much use. The trails the Ministry of Magic placed on the young wizards were based on normal time and would only disappear on their seventeenth birthday, regardless of how much time they had traveled back using the Time-Turner.

Irving cleared his mind of these chaotic thoughts and carefully observed the hourglass of the Time Converter. At this moment, the golden sand that had been stagnant inside the hourglass was now slowly flowing, like the mysterious and dangerous quicksand in the desert.

"As expected, the time converter cannot be used again during these three hours." He tried turning the hourglass, but the feeling of time reversal did not reappear, and nodded as expected.

"So, what would happen if I used the Time-Turner in the Wallfacer Space?" Owen's eyes lit up with anticipation. "Would I see my past self? What would happen then?"

In his own mental space, he doesn't have to fear death. He can use the time converter to his heart's content and conduct all sorts of dangerous experiments without worrying about killing himself.

With that in mind, Owen decisively entered the walled space and copied the time converter in without consuming any connection points.

"It seems my judgment was correct; most alchemical items can be copied without consuming connection points." He thought with satisfaction, glancing at the wall shrouded in white mist. The writing on it indicated that there were still 9 connection points remaining, and this year's connection point collection event had not yet begun.

Because he had a surplus of connection points, he copied the magic stone he had hidden at home this summer, which consumed one connection point. The magic stone is one of the few alchemical items that requires connection points to be copied, which speaks volumes about its special nature.

"But isn't the Time-Turner special?" Owen was a little confused, but he didn't intend to delve into it for the time being.

He placed the delicate little hourglass next to the bright red magic stone, fed the rabbit a piece of green vegetable, and then left the quiet, white space.

He walked out of the storage room; it was breakfast time.

With some time to spare before the first class started, Owen rolled his eyes, cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, and headed toward the auditorium.

He stood outside the Great Hall doors and looked inside, where he saw his past self sitting at the Slytherin table, fiddling with a deck of tarot cards.

Owen mischievously curled the corners of his mouth, took a white die from his inventory, and tapped it with his wand. The die transformed into a white line that flew through the Great Hall's doors, over the heads of the young wizards, and hurtled towards his past self.

Just as the dice were about to pass Harry, a little witch carrying pumpkin juice happened to walk by and blocked its path. The dice struck the little witch's arm, causing her arm to wobble and the pumpkin juice in her hand to spill onto Harry's back.

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry!" the little witch exclaimed, quickly apologizing to Harry.

The die that hit the little witch was bounced aside and disappeared into a student's backpack.

Irving saw his past self glance up, then went back to playing cards.

"Time travelers cannot change the past; anything they do only creates what they were aware of before their journey." Owen, standing outside the door, watched this scene thoughtfully, recalling Professor McGonagall's words.

"A closed loop? I'm just completing a piece of history..." He twirled his wand rapidly, an expression of keen interest on his face. "But if history can't be changed, can it be deceived?"

"Interesting." Irving turned and left.

I've revised Chapter 214, "The Time Converter," by adding a new setting: The Time Converter cannot be used to avoid danger. It must only be used when the surroundings are safe, because time magic is very easily interfered with by the fluctuations of spells, leading to serious consequences.

And, although this chapter seems a bit filler, it actually hints at all the main plot points of this volume, hehehe...

(End of this chapter)