Hearing Harry's words, Professor Trelawney suddenly felt a bit choked up.
You dare use my own words against me? Potter?
She had never imagined that a student would say "The Grim" to her face in her own class, let alone predict death right there in the classroom.
Professor Trelawney opened her eyes and re-examined the Savior standing before her.
Well, the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead was indeed quite unique.
"So..." Professor Trelawney asked in her misty, ethereal voice, "Whose death is it that you see?"
"A snake," Harry said with certainty. "I saw a snake formed of smoke. What does it represent?"
"It represents..."
Professor Trelawney stalled, then suddenly, as if struck by a moment of true clarity, she proclaimed loudly, "Yes, it represents the Heir of Slytherin—in this June, you shall finally have a battle—but it will not be your last battle..."
Huh?
Did the Professor actually come up with something?
Harry scratched his cheek. Could it be that this professor actually knew a thing or two about prophecy?
But didn't Cassandra say she was just a fraud seeking fame?
Then he remembered that it was precisely because Professor Trelawney's prophecy was leaked by Professor Snape that Voldemort decided to visit Godric's Hollow...
Voldemort is so evil! Harry thought to himself.
"Then who do you think will die?" Harry asked again.
"Most likely not you, my dear." Professor Trelawney lowered her head and patted Harry's shoulder. "Do not worry. In the future I see, your life is quite long..."
Well, I thank you, Professor.
The students in the classroom were left in shock. They clearly hadn't expected that Professor Trelawney would fail to predict Harry's death.
Was this still Professor Trelawney? Had someone swapped out her core?
Perhaps someone had taken Polyjuice Potion and turned into Professor Trelawney?
The more they thought about it, the more possible it seemed. Hermione wasn't in this class; could she have done it?
However, their suspicions would ultimately remain just guesses. After Professor Trelawney announced the end of class, everyone instantly lost the will to speculate and breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, the smell of incense in the room was simply too heavy, so heavy that they barely wanted to lift their eyelids to listen.
Days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, June arrived.
Because the Triwizard Tournament was taking place, exams for all subjects were scheduled earlier.
Since Harry was a Triwizard Champion, he was granted an exemption from these exams.
This meant he didn't have to take any tests at all; he just needed to sit there and space out to receive a pile of "O"s (Outstanding)—provided, of course, that he successfully became the Champion of the Triwizard Tournament.
For this reason, Professor Snape was particularly displeased. On the day he learned Harry didn't need to take exams, he wore a long face in class all day, as if he had encountered something absolutely intolerable.
"Look at his expression."
Back in the Common Room, Ron, having held it in all day, finally spoke with liberated joy. "I mean Professor Snape—didn't you see him just now? Didn't you see? He looked like he'd eaten twenty Flobberworms, hahahahaha..."
The current Ron was extremely cautious; he would absolutely never badmouth Snape in public. After all, his relationship with Snape was like a taboo curse—the moment he spoke ill of the man, Snape would flash into existence behind him.
Obviously, the Head of Slytherin was unlikely to appear in the Gryffindor Common Room.
"I really want to ask him what Flobberworms taste like." Neville giggled foolishly from the side. "But why is he like that? He looked really angry. Which one of you provoked him? Was it Harry?"
"How could it be me?" Harry pointed at himself and laughed. "I didn't even make a mistake in class. I perfectly completed all the assignments he set!"
"Oh, maybe it's because you were too perfect, so he couldn't find fault, and that made him even angrier," Seamus said from the side.
Hearing Seamus's explanation, everyone burst into laughter.
Thinking about it, that actually made sense. Perhaps the truth was exactly that—Snape wanted to trouble Harry, but Harry performed so well that Snape couldn't find a proper angle to nitpick.
"Perhaps you should say," Ron said with a grin, "'Professor Snape, if you want to nitpick, just come at me'—that way, if you let him find a reason to deduct points, maybe he won't be so angry."
"I'm not crazy." Harry rolled his eyes. "Careful, or Professor Snape will appear behind you right now and take it out on you."
"Hahaha!" Ron clutched his stomach, laughing loudly. "How is that possible! Snape is the Head of Slytherin; how could he appear in the Gryffindor Common Room? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Everything is possible, Mr. Weasley."
Snape's signature oily, drawling voice sounded from right behind Ron. The circle of students instantly felt the surrounding temperature drop by several degrees.
No way, what is happening?
Ron felt as if he had plunged into an ice cave. He slowly turned around to find Professor Snape staring at him with a look reserved for the dead.
"Given that you are in the Gryffindor Common Room and not in a public place, I will not deduct points from you," Professor Snape said in a long, drawn-out voice. "However—your summer homework will be quintupled."
Ron let out a whimper. He regretted it now; he regretted it very, very much.
I am so stupid, really. I only knew Snape was the Head of Slytherin, but I forgot he is a Potions Professor. Theoretically, he can absolutely enter the Gryffindor Common Room.
Harry, on the other hand, looked up at Snape and asked, "Professor, is there a reason you're here?"
For a Slytherin Head of House to come to the Gryffindor Common Room, it wasn't just something; it was definitely something important.
"Your Headmaster is waiting for you in his office. It just so happens that Professor McGonagall is away, so as your Potions Professor, your old professor had to make the trip personally."
Snape's voice was still drawn out, sounding a bit impatient.
Harry felt something was a bit off. How could Snape possibly come to the Gryffindor Common Room?
Others might not know, but Harry knew exactly what the deal was.
It made sense, really. After all, Professor Snape didn't get along with Gryffindors when he was in school, and the one time he came to the Gryffindor entrance, he was ruthlessly rejected by his goddess.
Pain. Too much pain!
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, standing up and thanking Snape with utter sincerity, only to receive a view of the back of Snape's head and a cold "Hmph."
Leaving the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry followed Snape all the way to the outside of the Headmaster's office.
To his surprise, that "Snape" suddenly transformed, turning into a witch, her outfit changing instantly as well.
She had a pale, heart-shaped face with a pair of dark, twinkling eyes. Like any young and rebellious witch, she wore a Weird Sisters t-shirt and patched jeans. What surprised Harry slightly was that her hair was a very vivid bubblegum pink.
"Wotcher, Harry," the witch said to Harry with a grin. "You can call me Tonks—I'm a Hufflepuff graduate."
Oh, a senior from Hufflepuff.
"Hello, Tonks," Harry greeted her, then asked somewhat hesitantly, "Just now, that was..."
"Oh, just to liven up the atmosphere. Entering the Gryffindor Common Room with this face is just too plain, isn't it?" Tonks seemed very eager to chat. "If I could turn into Professor Snape and prank a couple of students, wouldn't that be fun?—Oh, right, remember to tell Ron he doesn't actually need to do that homework."
"You'll scare him to death," Harry said, shaking his head.
But after trying to keep a straight face, he couldn't hold it back.
"Hahahahaha... but it was really funny, did you see? Ron's face just now, he looked like he was about to cry... By the way, how do you know Ron?"
"I don't know Ron personally, but I knew he had to be a Weasley," Tonks said lightly. "I know his second oldest brother, Charlie. He has the same signature flaming red hair."
"Fair enough." Harry shrugged, only to see Tonks suddenly cross her eyes and turn her nose into a pig snout.
Quite a fun senior. Harry praised her enthusiastically, being a supportive audience.
The door to the Headmaster's office suddenly opened, and Professor Snape walked out.
Passing by Tonks and Harry, he lifted his head and swept a glance over the two of them, but said nothing, flapping his cloak like a giant bat as he swept away.
"I bet he's your nightmare right now," Tonks said, watching Snape's retreating figure. "From Ron's reaction just now, I can tell, definitely your nightmare."
"Who says he isn't?" Harry shrugged. "Let's go, we should head in and hear what the Headmaster has arranged."
When they walked into the Headmaster's office, they found many people sitting inside, including Lupin, Sirius, and a few others Harry found familiar but didn't recognize.
Of course, there was also the Deputy Minister of the Greater German Ministry of Magic, Miss Veratia Grindelwald.
"These are the members of our original Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore said first. "I believe the plan should be foolproof. With them holding the fort at Hogwarts, Harry... well, at least you and Miss Veratia won't have to worry about what you leave behind."
Harry and Veratia exchanged a glance, both seeing the "Heh" in the other's eyes.
Order of the Phoenix?
The original Order of the Phoenix?!
Pah!
The members of the true original Order of the Phoenix were clearly Harry, Veratia, Cassandra, Poppy, Ominis, and Sebastian. You lot are, at best, a counterfeit second generation...
Furthermore, you actually declared yourselves the "Original Order of the Phoenix" in front of the members of the actual Original Order?!
Who gave you the courage? Westlife?
"Of course, Tonks is our newly recruited member," Dumbledore said again. "As an outstanding graduate of Hufflepuff, she deserves to enter the Order."
"I have no objections," Harry said with a shrug.
This Order was not that Order; Harry felt it had nothing to do with him.
"Neither do I," Veratia said, mimicking Harry's manner.
"However, I must say this again, Harry," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "This plan is truly very risky. I still do not recommend you risking your life personally."
"It is indeed dangerous," Harry nodded. "But this is just a necessary sacrifice—someone has to make the sacrifice, so why can't it be me?"
Dumbledore didn't say anything more, simply nodding in approval at the end.
"You'll be fine, Harry." Sirius reached out and patted Harry's shoulder. "You are James and Lily's son, born to defeat Voldemort—you've already defeated him countless times, and he won't have the advantage this time either."
"Additionally," Dumbledore spoke again, "Regarding the Ministry matters—I believe it is necessary to notify the Minister for Magic about the news of Voldemort's imminent return. What do you think?"
"I have no opinion," Sirius said lazily, though his tone clearly implied he had quite an opinion about Fudge.
"Of course," Veratia reached out to scratch Harry's chin, smiling as she said, "It's nothing more than another four-stage strategy—in the first stage, even if Fudge receives the news, he will say that nothing has happened."
"Mhm. In the second stage, he will declare that perhaps something is happening, but they don't need to do anything," Harry continued.
"In the third stage, he will declare that something has indeed happened, but there is nothing they can do about it," Veratia said with a faint smile.
"And in the fourth stage, he will say maybe we should have done something in the beginning, but now it's too late."
After Harry finished, he and Veratia high-fived in the air.
Dumbledore reached up to rub his temples. No matter how he looked at it, he felt this couple's coordination was becoming increasingly seamless.
" regardless, this matter must be reported to Fudge," Veratia continued. "After all, he is the Minister for Magic. Even if he cannot accept the news of Voldemort's return, we must ensure his informed consent."
"Why?" Tonks suddenly asked.
"Oh." Veratia smiled darkly. "As I said, he is the Minister for Magic, after all..."
Tonks felt a bit confused. She felt there was a layer of meaning somewhere that she hadn't caught, but she couldn't figure out what layer it was.
"Miss Veratia is right to consider this," Sirius said suddenly. "Fudge is simply too obsessed with preserving his political life. If the news of Voldemort's return to the world gets out, it will definitely deal a devastating blow to his reputation and status. So, no matter what, he will try to suppress this news..."
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