The next day, Aiden woke up very early because today there was an important class—Divination.
Edmund was half hanging off his bed, still fast asleep. Since he had no classes in the morning, Ethan and Aiden didn't wake him up.
The Divination classroom was in the North Tower, which none of them had visited in the previous two years. Aiden and Ethan climbed the winding stairs together.
Pushing open the door, they entered a rather peculiar room. Around it were more than ten small round tables, each surrounded by armchairs with printed cushions.
All the curtains were drawn, and the candles were covered with thick lampshades. In the dimness, many objects seemed to be emitting a faint red glow.
In the center stood a huge fireplace, with a large copper teapot heating over the flames.
Around the walls were many shelves displaying dusty feathers, piles of crystal balls, and countless teacups.
The thick incense smell rushed straight into Aiden's nostrils, making the dragon furrow his brows in distaste.
I wonder if using incense to suffocate people could help wizards better connect to the collective unconscious sea, Aiden thought, stroking his chin and filing the idea away as a potential experiment.
"Welcome," a voice emerged from the thick shadows.
"I was still wondering when I might meet you in the material world," Professor Sybill Trelawney said, walking out from behind the students.
"Come, sit down, children." Professor Trelawney moved to greet everyone but promptly bumped into the table in front of her.
Ethan was already beginning to doubt this clumsy professor.
He leaned close to Aiden's ear and whispered, "Can this professor really do it? Isn't she supposed to teach prophecy? How can she not even see her own disasters coming?"
"Perhaps this is 'physician, heal thyself,'" Aiden replied mysteriously.
"Tch." Ethan didn't fall for the cryptic response.
"Welcome to Divination class. I am your professor, Sybill Trelawney," she announced, settling in front of the fireplace. "I don't often appear in the main building because I believe the noise there might interfere with my Inner Eye."
No one responded to this strange declaration. Trelawney continued undeterred:
"Since you have chosen Divination, the most difficult of the magical arts, I must warn you in advance that if you do not have the vision to see through the future, then I can only teach you very limited content based on textbooks."
"Now, let us walk toward the future together. This semester we will mainly study tea leaf reading. Please pick up your teacups."
Throughout the class, Professor Trelawney tirelessly issued death prophecies to various students, using psychological tricks to mystify the young wizards. Aiden found himself quite enlightened by her methods, though not in the way she intended.
After drinking the tea in his cup, Aiden examined the leaves. They had formed a dragon's head breathing fire, with two cute little horns prominently displayed.
"Oh, let me see your tea leaves," Professor Trelawney said, taking Aiden's teacup.
"Ah!" She immediately threw the teacup back onto the table, backing away in apparent terror.
"It's the Grim!" Trelawney trembled as she retreated.
Wait, isn't this clearly a dragon? Aiden thought, his forehead creasing with confusion.
"The Grim—the darkest omen in the wizarding world. It symbolizes death," Ethan read from his textbook, then turned to Aiden with raised eyebrows. "Haha, Aiden, you're done for."
Obviously, Ethan was deeply skeptical of this so-called Grim.
Truly a child from the scientific world, Aiden thought, giving Ethan a mental thumbs up.
After Divination class ended, everyone returned to the main castle. Since it was the last class of the morning, they went straight to the Great Hall for lunch.
Edmund was apparently still fast asleep in the dormitory, so Ethan brought him food and left early.
Only Aiden sat alone at the Ravenclaw table, eating his meal.
The young witches around him all looked at him with pitying eyes, as if he might crumble to dust at any moment.
"Oh, what a poor boy." "His roommates were so scared they fled from his side." "Is this what they mean by beauty being short-lived?"
The whispered discussions grew louder, and the veins on Aiden's forehead began to bulge.
System, Aiden called in his mind.
Scan complete. Confirmed that this prophecy has not connected to the collective unconscious sea, the system's voice entered his consciousness.
So does she actually have the ability to connect to the collective unconscious sea? Aiden asked.
Individual name: Sybill Trelawney, race: human, specialized profession: seer. Her great-great-grandmother was the great seer Cassandra Trelawney, who possessed the ability to freely connect to the collective unconscious sea. As her descendant, this ability has been significantly weakened.
So? Aiden waited for a summary.
She's like an old antenna TV with a somewhat damaged antenna, the system provided its characteristically sharp critique.
As Ravenclaw's most celebrated student, Aiden's popularity was quite high. This originally unremarkable incident was actually discussed by people from Tuesday through Friday.
In Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall taught the young wizards about Animagus knowledge. To recapture the students' attention, she even performed her cat transformation.
However, her demonstration didn't generate much interest, which left her visibly irritated.
Professor McGonagall looked at the pitying expressions of the young witches, and her serious face twitched slightly.
"Another one?" Professor McGonagall couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Yes, Professor, such a beautiful person," a Ravenclaw witch answered sympathetically.
"Listen, children, I want to emphasize to you once again that prophecy itself is not a rigorous discipline," Professor McGonagall said, clearly angry at Professor Trelawney's dramatics.
"So I hope you won't let some nonsense affect your mood and cause you to fall behind in other subjects."
Harry, sitting nearby, ignored Professor McGonagall's advice and looked at Aiden with sympathetic eyes.
Aiden didn't know how to respond and could only give him an awkward smile.
After class, Ron pulled Harry and Hermione over to find Aiden.
"So, you're both cursed by the Grim now. Perhaps you need to stick together for warmth," Ron said, his intermittent cleverness making an appearance.
"Really, Brother Ronnie? Why don't we write a letter home to ask Aunt Molly's opinion?" Aiden replied sarcastically in a high-pitched voice.
"Ugh," Harry and Hermione both shivered after hearing this.
"Alright, Ron, don't be so superstitious. Professor McGonagall also said that prophecy isn't a reliable discipline," Hermione advised.
"Oh really? Professor Trelawney said you have no talent. You wouldn't be so used to being first that you're unwilling to admit you're not good at this, would you?" Ron hit a nerve with precision.
Hermione kicked Ron hard in the shin and stormed off.
Ron immediately clutched his leg, hopping around in place.
Sigh, I really don't know how these two ended up together, Aiden thought.
He and Harry looked at each other and both saw the helplessness in the other's eyes.
Harry shrugged, Aiden shrugged back, and the two linked arms and left, abandoning Ron where he stood.
"Hey, you two, wait for me!" Ron's voice echoed in the corridor behind them.
Because a certain dragon was feeling playful, he followed Harry into the Gryffindor common room.
Harry didn't even react and led Aiden all the way to his dormitory.
"Wow, you actually have a five-person dorm," Aiden exclaimed, looking around.
"Aiden? Oh right, it was you I was pulling along," Harry said, slapping his forehead in realization.
Then noise came from outside, and Harry's other roommates entered.
The door opened, several pairs of eyes met, and everyone froze in place.
"Oh, hello everyone, I'm—" Aiden began to introduce himself when Dean Thomas recognized him.
"I know, you're Ron's brother, the Rose of Ravenclaw."
"The second half doesn't need to be said, and who the hell gave me that ridiculous nickname?" Aiden said, black lines appearing on his forehead.
"I heard it's from a recently famous organization in school called the Mutual Aid Society. I heard the founder is from Slytherin," Seamus said, leaning in conspiratorially.
"Want some snacks, Aiden? I still have some Voice-Changing Candy left from last time," Neville offered, pulling out treats.
"Oh, this looks fun, let me try," Aiden said, casually grabbing one and popping it in his mouth.
"Screech!" The cry of an eagle came from Aiden's mouth.
Soon, this dreamwalker had hit it off with everyone present.
"How about Aiden replaces Ron as our roommate?" Seamus suggested with a brain fart.
Just then Ron pushed the door open and heard Seamus's treacherous statement.
"You guys... this is too much!" Ron's wail echoed through the entire Gryffindor tower.
(TL NOTE: Unfortunately, my LOTR: Playing Minecraft in Middle-earth book was mistakenly flagged as spam on Webnovel and removed. I'll re-upload it under a different title by today at the latest. Thank you for your patience!)