Vid looked around, then spotted "Sybill Trelawney" in the corner.
The professor stood in the shadows where the light couldn't reach, covered in elaborate and peculiar jewelry, allowing her to perfectly blend into the chaotic room.
She wore a pair of large glasses with bulging eyes, radiating an unmistakably eccentric aura.
Vid suddenly felt she was somewhat like Luna—not in appearance, but in the sense of living in another world.
The students who hadn't seen the professor didn't sit down hastily, looking around curiously. Ron asked, "Where is she?"
"Welcome," a ethereal voice came through, "It's nice to finally see you in the corporeal world."
Trelawney swayed out, her transparent shawl glistening on her shoulders, the bracelets on her arms chiming crisply.
Vid showed an indescribable expression.
Trelawney was clearly putting on airs, aiming to maintain a mysterious and powerful image capable of communicating with deities, in order to awe the students attending a Divination class for the first time.
But in reality, the way she previously stood observing students in the darkness was her true self. When she began to act, she appeared vulgar and shallow instead.
Trelawney had the students sit down, adjusted her shawl, and continued boasting—
"...The overly busy school life blurs my third eye..."
"This is the most difficult course among all magical arts... If you lack the 'Sight,' there is little I can teach you..."
"...Only a few are blessed with the talent to pierce through the mists and see the future..."
Trelawney slightly raised her chin, indicating that she was among those few talented people, yet she stared at a spot in the air ahead, not looking at anyone.
It must be said, the simple students were almost all taken in; Vid saw that Padma, who initially observed the professor with a critical eye, looked increasingly convinced as time went by.
Vid flipped through his Divination course book out of boredom.
The cover depicted a sun, a huge eye, and a woman's silhouette, authored by Cassandra Vablatsky.
The foreword briefly introduced this renowned prophet of the Magic World—a beautiful princess who received the godly sight from the Sun God Apollo, enabling her to foresee future events.
But tragically, she offended Apollo and was cursed by the god so that no one believed her.
Cassandra foresaw the downfall of her nation and the deaths of her family and herself, yet no one believed her words.
While she lived, people thought she was mad; once she passed away, her prophecies were validated one by one, and she was hailed as the greatest prophet in history.
Professor Trelawney was a descendant of this figure, yet strangely, she didn't mention her legendary lineage while posturing in front of the students.
Vid knew that although Trelawney always seemed to act pretentious, she was actually a genuine prophet.
Her prophecy once prompted Voldemort to personally hunt down Harry, affecting the course of the entire world—even though she herself remained unaware of this.
Just as she said earlier, "Prophecy" is an innate talent, flowing in her blood, inadvertently tearing away the veil of peace to expose the cruel and hideous face of destiny.
And for the unskilled students, they could only glance at the textbook's content and make random guesses with tea leaves.
Trelawney prophesied that around Easter, someone would leave forever, then nonchalantly began pouring tea as if what she said was commonplace.
Although Vid felt this was pointless, he still took a teacup from the shelf and asked Professor Trelawney for some hot tea.
Neville, who sat beside Vid, accidentally broke a teacup and had to embarrassingly take a second one, handling it as cautiously as if it were a bomb.
The tea was scalding hot, and the students blew and sipped cautiously, finally finishing their tea, shaking it thrice before placing it upside down on the saucer.
Waiting for the tea to drain out, Neville nervously opened his textbook, the yellowed pages illustrating various shapes of tea leaves with simple brushstrokes, accompanied by interpretations of different forms.
Vid saw it as interpreting dreams, not believing it although entertaining.
Soon the tea was fully drained, and Vid lifted his cup, casually glancing inside, his expression freezing slightly.
The shape of the tea leaves resembled a bat with its wings spread, no matter how one looked at it.
In the textbook, bats, like black dogs, symbolized death and were associated with evil and vampires.
Neville, unnoticing of this side, was overly tense from breaking his cup, staring at his teacup, said:
"Vid, have you already opened yours? Uh… Has my tea drained completely? It should be about done, right?"
Neville uncertainly raised his gaze, wanting to see how others did it.
At the moment he raised his head, Vid also lifted his cup, the rim gently brushing the saucer's base.
"Students who have completed the task, have your companion interpret your tea cup," Professor Trelawney said, "I will guide you, help you, of course, those without talent may give up early. I did say, talent is most important..."
Vid and Neville exchanged their teacups.
"Uh, this..."
Neville flipped through the book, trying to interpret: "Your tea leaves seem like an umbrella… which may mean it's going to rain tomorrow; you should take an umbrella with you… But I know you don't need to, you just need your magic wand..."
He turned the cup in another direction.
"From this side, it looks a bit like a small boat; perhaps you're going to row on the Black Lake, Vid… or, it could mean you're going on a long journey… uh, with an umbrella..."
Vid gently shook Neville's tea leaves as well—
"It looks a bit like a rabbit baring its teeth… not bad, this suggests you'll encounter some good fortune; or perhaps a large cabbage..."
Vid said, suddenly feeling a moment of dizziness.
Neville waited for a few seconds, asked: "Are you hungry, Vid?"
"No," Vid steadied himself, said: "Uh… cabbage… symbolizes harvest..."
He casually recited the book's words, but a thought persisted in his mind—
In that brief moment, he thought those tea leaves resembled a goat's head, and once this notion emerged, it was firmly rooted, seeming more accurate the more he looked.
A goat's head, like a bat, was not a good omen.
—But just a few leftover tea leaves couldn't possibly reveal a person's fate, how ridiculous.
Thinking this, Vid casually picked out some good omens to mention, making Neville extremely happy.
On the other side of the classroom, Professor Trelawney was staring at Harry, sadly proclaiming:
"An omen—a most dire omen—a premonition of death!"