A streak of silvery-white electric current flashed from the tip of Link's wand.
Trelawney, who had been lying sprawled on the ground, suddenly stiffened. Her body began twitching violently on the floor, making the piles of liquor bottles around her rattle with loud clinking sounds.
Only after more than ten seconds did she finally calm down.
She struggled to sit up from the floor, wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and said in a still trembling voice, "Wh… what the hell?"
"Good morning, Sybill.", Dumbledore greeted Trelawney with a smile.
Hearing this, Trelawney's unfocused eyes gradually regained clarity. She swayed slightly and nodded toward Dumbledore.
Seeing her like this, Link grew impatient.
He stepped past Dumbledore, frowned, and glared at Trelawney as he said, "Trelawney, make a prophecy for us. And you too, Firenze."
Firenze nodded without hesitation.
Trelawney, however, looked completely confused.
"W… why? I never make prophecies in the morning! And… and how did you even get in here? This is my room! How can you just barge into a lady's room without a word? While she's sleeping no less!"
Her voice grew louder and louder, until it turned into a scream.
"You must make a prophecy for us. Now. Immediately." Link's face had completely turned cold.
"If you insist on knowing why, then I can only say it concerns whether you'll continue living at Hogwarts or be sent to the psychiatric ward at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
As soon as he said this, the muscles on Trelawney's face twitched. Her pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints, and she sobered up on the spot.
She was scared awake.
The psychiatric ward at St. Mungo's Hospital.
Its reputation wasn't much better than Azkaban.
The only difference between them was that the prisoners in Azkaban were driven insane by Dementors.
While the patients in St. Mungo's psychiatric ward were "treated" into insanity by their fellow patients and healers.
In some ways, St. Mungo's psychiatric ward was even more terrifying.
Because in Azkaban, if you really couldn't take it anymore, you could at least choose death. The Dementors would gladly grant that wish. They had long craved your soul.
But in St. Mungo's psychiatric ward, death was a luxury.
Those healers in white robes had too many unbelievable methods to drag you back from the edge of death, just so you could continue enduring that torment.
So just from recalling the rumors about St. Mungo's psychiatric ward, Trelawney's attitude made a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
She jumped up from the floor and began rummaging through the trash while saying, "Alright! I'll make a prophecy for you right away! So… so please don't send me there!"
Link then looked toward Firenze in a questioning way. Firenze gave a slightly awkward gentleman's gesture, indicating ladies first.
Seeing this, Link nodded.
At the same time, Trelawney successfully dug out a pile of "junk."
This included a crystal ball covered in dust, a teacup with unknown stains inside, a can of tea leaves that had already gone moldy, a brownish-black robe (which was originally probably pure black), and a black cat doll.
She quickly put on the robe, wiped the crystal ball clean, brewed tea in the cup, and then began swaying as she muttered strange words that Link couldn't understand, and probably nobody in the world could understand (or maybe they were just random syllables?).
The whole scene was rather eerie.
Firenze watched with a serious expression.
When it came to knowledge he didn't understand, he always maintained a sense of reverence.
Link, on the other hand, exchanged a suspicious glance with Dumbledore.
Then he saw a strong look of barely hidden amusement on Dumbledore's face.
This gave Link a bad feeling.
"You!"
Trelawney suddenly pointed at Link and shouted sharply.
It startled Link.
When he turned back, he saw Trelawney rolling her eyes upward in an exaggerated way no normal person could manage, speaking in a dreamlike voice, "You are the chosen one!"
"Merlin's child! You will become the best headmaster in Hogwarts history! Your future will be smooth and open! All difficulties before you will become insignificant! You…"
As Trelawney continued chanting, Dumbledore's expression had already twisted.
He was holding back laughter.
Link's face, however, had grown extremely dark.
Anyone normal at Hogwarts knew that Trelawney's favorite thing was making prophecies about other people's misfortune.
And she was extremely petty.
Even if a dog barked at her twice, she would immediately predict that it would choke on a bone that very night.
So Link had actually long prepared himself mentally to be cursed by Trelawney.
He had even been quite on guard.
After all, even if such a prophecy was fake, it could still make him more cautious.
But he really hadn't expected this.
Trelawney had started off by showering him with flattery.
And such stiff, awkward flattery at that.
Anyone could tell it was fake.
Taking a deep breath, Link interrupted, "Trelawney, you should quit drinking!"
Trelawney's voice suddenly stopped. She said nervously, "I actually don't like drinking! No, I hate the taste of alcohol!"
"I only drink to make better prophecies! This is a sacrifice I made for my profession! Without alcohol, I can't make accurate predictions, so you can't..."
"Bullshit!"
Link cursed angrily. "I'm sending someone this afternoon to take you to St. Mungo's to get you sober. If you can't quit, then you don't need to come back!"
Hearing this, Trelawney let out a miserable wail, but Link ignored her completely and turned to look at Firenze.
Seeing this, Firenze stepped forward. Unlike Trelawney, he didn't bother with any fancy theatrics and simply said, "Lord Flamel, I must remind you that centaur astrology can only predict large environmental trends."
"We cannot make precise predictions about specific individuals. Compared to the world itself, individuals like us are simply too small!"
Link adjusted his breathing, which had been thrown off by Trelawney's antics, and nodded for him to continue.
Only then did Firenze change his tone and say, "However, you are an exception. As the Morning Star, your radiance has become even more dazzling than before."
"This means your personal strength, or some other aspect of you, has undergone explosive growth recently!"
Hearing this, Link finally nodded in satisfaction, and a smile appeared on his face.
This wasn't because he believed Firenze.
Link was a pure atheist.
And an extremely stubborn one.
Even after experiencing something like soul transmigration, something that couldn't be explained by either science or magic, he still didn't believe in the existence of gods.
Under this stubborn atheist worldview, things like prophecy and divination also didn't fall within Link's range of trust.
In other words, even though Firenze's words did, in a sense, accurately point out Link's recent surge in strength, Link still felt he was just flattering him.
What really satisfied Link was that Firenze's flattery was far more skillful than Trelawney's.
You could tell just by looking at Dumbledore's gradually serious expression.
"This isn't fair! That horse is clearly flattering you too! Why don't you..."
Trelawney was still shouting unwillingly, but before she could finish, Link casually waved his hand and sealed her mouth shut.
'Seriously...'
'There's no comparison between your flattery skills.'
'Don't you have any self-awareness?'
Link complained inwardly, but then heard Firenze speak again, "In addition, regarding the overall situation of this world, the stars have also given me a revelation!"
Firenze walked to the window with a solemn expression and looked up at the sky.
"In the south, there is a crimson star that is also becoming brighter and brighter. Its radiance is so strong that it has already devoured the nearby stars that once surrounded it."
"It has even surpassed the Morning Star that represents your fortune. This is not a good omen! According to centaur astrology, this kind of strange, suddenly appearing star is a calamity star!"
"If left alone, that calamity star will inevitably continue expanding, eventually affecting the operation of the entire world!"
"So if possible, it would be best if you could send someone to investigate."
"There must be some obvious, unnatural anomaly appearing there!"
"Even if the change appears beneficial or good..."
"that is only the devil's disguise! You must not be careless!"
Firenze's words made both Link and Dumbledore fall silent.
Because they both noticed the direction of the calamity star he mentioned.
"The south… France… isn't that to our south?", Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
This actually caused Firenze to freeze.
He looked at Dumbledore, then carefully at Link, and finally said in disbelief, "Don't tell me… you're planning to go there yourselves?"
"Yes, Firenze. To be honest, we were already planning to depart for France to investigate some matters," Link said.
"The reason we asked you to make predictions today was to see what fortune awaits us on this trip."
As soon as he said this, Firenze's expression changed instantly.
The deliberately maintained respectful attitude quickly disappeared, replaced by excitement and admiration.
He immediately straightened his body and began using his four hooves, arms, and even his tail to perform a series of strange movements.
At first glance, the movements looked rather comical, but paired with Firenze's solemn expression, they carried a unique sense of ritual.
Only after he finished the entire complicated sequence did Dumbledore sigh and say, "That is the highest centaur etiquette, Firenze. You didn't have to do that."
"No! Even if your intentions may not be as pure as I imagine, your actions deserve my respect!" Firenze said seriously.
"I ask you to investigate that calamity star during your trip to France. This is extremely difficult, because judging from its brightness alone, it has already matured!"
"But precisely because of that, the anomalies in France should also be more obvious!"
"You only need to look for abnormal phenomena that violate natural laws."
"The more intense and widespread these anomalies are, the closer you will be to the location of that calamity star!"
Link and Dumbledore exchanged looks.
It had to be said, Firenze was far more professional than Trelawney when it came to being a diviner.
At the very least, he was quite good at mixing truth and falsehood in a convincing way.
For example, he had once again correctly pointed out the existence of a "calamity star" in France.
But as for the latter half of Firenze's words, Link remained skeptical, even dismissive.
What did he mean by abnormal phenomena that violated natural laws?
From Link's perspective, wizards themselves were the most unnatural existence in the world.
So by Firenze's logic, wouldn't that mean the Shadow People were hiding inside the French Ministry of Magic?
After all, the density of wizards there was definitely the highest in the entire French magical world.
But looking at it from another angle, that might not be impossible either.
'After all, according to the progress hints from the hidden quest I Am the Minister!', Link's level of control over the French Ministry of Magic was at an extremely high negative value.
Clicking his tongue twice, Link decided to remember Firenze's words.
He and Dumbledore said their farewells to Firenze, then gave Trelawney one last look of extreme disgust before turning and walking toward the entrance hall.
At this time, the once lively entrance hall was completely empty.
While Link and Dumbledore had been visiting Trelawney, Harry and the other students had already boarded the Thestral carriages and headed for Hogsmeade Station.
Their departure left the entire Hogwarts castle deathly quiet, completely lacking its usual liveliness.
Walking through such a Hogwarts, Dumbledore's expression looked somewhat melancholic.
He kept looking around at the surroundings while sighing repeatedly.
Link said helplessly, "There's no need to be like this, right? They'll be back in two months. By then you might even think they're too noisy."
Hearing this, Dumbledore let out another long sigh and shook his head.
"How could that be? To me, that is the most beautiful scene of all."
Link curled his lips and said nothing more.
He couldn't understand Dumbledore's thoughts and could only attribute it to the loneliness of an elderly man living alone.
Personally, he also preferred lively environments.
But that kind of liveliness didn't mean hundreds or thousands of people crowding into a castle laughing and playing.
To him, that wasn't liveliness.
That was noise.
The kind of noise that made your head swell.
The two continued walking forward in silence and finally left Hogwarts castle.
Outside, bright sunlight poured over the green lawns, reflecting a vibrant and lively glow.
This perhaps somewhat eased Dumbledore's sadness, making his expression more normal.
At the same time, a smile also appeared on Link's face.
Because not far away, Emily, wearing a floral round hat and dressed in spring clothes, was standing beside a carriage and waving at him.
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