Hermione snorted disdainfully.
"Fate has informed her, ha." Hermione muttered under her breath, "As if fate is her close friend—does the goddess of fate happen to be her relative?"
Her voice wasn't soft—at least Harry thought Professor Trelawney heard Hermione's words.
However, Professor Trelawney didn't punish Hermione for this, instead continuing to speak in a dreamy, ethereal manner, "Reading the crystal ball is a particularly delicate art. This is your first time peering into this unfathomable sphere, and I don't expect any of you to see anything. We should start by practicing relaxing our subjective minds and external eyes so that we can clear the Celestial Eye and superconsciousness—if we're lucky, some of you may see something before the class ends."
See something?
Harry thought for a moment, starting to ponder about Little Sirius.
Where on earth is Little Sirius... Where on earth is Little Sirius...
He thought for a long time, then opened his eyes again.
The image in the crystal ball moved, but...
Huh?
He saw a big black dog, seemingly... well, it seemed to be entangled by a venomous snake, appearing somewhat suffocated.
Professor Trelawney noticed Harry, who was completely absorbed and frowning as he looked at the crystal ball.
"Did you see something?" she leaned over and asked.
"Yes, there's a scorch mark on the table," Ron pointed at the table, "someone knocked over a candle."
"No, I'm asking Mr. Potter, dear." Professor Trelawney looked apologetically at Ron, "So, Mr. Potter—"
"I saw a big black dog," Harry said with a frown, "and it was being entangled by a snake... It looked like it was about to suffocate."
"That's not a good omen." Professor Trelawney coughed twice.
"What a waste of time," Hermione murmured, "I'm increasingly regretting choosing this class. If I could go back, I'd rather take another course."
"My dear..." Professor Trelawney took a deep breath, looking at Harry, "I can see from here, clearer than ever before... my dear, it's that black dog, and the snake... they're ominous..."
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Hermione exclaimed, "Not that ridiculous omen again!"
Professor Trelawney lifted her large eyes, glaring at Hermione's face.
"I'm sorry to say, since you joined this class, my dear, you evidently lack the qualities required for the noble art of divination."
Professor Trelawney's black eyes shone brightly in the candle's glow.
"Indeed, I don't recall encountering a student whose mind was so mundane—"
She seemed to have forgotten that just a few days ago, she had made a similar pronouncement to a student who had angrily left the Divination Class because of it.
Yes, that student was named Cassandra Malfoy.
There was a moment of silence among the class.
Hermione felt profoundly humiliated. It was the first time in her life someone said she was lacking in learning.
"Fine! Very well!" Hermione suddenly said, standing up abruptly and shoving the book "Unfogging the Future" into her bag.
"Very well!" she repeated, slinging her bag over her shoulder, nearly knocking Ron off his chair.
"I'm done! I'm leaving! I'm dropping this class!"
The crystal ball spun and rolled off Hermione's table. In her ire, Hermione kicked the crystal ball forcefully.
The crystal ball flew out and hit the door with a thud, making a dull sound.
The classmates stared at Hermione in surprise. No one expected Hermione, the top performer, to be so bold as to kick a teaching tool out of the classroom right in front of a teacher.
Hermione quickly left the classroom, as if there was something ominous there.
"I remembered!" Lavender suddenly said, "Professor, you once predicted that before Christmas someone would forever leave us, does this mean... the prophecy has come true, Hermione has left us!"
"Shut up, Brown!" Ron snapped impatiently, "Could you please say something more positive?"
Lavender pouted, seemingly not expecting Ron to snap at her so bluntly.
"Yes, my dear, just as you thought." Professor Trelawney said, "I knew Miss Granger would leave us—but people so often hope they misread the signs of the future, and I'm also sorry that such a thing happened."
After saying this, Professor Trelawney looked at Ron with a meaningful smile.
She turned her gaze back to Harry and said, "My dear, you indeed have... an ill omen, a very serious ill omen."
"Professor," Harry asked with a frown, "what exactly did I see in the crystal ball? Why was there a big black dog being entangled by a snake? What does this signify?"
"Perhaps—" Professor Trelawney waved her arms mysteriously, "you should know that some people are born with the Celestial Eye, and you—my dear, you seem to have such potential because you can see through the fog to the essence of things, but that's not enough... The black dog you saw, and the snake, may just be some sort of metaphor."
A metaphor?
Harry remembered that Little Sirius' Animagus form was a big black dog, as Peter Pettigrew had previously mentioned.