Chapter 432: Detention

"There were originally three, but now I think I can choose all of them."

Wizard Sean’s lips curled upward.

"You think a wizard’s energy—"

Snape was about to sneer, but suddenly fell silent.

"Arithmancy and Divination—drop them."

He spoke without room for argument.

"Why, Professor?"

Wizard Sean asked.

"In the wizarding world, some wizards are born with an innate ability to perceive the future."

They can glimpse it through dreams, the shapes of tea leaves, tarot cards, or crystal balls."

"But true seers are exceedingly rare; the only known seers are Cassandra Trelawney and Grindelwald from centuries ago..."

Snape’s lips curled, coldly speaking.

"So Divination requires talent?"

Wizard Sean speculated.

"No, Divination requires no study."

Snape sneered.

Wizard Sean fell silent.

Professor Snape might be right.

He had never heard of Gellert Grindelwald studying Divination, nor of Professor Sybill Trelawney possessing any notable Divination skill.

In other words, a wizard with talent can make prophecies without study; one without talent gains nothing from studying.

Seers. Of course, heh...

"They can indeed make prophecies, but predicting the future is extremely difficult, because the causal chains of wizarding actions are always complex and shifting."

"If you encounter a prophecy, get far away from it..."

"Remember, Green—if you dislike the outcome of a prophecy, forget it."

"Fate is just a foolish thing."

Snape spoke darkly.

"I understand, Professor."

Wizard Sean nodded.

Prophecy, in this wizarding world, is a rare and profound power.

The most famous prophecy here is the one made by the Hogwarts Divination professor:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

"You’d better be..."

Professor Snape fell silent for a while.

He seemed to have thought of something else—some other possibility.

"This is a wizard’s prophecy. Beyond that, centaurs are also seers, with their own system of divination, entirely different from wizards’."

"Unless you have a centaur teacher and are granted by the entire centaur tribe to learn their never-revealed divination, drop it."

Snape did not sneer—he merely stated a fact.

Even as winter snow began to melt, the dungeons remained bitterly cold; this was beneath Hogwarts, always possessing a climate distinct from the above-ground castle.

Upon hearing this, Wizard Sean’s eyes lit up.

Snape’s expression darkened instantly.

"You’ve been to the centaur tribe?!"

Snape was both shocked and furious.

Centaurs, after all— they kill wizards for reasons as simple as they are absurd—they do not obey wizarding laws.

"Firenze, a centaur, agreed to be my Divination teacher."

Wizard Sean felt that if he stayed in the dungeon any longer, the abnormal Professor Snape might even learn that Headmaster Dumbledore liked wool socks.

"Wizard Sean Green!"

Snape’s rage exploded.

When Wizard Sean stepped out of the dungeon, he hadn’t yet realized he had survived another storm.

Professor Snape was becoming increasingly erratic, and it confused him.

But the good news was, he now had a Time-Turner—obtained by Professor Snape from the Ministry.

Unlike ordinary Time-Turners with strict rules, Wizard Sean only needed to return it before graduation.

Ordinary Time-Turners required annual inspections by Ministry officials and had to be returned within two years.

The drafty corridors remained bitterly cold; the classroom windows rattled with the biting wind.

Behind a suit of armor, Wizard Sean found Hermione and Jia Jia Siting.

They, too, looked dejected.

"Your detention’s over, Wizard Sean?"

Jia Jia Siting felt his spirits lift slightly as he forced a smile.

Wizard Sean nodded.

"But our detention’s just begun—thankfully Professor Snape didn’t deduct house points."

Hermione muttered gloomily.

Wizard Sean quickly learned they had been caught stealing potions ingredients.

Or rather, Professor Snape was preparing to deal with them.

Wizard Sean had initially thought this detention was justified, but remembering Snape’s lingering fury, he opened his mouth—then closed it, unsure what to say.

"Be careful."

Wizard Sean said.

"Don’t worry, Wizard Sean. Getting Lockhart out of Hogwarts is exactly what Professor Snape wants. Since he didn’t deduct house points this morning, he won’t be too harsh now."

Jia Jia Siting said optimistically.

Hermione nodded in agreement.

Wizard Sean paused.

He finally sighed.

The next morning, Wizard Sean learned unhappily that Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had each lost twenty points.

In the Great Hall, Hermione wished she could sink into the table, leaving only her mouth exposed to eat;

Jia Jia Siting looked utterly dazed, as if still not recovered from shock.

"What’s wrong with them?"

Harry nudged Ron.

"They got twenty points docked by Snape, but that’s not the worst—worse is they got tripled detention...

Detention under Filch, for using the wrong hand while brewing potions.

I bet next time Snape will dock points because they entered the potions classroom with their left foot instead of their right. What do you think?"

Ron explained with deep sympathy.

"When did they get detention?"

Harry was baffled.

"While you were at Quidditch practice this morning—can you believe it?

They actually stole Snape’s potion ingredients. What’s that like, touching a dragon’s rear?"

Ron exclaimed in disbelief.

Harry was deeply impressed—at least he wouldn’t dare.

He’d rather face Voldemort than Snape.

Beside them, Wizard Sean held a locket shaped like an hourglass and sighed faintly.

It seemed caution wasn’t enough.

The young wizards buzzed with gossip, but it meant nothing to Wizard Sean. Seeing Hermione and Jia Jia Siting begin to recover, he left the Great Hall and headed for the Hope Cottage.

He planned to test the Time-Turner’s effects and whether Legilimency could be stacked.

In addition, he looked at an old plan sheet—he still needed to find Professor Flitwick to learn the Shield Charm.

As a former Dueling Champion, it was the Ravenclaw Head’s signature spell.