Chapter 116: 116: Hagrid's First Lesson and Buckbeak
After that prophecy, everyone in the Divination class was suddenly bursting with unprecedented interest.
Unfortunately, John was still one of the few who had a true talent for it.
While the others tried their hand at tea leaf reading, John placed one of his badges in front of him. With a light tap of his finger, two holographic projections emerged from the badge.
Even though he was multitasking during class, Professor Sybill Trelawney pretended not to notice.
Hermione, meanwhile, looked both surprised and puzzled. She recalled the Time-Turner that Professor McGonagall had given her yesterday—did John not have something similar?
As it turned out, John was projecting his image into two other classrooms simultaneously, managing to attend multiple classes at once. The professors in those other classes were briefly stunned, clearly not expecting such a clever workaround.
Had it not been for John's reputation for being studious, they might not have tolerated this high-pressure multitasking. But with his "Achemedic Scholar mode" activated, John not only absorbed all the lessons but even managed to answer questions.
"Trouble?"
When it came to his tea leaf reading, John saw a sign of impending difficulties. He was perplexed—what kind of trouble could he face at Hogwarts?
He shared his interpretation with Professor Trelawney, and she immediately gave him extra points.
At this point, Trelawney practically viewed John as her successor. It was the first time she'd seen prophetic talent outside her own family.
However, compared to John's smooth experience, Professor Trelawney wasn't as friendly toward Hermione.
Grabbing Hermione's hand, she spoke with a deep sense of pity, telling her that her aura was pitifully small.
This made Hermione so angry she nearly wanted to punch someone. Meanwhile, Harry was told he had the grim omen of a black dog, which made everyone think back to John's earlier prophecy.
The way people looked at Harry was now filled with sympathy, which made him quite frustrated.
After Divination class, their next lesson was Transfiguration.
When Professor McGonagall saw how gloomy the students looked, she quickly understood what had happened.
She reassured them that Divination was not a rigorous subject and that Sybill Trelawney predicted a few student deaths every year.
This finally put the students' minds at ease, but then Neville hesitantly said, "But John also made a prophecy."
"John?"
Professor McGonagall was taken aback—how did this involve John?
Neville then recounted John's prophecy, which left McGonagall astonished.
"Could it be that John Wick has the gift of prophecy? That's an extremely rare talent, and perhaps there's only one person in the entire country with it."
Hearing her say this, the students' previously calm nerves started to fray again.
McGonagall thought back to Dumbledore's peculiar behavior. This term, two students had chosen all elective subjects, but Dumbledore was only willing to entrust "that item" to one of them.
Recalling Dumbledore's exact words, Professor McGonagall fell into deep thought.
—"Minerva, some overly curious students will inevitably touch upon forbidden knowledge," Dumbledore had said.—
In the headmaster's office, Dumbledore's eyes were deep and thoughtful. Before him sat a rare magical artifact—a golden hourglass, one of the only ones left in the world, now kept in the office of the Silent Ones.
Professor McGonagall couldn't quite understand. John Wick had the best grades across all subjects, so why did Dumbledore express doubts about whether he could handle the responsibilities?
—"Don't worry, Minerva. He'll find his own way to manage the coursework," Dumbledore had reassured her when she'd questioned him.—
Now, in retrospect, it seemed like Dumbledore knew something the rest of them didn't. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made such a decision.
Although it might seem unfair to the students, it was ultimately Dumbledore's call.
Transfiguration class ended.
As soon as the bell rang, the students, barely able to contain themselves, rushed out of the classroom, spreading the news about the prophecy.
John quickly became the center of conversation once again.
Malfoy, proudly wearing his badge, approached John and asked him about the prophecy.
"I really don't know," John replied. "At that moment, I just spoke according to the instructions."
It was the first time John had triggered his Seer ability, and he wasn't entirely sure if it was real.
However, the information in the prophecy felt oddly familiar, like something he'd seen before.
He rubbed his chin, wondering if these events were part of the original storyline.
Could it be that his "prophecy" was just him recalling the plot?
In his hand, a card spun between his fingers. This was something Professor Sybill Trelawney had given him, claiming it was a tool to enhance his Seer abilities.
John stared at the card, which had a symbol resembling an eye on it.
The symbol emitted a faint glow that only he could see.
"Trelawney really does know her stuff(?)" John muttered.
Not only had she helped him make a prophecy, but she'd also given him this ancient magic Eye Card.
It seemed there was more to Professor Trelawney than met the eye.
Tucking the card away, John prepared for the afternoon's Care of Magical Creatures class.
He felt confident about this class. With him around, he was sure Hagrid wouldn't get any wild ideas, like making them ride Thestrals into the sky.
Clang—
John heard a sound coming from the direction of Gryffindor and turned to see Hermione storming off, clearly furious.
The instigator, Ron, still had a bewildered expression on his face, as if he had no idea how hurtful his comment about Hermione lacking the talent for this class was.
Ron's focus was always strange. He furrowed his brows and said to Harry, "What's she going on about? She hasn't even taken Arithmancy yet."
Harry nodded in agreement, which made John want to facepalm.
Was whether she'd taken the class really the point?
If you poured out the water in both their heads, it could probably flood the Black Lake.
"The focus should obviously be on why she slammed the table," John thought to himself, feeling quite wise.
...
That afternoon.
Care of Magical Creatures.
Draco Malfoy had also chosen the class, and along with him were Daphne, Pansy, and his two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle.
The whole "John's Slytherin Squad" had basically gathered, walking across the damp grass toward Hagrid's hut near the Forbidden Forest.
At first, they were walking in neat formation, but soon Malfoy spotted the trio — Harry, Ron, and Hermione — and immediately launched into full-on taunting mode.
Daphne couldn't stand it and moved to John's side, complaining, "I just don't understand how you can tolerate him."
"Don't let Draco's childishness fool you... He really is quite childish," John replied, deadpan.
Daphne rolled her eyes at John, unimpressed by his deadpan humor.
On the other side, Malfoy had already started mimicking a Dementor to provoke Harry, making Harry want to pull out his wand and shove it up Draco's nose.
As they reached Hagrid's hut, the half-giant was already waiting for the students, wearing his usual worn moleskin coat.
His massive dog, Fang, only looked somewhat less huge when standing next to him.
"Come on, come on, hurry up!" Hagrid bellowed, his loud voice booming. "I've got something really special to show yeh today! This lesson's gonna be fantastic!"
Hearing the word "fantastic," John couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease.
Given what he knew about Hagrid, it wasn't likely that a simple creature like pixies or fairies would make him say "fantastic."
"Did he change the lesson plan I gave him?" John thought, feeling more and more uneasy as Hagrid led the students toward the Forbidden Forest.
Harry, too, grew anxious, recalling some unpleasant memories of their ventures into the forest.
Fortunately, after five minutes, Hagrid stopped just at the edge of the forest.
They arrived at a small enclosure, but there was nothing inside.
"Gather 'round the fence, everyone!" Hagrid commanded, brimming with confidence. "Right, first thing yeh need to do is open yer textbooks."
Malfoy, in his typical lazy and disdainful manner, drawled, "How exactly do you open it?"
The students had all suffered at the hands of The Monster Book of Monsters over the past few days, so most of them had tied their copies up securely with ropes.
Hagrid looked a bit embarrassed, realizing that none of the students had figured out how to handle the book properly. Desperate, he turned to John for help, his eyes pleading.
John, receiving the signal, took out his book and said calmly, "You just need to gently stroke the spine until it makes a contented sound."
He demonstrated, and the book immediately relaxed, no longer thrashing about.
Hagrid, overjoyed, shouted, "Brilliant! Ten points to yeh!"
Thanks to John's intervention, Hagrid managed to escape his awkward situation and regain his composure. Now back in control, he instructed the students to wait for a moment.
They watched as Hagrid strode confidently toward the Forbidden Forest, as if he were merely walking into his own backyard.
Malfoy opened his mouth to complain, but before he could say anything, John gave him a glance and said, exasperated, "Draco, just be quiet for once. Hagrid's a professor now—he can dock points from you."
Malfoy clamped his mouth shut. The mere thought of having his points taken away by that "big oaf" was almost unbearable for him.
Given Hagrid's usual demeanor, it was unlikely that he'd actually dock points. At most, he'd just award some extra points.
Unfortunately, Malfoy didn't understand Hagrid's nature, so he begrudgingly kept his mouth shut. He then turned his attention to mocking Harry again, pulling his usual Dementor scare tactic to provoke him.
After a short while, a dozen magical creatures with the bodies of horses, heads of eagles, and wings came running over.
'Fuck my life..' John immediately covered his face in exasperation.
Hagrid was holding a bundle of long iron chains and yelled for the students to step back. He looked as happy as a child—well, a half-giant child—as he shouted, "Hippogriffs! Aren't they beautiful?"
Hagrid, always wanting to impress with his lessons, decided that the first class needed to be spectacular. So, of course, he brought out a XXX-class dangerous magical creature.
He pulled forward his favorite one and introduced it to the group. "This here is Buckbeak. Now, the first thing you need to know is that they're very proud."
After explaining how to approach these majestic creatures, Hagrid scanned the group, looking for a volunteer to go first.
He saw John cursing his life and face-palming himself and with a gulp, decided not to trouble him.
Harry volunteered to come out, because he didn't want Hagrid to have no one respond in the first class.
_________
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