Chương 190: Chapter 190: The False Prophecy
Slytherin common room.
After finishing Divination class, Draco was leisurely sitting on the sofa in the common room.
The afternoon class had given him an excellent experience.
Especially that eccentric female professor, whose bizarre attire made her unlikable at first, but her voice was unexpectedly pleasant.
The female professor, shaking her disheveled head, prophesied that Scarhead wouldn't live past next year.
Although he initially found Scarhead's terrified expression amusing, once he calmed down, he felt a faint sense of loss.
"Do you have something on your mind?" The voice beside him pulled Draco out of his afternoon thoughts.
Turning his head, he saw the owner of the voice, Daphne's younger sister, Astoria, a second-year student.
Before Draco could respond, Astoria continued talking to herself:
"Sorry to disturb you, but I feel like you seem a bit unhappy."
"No, I'm just sitting here daydreaming!" Draco always had an indescribable feeling when he was around Astoria.
At this moment, Astoria softly added:
"Actually, even if there's something that bothers you, it doesn't matter. Being able to see the rising sun every day, breathe fresh air, and run freely is already a happiness that many people long for but cannot have…"
Although it was just ordinary comfort, Draco could hear a sense of powerless sadness in her calm tone.
For some reason, this inexplicably made him feel a bit upset.
When he came to his senses, Astoria had already lifted her robe and walked to the other side.
"What's going on…"
Draco muttered discontentedly.
The two consecutive events involving Scarhead and Astoria made him feel very frustrated, like he wanted to vent but had no outlet.
...
Meanwhile.
In the dormitory, Ino was sitting quietly on a chair, wearing the diadem on his head, with the invisible notebook open in front of him, copying the symbols seen in the basilisk's eyes.
"Gaze... death... petrification…"
Ino muttered unconsciously. Although the diadem provided him with nearly the same effect as Felix Felicis, decoding an unknown rune was still challenging.
It was like asking someone with no background knowledge to translate cuneiform or oracle bone script.
Felix Felicis offers an inspired effect, like an artificial intelligence easily retrieving memories from one's mind, linking past experiences, books read, or things encountered.
Undoubtedly, it's a powerful effect but has a critical flaw: it requires having related knowledge in the brain.
Felix Felicis is not a panacea. Even if a troll drinks a pint of it, it still can't pass the twelve N.E.W.T exams.
Fortunately, compared to the crown, Ino had some associated knowledge regarding the runes in the basilisk's eyes, like the direct death and petrification reflected back.
But reality harshly reminded him that the known knowledge was far from enough for reverse deciphering and understanding the runes.
After wearing the diadem for more than half an hour, he only thought it might be related to the Killing Curse, given both caused death without any wounds on the body.
"Time's refinement and carving…"
Ino sighed as he closed the notebook. Half an hour of thinking without a result indicated his brain lacked sufficient knowledge.
Without new knowledge intake, wearing the diadem for longer wouldn't help.
However, one thing was certain: he didn't plan to return the diadem anytime soon. Though not intending to misappropriate Hogwarts' property, borrowing it for a few decades seemed fair, considering it would purify the diadem.
...
At that moment.
"Bang!"
The dormitory door was suddenly pushed open from outside.
Draco walked in with a frustrated face, but his original frustration was quickly replaced by a strange expression.
In his view, Ino appeared somewhat indescribable at this moment.
Although he still had the same appearance and wore the same black robe, his aura was hard to ignore, especially with the sapphire-encrusted diadem on his head.
If he had been to Middle-earth, Draco would have recognized that Ino's aura now was identical to Thranduil, the Elvenking.
Noble, ethereal, yet somewhat cold and ruthless.
Especially those familiar amber eyes, Draco didn't want to meet them again after a brief glance; under their gaze, he felt like he had no secrets.
On the other hand, seeing Draco, Ino immediately removed the diadem and placed it on the table.
The blue light flashed again in the dormitory, and the diadem disappeared.
Seeing Draco in a daze, Ino chuckled and asked, "What's wrong with you? You seem a bit down."
"Nothing much, just today's Divination class!" Regaining his senses, Draco truthfully shared his troubles.
Don't ask inappropriate questions or be curious about things you shouldn't; this was a tradition in the Malfoy family. His father had instilled this in him since childhood.
Therefore, seeing the diadem disappear, Draco pretended not to see anything, not even lifting an eyelid as if everything was an illusion.
What he didn't know was that this quality was precisely what Ino appreciated the most.
Seeing Draco not asking unnecessary questions, Ino naturally switched the topic:
"Divination class? What did Professor Trelawney say, predicting your death?"
"Not me! Scarhead!" Bringing up the old topic again made Draco a bit annoyed.
"Scarhead? Harry again?" Ino was also a bit surprised. Trelawney was really focusing all her energy on one sheep.
Even though the story's plot had changed, the prediction of Harry's death remained.
"Again?" It was Draco's turn to be surprised, but after a short pause, he didn't ask more and instead recounted the Divination class's content.
Unlike Draco's concern, Ino looked relaxed because Trelawney clearly hadn't entered a prophetic state in the description.
In short, it was a false prophecy, a way to create a sensation and attract attention.
Thinking of this, Ino no longer paid attention to the false prophecy, but seeing Draco still troubled, he decided to burst the bubble:
"Draco, I suggest you ask other senior students about what horrific prophecies our Divination professor has made each year and how accurate they were."
"You mean she's lying?" No one is a fool. After hearing Ino's explanation, Draco immediately understood but also felt an inexplicable relief.
"Obviously! She's lying." Ino chuckled, spreading his hands.
"However, when one day she starts acting like she's having an epileptic fit and makes a prophecy in a strange tone, then you should be careful."
Though Ino said it casually, Draco took it seriously, nodding earnestly as if to remember it firmly.
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