Chapter 187
His voice was a little louder than a whisper. Ron rolled his eyes towards Albert, who exchanged a fixed look with him before Professor Trelawney headed to her large seat and faced the students. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who admired her, sat beside her. She began,
"My dears, the time has come to survey the stars, the movement of the planets, and the cosmic rays..."
But Albert was not with her. The pungent smell of the room made him sleepy. He also couldn't stop himself from thinking about what Professor Trelawney had just said about "I fear what you fear is approaching." This phrase made Albert overthink.
Harry had begun to agree with Hermione's opinion from last year that Professor Trelawney was a fraud... especially since she had said that he would be caught and die by Sirius... He had long been convinced that everything she said was nothing more than a kind of lucky guess, in addition to her dramatic tone of voice.
But Albert was different from what Harry was thinking to himself. Albert gathered those mysteries with what would happen in the future and finally found the solution to this matter...
Albert was in a state of deep thought, so much so that he didn't hear Ron's call when he spoke to him.
Ron muttered, "Albert!!"
"What?!"
When Albert turned around, all the students in the class were staring at him. It seemed he was about to fall asleep due to the heat of the room and the thoughts he was immersed in. Professor Trelawney said, "I was saying, my dear, that you were born under the influence of the power of the planet Saturn!!"
Albert asked, "Born... born under... under what?! Excuse me!"
Trelawney replied, "Saturn, my dear... the planet Saturn. I was saying that Saturn was in its strongest position in the sky at the moment of your birth. Your dark hair... your lean, strong physique... and the losses you suffered in your childhood show that I am right, my dear, when I say that you were born in the middle of winter!!" (Again, I tell you to focus on this date Trelawney mentioned about the winter season... it is important in the future 🤔)
Albert replied strangely, "No... I was born in July, Professor...!!"
Ron tried to stifle his laughter, turning it into a sudden cough. After about half an hour, they were given a complicated circular map attempting to illustrate the positions of some planets at the time of each of their births. It was a ridiculous task that required the use of calculations, tables, and triangles, until Harry said, "I have two Neptunes here... That can't be right... can it?"
Ron answered, imitating Professor Trelawney's manner, "Aha... when two planets named Neptune appear in the sky, it is a sure sign of the birth of a dwarf wearing glasses, Harry..." Seamus and Dean laughed, without their laughter drowning out Lavender's voice as she said, "Oh... Professor, look, I think I have an unknown planet here... Which planet is this, Professor?"
Trelawney replied, bending over the map, "It's Uranus, my dear."
Ron said, "Can I take a look at your Uranus, Lavender?"
Lavender felt so embarrassed that her cheeks flushed after her gaze met Ron's, and she didn't know what to say next!!
Unfortunately, Professor Trelawney heard him, and perhaps this was what made her double their homework at the end of the lesson when she sharply said, "A detailed analysis of the effect of the planets' movement on you during the next week is required, with reference to the personal chart, and I want it ready next Monday, and I will not accept excuses!!"
Ron was muttering angry words as he descended the spiral staircase with the rest of the students on their way back to the Great Hall for dinner. He knew this would consume his weekend holiday.
Hermione caught up with them and said, "Did you get a lot of homework?! Professor Victor didn't ask us for any homework!"
Ron said sarcastically, "Well... a big salute to Professor Victor!"
They reached the Entrance Hall on their way to dinner when a loud voice from behind them shouted, "Weasley... Weasley!!"
Ron, Harry, and Hermione turned around to find Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle, looking happy about something. Ron said curtly, "What?"
Malfoy saw that Albert was not here with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, so he spoke confidently and fearlessly, holding up a copy of the Daily Prophet and shouting loudly so that everyone in the hall could hear, "Your father is on the front page, Weasley... Hear this!!"
"New Blunders at the Ministry of Magic!!"
By / Rita Skeeter
It seems the Ministry of Magic's problems are not over. After the mismanagement of the Quidditch World Cup events, the Ministry is still unable to explain the disappearance of one of its employees. The Ministry was subjected to extreme embarrassment yesterday, as a result of the statements of Arnold Weasley from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.
Malfoy looked up and said, "Imagine... they didn't even write his name correctly... It's as if he's a nobody... isn't it?"
Everyone in the hall was listening now. Malfoy continued, "Arnold Weasley, who was accused of using a flying car two years ago, was involved yesterday with a group of public law-keepers (the police) and a number of 'attacking' trash cans. It seems Mr. Weasley rushed to the aid of the retired Defense Against the Dark Arts practitioner, Moody, who left his job at the Ministry after he became unable to distinguish between a handshake and an attempt at murder. Upon Mr. Weasley's arrival at Moody's highly protected home, he discovered that Moody's alarm was a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to erase the memory of more than one person before escaping from the police, but he refused to answer the Daily Prophet's questions as to why the Ministry was involved in such an embarrassing situation!!"
Malfoy raised the newspaper, smiling happily and feeling ecstatic, raising his head as if he had finally triumphed over Weasley!!
But after he raised his head, he saw the person he feared and dreaded the most!!
He saw Albert Black looking at him from behind with anger!!
Albert grabbed the newspaper angrily, tearing it up in front of everyone quickly, and spoke to Draco with a smile, "I think what happened to you last time in the Care of Magical Creatures class wasn't a lesson you learned from, Draco... Do you want another round?!!"
After Draco heard what Albert said, he felt so afraid that he fell to the ground, telling Crabbe and Goyle, who, in turn, threw their wands at Albert after seeing that Albert wanted to attack Draco!
Draco quickly backed away and said, "Run, you fools!"
Goyle and Crabbe ran out of the spacious area with Draco, running!!
The entire place erupted in laughter, but Ron was the only one who was sad after hearing the news from the mouth of the person he hated more than anyone else, Draco.
Albert approached his friends and said, "Don't worry, Ron. I know Rita Skeeter's biggest weakness. If everyone knew about it, I bet she would be fired from that magazine!! If I see her cross the red line and increase the false rumors about your father, I will expose her!!"
After Ron and Hermione heard what Albert said, Ron's interest grew, especially since he saw that his father was distracted because of the rumors spread by that journalist named Rita Skeeter!!
Albert said, "Not now, the right time will come for me to tell you about it... Alright, Hermione... can you give me the key to the Restricted Section of the library... I want to look for something there!!"
.
.
.
Two days passed, and nothing important happened during them except that Professor Snape's desire for revenge against the Gryffindor students became very clear, especially after he decided to detain Neville because of an error in brewing a potion during the first lesson, which deeply affected Neville. Ron asked Harry, "You know the reason for Snape's condition... don't you?!"
Harry replied, "Yes, Moody."
Everyone knew that Snape had wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he had failed to get it for the fourth year. This led to his hatred for anyone who held the position, but it was clear that he feared confronting Moody. No one had ever seen them together, not even during meals or while walking in the corridors. Therefore, Harry felt that Snape was avoiding Moody's eyes, both the healthy one and the magical one. Harry said, "I think Snape is afraid of him!"
The Gryffindor students were looking forward to Moody's first lesson and waiting for it eagerly, so much so that they headed straight to the classroom after lunch without even hearing the bell.
Hermione was the only one absent, and she arrived exactly at the time of the lesson, saying, "I was in..."
Harry completed the sentence for her, saying, "In the library... hurry up, or we won't find good seats."
He and Ron hurried to three seats in front of Professor Moody's desk, and Ron was surprised to see Albert, who was not in his usual state, especially since he was clutching his head as if he had seen something terrifying!!
Ron approached him and said, "Albert... are you alright?"
Albert quickly raised his head at the call to see Ron speaking to him. Albert tried to smile and said, "Nothing... just something important happened inside t
he Restricted Section today..!!"
To be continued....