Tap, Tap, Tap. Ethan's boots made soft sounds against the worn carpet, each step deliberate and measured.
Professor Trelawney's mouth gaped open, watching in absolute terror as Ethan approached her step by step—as if witnessing Death itself walking toward her with a benign smile.
"You—you're a demon wearing human skin... an utterly corrupted soul!" Professor Trelawney shrieked, desperately scrambling backward across the floor on trembling legs.
"The instant you stepped through that trapdoor, I saw it clearly—your future will definitely bring enormous disaster to the world!" Her shrill voice echoed through the stuffy, incense-choked classroom. Many students sat frozen, too frightened to speak.
Hermione frowned deeply, clearly questioning without bothering to lower her voice, "As a professor, isn't it incredibly inappropriate to say such things about a student?"
Professor Trelawney whipped her head around with alarming speed. Behind her bottle-cap-thick lenses, enormous magnified eyes stared directly at Hermione, trembling as she pronounced, "Forgive my bluntness, girl. I see you possess no talent whatsoever in this subject. Your brain has been stupefied by mundane books—you can never learn this profound art of Divination."
Hermione's eyes widened in shock before reddening with indignant anger! She shot to her feet, about to call for Ethan to leave with her, only to realise he was already standing directly before Professor Trelawney.
Sunlight poured through the latticed window, spilling across Ethan's perfectly benign smile while casting a long, distorted shadow behind him.
Hermione froze mid-motion. This particular scene emanated a peculiar atmosphere—for one fleeting instant, it genuinely felt like watching a demon reveal its true form beneath human disguise.
Ethan looked down at the terrified Professor Trelawney sprawled on the floor. Smiling gently, he raised his hand and waved his wand with practised ease. He summoned the shattered teacup fragments from across the room—snap—crushing the ceramic pieces into fine powder in midair.
Professor Trelawney flinched violently as if she herself were being ground to dust.
"I heard you come from a distinguished Divination family lineage... but your Inner Eye seems inconsistent at best," Ethan observed mildly. "Judging from your inaccurate assessment of me, you indeed need considerably more practice."
Professor Trelawney's eyes bulged with outrage. "How dare you question my abilities—"
"But don't worry," Ethan interrupted smoothly, his smile broadening with unsettling warmth. "I've studied ancient Divination arts quite extensively myself. Now I'll help open your eyes properly."
With those words, Ethan dipped his transformed paintbrush into the ceramic powder. Bending down, he slowly extended the brush toward Professor Trelawney's forehead with deliberate precision. The brush tip, infused with powerful magic, gradually became saturated crimson red, emanating a distinct metallic scent like rusted iron.
Trelawney's eyes crossed trying to track the approaching brush. She wanted desperately to flee but found herself completely paralysed—whether her body was frozen with sheer terror or some subtle magic, she couldn't move at all. She could only feel the cold, wet liquid being drawn across her forehead in careful strokes, her face flushing crimson with humiliation, looking ready to burst into tears.
"Done." Within minutes, Ethan put away his brush and straightened up, wiping sweat from his brow with obvious satisfaction as he admired his artistic "masterpiece".
On Professor Trelawney's forehead, painted in vivid crimson, was a single stylised [Eye].
Every student stared transfixed at that "Third Eye." Though merely a simple geometric shape, it radiated an eerie, deeply sinister feeling—as if it weren't merely decorative art but an actual gateway to the underworld itself!
[Name: Third Eye]
[Type: Concept Art]
[Tier: First Order - White Rare]
[Description: An eye, a blood-red eye not of this mortal world]
[Effect: Activates the user's dormant prophetic talent, one-time use. However, consumes massive mental energy as the price.
[Rating: I see I'll die in 10 years... wait, why did the number just change to 9?]
Ghostly blue text appeared visible only to Ethan. In the heavy silence, Ron whispered sarcastically to Harry, "He said he'd open the Inner Eye and literally just painted an 'eye' on her forehead! What possible use could this rubbish possi—"
Before finishing his sceptical sentence, a terrifying beast-like roar suddenly erupted from Professor Trelawney's mouth with inhuman force!
"AHHHH!" She violently arched her spine backward at an impossible angle. Her black pupils dilated dramatically, almost occupying the entire white of her eyes. As if genuinely possessed by some otherworldly entity, frozen in this twisted, bizarre posture, she stared fixedly at the ceiling with unseeing eyes!
Ron immediately clamped his mouth shut in fright, eyes wide with genuine terror! Brother, you're actually serious about this?!
The next second, words began flowing from Trelawney's mouth—
[Judgement shall descend at the end times.]
Professor Trelawney's mouth opened and closed mechanically—the voice emerging low, hoarse, and unnaturally dark—completely different from her earlier affected theatrical tone. Students sat petrified with fear, with even quiet sobbing sounds echoing through the suddenly oppressive classroom.
Only Ethan smiled with deep satisfaction, his eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity and excitement. This is authentic prophecy!
In deathly, suffocating silence, Professor Trelawney's possessed voice continued with inexorable rhythm:
[Judgement shall descend at the end times]
[When the dusty mansion is opened, when treasures behind paintings are revealed]
[When a war that should not exist is won]
[When the three-eyed bird brings branches, when branches are forged into swords]
[The trumpet of judgement shall tear through the heavens!]
Professor Trelawney suddenly raised her pitch to an ear-splitting shriek, making every student jolt violently in their seats. Trembling with supernatural force, using every ounce of remaining strength, she roared with finality:
[The evil soul shall destroy the hero in the eyes of the world—!]
The hoarse roar echoed endlessly through the classroom, reverberating off the walls. Several seconds later, the blood-red "Third Eye" painted on Trelawney's forehead began visibly fading, the colour draining away like water. Her black pupils gradually returned to normal size and focus. Blinking in obvious confusion, she looked down at her students' shocked "(◉口◉)" expressions with genuine bewilderment.
"What's wrong with you all? You look like you've just seen a gh—"
Before finishing her confused question, her eyes rolled back dramatically in her head. Thump—she collapsed completely unconscious on the floor, utterly burnt out from the prophetic experience.
After several seconds of stunned silence—swoosh! Every single pair of eyes in the classroom focused with laser intensity on Harry Potter!
Gryffindor's Dean Thomas shot to his feet like he'd been electrocuted, pointing at Harry with a trembling finger and shouting with dawning horror, "The Chosen One Harry Potter must be the last line of the prophecy—[the hero in the eyes of the world]!"
"And the evil soul... that must be escaped convict Sirius Black!"
Dean shivered violently, his face draining to deathly pale as he summarised with terrible conviction, "Harry Potter is going to die at Sirius Black's hands! The prophecy just confirmed it!"
"AHHHH!" As if responding to some unspoken command, students stampeded toward the classroom exit in complete panic! Tables and chairs overturned with tremendous crashes, teacups and expensive crystal balls smashed everywhere, rolling chaotically across the patterned carpets.
Within moments, the devastated Divination classroom contained only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ethan standing calmly. Oh, and the still-unconscious Professor Trelawney sprawled on the floor.
Harry sat frozen in his seat, face ashen white with shock. Suddenly he stood with explosive fury! Bang—he slammed down his thick Divination textbook with violent force, shouting angrily, "Brilliant! Just bloody brilliant! Last term I was suspected of opening the Chamber of Secrets and trying to murder Muggle-borns. This term, right from the very first day, I'm sentenced to prophesied death!"
Harry breathed heavily with barely controlled rage, his face showing indescribable grievance and frustration at cosmic injustice.
"Mm, fascinating," Ethan mused thoughtfully. His eyes actually carried a trace of genuine envy at being the subject of prophecy.
The trio stared at him: "..." Can you possibly read the room for once?!
Ethan's casual interruption actually managed to calm them slightly, breaking the spiral of panic. Hermione immediately grabbed parchment and quill, frantically scribbling down every word of the prophecy she could remember.
"Dusty mansion? Non-existent war? Three-eyed bird bringing branches? What is this absolute nonsense...!" Ron looked at the cryptic prophecy with visible trembling.
Trying desperately to sound relaxed and reassuring, he patted his best friend's shoulder with forced bravado. "Look, if all these bizarre conditions must be perfectly met to trigger that judgement thing, I'd say it'll never actually happen in our lifetime! Probably just prophetic rubbish anyway."