As soon as they stepped out of the Transfiguration classroom, Victor fell into step with Daphne and looked around. Noticing that the others were splitting off in different directions, he felt lost, having no idea who to follow or where to go:
— So where to next?
Daphne looked at him:
— I'm off to Divination, and you're heading to whichever subject you picked.
Victor gave a thoughtful nod. Daphne took a step forward, but noticing that he remained standing stock-still by the classroom door, she frowned and walked back over.
— What's wrong? Don't you know where to go?
Victor shifted a bewildered gaze to her:
— What do you mean by "whichever subject I picked"?
Daphne's eye twitched.
— Victor... At the end of last school year, we were all handed forms where we had to pick at least two electives: Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, or Arithmancy. You did fill out the form, right?
Victor narrowed his eyes, trying to dredge up something from memory:
— Ah-h-h, right, rings a bell... But back then I was still pretending to be blind so I could skip classes and exams. I think I just threw that form away.
Daphne let out a heavy sigh and, with a soft smile, took him by the hand:
— Alright, come with me to Divination. Afterwards, we'll go see our House Master and get you enrolled in Divination and Ancient Runes.
Victor, who was being persistently towed down the corridor by Daphne, thought for a moment and shook his head:
— Nah, I'd rather take Muggle Studies instead of Divination.
Daphne rolled her eyes in dismay:
— You mean the subject you already know inside and out?
Victor nodded with a smirk:
— Exactly. As an alchemist, I don't have any issues with Ancient Runes — I know them by heart. And Muggle Studies... pfft, what could they possibly teach me that I don't already know?
Daphne merely offered a sly smile, not letting go of his hand:
— Fine, you can pick Muggle Studies. As your third elective.
— Um... What do you mean third? Second, right?
— Nope, too late, — Daphne smirked triumphantly. — You're coming with me to Divination anyway.
Victor rolled his eyes in defeat:
— Well, to hell with Muggle Studies then...
Victor sat at a small table, lazily listening to Professor Trelawney grandly extolling the virtues of her subject. So far, everything suited him just fine: sit back, sip tea, chill out. The only thing was, he made a mental note to grab some snacks from the Great Hall next time — drinking tea on an empty stomach just didn't feel right.
Victor glanced at Daphne and noticed the genuine absorption with which she was soaking up every word from the seer. He let out a subtle chuckle: looks like his fiancée was seriously taken with the idea of mastering fortune-telling.
Finishing his tea, Victor set the cup down onto the saucer and immediately collided gaze-to-gaze with a furious stare two tables over. Hermione was still boiling after the whole Time-Turner incident. Victor merely flashed a broad smile and blew her a light kiss. The girl scoffed indignantly and turned away with a huff.
Glancing around, Victor thought that the classroom itself — despite all its peculiarities and stifling scents — was actually quite cozy.
His attention drifted back to the lesson only when Ron began deciphering the tea leaves at the bottom of Harry's cup with an air of profound wisdom:
— Harry's got a fuzzy cross here... That means trials and suffering, — Ron pronounced solemnly, flipping through the textbook. — But this looks like a sun! The sun means happiness. Hm-m... So you've got suffering coming up, but it'll bring you happiness later!
Professor Trelawney gave an approving nod:
— Now let me see, dear.
Ron held out the cup to her, but the moment the seer peered inside, she jerked her hand back with a sharp gasp.
— Oh-h-h, Merlin... — She shrank back in horror, nearly knocking over a crystal ball, and stared at Potter with a look of profound grief. — My poor boy... You have... the Grim!
— What's the Grim? — an anxious whisper echoed from the back rows.
— The Grim is a spectral creature that takes the form of a giant dog, — one of the Gryffindors read aloud straight from an open textbook. — It's a dire omen. A harbinger of swift and inevitable death...
A chilling whisper instantly swept through the room. Students started turning to look at Harry.
Professor Trelawney tried to pull herself together and restore a semblance of order to the class:
— Ahem... Well, you simply need to be very careful and avoid any dangers, my dear.
Harry merely gave an absentminded nod, still staring spellbound at the dark dregs at the bottom of his cup.
— Right, let us continue! — The professor turned to the adjacent table. — And what about you? What can you tell us about your partner's fate?
Victor followed Professor Trelawney with his eyes as she moved on to the next student, then looked at Daphne in astonishment:
— And that's it?! She predicted Harry's facing death and just advised him to be careful? Man, I could churn out a dozen "prophecies" like that a minute! Daphne, oh-h-h, I see it, I see it all! — Victor proclaimed dramatically, peering into her cup. — You might drown today! Beware of water!
Daphne slapped his thigh in annoyance:
— If you don't believe it, fine, but at least don't interrupt. For your information, Professor Trelawney is one of the strongest seers in Great Britain!
Victor smirked and shook his head.
Quietly getting up, he moved over to the neighboring table, settling himself neatly between Hermione and Harry.
— Let me take a look, — he asked.
Harry was taken aback, but handed his cup over anyway. Victor carefully examined the dark pattern at the bottom and turned to Ron:
— Where on earth did you see a cross and a sun in here? And how did you miss the clear shape of a dog's snout?
Hermione, who had also leaned over the cup, raised an eyebrow in perplexity and stared at Weasley in confusion.
Ron scratched the back of his neck sheepishly:
— Well... I thought you were supposed to look for the tiny details...
Victor looked back into the cup:
— It's not a Grim.
— Not a Grim?! — Harry and Hermione asked in unison.
Victor gave a firm nod:
— Like someone was just reading out loud, the Grim is a dire omen forecasting inevitable death. Such an omen carries a suffocating aura. The outline of its head should have two distinct blank spots in the leaves — uncolored patches looking straight at the reader from the bottom of the cup, creating the effect of a creepy, otherworldly stare. But this... This looks more like a wolf. A howling wolf. Normally a wolf howls to ward off intruders or warn of danger, but most often it's about searching for its pack if they've been separated. And wolves howl longest for the companions they share the deepest bond with. In short, you'll soon meet someone who will become very close to you.
Victor handed the cup back to its rightful owner.
— How do you know all this? — Hermione asked in amazement.
— Ah, just read a couple of books on Divination and remembered it, — Victor smirked.
He casually wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist, pressed a light kiss to her cheek, and stood up to head back to Daphne. Taken completely off guard, Hermione blushed deep crimson — especially with it happening right in front of her friends — and instantly hid her burning face behind a massive textbook.
Ron stared at Victor with deep respect and unhidden envy: the guy was always surrounded by girls and somehow managed to date two at once. Weasley definitely wanted to learn how to do that.
Harry, on the other hand, didn't pay the slightest attention to the scene. He was staring spellbound at the dark dregs at the bottom of the teacup. Two predictions. One promised death, the other a meeting with someone close. And Harry was desperately trying to figure out which one of them was right.
Daphne, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation the whole time, greeted Victor with an amused look:
— Very sweet of you to try and comfort him.
— Huh? Comfort him? What are you talking about? I told the absolute truth.
Daphne just smirked, not believing him for a second.
— Oops! — a frightened gasp came from behind, and Daphne instantly felt an unpleasant warmth spreading down her back. — Sorry, Daphne, it was an accident! Whew, good thing it cooled down...
The girl sitting behind them had awkwardly knocked over a teapot and caught Daphne, thoroughly soaking the back of her robes.
— It's fine, just be more careful, — Daphne replied, shaking out the fabric.
And suddenly she froze. Her eyes widened as her gaze shifted to Victor. Resting his chin on his folded hands, he was watching with lazy interest as a neighboring student attempted coffee ground reading.
Daphne quickly snatched up her cup and started peering into it. Victor had told her to beware of water...
— Hey... You were joking when you said I might drown, right?
Victor looked at her gravely and let out a sigh of regret:
— I promise to visit your grave once a month — at least for the first year.
— Hey, that's not funny! That was just a joke, wasn't it? Why are you staying quiet? Answer me!
When the class finally came to an end, Victor, who had somehow fallen asleep, woke up to someone gently poking him in the cheek.
He smiled, assuming it was Daphne waking him, but then realized the finger wasn't nearly as tiny as hers.
He quickly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked at the culprit. Victor was about to snap at the offender, but froze, blinking a couple of times. It was Trelawney, and the classroom was already empty. But she wasn't the reason he froze.
— Door, door, door, door... — she was continuously whispering the same word over and over, and in the reflection of her thick lenses he could see a Sharingan slowly spinning, as if trying to hypnotize him.
He frowned, blinked, and suddenly Trelawney's behavior changed completely. She tilted her head and smiled, and the Sharingan spinning in her glasses vanished.
— My boy, it seems you fell asleep. But do not worry, that is quite natural — divination drains a great deal of mental energy. Still, try not to overexert yourself like that next time.
Victor, still in a mild stupor, nodded:
— Right, thank you.
He got up slowly and walked toward the exit. Pausing at the door, he cast one last glance back at Trelawney and, lowering his head, walked out.
It was lunchtime now, and Victor was walking slowly toward the Great Hall. He didn't even notice when Adele and Luna suddenly appeared beside him. Luna was talking excitedly, waving her hands around, while Victor smiled and nodded along. Then they suddenly fell silent and gave him a strange look. Adele tugged at his sleeve and said something, to which Victor again nodded with a smile. Frowning, the girls exchanged glances, and Adele bit her lip, gathering her courage.
The sharp crack of a slap echoed through the castle corridors.
Victor blinked in confusion.
— ...tor, Vic...tor, Victo-o-or! — sounds began filtering back to him. Adele and Luna were shaking him by the hands, calling his name.
— Oh, girls, what are you doing here? — finally coming back to his senses, Victor asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.
— Victor, are you alright? — Adele asked anxiously.
— Me? Yeah... Wait, no, — finally snapping out of it completely, he started thinking clearly again. — Door, Sharingan...
— What 'door' and 'Sharingan'? — Luna asked, baffled.
— I don't know, — Victor shrugged. — But for some reason, I feel like it's really important.
Victor honestly had no idea what had happened in Trelawney's classroom. He didn't understand what door she meant or what the Sharingan had to do with anything.
— Anyway, let's go get lunch... Wait, where are we?
A look of deep concern crossed Adele's face, and she gently took him by the hand:
— Victor, lunch ended a long time ago, and we're currently on the seventh floor of Hogwarts. Come on, I'll take you back to your room, you need to rest a bit. Don't worry, just come with me.
Luna took his other hand and nodded.
As he was being towed along by the two young girls, Victor pouted:
— Is it just me, or are you two treating me like I'm intellectually impaired?
The girls didn't answer, preferring to keep quiet.