Chapter 234: Astronomy Magic
After the Centaurs appeared, Hagrid acted as if facing a formidable enemy. His massive body firmly shielded Sean behind him, his hands gripping a bow and arrow tightly.
Without moonlight, the Forbidden Forest had plunged into darkness again. Somewhere nearby, a Centaur snapped a twig underfoot, the sharp sound in the silence making hearts pound with fear.
"Firenze, don't think we don't know what you're trying to do!" the Centaur shouted again.
"Bane, can you not see? Neptune is so bright; we should accept the arrival of change," Firenze said unhurriedly.
Neptune?
Before asking Hagrid to deliver the message, Sean had done his preparation. He pulled a book from his bag, its pages so old they were nearly crumbling.
This book had been in his bag since his first month at Hogwarts. Now, finally, he could uncover some of the mysteries of Astronomy Magic.
"Neptune represents ideals, fantasy, and fascination. The areas touched by Neptune make us yearn to transcend trivial reality, breaking through the limitations and boundaries of daily life.
"The planets it touches carry a quality of longing. We become unwilling to accept things as they are, which makes us feel dissatisfied or reluctant to accept the status quo."
Reading this explanation, Sean seemed to understand something. Meanwhile, the conversation in the Forbidden Forest continued.
"This is a betrayal of our kind! Spreading our knowledge and secrets among humans... such ingratiation is a stain that cannot be washed away! Do you intend to become a slave to humans?!"
A grey Centaur with chiseled features and hard lines spoke up. Like Hagrid, he was armed, carrying a quiver of arrows and a longbow on his shoulder.
"Slave?!" Hagrid bellowed.
At this, the Centaur named Bane turned his head to Hagrid and said:
"You should leave, Hagrid. I will spare you today because you have your cub with you—"
"He's not his!" the grey-haired Centaur interrupted contemptuously. "He's a student, Bane. A student from the school up there! He's a decent one..."
"Regardless," Magorian said calmly, "harming a foal is a terrible sin—especially a foal whose star shines so brightly. We do not harm the innocent. Hagrid, we will let you pass today. But if you make such a disrespectful request again, you will lose our friendship."
As the conversation among the herd ended, they surrounded Firenze. Firenze's expression remained calm, showing no change.
After quietly instructing Sean to hide, Hagrid pushed his way into the group without a word—the Centaurs had already raised their hooves, looking as if they were about to settle accounts with Firenze.
"Slave? Are you lot joking? Teaching at Hogwarts... that's something only professors do!"
Even in such a tense standoff, Hagrid remained his usual boisterous self.
Hearing this, Bane fell silent for a moment.
"We spent ages acquiring this ability. We respect this wizard, but we will not interfere with the trajectory of the Fate Stars."
"What if our actions are part of the Fate Star? Can you not see the aspect of Saturn? It signifies excessive defensiveness."
After gazing at the sky for a long time, Firenze finally spoke.
The remaining Centaurs observed the night sky for a while, their expressions turning somewhat grim. Clearly, they were wavering.
The large herd of Centaurs came quickly and left just as fast.
Beams of soft, dappled moonlight once again cascaded into the clearing, illuminating the soft moss and the leafy trees.
Hagrid had also left; he needed to go feed the Thestrals.
He trusted Firenze, but he left Fang behind. At that moment, Fang was happily playing with a bone that threw itself.
Sean heard the sound of sparrow-like birds taking flight in the distance. Then, with anticipation, he walked over at Firenze's signal.
The story of the Centaurs wasn't hard to understand. They used Astronomy to predict the future and abided by that future.
But blindly abiding by and believing in fate meant that fate would dictate everything about them—even if it wasn't what they wanted to see.
"Sean Green, do not be afraid. Centaurs never harm the innocent or the young. Yet—it is always the innocent who suffer first. That has never changed for thousands of years," Firenze said.
"Come, lie down here. We still have some time to observe the stars."
So Sean lay down on the soft moss.
"I know that in Astronomy class, you have learned the names of these planets and their moons," Firenze said in a soothing voice. "You have also charted the movements of the stars across the sky. Centaurs have spent centuries unraveling the mysteries of these movements. Our findings tell us that from the sky above, we may be able to glimpse the future—"
He explained quietly, and Sean listened just as quietly.
It seemed that guided by the stars, the Centaur was willing to teach him Astronomy Magic. This was a hard-won opportunity.
"Have you learned anything yet?" Firenze asked.
"Yes, I've read many books on Divination, like this one. It says Mars can cause accidents and burns, things like that. When it forms an angle with Saturn, like this—"
Sean tapped his wand, and sparks drew a right angle in the air.
"—it means people need to be extra careful when handling hot things—"
"That is human nonsense," Firenze said dismissively.
Sean silently decided to return Predicting the Future to the library later.
"Trivial pains, insignificant human accidents," Firenze said, his hooves making a thud-thud sound on the mossy ground. "Compared to the vast universe, these things are as inconsequential as scurrying ants, unaffected by the movements of planets."
It sounded very reasonable. Sean's quill habitually took notes.
"Some wizards, like Sybill Trelawney. perhaps she can see the future; I am not sure," Firenze continued. Sean heard his tail swish as he paced. "But she wastes almost all her time on self-aggrandizing nonsense—nonsense humans call fortune-telling."
Sean felt he was quite right. If Professor Trelawney didn't constantly fool people—like making at least one death prediction every year—perhaps everyone wouldn't have to search for the one real prediction among ninety-nine fake ones.
Firenze's voice rang out again:
"What I will explain here is the objective, impartial insight of the Centaurs. When we observe the sky, we must watch for major trends of disaster or change. Sometimes, the sky marks these trends. It may take ten years to confirm what we have seen."
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