A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 315: Flames and Smoke Divination

From morning till afternoon, the members of the club emerged one by one.

"This is amazing!!!" exclaimed a student in excitement. "It's as if the professor belongs to only me..."

"We all feel that way," chimed in his companion with a cheeky grin.

But he didn't quite catch that and exaggeratedly said, "Professor Harp even discussed with me which spell-casting posture looks more dashing, did you hear?"

"I'm a hundred feet away from you, mate!"

A girl spoke up, "Professor Harp was very patient. While explaining the magical runic sequence structure for the Lumos spell, he said it looked like a lily of the valley..."

"Huh? Professor told me it was a tulip," another girl interjected.

"Clearly, it's a rose..."

Several people exchanged puzzled glances, debating with each other. Ron couldn't help but say, "Maybe Professor Harp just wanted to convey a curved structure; these flowers all look somewhat alike, don't they?"

The spirited girls debating the matter stared at Ron, huffed, and left.

Ron scratched his head and puzzledly said, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you just ruined their mood for the day," Hermione remarked casually.

They arrived at a courtyard, where plants grew lushly along winding paths. Harry absentmindedly plucked the orange-red spherical fruits from the bushes, next to which were mistletoes adorned with white pearls.

"How's Sirius, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"He's fine. He's been busy preparing for his brother's funeral, and he doesn't want anyone else involved," Harry replied softly.

"I remember, his name is Regulus Black?" Ron exclaimed with excitement. "He's really cool, a lone hero..." He lowered his voice, "Being a Death Eater but playing a trick on one of them, he deserves that treatment."

"Yeah, but we definitely can't mention the Horcrux at the funeral. Headmaster Dumbledore specifically talked to me about it, as you both know..."

Ron chuckled, "He must have been quite troubled then. Maybe he even considered using the Obliviate spell on us—"

"Ron!" Hermione interjected sternly.

"Uh, I was just speaking off the cuff. Of course, none of that would actually happen..."

Hermione glanced around worriedly, feeling this wasn't a safe topic. "Harry, we better not mention that term out here."

"Horcrux?"

Harry mumbled quietly and thought for a moment, "You're right, but most people don't even know what that is... Luna?" Harry stared in astonishment at the young girl in the garden. She held a lunchbox in one hand and was halfway through weaving a mistletoe wreath with the other.

Luna's gaze was elusive, and she tossed the wreath aside, acting as if she had just noticed them. "Hello, Harry, Hermione, Ron. It's so nice to see you," she said in her sing-song voice.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, suddenly regretting discussing the topic in the garden. How much had Luna overheard?

"I'm waiting for Ginny, you know. Her tummy will get hungry, and a picnic is absolutely essential," Luna said, swaying her waist-length, golden hair.

"Is that so?" Ron looked skeptical. "Did you overhear—"

"Luna—"

Ginny ran up from a distance, panting and breathless. "Sorry I'm late. Fred and George insisted I try their new products. It was a struggle to get away. Can't let them find out... Going to visit Firenze—Ron?"josei

Ginny widened her eyes, remaining in a daze for a few seconds before realizing her slip. She exclaimed, "What are you doing here? Trying to eavesdrop, aren't you? Oh, Hermione, Harry, you're here too..." Her expression turned puzzled. "What's going on?"

Harry and his friends exchanged glances, a genuine accident it seemed.

Luna hummed lightly, picking up the discarded wreath and idly weaving it again.

A few minutes later, they headed toward Hagrid's hut.

"We care about you too, Ginny," Ron said. "There was an attack near the Forbidden Forest two months ago..."

"Yeah, you got hit by some dark magic, and your leg swelled up twice its size," Ginny said nonchalantly.

"And it was oozing pus! Ginny, don't you care about your own brother at all?" Ron protested.

"Worried? Naturally, I'd be worried the first time I heard it," Ginny said, maintaining her poker face. "The second time, I'd worry. Third time, fourth time, fifth time..."

Ron's face turned red, his ears almost glowing.

Harry changed the subject, fully aware of how Ron boasted about it afterward and how often he'd heard the story. But that curse was meant for him, and Harry believed Ron deserved every bit of his own boasting.

So, he said, "Uh, so you're going to visit a Centaur, right? Well, we're actually heading to Hagrid's to see Buckbeak. Maybe they could become friends..."

Harry halted, realizing he wanted to smack himself. Centaurs had strong pride. He stammered, "I mean... they're our friends, of course."

Luna chirped, "You're right, Harry. I think you'll be friends. Ferenzor is very friendly."

"Ferenzor?" "Ferenzor?"

Harry and Hermione both exclaimed in surprise simultaneously. Harry said, "I know him, Ferenzor. We met in our first year! I encountered a dark wizard hunting unicorns, only to discover it was Quirrell, who worked for Voldemort. Ferenzor helped me escape and guided me out."

He carefully chose his words, avoiding the word "ride," as his experience taught him that Centaurs were sensitive about that.

Luna gazed dreamily at Harry as he continued, "It's true. He looks quite young, with platinum hair and a strong build..."

Luna's eyes lit up with a smile.

The group arrived at Hagrid's hut to find the burly man removing weeds from the pumpkin patch. As they approached, Hagrid held a red umbrella, gesturing around in the ground.

"Hagrid!"

Hagrid turned around, "Harry, Ron, Hermione! Oh, and two young girls, one of them is a Weasley, what's your name?"

"Ginny, Ginny Weasley."

"And you?" Hagrid looked at Luna, his umbrella hitting a nearby pumpkin, causing it to explode with a "bang," splattering them with yellow juice. "Oh, sorry!"

Hagrid fumbled, holding Harry and Ron, who were closest, to the side. "I'll go get a cloth, can't use magic on you all, you know," he whispered, "Not so good with household spells, missed the timing..."

"Wait, Hagrid—Scourgify! Scourgify! Scourgify!"

With Hermione's help, they managed to clean up in no time and got down to business.

"Buckbeak? He's back with his herd. His kin missed him greatly," Hagrid said, waving his arms around. While Harry and his friends were a bit disappointed, they were still glad for Buckbeak.

When they mentioned their plan to visit the Centaur, Hagrid's eyes widened as he roared, "Are you all out of your minds? Just two months ago there was an attack! And the Battle of the Bridge, if I hadn't been in the hospital wing, I would've missed—"

He looked at them in a daze for a long while, then sighed, "I can't help much either, I don't know that spell."

Harry and company rushed to console him, "You saved me, Hagrid, remember? Madame Pomfrey said if we waited a bit longer, my leg would've been chopped off and regrown." Ron said sincerely.

"Hagrid, your Engorgement Charm worked a treat," Hermione commented while looking out of the window at the pumpkin patch.

Harry racked his brain, but unfortunately, he couldn't come up with a fitting reason. "They're right, Hagrid. You can't underestimate yourself."

"Thanks, thank you all..." Hagrid pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his moist eyes emotionally, then suddenly realized, "Hold on! You haven't said why you're going into the Forbidden Forest!"

"We're going to see Ferenzor. I haven't seen him in months," Luna said. "Also, big guy, I love how you've arranged things here. It's so much like my home."

Hagrid chuckled, "Call me Hagrid, young miss. And what's your name?"

"Luna, Luna Lovegood," she said while shaking her head.

Hagrid rummaged through a dusty bag and pulled out several dirty objects, handing one to each of them. "What's this?" Harry asked, it looked like bones from some creature.

Luna had puffed up her cheeks and started blowing, producing a loud whistle. After a while, she stopped and breathed slightly heavily.

Hagrid boomed, "You see, Luna demonstrated. It's a bone whistle. I use it when training the creatures of the forest. In case of danger, it might come in handy. Of course... kiddos, I don't recommend you going into the forest..." He said with great conflict.

Finally, Hagrid led them to meet Ferenzor. Luna placed the mistletoe wreath on the Centaur's head, and they all shared the contents of the lunchbox. Due to the crowd, everyone got only a little, and Harry felt even hungrier after eating.

He missed the Great Hall in the castle but reconnecting with Ferenzor was also intriguing, as long as he didn't delve into complex star readings.

"The recent aura from Mars has been peculiar. We believe it signifies something," Ferenzor said, strongly suggesting Luna use sage and valerian for a flames and smoke divination. "You're the most intuitive human I've encountered."

Luna complied. Harry was surprised that she carried these items with her. They were even more unexpected than her cork necklace and dirigible plum earrings. So they had to sit around and observe as the choking smoke rose. When Hagrid sat down, he was taller than when he stood, and when the breeze blew, the thick smoke mixed with incense wafted toward him, making him sneeze incessantly.

Ferenzor remained unaffected. "Fate has brought us together to form a prophecy." He lay down and carefully observed, trying to discern certain shapes and symbols.

"Looks like the magic Professor Harp taught us," Ron whispered to Harry. Harry didn't see the resemblance between the two, but he thought it resembled Buckbeak's wing flaps.

"Looks like a cloak of flames," Ginny added her interpretation, treating this as a game.

Hermione chose to watch coldly, sitting quietly without speaking. She had never been interested in these strange things.

"Human beings have never been quite good at this, even Centaurs took many years to develop this ability." Ferenzor said in a steady voice, "And it's also easy to make mistakes. Luna, what did you see?"

"I saw a gathering, everyone was joyous, shooting fireworks into the sky." Luna said happily. "I wish I could be there too."

Ferenzor sounded a bit disappointed, "I thought it was an omen of war..." Others looked at him in puzzlement, so he explained, "Mars presides over war, and in the past decade, various signs indicated that the wizarding world was just experiencing a brief period of peace between two wars. But there have been recent changes. The elders in our tribe are puzzled—"

He shook his head and didn't continue this heavy topic.

Afterward, they returned to the castle, ate heartily, and left everything behind.

They returned to the Gryffindor common room, where Percy stood before the notice board, studying the job advertisements. "Wasn't he going to the Ministry?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged, "Penelope hasn't decided yet. She's received a few recommendations, but her dream job is abroad. Percy's trying to persuade her to stay."

After a few minutes, Percy left with great enthusiasm.

Before heading to the dormitory, Harry glanced at the advertisements on the board and, combining Percy's recent position, he found an inconspicuous cutout in the corner. He didn't read the fine print below but remembered the company's name—

Future World.

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