Mad-Eye Moody

"You seem troubled, my dear..."

"My Inner Eye pierced through your brave face and saw into your restless soul..."

Professor Trelawney's ethereal voice echoed in the Divination Classroom. Everything was the same as before: the curtains were drawn tightly, and many lamps were lit in the round room, each covered with a scarf or shawl, casting a hazy red glow over the entire room.

The spices piled on the stove burned slowly, and wisps of smoke drifted out of the flames, so rich that it was hard to breathe, and the sweet aroma was irresistible.

Beside the familiar little round table, the gaunt Professor Trelawney Harry straight before Harry, his gaze filled with sorrow. "I see your days ahead filled with hardship... very hardship... what you fear will truly come... perhaps sooner than you imagine..."

Ron sat beside him, watching the scene with shining eyes.

It's here, it's here, the death Prophecy is here!

Rolling his eyes, Harry remained expressionless, silently watching the strings of beads, necklaces, and bracelets on her body, these heavy ornaments Winky in the firelight as always.

He just couldn't understand why, out of so many students in the Divination Class, Professor Trelawney had singled him out...

He really wanted to suggest to Professor Trelawney that he should look at Ron next to him; he must be very happy to receive his own death Prophecy.

At the next table, Loren held the year's Divination textbook, while Neville, head down reading, glanced at Harry out of the corner of his eye.

After Hermione quit Divination Class, her Divination Class partner changed several times before finally settling on Neville, who had lost weight.

Loren glanced at Professor Trelawney, who was trying to hypnotize Harry, and then flipped through the course catalog for this semester. It mainly consisted of Divination, predicting recent events through the movement of stars, with the comparisons between omens and events being wildly imaginative and completely illogical.

"My dear, I regret to inform you that your concerns are not unfounded..."

Harry remained silent.

Professor Trelawney, receiving no response, glanced at him, turned and floated past them, her jewelry jingling. She went up to the stage and sat in a large, winged armchair in front of the fire, facing the class with great poise.

"My dear, we should start studying the stars," Professor Trelawney said. "The movements of the planets and the mysterious signs they display can only be deciphered by those who understand how the celestial bodies dance, who know the rules of their dance... Human destiny can be deciphered through the radiation of the planets, these lights intertwining with each other..."

Professor Trelawney kept repeating things about fortune-telling, and with the aroma of the fireplace filling the air, the young wizards soon became drowsy.

Harry shook his groggy head and glanced to the side. Ron's head was bobbing up and down like a chicken pecking at rice; he had completely lost consciousness.

"..." Harry shook his head, no longer relying on this unreliable person. He gently nudged Loren, who was reading a book at the next table, wanting to discuss with him whether Malfoy would report Hagrid.

"Loren, Loren..."

Loren looked down at his book, offering no response.

Harry, sensing something was wrong, turned around. Neville winked at him, his little eyes full of confusion, while his friend, with his chin propped up on his hand, slept soundly, even more soundly than Ron, who was pecking at rice like a chicken.

Harry: "..."

What kind of teammates are these? None of them can be relied on!

"Harry Potter!"

Trelawney's heavy, ethereal voice came from behind.

Harry jolted and turned around, only to find that Trelawney was now facing them, staring straight at him. He quickly sat up straight.

"My dear, I was just saying that you were clearly influenced by Saturn's ominous influence when you were born." Professor Trelawney's tone carried a hint of displeasure, because Harry was clearly not paying attention to her lecture.

"I'm sorry, what did I receive?"

"Saturn, my dear Saturn!"

Professor Trelawney's tone was clearly annoyed. "I just said that at the moment you were born, Saturn must have been dominating the sky... your black hair... your thin frame... and the fact that you lost your parents in infancy... I can assert, dear, that you were born in winter, can't I?"

"No, my birthday is in July."

A suppressed chuckle rippled through the room. Professor Trelawney's expression stiffened slightly. She cleared her throat, as if nothing had happened. "Divination isn't a spell. I've taught you everything that can be explained in words. Now, use the charts in your textbook to calculate the positions of the planets at the time of your birth..."

Back by the fire, Professor Trelawney turned his back to the students once more and continued to use his Inner Eye to observe the distant future.

"Homework!" Professor Trelawney suddenly turned around. "Referring to your respective charts, conduct a detailed analysis of the impact of next month's planetary movements on you. It must be handed in by next Monday, and no excuses are allowed!"

The young wizards exchanged glances. After she finished speaking, she turned away without looking back, her posture perfectly composed.

Calculating planetary positions is a tedious and boring task, involving many formulas, finding many parameters, and calculating many cumbersome times and angles, not to mention homework assignments that involve predicting planetary positions and analyzing the signs represented by those positions.

Predictably, most of this weekend will be spent on it.

Seamus and Dean believed that it was because Harry had embarrassed Trelawney and that she was venting her anger, but Harry felt that their laughter had angered Professor Trelawney, and neither side could convince the other.

Professor Trelawney remained engrossed in his world of the Inner Eye until the end of class, not turning his head or moving at all. The young wizards had no choice but to tiptoe out of the classroom.

The influx of fresh air invigorated Harry, who shook the parchment in his hand and complained, "I calculated that there were two Neptune when I was born, which can't be right, can it?"

"Well..." Ron mimicked Professor Trelawney's whispered, nervous tone, "When two Neptune appear in the sky, it definitely means a little bespectacled person is about to be born, Harry ..."

Upon hearing this, Seamus and Dean, who were walking behind, burst into laughter, and Loren couldn't help but smile as well.

Dinner time.

Loren and the others passed through the tower and returned to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was packed with young wizards waiting for dinner, excitedly discussing the first day of the new term. The sixth-year wizards, in particular, who had just taken Mad-Eye's Defense Against the Dark Arts, looked very surprised but couldn't quite put their finger on it.

George, Fred, and Lee Jordan's voices could be heard from a great distance.

"Moody! He's so cool, isn't he?"

"It's more than just cool!"

"That's awesome!"

"I've never taken a class like this before."

"He really knows his stuff, that's his job."

Harry and Ron eagerly joined in. "What do you know? What do you know?"

"What exactly is the deal with Dark Arts and black wizards?"

"We had his class this afternoon, and it was really..."

Loren glanced around and quickly found his place, sitting down at the end of the Gryffindor table. Hermione, who had just finished her Ancient Rune lesson, was sitting in the corner.

I'm eating dinner while reading the newspaper.

She wore a black Head of House, with a skirt that went past her knees and pure white cotton socks underneath. One side of her hair was tucked behind her ear, revealing half of her face. Just sitting there, she appeared elegant and unassuming.

Hermione!

Loren leaned over for a glance; it was strawberry jam and bread again. He then looked away with disdain. "How was your first Ancient Rune class of the new semester?"

"It was very pleasant. Professor Babbling checked our assignments, and after class I discussed with her some ideas for improving the silver coins. However, compared to the course, I think you should take a look at this..."

Hermione moved the newspaper over and pointed her delicate fingertips to the eye-catching headline—"The Ministry of Magic is in trouble again!"

Loren scooped a spoonful of chickpea and rice pudding soup and put it in his mouth, savoring the savory, creamy flavor of the beans and rice. Only then did he slowly start reading the news.

The Ministry of Magic is in new trouble again; it seems Ministry of Magic problems are far from over. Our special correspondent, Rita Skeeter, reports: Recently, the Ministry of Magic has been criticized for its failure to maintain order during the Quidditch World Cup and for still not apprehending the perpetrator who released the Dark Mark. Yesterday, the Ministry of Magic found itself in a new predicament due to the bizarre behavior of Arnold Weasley of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.

Two years ago, Weasley was accused of owning a flying car, and yesterday he was embroiled in a dispute with several Muggle law enforcement officers (police officers) over a large number of highly aggressive dumpsters.

Mr. Weasley appeared to have come to the aid of Mad-Eye Moody, a former Aurors. Mad-Eye Moody had retired from the Ministry of Magic when he could no longer distinguish between a normal handshake and a premeditated murder... Sure enough, when Mr. Weasley arrived at Moody's heavily guarded residence, he found that Moody had once again caused a false alarm, sounding a false alarm.

Mr. Weasley had to alter the memories of several police officers to extricate himself from them. But when a reporter from the Daily Prophet asked him why he had involved the Ministry of Magic in this pointless and potentially very troublesome affair, Mr. Weasley refused to answer.

Loren swallowed the bean in his mouth and thought for a moment:

"Although there is a hint of incitement and suggestion, Mr. Weasley's handling of the matter is impeccable and should not cause any trouble."

"The point is not Mr. Weasley, but Mr. Moody, or rather, Professor Moody."

"What's the meaning?"

"I once met Mr. Moody with Dumbledore. Although it was a short time, he was definitely not, as the newspapers say, unable to distinguish between a handshake and murder... On the contrary, he was very clear-headed and was helping the Ministry of Magic with a case at the time."

Hermione paused, then said thoughtfully, "Remember, he was late for the party yesterday! I don't think it was as simple as blowing up a few trash cans..."

Loren, biting her spoon, gave the little Witch a deep look. Was she really that observant? If she continued investigating like this, wouldn't she prematurely expose the Fake Moody's disguise?

I need to find an opportunity to talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible.

After listening to Hermione's suspicious analysis, the bean soup in his plate was almost empty. Just as he was about to share some of his dinner with Hermione, he suddenly heard Harry, Ron, and Draco arguing.

"Who do you think you're insulting? The Malfoy family!"

"Then shut your stinking mouth!"

"..."

The three glared at each other, exchanging words, all looking furious and embarrassed. Draco's face was flushed red, and as his anger grew, his right hand trembled as he reached for his wand.

Bang!

A loud bang was followed by a roar that made your ears hurt, "Oh, don't do that, kid!"

Harry whirled around and saw Mad-Eye Moody kick open the door, flicking his wand and sending a faint gray-white spell hurtling straight toward Draco.

Harry and Draco were standing very close. He could clearly see the magic leave the tip of the wand, and knew even more clearly the direction the magic was heading. Instinctively, Harry gripped the wand:

"[Expelliarmus] "

The thick, crimson beam of magic met the weak spell cast casually, but was forced to retreat. The glowing red magic liquid scattered and vanished Silencio.

Ron looked at Harry in surprise. He didn't understand why Harry would help that annoying Malfoy, even at the cost of going against the professor.

Harry snapped out of his daze, maintaining his Magic Power output somewhat blankly. In that instant, he hadn't thought much; he had just acted instinctively.

As Professor Moody's spell drew ever closer, Harry's pupils contracted slightly. He felt it becoming increasingly difficult to maintain his Magic Power resistance, and a vague sense of regret crept into his heart.

Moody limped forward, each step echoing in the Great Hall with a hollow voice. His bulging Evil Eye darted around, finally settling on Harry, a sly smile playing on his lips, "I don't believe in this!"

The moment Mad-Eye raised his wand, an even more powerful Transfiguration spell surged forward like a giant python hunting its prey, its range encompassing both Harry and Draco.

"I'm sorry, Professor Moody ..."

Loren appeared between the two, his wrist slightly lowered as he flicked his wand upwards, "Spellcasting is prohibited in the corridors and Great Hall of Hogwarts."

In an instant, Harry felt an even more powerful Magic Power engulf his struggle with Moody, and the Disarming Charm was uncontrollably propelled towards the Great Hall dome.

Not only the Disarming Charm, but Mad-Eye's Transfiguration was also affected and its direction was altered. All the young wizards in the Great Hall could clearly feel the air tremors caused by the collision of Magic Power energy, and they instinctively held their breath, afraid to breathe.

Seven or eight innocent owls suffered the consequences. Apart from one or two that were knocked over by the Disarming Charm, the remaining owls turned into Ermine in the astonished gazes of the young wizards and tumbled down, splashing soup all over the table.

"Transfiguration!"

Hermione watched as the panicked Ermine made a mess of the table, her surprised voice tinged with anger, "Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History of the School clearly states that Headmaster Dippet banned the use of Transfiguration to punish students seventy years ago!"

A terrifying silence filled the Great Hall.