"I can't understand this..."
"This... I can follow the beginning, at least..."
"This one's interesting, but once it gets into the deeper theory, I haven't experienced any of that myself..."
The magazine really was interesting—if he ignored the fact that he couldn't understand most of it. If Andrew hadn't spoken with Percy in the Library before, he would have thought Percy was trying to put him in his place.
And by the time Andrew had struggled through most of what he could understand, he discovered that Percy had made a mess of nearly that entire thick stack of documents...
Yes, made a mess. Even an occasional glance was enough to show Andrew how little attention Percy was paying. He was practically going through the motions as he dealt with the documents. Of course, it was possible Percy was simply so capable that he needed only a moment to grasp their key points and handle them properly.
Just as Andrew was about to open a second magazine, Percy, having finished with the documents, suddenly stood up as though he had made a decision. "Andrew, come over here."
"Huh? Okay."
Andrew rose, bewildered. Percy spoke rapidly. "The professor brought in a mirror today. It's incredible. It can predict the future."
As if to demonstrate, Percy hurried over to a magnificent mirror. Andrew had noticed it when he arrived, but he hadn't thought much of it.
Come on—he still had Transfiguration to learn. A mirror was hardly strange, and even if something odd like the Cat Tree had appeared, he wouldn't have questioned the layout of Professor McGonagall's Office.
But now that Percy had brought it up, Andrew wasn't going to refuse. He took a careful look at the mirror that supposedly predicted the future.
It was very tall, with an ornate gold