Simple Arithmancy

"I don't understand, I really don't understand, what kind of mess is this!"

Lee Jordan looked very agitated as he left the Divination classroom.

This Divination class didn't teach anyone anything useful. For most of the time, Professor Trelawney had them use pages five and six of the book "Parting the Mist to See the Future" to interpret the shape of tea leaves.

Later, Professor Trelawney interpreted Fred's cup as the worst possible omen—a sign of impending death! This made Lee Jordan very uncomfortable, since he was the one responsible for interpreting Fred's cup.

"You guys aren't actually taking this seriously, are you?" Albert suddenly said, sensing the oppressive atmosphere around him.

The roommates all stopped and looked at Albert.

"As far as I know, Professor Trelawney Sybill Trelawney has Prophecy the death of one student every year since she came to this school," Albert stated calmly. "Predicting death signs was her favorite way of welcoming new students."

"Is it like this every year?" Fred couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, it's like this every year." Albert patted Fred on the shoulder and said, "So far, none of them have died."

"Looks like you're not going to die." George grinned and put his arm around his brother's shoulder.

"Yes, that's wonderful," Fred exclaimed. "To be honest, I was also startled by Professor Trelawney's Prophecy."

"But... the Prophecy ..." Lee Jordan was still struggling with this matter.

"The Prophecy is obviously false. I doubt that Professor Trelawney Prophecy at all. At least, she can't Prophecy the future like those Divination. Otherwise, she would definitely demonstrate her Prophecy abilities to us in class. Nothing would be more convincing than that."

"Then what about your Prophecy?" Lee Jordan asked, still unwilling to give up.

"Of course it's a hoax." Albert noticed a bunch of people eavesdropping nearby and said with a sneer, "Ever since Harry Potter came to Hogwarts, and Dumbledore has been mysteriously setting up a restricted area in the castle, I've had a feeling that something bad might happen."

"You bastard, I thought..." Lee Jordan stared at Albert in disbelief, realizing he had been tricked again.

"We've known each other for two years, and you still don't understand Albert!" George gave him a look that seemed to ask if he was even one of them anymore.

"Does Albert need Prophecy?" Fred teased. "He doesn't need them. If he really wanted to Prophecy, he could just say them and they would be more accurate than Prophecy."

The Twins looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

Indeed, in the Weasley Twins' view, Albert's words were more accurate than Prophecy.

As for Professor Trelawney's Death Prediction, it's probably just her way of welcoming new students. You can easily find out if it's true or not by asking around.

As for whether Albert will make Prophecy, Fred and George are more inclined to believe that the guy probably will.

There was no way around it; his mouth had already revealed too many things. Another point was that Albert didn't like too many people knowing certain things, such as whether he could actually do Divination. Perhaps Albert wouldn't mind discussing these things privately, but asking in public was deliberately stirring up trouble.

Moreover, this guy likes to say some truths, some lies, and some half-truths, making it completely impossible for people to tell which are true and which are false.

Fred and George never asked about private matters in front of others, and even if they did, it was purely in jest.

If you want to know anything, just ask privately when you get back to the dorm tonight.

Lee Jordan's stubborn mind couldn't quite grasp it for a moment.

Fred and George both gave Lee Jordan a look that told him to shut up, and then changed the subject.

"I have another Transfiguration Class next, and then a Care of Magical Creatures Class and Potions Class in the afternoon. My schedule is packed these next few days. It's really tough."

"Your Arithmancy just skipped it like that?" George asked, frowning, as they walked down an empty corridor.

"No, I've already sent my clone to class. Okay, don't ask me how I did it, it's a secret." Albert took out his pocket watch to check the time and said as he walked into the Boys' Washroom next door, "Wait for me a moment."

Albert gently pushed the door of the cubicle and found it locked. He knocked three times, and the cubicle door responded with three knocks. Albert turned and went into the cubicle next door. Just as he closed the door, the previously locked door opened, and a tired-looking Albert walked out.

As for the compartment where the door had just been locked, Albert was taking Time-Turner out of his leather bag, putting it around his neck, and then turning the Time-Turner once.

Albert felt his time rushing backward, as if something was pounding in his ears. The next moment, he felt himself standing on solid ground, and everything came back together.

Putting away the Time-Turner, Albert casually pulled out his pocket watch to check the time, then quickly left the Boys' Washroom to go to his Arithmancy class.

"Speaking of which, the Arithmancy class seems to be held in classroom 7A on the Seventh Floor," Albert muttered to himself. "Ugh, another long journey, this is going to be tough."

The "astrology" of Arithmancy is a branch of arithmetic, referring to the mysterious relationship between many events and events that occur simultaneously.

Albert had already read Wake Field's "Numerology and Graphology" during the summer vacation, but it wasn't very accessible to most wizards who hadn't actually studied mathematics.

These things reminded him of a book called "Kabbalah Numerology," which is a secret Jewish Divination, commonly known as "numerical esotericism."

In Albert's view, the field of arithmetic in the Wizarding World was a mixture of probability calculations and a bunch of strange things.

If that's really the case, then perhaps it explains why Curse-Breaker needs to be proficient in this stuff.

This would allow them to assess the success rate of breaking the curse without actually performing it, meaning they could minimize the risk of failure.

When Albert appeared on the fourth floor of the castle via a shortcut and was about to go to the Seventh Floor through another secret passage, he happened to see two unlucky guys arguing with Filch: Ron Weasley from the Weasley family and... the famous Harry Potter.

"Red-haired Weasley, humph, don't think I don't know what you're up to. Students are forbidden from going to the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area Corridor."

As Albert approached, he heard Filch's angry voice.

"Getting lost? I don't believe you'd be so lucky as to end up in the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area."

Soon, Albert saw someone heading in that direction. It was Professor Quirrell, who was probably on his way to check the security checkpoint and happened to help the two lost souls out of their predicament.

"If I see you two trying to get lost and wander into the restricted area again," Filch threatened, looking at the two who had escaped with their lives, "I'll put you in solitary confinement. Maybe spending a day in the dungeon will help clear your heads."

As Harry and Ron rounded the corner, they found Albert standing there, watching them with a half-smile.

"As expected of the Weasley, are you planning to wander into the restricted areas of the school on the first day of school?" Albert said softly, looking at Ron.

"No, we're just lost," Ron argued.

"We just want to find the Charms Classroom," Harry muttered quietly.

"Then go ahead. Just keep going this way, and you'll be there soon after you pass through the Armor Corridor," Albert said softly. "If you get lost, it's best to ask someone for directions instead of wandering around the school on your own. Only a brainless person would do that. Trust me, many people would be willing to help you, Potter, if you just ask."

Harry and Ron jogged in the direction Albert pointed.

"Do you know him?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"Fred and George invited him to our house this summer, and my parents really liked him," Ron said dryly. "They say he's a very talented genius."

"But why did he say that too?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"Fred and George are mischievous at school, and he probably thought I would be like them." Ron was a little annoyed when he talked about it. He suddenly realized why Filch was targeting them; it was probably related to Fred and George.

Albert had no idea what Harry and Ron had talked about, but he managed to get to the Arithmancy classroom by taking a shortcut before class.

The course was taught by Professor Viktor, who explained to them in class what Arithmancy was.

... refers to a hypothetical form of Divination based on assigning numerical values to words or phrases. Although this may seem contradictory at first glance, arithmetic employs more rigorous and mathematical methods to predict the future.

Yes, this is actually a direct quote from "Numerology and Graphology".

"... Arithmancy requires rigorous logic," Professor Viktor said to the students below, whose heads were throbbing with embarrassment. "You can't just make things up. Don't think you can get away with filling in a bunch of random numbers in your assignments."

Next, Professor Viktor showed them the densely packed numbers on the blackboard and began to teach them how to perform Arithmancy.

Apart from a few Muggle -born students like Shanna and Albert, most of the students in the class were frowning and listening attentively.

Unfortunately, it would be extremely difficult for a group of students who hadn't even fully mastered the four basic arithmetic operations to learn Arithmancy. However, Albert understood it very easily; the content was probability calculation.

"Alright, do the rest of the questions. If you didn't finish them in class, take them home and do them. That's today's homework," Professor Viktor said to the students.

Aren't you going to do it?

Shanna raised an eyebrow and asked, not believing that Albert was unaware.

Albert pointed to the table on his parchment; he had finished calculating.

It's very simple; you can get the answer in no time.

"How were you able to calculate it so quickly?!"

Katrina found it incredible; she had just noticed that Albert had barely done any calculations before quickly completing the pile of numbers on Professor Viktor's blackboard and filling them in on the parchment.

"I've studied advanced mathematics," Albert said casually.

Compared to advanced mathematics, current Arithmancy is indeed very simple.

Undeniably, Muggle-born wizard have a far greater advantage in this regard than wizards born into wizarding families, since they have all attended school as children and have learned some mathematics and been exposed to arithmetic operations.

Professor Viktor walked over, picked up the parchment on the table, and glanced at the numbers in the table.

Everything is correct.

Professor Viktor glanced at Albert with surprise. She had heard of Albert's achievements before, but it was only when she taught him herself that she truly understood why the other professors spoke of him that way.

"Look, Mr. Anderson has finished calculating, and he's completely correct. Ten points Gryffindor." After saying this, Professor Viktor leaned down to Albert and said, "You stay behind after class; I have something to discuss with you."

Arithmancy is indeed difficult for many students. Apart from Shanna, even Katrina, who was engrossed in calculations, was unable to finish calculating the pile of numbers before the end of class.

This huge gap was a huge blow to Katrina.

After Albert came out of the classroom, Katrina tried to say something, but Shanna beat her to it.

"What does Professor Victor want with you?" Shanna asked curiously.

"Professor Victor told me to attend the Advanced Class whenever I had free time."

"Advanced Class? I heard that the Advanced Class only admits the smartest students. I heard from other upperclassmen that it's called Advanced Arithmancy Research, and the classroom is on the First Floor of the castle." Shanna suddenly asked, "Can I go to the class with you?"

"I don't really care," Albert said with a shrug.

"How did you do that? I mean, how did you learn it so quickly? Is there a secret?" Katrina finally couldn't help but ask.

"Your difficulty might be related to your lack of math knowledge," Albert said frankly. "Arithmancy is very similar to Muggle probability calculations. If you had studied that, you would find modern Arithmancy very simple."

Katrina glared at Albert and turned to leave. She didn't want to talk to that guy; he was just too infuriating.