After a single lesson, Professor Trelawney finally understood what it meant to be drenched in sweat.
To fool Umbridge, she had even dredged up knowledge from Muggle books she had happened to flip through before!
Fortunately, Umbridge seemed to have genuinely been fooled by her and had even developed a measure of respect for her.
That left Trelawney exhausted, yet faintly pleased.
She resolved to rummage through her bookcase after this lesson ended.
Back then, Professor Trelawney had bought a whole pile of obscure books from Muggle street stalls to fill out her bookcase, intending to pull them out and slap down anyone who questioned her.
If she remembered correctly, those secondhand Muggle books with titles like The Thick Black Theory, Guiguzi, Danyangzi, and Red Centre Boss had all been in the same section of the stall as the Tao Te Ching.
If she read through all those books properly, she was bound to gain quite a lot from them—and would be able to keep fooling Umbridge.
Professor Trelawney even happily imagined that perhaps Umbridge had a discerning eye and would truly recognize her talent.
Then, if Umbridge put in a few good words for her with Professor Dumbledore, the salary that had not changed in nineteen years ought to go up a little.
Professor Trelawney, who never came downstairs, firmly believed that as long as the Senior Undersecretary to the Ministry of Magic said the word, her raise would be just around the corner!
Of course, if Professor McGonagall, who handled salaries, heard that thought, she would only sneer and think Trelawney was indulging in wishful thinking.
Trelawney had once predicted Professor McGonagall's death, claiming that McGonagall would not live to see graduation.
After being hired by Professor Dumbledore, Trelawney had then boldly predicted that Gryffindor would go ten