Waldore, Born Evil!

As far as the game Earth Online was concerned, while Mr. Granger could not yet be considered a hardcore player, he was still among those having a relatively pleasant experience.

He had thought that once he raised the little overachiever at home, his life would be complete.

Who would have thought that Earth Online would load a magic DLC when he reached middle age?

Mr. Granger could handle ordinary society with ease, but when it came to wizarding society, he was completely in the dark.

As Isaac had put it back home, once his daughter entered the Wizarding World to study and live there, if anything happened, he would not even know where to go begging for help.

In Muggle society, he could spend money and call in favors, but in the Wizarding World, he could not even spend money.

They did not use British Pounds at all.

He had even wanted to find an opportunity to speak with a Hogwarts professor and see whether he could learn more about the Wizarding World.

Who knew he would run into Professor Snape, who was so difficult to talk to?

The whole way, he had only worried about offending Professor Snape and had not dared ask anything else.

Now that he had finally met Isaac, someone he could more or less talk to, he had a bellyful of questions he wanted to ask.

Isaac could tell that Mr. Granger had questions. Since it was still early, he did not mind answering a few for the father.

In truth, his understanding of the Wizarding World was limited too. Isaac might be able to make prophecies, but he was not immersed in them twenty-four hours a day.

Grindelwald had once said that the greatest taboo for a Seer was to immerse oneself in prophecy all day long.

Prophecy could only be a tool, not something to depend on.

If someone else had said that, Isaac might not have believed it. But coming from Grindelwald, those words carried particular weight.

This was a Seer who had truly failed before. How could he not know the traps Seers were prone to falling into?

Therefore, before receiving his Hogwarts admission letter, he generally treated his gift of prophecy as a search engine.

After receiving the admission letter, it became software for taking online classes.

In short, humanity had developed less than one percent of the potential of prophetic gifts. Isaac felt that using the thing solely to play the role of a fortune-teller was the most boring application possible.

Overall, although Isaac's knowledge of the Wizarding World was limited, knowing a little was still better than Mr. Granger knowing nothing at all.

Mr. Granger rubbed his hands and asked, somewhat lacking in confidence, "Um, Isaac, I heard Hermione say that you once made a prophecy for her.

Do wizards really possess that kind of gift?"

"No, that was not a prophecy." Isaac shook his head. "It was merely a guess reached through analysis based on the available information and circumstances."

Isaac put it rather tactfully. Put bluntly, it had all been a scam.

"Wizards are drawn to one another. I merely determined that your daughter was a young witch who had not yet enrolled.

As it happened, I received a letter from Hogwarts that day too.

The rest was just trying my luck. Most of my clients do not care about such details.

They usually only need to hear one or two pleasant blessings before they are willing to open their wallets generously.

That is the truth of prophecy."

Isaac spread his hands. The fewer people who knew about prophecy, the better.

Besides, Isaac had barely used his prophetic ability on the Granger family in the first place.

Most of what he had told Mr. Granger was true, aside from the part about him being unable to make prophecies.

With a little trimming and rearranging, the rest of the truth could easily deceive someone to death without consequence.

Mr. Granger nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Then are there wizards in the Wizarding World who possess prophetic gifts?"

"Yes, Mr. Granger, there are." Isaac nodded. "In fact, one of the Hogwarts professors possesses the gift of prophecy.

It is just that..."

"Just what?" Mr. Granger hurriedly asked.

"I heard that this professor's prophecies are not very controllable and appear rather randomly.

Even the subjects of the prophecies are random."

Mr. Granger understood somewhat. If the gift was that unreliable, it really was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Isaac's explanation immediately stirred Mr. Granger's desire to talk. After ordering fish and chips at the Leaky Cauldron, he ordered sausage and mashed potatoes as well.

He even got himself a cup of mead.

"Would you like something more to drink, Isaac?" Although half of Isaac's Butterbeer remained in his glass, Mr. Granger still warmly offered to refill it.

After Isaac declined, Mr. Granger regretfully shook his head and asked again.

"Are all wizards' special gifts like that? Are there none that are more controllable?"

"Of course there are~" Isaac said as he ate the fish and chips old Tom had brought over.

"More controllable ones include Parseltongue, which lets you speak with snakes;

a Metamorphmagus can freely change their own appearance;

and when members of the Dumbledore family are in need, a phoenix will come to help them.

Those are some of the more unusual gifts wizards possess."

Aside from the last one, the first two gifts made Parseltongue seem better suited to a circus or zoo.

A Metamorphmagus seemed better suited to becoming a spy.

To Mr. Granger, these special gifts did not seem impossible to accept. The worry hanging over his heart eased a little.

Once he relaxed, Mr. Granger fully displayed his gift for conversation.

Before long, he had livened up the atmosphere at the table.

By the time Mrs. Granger arrived at the Leaky Cauldron with Hermione, Isaac and Mr. Granger were nearly throwing their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Come over, Hermione~ This is the wonderful young man I just met. Isaac is practically half a local of the Wizarding World, and we've had a great chat."

Seeing the slightly unfocused look in her father's eyes, Hermione suddenly had a bad feeling.

Then she heard Isaac say to Mr. Granger, "Hey, the moment I saw Miss Granger, I knew she was destined for great things.

Her future in the Wizarding World is limitless."

There was nothing wrong with Isaac's words. They were full of praise from beginning to end.

But the more Hermione listened to his tone and standpoint, the stranger it felt.

Who had praised her like that last time?

Oh, right, it was her father's classmate, a doctor at a London hospital! Her father had even told her that he was her uncle in London.

It had only been so long since they last met. How had someone her own age suddenly become a whole generation above her?

Could that possibly be right?!

Hermione had not completely lost her composure, and she still maintained some dignity. Ignoring her father, she reminded Isaac.

"Waldore, didn't you forget to pay the bookstore manager just now?

I mean, can Flourish and Blotts mail books first and accept payment afterward?

Could you give the money to the bookstore's owl and have it carry it back?"

"I am afraid Flourish and Blotts does not offer such a service. Perhaps you can ask the manager next time?

I did not pay because my bookstore bill will be sent to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore will pay that bill for me."

Miss Granger, who had only just been soothed by Mrs. Granger, now looked as though she might turn to stone again.