As for this matter, Ian had some ideas of his own.
Of course, most of them came from Hogwarts textbooks. Since those were versions compiled in later generations, he was not worried about Dumbledore discovering anything at present.
"So-called prophecies do not 'see' a fixed future. They are more like... individuals with particularly keen senses, or whose soul frequencies resonate with certain deep 'vibrations' in this 'web of fate,' catching powerful connections between certain 'nodes' in the network, the general trends of certain 'currents,' or certain 'focal points of possibility' that are about to become exceptionally 'bright' due to intense convergences of 'causality' or 'energy.'"
He paused, seemingly searching for more suitable words.
"The information caught in this way is often fragmented, symbolic, and colored by personal interpretation. That is because the 'web of fate' itself is not written in language."
"A prophet uses their own limited understanding and symbolic framework to 'translate' those vague perceptions. Thus, prophecies are often ambiguous. They may point toward several possible outcomes, or the very emergence of the prophecy—the act of observation itself—may alter the original distribution of probabilities through intervention." Ian set down his fries and looked back at Grindelwald, his gaze still calm. "That is what is known as 'self-fulfillment' or 'self-avoidance.'"
"So whether a prophecy is 'true' depends on many factors: the prophet's talent and condition, how they interpret the information, the complexity of the factors involved in the foretold event, and... the choices and interventions made by all relevant parties after the prophecy becomes known. It is more like an advanced probabilistic warning and causal hint than a verdict of destiny."
This was from the Divination Class textbook.
The theory had not yet appeared in this era.
Naturally, Ian did not mind plagiarizing. The explanation was clear, cool-headed, and logically