Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures Class

"Oh, child, how is your grandmother?"

Professor Trelawney suddenly asked Neville. Her possessed-looking expression gave Neville the creeps.

"Er... yeah, she's fine."

Neville nodded rather blankly. He could not quite figure out what this strange professor was trying to say.

Trelawney pursed her lips. "Not necessarily, in my view. Bring me your cup."

Neville handed her his cup.

Trelawney picked it up and merely glanced inside. With a sorrowful look, she dropped a single "Regrettable" before gliding away.

Neville was completely baffled by her mysterious act. Seeing that Trelawney had no intention of explaining, he picked up the cup and examined it himself.

There was nothing but tea leaves. Are you messing with me?

Trelawney was exactly like one of those fortune-telling frauds, tossing out a few baffling yet worrying words before refusing to say anything else.

Most students from previous years thought Professor Trelawney was a fraud. Her methods were far too unreliable. Every year, she predicted the death of one or several students, yet none of those predictions had ever come true.

It was as though she made her living by scamming people with that.

"Open your minds..."

She muttered as though performing some ritual.

She came over to Eli's group and caught sight of Ron Weasley. "Oh! Your aura is flickering. Are you on the other side?"

Her sudden outburst gave Ron Weasley a fright. Hermione Granger rolled her eyes impatiently.

She could listen attentively even in the universally acknowledged most tedious class, History of Magic, but Divination seemed to have exhausted Hermione Granger's patience.

This sort of Divination class clearly did not suit Hermione Granger, because what she hated most was anything lacking rigor.

Trelawney's Divination class could hardly be called rigorous. It was mostly guessing and bluffing. After teaching one lesson, she could practically put