In Divination, while a wizard's Third Eye was the decisive factor, divination tools were not entirely without influence.
That influence lay not only in their type and material, but also in a vague, indescribable feeling much like the Third Eye itself.
Ideally, they should belong exclusively to one person, untouched by anyone else. Nor should they be stored together with different divination tools—at least not tools from vastly different systems of divination.
All this was meant to keep divination tools "pure." Manus was not entirely sure whether it actually worked, since he was still at the stage where his Third Eye activated only passively.
In any case, that was how Tracey had taught him.
During class, everyone was only learning theory anyway, and the divination tools belonged to the school, so naturally none of that mattered.
But the man before him was a Seer, yet his divination tools were piled together in such a disorderly mess, leaving Manus somewhat puzzled.
"You're here? Sit down."
Unlike Manus, who was studying him, the other man's gaze seemed kindly and eager... somewhat like Nicolas's?
"Um..."
After sitting down, Manus hesitated. He could hardly call this old gentleman Black Dog to his face, could he?
Still, the man might not want to reveal his name, so how he should address him had to wait until the other party indicated it himself.
The old man raised his brows in understanding at Manus's hesitation.
"Paris."
The corners of his lips lifted, though his expression was not entirely cheerful.
"Paris Trelawney. You can also call me Black Dog—heh heh, don't think it's an insult. My Animagus is a black dog. I mastered it in my fifth year. They gave me that nickname purely out of jealousy."
By all rights, Paris should have sounded proud when he said