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Chapter 413: The Dancing Snowman
Chapter 413: The Dancing Snowman
In the morning, the sky was gray and overcast, with snow still falling, blanketing the ground in several feet of snow. The lake was frozen over with a thick layer of ice.
Christmas was approaching, and the students were eagerly awaiting the upcoming break, their minds wandering far from their studies.
However, Divination class didn't require much focus anyway.
Nowadays, Divination lessons had become a joke among the third-year students. No one took the subject seriously, and many who had chosen the subject passed the time by chatting and joking around.
Currently, everyone believed that Professor Trelawney was a fraud, incapable of true divination and merely pretending to possess mystical abilities. Unfortunately for her, her true nature had been seen through.
In contrast, no one doubted Albert's abilities. In fact, many suspected that he truly possessed divinatory powers, as his predictions consistently proved accurate.
At present, the Divination class was being taught how to interpret tea leaves, a form of divination that was arguably one of the most inaccurate methods.
As for why Albert had come to this realization, it was mainly because he had been studying tea leaf divination for several months without ever finding a related skill on his ability panel. This had led Albert to question whether tea leaf divination even qualified as a skill.
On the other hand, he had taught himself various other divinatory techniques from books, such as palmistry and tarot card reading. Yet, despite months of studying tea leaf interpretation, no relevant skill had emerged.
Could it be that he was just too stupid to learn it?
Obviously not.
If Albert truly lacked divinatory talent, he wouldn't have mastered runestone divination, crystal gazing, tarot reading, and palmistry.
Since the problem didn't lie with Albert, it had to be the tea leaf interpretation that was at fault.
After finishing a cup of tea, there would always be a pile of unidentifiable tea dregs left behind.
Yes, they were tea dregs, not tea leaves.
The interpretations of tea leaves described in books were nothing more than generic templates that could be forced to fit any situation. How could one truly predict the future this way?
Interpreting tea leaves was inherently subjective.
It was like someone constantly thinking about lottery numbers, to the point where they started seeing those numbers everywhere. Eventually, they might connect all the "clues" they had seen and invest a large sum of money, only to end up losing it all.
Before the end of class, Albert once again received Professor Trelawney's praise and bonus points. She also informed the class that next semester, they would begin studying palmistry and have an introduction to crystal ball divination.
On the way out, Fred asked with exaggerated curiosity about something he had been pondering, "Come on, tell me, how did you really see an acorn in the tea leaves?"
"I guessed," Albert replied honestly.
"You guessed?" The three friends were speechless. They couldn't believe that someone could guess and still sound so confident. Moreover, they didn't think Albert was guessing; his performance in class showed that he genuinely knew how to interpret tea leaves.
"Yes, I guessed. That's right, that's what I did." Albert emphasized his point, "To be honest, tea leaf divination is one of the most unreliable forms of divination I've ever come across."
"What are the second and third most unreliable methods then?" Lee Jordan blurted out, not waiting for a moment to think about it.
"Bird divination and leaf divination," Albert replied.
"So, how did you guess, then?"
"Well, since we don't really understand it, we can just make predictions based on possible future events. That's my version of tea leaf divination." Noting the astonished looks on his three companions' faces, Albert shrugged, "Don't look at me like that. I learned this from Professor Trelawney herself."
"So, are you saying that Professor Trelawney can't really divine either?"
The three exchanged glances, surprised to hear this confirmation from Albert, even though they had suspected as much.
"Wait, hold on. Didn't you say that Professor Trelawney could divine, and that's why she became the Divination professor at Hogwarts?"
"Professor Trelawney is probably one of those third-rate diviners who can't control their abilities." Albert remarked casually, "But we can still learn some useful things from her."
"The art of deception?" George scoffed, "Do you really need to learn that?"
In the eyes of the trio, Albert's talent for deception was truly impressive. His silver tongue was sharper than any prophecy, and he didn't need to bother with tea leaf readings; he could achieve the same effect with just a few words.
As the four of them passed through the corridor, Fred suddenly suggested, "Want to build a snowman?"
"Don't spend all your free time in the library. It's not like you can't finish your homework," Fred and George urged Albert towards the courtyard.
"Wait, I'll walk by myself." Albert paused suddenly, lingering at a spot for a few seconds and furrowing his brows slightly.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He shook his head and followed the others into the school's courtyard. As soon as they entered, a snowball came flying at Albert.
Albert immediately stopped in his tracks and sidestepped, causing the snowball to hit Lee Jordan square in the face.
"Who attacked me?" Lee Jordan quickly bent down, scooped up some snow, and packed it tightly, intending to give the attacker a taste of their own medicine.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to just now." Truman apologized with a mischievous grin, devoid of any sincerity, before throwing another snowball their way.
And so, a snowball fight commenced out of the blue.
Truman and his buddies cast spells on the snowballs they packed, causing them to relentlessly chase after Albert's group. Eventually, Albert used magic to stop the onslaught.
"You don't play snowball fights like that," Truman complained.
Albert waved his wand, and a snowball grew larger as it rolled towards Truman and his friends, forcing them to dodge.
Albert had already rolled a smaller snowball for himself. As Truman and his friends scattered, he threw it directly at Truman, hitting him squarely in the face and sending him tumbling into the snow.
"Good shot! Get him!"
"Ouch, could you be any stronger? And why are you only targeting me?" Truman grumbled as he noticed another snowball rolling towards him.
"Because you're the easiest target," Truman's companion teased.
"Damn it, are you trying to flatten me with this huge snowball?" Truman dodged and weaved, trying to escape the massive snowball that pursued him. As he reached for his wand to shatter it, the snowball suddenly stopped, much to his relief. He couldn't help but grumble at Albert, "What are you up to anyway?"
"I'm just making a bigger snowman," Albert explained, using magic to create another snowball and place it on top of the large one.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan stared at this spectacle, dumbfounded.
"You call that a snowman?"
"What else would it be? Any objections?" Albert countered with a smile. Before they knew it, he had effortlessly crafted a snowman as tall as Hagrid.
"Wow, that's a huge snowman!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were approaching, were also drawn to Albert's snowman.
"If you understand how to use magic properly, you can do this too." Albert raised his wand and cast a spell on the snowman.
The heavy snowman suddenly sprouted a pair of short legs and began tap dancing. With each jump, the ground shook slightly due to its weight.
"What kind of magic is this?"
Harry gaped at the large snowman dancing before him, feeling astonished. There was no denying that the snowman's bulk was intimidating.
The others watched with fascination as well, some clapping and cheering. The atmosphere in the courtyard instantly livened up.
"What's going on here?"
Snape appeared out of thin air, his presence as eerie as ever.
(End of Chapter)
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