Chapter 474: The Prophecy
Chapter 474: The Prophecy
At least half of the Dementors instantly floated toward Barty Crouch Jr., while the rest only showed slight agitation, seemingly unable to compete with their own kind.
The Aurors from the Ministry of Magic paid no attention to these dark, towering figures, as simply being near them brought overwhelming sadness and pain, so the Aurors kept their distance.
Glancing over, the Auror saw that the Dementors hadn't strayed from their designated area and continued to focus on the palm-sized Flow Mirror in his hand.
With no one else around, the Auror turned up the volume on the mirror, a goofy smile spreading across his face as he watched the clumsy blonde woman wave her wand, causing sparks to sputter from the bowl in front of her.
"What are you doing?" her companion yelled in frustration. "We're supposed to cast the Disillusionment Charm, not the Explosion Charm!"
"You fool!" the blonde woman shrieked. "This isn't an explosion; it's fireworks!"
"We need to be invisible! Invisible! And you're setting off fireworks! Do you want Filch to catch us?"
The Auror laughed heartily at the video.
This was a sitcom created by wizards. Although the actors' performances were lacking, the genuine magic and various spell mishaps made the show hilarious.
As the Auror laughed at the video, the Dementors had formed a circle around him, held back only by the powerful magic they sensed from the wizard, which prevented them from pouncing and draining him dry.
"Wait! Wait!" Barty Crouch Jr. shouted, holding his wand in a defensive gesture. "Who's in charge here? I have a proposition!"
The Dementors seemed to understand, but continued to close in. Suddenly, they stopped.
In his empty hand, Barty Crouch Jr. now held a transparent crystal bottle, containing a swirling, silver substance that looked like he had captured the Milky Way inside.
Barty Crouch Jr. raised the bottle slightly, ensuring that the surrounding Dementors saw it, then slowly lowered it and placed it on the ground.
He took two steps back and said, "This is my offer—twelve Muggles' most joyful memories."
The memories extracted by magic were far superior to the stray emotions in the air, and the Dementors' greed and desire reached a peak, but they did not act rashly.
A Dementor that looked no different from the others, except for a darker cloak and a more ethereal presence, stepped forward. It extended its long, decayed hand, and the bottle flew into its grasp.
Barty Crouch Jr. couldn't help but take two steps back, striving to hide any signs of disgust or fear.
He had spent about a year in Azkaban, experiencing firsthand the horrors of these creatures, and he never wanted to relive the torment of all his painful memories rushing back at once.
He couldn't use the Patronus Charm, but fortunately, Voldemort had taught him a dark magic spell involving the soul, which reduced the Dementors' influence on him to a negligible level.
Barty Crouch Jr. lowered his gaze and noticed a faint, dark glow on the Dementor's hand—a silver ring with the band deeply embedded in the flesh, almost fused with it.
The creature under the cloak sensed his gaze and quickly withdrew its hand into the cloak. The bottle's stopper flew off, and the Dementor slowly and deeply inhaled, drawing the silver memories into a dark, hollow opening.
That was the Dementor's mouth.
Above the mouth, the entire head was covered in crusted gray skin, with no eyes, nose, or ears—only a nightmarish, terrifying skull.
The silver memories quickly disappeared into the Dementor's mouth, and the creature let out a long, drawn-out sigh, sounding both satisfied and hungry for more.
"I think you've seen it", Barty Crouch Jr. said, forcing himself to remain calm. "My master, the Dark Lord, operates differently from Dumbledore and the current Ministry of Magic."
"If you join him, he will allow you to freely feed on happiness... and even use souls as a meal, if you wish!"
"What do you say? Are you willing to make a deal?" Barty Crouch Jr. asked with a smile. "Or are you content with the scraps the Ministry provides? They don't even allow you to reproduce, do they?"
After a long pause, the Dementor extended a finger, and black mist formed a series of slender letters in the air.
[Is Voldemort still alive?]
...
Carril's departure didn't cause much of a stir. The students discussed it for a few days, but soon their attention shifted to other matters.
Because the Ministry of Magic did not want more people to know that Carril had died a year ago due to using a Time-Turner to change his mother's inevitable fate, his crimes and his death became secrets that could not be made public.
The students only heard that Carril had dropped out of Hogwarts for family reasons and had even left Britain.
This hasty departure left some classmates feeling abandoned and disappointed, but soon, the increasingly heavy coursework made the students forget these sensitive teenage worries.
Final exams were approaching.
Even Easter offered no respite, as professors from every subject assigned more homework. Even the usually lively Weasley twins had to buckle down and study for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s).
Time was like a girl running with her skirt held up; before those left behind could pick up the glass slipper, her beautiful figure had already vanished from sight, and the gloomy exam week arrived.
Wade received an unusual schedule. For example, on the first morning at nine o'clock, he had to take exams for Arithmancy and Transfiguration simultaneously. At one o'clock in the afternoon, he had exams for Charms and Ancient Runes.
Fortunately, exams were never a challenge for Wade. Of course, the importance of grades was not as significant to him now.
The last exams were Divination and Muggle Studies. Although the two exams took place at the same time, even without a Time-Turner, it did not prevent students from attending on time.
Since the Divination exam was conducted one by one, Wade went to the Muggle Studies classroom first.
The exam content was simple: a mostly multiple-choice test, followed by identifying the names and uses of several Muggle items, such as mobile phones, power sockets, and table lamps. Finally, they had to put together a normal Muggle outfit.
To Wade, this exam was so easy that a trained monkey could complete it.
However, when he saw one of his classmates pairing a flannel nightgown with green leather pants, he realized he had underestimated the challenge.
"Totally meaningless, isn't it?" Hermione, who had also come to take the exam, said to Wade as they walked out of the classroom. "While the Muggle world is interesting from a wizard's perspective, it's a complete waste of time for us."
"Didn't you drop the course?" Wade asked casually.
"Yes, I've already told Professor Burbage, and I haven't been to class recently", Hermione said. "But since I've studied it for half a year, I wanted to see it through to the end."
Wade glanced back at the classmate who had made the bizarre combination. The guy's brain seemed to tell him it was fine, but his eyes said otherwise.
The classmate hesitated, then found a wide-brimmed lady's hat with long, thin feathers and tentatively placed it on the mannequin's head.
Wade looked at Hermione in disbelief and said, "Even if he's never seen a Muggle, doesn't he have a sense of what looks normal?"
"Maybe he has too much of a 'sense' of style", Hermione said, trying not to laugh. "He wants to score higher with a fashionable outfit."
Wade frowned, puzzled. "Fashion?"
"Haven't you seen a fashion show on TV, Wade?" Hermione gestured. "You know, those creative fashion shows."
Wade suddenly understood.
On the second floor, he turned toward the North Tower, where the Divination classroom was located, while Hermione headed toward the library.
"Not going to take the Divination exam?" Wade asked.
"I don't want to see Trelawney at all", Hermione said disdainfully. "She's a complete fraud."
Wade raised an eyebrow. "What about your desire to see things through?"
"Divination doesn't count", Hermione waved her hand and walked backward. "Honestly, Wade, you don't need to endure her nonsense just for twelve O.W.L.s certificates."
"Alright... but I still find Divination interesting."
Wade waved goodbye to Hermione and climbed the spiral staircase. Outside the Divination classroom, a few students were waiting in line, with Ron and Harry at the back.
They pulled a student coming down the stairs and whispered, "How did it go?"
"Professor Trelawney doesn't allow us to say. But..." Padma leaned in and whispered, "Crystal ball divination."
"You're crazy!" Lisa pulled Padma and said fearfully, "Didn't Professor say that those who reveal the exam content will face terrible consequences?"
"Forget it, don't be like my sister", Padma said dismissively. "I don't believe it will lead to any danger... unless Professor Trelawney personally curses me—hey, Wade!"
She happily greeted Wade and then walked downstairs with Lisa. Wade could hear them discussing what they planned to buy for the last Hogsmeade weekend to take home.
"Divination with the crystal ball!" Ron's face was grim. "I can't see anything in it!"
"Me neither", Harry encouraged him. "Use your imagination, Ron! Last time, didn't you say you saw a special image in the crystal ball?"
"Yes", Ron said. "I saw a spider with eight eyes playing tug-of-war with a Chocolate Frog. I think Professor Trelawney might not have liked that."
Lavender, who was ahead in line, giggled and turned back to ask curiously, "Then what did you say?"
"I told her I saw myself being chased by a giant spider", Ron said, his face pale. "Professor Trelawney gave me an Outstanding for the first time."
Harry patted his shoulder happily. "See, it's not hard to make it up, right?"
Ron sighed, his expression indescribable.
Harry was rarely pursued by Trelawney's predictions of various deaths this year, especially in the second semester. His Divination classes became as normal as everyone else's, which made him feel better about the subject.
Compared to Hermione's courses, which required a lot of memorization and calculations, Harry found Divination much more friendly, as long as he could make things up. He turned to the back and asked, "Wade, what can you see in the crystal ball?"
Wade paused for a moment before saying, "Something similar to Ron—observing the shape of the mist and imagining an object, mostly animals, sometimes household items, and then expanding on it based on the textbook interpretations."
"Oh... interpretations..."
Harry thought for a moment, then pulled out Through the Fog to the Future from his bag to review it quickly. Ron hurried over.
Wade smiled and looked up at the trapdoor of the Divination classroom.
One by one, students finished their exams and left, some confident, others dejected.
When Ron came down, he said, "I don't know if she believed me... but maybe I'll pass, and that's all I need."
Then it was Harry's turn.
Wade crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, wondering what Harry would hear when he went up.
In the original story, Harry would hear a real prophecy during this exam—Trelawney, the unreliable professor, would predict the reunion of Voldemort and Wormtail, and the Dark Lord's return to power.
But now, the "Wormtail" active outside was a puppet sent by Wade, and it would take a long time for Voldemort to be resurrected.
Wade didn't try to eavesdrop. Even if Trelawney made an unusual prophecy, Harry wouldn't hide it from them.
Almost half an hour passed before Wade saw Harry descend the stairs, lost in thought.
"Harry?" Wade asked. "What's wrong?"
"A loyal servant helps the Dark Lord rise again... darkness and fog will cover the land..." Harry muttered, his eyes lifting to meet Wade's. "What does it mean?"
"Did Professor Trelawney say that?" Wade straightened up. "Did she make a real prophecy?"
"I think so", Harry said. "She... she seemed different just now... it didn't feel like she was just bluffing..."
"Wade Gray?" Professor Trelawney's voice came from above. "It's your turn."
"Don't worry, what's coming will come", Wade patted Harry. "Tell Dumbledore the prophecy exactly as you heard it. If it's really happening, he'll have a plan. As for the rest... we can't change anything."
Then Wade walked past Harry and headed upstairs.
(End of Chapter)
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