Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 173 The Pattern in the Teacup, Two-tailed Salamander

Sybil Trelawney was very nervous during this lesson.

Someone has discovered her secret of using props to fake things. Will they expose her?

What if Minerva McGonagall finds out? What if Dumbledore finds out? How is she supposed to explain this? Pretend she doesn't know?

That's right, pretend you don't know!
Trelawney's eyes flickered, and she quickly found a solution: she could pretend she knew nothing. A few cups—what could they prove anyway…

Moreover, she was a professor, and McGonagall and Dumbledore would certainly trust her more than a student.

Right, that is it!

……

Trelawney frantically racked her brains for a solution, while on the other side, Celen didn't take it seriously at all, nor did she intend to expose Trelawney's fraudulent activities.

Unlike the clueless Gilderoy Lockhart, Trelawney is a truly skilled fortune teller.

The most famous prophecy in the wizarding world today—"The one who defeats Voldemort will be born at the end of July"—originated from her.

Voldemort later died, and Harry became the only boy to survive the Avada Kedavra curse.

It was this prophecy that led to Professor Trelawney's successful admission to Dumbledore and her becoming the Divination professor at Hogwarts.

However, Trelawney's prophetic talent only works on some crucial "big events." Otherwise, she's just a pretentious con artist... just like what happened earlier.

When Siren sat back down at the table with his cup, Harry was struggling to drink the scalding hot tea, and then, as Trelawney had asked, he shook the tea leaves a few times.

Xilun glanced down.

That pile of brown, sawdust-like tea dregs really didn't look like drinkable tea. Moreover, the strong aroma hit you right in the head after a while, and if you smelled it too much, it would make you feel a bit numb and drowsy.

Is this really legitimate tea?
Siron simply poured the tea into another empty cup on the shelf. Then he drained the tea and exchanged cups with Harry.

“Alright.” Harry opened his book, cleared his throat, and said in a loud, deliberate voice, “What did you see in my cup?”

They had already discussed this issue.

Siren would say that Harry would have a surprise today, and then he would be lucky enough to find a silver Sickle at the door when get out of class ended.

Of course, this silver coin is definitely a special guest star.

Seeing that some people's attention was drawn to Harry, Siron also pretended to pick up his teacup and look at it, preparing to continue with the agreed-upon lines.

But just as Xilen turned the teacup around, he suddenly frowned.

The pattern of tea leaves in Harry's cup was so obvious that it felt like the answer was laid out right in front of him.

In this situation, should we still proceed according to the previous plan?
Xilun hesitated for too long.

Trelawney had been watching this area closely, and upon noticing the situation, she immediately realized that her chance to change her image had arrived.

So she walked over quickly.

“If you’re in trouble, let me see.” She reached out and tried to take Harry’s cup.

Xilun raised his hand and dodged it.

“No, Professor, no trouble,” he said, turning the teacup counterclockwise.

“The key represents the truth,” he said. “But the pattern is crooked, which means that the truth is distorted, or that it is not the truth you believe it to be.”

Wait, a key? A distorted truth?
Harry blinked. What was all this? Why was it different from what they had agreed on?

Trelawney instinctively wanted to retort, but after glancing at her teacup, she ultimately said nothing.

Xilun changed direction again.

"An open book...knowledge will reveal the future, which means you may one day overturn your own understanding."

“Excuse my bluntness…” Trelawney finally couldn’t help but ask, “Did you really see the book open?”

“Of course.” Siren turned his teacup upside down, facing the others. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No, that’s not it.” Ron, who had come closer out of curiosity, muttered in a low voice, “I only saw a bunch of wet, brownish stuff.”

“I saw a hippopotamus,” Neville said, squinting. “It was clearly a top hat,” Hermione said.

Trelawney's mouth moved as if she was about to say something, but then she saw Siron take out his wand and gently wave it at the teacup.

A thin golden line quickly danced along the edge of the pile of tea dregs, outlining a pattern in the blink of an eye.

"The book is an open book!" someone exclaimed.

Hermione and Ron, standing nearby, also stared wide-eyed... It was too obvious; the pattern outlined by the thin gold lines was an open book.

"That's incredible, I didn't even notice it at all."

Trelawney shut her mouth again, staring at Siron in disbelief.

"You... you saw through it at a glance?"

"Is it that difficult?" Xiren asked rhetorically.

He also didn't understand why, even though it was so obvious, everyone else was still calling out like a hippopotamus.

"You go on."

Xilun changed direction again.

"A lighthouse...someone will guide you through the maze and lead you to the truth."

"Where is there a lighthouse?" someone muttered.

Siren effortlessly took out his wand and waved it.

"Ah, I see it... such a clear lighthouse, like a silhouette in a photograph."

"Strange, why couldn't I see anything just now?" Harry took off his glasses and rubbed them vigorously with his shirt.

Xilun spun the cup again.

Before he could even speak, Trelawney gasped and screamed.

"what!"

She seemed to have seen something terrible, and plopped down in an empty armchair, clutching her chest with one hand.

“My dear child… my poor, dear child… no, it’s best not to say it, don’t ask me…”

But the more she acted this way, the more curious others became.

“What is it, Professor?” Dean Thomas asked immediately, and everyone stood up and slowly moved closer.

“My dear,” Trelawney suddenly opened her huge eyes, “you…”

“A two-tailed salamander,” Celen said before her, drawing a pattern with her wand as she did so: “A flame that splits and then merges, a sign of lost kinship being regained.”

“Congratulations, Harry,” Cyril smiled. “Although you may not be happy to hear this, according to the divination, you will have a new relative in the future… and most likely your father.”

A burst of laughter immediately erupted from the surrounding area.

Ron and Hermione frowned slightly, feeling that what Siron said was really too much. Everyone knew that Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort, and what he said was really going too far.

But to their surprise, Harry soon found himself laughing too.

He didn't feel that Xilun's words were offensive, because Xilun had drawn every pattern on the teacup, and when compared with the explanation in "Seeing the Future Through the Fog," the result was exactly the same as what Xilun said.

If that's the case, how could it be offensive?

And to be honest, Harry actually quite hoped it was true. He was really fed up with the Dursleys, and it would be nice to have a new family member.

Of course, a new father is out of the question, that's too far-fetched. A distant uncle or aunt would be fine.

Everyone was laughing, except Trelawney, who stared at Xilen thoughtfully, muttering things like "heavenly eye" and "prophecy."

……

(End of this chapter)