Chapter 287: Hermione's Divination Class

"I can't believe I missed the Stimulating Charm!" said Hermione apologetically, "And I bet it will come up in our exams; Professor Flitwick hinted that it's possible."

"If necessary, I can help you practice this spell." said Ivan enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Ivan!" Hermione leaned her backpack over her shoulder and sighed, looking very depressed. "You've helped me a lot. Without you, I really don't know what I could have done. I'd like to practice this spell, but I don't have time. It's hard to imagine. I spent the whole afternoon in divination class, staring at a crystal ball in a daze."

A week earlier, the third year class was taught divination with crystal balls.

Ivan was quite capable of understanding Hermione's current state of mind. For most wizards who have no talent for divination, it is impossible to see anything from the crystal ball.

As Hermione said, they were wasting their time there.

You have to know that the talent of divination, though highly valued, is very rare, and usually hereditary.

To put it simply, if there were no Diviners in your ancestors, then you shouldn't get anything useful through Divination.

At least, no one had that talent among the young wizards Ivan knew.

Taking into account the pressure of Hermione's current schedule, if she decided to drop Divination class, Ivan would absolutely agree. He comforted her with a few words. A few minutes later, Hermione went to Divination class, and it looked like she was about to reach her limit.

To her, Professor Trelawney was nothing but a liar.

It was totally unbearable for her to go and listen to Professor Trelawney's nonsense all afternoon under time pressure.

So, at dinner time, Ivan was not surprised to hear the other third year Gryffindor students talking about Hermione leaving Divination class halfway through.

"As usual, Professor Trelawney predicted Harry would die!" Ron poured himself a big spoonful of mashed potatoes, as he explained the whole incident to the others; he wrinkled his nose and exaggerated. "Hermione suddenly interrupted her. Professor Trelawney said that Hermione did not possess the qualities required by the noble art of Divination. She said she could not recall ever meeting a student whose mind was so impotent and mundane, Do you know how Hermione reacted?"

All the first and second year students shook their heads and their faces were full of curiosity.

"She was silent for two or three seconds, then suddenly stood up." Ron tried to imitate Hermione's tone, "She said directly to Professor Trelawney "I give up! I'm leaving!" Then, to the astonishment of the entire class, she left the Divination classroom. It was very brave, wasn't it? I was scared for her, and I bet Professor Trelawney must have been scared too. She stood there, breathing quite heavily as she pulled her gauzy shawl closer to her. It was like this."

"Come on, Ron! Professor Trelawney had predicted this. She had predicted his departure. Remember our first lesson? 'Around Easter, one of you will leave us forever,'" Lavender interrupted Ron, sitting on the other side of the long table. "She'd already predicted that, hadn't she?"

"In a way, she knows everything." Ron waved his hand, unhappy at Lavender's interruption, adding dismissively, "As long as it's about unfortunate things!"

"That's the whole charm of Divination, predicting danger in the future, allowing one to avoid it, isn't it?" whispered Lavender, trying to convince Ron.

The two discussed this topic, and Ivan asked Harry about Hermione's whereabouts.

"I don't know, she might go back to the common room first. Coming straight out of the classroom, this whole thing must have been quite a shock to Hermione." Harry said uncomfortably, "We'd better go look for her. I dare say she must be very upset now..."

Harry stopped before he finished his words.

Hermione entered the Great Dining Hall from outside. She looked like she wasn't sad at all.

She was very happy. Her face was full of smiles. She smiled and sat down in the seat Ivan and Harry had given her.

Because of what happened in Divination class, almost half of the students at the table turned to look at her, waiting to know what happened after the incident.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" asked Ivan timidly.

"I'm fine, Ivan!" Hermione looked very happy. "Since the beginning of the semester, I've never been in such a good state. Think about it, I can finally get rid of Professor Trelawney and meaningless Divination lessons and spend my precious time on other things."

"But you walked straight out of class - there's never been anything like that before!" Ron's attention shifted from Lavender to Hermione. He asked curiously, "I mean, if you quit Divination, what will Professor McGonagall say?

"Thank you for your concern, I just got back from talking to Professor McGonagall." Hermione pulled out her schedule and used the wand to remove the Divination class and answered easily. "She is very supportive of my decision. As of today, I don't have to waste any more time in Divination class. If you also want to get out, you can always speak up without worrying about what Professor McGonagall might say."

"That's because it's you!" Ron whispered, "If I had quit Divination like you, Professor McGonagall would have criticized me very severely, made me apologize to Professor Trelawney and then write to my mother about it."

By giving up Divination, Hermione could be more relaxed.

Even without Divination, she was taking more classes than anyone else, but her mental state was much better.

Compared to before, she was smiling all day, full of motivation, without the slightest pressure of her studies on her.

For Hermione, learning was a happy thing. However, other people were not so optimistic. The Easter vacations were not exactly relaxing. Because the school year exam was approaching, the sophomores were doing more and more homework.

In Colin's words, he had never had so much homework.

In fact, it wasn't just the second years, young wizards all over the school were spending almost all their time studying, and they were spending more and more time in the common rooms and the library. Neville seemed to be close to a nervous breakdown, and he wasn't the only one.

At noon on the last day of the Easter vacations, Ivan had just entered the Gryffindor common room when he heard Seamus Finnigan roaring in the corner.

"They call this a vacation?" he threw some magic books on the floor. "Exams are a long way off, who are they kidding?"