Chapter 300: Hogsmeade Open Day (Edited)

The second half of the Divination class passed in a strange atmosphere. Tom felt as if he had taken Harry's place as the center of attention. The reason for his attention was, of course, the prophecy that was so accurate it came true almost immediately.

[Unlocks Title: The Seer]

[Title Function: When worn, your words will be more convincing, even if they sound ridiculous, and it's more likely for people to stop you and ask for a fortune.]

Tom: ...

He didn't expect to gain a title just by talking about his divination discoveries. But this title is too magical, and what the hell is the last half of the sentence?! Do you really think I'm a street fortune teller?

After class, he did his best to distance himself from the young wizards and find a quiet place to use the Time-Turner and go to class.

And the aftermath of the Divination lesson was far from over. When Tom and Hermione left the Great Hall after class, they saw a sign pinned under the Fairy notice board.

[Lost Items: Whoever has recently lost jewelry, coins, or other objects, please come to the castle caretaker's office to collect them.]

Tom didn't believe any students would go to Filch's office to retrieve their "lost and found" items.

However, there were surprises, such as Fred and George sneaking around together as if they were plotting something. Both of them relished the opportunity to enter Filch's office openly. As the old saying goes, you can't catch a tiger without entering its den, and although Filch's office was dangerous, it held both risks and opportunities, and the last time the Weasley twins ventured there, they obtained the Marauder's Map. So it was natural for them to be willing to take another risk after their last adventure.

After lunch, Tom reclined in an armchair in the common room and rested his eyes, while Crookshanks sat on his lap, purring and enjoying the soothing strokes on its furry back. Tom felt a burst of warmth and peace. After a whole morning of classes, he needed a good rest.

Unlike Hermione, he hadn't been able to compile the star chart for their midday Astronomy class after four big classes.

"Mr. Yodel, please..." a female voice sounded beside him, snapping Tom out of his little leisure.

"I don't give divinations to other people, and I really didn't know what I was doing in that class." Tom didn't need to hear the rest of her sentence to know what the girl wanted: she knew he had made a good divination and wanted him to tell her fortune or something of the sort.

Tom opened his eyes and saw Padma standing beside him, holding a cup of tea. Hermione, who was sitting next to him, paused her quill and looked at him with a smile.

"Alright." Padma bit her lip, disappointment in her eyes, and turned to leave.

"What, the great prophet won't tell his followers their fortunes?" Hermione teased.

"That would be impossible," Tom said with a helpless expression on his face. "If I fulfill one person's request, I can't deny the rest, and I don't have time to tell everyone's fortune. And the worst part is that if I'm right, it'll be a problem."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

At that moment, Professor Flitwick entered the common room and posted a notice on the notice board, alongside the lost items.

Hermione had sharp eyes and clearly saw the contents of the notice: Hogsmeade will be open to students!

She seemed a little excited. "Hogsmeade is the only wizarding village in England, and they'll let us visit it; I've wanted to go for a long time, but I had to wait until third year..."

The opening of the village of Hogsmeade was good news for all the students, and the usually quiet common room immediately buzzed with the sound of young wizards chatting about their plans for the trip, filling the room with activity.

Of course, some were happy, and others were sad. Harry Potter was the one who saw the announcement and became in a bad mood.

He sat on a chair next to Ron, with a furrowed brow and a gloomy mood. His furrowed brow clashed with the cheerful atmosphere of the common room, and even Ron, who was always clueless, could sense Harry's depression.

"Harry, don't feel so down. Honestly, I think you could ask Professor McGonagall. They're just worried that you'll be caught by Black in Hogsmeade, but Black can't be in Hogsmeade. He's not stupid, of course. Being in a place like Azkaban for so long can drive you a little mad, but he'd be shooting himself in the foot if he showed up near Hogwarts. I mean, there are so many Dementors!"

Ron's incoherent words didn't cheer up Harry, who was feeling even more anxious. He didn't know if Professor McGonagall would be "kind," but he decided to ask anyway.

"Alright, I'll go and..."

"Are you crazy?" Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard, and Harry didn't need to turn around to know it was Fred's voice, Ron's brother. There was also the possibility that it was George.

He looked back, and there were Fred and George, both of them looking at them with a smile on their faces.

"It's bad luck that Filch refuses to let us into his office," Fred said, as he had also miscalculated. Since Fred and George had set off a stink bomb in his office, Filch didn't trust the two of them and never let them near his office. This time, he even took photos of all the objects he found. When the twins arrived, he asked them to look at the photos and identify each item.

"I didn't realize he was that clever; we don't usually see that. If he were half as smart as he is today, they would have expelled us from school!" George winked, talking about a punishment that would be terrible for a student. But as he saw it, expulsion didn't seem like a big deal to him.

"So, you still haven't dealt with your uncle?" The two chatted a few words before getting to the point.

Harry nodded bitterly.

"You must have spent too much time with Ron; you've caught his idiocy," Fred handed him the application form. "Here, look, here's an application form, here's a pen, and I have a hand that knows how to write and a quick brain. Harry, what do you think these four things combined will be?"

"A pass to Hogsmeade," George said with a smile.

Harry: !!!

He suddenly slapped his head. Why hadn't it occurred to him?!

Yes, it was just an application form, and he could have signed it by imitating his uncle Vernon's signature!

He took out his copy of the form, looked at the blank space after "signatory," and struggled to breathe.