NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77: "Divination, Prophecies, and the Dog"
"Divination, Prophecies, and the Dog"
"Stephen, have you seen Harry? We've been looking for him all day." Hermione arrived with Ron, where Stephen was playing with Luna, Ginny, and a bunch of little bowtruckles that had fallen from the tree under which they were resting.
"Harry? Hmm. I think Wanda kidnapped him when she heard Professor Trelawney's prediction," said Stephen, recalling seeing Wanda dragging Harry while putting armor on him.
"Does she really believe in that? Professor McGonagall said Divination is an unreliable subject," Hermione commented with some disdain.
"You only say that because Professor Trelawney said you had no talent," Ron retorted mockingly from behind Hermione.
"Professor McGonagall said none of the students who Trelawney predicted would die actually died," Hermione defended herself.
"That's because they weren't prophecies; she just said it to get attention... But the real prophecies she gave did come true," Stephen interrupted, ending the discussion.
"What? Which ones?" Hermione asked, incredulous.
"Voldemort's death is the best example. Trelawney predicted he would be defeated by Harry," explained Stephen.
"What?! She was the one?!" Ron exclaimed, surprised, while Hermione wore an expression of disbelief.
"Well, obviously she's not as strong as her grandmother was. She tends to scare students into believing her, but she's not completely a fraud," explained Stephen calmly.
"I still don't believe Divination is completely true," said Hermione stubbornly.
Sigh. "You're in a school where ghosts run through the halls, three-headed dogs are used as pets, and you don't believe someone could see one of the possible futures momentarily. You sure are stubborn," Stephen replied as he stood up.
"Didn't you hate Divination? And what do you mean by 'seeing one of the possible futures'?" Hermione asked, confused.
"That's what Divination is about: trying to see one of the possible futures for each person. Each individual has thousands of options as they move forward, and predicting which one is the most accurate is the purpose of Divination," explained Stephen calmly.
"I don't hate Divination; I hate prophecies. It's different. Divination is seeing one of the futures, and a prophecy is being tied to a specific future," Stephen clarified, looking at Ron and Hermione, who were still confused. "To put it simply, a prophecy is a future that can't be changed."
"So, you don't want to be tied to a prophecy?" Hermione asked.
"Exactly. With my luck, I might end up having to save the world... again," Stephen muttered, more to himself.
"How about this? I'll tell you six possible futures in the next half hour, and then you can stop bothering me," Stephen proposed.
"Can you make predictions?" Ron asked, somewhat skeptical.
"Why six?" Hermione questioned.
"First, because I'm awesome. And second, because with six, I don't waste too much energy," Stephen replied with a smile, to which both agreed.
Stephen concentrated for a few seconds and used the Divination of this world, a method that always confused him because it was different from using the Time Stone to see millions of futures. Divination in this world showed very few futures, which always caught Stephen's attention, as if something was keeping the timelines to a minimum.
In fact, he said six because those were the timelines he could see, or maybe the only ones that existed. At first, Stephen felt strange seeing a universe with no more timelines, but he concluded that each universe has its own rules, and maybe that was the limit here.
What Stephen didn't know was that in the Harry Potter world, there was only one unchangeable timeline. The other five were consequences of its existence and that of his "siblings."
"One: Harry arrives with Wanda and a black dog tied. Two: Wanda brings Harry and the dog tied. Three: Harry gets hit by Wanda for losing the dog. Four: Wanda lost Harry and the dog in the forest. Five: Harry lost Wanda and the dog in the forest. Six: Wanda and Harry come without the dog," Stephen quickly said after a few seconds.
"Why is there always a dog?" Ron asked, confused.
"So, do we just wait?" Hermione inquired, skeptical.
"Yes, but don't bother us. Shoo, shoo!" Stephen said, gesturing for them to move away.
As Ron and Hermione walked away annoyed, they saw Stephen returning with Ginny and Luna, who were feeding the bowtruckles. A few minutes later, they saw Wanda and Harry, dressed in metal armor, approaching in the distance.
"Harry!" Ron shouted, running over with Hermione.
Hermione looked around and didn't see the dog, so she smiled triumphantly at Stephen.
"Where's the black dog?" Ron quickly asked.
"How do you know about the black dog?" Harry asked, surprised.
"What? Was there a black dog?" Hermione replied, stunned, while Stephen returned the same triumphant smile as before.
"Yeah, Wanda took me to hunt the supposed Grim in the Forbidden Forest," Harry explained. "When we saw it, we chased it, but it escaped."
"Harry fell into a pit full of troll dung, so I had to help him out," Wanda said with a teasing smile.
"You said you wouldn't tell!" Harry protested, indignant.
"I never said that. My exact words were: 'How funny! I have to tell everyone.' Then I took 132 photos before using a stick to pull you out," Wanda confessed, showing pictures of Harry covered in mud.
"Why didn't you lift him with magic?" Stephen asked, holding back laughter.
"Because it wouldn't be as funny," Wanda replied.
"Damn it! I'm going to take a bath!" Harry yelled, running off, although he had already used cleaning magic.
"Harry, remember to use a lot of perfume!" Stephen shouted.
Ron and Hermione followed him. Ginny and Luna returned to their classes. Stephen looked at Wanda, who was still reviewing the photos.
"Why did you let the guy I asked you to catch escape?" Stephen asked, irritated.
"I had to help Harry. I couldn't leave him behind," Wanda said, avoiding his gaze.
"If you don't tell me, the photos I gave to Astoria will be sent to everyone," Stephen threatened.
"No! Anything but that!" Wanda begged, grabbing his hand.
"He's an Animagus, and he's Harry's godfather," Stephen clarified, pinching her cheeks.
This made Wanda angry.
"Fight me to the death, you bastard!" Wanda screamed, exploding. Both began a fight that ended when McGonagall arrived and punished them by making them clean bathrooms for a month.
-------++Quick Note++--------
This chapter is more of an explanation of time's behavior in this world.
Let's say the Harry Potter world shares the same time-travel style as Back to the Future.
This is suggested through the Time-Turners and The Cursed Child book.
It's not the same style as the MCU, where there are thousands of universes, but there are some.
It also helps in that there won't be any time paradoxes or anything like that.
And remember, this isn't my idea, it's how the author wrote it... I think I didn't read The Cursed Child, but I saw a summary, and basically, it's a Back to the Future version of Harry Potter.
That's all I have to say, leave your power stones, they help a lot, you know.
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