She murmured in a trance-like state, her bespectacled eyes fixed on Orli's crystal ball. Orli stared at it too, but to her, it was nothing more than a swirling mass of white mist.
She had braced herself to hear Trelawney's usual predictions—early death, tragic accidents, broken relationships, or perhaps having five children. But what happened was entirely beyond her expectations—
Trelawney seemed frozen in place, her gaze locked onto the crystal ball for an unnaturally long time. She said nothing, and the classroom fell into an eerie silence before whispers began to ripple through the air.
Orli could hear Lavender and Parvati whispering, wondering aloud why Trelawney hadn't spoken yet.
At last, Trelawney broke the silence. But the voice that emerged was loud, hoarse, and entirely unlike her usual fluttery tone:
"A meteor! A meteor that should not have appeared has disrupted the trajectory of all the stars."
Trelawney collapsed onto the thick carpet in front of the small table like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her eyes were unfocused, her jaw slack. As she fell, one flailing arm knocked Orli's crystal ball off the table. It rolled across the floor to the corner of the classroom, but she made no move to retrieve it.
"Pro...Professor?" Ron stammered, shrinking back in alarm. He glanced at Orli, then back at Trelawney. "Should I go to the hospital wing for help?"
"She's just being dramatic again," Hermione muttered under her breath, clearly unimpressed.
Parvati rushed over, trying to help Professor Trelawney up. But the professor seemed completely unaware of her surroundings. Her eyes began to dart around rapidly, as if she were in the grip of some strange fit. Parvati, startled, fell to the floor beside her.
Then Professor Trelawney spoke again, in that same hoarse, otherworldly voice so unlike her usual demeanor:
"A child who should not have been born has come into existence. The fate of all will change. The Dark Lord will rise again, stronger and more terrifying than ever before. The path to light—or the plunge into darkness—hinges on a single choice. She holds the future of all—she can bury everyone or bring everyone back to life—"
The classroom was utterly still, the only sound being Trelawney's raspy voice delivering her prophecy. Neville's face was ghostly pale, Ron's lips trembled, and Lavender let out a faint sob. Only Hermione seemed to remain skeptical—yet even she clutched Orli's fingers tightly.
Professor Trelawney's head slumped forward onto her chest. She let out a faint groan. Then, quite suddenly, her head snapped back up with a jolt.
"Forgive me, my dear children," she said dreamily, addressing Orli. "Afternoons do make one drowsy, don't they? I must have nodded off for a moment..."
Orli sat frozen in her seat, her eyes wide, unable to speak. Her heart was pounding so violently that she had to press her other hand against her chest to calm herself. She fully understood the part about herself—everything Trelawney said was true. She was the one who disrupted everyone's fate, the one who wasn't supposed to exist. But the Dark Lord's return? Peter Pettigrew had already been handed over to the Ministry of Magic by Dumbledore and was under tight surveillance. Could something still go wrong?!
"Is something the matter, children?" Trelawney asked, looking around the classroom and noticing the peculiar expressions on all her students' faces.
"You just said Orli was a child who should not have been born," Hermione said, her voice firm. "If you can't stand by your words, you should apologize to Orli immediately!"
"You said—the Dark Lord will rise again—" Harry interjected urgently.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (50+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!