Chapter 80 Sinister Foreboding
Harry and Ron hurried to the Transfiguration class, while Evan headed to Charms class.
Within a few minutes, what happened in Divination spread throughout Hogwarts, and Evan immediately paid for his heavy jokes.
In the second-year Charms class, no one except Colin and Ginny was willing to approach him.
Professor Flitwick was explaining Levitation Charm on the platform, while the young wizards were distracted. Occasionally, someone would cast furtive glances at Evan. Everyone had heard about Professor Trelawney's prophecy.
Of course, Harry, whose Grim was in the teacup, was doomed to die, and if bad luck was contagious, then the next must be Evan, who had also seen the same omen.
But then, what?
All the young wizards held their breath and tried to back away as far as possible.
Evan had never known that wizards were so superstitious. They obviously had great power, yet they were afraid of a black stray dog.
Ginny explained the meaning of the Grim to Evan and Colin. She said her Uncle Bilius had seen one before, and he died 24 hours later.
By observing her expression, she seemed concerned that Harry could fall at any moment.
When they arrived at the Great Hall for lunch, Evan saw Harry and Ron equally pale, while Hermione looked disdainful.
"Ron, cheer up. You scared Colin and Ginny!" Hermione pushed a plate of stew towards him and turned to explain, "McGonagall just told us in class that seeing death omens is Professor Trelawney's favorite way of welcoming a new class. She predicts a student's death every year, but the accuracy rate is zero!"
"You don't understand, Hermione!" murmured Ron, serving stew on his plate and said slowly, "Harry and Evan saw a black dog. It's really, really bad!"
"I don't see anything bad about it. If those people see the black dog and die of fear, then the dog is not an omen, it's the cause of death!" Hermione said with a superior tone, "Think of other Trelawney's predictions. She warned Evan to be careful with spiders, didn't she?!"
Ron wrinkled his nose uncomfortably. What he feared most were spiders.
"She's right, we really should be careful with spiders. I mean, Harry's teacup omen is clear," said Ron firmly, "Accept the facts, Hermione! Professor Trelawney is not just babbling! You just don't like being bad at something for a change."
Barely had he finished speaking, Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew everywhere.
"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a bunch of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'm going to study it for long! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!"
Under the gaze of others, she picked up her bag and left the Great Hall.
"What is she talking about?" Ron awkwardly smiled. "She hasn't even been to an Arithmancy class yet."
"Hermione just cares about Harry and me. Don't you want us to see a dog and die like that?" Evan said, stuffing the cake in his mouth.
"Of course not, but... it's really, really bad!" Ron replied mournfully.
His prediction seems to have been confirmed, or perhaps that was the second omen.
At four in the afternoon, just outside the History of Magic classroom, Evan saw Hagrid hurrying in front of him with Malfoy. Malfoy had a deep, long gash on his arm, blood flowing and splattering the hallway, with many Slytherin students following him.
The second-year students who had just left the classroom were all astonished. They covered their mouths in surprise and didn't know what had happened.
It was Harry who had a sense of foreboding. Why was Malfoy the one injured?
Soon, word spread that Malfoy had been attacked in Hagrid's class by a hippogriff named Buckbeak.
One might ask, why were hippogriffs in the class? Simply because it was Hagrid's first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. To make a lasting impression on everyone, he brought 12 hippogriffs to the class.
It is not surprising that the class ended in a complete failure. Although the Gryffindor students could prove that Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak because he provoked it, it still cast a bloody shadow over the already heavy atmosphere at the school.
Evan ran to the school infirmary after them. He saw that Madam Pomfrey had healed Malfoy in just a minute, but he still looked pale and complained of pain in his arm. His mouth was shouting something about telling his father to fire Hagrid.
If there weren't so many people around him, Evan would have cast a Silencing Charm on him.
About five minutes later, Snape arrived running and gave Evan a fierce look. Quickly, Evan backed away from the school infirmary.
Moments later, Hagrid also emerged from there looking dejected.
"I fear it's a new record, Evan," he said somberly. "I don't think they've seen anything like it before. I've only been teaching for a day and I ruined everything. Professor Snape said I shouldn't have brought hippogriffs to the class and that he would report to Dumbledore and the school governors."
"It wasn't your fault. I just found out everything. It was all Malfoy's fault!"
"No, I was too aggressive. I should have started with earthworms or something like that... I should have saved the hippogriffs for later. I just thought it would be a good first lesson. It's all my fault..." Hagrid took out a huge handkerchief and wiped his eyes.
"Anyway, I'm here for you, Hagrid!" Evan gasped. He didn't know how to console him. "If you have troubles, come to me for help."
"Thank you, I feel much better!" Hagrid hugged Evan tightly, almost breaking his bones.
He then wandered out of the castle, drying his tears along the way, and Evan watched him nervously.
He went to the Great Hall for dinner and then returned to the Common Room. He never saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He didn't know what to do. He sat distracted by the fire and chatted with Colin about today's Charms assignments.
The three didn't return until it was completely dark.
They had gone to see Hagrid. After saying goodbye to Evan, Hagrid returned to his cabin and drank a lot of wine. When they arrived, he was lying on the floor drunk with tears on his cheeks.
That wasn't the worst part. Even worse, Hagrid received a letter from the school governors. It stated that Lucius Malfoy had officially lodged a complaint with the Board of Governors and the Ministry about this incident. He seemed determined to get Hagrid fired.