Chapter 23: The First Class

Time moved quickly, and the next morning arrived.

Victor's first Divination class at Hogwarts was scheduled for early in the morning with the seventh-year students.

Seventh-years, it should be said, were quite accustomed to fake Divination. They had spent the last three years with Professor Trelawney and could, at a moment's notice, produce four or five pages of parchment explaining in excruciating detail why they were destined to be knocked into the Black Lake by a rogue unicorn on a Thursday.

Nymphadora Tonks was one such student.

"Ugh, I have no idea what this new professor will be like," Tonks groaned to her friend. "I just hope he lets us use the class for self-study."

"These next two weeks are my only real chance to revise for my N.E.W.T.s."

"Seriously! Hey, are you heading to Auror training in two weeks?" her friend asked.

"I am!" Tonks said, puffing out her chest with pride. She was a girl with bright red hair, wearing the Hufflepuff-crested robes of her house. Not only was she a soon-to-be Auror, but she was also a Metamorphmagus, able to change her appearance at will. Divination was merely an elective for her, with no bearing on her graduation.

Chatting with her friend, Tonks gradually climbed to the top of the tower. The Divination classroom was located in the spiraling North Tower, and it originally had no stairs. To maintain her mystical persona, Professor Trelawney had required all students to climb up a ladder through a trapdoor in the ceiling.

But when Tonks reached the place where the trapdoor should have been, she was surprised to find it gone. In its place was a newly installed wooden spiral staircase, allowing them to walk straight up.

"Whoa, now this is an improvement."

She quickly discovered that the Divination classroom was also completely different from her memory. The heavy curtains that had perpetually smothered the windows were now drawn back. The various teacups, cabinets, and fragrant spices that had cluttered the room were all gone, making the classroom feel spacious and bright.

The only thing that lent the room a mysterious atmosphere was a single brass pocket watch placed at each seat around the circular tables.

Victor Van der Boom sat behind a new wooden desk near the fireplace. He had changed his attire again today, now wearing a short-brimmed hat of blue with silver trim. Beneath it, his pale face was dominated by a pair of dark, hollow eyes that watched the students below.

The students who had already arrived were sitting in silence, not daring to make a sound. Tonks was momentarily stunned.

"Welcome," Victor said quietly. "Find a table and sit. You two are the last to arrive."

Tonks quickly pulled her friend to an empty spot at a round table. In truth, including the two of them, there were only seven students in the entire class—a testament to just how unpopular Trelawney's Divination course had been.

Once they were seated, Victor began.

"I imagine you already know my name is Victor Van der Boom. Professor Victor will suffice. I will be responsible for your Divination lessons this year."

"Professor McGonagall has informed me that many of you will be undertaking internships soon. She expressed a hope that I would teach you something useful and not interfere with your preparations. Therefore, this first class will be dedicated to a small, basic technique. If you have no interest in it, you are free to use all subsequent classes for self-study."

A collective sigh of relief went through the students below, Tonks included. They had been afraid he would be like Snape, breathing down their necks and forbidding them from opening other textbooks.

Victor paused, then continued.

"But regardless of which option you choose, I have only one requirement—you are absolutely forbidden from bringing any sort of nonsense that claims to be 'Divination' into my classroom."

He enunciated each word with cold precision. "Ab-so-lute-ly. For-bid-den."

Tonks, ever curious, raised her hand. "What do you mean by 'claims to be Divination'? Does the way Professor Trelawney taught us to predict our own deaths count?"

"That is an excellent example, Miss Tonks," Victor said, his face a perfect blank. "Therefore, Hufflepuff loses one point."

"?!"

Tonks's cheeks puffed out in indignation, and her hair shifted from red to a stormy black.

Victor pretended not to notice.

...This tyrannical little trick Snape taught him is really useful.

"You have all been at Hogwarts for many years now," he went on. "There's no need to pretend. If you made a prediction that did not come true, it was rubbish. Yes, I am aware this includes the vast majority of the predictions you have made over the past three years. To prevent you from continuing to believe that is Divination, today I will have you try the real thing."

With that, he rose from his seat. Under the seven students' gazes, a mixture of resentment and curiosity, he took seven peculiar leaves from a small box and handed one to each of them.

A Slytherin student, taking his leaf, couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "Are you serious? I heard there hasn't been a true prophecy in the magical world for centuries."

"Correct. But I am not teaching you to make true prophecies. I am teaching you to have a small premonition of what is to come," Victor said. "What is your name?"

"Bones, Professor."

"Mr. Bones, place the leaf in your mouth."

Bones wrinkled his nose, looking reluctant, but under Victor's intense, oppressive gaze, he clenched his jaw and popped it in. His speech came out slightly slurred. "What ith this?"

"A leaf from a Mandrake. If you wanted to become an Animagus, you would need to hold this in your mouth for a month. I spent the last two weeks studying it and discovered it has the effect of amplifying one's spiritual essence, making your perception of the world more acute."

As Professor McGonagall was a famous Animagus, a wave of understanding passed through the seventh-years. Their hesitation vanished, and they all placed the leaves in their mouths.

"And then?" Tonks asked, her voice also slightly muffled.

"Then, take the pocket watch from your table and form a single line next to the wall on the right."

"Once you are in line, you will close your eyes. Focus your entire attention on your pocket watch. Listen carefully to the speed of its second hand, and take three steps forward. On the first step, you will chant, 'Aipu, Paipu, Kaike.'"

"Aipu, Paipu, Kaike," the seven students repeated with interest, their voices low.

"On the second step, chant, 'Xiluo, Huoluo, Haluo.'"

"And on the third step, chant, 'Zexi, Zexi, Zeke!'"

"Zexi, Zexi, Zeke!" the students repeated again, even more intrigued now. This didn't sound like a normal spell at all.

Though the two Slytherins shot each other suspicious looks, Victor's intimidating presence kept them from voicing any complaints. And really, what was the point? They had survived three years of Trelawney's class. They knew what a joke Divination could be. What was one more strange experiment?

So, after reciting the final line, they all eagerly moved to the right side of the room and quickly formed a line. The pale, thin Mr. Bones stood at the front, followed by a Ravenclaw student, with Tonks in third.

Once the students were all in place, Victor walked over to them unhurriedly.

"Very good. Think carefully about the magic you just recited, about the pronunciation and cadence. You will need it in a moment."

He pointed his wand at the stretch of floor in front of them. The Divination classroom's floor was made of long, single wooden planks laid side by side.

"I have placed an enchantment on these floorboards. One of them, chosen at random, will become an illusion. You must walk forward with your eyes closed, one foot directly in front of the other, taking exactly three steps to cross each plank."

"If you have recited the incantation correctly, you will hear the ticking of the second hand in your pocket watch speed up just before you reach the illusionary plank. That will be the sign that you have successfully completed one crude prophecy."