A Web Of Magic

Classes started soon for the year and Magnus didn't feel much of a difference compared to the usual. He already went over the curriculum for the year and was far ahead of everyone else. The only interesting part about the lessons were the occasional information that the professors gave that weren't in the textbooks. They were still a good avenue of earning impact points for him so he still paid good attention.

The professors were all the same as last year except for the Defense against the Dark Arts. Surprisingly, the new professor, Quirinus Quirrell, was the Muggle Studies teacher from two years ago. Apparently, he taught Muggle Studies for a year and then went on a year-long sabbatical to gain first-hand experience of all the things the wizarding world has to offer. Rumor is that he fought a group of vampires in the Black Forest in Albania. He's also said to have fought off a zombie and was gifted a turban in return, one which he wears wherever he goes now.

All those stories become hard to believe when you actually meet the man. He stuttered at every word and was very uncoordinated. Magnus wondered how such a man can ever fight a group of vampires and survive unscathed. He has first-hand experience from fighting a vampire and can say it's not easy to take one on much less a group in a dark forest of all places. Vampires also aren't hurt by garlic that Prof. Quirrell seem to be so sure would keep them away. Of course, the stinky garlic would keep anyone anyway not out of fear but disgust.

There was something very fishy about the man, but whenever the professor walked close to Magnus, his focus crystal turned grey before reverting back to white. There was more to the professor than what meets the eye. At first, he was worried that about the danger the professor posed, but he trusted Headmaster Dumbledore wouldn't hire someone that would harm his students. Still, if the man can pose a threat to Magnus, it was better to stay away from him and keep the interactions to a minimum. The class taught by Prof. Quirrell was boring. Magnus expected that a dangerous professor would at least teach something interesting but it wasn't meant to be. Magnus decided to do his own thing in the class just like with History. As long as he didn't disturb the class, the professor wouldn't say anything. Thus, he got another period to do homework. At first even Roger who sat next to him wanted to do something similar but he chickened out when the professor asked him a question all of a sudden.

Magnus had Arithmancy and Divination at the same time in the afternoon. This was the first of many clashes in the schedule that he had. Roger and Noah didn't know about his schedule yet. They just thought he took the same classes as them. Magnus thought it was better for everyone if his schedule remained a secret. He attended Arithmancy first with his friends. Most of the Ravenclaws usually picked Arithmancy along with either Care of Magical Creatures or Ancient Runes. Still many avoided Ancient Runes as it was hard to get a good grade under Prof. Babbling who had strict requirements. Only those who wanted an easy grade without studying much picked Divination and Muggle Studies. It was no surprise that most Gryffindors picked Divination.

Arithmancy class was decent under Prof. Vector, but nothing that he hadn't already known. Still he got 10 points in the class for answering some of the questions. Prof. Vector rarely gave points but when she did, she was generous. Once the class was done, Magnus split from his friends who were moving towards Care of Magical Creatures class outdoors. He ducked into a corner under a staircase and made sure that no one saw him. He then pulled out his time-turner that he wore around his neck. He didn't have much time to take a closer look at it in the morning. He observed it carefully. [Identify] just showed its name as time-turner and gave a small description about what it did, nothing he already didn't know. It was followed by a bunch of question marks. 'It seems there are more secrets to the time-turner beyond what is told,' Magnus theorized. There was also an inscription along the rim which said,

"I mark the hours, every one,

Nor have I yet outrun the Sun.

My use and value, unto you,

Are gauged by what you have to do."

'Hmm, interesting, but doesn't seem like it has any meaning. Now time to go attend Divination,' Magnus thought. He turned the hourglass by one turn indicating one hour. He immediately felt the difference. It felt like he was falling down, not vertically but horizontally which made no sense. He could see people at a distance retracing their steps back like a movie that was rewound. The world went back to normal within moments and he was still standing in place as if nothing had happened. But he knew something had changed. He quickly used a Disillusionment Charm on himself and went back to look at the Arithmancy classroom. He could see himself there sitting beside Roger and Noah and the class hadn't started yet. It was a surreal experience to see another you from the past.

'This requires further research,' he decided. But he had no time to waste now, he had a class to attend to. He moved to the North Tower quickly where the Divination class was held. He could see the students and Prof. Trelawney already present in the class. With the Disillusionment Charm and the Muffling Charm, he easily made it into the classroom with none the wiser. No one paid attention when he dropped the Disillusionment charm. He was lucky none of the Ravenclaws picked Divination and neither did Fred and George. The Weasley twins picked Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. "Just following in our dad's path," they said. 'They probably did it to appease their dad while also getting easy marks. Would be very useful to get their mom off their back,' Magnus shook his head. He was glad none of them were here or they would be asking questions.

"So, you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all the magical arts. I must warn you right now that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I'll be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far into this field," Prof. Trelawney started.

'True, but I don't think telling them you'll not be able to teach them anything is the best idea. It's not like anyone here has the Inner Eye. Even I don't have the Inner Eye. I'm only able to do it due to my Seer blood. I doubt anyone else here is the same except for the professor,' Magnus mentally shook his head. It's not that those who do not possess the Inner Eye cannot perform divination but their results would be highly imprecise, more so than it already is. Magnus is pretty sure that his success at Divination is also because of his interface apart from his heritage.

The class went on and by the middle of the class, half of the students became drowsy. Prof. Trelawney focused mainly on Tessomancy, which is reading tea leaves, Palmistry- palm reading and Crystal-gazing. Magnus also saw some tarot cards lying on her table at a distance. He never performed any of these types of divination before and wondered why he didn't get any knowledge of them when he levelled up his divination. He followed the professor's instructions and soon understood why. They do not work. He checked through a quick divination with his focus crystal and he was sure of the result. He did get the knowledge of Crystal-gazing called Scrying when his Divination reached Lv5. But that would require a specially prepared crystal which those provided in the class weren't. So, there was no surprise that they didn't work. Tea-dreg reading was a sham altogether.

Yet somehow, the professor was able to read the results of the tea-dregs from the students. Most of her predictions were negative in nature like that one girl from Hufflepuff who would supposedly have an outbreak of the plague (pimples) in the coming days. Magnus checked some of the results using his focus crystal divination and she was correct half the time which was remarkable for an average Diviner. Either she's very lucky, or she has the Inner Eye but didn't know how to control it properly hence the discrepancies. The professor walked from one student to the next and she finally reached Magnus's position. She looked at his tea-dregs and gave a gasp as she said, "Oh my poor boy. There will be many difficulties in your future indeed. It's all looking very foggy. It's hard for me to even look. Take care now."

"I'm sure I'll manage professor," Magnus smiled in return. 'Of course, it's foggy. I did a whole ritual for it. I'll be more surprised if you can divine anything about me,' Magnus smirked on the inside. His ritual was a success after all. While he did check by himself before, it's nice to confirm that from a person possessing a potential Inner Eye. His divination defense should be air tight now unless some god descends and divines about him.