The students below were speculating about Professor Trelawney's situation, while in class, Professor Trelawney was already having difficulty controlling her emotions.
She stood in front of the fireplace, her eyes magnified by her glasses filled with angry tears, her body trembling slightly.
"Professor?" Parvati asked softly, "Professor, is there something—wrong?"
Actually, not everyone in this class was indifferent to Divination like Ron; Parvati and Lavender both really liked Professor Trelawney.
Because when Professor Trelawney first taught Divination, she impressed them—Professor Trelawney accurately predicted the death of Lavender's pet.
Since then, Lavender had been full of admiration for Professor Trelawney, and as for those death predictions? They were just little jokes the professor occasionally made to spice up the class.
"Wrong!" Professor Trelawney exclaimed, her voice trembling with agitation, "Of course not! I have been insulted...innuendos...baseless accusations...but no, I absolutely did not, of course not..."
She took a deep, trembling breath, turned her face away, and furious tears flowed from under her glasses.
"I won't mention it," she choked, "Sixteen years of conscientious work...clearly unnoticed...but I shouldn't be insulted, I shouldn't!"
"But Professor, who is insulting you?" Parvati asked timidly.
"The authorities!" Professor Trelawney said in a theatrically low, trembling voice, "Those whose eyes are blinded by the worldly, who cannot see what I see, nor know what I know...of course, we prophets always frighten people, always persecuted...is it—alas—our fate? Perhaps..."
She choked, wiped her damp cheeks with a corner of her shawl, pulled a small embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve, and blew her nose hard, the sound resembling the sneers from Peeves.
Harry drew a long line in his mind, thinking, back then your great-grandmother—Cassandra Trelawney the Seer wasn't persecuted or looked down upon.
The Ministry of Magic would have loved to put your great-grandmother on a pedestal.
He couldn't help but think, back in the day when the old Seer Trelawney was around, even Mr. Septimus had to be respectful to her, unlike now, where any low-level toad from the Ministry could stand up and point fingers?
Yes, even if sometimes Professor Trelawney seemed unreliable, she was never muddled on major issues—at least her prophecy that a child born at the end of July would be the Black Demon's nemesis was very accurate...
You see? Although I always foil Tom's plans, somewhere in his heart, Tom actually quite likes me...right?
"Alas." Ron sighed, now feeling some sympathy for Professor Trelawney.
Honestly, Professor Trelawney hasn't really done anything, so why is Umbridge targeting her like that?
Could it be that this targeting is all because of the agenda against Dumbledore, targeting the professor he specially recruited?
It's not impossible, but Hagrid...well, Hagrid isn't a professor, Hagrid is just an assistant, plus he has Professor Scamander's protection—even if Fudge came over, he would have to give Professor Scamander some respect, after all, you could suspect anyone of trying to usurp power, but certainly not Professor Scamander.
Why?
Professor Scamander has friends all over the world!
"Professor," Parvati said hesitantly, "Are you referring to...Professor Umbridge?"
"Don't mention that woman to me!" Professor Trelawney shouted, bouncing up and shaking her head like a rattle, her glasses flashing, "Do your homework, please!"
"You should actually seek help." Lavender said softly, glancing at Harry while speaking.
But Professor Trelawney did not respond to Lavender's words, perhaps Lavender's voice was too soft for Professor Trelawney to hear.
For the rest of the class, she wandered around, tears still dropping behind her glasses, muttering to herself occasionally, as if threatening someone.
"Might as well resign, this kind of humiliation...probation...see if she dares...who does he think he's threatening..."
"Mate." Ron whispered, nudging Harry with his elbow.
"What is it?" Harry looked up and asked.
"I think..." Ron raised his head, sniffed, and then said quietly, "I think we should do something, at least we can't let that pink toad continue causing trouble, you see, even a good-natured person like Professor Trelawney has been driven to this state by her...I can't imagine what it would be like when she starts targeting Professor McGonagall..."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked again, "Weren't you the one who disliked Professor Trelawney the most? Oh, slightly less than Professor Snape."
"Look!" Ron said a bit dejectedly, "Even if I dislike Professor Trelawney, as she said, she's been here for sixteen years, and the existence of Divination must have its significance, even if I don't like Divination, don't like Professor Trelawney, I absolutely don't want to see her being humiliated like this, isn't this a betrayal of Hogwarts' founding principles?"
Harry patted Ron's shoulder with some satisfaction, quite content with his good friend's reaction.
"We will help her," he said, "but at least not now—we must let them go mad if we want their downfall..."
"Why!" Ron asked unwillingly, "You clearly have the strength and means to drive Umbridge away—think about it, Miss Swedding is a board member, and Miss Grindelwald is the Minister of the Great German Ministry of Magic, and you, my brother, your strength is enough to crush Umbridge, but why are you not willing to return peace to Hogwarts?"