Professor Sybill Trelawney was exactly as Maurise had envisioned her.
"Welcome, my children. I am Sybill Trelawney, your Divination professor. Welcome to the realm beyond the mundane, where we shall pierce the veil of the future and peer into the very threads of destiny..."
After a long-winded, theatrical opening monologue that yielded no practical academic value, Professor Trelawney finally announced the core curriculum for their very first lesson: scrying with crystal balls.
She reached up and carefully retrieved a massive crystal ball, roughly the size of a human head, from a velvet-lined shelf behind her desk.
"This magnificent artifact was personally wielded by my esteemed ancestor, the great Seer Cassandra Trelawney herself. It has borne witness to the shifting tides of countless destinies."
Trelawney's breathy voice was laced with a fanatical reverence.
"Now, you must form a single file line. You shall each take a turn gazing into the crystal's depths."
"Divination is an esoteric discipline, a sacred art that can only truly be mastered by those blessed with the innate Gift. But fear not, my dear children! Even if the vast majority of you are incapable of perceiving the truth hidden within the crystal today, immersing yourselves in this ethereal atmosphere will undoubtedly aid your spiritual growth."
"Perhaps, on some glorious day in the distant future, your Inner Eye may finally open, and you shall See as I do."
She fluttered her hands, ushering the students to form a queue.
By sheer coincidence, Maurise and Kyle found themselves at the very front of the line.
Kyle stepped up first. He stared intensely at the massive crystal ball for a long, agonizing minute. The expression on his face morphed from eager anticipation to deep confusion, and finally settled into a mask of pure awkwardness.
"Er," Kyle scratched the back of his neck, squinting hard. "I think it might be... empty?"
Professor Trelawney glided soundlessly to his side, her massive, bug-like eyes peering at him from behind her thick spectacles. "Look deeper, my dear boy," she urged in a mystical, hushed whisper. "Do not merely use your physical eyes. You must feel the cosmic vibrations with your soul. What does the swirling mist within the glass resemble to you?"
Kyle leaned in even closer, his eyes bulging as he strained to see something, anything. Suddenly, a look of profound realization washed over his face.
"It looks exactly like a toilet seat!" he declared with unwavering confidence.
Professor Trelawney choked, struck speechless for three solid seconds.
"Very well, Mr. Kyle. A toilet seat," she finally managed, rubbing her temples as if fighting off a sudden migraine. "I am certain your Inner Eye remains tightly shut for the time being. But do not despair! As our spiritual journey progresses, the mists may yet part for you. Next, please."
Looking innocent, Kyle stepped aside. As he passed Maurise, he leaned in and muttered defensively, "I swear on Merlin's beard, it genuinely looked like a toilet."
Maurise ignored him and stepped up to the wooden pedestal.
He stood calmly before the massive crystal ball, lowering his gaze into the cloudy, swirling depths of the ancient artifact.
Ten seconds ticked by.
Nothing happened. The mist remained nothing more than mist.
Just as Maurise was about to logically conclude that he possessed zero innate talent for Divination, the swirling clouds inside the crystal suddenly parted, revealing a sharp, high-definition image.
It was... a person?
More accurately, it was a tall, emaciated old man.
The man in the vision was draped in tattered, filthy black robes. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his pale face was so gaunt he appeared to be little more than skin and bones. Yet, despite his wretched, starved physical condition, his eyes were sharp, piercing, and burned with an unyielding intensity.
Staring at the figure, Maurise had only one singular, pragmatic thought:
'Who on earth are you?'
He had no idea who this man was. He didn't recognize a single facial feature.
Maurise slowly turned his head away from the crystal.
Professor Trelawney was watching him with a look of eager, desperate anticipation, oblivious to the haunting image that had just manifested within the glass.
"Is something the matter, my dear?" she asked gently, her bangles clinking. "Do not be afraid. Speak boldly of what the cosmos has revealed to you! Even if the glass remains clouded, no one here shall pass judgment upon you."
"I saw an old man," Maurise stated candidly.
Trelawney froze, her mouth dropping open slightly.
"You... you actually Saw something? Are you certain?!"
She became so excited that she took a frantic half-step forward, nearly colliding with Maurise's shoulder.
"I am certain," Maurise nodded calmly. "Furthermore, the image was vivid and crystal clear."
It was practically broadcasting in high-definition blue-ray quality.
Trelawney's magnified eyes practically glowed with ecstasy. She clasped her heavily ringed hands tightly against her chest, her entire body trembling with spiritual excitement.
"Could you possibly describe him to me?" she asked breathlessly.
'Describe him?'
That seemed inefficient and prone to misinterpretation.
"I believe it would be simpler if I just drew a portrait of him," Maurise offered casually, glancing around the cluttered room.
Without waiting for permission, he flicked his wand. A stack of blank parchment and several pots of ink instantly flew off a nearby shelf, landing neatly on the small table in front of him.
Maurise smoothly transfigured his wand into a fine-tipped quill and immediately began sketching rapid, precise lines across the parchment.
The Divination classroom plunged into pin-drop silence.
Every single student craned their necks, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of what he was drawing.
"You actually know how to draw?" Kyle asked, genuinely surprised.
"I possess a moderate level of proficiency," Maurise smiled faintly.
It was yet another refined skill he had carried over from his previous life. After spending the past two years meticulously rehabilitating his muscle memory, his artistic ability was more than presentable. Combined with a subtle application of magic to guide the ink, producing an accurate, photorealistic portrait was hardly a challenge.
In less than two minutes, the haunting, lifelike visage of the emaciated old man leaped off the parchment.
"He looks creepy," Kyle rubbed his arms, a sudden chill running down his spine. "Are you certain you saw him in the crystal ball, and this isn't just a leftover nightmare?"
Maurise picked up the parchment and handed it directly to Professor Trelawney.
"This is exactly what the entity looked like."
Trelawney eagerly snatched the parchment from his hands, lowering her head to inspect the drawing.
Almost immediately, her brow furrowed into a deep, confused knot.
She stared intensely at the portrait for a very long time—so long, in fact, that the classroom began to fill with nervous, questioning whispers. She held the parchment close to her nose, then held it at arm's length. She tilted her head to the left, squinted her eyes, and then tilted her head to the right, examining the face from every conceivable angle.
Finally, after an agonizingly long silence, she looked up at Maurise and said, "I have no idea who this is."
'Then why on earth did you stare at it for so long?'
Maurise was left speechless by the absurdity of the situation.
Trelawney cleared her throat awkwardly, instantly reverting to her breathy, mystical persona. "Regardless of the subject's identity, there is no doubt, my dear boy! You possess a unique, powerful Gift. You are a true Seer, much like myself!"
"Right. Of course."
Maurise offered a noncommittal response, smoothly rolling the portrait up and sliding it into his robes.
He fully intended to consult a more reliable source of information regarding the man's identity when he had the free time.
Judging strictly by the man's advanced age... surely this couldn't be a vision of his biological grandfather, could it?
Professor Trelawney turned back to the rest of the class, her enthusiasm revitalized. "Excellent work, my children! We have already had one gifted student successfully pierce the veil today! Now, the cosmos awaits the rest of you! Next, please!"
For the next fifteen minutes, the remaining students eagerly took their turns stepping up to the pedestal.
Spurred on by Maurise's stunning success, the class's morale and enthusiasm were at an all-time high.
Unfortunately, reality was a cruel mistress. Aside from Maurise, not a single student managed to see anything beyond their own distorted reflections and the foggy glass.
During the final ten minutes of the lecture, Trelawney walked around the room, handing out miniature, palm-sized crystal balls to each student.
"These are intended strictly for practice," she announced, weaving between the low tables. "While they lack the historical resonance of my ancestor's artifact, they are more than adequate for beginners. I strongly urge you to practice gazing into them during your free time to cultivate a spiritual resonance with the crystal."
She paused dramatically, raising a finger. "Remember, patience is the key to the Inner Eye! Do not grow frustrated. The Gift often requires deep, quiet meditation before it fully blossoms. You may see nothing today, nor tomorrow. But perhaps, on a quiet evening next month, the mists will suddenly part, and the future will be laid bare before you!"
The students curiously examined their new practice crystals, turning them over in their hands.
Maurise did the same. He stared intently into the core of the miniature glass sphere, but it remained inert and empty.
'It appears that only Trelawney's ancestral crystal possesses any unique magical properties,' he deduced.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, Professor Trelawney called out, asking Maurise to remain behind for a moment.
The students filed out of the classroom, many of them casting curious, lingering glances at Maurise as they descended the silver stepladder.
Soon, the incense-filled classroom was empty, save for the two of them.
Professor Trelawney stood behind her pedestal, her hands resting lightly on the massive crystal ball.
"Come closer, my dear," she beckoned softly.
Maurise obliged, stepping back up to the wooden stand.
"I would like you to gaze into the crystal one more time," Trelawney requested, her voice dropping to a serious whisper. "When the image of the old man manifested for you earlier, I saw nothing. The mists did not part for me. This indicates that the vision was uniquely tailored by fate for your eyes alone. I wish to see if the cosmos will grant you the vision a second time."
Maurise lowered his gaze, staring deep into the massive crystal.
Half a minute ticked by in silence.
"Nothing," Maurise shook his head, stepping back. "It is empty."
Trelawney stared intently at the crystal ball for a long moment before letting out a heavy, dramatic sigh.
"Perhaps the threads of fate only align for a single, fleeting moment," she murmured, sounding mystical. "True prophecy is often exactly like that, my boy. The most crucial visions are ephemeral, vanishing as quickly as they arrive."
Maurise honestly couldn't care less.
He had already drawn a photorealistic portrait of the man anyway.