Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 442 Hermione's Analysis

Harry used to dislike Professor Trelawney, and he knew that many other students felt the same way.

But after that Divination class, Harry's opinion of Professor Trelawney changed drastically—

No, saying "changed perceptions" is too narrow a term. To be precise, Harry and most Hogwarts students' impressions of Professor Trelawney underwent a complete 180-degree turn—

Although they didn't know what Professor Trelawney's prophecy meant that day, they did know that since hearing it, Umbridge had become obsessed. He stopped auditing classes and became less enthusiastic. After assigning copying assignments to his classmates in each Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Umbridge would run back to his office and lock himself in his room, sometimes not even coming out until the end of get out of class.

Umbridge's series of bizarre actions greatly relieved the young wizards at Hogwarts.

After the prophecy class that day, Harry and Ron ran into Hermione in the Gryffindor common room.

Harry took out his notebook and showed Hermione the prophecies he had recorded in Divination class.

Harry thought Hermione would scoff or dismiss it, but to his surprise, Hermione took Harry's notebook and read the short five-line prophecy carefully several times.

“This word—” Hermione put down Harry’s notebook and pointed, “Are you sure this word is called The Resurrection Stone?”

“I’m sure, what’s wrong?” Harry asked, puzzled.

"Wait a moment." With that, Hermione stood up and jogged back to the girls' dormitory.

Not long after, Hermione came down with a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard in her hand.

“Do you remember this book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard?” Hermione said. “It was a birthday gift from Tyrell to Luna.”

“There’s a story in here, the legend of the three brothers—” Hermione said, turning to page fifty-seven of the Tales of Beedle the Bard and beginning to read—

"Once upon a time, there were three brothers traveling along a secluded, narrow path. As dusk approached, they came to a river. The water was too deep to wade across, and swimming across was too dangerous. However, the three brothers were skilled in magic. With a wave of their wands, a bridge appeared over the treacherous water."

"When they reached the middle of the bridge, a hooded figure blocked their way; it was Death."

“Death spoke to them. Death was angry. He lost three new sacrifices because travelers usually drown in this river.”

"But Death is cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers on their magic, saying that they had escaped death by their cleverness and that each of them would receive a reward."

"The eldest brother was a warlike man. What he wanted was the most powerful magic wand in the world: a magic wand that could always help its master win in duels, a magic wand that a wizard who had conquered Death deserved to have. So Death went to an elder tree on the shore, made a magic wand from a hanging branch, and gave it to the eldest brother."

"The second son was an arrogant man. He decided to continue humiliating Death, wanting the power to resurrect the dead. Death picked up a stone from the shore and gave it to the second son, telling him that this stone was the Resurrection Stone, with the power to bring the dead back to life—"

“Look!” Hermione exclaimed, “The Resurrection Stone!” “And what did Trelawney’s prophecy say—” Hermione pointed to Harry’s notebook and read aloud:

"I know you can't find the way in. I know you want to go in. Don't ask the living. None of the living know the secret. Ask the dead, ask the dead boy. The Resurrection Stone. Turn the Resurrection Stone three times in your palm. Turning it three times will bring the dead back to life. The Resurrection Stone is hidden in Hogwarts. If you ask, you'll never know. But if you do know, your wish will be granted."

“So, Umbridge wants to get into a place,” Hermione explained, tracing each word carefully. “That place must be very secluded… Umbridge doesn’t know how to get in…”

“To be precise…” Hermione paused before continuing, “It should be said that the only person who knew how to get into this place is dead…that’s why Umbridge needs the Resurrection Stone to summon that person’s soul…”

"And the meaning of the prophecy that follows..." Hermione continued, "The prophecy should be pointing out how to use the Resurrection Stone and its hiding place... The Resurrection Stone is inside Hogwarts... The last sentence should be a metaphor for the location where the Resurrection Stone is hidden..."

Hermione anxiously tugged at her hair, then pointed to the middle line of the prophecy, before looking up at Harry:

“Go ask the dead, go ask the dead boy… Could it be that he said…”

“It’s Tyella.” Harry said firmly and excitedly. “It’s Tyella! Only this makes sense! Why did Tyella mention Professor Trelawney in her last prophecy? It must be because she foresaw Professor Trelawney’s prophecy today, which is why she left us The Tales of Beedle the Bard.”

“To be precise, it was left for Luna—” Ron interjected.

“It’s all the same,” Harry said, “because Tyella knows that perhaps giving it to Lunalovegood will allow Hermione to read these fairy tales.”

“But the problem is…” Hermione said, “does the Resurrection Stone really exist? And even if it does, where is it hidden? Hogwarts is so big, it could be anywhere—”

“Yes,” Ron chimed in, “The Resurrection Stone can’t be that big. Are we supposed to search every corner of Hogwarts?”

“One last thing!” Hermione said. “The Resurrection Stone is hidden in Hogwarts. If you ask, you’ll never know; but if you do know, your wish will be granted. This must be a hint.”

“Let’s go to the library after dinner,” Hermione said. “We need to check every single book in the library. This is too much work for me to do by myself; you guys have to come and help.”

“Okay,” Harry and Ron replied.

However, when they arrived at the Hogwarts Library after dinner, they discovered that several rows of bookshelves were empty. After inquiring with Mrs. Pince, they learned that all the books about Hogwarts in the library had been borrowed by Umbridge.

"What? They've all been borrowed? When? How is that possible?" Hermione asked in surprise.

“Just now,” Mrs. Pince said with a hint of resentment, “she came in yelling and shouting that there were forbidden books in the library, and then pulled out a search warrant and took away all the books about the history of Hogwarts.”

(End of this chapter)