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If Zicomo hadn't told Hermione, the little witch might have thrown a tantrum at him.

Inside the "Zen Garden," in Zicomo's alchemy workshop, Hermione was looking at Zicomo with expectant eyes.

She was very curious about what kind of animal it was that her cousin had kept it a secret from her and that made her need to go to such a place to transform.

In a flash, Zicomo transformed into a cat the size of a small tiger. The cat's black and white fur was fine and glossy, and its golden eyes exuded nobility, making it seem like a prince among cats.

"Wow! So cute!"

Hermione was so excited that she picked up Zicomo and hugged him tightly, giving him a big hug.

Zicomo looked exactly like Hermione's dream cat at that moment.

With two cats, Lorris and Crookshanks, to practice with, Hermione's cat-petting skills had become quite proficient, and she subconsciously applied the same techniques to Zicomo.

Zicomo's face was full of helplessness, but also a hint of enjoyment.

There's no way around it; after becoming an Animagus, one inevitably picks up some of that animal's habits. If it weren't for his strong will, he might already be purring like a cat.

Hermione's arms were indeed comfortable. He hadn't expected that the little witch, who usually kept a low profile, had already secretly begun to develop.

After taking a deep breath at Zicomo, Hermione gradually regained her senses.

She realized what she had just done, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

However, when Hermione thought about how Zicomo had treated her the same way when she turned into a cat, she felt at ease continuing what she was doing.

As she scratched the cat's chin, she laughed and said, "No wonder you wouldn't tell me you'd learned about Animagus."

Zicomo didn't intend to revert to his original form, and silently lay in Hermione's arms, pretending to be dead and not saying a word.

In such an awkward situation, what can you expect him to say?

As for turning back into his original form, that's even more impossible. Hermione is still holding him in her arms right now. If he suddenly turned back into his original form, that position would probably turn him from embarrassed to utterly mortified.

Hermione noticed that Zicomo remained silent and knew he was embarrassed.

So the little witch changed the subject...

Chapter 133 A Prophecy Requires Talent, New Semester Courses

Hermione changed the subject, saying, "Now that you've successfully transformed, does that mean the 'Zen Garden' can really help with Animagus training?"

“Of course, the ‘Zen Garden’ can save you a lot of time, but the time you waste will not be made up for.” Zicomo transmitted his thoughts through mental power, as he was unable to speak in this state.

"That's awesome, I can't wait to get started."

"Don't get too excited. You'll have to keep mandrake in your mouth for a month, and you'll be in for it then," Zicomo poured cold water on Hermione's hopes.

"Hmph, this is nothing to me," Hermione said with a touch of arrogance.

Her cousin loves to put her down; he's so mean!

I have to give it a good rub!

Hermione stroked the cat in her arms again.

Zicomo quickly stopped him, saying, "That's enough, put me down now."

"No way! I haven't hugged him enough yet!"

Seeing that Hermione was unwilling to let go, Zicomo struggled to escape from Hermione's embrace and returned to his original form.

"That's enough, we should go to class."

Hermione and Zicomo reluctantly left the Zen Garden.

During their third year, Hogwarts students can choose three electives from five courses: Ancient Runes, Divination, Protection of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies.

Hermione initially wanted to take all the courses, which wouldn't have been difficult with the time-tamper Professor McGonagall had given her.

Even when she's tired of studying, she can go to Zicomo's "Zen Garden" to quickly recharge.

But Zicomo stopped her, suggesting that Hermione try out each class first to see if it would be helpful before making a final decision.

Today's lesson is Trelawney's divination lesson, 667. Her full name is Sybil.

Interestingly, in Greek mythology, the name Sybil refers to a priestess favored by the sun god, who was granted the ability to prophesy by Apollo.

Trelawney is the great-great-granddaughter of the real prophet Cassandra.

Of course, it's Cassandra? (The rest of the text appears to be nonsensical and unrelated to the initial statement.)

Wizards are very particular about bloodline inheritance. Look at Voldemort and Slytherin, how many generations apart were there? Didn't they still inherit Parsley's talent?

So Trelawney is truly skilled; it's a talent passed down through her bloodline.

However, with the inheritance of talent from generation to generation, it had become quite shallow by the time it reached Trelawney.

She can only make truly effective prophecies occasionally when she enters a state of unconsciousness. Once she regains consciousness, she completely forgets what she said.

When Voldemort was at the height of his power, it was she who foresaw Harry's identity as the savior.

Zicomo shared with Hermione what he knew about Trelawney. This gesture earned him even more admiring glances from the young witch.

Finally, he added, "This is the course I least recommend you take."

"Is it because prophecy requires talent?" Hermione asked.

"That is indeed one reason. Unlike arithmetic divination, which has a set of rules and rigorous mathematical logic, divination classes only let you look at crystal balls, tea leaves, or palm lines, and deduce the inner meaning of things from these vague images. For those without talent, it is completely like looking at flowers through a fog."

“Another reason is that Professor McGonagall is said to not like Trelawney very much,” Zicomo whispered to Hermione.

Upon hearing this, Hermione seemed to smell gossip in the air. She stared intently at Zicomo, eager to hear what would happen next.

But this was Trelawney's class after all, and Zicomo couldn't speak ill of her to her face.

So he turned to his mental powers and continued, "Trillauni is very good at using some of the tricks of prophets. She will observe your personality and behavior and then make corresponding prophecies."

Your behavioral habits will, in turn, fuel this so-called prophecy, pushing it closer to reality. On average, Trelawney's sudden prophecies sometimes do hit the nail on the head, but they're just her being deliberately mysterious.

Professor McGonagall saw through Trelawney's pretense, which is why she doesn't like her much. If you choose this course, be careful, Professor McGonagall might secretly trip you up.

If Hermione had been born in the East, she would be very familiar with this kind of tactic. Isn't this just like those fortune tellers under overpasses?

Try to make the prophecy as vague as possible, and leave the rest to your imagination. No matter what happens, you will subconsciously refer to the prophecy for comparison, and there will always be one that matches.

In the next lesson, Hermione witnessed how Trelawney used these tricks.

She noticed Neville's tendency to get nervous and told him in a cryptic tone that he would break the glass. Neville was startled by her tone and, in his nervousness, he actually broke the glass.

She startled all the students in the front row, including Harry and Ron.

Hermione was incredibly grateful that Zicomo had pulled her to sit at the back; she didn't want to hear any bad news from Trelawney.

Since then, Hermione has dropped out of Divination. She also dropped out of Muggle Studies, since she was a wizard from a Muggle family, so why would she need to study Muggles?

To be honest, she even regretted attending one of the classes the professor had spent a significant amount of time explaining Muggle common sense. It was a complete waste of time for Hermione.

…………

The following days were very peaceful.

It's worth mentioning that Rita didn't fabricate anything in her interview with Hermione after she went back, but whether it was to curry favor with Zicomo or something else, the interview column about Hermione was full of her praise for Hermione.

This led those who knew Rita to exclaim that she must have been paid.

In the Fantastic Beasts Protection Class, Hagrid once again called upon his hippogriff friend Buckbeak.

These magical animals are the offspring of a male griffin and a female horse. Although they can be tamed, it requires a well-trained wizard.

Since becoming friends with Zicomo, Malfoy has become much more restrained, but he still can't help but show his arrogant side in front of Harry.

In short, he wanted to prove that he was better than Harry, and that Draco's life was no less than Harry's.

When he saw Harry bowing to the hippogriff before he could ride it, Malfoy was dismissive. He wasn't about to bow down to a mere beast.

Draco walked straight up to the hippogriff and stared at it. Before long, to Hagrid's surprise, it bowed down in submission.

Malfoy gave Harry a defiant look, then, too lazy to mount Buckbeak, turned and rejoined the Slytherin group, basking in the praise of his classmates.

Hagrid was completely baffled as to why Buckbeak, whom he had gone to great lengths to tame, would choose to submit to a young wizard he had just met.

What he didn't know was that all of this stemmed from Draco's dragon, Hydra.

Having spent so much time with the Hydra, Draco has also acquired a trace of dragon's might.

While Hydra's dragon might isn't as strong as Zicomo's Ifrit, it's still enough to intimidate some less dangerous magical creatures.

Draco knew this, which is why he dared to treat Buckbeak this way.

Harry was somewhat resentful, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, it was Hagrid's first lesson, and he didn't want to embarrass Hagrid, so he could only silently glare at Draco.

The most interesting one was Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, where he brought out a Boggart in class.

This magical creature can see into a person's heart and transform into what they fear most.

The Boggart's terrifying purpose seems to be to feed on people's inner fears, and because it can transform and possess some of the characteristics of shapeshifting creatures, it has been defined by wizards as a dark magic creature.

Fortunately, dealing with it is incredibly simple; all it takes is a simple "funny funny" spell, or even just a good laugh, to destroy it. It's a relatively safe dark magic creature, which is why Lupin was able to get one for his lessons.

Neville was the first to confront Bogut, and Lupin first gave a brief introduction.

Through questioning, it was learned that Neville's greatest fear was Snape, so he asked Neville to try to imagine what Snape would look like wearing his grandmother's clothes.

The cabinet that had been holding Boggart opened, and a lifelike Snape stepped out.