Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 645 Bestselling Divination Items

Chapter 645 Bestselling Divination Items

The weather in October is not as warm as it was a few days ago. The wind is strong outside, and even if you wrap your face with a scarf, the exposed parts will quickly feel painful from the wind.

But this did not dampen everyone's excitement; students could be seen everywhere on the road, bending over and pushing against the wind.

Siren was missing the cozy common room, but also wanted to go to Three Brooms for a hot butterbeer.

The group quickened their pace, and when they finally arrived at Hogsmeade Village, they found that Zoko's joke shop was boarded up, and several students were standing there disappointed.

"Fred and George love Zonko's stuff the most," Ron said. "If they were still in school, they probably would never come to Hogsmeade again."

"But they've already graduated," Celen said thoughtfully. "Maybe that's exactly what they wanted to see; they've always wanted to open a branch in Hogsmeade."

The closure of Joko's joke shop disappointed many, but thankfully Honey Duke candy shop remained open. People flocked inside, selecting their favorite candies.

The outside world is in a state of panic because of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Everyone is shrouded in fear and shadow, and the craving for candy is stronger than ever before. As a result, there are more people in Honeydukes Candy Store than usual.

Ron, pulling Harry and Hermione along, staggered toward the crowded little shop.

Siren didn't go with them; Honeydukes was too crowded, and he'd just caught a glimpse of Slughorn's bald head.

Slughorn had been trying to invite him to the dinner party, but Yulun had already refused three times. He was afraid he would have a hard time finding a convincing reason next time.

So recently, he has been avoiding Slughorn, and he always runs out of the classroom as soon as get out of class ends.

After parting ways with Harry and the others, Siren went to the post office and mailed a letter home.

The letter was supposed to be mailed that morning, but Xilun couldn't find the messenger—aside from a few other students' pet owls, none of the other messengers had returned from the huge owlhouse.

He had no choice but to bring the letter here; fortunately, the delivery fee wasn't expensive.

After leaving the post office, Siron went to Devis-Bans again.

Many shops along the street were closed, and the Fengya brand wizard clothing store, like Zoko, had its door boarded up.

The entire village of Hogsmeade looked as if it were under siege, which made Siron lose interest in continuing to explore. He planned to buy his things, have a drink at the Three Broomsticks, and then go back to school.

Thank goodness, Devis-Bans was still open, and the owner was still lazily leaning against the counter.

"What would you like to order?"

"A crystal ball," Siron said. He had bought a crystal ball here last year, and during a divination class, he saw in the crystal ball a scene of himself being attacked by Voldemort.

That was the first time Xilun had seen a prophecy related to himself; most of the time, he could only see prophecies about others.

However, after that, the crystal ball seemed to break, and no similar prophecies ever appeared again.

Of course, the crystal ball wasn't broken; it was still perfectly fine. During breaks in get out of class, Sheryl could see through it the scene of Harry being hit in the face by the ball during a practice match.

"Maybe it's a one-time thing," Xiren thought to herself, deciding to buy a new crystal ball.

Although this thing isn't cheap, it would be well worth it if I could see a similar prophecy again.

Even if you can't see them, it doesn't matter. What fortune teller doesn't have a dozen crystal balls at home?

However, after looking around the shelves, Xilun couldn't find the style he had bought last time, and the number of crystal balls had also decreased significantly. What used to fill an entire shelf now only had three left.

"Crystal balls are selling very well lately, as are fortune-telling cards, quills, and the like," the shop owner said, standing up. "The situation is unusual right now, and people are hoping to get some advance notice, so fortune-telling items are always in short supply."

"I remember you once bought a crystal ball." He looked Xilun up and down.

"Yes." Xiren nodded.

"You're a fortune teller? I mean, the kind with a real talent for prophecy?"

"Probably," Siren said vaguely, "but I've always gotten very good grades in divination."

"In Sybil Trelawney's class, many people can get high scores if they have the right skills," the shopkeeper muttered to himself, seemingly quite knowledgeable about Hogwarts.

"Are there any other crystal balls?" Siren asked.

"That's all." The shop owner shook his head. "This is new stock that just arrived this morning. If you need it, I can sell it to you at the normal price."

Xilun looked at the crystal balls again. Compared to normal crystal balls, they were larger, about the size of wandering balls, and the smoke inside them was grayish-white.

"How much?" Xilun asked.

"Eighty-five Galleons," the shopkeeper said. "This is a valuable item I risked my life to bring back from Uganda. The local shaman tribes firmly believe it can foretell danger. It may be a bit pricey, but it's definitely worth it."

Even so, the price of eighty-five Galleons still made Siren smirk – that was Mr. Weasley's monthly salary, and even that was after his promotion.

"What is that abnormal price?" Xilun asked after a moment of silence.

"One hundred gallons, maybe more," the shop owner said frankly. "You know, these things sell well now. Many people are willing to spend a lot of money to give themselves a little more security."

"What can they see inside?"

"A panicked face?" The shopkeeper shrugged. "People without the gift of prophecy rarely see anything useful in a crystal ball. I've told everyone who comes to buy one, but they're more inclined to believe they're the lucky one who's different from the rest."

When the shop owner said this, there was no mockery in his tone; he was simply stating a fact.

Occupying the property is a last resort for many wizards. Keeping a crystal ball at home might come in handy someday—for example, seeing hordes of Death Eaters appear at their doorstep through the crystal ball would allow them to flee before the attackers even arrive.

Although they knew that it was almost impossible for someone without the gift of prophecy to see anything from the crystal ball, having hope was always a good thing.

"Do you want more?" the shopkeeper asked again. "I can give you another deck of divination cards for free."

"Two decks of cards," Siron said, "and a quill of fate."

"Oh, this is a greedy little fellow, but no problem."