Chapter 109: Tarot Card Divination
"Are you... Trelawney of Ravenclaw?" Xiwen asked, looking into those strange, silvery eyes.
Ever since the interrogation by Grindelwald at the Palais Garnier, Xiwen had been quite curious about the power of prophecy. This Trelawney seemed to have inherited the prophetic gift of her grandmother, Cassandra, consistently pinpointing the exact location of Xiwen’s soul.
"Sit," Xiwen said, gesturing to the seat across from his booth.
Trelawney hesitated for a moment, then nodded stiffly and took the seat opposite him.
Looking at the silver-haired young witch before him, Xiwen felt a sudden, mischievous impulse. The ghost of Xiwen then slipped through the ceiling of the ghost hall and ascended into the main tower of the castle.
"So, do you know where I am now, Miss Trelawney?" Xiwen asked softly, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
Trelawney frowned and asked coldly, "Do you possess the ability to deceive the Inner Eye?"
"The Inner Eye?" Xiwen raised an eyebrow. "If by 'Inner Eye' you mean these eyes of yours, I assure you I have done nothing to deceive them."
"The Inner Eye refers to more than just my physical eyes," Trelawney shook her head, her voice cool and detached. "The Inner Eye is the ability to see the truth and peer into the future."
"Then why do you feel I can deceive your so-called 'Inner Eye'?" Xiwen asked curiously.
"Because I cannot see you," Trelawney replied coldly, repeating the same vague statement she had made in the Ravenclaw tower.
"That general statement again?" Xiwen narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Miss Trelawney, why don't you explain it to me in more detail?"
Trelawney looked at Xiwen again with those uncanny eyes, then nodded slowly.
"Since birth, I have possessed the ability to see through the nature of things around me. From childhood to now, I have been able to predict every event happening around me with absolute precision. I must say, it is quite boring," she said quietly.
"As long as others are within a certain range of me, I can accurately know everything that will happen to them in the short term. You, however, are like a void shrouded in mist under the gaze of the Inner Eye—unclear, indecipherable."
"Whenever I try to discern you closely, a thread appears, connecting your body to another location. It tells me, at every moment, that the real you is residing there."
"So, can you tell me how you do it?" Trelawney pressed her thin lips together and asked softly.
"I can only tell you that I don't know myself."
Xiwen shook his head and fell into deep thought.
In truth, Xiwen had already roughly understood the nature of the curiosity both Trelawney and Grindelwald held toward him. However, he had no intention of sharing this secret with others.
The times Trelawney had sensed that Xiwen was not before her, she had been sensing the location of his soul. According to her, Xiwen appeared as a void under the gaze of the Inner Eye, imperceptible to prophetic powers.
Viewed in this light, the Inner Eye was more like an ability to look directly at the soul. Through the souls of others, it judged the trajectory of their future in an indescribable way.
In just half a year, Xiwen had encountered three people with prophetic abilities.
First was Nicolas Flamel, who had used a crystal ball to foresee Grindelwald’s attempt to burn all of Paris, arriving just in time to prevent the catastrophe. The second was Gellert Grindelwald, whose eyes could see fragments of the future; Xiwen had witnessed a scene of a Muggle war he projected at the Palais Garnier.
Finally, there was Manto Trelawney, who could accurately pinpoint the location of Xiwen's soul.
How much, then, could prophecy truly reveal? If the power of prophecy were truly so potent, how could they possibly counter someone like Grindelwald, who could foresee the future?
Thinking of this, Xiwen looked at Trelawney with some distress and asked, "So, can you make a prophecy about me?"
"I told you, I cannot see you clearly," Trelawney frowned, sounding dissatisfied. "Don't even think about prophecies."
Just as Xiwen began to feel disappointed, she suddenly added, "However, divination might work!"
"I, too, am curious whether someone like you, who can deceive the Inner Eye, can be successfully divined." Trelawney stared straight at Xiwen with her strange silver eyes, her tone solemn.
Xiwen felt a chill run down his spine under her gaze, so he quickly nodded, signaling for her to begin.
Trelawney skillfully pulled a deck of cards from her pocket and spread them face-down on the table.
"Draw three cards and place them to your left, in the center, and to your right. They will represent your past, present, and future, respectively," she instructed.
"Tarot cards?" Xiwen looked at the purple-backed cards face-down on the table, suddenly piqued with interest.
Even though the backs of the cards were indistinguishable, he picked through the deck, drawing three that felt right and placing them in the three designated positions.
Seeing the cards set, Trelawney nodded.
First, she flipped the card on Xiwen’s left—
On the card was an angel with golden hair and pure white wings behind it, depicted blowing a trumpet, bringing salvation to the dead who heard the music.
"Your past is—Judgment. Its keyword is Resurrection," Trelawney said softly.
Hearing the word "Resurrection," Xiwen felt a slight tremor in his heart. He wondered if the secret of his rebirth into this world was about to be unearthed.
Under Xiwen’s tense gaze, Trelawney began to interpret the card.
"Judgment suggests that your old perceptions of life have died, and you are accepting an inner calling to lead a more meaningful existence," she said.
"That's quite general!" Xiwen breathed a small sigh of relief and said with a smile.
"Divination itself can only reveal broad, sweeping truths; it cannot be as specific as prophecy," Trelawney shook her head and flipped over the middle card.
The center Tarot card featured a massive, rotating wheel.
"Your present is—The Wheel of Fortune. Its keyword is Reincarnation," Trelawney said.
*How is it linked to reincarnation again?* Xiwen’s heart, which had just settled, tightened once more.
"The Wheel of Fortune turns without ceasing, constantly creating new opportunities and variables. You may encounter many changes in the coming year," Trelawney interpreted.
Xiwen let out another breath and nodded slowly, thinking to himself: *Well, considering Grindelwald is planning something big, it’s only natural there would be variables.*
Trelawney seemed impatient, and without waiting for Xiwen to react, she directly flipped over the Tarot card on his right—
The card depicted a dark knight of death riding a white horse, holding a flag representing the plague.
"Your future is—Death!"
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