魔法学校第三年开的课程中有一门是占卜课(divination)。课下，小高材生赫敏曾经对波特和罗恩说过，她觉得占卜是一门缺乏科学依据和理论分析的学问，是不可靠的。转过天来，教授在占卜课上讲授如何在水晶球里预见未来，赫敏终于受到打击了——

P: Together we shall cast ourselves into the future. The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read . But first, you must broaden your minds. First you must look beyond. Use your Inner Eye to see the future. Only then can you see. Try again.

H: Do you mind me trying?

P: My dear. From the first moment you stepped foot in my class I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination . No. You may be young in years, but your heart is as shriveled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave .

重点讲解： 教授在占卜课上满怀激情地说，让我们将自己投向未来。动词 cast是很常用的，最基本的意思就是，投射，抛，掷。接着她用了一个比喻让学生敞开心扉：真相往往事被掩盖的，就像书本中的词句等待阅读理解一样，真相 是有待发掘的(The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read.)。

喜欢在课堂上出风头、抢答问题的赫敏又忍不住问：您介意让我试试吗?(Do you mind me trying?)

占卜课的这位女教授很尖刻地告诉赫敏，她没有领悟占卜这门高贵艺术的天赋(not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination)。也许赫敏的年龄并不大，但她的心枯燥(shriveled)得像个老女人，她的灵魂干瘪得就像她如此钟情的书本的每一页。词组 cleave to，本意是粘住，这里的意思是忠诚于……，钟情于……。副词desperately形容这种钟情的程度，指拼命地，不顾一切地。

下面的情节是赫敏把水晶球扔到地上，摔门而去。一个很爱读书又成绩很好的小姑娘在大庭广众之下受到抢白自然是受不了的。这里我们看到的是作者的态度：小书虫式的学习只能让一个孩子未老先衰，只有清澈的心才能洞悉未来。