魔法學(xué)校第三年開的課程中有一門是占卜課(divination)。課下，小高材生赫敏曾經(jīng)對(duì)波特和羅恩說過，她覺得占卜是一門缺乏科學(xué)依據(jù)和理論分析的學(xué)問，是不可靠的。轉(zhuǎn)過天來，教授在占卜課上講授如何在水晶球里預(yù)見未來，赫敏終于受到打擊了——

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 .

重點(diǎn)講解： 教授在占卜課上滿懷激情地說，讓我們將自己投向未來。動(dòng)詞 cast是很常用的，最基本的意思就是，投射，拋，擲。接著她用了一個(gè)比喻讓學(xué)生敞開心扉：真相往往事被掩蓋的，就像書本中的詞句等待閱讀理解一樣，真相 是有待發(fā)掘的(The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read.)。

喜歡在課堂上出風(fēng)頭、搶答問題的赫敏又忍不住問：您介意讓我試試嗎?(Do you mind me trying?)

占卜課的這位女教授很尖刻地告訴赫敏，她沒有領(lǐng)悟占卜這門高貴藝術(shù)的天賦(not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination)。也許赫敏的年齡并不大，但她的心枯燥(shriveled)得像個(gè)老女人，她的靈魂干癟得就像她如此鐘情的書本的每一頁。詞組 cleave to，本意是粘住，這里的意思是忠誠于……，鐘情于……。副詞desperately形容這種鐘情的程度，指拼命地，不顧一切地。

下面的情節(jié)是赫敏把水晶球扔到地上，摔門而去。一個(gè)很愛讀書又成績很好的小姑娘在大庭廣眾之下受到搶白自然是受不了的。這里我們看到的是作者的態(tài)度：小書蟲式的學(xué)習(xí)只能讓一個(gè)孩子未老先衰，只有清澈的心才能洞悉未來。