Chapter 12: The Divining
The next few days were spent trying to adjust to their new class schedules. As usual, Hermione had signed up for more than she could handle and was almost in tears trying to decide what not to keep.
Divination of course, had not even been a consideration in the first place, Arithmancy was a must, and the new medical training course she had been offered by Madame Pomfrey was her most exciting. The choice had to be between Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes.
"Too bad we can't drop 'History of Magic,' " sighed Ron as the three walked down the hallway to their next classes, "Binns bores me rigid the way he drones on…Can a bloke die from lack of stimulation?"
Hermione swatted him on the arm. "Shut up Ron. Without our history where would we be? Professor Binns may be a little boring but 'History of Magic' is a very important class."
" A little boring 'Mione?" quoted Harry incredulously, "The man doesn't know the meaning of the word 'inflection'."
Hermione shot him a stern look. "Yes well, anyway…I'm thinking of asking Professor McGonnagol if I can use the time turner again."
" 'Mione are you crazy!?" said Ron suddenly, faltering in his steps.
Harry spoke up. "Love, don't you remember how nutty you were in third year having to use that thing? Are you sure you want that again?"
"Of course not Potter but what else can I do!? All of my classes are important!"
Ron winced as he and Harry stopped in front of Hermione's Arithmancy class to drop her off. She had taken to calling Harry 'Potter' when she was annoyed at him, and Ron, being the person he was, rather enjoyed it.
"Uh oh, last names…You're in for it," he smiled at Harry, who gave him a return scowl.
"You too Weasley!" Hermione poked him in the arm and Ron's face fell. "I am not crazy!"
Harry grinned disarmingly and pinched her cheek affectionately. "Of course not, love. Go on now…We'll see you next class."
Hermione narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as if trying to decide whether or not to stay annoyed, but the puppy dog looks she was receiving from both made it hard to do so.
She gave Harry a quick peck and Ron a pinch on the cheek, sighed, and walked into class.
"That's my swotty girl," Harry called after her.
Hermione whirled around. "What!?"
"I love you," Harry grinned.
He and Ron snickered at each other and headed towards Trelawny's Divination class.
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As always, the classroom was muggy and warm, and filled with a type of incense that was so heavily perfumed it made Harry want to gag. The fire in the hearth glowed an unusual light pink, and threw the whole darkened room into an eerie pastel color. The round tables held four chairs each, with a single candle in the middle lit with the same pastel fire. Any lamps in the room had been covered with light red veils to add to the overall mystical feel.
Harry and Ron chose a table by the window and cracked it open to let in some fresh air. Suffocation had never helped anyone's grades…
Trelawny, in her trademark worn shawl, dress of scarves, thick-lensed glasses and over abundance of bangles stood in front of the class. Her eyes were closed tightly and her hands were clasped before her in an almost prayer-like stance.
The class stared at her in silence for a while until finally, with an over-emphasized shudder, her eyelids fluttered, and her eyes rolled back down to gaze at them.
"Ah! I sensed that you were all finally here. The fates have never led me wrong…"
"She needed second sight for that?" whispered Ron.
Harry snickered, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Divination was among his least favorite classes.
Trelawny sighed in ecstasy. Here was another year filled with students; eager ones hopeful to be in possession of the "inner eye". Her eyes fell on Lavender Brown, who was currently gazing at the Weasley boy, and her seatmate, Parvarti Patil, who seemed to be staring longingly at Potter. Now here were two qualified candidates…staring at a table filled with two who were not so much. Hmmm…
Harry sighed as Trelawny began the class, and continued to sigh as she droned on about the "inner eye" and those fortunate enough to possess it. He never had, and never would believe in any of this. Up until now, all Divination had done for Harry was subject him to a series of embarrassing moments involving Trelawny favoring him with looks of pity and tremulous sighs, while moaning to the whole class about how short his life was going to be, and how full of misery. Never once had any of her predictions come true, save for the one time she had seemed to fall into a true trance and told of the forecoming of certain events involving Voldemort. But even those had been vague. No, he would put no stakes in any of this as long as he had sense enough to know falseness when it stared him in the "eye".
The professor had finally done with her beginning of the school term speech, and decided to wow the class with her new toys. She stood importantly before them, with hands clasped tightly before her and her eyes even bigger than usual. To Harry, she had never resembled an owl so much in her entire teaching life.
"Students, today we will be learning a new art; one that has been aiding witches and wizards in divination for thousands of years." She gestured to the bundle of something on her desk concealed by a large purple cloth covered in a pattern of moons and paused importantly to let the full meaning of what she had just said hit the class. Lavender and Parvarti squirmed in their seats with excitement
"Ah, I see my two gifted students have had a premonition of things to come! Be calmed young ones, and soon all will be revealed."
Ron, with his mouth open in disbelief, rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. "What a load of bunk! Gifted!? She can't be serious…" He said it a little too loudly, and Parvarti, Lavender and Trelawny all gave him murderous looks before the professor continued.
"As I was saying…Libanomancy is the art of divination through incense…"
"More incense," groaned Harry quietly, "I think I'm gonna live in nausea…"
"…We read the signs in the flares, pops and crackling sounds as the incense burns, and also in the shapes formed from the rising smoke." At this, she flipped off the purple cloth dramatically, leaving the students to stare in wonder at an assortment of jars filled with different herb-like substances. She continued.
"We have coriander, jasmine, hemp, fennel, salt peter, and so forth. These types of incense help when asking questions of the oracle sensor. We will burn our incense, and ask our questions aloud, listening for the answer from the ensuing popping of the seeds or the smoke from the powder. For example, a singular pop indicates a 'yes' answer, and a double pop indicates a 'no'. We will also watch the direction in which the smoke wafts. When drifting towards you it is a positive omen, and away it is a sign of evil to come…"
Harry listened to her speech with an impending sense of doom and let his head fall back onto the window. Professor, I've had a premonition that somehow the fates are going to assault me with backward moving smoke and a series of death symbols that I'm sure you'll pick up on…Merlin help me please…
Trelawny, oblivious to most of the students groanings as usual, began to disperse small vials filled with the herbs and small metal bucket-like devices perched on tall stands, stopping to give Harry a particularly sad, forced smile when handing him his. Harry chewed hard on his bottom lip to keep from saying anything to her and took the vials wordlessly, shooting Ron a murderous look when he began to snicker.
The professor moved back to the front of the class and spoke to the students once more. "Now, we will each take turns choosing one from our tables to be the seer. We will start with the hemp seed. You will place a small pinch in your burner, slide it to rest over a candle, and read accordingly. Ms. Brown and Ms. Patil, you will start. Pay attention please…"
The two girls had both decided that Parvarti should lead, and she moved in her seat with barely controlled excitement.
Trelawny smiled favoringly at the girl. "Now, what question would you like to ask?"
Parvarti answered in a breathy, awed voice. "Well, I…I'd like to know if I'll ever be married."
Most of the boys and even some of the girls groaned as if they had known her question was going to be that trivial, but both Parvarti and Trelawny shot them harsh looks that silenced them. The professor smiled at her.
"Go ahead dear."
When Parvarti had readied the seed, she and the rest of the class watched and listened raptly as the seeds began to crackle.
"I heard it!" shouted Parvarti in glee, "I heard one loud crack first! That's a yes, isn't it!?" Lavender clapped her hands and squealed with delight.
Trelawny nodded and smiled. "It seems you have your answer."
This elicited more squeals of delight from the girls, and even some others that had joined them, and more groans from some of their other classmates. Harry's harsh sigh was among one of the loudest. This had to be hands down one of the biggest wastes of time he had yet encountered in Divination.
"This ranks right up there with the magic eight ball…"
Ron frowned. "Magic eight ball…what's that mate?"
"A Muggle thing," Harry replied flatly, "Never mind."
The rest of the class passed just as worthlessly for them until it was finally their turn. Harry and Ron had been bickering steadily over who was going to have to bear the idiocy, and Ron had finally won. Harry gave a final great sigh and steadied himself. There was no use in whinging about it now…
Trelawny approached their table with a wizened look on her face. "Who has been chosen?"
Ron smiled and pointed at Harry. "He has."
The professor nodded briefly. "Very well Mr. Potter. Have you a question in mind?"
Sure. Why the bloody hell do I have to be subjected to this load of crap every day… "Um…yeah. Will Gryffindor win the house cup this year?"
The rest of the students seemed to think it was a right enough question to ask and paid attention as Harry pinched up the hemp and slid the small burner over the candle. Immediately the seeds all began to pop at once, and Harry looked slightly puzzled. How in Merlin's name was he supposed to decipher that?
He stifled the urge to sneer and looked up at Trelawny. "I'm not quite sure how to read that…"
"It means the outcome is unclear," said Trelawny in a long suffering voice, "Mr. Potter, didn't you read the assignment on translating Divination techniques that I gave over the summer? If you had you would have known the answer…"
Harry could have told her that his Uncle Vernon would have ruptured an artery had he caught his nephew studying anything even remotely "not normal" in his house, but decided that it wasn't worth it. "Sorry professor, I guess I didn't get around to it."
Trelawny frowned hugely. "Mr. Potter," Uh oh here it comes…thought Harry, "I know you and Mr. Weasley don't put too much stock in my class but the least you can do is finish the assignments I give you…"
But Trelawny never finished her scolding because she had chosen then to place a hand on Harry's shoulder. It was at that moment, upon reflection, that Harry would later swear his life literally changed.
The professor suddenly went rigid, her face frozen into a look somewhere between shock and blankness. Students began to cry out, but all were too frozen with fear to move. The grip on Harry's shoulder was painful and tight, causing him to look up at her in alarm. Her normally pale blue eyes were glazed over with a thick white film, leaving the irises almost completely invisible.
The air in the room suddenly felt alive and crackled with electricity, and a wind began blowing that had nothing to do with the weather outside. Although each student could feel it, curiously, not a thing in the room moved. All papers lay still on their desks, robes and hair stayed perfectly still, even the flames from the fire and the candles continued to burn straight.
When she spoke, the voice that came from the professor was deeper and more resonant than her own, and Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Even in fourth year when she had made the real prediction about Voldemort she hadn't looked this supernatural.
"The dark one is coming…He is building an army that the forces of light will scarce be able to stand against lest the prophecy be fulfilled. Too many have already died…too many innocents have already been sacrificed for his own evil means…
The prophecy…the triangle must come together…the circle must be made whole…he must understand and take responsibility for that which he was meant to do; that which he was born to perform. He must learn...He must train…Only the covenant of the triangle will stop the evil ones. Only the joining of the circle will make him strong enough…He must be ready…Sodalis tria…Evalesco Leo…They must all be ready…Sodalis tria…Evalesco Leo…"
As abruptly as the "attack" had begun, it ended, and in a whoosh of sudden calm, the wind stopped, the electrical crackle disappeared, and Trelawny released her grip on Harry's shoulder as if she'd just grabbed it briefly to make a point.
"…and so Mr. Potter, I hope you will pay more attention to your studies from now on."
Harry blinked rapidly at her for a moment, and looked wide-eyed over to Ron to see that his mouth had dropped open and a look of utter disturb lay plainly on his face. The rest of the class seemed to follow suit.
"Mr. Potter, did you hear me?" Trelawny scanned the class uneasily. "What's the matter with all of you?"
Harry shook his head and cleared his throat rather loudly. "N…nothing Professor…I think we're through here…"
Trelawny turned to look at the bewitched clock on her wall. The hour hand was indeed pointing to "class over".
"Oh very well then," she sighed as the students slowly began rising and moving towards the exit, "Just please remember what we've learned here today."
Seamus Finnegan gave Harry an odd look as he passed. "How could we forget…"
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Harry and Ron met up with Hermione on their way to Potions and told her about the bizarre prediction.
Hermione smoothed her hands along her arms in an attempt to chase away the goosebumps and spoke breathily. "Wh…what do you suppose it means?"
"We were sort of hoping you would know," said Ron, still feeling a bit spooked. The hairs on the back of his neck had still not calmed down properly.
"Have you heard of a prophecy like that before?" asked Harry.
"Never…Although to be honest I haven't read many books on prophecy…I never put much stock in them; too much like divination."
"I agree," said Harry, putting an arm about her waist, "Still…You should've seen the look on her face. I think she actually made a real prediction there."
"Well whatever it was I'd rather bloody not think on it," said Ron with a shudder, "I knew there was a reason I hated that class, besides the obvious. Professor Trelawny quite simply creeps me out."
In Potions class, not only did the three have to put up with Snape's usual pompous contempt for them, but they also had to field the looks of awe the students that had just come from Trelawny's class were giving Harry.
Snape, who at the moment was busy humiliating Neville for adding too much karapon root to his Transposition potion, finally turned to address the class.
"All right! Just what is going on in here." Snape was the only teacher who could speak with a soft voice that carried such a sting. "Potter, our ever-present celebrity," he sneered magnificently at Harry, "Tell me…what is all the whispering about now? Have you single-handedly brought down the entire population of the dark world or is it something pathetically overprized as usual?"
The Slytherin, in particular Draco Malfoy began snickering wildly, and Harry gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing dangerously. Hermione noticed the look and immediately laid a restraining hand on his arm. Provoking Snape further would do no one any good…
Harry looked around to the students and addressed them. "Look…It had nothing to do with me, alright? Just because she was touching me when she had her 'vision' doesn't mean it had anything to do with me."
Most of the students stayed quiet, but Dean Thomas spoke up. "I guess we'll find out won't we?"
Harry sighed and threw back his head in defeat, speaking sardonically. "Yeah, I guess we will."
"I wasn't giving you permission to give a speech Potter," snarled Snape as he moved to the front of the classroom, "Ten points from Gryffindor. As for the rest of you, you can continue your Potter worship elsewhere. I will not tolerate such bilge in my class."
Ron seethed angrily but Harry laid a hand on his arm and shook his head. He didn't give a rat's ass what Snape thought of him; he just wanted to get through the class, head to lunch, and forget about the whole thing. Like Dumbledore always said, 'whatever was going to happen would happen'. There was no sense in worrying about something they had no answer for…yet.