Good & Evil {3} | d.m. | ong.

six

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Tea Leaves

"The only certainty in life is that it is uncertain."

On the grounds of the castle, the next morning, as the bridge and castle glimmered in the distance, Hagrid emerged from the Forbidden Forest, dragging a fistful of dead ferrets by the tail. A bird appeared, circled his head playfully, chirp-chirp-chirping merrily before it...fluttered off, pin-wheeled past flowers, into a birdbath, finally coming to rest upon...an ancient tree. It twittered cheerfully, singing its lovely song, when — THWOCK! — a branch punts the bird into the air. As feathers flew, the Whomping Willow resumed its shape.

Divination Classroom

Liv, Roni, Harry, and Ron all sat on fat little pouffes in a murky, incense-laden room, along with Neville, Peter, Dean, Seamus, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and many others.

"Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the mysterious art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess..." A crimson scrim fluttered and Sybil Trelawney, Divination Professor, gilded dramatically into view, eyes huge and bug-like behind enormous glasses. "...the Sight." Liv and Roni eyed the teacher oddly, glancing at Harry and Ron, to see if they thought she was odd as well. "Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future. But know this. One either has the Gift or not. It cannot be divined from the pages of a book. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye."

"What rubbish," a voice said.

Liv jumped, papers falling out of her hands, and turned to see that Hermione was in between her and Roni. Just sitting there, like she wasn't there before. "Bloody hell-" Liv muttered. Ron looked up at them, since the girls were seated above him and Harry, to see that Hermione was there out of nowhere.

"Where'd you come from?" Ron asked, trying to be quiet.

"Me? I've been here all along," Hermione said.

Then Professor Trelawney turned to Neville and pointed at him. "You, boy! Is your grandmother well?" She asked.

"I...I think so," Neville said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Professor Trelawney said, causing Neville to look worried, and Liv to eye the teacher. "The first term will be devoted to the reading of tea leaves. If all goes well, we will proceed to palmistry, fire omens, and finally...the crystal ball." She then eyed Roni. "By the way, dear, beware of a red-haired man."

Roni stared at her baffled before she slowly looked over at Ron, who stared at her cowardly. "You and Ron?" Liv whispered to Roni, as Hermione crinkled her eyebrows in frustration at the assumption.

"Merlin, I hope not. That is utterly ridiculous!" Roni whispered back.

"This class is all but rubbish if I say so myself," Hermione whispered.

But then the Professor Trelawney pointed at Liv also. "And you, Potter, don't be scared of what you feel, just accept it. It will save us all," she said and Liv just stared at her baffled.

"What?" Liv asked loudly.

"And remember, everything changes this upcoming holidays," Professor Trelawney said, but Liv couldn't even breathe let alone speak a work before the Professor continued on. "Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And in late spring, one of our number will...leave us forever." As the class exchanged uneasy glances, Professor Trelawney smiled brightly. "Well then. Shall we?"

———

Later, inside a cloud of tea leaves mutated oddly. Harry, sitting opposite of Ron now, frowned at the leaves, consulted the symbols in the textbook, Unfogging the Future, at his elbow.

Professor Trelawney walked amongst them, her robes flowing. "Broaden your minds, my dears. And allow your eyes to see...beyond," Professor Trelawney said before she took Lavender Brown's cup, and peered inside. "A five-leaf clover...You can expect to wake with a horrible rash tomorrow morning, dear." She then turned to Neville. "Mr. Longbottom, after you've broken your first cup..." CA-CHINK! Neville fumbled the cup in his hands and the brittle crash of china was heard. "...would you be so kind as to select one of the blue ones? I'm rather partial to the pink." She then paused at Liv. "What do you see in Miss Blake's cup, Miss Potter?"

Liv stiffed up before she looked into her cup. "Um...according to the book...Roni will be happy...but something...bad happens?" Liv said in a questioningly tone and the Professor looked into the cup. She then gasped sadly before looking at Roni.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Professor Trelawney said but Roni just eyed her.

"What does that mea-" Roni started to say but Professor Trelawney turned away from her, and walked down the stairs, just to turn to Ron.

"What do you see in Mr. Potter's cup, Mr. Weasley?" Professor Trelawney asked.

"Well. He's got a wonky sort of cross — that's trials and suffering. But this lot here could be the sun — that's great happiness. So...he's going to suffer but be very happy about it," Ron explained and Roni eyed Ron confused.

"Wait, really?" Roni asked and Ron and Professor Trelawney peered up at her. "Because Liv's cup has the same thing."

Professor Trelawney took Harry's cup, peered inside, and gasped in horror. "What is it, Professor?" Peter Whiteford asked.

Professor Trelawney regarded Harry and Liv with a mixture of pity and fear while the two eyed her in worry. "My dear children...You have the Grim," Professor Trelawney said, and the students stared at her in confusion.

"The Grin? What's the Grin?" Seamus asked.

"The Grim. Not the grin, you idiot," Parvati said.

"But what does it mean, Professor?" Dean asked.

"The Grim," Lavender started and everyone turned, to see Lavender bent over her textbook.

"Not this bitch," Liv muttered to herself and Roni and Hermione quietly giggled to themselves at Liv's comment.

"Take the form of a giant spectral dog, it is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen...of death," Lavender explained. Liv peered into her cup, and the tea leaves shifted. The dog disappeared and a new image emerged slowly...Sirius Black. Liv gasped sharply before she moved her cup away from her, scared to look at it.