Mischievous Glint | George Weasley

Chapter 4

We arrived in the Great Hall as we all took our seats at our house tables. I sat where I could easily turn around and talk to Ron. Blaise sat next to me, and unfortunately, Malfoy sat next to him to make sure he was close enough to bully me again.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Now, I'd like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Dumbledore announced. "Good luck, Professor."

"Of course. That's why he knew to give you the chocolate, Harry." Hermione said from across the way.

"Psst! Potter!" Draco called out to Harry, causing him to turn around.

I looked in their direction as he began to question Harry.

"Is it true you fainted? I mean, you actually fainted?" He said maliciously. A boy next to him immediately made a dramatic fainting act to mock Harry.

"Shove off, Malfoy." Ron said. He pushed Harry's shoulder to face forward where Hermione was sitting.

"You can't just fuck off, can you?" I said bitterly. Malfoy looked right at me and scowled.

"Don't talk to me, you filthy blood traitor." He spat. Blaise instantly shoved his face away from me.

"Don't mind him." Blaise gave me a kind smile.

"It's fine." I shrugged, continuing to listen to Dumbledore.

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid. Finally, on a more disquieting note, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban until such a time as Sirius Black is captured. The dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now, whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities... a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They'll not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving. But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Dumbledore finished his speech, and we finally began our feast. I only ate a little because I didn't have much of an appetite after the terrifying incident on the train.

Later, I was walking back to my dorm. As I stood before our house portrait, I glanced over at the landing where half of the Gryffindor students were standing outside their own dorms. I noticed the Fat Lady was trying to break a glass by screaming at the top of her lungs. I let out a light chuckle while watching Harry, Ron, Fred, and George stand there. George absentmindedly looked around the corridor and caught my eye, making sudden eye contact. He smiled and waved at me. I gladly waved back before saying the password to the portrait of the Slytherin common room.

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The Slytherins and Gryffindors shared the same Divination class together. We sat at the small round tables with partners. Theodore Nott sat beside me, and thankfully, he wasn't an ass to me like Malfoy. I intentionally chose a seat near where Ron, Harry, and Hermione were sitting.

"Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight. Hello, I am Professor Trelawney. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future. This term, we'll focus on Tasseomancy, the art of reading tea leaves. So please, take the cup of the person sitting opposite you. What do you see?" She motioned her hands around dramatically and gestured for us to look into the cups placed on the tables. "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."

"What a load of rubbish." I heard Hermione mutter. I quietly giggled. She heard it, turned to look at me, and gave a mischievous smile.

"I'm serious." She whispered, trying to hide her smile.

"No, you're Hermione." I whispered back. Ron and Harry started to snicker quietly. Hermione gave up and started to giggle too.

"Where did you come from?" Ron asked, turning to her in surprise.

"Me? I've been here all this time." She replied smoothly.

"You, boy!" Professor Trelawney suddenly pointed at Neville. "Is your grandmother quite well?"

"I think so." He replied nervously.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Give me the cup." She ordered. He handed her the cup. She examined it carefully. "Pity. Broaden your minds. Your aura is pulsing, dear. Are you in the beyond? I think you are." She said, turning her attention directly to Ron.

"Sure." Ron squeaked.

"Look at the cup. Tell me what you see."

"Oh, yeah. Um... well, Harry's got sort of a wonky cross." Ron reluctantly said, staring at the leaves.

"That's trials and suffering. And that there could be the sun, and that's happiness. So... you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be... happy about it." Hermione said as she read along in her textbook.

"Give me the cup. Oh, my dear boy. My dear, you have the Grim." Professor Trelawney said, almost trembling with fear.

"Grin? What's the Grin?" I heard another student whispering behind me.

"It's Grim, not Grin." I looked back and corrected them.

"Taking the form of a giant spectral dog. It's among the darkest omens in our world." A Gryffindor boy spoke up.

"It's an omen... of death." I finished his sentence.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry all turned to look at me in shock.

"You don't think that the Grim thing has got anything to do with Sirius Black?" Ron asked, looking back at Harry and then at me.

"Oh, honestly, Ron. If you ask me, Divination's a woolly discipline." Hermione said dismissively.

"Now, dear, what do you see in your cup?" Professor Trelawney asked me suddenly. All attention in the room turned completely toward me.

"Nothing yet, actually." I mumbled, feeling very uncomfortable from all the staring.

"Broaden your mind. Use your Inner Eye to see the future! Focus, dear, tell me what you see."

I looked deep inside my cup and concentrated fully. Slowly, the tea leaves shifted into a round shape. A shield like structure formed with intricate, ancient detailing on it.

"I think I'm seeing something."

"Oh! What is it?" Professor Trelawney asked curiously.

"A... some sort of shield?" I said, sounding more like a question.

"Let me see." She said. She grabbed the cup from my hands, looking deep into the leaves.

"I see you're a loyal friend. A big responsibility is on your shoulders. You are destined to do so much, dear. Hmm... power. I've never seen anything quite like this before. You'll be able to control everything around you, and you'll never have a weakness except for one person... your soulmate. You're most likely to find him here in this place."

Excited whispers immediately spread among the other students. I looked over at Harry, who was staring back at me in awe. Hermione gave me a baffled shrug, and Ron just sat there with a completely confused face.

"But... I can't control anything. I don't have any special powers." I said anxiously, my heart beating fast.

"If whatever the sign says is true, then you will." She replied cryptically. The entire class fell completely silent.