(Eng) Weasleys, Pranks and other Curses

05

Although Katie was making rapid progress, it was clear that it would be quite a while before she could get back on a broom.

I had told Professor McGonagall that the creature was a fog vulture, just so that someone would know in case there were complications. Not only could fog vultures cause deep wounds, but their claws were laced with a poison that could go unnoticed for a long time.

But the homeroom teacher had assured me that Dumbledore had already been informed about this and was taking the necessary precautions.
Dumbledore.
The man had taken a great risk when he had accepted me into his school. I wonder if he had been aware of it. Or did he wonder, after this, if I shouldn't leave? Just in case, I avoided any possible encounter with the principal.

Oliver Wood continued to throw glances across the room at me, but Katie had forbidden him to harass me directly again. I inwardly vowed to find a way to thank Katie. Surely Madeline knew something that would please her sister.

The only place I had any peace left was the tower room where the fortune telling class was held. Even though it cost me the greatest effort every time to climb up the countless steps and that damn ladder, a feeling of security came over me once I had made it.

"Ah, Miss Renard. You're early," purred the teacher, Sybill Trelawney. She was an odd creature and not half as gifted as my teacher in Madrid, Gael Alcalde, but actually a very warm woman if you treated her with respect.

"Excuse me," I said with my head down, as was proper. "I thought I might sit down already and let my mind wander a bit. I've had a hard time really opening up the last few days."

The woman blinked, and the thick lenses of her glasses gave her the appearance of a frog. "Oh. Is something bothering you? Go ahead, meditate and feel the energy of this place. I chose this room very consciously for its vibration."

I dropped down at a table in the corner. As far away from the windows as possible and closed my eyes for a moment. Predicting the future for oneself was always a bit tricky and inaccurate, but I couldn't let it go after all. I had to know how great the danger really was. Had the fog vulture moved on after my presence had disappeared? Or was he lurking in the forbidden forest, just waiting for a weak moment?

With both hands on the crystal ball, I let the magic unfold freely. From one hand to the other. Hazy white smoke filled the sphere and swayed back and forth before the first shapes could be distinguished.

Fortunately, I had gotten myself a dictation quill, so all I had to do was speak out what I saw, and the quill was already jotting down my words. The smoke was particularly agitated this time and I blamed it on my unfocused mind, but when I began to interpret, a different picture emerged.

"Have you started without me already?", Madeline brought me out of my focus as she so often did. "I thought you couldn't tell your own fortune." She dropped down next to me on the free cushion and gradually more students poured into the small room.

Madeline didn't have much strength for fortune telling - but that was mainly because she didn't take it seriously.

"I just wanted to see if I got better at interpreting, but I still can't remember most of the signs." I was about to slam the book shut in shame when Madeline grabbed my notes.

Nervously, I waited to see if she would come to the same conclusion I had.

"You can only prevent bad things from happening by being brave?" she murmured questioningly after the first few symbols. "That sounds pretty much like a Muggle horoscope."

I had thought so, too, until I looked up the rest.

"Wait a minute," Madeline faltered at the exact same point I had. "This one is Duel, Strike, and the next one...the Gemini Star?" She looked up from the book. "You're supposed to fight the Weasley twins?"

I almost laughed. "I read it more like your sister already recommended. I'm not supposed to be intimidated by the Weasleys but to seek confrontation when in doubt."

"A brawl after all," Madeline grinned at me with a wink.

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Hi!
Sorry for the short, somewhat useless chapter. I'm still not good at transitions >_<