𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 - 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

07. | Third Eye

My calves are burning as I reach the top of the North tower. My heart races in my chest as I finally make it to the seat I claimed the first time I walked into Professor Trelawney's classroom. I set up my crystal ball in the middle of the table, and place my crystals and tarot cards beside it. The thick tablecloth covering it is velvety soft underneath my fingers, and matches the drapes hanging across the ceiling.

The professor is burning sage, and despite my love for the smell, my lungs can hardly handle it.

"It's so lovely to see you again, my dear," Professor Trelawney says, waving around the bundle of sage. "Have you been working with the crystals I've given you?"

"Yes, I have!" I hold out the small bag of crystals. "I think I've bonded with the blue goldstone. Something about it just..." I inhale deeply through my nose. "It's incredible."

She smiles. "That's my favorite too."

I go back to my things as she continues floating around the room, cleansing the air of the tower with her sage smoke. I nod politely to the others in my class, mostly Hufflepuffs and the occasional Ravenclaw. We were all advanced enough in Divination to be put into a special class specifically to challenge us and push us further in our education. I can't say I'm not horrendously nervous. I've never been particularly good at magic, even getting my wand to perform lumos was a struggle for me in the beginning. Something about Divination just... clicks in my mind.

The first day of class with Trelawney is always what I would call an introduction class. She loves to make sure everyone knows each other, and is comfortable with each other. They all seem to know each other just fine; I'm the only one sitting at a table alone, my knee bouncing under the long table skirt. My quill, ink, and parchment are my only friends for the very first class. I doodle away for the hour, my quill scratching the paper with each swoop in such a beautiful way that it itches my brain just right.

"Jaylene?"

I look up, and find that all eyes are on me. My cheeks involuntarily go hot. "Yes?" I ask.

"It's your turn to introduce yourself, dear," the professor says, her eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"Oh- well. I'm Jaylene Potter. I'm fifteen. I'm a Slytherin."

Professor Trelawney looks at me, as if I have something else to say. "And?"

"And- um-"

"You like Divination because...?"

"Oh! Yes, yes." I clear my throat, ignoring the snickers from a table of Gryffindors. "I like Divination because it is something not everyone can pick up on. I believe you truly need to have a knack for it, which makes it all the more interesting to me in that why I seem to have that knack. And it allows me to provide healing energy to myself, and to better read the world around me."

Professor Trelawney beams with pride. "Very good. Well, with little else to do today, I'll let you out early. Enjoy the rest of this fine Tuesday morning." She sits on her cushion, in front of her table, as everyone packs their things up. The tower is quickly vacated in a swish of robes, but before I can leave, Trelawney clears her throat.

"Jaylene? I would like to speak to you before you head out, dear."

Great. I approach her table, mentally preparing myself for some type of verbal beration on how it was so rude of me to not be paying attention to my classmates, or about how someone of my high level should be making more effort, especially on the first day.

Instead, though, she beacons for me to sit across from her. The crystal ball on her table pulses a beautiful lavender shade, and the Professor smiles at me. "How was your summer, dear?"