A Dance In The Moonlight

Chapter Seventy-Two- Aruna Potter

Even in the wizarding world, I never placed too much faith in psychics. Perhaps that's the reason why I hated Divination class. So when Sebastian begged to take me to Aruna Potter's "Future's Madness" book signing, one wouldn't find much difficulty proving how much I hated it. Still, I stood by Sebastian in line to meet this Angelica Potter.

Flourish and Blotts was a tiny two-story book store on Diagon Alley that was where most students bought their textbooks. It should come to no shock that most of the crowd were older woman probably wanting her to read their palm to tell them some bullshit about a rich Prince Charming with a cute cat.

"Why do you want this book again? You're not even taking Divination this year." I pointed out, groaning and rolling my head around.

"Because Aruna Potter is a world renowned psychic. To even be in her presence for free is honestly an honor. Plus- Professor Sharp fancies her and maybe he'll let me in NEWT level potions if I give this to him." Sebastian explained.

The shop owner came out but before he could make any announcement, someone had casted the smokescreen spell Fumos. Everyone in the tight space started to cough while Sebastian and I glanced at one another. We only knew that spell because Professor Sharp had taught it to us. Could we already be in danger? I gripped my wand tightly until a loud cackle echoed the room.

As the smoke faded away, a woman wearing a crimson red shayla, a tiny red dot on her forehead, and a matching colored dress with patterns of swirls and lace appeared. She smiled and put her hands up with her wrists back-to-back touching before laughing and waving to the crowd. This must have been Aruna Potter. She looked a few years older than us with caramel colored skin that seemed to glow enough to light up the dark room. I could understand why Professor Sharp fancied her. She was honestly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

The crowd around me, including Sebastian, clapped like crazy when they saw her. She bowed and shouted 'thank you' in her native accent while the shopkeeper announced her once more as if the crowd couldn't see with their own eyes.

"Thank you! Thank you! If it wasn't for each one of you, I would not be here today and telling my story on how I discovered Divination was my calling. I have decided I will do one free reading in front of all of you after I talk about my book which according to my eyes, each of you will love!" She announced, giddy with joy.

What bullcrap. She was just saying that to make more sales for her book. I was all too familiar with the scam of her probably picking a family member or friend from the crowd and 'reading' their future. I scoffed silently and rolled my eyes, already annoyed with whatever lies she was about to sell to all of these desperate old hags and Sebastian.

She started to go on about how she has read the fortunes and demises of many famous people such as the president in America, the Minister himself, oh and the Charles Dickens who was the one that inspired her to write her book. She spoke of how she was banished from her village in India, almost becoming an obscurial, for her immaculate skills on foreseeing the future and being able to know your deepest secrets. She was wooing a crowd that clearly didn't need to be woo'd. It wasn't about whether this made me happy or not though. I glanced over at Sebastian once more and could see the large smile worn on his face. When you see someone you love wearing pure joy like that, you can't help but feel excited for them.

"Now comes the moment to show my true skill! I will pick one of you to read from." Mrs. Potter announced. The room went silent, everyone wishing for her to pick them. She shut her eyes and began walking into the crowd full of people, everyone parting for her to continue walking. Even I couldn't help but wonder who she would pick. At least that was the case until she stopped right in front of me. She turned to face both Sebastian and I and wore a small smile.

"What is your name?" She asked me, never breaking eye contact.

"Merlina Wood madam." I answered politely.

"Come. I will do you."

"Oh I don't think that's a good idea. Perhaps someone-" I started but she shot me an icy glare that told me to shut up.

With the snap of her fingers, a small round table with a red and white table cloth appeared with two cushioned wooden seats ready to go. Everyone around her ooo'd once more and clapped as if conjuring a table was difficult. She smiled and bowed once more before offering me one of the seats. I could play along with this. We both sat at the table and kept our eyes focused on one another, as if trying to study everything about one another.

"You're a student at Hogwarts, yes? So you're familiar with Divination?" She asked, finally removing her eyes and yanking my hands toward her.

"Quite familiar. One of my friend's mom teaches it." I responded, trying not to wince at the pain. She began massaging the palm of my hands as if that would reveal something.

"Good. Then you know Palmistry and Dream interpretation. My unique gifts allow me to use both at the same time, bringing forth what you would have dreamt tonight right now. You'll fall asleep during this but I'm assuming this young gentleman here is your friend. He'll make sure you're protected, won't you?" She asked, glancing over at Sebastian who nodded his head.

"Now close your eyes." Although hesitant, I closed my eyes like she demanded and could feel myself drifting off immediately with the press of my palms.

Just like the third trial in my fifth year, I stood in a void of emptiness before seeing the area around me fade into Hogwarts. I stood in the Great Hall that was empty and had no decorations up. Quite unusual and a rare thing to see. I blinked and suddenly the Great Hall had blood splattered all over the walls and floors. Puddles of the sticky red liquid rested on the tables in various places. By the podium where Headmaster Black makes his speeches, a pile to the ceiling of bodies rested with only four bodies standing. Ominis, Sebastian, Poppy, and Garreth.

"I see... great blood shed in Hogwarts. The biggest thing to happen on the school ground's since the last Triwizard Tournament." Aruna Potter's voice echoed in my head. Instinctively, I slammed both hands on my ears and sunk to the ground.

I didn't have time to grasp what was happening, as the room around me began spinning quickly. The Great Hall had changed to me standing in front of a house that was in the middle of nowhere. The sky was as black with few stars and no moon. Trees of decay surrounded us and the space around me smelled like rotten eggs. I immediately shoved my nose into the space of my elbow but truthfully, it didn't help much.

"I see... a place you will wish you never went to. Great wealth comes but at a great cost."

The room spun again once more until it stopped at a beautiful sunset in front of Professor Fig's home. The tree that once held such a beautiful memory by Sebastian was now up in flames along with the grass that Ominis and I laid in while looking up at the stars. Both beautiful memories up in flames.

"I see your heart has been split into two for quite some time. You've grown used to it- fond of it even. In the end, you need to choose who is more important to your soul or it will destroy you inside and out. It cannot handle the tear any longer and needs to be restored."

Could not handle the tear any longer? What the hell was this woman all about? One more spin came along with the nausea. The room switched back to normal with an echo of claps filling it. Luckily, Sebastian came with a bag ready for me to fill. Aruna stood, smiling and bowing her head while I was left throwing up into a trash can with Sebastian rubbing my back.

"What... the hell was that?" I asked, wiping my mouth when I was finally done.

"She was reading your future. It was crazy... her eyes looked like Ominis'." Sebastian answered for her.

We quickly left without saying goodbye and got the rest of his school supplies from Diagon Alley. I was never going to go through that again but what I saw did make me wonder. What was this year supposed to bring me? More pain than I could have ever imagined? Both physical and emotion? Perhaps people should not know their futures if this is the outcome of it.