ARCANE - G. WEASLEY

4

Reyna always found herself dreadfully uncomfortable within the confines of the Divination Classroom. The overpowering scent of incense was so potent that it made her feel nauseous, and the odour would persist throughout the day after saturating her robes. The room's decoration was a haphazard mishmash of antiques and bric-a-brac, giving it an overall cluttered and disorganized feel.

The room was filled with an array of circular tables, each surrounded by small pouffes for the students to sit on. The curtains were tightly drawn, and the only source of illumination came from the small lamps that dotted the room. The scarlet glow that emanated from them was due to the dark red scarves that were draped over them.

The room was cluttered to the point of being stiflingly warm, not helped by the crackling fire in the fireplace. The shelves that lined the circular walls were packed with a variety of dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, numerous packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a vast assortment of teacups.

"Remind me again why we chose this elective," Reyna complains to Alicia and Caleb.

"Because someone didn't want to do hard work," Alicia gives the witch a pointed look.

"That was before I discovered the hovel that was this classroom," Reyna sighs, taking a seat on one of the pouffes.

"Ah, Miss Lupin!"

Reyna nearly falls off the pouffe when the owlish eyes of Professor Trelawney appear in front of her. The woman always chose to veer towards the eclectic side of fashion. Today a gauzy, spangled shawl was draped across her shoulders with innumerable chains and beads hanging around her neck. Bangles and rings decorated her arms and hands which were all in various states of disrepair.

"The spirits have told me you have once again been sprung on my doorstep to cause me nothing but misfortune and misery,"

"You know me Professor, a harbinger of misfortune and misery,"

Reyna couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance as the Professor drifted away to harass another unsuspecting student. Meanwhile, Alicia and Caleb were quietly chuckling at the Professor's words, completely aware of Reyna's frustration. In an attempt to stop their laughter at her expense, Reyna kicked their pouffes.

"Today we will do a recap on crystal-gazing," The Professor informs her class, eliciting displeased groans to echo through the class.

"You shall be placed in pairs of my choosing to tell each other what you see,"

Reyna watches one by one as her classmates and dread begins to dawn on her when a certain wizard hadn't yet been placed in a pair.

"Reyna Lupin and George Weasley,"

The atmosphere in the classroom is tense as sharp intakes of breath and low whistles fill the air as the pair stare at each other. Reyna swiftly grabs her bag and makes her way towards an unoccupied table situated at the back of the classroom. She flings her bag onto the ground, causing a thud to reverberate throughout the classroom.

George sits opposite her and they glare at each other before Reyna rolls her eyes, looking into the crystal ball.

"You're going to die alone because no one likes you," Reyna's tone is laced with venom.

"Is that so?" George snarls. "Well, I see you being rejected by everyone because-"

The wizard ceases his speech abruptly as he realizes that Reyna is not paying attention to him. The witch's attention is fixed on the crystal ball before her, and her face is one of pure horror. Reyna stares intently at the devastation being depicted in the hazy sphere, which shows Hogwarts reduced to ruins, with several of the towers being consumed by raging flames.

"Lupin?"

"Be quiet boy!" Trelawney whispers sharply. "Miss Lupin is seeing into the beyond"

Reyna's hands begin to tremble as the images continue in the ball, tears welling in her eyes. The temperature of the room was rising considerably, causing students to shrug off their robes and fan their faces. A single tear escapes Reyna's eye, rolling down her cheek as she struggles to keep her composure. Suddenly, she jumps to her feet, her hand darting out to swipe the crystal ball off the table before anyone can stop her.

"What did you see my dear?" Trelawney asks.

The glare that Reyna shoots at the woman had the Professor cowering away from her. The fire from the fireplace begins to grow in intensity as Reyna's entire body trembles.

"I saw nothing," Reyna's words were a half-truth as she had seen Hogwarts be reduced to almost nothing in a blaze of magic and fire.

The witch grabs her bag from the floor and George reaches out, grabbing her wrist. A blistering heat engulfs his hand, causing him to snatch it back before examining the red welts that had already begun to blister.

"Don't ever touch me, Weasley," Reyna snarls.

With those final words, Reyna exits the classroom but George's focus wasn't on the witch's departure or the burns on his hand. No George's focus was on the scorch marks where Reyna's hands had been, a perfect handprint.