GREY WINGS || A Hogwarts Story

Chapter Six

"Grey! Are you alright?"

Madame Lovegood made an aggressive shushing motion at Richard who grimaced but hurried over to Grey nonetheless. Derric was hot on his tail.

"Fine. Sullivan sorted me out." He lied with a shrug.

"Oh, good," Whispered Derric, leading him over to their chosen booth. 

Grey didn't fail to notice Richard's unconvinced look. Sitting down, he instinctually reached for his bag, only to remember he had left it in that empty classroom. 

"Lost something?" Richard questioned knowingly. There was no malice in his tone, only an edge of distrust. 

"Must have left my bag in the hospital wing." Grey mumbled hastily, "It's fine, I'll grab it later. I have some Divination reading I want to do."

He rose to his feet, wondering where the Divination section actually was in the library.

 "Since when did you like Divination?" Derric snorted, head buried in his Charms homework.

Grey ignored him and began strolling down the many isles of books. It took him a good while to find the right section, he had to retrace his steps twice. Finally, tucked in a particularly dusty corner of the library, he found the shockingly small Divination section. It barely filled a single shelf. Scanning the very clearly untouched volumes, Grey found one that immediately looked helpful. The title was printed in a modest silver font and read: 'A study of the manifestations of seers.' By Percival Rhackam.

Grey tucked the book under his arm and was about to return to his seat when a tiny volume caught his eye. It had previously been hidden behind the book he had just picked, but now its gold title was on full display - 'The Predictions of Tycho Dodonus'.

It unsettled him that it actually existed for he had been hoping his visions were purely fictional delusions. But it couldn't hurt to read it. The book itself was barely the size of his fist and a brief glance told him each page only held roughly four lines. At least it would be a quick study, he thought as he made his way back to the other two. 

Planting himself back in his chair, he tried to ignore Richard's frequent analytical glances. He decided to read the larger book first, hoping its contents might contradict his apparent condition. So, he flipped to the first chapter, 'The manifestation of visions'. Scanning the page he found a passage that seemed relevant. It read: 

'As a seer, I have found that the onset of visions occurs in an almost identical fashion. First, I begin to experience drowsiness which sends me into a trance-like state. Then concrete images fill my mind. I've been informed that I recite these as prophecies.'

Grey almost sighed with relief, it was nothing like what he experienced. Therefore it must be induced by his headaches. Slightly more at ease, he read on:

'I have also been told my eyes take on an iris-less state, devoid of any color. Of course, the manifestations of visions are likely to vary for each person. The number of true seer bloodlines is so few, it is increasingly difficult to collect accurate data...'

Grey slammed the book shut, no longer feeling reassured. He tried to reason that the book was written in the 1400s so probably wasn't that accurate but he couldn't shake the gnawing feeling in his stomach. 

"Are you alright?" Richard asked suddenly.

Grey took notice of his slumped shoulders. His dark hair fell untidily round his face and dark bags were visible around his eyes.