𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍; 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.

𝐢𝐱: 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥?

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫.

❞𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄, 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄,❞ 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃, 𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐖𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐋𝐄, 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐋𝐘, ❞𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒.❞

"Brilliant," James said dryly, ignoring Sirius's hoots of laughter. "Thanks, Tal."

"I could've told you that without the Durgeyroot concoction," Sirius chortled. "Look at the boy, Amara; he's hopeless."

"That's not true," Amara protested, although she was struggling to hide her grin as well. "Lily came to the Quidditch game last week, didn't she? She watched your Dionysus Dive, even!"

He shrugged, only staring at his newly grown finger. "I guess."

"That's pro level, mate," Sirius said, clapping James on the back. However, he did it with such force that the table wobbled, and Amara had to snatch the bowl of Durgeyroot concoction before it spilled all over their tarot cards. "I couldn't believe myself when I saw it—nearly nutted all over the microphone—" he trailed off when Professor Onai, the Divination professor and Quidditch referee, swooped over to examine their table.

He was a funny-looking sort of man; he almost resembled a withered, intelligent ape. He had spent many years of his life in the searing sun of Mexico, learning from the finest Diviners there, and, although he never confirmed anything, it was commonly assumed that he was part goblin.

He smiled—an astonishingly wrinkly expression—and rested his massive, hairy elbows on the table. "I assure you, Sirius," he said warmly, fixing his large, bulbous eyes on the Gryffindor boy, "while James's maneuver was nothing short of impressive, it also happened in the past, did it not?"

"It did," Sirius assured.

"Brilliant. And, er, in this class, we are examining the future, aren't we?"

"We are, Professor," Amara said.

"Ah—good. I knew I was in the right place." He took a seat on the booth next to Amara, across from the two boys. "Now, Amara, dear, tell me what you see, why don't you?"

"Sure." She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the murky contents of the bowl. "I—I see...a hook-shaped sort of thing."

"Ah, that would be the Hei Matau; very good. And, what else?"

"A club? No, wait, that's a tree...oh!"

"Yes?"

"It was a tree, but someone just chopped it down...now, I see a house..."

"An unfortunate cycle of life," Professor Onai agreed.

"And now, I see...I see..." Amara trailed off, frowning. "I don't really see much, actually."

"That's alright! Fantastic job, Amara," he said, patting her gently on the shoulder. "One thing I can guarantee about Divination is you can't control when Sight comes and when it leaves. Let's see you try, Sirius!"

"What a load of codswallop," Sirius said grimly, as the three later left the classroom. Once he reached the bottom of the ladder, he turned and held out his hand for Amara.