SEPTEMBER 1993
"Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the sight. I am Professor Trelawney. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future." Professor Trelawney got up from her stool and stumbled against the table in front of her, making the teapot that was sat on top of it move closer to the edge.
Trelawney was a thin woman, wearing clothes that swallowed her whole. Her eyes appeared huge behind the thick glasses she wore, and her bushy hair seemed to live its own life.
"This term we will be focusing on Tessomancy, which is the art of reading tea leaves. So please, take the cup of the person sitting opposite you." She waved her hands through the air, gesturing wildly.
Somehow, Calista and Draco had ended up sharing a table. How exactly that happened, both of them weren't sure. After they'd each drained their cup, Calista reached a delicate hand out to the cup standing in front of Draco. He intended to snatch it away before she could get to it, but the young girl was faster. She had the cup clutched in her hands before Draco even so much as lay a finger on it.
Draco shot her a glare and in return stole her cup. The witch and wizard glared at each other, not saying a single word, but Professor Trelawney didn't seem to notice their mood darkening. Instead, she asked what they saw, and Calista remembered her saying something about the truth being somewhat like a sentence buried in a book.
The young wizards both weren't fond of Divination, and began to tune out Professor Trelawney, focusing on their cups and the truth that apparently lay somewhere in there.
All Calista could see was a brown squashy substance. She thought that maybe the form was what interested Trelawney, so she held the cup closer to her eyes, squinting and trying to make something out of it. But the brown stuff stayed exactly that: brown stuff.
"Broaden your minds," kept Trelawney on saying. Calista wasn't sure that she could broaden her mind enough to make sense of all this rubbish. Draco seemed to share her frustration, as the cup clattered down in front of him, and he leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered. "We should be learning something that'll get us somewhere, not this nonsense."
For once, Calista agreed with him, but of course she wouldn't admit it. Instead, she said something she couldn't quite believe herself. "It's fine if you don't see anything, Draco. One can't be good at anything."
He just raised an eyebrow. "Sure, the next thing you're telling me is that you're actually seeing something." Disbelief was written all over his face, and Calista had to bite back a grin.
"I see plenty." The lie rolled smoothly from the tip of her tongue.
"My dear, I am so glad to hear that. Tell me. Tell me all that you See." Calista hadn't even noticed Professor Trelawney advancing on her, and jumped when she heard her teacher's voice close to her ear. Trelawney was right next to her, trying to steal a glance into Draco's cup, but Calista shielded it from her sight.
"Oh yes, please tell me what you see. I'm dying to know what my future holds for me," Draco snickered, and Calista shot him a glare that promised a long and painful death.
Calista refused to admit that she had no clue what she was looking at, so she decided that making something up would be better than to say nothing. "Erm... well, I see... waves." One couldn't go wrong with that, right?
"Interesting. How very interesting, don't you think so, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Trelawney said, and Draco nodded like the perfect little student, while he shot Calista a smirk once Trelawney turned her back to him. "Mr. Malfoy, you will begin a journey. A difficult one, very difficult indeed. There will be obstacles in your way, and you won't always be able to defeat them." To Calista, it sounded rather cryptic, but what did she know? "What more can you See, my dear?"
Calista let her gaze return to the cup and tried to look focused, while she tried to think of a symbol that was equally common. Something everyone could see in everything. "I can see small circles." She couldn't come up with something better, but Professor Trelawney seemed invested. "What kind of circles, my dear? How are they arranged? In another circle, or perhaps a chain, oh, or maybe a star?"
"A chain?" Calista's answer sounded more like a question, which earned her another smirk from Draco, who seemed to enjoy watching her suffer.
"A chain!" The woman chanted, and made Calista startle. She turned back to Draco, hands gesturing wildly once again. "On your journey, you will have to take over great responsibility, my boy. It all will rest on your shoulders. But be careful, don't let it crush you!" As fast as she had faced Draco, she spun back around to Calista. "More, my dear! What more do you See?"
Calista started to get annoyed. Hadn't she 'Seen' enough? "I see... stripes. Maybe... a cross?" She hoped it was good enough for Trelawney, but when she saw the woman's distressed expression, she wasn't so sure about that anymore. Had she said something wrong? She thought it could've been a good symbol. Something like perfect health for the rest of one's life.
"A cross?!" the woman screeched, making the heads of several other students turn towards the small group. "Let me see, my dear, let me see!"
Calista thought that she was surely busted now. Professor Trelawney would notice that she had made everything up, and fail her. Draco probably hoped that she did, leaning forward to sneak a quick glance into the cup. The woman's next words surprised both of them.
"By Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed. "You were right, my dear. It is a cross." She seemed almost scared when she said her next words. "You have been warned, Mr. Malfoy. The tea leaves are strongly suggesting caution. You might want to overthink this journey. Whenever it might come around. Bless you, my dear boy. For that you may be kept safe and won't suffer." Her eyes were wide when she turned away from us, moving on to the next table like nothing happened at all.
"Well, that was strange," Calista said, trying to lighten up the mood. Seconds later, she could've hexed herself for it. What was she doing, trying to lighten the mood around Draco?
"That woman's a nut job. I'll talk to my father. Make him tell someone to fire her," Draco sneered, rolling his eyes at Professor Trelawney.
"No, you won't," said Calista, suddenly feeling oddly defensive of her Divination teacher. "You can't go around and threaten everyone with your father. One day he won't be around and no one will help you solve your problems, so learn to do it on your own." She slammed her cup down to underline her words. "Now tell me–"
A scream made them turn their heads toward their teacher. She had stepped back from the table that Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at, eyes wide and hands shaking.
"My dear, you have... the grim."
The words were directed towards Harry, who looked just as confused as the rest of the class. Someone shouted what the Grin was, but Calista ignored the question. She was fully focused on Trelawney, who was now trembling with fear.
"Not the Grin, you idiot. The Grim. 'Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen... of death,'" a boy announced. He was a Gryffindor, Bem, Calista thought, but she had only talked to him once or twice.
"Of course, Potter has to go around and make himself special again," muttered Draco under his breath, but Calista still caught it.
"Shut it, Draco. What do you care anyway? It's complete blather, nevertheless." To her surprise, her words silenced him, and he didn't speak another word to her for the rest of the class.
Even though she knew better, Calista couldn't help but think about the Grim.
YOU ARE READING
The 101 of Working With Your Enemy
Fanfiction"I hate you, Draco. I've hated you ever since you decided that you were too good for me. You and I are never going to work out. Not as friends, not even as acquaintances, and for sure not as something more." Calista Solace was sure of three things: ...
