The Potions Master's Daughter (Book Four)

Chapter 42

Firenze came over to us as we walked in and extended his hand to Harry, "Harry Potter, it was foretold that we would meet up again, I suppose that this is how."
             
Harry shook his hand, neither of them having any hint of a smile of their faces, "Nice to see you again Firenze."
             
"And the young Snape," he said holding his hand out to me now with a small smile, "I read your destiny in the stars long ago. I have also heard a buzz about you in the forest even, it is nice to see you."
             
I smiled back with a trace of curiosity in my eyes, "It is nice to meet you as well Firenze. I look forward to your class, I expect I'll learn much."
             
With that he walked away. Harry, Ron and I took a seat on top of one of the larger rocks so we could all sit together.
             
Once the whole class arrived Firenze turned to face the whole class and I could see the shadow of a bruise on his chest, in the shape of a hoof, "Dumbledore has allowed me to make this room as close to my habitat in the Forbidden Forest as possible. I would've liked to have taught out there, however that is not an option so this will do for now."
             
"Why not?" asked Parvati, "We go out there with Hagrid, we can do it."
             
Firenze sighed and I could see some pain in his eyes, "It is not because of you, I am not afraid for you. I however cannot go back, my herd had banished me."
             
"Whatever for?" she asked although I suspected the answer.
             
Just as I thought he replied, "They see my working here with the humans as a betrayal of my own kind. This job is not one I took lightly, and I hope I can help you learn some valuable skills in the limited time we have together. Let us begin by laying on your backs."
             
Everyone laid down on their backs and the lights went out. The ceiling changed to mimic the stars outside as if we were laying in the Forbidden Forest itself.
             
"The stars are the bringers of all knowledge," Firenze began, "In them we can learn the ways of the universe, and of the glories and disasters to come. We centaurs have been learning how to interpret the movement of the planets and stars for thousands of years and I want to impart some of this knowledge on you all."
             
"We learned about that with Trelawney too," Lavender said excitedly, "Like if Saturn's rings were more than a certain distance apart it could mean that someone close to you was going to die or if Venus was."
             
She was cut off by Firenze, "Those are trivial matters that only a species such as humans would busy themselves learning about," ignoring the indignant look on Lavender's face he continued, "We will be more concerned in greater universal truths and happenings. It often takes several years for our prophecies to come to be, which makes this art hard to learn and understand in the small timeframe humans are given to live. For example, when Mars burns particularly bright it foretells a war coming, as the war god Mars is angry. The burning of specific plants can give evidence of things to come."
             
It was one of the strangest classes I've ever been in, and I've taken Trelawney's class for several years now. We burned some plants and tried to find symbols in the smoke, however no one succeeded. This didn't seem to bother Firenze though, who seemed more concerned with telling us that no knowledge was foolproof not even the centaurs, than teaching us anything specific, or giving any more specifics in the war that the centaurs believed was coming soon.
             
"Jessica Snape, stay after a minute," he said as the class was let out

Harry and Ron hesitated at the door and Firenze said, "You can stay too, just close that door quickly."

We all walked over to him and I asked, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"You are a friend of Hagrid correct?" after I nodded he continued, "I need you to tell him that his attempt is not working. I have a lot of respect for Hagrid and he has helped me on several occasions. I would like to tell him myself, however it would not be wise for me to go near the forest while my herd is still hurting from my departure. Please tell him this for me."

I knew that asking him any questions would be fruitless so I just nodded, "Okay we will get him the message. Thank you Firenze."

He bowed slightly, "Thank you as well."

There seemed to be too much weight in his words for it to be a thank you for me delivering his message to Hagrid.

Once out of the classroom Ron asked, "So what
attempt do you think he means?"        

I shrugged, "I dunno, and he wouldn't tell us if we asked, but we'll tell Hagrid anyways, I'm sure he knows what Firenze was talking about, and perhaps we can stop him if he's doing something stupid."