Crossroads of Two Worlds

38- Sleep Deprived

Two Weeks Later

Rose and Kaley and I had been searching through library books for weeks for information about Seers, and it was amazing how little of that information there was. We hadn't dared to ask any professors because for one, we weren't even sure that Kaley was a seer yet, it was really just a strong theory. We also didn't tell anyone why we were doing all of this research because we didn't know what would happen to Kaley if the world did find out that she was a seer. From the books we had read, it seemed that Seers were rare enough these days to be hunted and kept as prisoners until they 'outlived their usefulness'. None of us wanted to risk that happening to Kaley.

Currently, I was wandering through the halls, doing my best to waste time before Quidditch practice because I wasn't about to use my time wisely for the first time ever. So, I wandered.

Lost in thought about my friend's predicament, I kept walking on and on, and then I walked right into someone.

Thank the gods it was just McGonagall.

I doubted that many students had the same bond with McGonagall that I did, and I doubted that any of them ever thought to themselves what I just had. They probably never thanked anyone when they ran into her.

But when I ran into her, she didn't scold me for having my head in the clouds, she smiled, eyes twinkling at me, "Alana, dear, what is going on in that head of yours that caused you to stop looking where you were going?"

I sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm just... I can't explain because I really don't want to get my friend killed."

Oops, didn't mean for that to slip out.

McGonagall's eyes widened and stopped twinkling, "Who, Alana? Is there someone in danger?"

I cringed, "Well, not imminent, and I can't explain it here."

She nodded in understanding, "How about you and I take a trip to my office, and maybe you can explain there?"

I sighed, but ended up nodding because this was McGonagall, she'd never put Kaley in danger. She'd never put any student in danger.

She placed a hand on my back, "Walk with me."

We walked slowly towards the staircase that led to the Headmistress's office.

"You've been in no trouble at all this year, Alana, should I be concerned?"

I laughed, "Concerned that I'm not in trouble? No, I don't think so. I just have a lot to think about right now."

She nodded, "I see. But you've been keeping up with your classes and with Quidditch, from what I hear. I have heard, from one professor in particular, that you have a hankering to... how should I say this? Put minimal effort into his course."

I grinned, knowing exactly which professor she was talking about. Ever since they made us start taking Divination this year, instead of it being third year like it had been before, I'd somewhat rebelled against the class. The teacher, a Scottish wizard named Howard Averele, had his head in the clouds all of the time and with rarely an actual prediction to show for it. He had started off the school year by predicting the whole class's future, and had told me that I was going to die in the next few years. I may not have had time to cause trouble for anyone else in the school, but Averele landed himself a special place in my book after that. I'd been causing odd distractions during his course all year long.

I grinned up at McGonagall, "With all due respect, I put the same amount of effort into his class that everyone else does, and the same amount of effort I put into every other class. I just focus my efforts on disrupting class rather than participating in it."

She sighed and shook her head, then walked up the stairs to her office, as we'd reached it while we talked.

"As much as I do slightly agree that Divination is unreliable at best and that Averele is a somewhat difficult person to tolerate for a span longer than thirty seconds, no student is allowed to set off dung bombs in a Professor's office or bring live pelicans into the classroom and set them loose. Though, points for creativity are due."

I shrugged, "He told me I was going to die in a few years, so I figured I better make the years worth it."

We walked into her office and I sat down facing her on the opposite side of her desk, admiring all of the pictures and paintings on the walls in the circular room.

"Alana, I want you to know that although Averele is Divination Professor, he has made but two actual prophecies in his lifetime, and you dying is not likely to be the next true one. And even if it were, nothing is set in stone, not even when it's inside a crystal ball."

She looked at me intently, and I could tell that she meant every word, so I nodded.

She then, sat back in her chair further, "Now, what is this about a student in danger?"

I sighed, "It's Kaley."

"Miss Finch?"

I nodded, "Yes, ever since we got to school this term, she hasn't been sleeping, and when she does, she has horribly realistic dreams of things that haven't happened and people she has never met. We are trying to figure out what is going on, and our theory is that she is a Seer. Like, a real Seer, not like Averele."

McGonagall took her time to contemplate this information before she spoke again, "What sort of dreams?"

"Well, about a month ago, we were in the Room of Requirement-"

She suddenly looked shocked and sat forward, "How did you-"

I shrugged, "I guess I needed it. Last year, for a practice space. I can't go sword training in the Great Hall during the breakfast hour, can I? Anyway, we were in the Room of Requirement and Kaley had finally fallen asleep on the couch. She'd been asleep for about two hours, which is just about the most she's slept for weeks, so we didn't want to wake her up."

"And by 'we,' I assume you mean also Miss Weasley, am I correct?"

I nodded, "Yes. Rose was helping me practice, but then Kaley woke up really fast and she was breathing really hard, just like all of the other times it happened. But this time, she said she dreamed about my friend from camp, Adrian, and he was eighteen and he looked like he was dying from a cut on his neck."

"I see, and what clued you in that this wasn't a normal dream?"

"Adrian isn't eighteen, he's fifteen. And Kaley couldn't have known about the scar on his hand unless she knew him, which she doesn't. She knew the cut on his neck was from a sword just the same way she knew that he had just turned eighteen."

I stopped talking and waited for McGonagall to respond, which she took plenty of time to do. But then she stood up and walked over to a shelf in the room that was full of vials and containers of all sorts, and grabbed a flask off of the third shelf, full of what looked to be a steaming, clear liquid. A familiar one.

"Sleeping Draught?" I questioned, wondering what that was going to do for anyone.

McGonagall smiled, "I see you've kept up your  interest in potion-making, and yes, Sleeping Draught."

"What is that going to do for anyone?"

She handed it to me and then sat at her desk chair again, "Give this to Miss Finch tonight and hopefully it will serve multiple purposes. If it works, she'll get a peaceful night of sleep, which it sounds like she desperately needs. It is near impossible to dream through a Sleeping Draught, so if she does, we will know that these are not dreams, they are visions."

"And what if she is a Seer? What do we do then?"

"I suppose we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Have a good Quidditch practice, Alana."