Greetings fellow readers and writers! This is my 22nd story and I hope you like it. This story is a Harry Potter one-shot, inspired by 'Harry Potter and the Guardians of the Veil,' one of the best W.I.T.C.H. fics, and Harry Potter fics I've read, by Dark Magician Grrl, whom happens to be one of the best fanfic authors I've encountered. My story, which I'm writing with permission from Dark Magician Grrl, takes place after chapter 8 of said fic. Now I don't own Harry Potter or W.I.T.C.H., so don't sue me, I'm just trying to tell a good story. And now, without any further delay, please enjoy…
Divination Homework
By AndrewK9000
"Can you believe this!?" Ron moaned as he, Harry, Will Vandom, Cornelia Hale and Elyon Brown left Divination class and headed for Defense Against The Dark Arts, "That old bat Trelawney had given us the same bloody assignment!"
"I am so sick of making predictions for the next month," Harry said.
"I don't see what the big deal is," Will said, "I mean, what's so hard about making predictions? It's not like anything we try to predict is going to come true."
"Well you're still new here," Ron said, "Try doing the same homework at the start of every month for three years in a row."
"The problem," Harry said, "Is not the actual writing. Only a few actually take Divination seriously."
"Tell me about it," Cornelia said, "Did you see how Parvarti Patill and Lavender Brown kept fawning over Professor Trelawney? That was just sick."
"Makes me wish we dropped Divination when we had the chance," Ron said, "Probably the smartest thing Hermione ever did."
"Hermione doesn't strike me as someone who would give up on something," Elyon said.
"She rarely does," Harry said, "It was a real shock when she quit."
"Well I see one bright speck for once about getting homework," Cornelia said, "It'll give some of us a chance to better know their lab partners."
"Huh?" Will asked. She then realized whom Cornelia was referring to. She blushed as she saw that Harry was looking at her. Harry also blushed as he realized that Will was looking at him.
(In case you readers are wondering why Ron and Harry still are in Divination class, I'll explain. Dark Magician Grrl, long may she write, wrote her story before Half Blood Prince was published, before we found out that everyone's favorite wizard dropped Divination. I hope this clears things up. We now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fiction.)
That night after dinner found Harry and Will in the Gryffindor common room. "Might as well get started," Will said as she and Harry pulled out their prediction charts for the next month, "This homework isn't gonna predict itself. Unless, it can predict itself?"
"Sorry," Harry said while smiling, "I'm afraid that magic can't do your homework for you. Believe me, we would have figured it out by now if it could."
"Worth a shot," Will said while also smiling, "So, what do we do about this? Like Ron said, I'm still new."
"Well," Harry said, "Unless you have some secret psychic talent that I don't know about…"
"Sorry," a grinning Will said, "No such luck on that."
"Worth a shot," Harry grinned.
At this they both laughed. Yet Will knew that Harry wasn't far from the mark. She did have secret powers, as did her friends. Will didn't know if she could fully trust Harry, but she hoped that one day she would.
"As much as I'm glad to see that you're both getting along," Hermione said the next couch over, surrounded by her usual mountain of books, parchment and quills, "And really, I do, I've got two essays to write in less than 48 hours. So if you don't mind…"
"We'll be quiet, Hermione," Harry said.
"How can she stand having so much work to do?" Will said in a slightly hushed tone.
"I sometimes wonder if she's still sane," Harry said, "So, where were we? Oh, the best thing you can do, is what Ron and I've been doing for the past three years: make it up as you go along."
"You can't be serious," Will said, "You've been making false predictions for three years? And getting away with it?"
"That's right," Harry said, "Just write down some really bad things that could happen, the worse the better."
"And Professor Trelawney won't see the difference?" Will asked.
"The more gloom and doom," Ron said as he and Dean Thomas got to work on their assignment, "The better. Old Trelawney really likes the depressing type."
"The hard part," Harry said, "Is coming up with original material each month. That's what Trelawney will catch you on."
And I thought school was hard in America, Will thought. With that she and Harry began brainstorming various misfortunes that would afflict them in the coming weeks.
Actually, it was Will who tossed up most of the ideas, such as death by various magical means, loss of personal property, financial depression and so on. Yet all of her ides were vetoed by Harry. He said that, while pretty good for their context, they were all used before, and that Trelawney would spot the plagiarism in a heartbeat.
"You really are experienced," Will said in a tone that was both impressed and annoyed. "How am I supposed to get this done if everything I come up with has already been done?"
"You could always drop the subject," Ron said, "I'm sure Hermione would be happy."
"My ears are burning, Ronald," Hermione said without looking up form her work.
"Want to stop and work on what Professor Lin gave us?" Harry asked.
"Not just yet," Will said, "I don't give up so easily."
"Me neither," Harry said.
In truth, Will would rather be doing the assignment from Defense against The Dark Arts, and if Will ever had a true prediction, she would guess correctly that Harry would want to do the same. But like Will said, she doesn't give up easily.
Just then Will had an idea. "These predictions for the month, they don't have to be about what's gonna happen to us personally, right?"
"I honestly don't know," Harry said, "Me and Ron have just been doing each other's futures."
"Well what's stopping us from predicting events that could happen to the world in general?" Will asked, "Like an earthquake or a flood?"
"That's not a bad idea," Elyon said from over near the fireplace where she and Cornelia were doing their homework.
"Yeah," Cornelia said, "Bad stuff happens all over the world all the time. We could make up a few impending disasters."
"That'll really polish old Trelawney's glasses," Ron said, "Count me and Dean in."
"Us too," Elyon said, "I never was good at foretelling the future. It'll be fun making it up."
"So where do we start?" Dean asked.
"How about an earthquake," Will said, "But it's got to be someplace that doesn't have earthquakes normally. Someplace improbable."
"How about St. Louis?" Cornelia suggested.
"That's good," Will said as she wrote it down, "Or, how about one in London or Paris?"
"Why not all three?" Harry said, "On different dates of course."
"Even better!" Will said eagerly as she continued writing, "Keep 'em coming."
"A tornado in New York City," Elyon said, "Or in Philadelphia."
"How about Rome, or Madrid," Harry said.
"I've got a good one," Cornelia said, "A hurricane in Boston."
"That might actually happen," Elyon said.
"In the middle of April?" Cornelia asked.
"Point taken," Elyon said, "Wait, I've got a better one. A hurricane hit's Dover, Delaware, and continues inland towards Pittsburg."
"This is all good stuff," Will said, "But there's still plenty of days to fill in for all our assignments, keep it up."
"If you're taking suggestions," said Seamus, "How about a tsunami hitting Brazil?"
"Or Canada," said Ginny, "Wait, I've got something better. How about a celestial body hitting the Earth, like an asteroid or a comet?"
"Gruesome," Will said, "I like it. A small meteor or comet hit's a major city or near one."
"Instead of an meteor hitting the ground," Elyon said, "How about one exploding in the atmosphere? Like the one that exploded over Siberia in 1908."
"Nuclear war," Cornelia suggested.
"Unlikely," Will said, "But it's worth writing down. Anything else?"
"A world wide pandemic," Colin Creevy suggested, "Like Ebola or Smallpox."
"Hemorrhagic Fever," Katy Bell said, "Or bubonic plague."
"Contamination of fresh water supplies," Dean said.
"Contamination of food supplies," Ginny said.
"A drought brought on from global warming," said Seamus.
"A flood brought on from global warming," Elyon said.
"A super swarm of locust," said Cornelia.
"Oh please," said an irate Hermione as she marked her spot in her Advanced Arthmacy book, "You're all thinking small."
"You think global warming is small?" Ron asked.
"I'm saying that there are other methods of mass disaster that go beyond terrestrial origin," Hermione said, "You already suggested a small asteroid or comet. Well how about a large celestial body, like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago."
"A global extinction of mankind," Will said, "That's perfect, I'll safe that for the end of the month."
"Keep that date open," said Hermione, "I'm just getting warmed up. Ever hear of a Gama Ray Burst?"
"Not really," Cornelia said, "Do tell."
"When a star collapses into a black hole," Hermione said, "It releases huge amounts of Gama radiation. These are the biggest explosions of energy in the universe. If a Gama Ray Burst were to hit the Earth, it could lead to a mass extinction. Fortunately, all observed Gama Ray Bursts have occurred on other galaxies, so we're safe, for the moment.
"But if you wish to talk about a more serious threat to the world, try a solar flare. That'll cook the planet before you know it. Or how about the sun going super nova, or turning into a black hole."
"How do you know all this?" Ron asked.
"I may be a witch," Hermione said smugly, "But I still read the muggle science journals. Anyway, here's something that'll blow you away. Did you know that there are large deposits of frozen methane on the ocean floor?"
"I think I do," Will said, "There are some who think that if we can get to it, all that frozen methane can be used an alternative fuel source."
"True," Hermione said, "But, what if a large amount of methane were to melt and become gas again. If conditions are right, a large jet of methane can be released into the atmosphere."
"That's got to stink," Ron said, earning a lot of giggles from everyone in the common room.
"It wouldn't stink for long," Hermione said, "One spark is enough to ignite that cloud of methane, causing an explosion unlike anything seen in human memory."
"Death by methane," Cornelia said, "Sounds like something Irma would think of."
Over in the Ravenclaw common room, Irma was going over the day's homework with Taranee and Hay Lin, when she suddenly sneezed twice.
"Someone's talking about you," Luna Lovegood said idly.
"And I think I know who," Irma said.
Back in the Gryffindor common room, everyone was pestering Hermione to come up with more outlandish disasters. "You're all missing the point," Hermione said.
"There's a point?" Ron asked.
"I think I just realized it," Will said in a serious tone, "Life."
"Like?" Ron said, "I thought we were talking about ways the world can end."
"That's the thing, Ron," Harry said, "We spend so much time worrying about who things are going to end, on who we're going to die, that sometimes we forget to live. I think what Hermione is trying to point out, is that we should live as best as we can and hope for the best."
"I think you're right, mate," Ron said. With that the Gryffindors went back to their evening activities.
"I actually believe I've taught Ron something," Hermione said as she went back to her pile of work, "First time for everything."
"Your friend Hermione," Will said to Harry, "She's pretty smart."
"That she is," Harry said, "Now, if only she could get Ron to think of something other than Quidditch."
"Not this millennium," Ginny sighed.
The next day Harry and Will turned in the homework for Divination class. They filed the prediction chart with some of the suggested disasters, but left plenty of days filled with positive foretelling, such as the discovery of an alternative, environmentally friendly fuel source, or a vaccine for cancer.
"If there's one thing my mom tried to teach me," Will said, "Is to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best."
"What she said," Harry added.
"I see," Professor Trelawney said as she reviewed Harry and Will's predictions, "Well then, fifty points to Gryffindor."
"Huh?" both Will and Harry said.
"What the…?" Elyon and Cornelia said.
"Excuse me?!" said both Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown.
"I don't believe it," Ron said.
"Don't you see, my dears?" Trelawney said, "Young Mr. Potter and Ms. Vandom have got it. Those who are blessed with the inner eye can see more than one outcome. But it takes true spirit to prepare for all outcomes." She looked down and smiled at Will and Harry through her oversized glasses, "Well done, you two."
"Am I the only one who had no idea what just happened?" Ron asked as class ended for the day.
"I guess we got lucky," Will said while watching Parvati and Lavender have a preverbal litter of kittens.
"We did get lucky," Harry said, "Lucky that we've got Hermione to keep our heads in line."
"Do you think Ron really gets it?" Will asked.
"I don't know," Harry said, "But at least we earned a lot of points today, that's got to count for something."
"But what about next month?" Will asked, "You think we can get lucky again?"
"If there's one think that I know about Hogwarts," Harry said, "And about magic in general, is that anything is possible."
The End
I hope you've enjoyed this little fic as much as I've enjoyed writing it. My thanks again to Dark Magician Grrl for her permission to use her work as inspiration. Until next time!!