Only once in her life time was Sibyll Trelawney ever inside of the Department of Mysteries.
She had gone to apply for a job at Hogwarts. It had been set up two weeks before hand and she had been nervous since then. She'd looked at her tea leaves twice a day, every day. The worst part was that they kept giving her mixed signals. She kept getting the wheel, sometimes complete and sometimes broken. Would it be good fortune or disappointment? Maybe it would be good fortune that led to disappointment or disappointment that led to good fortune. She didn't know what to think. Looking in her crystal ball wasn't helping either. The ball had been cloudy for weeks, barely showing her a thing and when it did, the images made no sense. Sometimes there was a baby or sometimes a dark house.
Sibyll didn't know if it was the war or the interview that was causing her magic such problems. It had to be stress.
When the interview finally came it seemed to being going fine at first. Professor Dumbledore had been very polite and courteous. He asked her questions about her family and experience. Sibyll had been proud to tell about her work in Wales with dream reading and about her Great-great-grandmother. Then suddenly Professor Dumbledore was holding her by the shoulders talking quickly and leading her out of the room with his wand in his hand. She didn't know what was going on; she hadn't even seen him get up out of his chair. He kept an arm protectively around her shoulders and his wand out all the way to the floo fire in the main foyer. He had changed from so kindly looking to fierce and powerful. She was almost afraid of him.
She kept asking him what had happened.
"We are going to the Ministry," was all he had said.
He had sent her through first and followed after. It seemed as if half the people at the ministry stopped to speak two words to him each. Then suddenly they were in front of the department of mysteries and Professor Dumbledore was passing her arm to a man in a gray robe with a silver clasp and the letter P on it.
"What is the P for?" She had asked.
"Prophesies," He said.
Dumbledore left in a hurry saying something about 'people to contact.'
"Just what is going on?" She asked the man.
He didn't answer her but led her through the main door on that floor into a circular room with doors all around. He closed the door behind him. Sibyll nearly jumped in surprise as the very floor she was standing on spun around. When it stopped she had no idea which door they had come through. A tremor of fear ran through her. What did they want with her?
"Maximillion Everart," The man with her said, once they were still.
A door to her right opened and light spilled out.
"This way, please." The man outstretched his hand for her to go ahead.
Unable to speak Sibyll walked ahead into the room. There were clocks everywhere. The walls were covered in clocks as were the rows of shelves that filled the room. They ranged in sizes from a normal pocket watch to a gigantic one in the middle of the room. There were also desks. At one sat a blonde witch with glasses wearing the same robe as Maximillion only the letter on hers was T. There was an open book and two palm sized clocks in front of her.
"What… what is…"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Trelawney but we must continue on."
He took her arm and led her through a narrow space between the shelves. They went through an arch way into a vast corridor with a high ceiling. There were rows and rows of shelves numbered with little gold bars. Just in front of her was row number 53 which, like all the others in the room, contained small cloudy glass spheres.
"This is…" She looked up through her glasses at the ceiling high above. "This is absolutely amazing!"
Maximillion chuckled lightly and pulled her gently to the left. "I thought the same thing when I first came here."
She looked down at him. "So, you work here?"
He nodded. "This is The Hall of Prophecy."
"Oh my, it's…" She stopped abruptly and looked at him. "Prophecy?"
He nodded again as they stopped by a door with no handle that until that moment Sibyll hadn't known was there.
"So, does that mean…"
Maximillion smiled at her and put his hand flat on the door. He kept it there for a moment then the door disappeared and they walked through in to a room lit by five large candles floating above their heads. It was considerably less wide that the hall but she could not see the ceiling and assumed it must be just as high. There were about a dozen rows of shelves with orbs just like in the hall. However, the difference was these orbs were perfectly clear unlike the misty ones in the hall.
"Go a head and pick one," He said to her.
She stared at him. "What?"
"Please, pick a container and we'll begin."
"Why am I here?" She asked.
He simply looked at her.
"Have I made a…" She couldn't finish the sentence.
She had never made a prophecy before. She had learned everything, read tea leaves, watched the stars, but as far as she knew she had never actually made a prophecy.
"Please, Ms. Trelawney. We must do this now."
Nodding, Sibyll walked forward to the first row and picked one of the glass spheres off of the shelf. Holding it between her hands she walked back over. She held it out to Maximillion but he shook his head.
"I can't touch it. Just stay still, please."
Then he pulled his wand out of his pocket and held it against the side of her head. Sibyll felt herself shake slightly in response. Was he going to rip it out of her brain? He began to mutter under his breath incantations that she had never heard before. The point where his wand touched her head felt cold. He removed his wand and moved it to the other side of her head and muttered the same string of incantations again. The coldness of his wand seemed to be spreading down through her arms and chest. She felt ill. Just then she noticed the ball of glass in her hands felt lighter until she realized that she was no longer actually holding it but it was hovering above her hands, a mist now swirling within it.
"Oh my…"
Maximillion removed his wand from the side of her head and placed it on top of the orb. He seemed to be breathing heavier with exertion. A faint light emanated from the end his wand and the clouds inside spun furiously. Suddenly, she heard her own voice coming from the sphere. She was talking about the defeat of the Dark Lord, a boy marked… She stared at the man in front of her in shock but he just looked intently at the point of his wand until her voice from the mist stopped. The sphere fell back into her hands. He removed his wand and looked up at her.
"What… I said… I…"
His hand rested on her shoulder and he steered her back out into the hall. Sibyll suddenly notice again how high the ceiling was as they walked down the rows.
"Here we are," He said as they stopped by row 97. "There is an empty space for yours just there." He pointed. "Would you please place the orb there?"
She did so and the glass sat perfectly still in place. Maximillion scribbled the end of his wand over the little name plate under. Initials appeared beginning with Sibyll's.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to see this again," Maximillion said.
She simply nodded, a little too overcome to care right now. Just what had her voice been saying? She couldn't remember. It was slipping away from her.
"It's time to go."
He took her arm and they walked purposefully out of the room. Sibyll watched the rows go by and then when they entered the next room she tired to get a glimpse of what the witch at the table was doing with the clocks. She looked as though she was younger now than she had been when Sibyll had first come in. However, they were back through the door before she could be sure. Back in the center of the revolving doors Maximillion held his wand up.
"Exit one."
A door opened and behind Sibyll he put both hands on her shoulders leading her out. That place had been amazing. Now, she felt warmth in her body beginning from where Maximilliong touched her.
Her head felt like it was clearing. It had been dark and light at the same time, hadn't it? It was so large and full of so much. She was feeling warmer by the minute and it suddenly occurred to her that she didn't know that she'd been cold.
Her mind felt still and almost empty. It was a pleasant feeling. Sibyll felt better than she had since before the war.
It was then that Sibyll realized there were hands on her shoulders. She turned around.
"Excuse me?" She asked.
The man behind her backed away a step. "I beg your pardon," He replied. "You seem to be lost."
Sibyll looked around her. She was lost. She hadn't been her before.
"Yes, yes it seems you're just right."
She was at the Ministry, she knew that. She'd come here with Professor Dumbledore but why? It had to be something with the job interview. She must have gotten the job!
"I think I've been separated from the gentleman I came here with."
"You mean me?" A voice behind her said.
She turned to see the tall figure of Albus Dumbledore there.
"Oh! There you are."
"Sorry to have kept you waiting my dear," He replied.
She nodded and turned back to the man standing by the wall.
"Thank you very much."
He nodded and bowed his head slightly to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore looked back intently at the man and then smiled.
"Yes, thank you very much indeed."
The man's smile widened and Sibyll looked quickly between the two of them.
"Yes, well." She looked at Professor Dumbledore. "Shall we be off? Do I have the job?"