The Art of Divination

2 September 1993 - Hogwarts - North Tower

Sybill Trelawney barely refrained from smirking to herself as she wrapped up in innumerable shawls before her first class of the cohort that included Harry Potter. She'd been surprised by her roster. She knew Dumbledore held her discipline in low esteem, and McGonagall followed in his lead.

I wonder if something about Transfiguration makes its wielders rigid thinkers, she mused, waiting for the time to tick down. She had not anticipated the presence of Mr. Potter, who was widely reputed to be the Headmaster's protege, or that of Miss Granger, who idolized her Head of House. Perhaps their presence will lead to the Art being viewed with greater esteem, Sybill hoped.

As the clock ticked over to nine, Professor Trelawney flicked her wand towards the trapdoor, loosing it and letting the stepladder rattle downwards. She smiled at the startled gasps of her students below. It never gets old, she thought.

"Come, my dears! Come," she called, pitching her voice to carry, despite the breathy, ethereal quality of tone she affected. "Don't be shy. And in this one instance, gentlemen ascend first!"

Hermione Granger's face was flushed red as she burst through the trapdoor into the tower, realizing the import of Professor Trelawney's admonition. She clutched her books tighter and scurried to a seat.

Professor Trelawney waited patiently for the class to enter her tower and be seated. "Welcome, students. How nice to see your faces in the waking world at last. I see eighteen faces, and I expected eighteen students, but to be sure, this is OWL Divination, Year One, Ravenclaw-Slytherin-Gryffindor. Does anyone present not belong?"

She waited thirty seconds for her students to assure themselves that they did in fact belong, before continuing, "You are here to learn the Art of Divination. Let us begin by defining Divination. Does anyone wish to attempt to do so?" Miss Granger raised her hand immediately. Sybill waited for five seconds, and then gestured. "Miss Granger."

"Divination," Hermione stated clearly, "Is the art by which signs and portents from magic may be interpreted to aid prognostication."

"A concise summary of the definition espoused by Unfogging the Future, your course book. Thank you Miss Granger." Hermione beamed. "Also entirely wrong." Hermione looked quite startled at that pronouncement.

Sybill rose from her seat and glided around the room as she spoke, "The Art of Divination is nothing more, nor anything less, than the use of magic to gather data or information. All of you have used a divination at least once. Take a moment to think on what I've just told you, and try and identify the divination in question." Sybill waited and hoped. She hadn't yet had anyone answer this successfully, but this year's cohort included some of the school's best. After forty-five seconds she added, "As a hint, you learned it in first year charms."

Three seconds later Miss Granger's hand was again in the air. Sybill smiled and nodded to her, making a gesture that she should wait. After another few moments had passed, she called out, "Miss Granger?"

"The time charm, Tempus," she said.

"Excellent!" Sybill clapped her hands together once, smiling broadly. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Miss Granger is correct. The time charm is indeed a Divination.

"The Ministry of Magic has a schizophrenic relationship with the subject of Divination. You may have noticed that I am mildly contemptuous of your textbook, Unfogging the Future. That's because it's a horrible book and nearly useless as a guide to Divination. I assigned it because it's the best of a very bad lot not on the Ministry's restricted book list and the headmaster would not allow me to not assign a book.

"You, boy," she called, gesturing imperiously to Neville Longbottom, "is your grandmother well?"

"I th-think so," Neville answered.

"Shall we find out?" Sybill asked. Turned from the students she made another theatrical gesture towards the corner, and a much subtler gesture with her wand. A sheet whipped away from a large, circular mirror set up in the corner, neatly folding itself to the side.

"Ge-ree-ah, te-li-oom, ge-ree-ah, vi-si-oom," she intoned, following the chant with careful steps and broad gestures in front of the mirror. "Mag-na-fi-um, mag-na-fi-um." Sybill followed the chant with her own magic, letting the mnemonic guide the shape of the magic. She repeated the whole invocation six times more, and called out, "OSTENS!"

The mirror flared with white light, leaving spots dancing in the vision of all those attending to the demonstration. Sybill sagged slightly, and Parvati Patil sprang from her seat, offering the professor a hand. "Thank you, Miss Patil the Elder," Professor Trelawney murmured as Parvati handed her into her seat.

Where before the mirror reflected the classroom atop the North Tower, now it provided a window into an elegant tearoom. Seated at a graceful-looking table was a tall, stern-faced woman with a stuffed vulture hat, taking her breakfast. She glanced up, directly to the mirror, and gave a genteel wave.

"That's Gran!" Neville exclaimed.

"And she does appear to be quite well," Trelawney continued, "Does she not?"

"Yes, Professor," Neville responded.

"Thank her for assisting me the next time you write to her, Mister Longbottom. We arranged for this demonstration over the summer.

"Divination," Trelawney declared, "is the art of knowledge. An OWL in the subject is required by the Auror Academy, by Gringotts' Curse Breaking division, by St. Mungo's Healer Apprenticeship Program, and by all Magical Construction and Engineering jobs." Another dramatic gesture, covering a much more subtle motion of her wand, caused the image in the mirror to ripple and fade, returning to a simple reflection.

"The Ministry of Magic accepts the necessity of educating young diviners, but they do their very best to make it quite difficult to actually practice divination. Someone aside from Miss Granger venture a guess as to the logic."

After a short pause, Ron Weasley's hand was lifted into the air. Sybill nodded and made a beckoning gesture. "It's about keeping secrets, isn't it?"

"A sensible answer. More specifically, it's about the invasion of privacy and power imbalances. You all observed me scry upon Augusta Longbottom just now. I am, unashamedly, the weakest magical adult in the school. Most of the seventh-year students and a few of the sixth-year students are more powerful than I. But I was able to observe Dame Longbottom from 350 miles away, using the more power intensive version of the spell that allowed her to see me, as well.

"But to BLOCK such a casting requires almost twenty times the amount of power," Trelawney continued. "We will go into the reasons why during the last term of your OWL year. Questions?"

To no one's surprise, Hermione lifted her hand. Sybill pointed, "Miss Granger?"

"What was the chant you did to see Dame Longbottom?"

"Theatre, mostly," Sybill answered. "More accurately, it was a multi-sensory mnemonic designed to help me shape my magic into what's technically called a discernment web with weeking, visual components.

"One of the reasons that Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall disapprove of Divination is that it's much less precise than the core disciplines. Divination is more about intuition and feeling than technical precision. Any other questions?"

There were none.

"Then for homework, list five occupations where Divination would be useful or necessary, why, and how it could be used. Class dismissed, gentlemen, the ladies descend the stair first. Miss Granger, please remain behind."

Hermione fidgeted as the rest of the class exited the tower, worrying at her fingers. Being asked to remain left her uncomfortable. Professor Trelawney smiled reassuringly as the students departed. Once the room was clear she doffed her heavy glasses and began unwrapping the shawls.

"Step into my office, Miss Granger," she directed, her voice crisper and much richer than her classroom voice. Together the two entered the office that was against the outer edge of the tower. Hermione was taken aback. The outer wall had been replaced or enchanted - it was sheet glass floor to ceiling. A low table, sofa, and two settees were arranged comfortably to one side of the door, and a simply appointed desk with two guest chairs on the other. None of the frills and furbelows Hermione expected were in the office, it was almost stark in simplicity.

Professor Trelawney seated herself behind the desk, gesturing for Hermione to take a seat opposite. "Miss Granger, let me first say I'm very proud of you. I've been teaching this course since 1981, and every year I've asked about what divinations students might have already used. You are the first student to correctly answer."

Hermione pinked slightly at the praise. "Thank you, professor."

"Now, you noticed that your course section excluded the students of Hufflepuff House. Do you know why?"

Hermione paused, and then shook her head, "No, ma'am, I don't."

"It's because of the way Hufflepuff students generally react to failure," Trelawney explained. "Broadly, when a Hufflepuff attempts something and fails, their first response is to try again, with more focus, more concentration, more precision, more effort.

"That is an admirable and usually effective reaction to being unsuccessful. It is also exactly the wrong method to use with divinations. The Hufflepuff students are segregated from the rest of the houses for the first two terms because they require a different sort of instruction, to break them of their habits.

"I've spoken with your Head of House, and she suggests that your reactions to being unsuccessful are congruent with that of a typical Hufflepuff. Do you agree?"

Hermione frowned as she thought about it, finding the self-examination uncomfortable. After a few moments she nodded, "Yes, ma'am. Professor McGonagall was correct in her evaluation."

Sybill nodded briskly. "Then I recommend, but do not require, that you transfer to the Hufflepuff section. I am aware you may prefer to be with your housemates, but I think you will find the instruction in the Hufflepuff section more useful. Please let me know by the Monday."

"Yes, ma'am," Hermione assented. "Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Why all the… drama? Why the costume?"

Sybill smiled indulgently, "Miss Granger, I'm well aware of the contempt in which the Headmaster holds my discipline. And he has been the most influential voice in education for four generations. My students come to me with prejudices and expectations.

"I indulge them because if I match their expectations, they're paying attention to the course material, not trying to reconcile their prejudices with reality. You're dismissed, good day, Miss Granger."

"Good day, professor."

fin

A/N: I owe the inspiration for this to someone whose story I unfortunately cannot remember. I DO remember that in the story Divination as a discipline was considered a violation of the Statute of Secrecy, that it involved a Harry Potter/Daphne Greengrass/Somebody triad, and that the three protagonists learned proper divination from an OC ghost who predated the statute and was bound to a tree (I think a Yew tree)