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He'd been scowling at the magic section, which, by the way, consisted of one scantily populated shelf in the library, for the past five minutes. He'd been stupid to think he'd find anything useful here. All he'd found were books on how to perform bloody magic tricks. If he'd been considering a career as a children's party entertainer then he might even have considered reading them but since that wasn't the case, they were useless to him.
He'd been researching magic on his phone last night but none of it had seemed legitimate. He pulled out his phone again and typed in dark magic. He was only met with a list of pages he'd already visited. He added book shop to the search and a location popped up. It was a small shop that he'd passed by countless times but never paid much mind to. The owner was a crazy lady who thought she was a seer, but Harry considered her to be a fraud. It was worth a try although he was sure that he would probably end up wasting his time and newly acquired money.
He'd pawned off the watch and gotten more than he'd expected for it. He made his way out of the library, smiled and greeted everyone he encountered on the way to shop and even helped an old woman with her groceries. God, when was he going to be free from this place? He was so sick and tired of playing the role of a polite, well behaved guy.
He stared at the small shop front and looked at the fake fortune ball in the display window. Yeah, he was definitely wasting his time but he had to play nice with the crazy lady. It was definitely going to be torture. He stepped into the shop and the bell on the door went ding, announcing his presence. The heavy, overwhelming scent of incense dominated his senses and he coughed. He heard the shuffling of feet and then the woman came into view. Harry's immediate impression was of a large, glittering insect. She was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in gauzy, spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.
Harry finally spoke,
"Madam Trelawney…"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence because Trelawney had shoved one of her ringed fingers over his lips,
"Ssshhh…Ssshhh…Do not talk…."
Her eyelids drooped, and her lips parted as she explored his face with her hands. It was taking him all his strength not to push her away or take a step back. She definitely seemed intoxicated. There was a very strong smell of cooking sherry coming off of her and Harry resisted the urge to gag as she drew closer to him.
It seemed like a lifetime before she pulled away her hands and opened her eyes with a gasp,
"Oh, my dear boy…"
Her magnified eyes were full of fear and wonder as she led him to sit down in one of the cushy armchairs before sitting down opposite him and spoke,
"You need a cleansing."
Harry tried not to let his disinterest show,
"A cleansing?"
She nodded fervently, picked up a ragged looking pouch and grabbed a fist full of some glittery powder before getting up and sprinkling it all over him. What the hell? It was taking him all the patience he had to sit still and not jump to his feet,
"A cleansing…Yes… There is a dark presence around you…"
Harry inwardly sighed. She probably pulled this act on everyone,
"A dark presence?"
Trelawney gripped his wrist and turned his hand, palm facing upwards. She ran her fingers over the lines and nodded,
"A very sinister presence…"
Her eyes closed again as her fingers moved from his palm and traced circles around his wrist,
"Do you not feel the chains?"
Harry leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. He might as well relax because this crazy train didn't seem to have intentions of stopping soon. He knew he was expected to speak so he said,
"What chains?"
Trelawney tsked,
"Such cluelessness…"
She released his wrist and Harry opened his eyes just in time to see her sit across from him again,
"A claim has been staked on you."
He crossed his arms over his chest,
"By who?"
She whimpered before whispering,
"He who must not be named…"
He wanted to laugh so hard…seriously…he who must not be named…that was just a brilliant way to con people. He who must not be named… it definitely eliminated the need to guess a name,
"Why not? Why can't he be named?"
She kept her mouth shut and shook her head. This was getting tiring,
"Listen, Madam Trelawney…I just came here to buy some books…Could you direct me to the books section?"
She stared at him with her mouth agape before getting up, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him,
"You do not believe me, do you?"
Harry shook his head and spoke as politely as possible,
"I do believe you, Madam."
She shook him harder,
"Then you do not understand the severity of your situation."
Okay, he was officially done. He rose to his feet and she took a step away from him,
"He will kill you. You have been marked. He will engorge himself upon your blood."
Blood…that sparked something…This could all be a very convincing act, but he needed to be sure. He took a step closer to her,
"You can't say his name?"
She nodded, and Harry pulled out his notebook, flipped to a blank page and handed her a pen,
"Write it down."
Her fingers trembled as she took the pen but made no move to write down the name. Harry drew in a deep breath and spoke as softly as possible,
"Go on, Madam…Writing it down won't hurt you."
Her hands continued to quake as she wrote down the one name, that kept popping up everywhere around him, in a messy scrawl.
Lord Voldemort