Challenge # 43: Someone starts something new.

Title: Second Guessing The Headmaster

Rating: G

Characters: Sibyll Trelawney and Rubeus Hagrid

Sibyll sat on the stump just inside the forest's edge and sniffled loudly. Her nose was as shiny as a beacon, and her handkerchief was so sodden that it appeared as if she'd doused it in water. As she gave a huge gulping sigh, she suddenly heard a stick break behind her back. Instantly, she jumped to her feet and whirled around, managing to knock her glasses askew as she scrambled to clear her blurry vision.

"Oh, hey, Perfesser…there's no need ter get worried or nothin'. It's just me." Hagrid stood awkwardly a couple of feet away with a slightly nervous smile on his face.

"Oh, Hagrid…you startled me." Sibyll sniffed loudly as she righted her spectacles and wiped her nose on the soggy mess of cloth in her hand. "Please, excuse me. I didn't mean to intrude on your forest."

Hagrid chuckled. "T'ain't my forest. It don't really belong to anyone…well…maybe the Centaurs, I suppose. They certainly act as if they own it anyways." A faint scowl darkened his features for a brief moment.

Sibyll shuddered noticeably. "The Centaurs…yes. Like Firenze…"

"Most o' 'em aren't much like Firenze, though. Unfortunately," stated Hagrid gloomily. Then he looked closer at Trelawney's tear streaked face. "Beggin' yer pardon, Perfessor, but you don't look so good. Is everything okay?"

"Oh," sniffled Sibyll as she tried to straighten up, nervously smoothing down her wild hair. "Yes…yes…allergies…you know."

Hagrid looked doubtful. "Allergies. If you have allergies then why were you sittin' here in the woods? If yer don't mind my askin'…a course."

Sibyll's shoulders slumped. "Oh, all right. No. It's not allergies. We're about to start a new school term, and for the first time…I'm…I'm afraid."

"Afraid? Whot you got to be afraid of? You been teaching here for a long time. It's never scared you before." Hagrid watched her curiously.

The bedraggled witch hung her head and sniffled again. "That's because I always felt that I had the support of the Headmaster before. But ever since I discovered that he only wants to keep me here because of that prophecy I made years ago, I've been feeling…uncertain. I mean…he replaced me! With that Centaur. And all the students seem to love his classes so. It seems as if Dumbledore only keeps me around now because he's afraid to let me go, so I won't tell anyone else what I told him. He doesn't actually have any faith in my abilities at all any more. If he ever did."

Slowly, Sibyll sank back down onto the stump and stared dejectedly at her shoes.

Hagrid came over and sank down onto the ground next to her, putting their heads on an even line.

"Aw, now that ain't the way to think of it at all. I'm sure that Perfesser Dumbledore trusts ya and stuff. He just wants to keep ya safe."

"Safe," she choked out with a strangled little laugh. "Oh yes…I must be kept safe. Do you know I wasn't even allowed to leave the castle this summer? No. Everyone else got to leave and go to their meetings and vacations, but not me. I had to spend the entire summer sitting up there in my tower all alone. It gave me a lot of time to think, and I think that I'm nothing more than a pitiful old fool…and everyone knows it."

"Aw, that's just nonsense." The groundskeeper patted her hand in sympathy. "Dumbledore wouldn't keep you here teaching the kids if he didn't think you had sumthin' of value to give 'em. He's a great man, is Dumbledore. Knows what he's doin' to be sure. He wouldn't have you teach those kids if he didn't believe in you."

Sibyll glanced shyly sideways. "Do you really think so?"

Hagrid nodded solemnly. "Yup."

"Then why does he continue to have Firenze teaching Divination, too?" she asked softly.

"Well, I reckon that Perfesser Dumbledore knows that what you two teach is so important that the students just need a double dose of it."

She brightened up at that. "Do you really think so?"

"Sure," said Hagrid with a smile as he tried to hide his crossed fingers behind his back.

"Maybe you're right." Sibyll sat up straighter and gazed thoughtfully into the distance. "Perhaps, dear Albus has come to finally realize the importance foretelling the future could play in our upcoming struggle. And he wants to be sure that the next generation of wizards and witches is properly prepared to face that future with the armor of knowledge that I can provide. Perhaps, I've been worried for nothing. After all…he is leaving the advanced classes to me."

Hagrid nodded encouragingly. "Right…sounds like him."

Sibyll turned and threw her arms around the startled man and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek…what she could find of it through all that hair. She got to her feet with a smile and a rattle of beads. "Thank you, Hagrid. You've made me feel so much better. Better get going…so much to do to get ready for the new term, you know!" Then with a whirl of bright clothing, she was gone and Hagrid could hear her footsteps running back towards the castle.

The half-giant smiled a bemused smile to himself. "I sure hope Dumbledore knows what he's doin'" he murmured softly.