Bold*- parstletounge

Italics - thoughts

"Normal"- speech and narrative

Chapter 40: Tea Leaves And Predictions

2/9/1993

~~~~~~~~~

At breakfast the next day, the gang were laughing and having a right blast. When Potter walked in they all pretended to faint and then laughed even harder. Cassandra caught the eye of the Hufflepuff from last year and grinned as he laughed, winking at her.

She felt a small blush rise up onto her cheeks but quickly covered it as she saw Blaise staring at her curiously.

She just shrugged at him and then went back to joking with her friends. "Hey Riddle!" Said Marcus Flint, walking up to them, "ready for another great year of quidditch and getting the cup?"

She smirked. "Why yes Marcus, I am! And this year I have something that none of the other teams will have!"

"And what's that?"

"I bought a firebolt."

Marcus's jaw dropped. "You're joking?!"

"Nope not at all!" And it was true, when getting her school supplies she had bought the fastest broom ever made - when trying it out over the holidays she had gone so fast she caught the snitch in an instant!

Flint smirked and then headed back to his mates. Daphne was examining her schedule.

"We're starting some new subjects today!"

"Ooo exciting! I can't wait!"

Just then, Hagrid entered the Great Hall. Cassandra sneered, "I still can't believe they made that oaf a teacher!"

"You and me both!" Stated Theo. "I have a really bad feeling about his first class."

"Did you 'see' something?"

The boy nodded, "only snippets, it's the bad feeling mainly, but I keep seeing Draco's face and he looks traumatised..."

Her cousins head snapped up, "what?!"

"Okay let's try not to panic! We have divination first, maybe something in there will help us understand it more?"

"Speaking of divination, we'd better head off as it'll take us ten minutes to get there!" Stated Pansy.

They finished breakfast quickly, and starting heading to the North Tower and then they realised they had no idea where they were going after that.

"What do we do?" Asked Greg. "I suppose we could ask someone?"

Cassandra caught a glimpse of a yellow and black uniform and before she could stop herself she had yelled, "hey Hufflepuff! Come here for a sec!"

The boy turned around and smiled when he saw her. He left his friends and walked up to her. "You alright darling? Anything I can help you with? I have a free period now."

Blaise narrowed his eyes at him and grabbed Cassandra's hand, Draco was glaring at him. But Cass didn't notice their hostility. "Could you show us where the divination classroom is please? We know roughly but we really don't want to be late especially because Theo is-"

Nott Jr coughed and she glanced back at him. He shook his head and she sighed, "-so excited for it."

The Hufflepuff raised his eyebrow but didn't question it, "alright darling follow me!"

He led them along corridors and up stairs they had never been in, chatting with Cassandra - who's hand was still clutched tightly in Blaise's, as if he didn't want to let her go.

"It's up there, there will be a trap door above you and a ladder will fall down eventually that leads to the classroom. Goodluck!"

"Thanks!" And with that the boy went out of sight.

"Who the bloody hell was that douche Cassandra? And how do you know him?" Draco asked as they climbed the spiraling steps, getting dizzier and dizzier, until at last they heard the murmur of voices above them.

"He's not a douche! He's the boy who helped me get back to the common room last year, he's also captain and seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. I'm actually surprised that you don't know who Cedric Diggory is Draco!" Cassandra stated as they climbed the last few steps.

They emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class was already assembled, Draco and Blaise sharing an eyeroll behind Cass's back.

They waited patiently and then, as Cedric had said, a silver ladder descended from the trapdoor above.

Everyone got quiet.

"After you," she heard Weasley say to Potter, who climbed the ladder first.

One by one each of their classmates climbed into a strange room.

It looked like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by armchairs and poufs. Blaise, Theo, Cassandra and Draco sat at one while the others sat on the adjacent.

The room was dimly lit and stiflingly warm. Scarfs were draped anywhere and everywhere and a sickly smell of perfume clouded the once clear air.

The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

"Anyone else getting the idea that this isn't going to be what we signed up for?" Whispered Blaise to the table, they nodded.

A voice came suddenly out of the shadows. "Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

Professor Trelawney moved into the firelight and Cassandra almost laughed. She was a thin woman who bore glasses that magnified her eyes several times, giving her the look of an insect. She was draped in a sparkling shawl and innumerable chains/beads hung around her spindly neck, her arms and hands encrusted with bangles and rings.

"Welcome to Divination, my name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

Draco snorted beside Cassandra, "that must be why Theo can't get a full vision- ow!" The young boy had whacked him on the head. Cassie and Blaise giggled silently.

"So, you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you...Books can take you only so far in this field..."

Cass just rolled her eyes, the woman needed to stop being dramatic and get on with the lesson.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future," Professor Trelawney went on.

"It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy," she said suddenly to Longbottorn, who, to the joy of the Slytherins, almost toppled off his pouf. "Is your grandmother well?"

"I th-think so."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear," said Professor Trelawney, the firelight glinting on her long emerald earrings.

"She certainly knows how to grab attention doesn't she?" Cassandra heard Daphne mutter behind her as Neville gulped.

"We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," she shot suddenly at Parvati Patil, "beware a red-haired man."

The girl gave a startled look at Weasley, who was right behind her and edged her chair away from him.

"Merlin this class is the best!" Laughed Draco.

"In the second term," Professor Trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball - if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us for ever."

A very tense silence followed this pronouncement. "I think it's Granger," Theo whispered, "I'm getting a vibe she doesn't like this one bit!"

Cassandra smiled at him, "you're getting premonitions, that's great! Try and focus on Care Of Magical Creatures and Draco, see if you can 'see' anything more."

"Okay!" He stated, closing his eyes as Trelawney told Lavender that the thing she most feared would happen on the sixteenth of October.

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future."

"Blaise you're with me so Theo can try and tell why exactly Draco is so terrified in Hagrid's class." Cass stated.

The four swilled the dregs around as Professor Trelawney had instructed, then drained the cups and swapped over.

"Right," said Blaise. "What can you see in mine?"

"Well there is a flock of birds which is serious and shocking news, a candle, that's help from others, and some grapes which means happiness. They are all faded which means it won't happen for a while. What about me?"

Blaise examined her cup. "You have some apples, meaning success and achievement - no surprises there. An umbrella which is annoyance, next to a bone which is disagreement with a friend."

"So I'll be annoyed at one of you after an argument?"

"Yeah it looks that way. This looks like a volcano in a triangle, which means harmful emotions including three people. It's very very clear so it will happen soon. Also you have a broken necklace which means..."

"What?"

"In danger of losing a lover.. but it's slightly faded so won't happen this year but it doesn't look like it's miles away."

Cassandra looked slightly put out but shook her head and turned to Theo. "Any of that helping?"

He looked up. "He has an hourglass which means he needs to make an important decision. He also has a flag which is a warning and a feather which is lack of concentration. There's also a bull which stands for blindly rushing into a situation. The last one is most intriguing though, it's an insect at the top of his cup. It means-"

He was interrupted by Professor Trelawney throwing herself on the ground. "My dear, you have the grim!"

"The what?" Potter replied.

Cassandra grinned and answered before Professor Trelawney could. "It takes form as a giant spectral dog. It's an omen of death Potter, the worst omen of them all!"

Whilst Cass knew it probably meant their Uncle Sirius, she couldn't help but smirk at the idea of Potter dying, and the effect that it had on the rest of the class.

They all had gone deadly silent, hands clasped over their mouths. Everyone was looking at Potter, everyone except Granger, who had gotten up and moved around to the back of Professor Trelawney's chair.

"I don't think it looks like a Grim," she said flatly.

Cassandra had to bite her tongue to stop herself laughing out loud and as she looked at her friends, they were trying not to also.

Professor Trelawney surveyed Granger with mounting dislike. "You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."

Seamus Finnigan was tilting his head from side to side.

"It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, with his eyes almost shut, "but it looks more like a donkey from here," he said, leaning to the left.

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" said Potter.

Nobody seemed to want to look at him. The Slytherins were just thinking one thing - they were so glad they chose this class.

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney in her mistiest voice. "Yes...please pack away your things..."

The rest of the class descended Professor Trelawney's ladder and the winding stair in silence. Cassandra, however, was laughing her arse off with the rest of her group.

They soon got to Professor McGonagall's classroom and Cass listened avidly as she explained about animagi. Cassandra herself was still on the meditation part but was excited to hear anything she could about the subject.

When McGonagall turned into a cat and back it was clear to Cass, and the Professor, that no one else was listening.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with a faint pop, and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Everybody's heads turned toward Potter, but nobody spoke. Granger then raised her hand. "Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and -"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Cassandra snorted loudly.

"Yes Miss Riddle?"

"Sorry Professor, it's just.. this happens every year?" The deputy headmistress nodded, "that's freaking hilarious! No wonder the woman did all that dramatic shit! I mean sure, us Slytherins know how to read tea leaves properly and our predictions will probably come true but the woman barely looked into Potters cup to see if it was a grim! She probably thought 'who gets near death experiences every year and has freakin Voldemort after him hmm I know Harry freakin Potter, let's tell him he's going to die for the laughs!' Right?"

The rest of the class looked at her in shock that she had spoken to a teacher that way. She could hear her friends laughing and out of the corner of her eye saw Granger nod in agreement. Minerva's lips twitched upwards, "mind your language Riddle! But yes, that is exactly what she does. 10 points to Slytherin!

Cass paused. McGonagall never gave points to Slytherin, she must have said something right!

"Now let's get back to the lesson! Oh and Potter? If you die there is no need to hand in your homework."

Most of the class laughed.