As much as being a seer was like a constant headache for Dora, it had its benefits. Top most was that Legilimency couldn't be used on a seer. To any legilimens, it would appear that the seer is an occlumens. Whether or not it was to prevent anyone from seeing their future inside the seer's head, Dora didn't care much.
That is why when Ro had mentioned her suspicions about Professor Hayman, Dora had shrugged them off. In her opinion, Ro was being paranoid as usual.
Even if Professor Hayman did use legilimency, they were quite protected. Ro was an expert occlumens whereas Dora was naturally safe.
But due to Ro's insistence, Dora had agreed to be more careful and wary.
Except this issue, life at Hogwarts was quite peaceful. It took Dora just a little struggle to set into routine. Although Divination was a disappointment, rest of the subject were going quite well. Especially Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Dora had always been good with plants and animals. Maybe because her father was a magizoologist and she had loved helping him as a child.
Her instincts hadn't lied when they had told her that she would find a very good friends in Alice Fawley. Honestly, Dora hadn't seen anyone as lively and innocent as Alice. They had all classes together and except for the time that Alice spent with her Hufflepuff friends and Frank, they were almost always together.
Lily was usually with Ro which Dora was grateful for since Ro really needed to get a social life and sometimes with a Slytherin who according to Lily was her childhood friend. The redhead had quite a temper especially in case of a particular black haired boy with glasses.
Ro, not unexpectedly, woke up early and Dora didn't need to ask her to know that she went for a run outside daily. She was mostly found in the Library or in empty classrooms during breaks and free periods reading and studying.
In the beginning, people were curious about two cousins who had come out of nowhere in the Gryffindor house; one sweet and polite burnette and one not-so-friendly short black haired nerd with a mysterious aura. But thanks to Lily and her prefect badge, those people were taken care of. Some students still used to stare. Ro was oblivious to their scrutiny but unfortunately, Dora was not so comfortable. She didn't go out alone if she could help it.
Professor Vablatsky had told her that she didn't posses the inner eye. This however did not dampen Dora's spirit as she found a whole section in the library on Divination which was enough to replace a professor.
This discovery was made on Thursday evening which found Dora in the Library in the Divination section. She had snuck out of the Gryffindor tower. It wasn't really difficult since Alice was with her Hufflepuff friends who Dora still had to meet whereas Lily and Ro were God knows where.
After going through a quarter of the Divination section which involved reading titles, a few pages here and a few pages there, Dora had finally decided to do some actual homework. And hence, she was sitting on the table in front of the Potions' section. Merlin knew that Slughorn was hard to please but once pleased, it was worth the effort.
There were three other girls sitting on the same table. A blonde wearing Gryffindor tie was sitting opposite to Dora and she looked really grumpy as she furiously wrote on her piece of parchment. Whereas the other two were seated at the other end of the table and they, apparently, were more interested in gaping at other people rather than doing their work. And currently, they were staring at Dora while murmuring to each other.
Dora was feeling beyond uncomfortable as she struggled to keep her composure. She had never been very confident and bold. Who wouldn't feel awkward if someone eyed you like you were a bug in their treacle tart and they were trying to decide how to throw you out.
But before she could either get up to leave or snap at them, the blonde beat her to it.
"Did you get lost?" She questioned them in her American accent.
"What?" One of them asked her blankly.
"Because this is a Library. People come here to study in case you didn't know. Not to gape and gossip." She snapped at them.
Both of them quivered under her glare as they moved to another table. Dora had to admit, she did look quite intimidating.
"Thanks." Dora almost whispered but it was loud enough for the blonde to hear.
"No problem. People are really very jobless." She replied shrugging.
Dora nodded while contemplating wether she should start a conversation with her. Deciding against it, she continued with her work. She completed the essay which Professor Slughorn had assigned and looked up to see that the blonde was also done with her work.
"By the way, I am Lucy." She smiled.
"Isadora." Dora said holding out her hand which the blonde shook.
"Well nice meeting you Isadora." And with that she left.
Other Gryffindors she had met included, obviously, James and Sirius. She hadn't properly talked to them since the feast given that mostly she saw them in classes only. They did occasionally smile at her while Sirius added a wink as well for good measure.
She also had a couple of decent conversations with Remus and Frank which revolved mostly around studies and teachers. Both were intelligent, polite and confident. Where Remus was a little shy, Frank was relatively bold.
On Friday evening after double Herbology, their last class was free. And Alice decided to introduce Dora to her other friends. Hence Dora was sitting near the lake with Alice and her three friends: Dahlia Abott, a golden blonde haired hufflepuff, Azalea Parkinson, a Ravenclaw with dark brown hair and Ivy Laurent, a white haired hufflepuff.
Azalea was apparently cousins with Dahlia and she was a pureblood whereas Dahlia was a half blood. Although Azalea's family believed in pureblood supremacy, they were not very extreme and Azalea was too close to her cousin to give a damn. Azalea was straight forward and bold whereas Dahlia was sweet and thoughtful.
Ivy on the other hand, was a muggleborn witch who lived in her own world oblivious to other people around. All three of them were in the same year as Dora and Alice. They did eye Dora curiously but didn't question her much for which she was very grateful.
And as much as Dora didn't exactly want to meet them, she enjoyed their company. Later Alice told her that Dahlia and Azlea were second or third cousins of hers since the pureblood families were interlinked.
As a child she didn't spend much time with children of her own age. Her Dad had liked travelling and so they rarely stayed at one place. That was until her mother had seen the vision which involved people looking for her, the bad sort. And then, they had to go into hiding all because of a prophecy. A prophecy made by her mom and witnessed by some muggles who had taken it as a joke but the damage had been done as the word had spread.
It took Him almost five years to finally hunt them down. He wanted quite badly to find what could possibly threaten him. That's what's wrong with tyrants and what makes them tyrants. They are always looking for a rebel. They forget that whenever someone tries to win a war that has not even begun, they not only start it early but also lose it eventually.
Dora had witnessed that prophecy. If only she could remember it clearly. That was one of the reasons she wanted to master the art of Divination. She wanted to be able to see past, present or future at her own will.