Nora
Fall 1976
All of her professors had begun by explaining the importance of sixth and seventh years, NEWTs, etc.. Nora hadn't been surprised when she was the only student who decided to take NEWT level Astronomy. She and Professor Sinistra had discussed the possibility of her taking the course before OWLs. Apart of History of Magic it was probably one of the least popular of the core classes students had to take. But Nora loved it. She had a knack for it and easily was able to connect it with her Divination classes. Making the technical star charts for Astronomy and the Astrological ones for Divination was something she found insanely interesting. Her Divination class was not much larger. There were only a handful of students in the course. Professor Mopsus was thrilled to see all of them in the first class saying that all of his favorites had made the cut.
Unlike every other professor who began their first lecture stressing the importance of the coming year, Mopsus decided to take a more relaxed route.
"You may have noticed that we are in a new room this year and the reason is quite simple. I am just too old for all those stairs. Moving on, as you all know this class focuses heavily the skill of interpretation. True Sight cannot be taught, but how you examine the details is an invaluable skill. Up to now, I have taught you various forms of fortune telling techniques such as reading tea leaves, dream interpretation, astrology, palmistry, and so on. We will of course be continuing to do these things and more, but I would like to try something new with you all that I myself am quite new at." Mopsus paused and looked around eagerly at the students. Nora couldn't help but wonder why he bothered since he was mostly blind. "We are going to have a little story time!" He chuckled to himself and waved his wand at the window. The drapes pulled themselves closed, putting them in darkness for a moment before the fireplace was brought to life. Mopsus dropped himself into a rather squishy-looking armchair at the front of the room.
"This summer, after you all fled from your OWL examinations, I decided to travel to somewhere I'd never been. I have an old friend- older than I- who lives on the island of Kauai. There is a small herd of centaurs who live on the island. My friend had spent years building a relationship with the herd, which you should all know is an extraordinary feat. Centaurs are very distrustful of humans. But, I met with them and learned from them. I told them that I am a teacher of Divination. The centaurs are extremely skilled at reading the stars and often more accurate than the most skilled human. They normally would never share their skill with a human, but they made an exception. Perhaps the centaurs of Kauai are more open than those here in Europe." He paused to take a sip of his tea. Nora leaned forward slightly, her stomach tightening with excitement.
"The Kauai centaurs explained their method to me and I now would like to share it with all of you. Now be aware that it was very unlikely any of you will master it, as even I have not. Their connection with the universe is very different than ours, and I of course can only teach you what I have learned."
There was a moment of silence while the five students took in this information. "Professor?" A Hufflepuff girl said tentatively. Mopsus turned his head in her direction and nodded for her to continue. "How will we be graded on the, uh, centaur divination?"
"Ah. You will be graded only on your level of effort. If you do not try, you will fail. As I said, I too am learning and it would be quite cruel to grade you on skills I myself do not have." He said. "All other work will be graded as it has always been. If there are no other questions, I think we can end class early. I'm not in the mood to start teaching yet."
With this dismissal the students began packing up. Mopsus flicked his wand once more, this time to extinguish the fire and open the drapes. "Miss Lockwood, would you mind staying a moment."
Nora had just turned to leave. She paused before making her way to the front of the room where he sat. He flicked his wand and dragged a second armchair beside him. She sat down and waited while the rest of the students left. Once the door shut behind them, he turned to face her.
Professor Mopsus was fairly old with thick grey hair on his head and face. His beard was not quite as long as Dumbledore's, but still quite long. His skin was slightly yellow and his eyes had steadily been clouding over throughout the years. He was one of Nora's favorite professors.
"How are you doing, my dear?" He asked, picking up his tea cup.
"I'm fine." She said, crossing her legs. He made a noise.
"Would you like a cup?" He didn't wait for her to answer before producing a mug of tea before her.
"Are you going to read my tea leaves?" She chuckled before taking a sip. It was pleasantly warm.
"Is there something you'd like to know? Or rather, not know?" Mopsus raised one of his grey, hairy eyebrows.
"I'm sure anything you'd fine would be quite dull." She took another drink, glancing into the cup. She could see the leaves swirling in the bottom. "Professor, I was wondering… well I had a dream over the holiday and it felt meaningful, but I've never Seen anything through dreams before- nothing significant anyway."
He hummed, before emptying out his cup and swirling the dregs. "I find dreams to be the hardest to interpret. It's very similar to the crystal ball where it's just images, scenes. It's rarely anything whole or sensible. That's why interpretation can be very tricky. Some of the most talented Seers wasted their gifts because they failed in that aspect. Now, if you find that a dream is especially vivid there are a few possibilities. Of course it is possible that it was just a dream or a nightmare. More likely than not, that will be the case but you will know in your gut if it's something more." He paused and looked thoughtfully at his tea cup. "I do not believe the future is definite. So this vision could be a warning that you must adjust your path of this will be the consequence or the opposite. Seeing is not precise, you know this."
Nora had emptied her own cup and out of habit stirred the dregs.
"Let me see your cup." He held out his hand. Nora obliged. He brought it close to his face. Nora had always wondered how he was able to read leaves or see in the crystal ball with how poor his eyesight was. He frowned slightly and turned it over in his hands. Without a word he passed his cup to her. She looked away from Mopsus to examine his cup.
"What do you see?" Mopsus asked, not lifting his eyes.
"Uh, you have a spiral so creativity, energy…also maybe a cup for celebration?" Nora set down the cup on the little table beside his chair. He looked up finally and copied what she had done.
"You are full of stress, Nora. Change is coming and you cannot hide from it. You need to let go." Mopsus patted her hand. She opened her mouth but before she could speak he started up. "Now, the actual reason I asked you to stay was that I'd like to propose something to you. I would like to do additional lessons with you. I truly believe you have the Sight and I'd like to really work to hone your skills one on one. I've spoken with Professors Dumbledore and Slughorn, and they are on board if you are."
"Oh."
"Horace shared with me that you didn't know what career path you'd like to take after you finish school." Mopsus sighed. "If Divination is something you are passionate about there are a surprising amount of jobs out there that value the skill you have learned but also your gift as a Seer. Now I don't expect you to answer now. Let me know by the end of the week and we can go from there."
"Okay." She stood up and made her way to the door. Before she opened it though she paused. "Professor, did you see anything else in my cup?"
"Nothing you haven't already seen for yourself." He said, his voice slightly softer.
xxx
"Nora, are you listening to me?" Noelle asked. Nora looked up at her and blinked slowly.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
Noelle rolled her eyes. "Who is that letter from?"
"Oh, Nicholas." Nora folded the letter and tucked it into her bag. She picked up her toast and turned her attention back to Noelle. "What were you saying?"
"It's really not that important…I was just debating on whether or not Avery is turning into a stalker." Noelle stabbed at her eggs. "I mean, why was he following me around during the Hogsmeade trip? He totally freaked Bertram out."
"I can't believe you went on a date with Bertram Aubrey," Nora smirked.
"Piss off. My point is that is Avery doesn't back off I'll make him." Noelle dropped her fork loudly and picked up an apple. She glanced down the table to where the guys were sitting. Unsurprisingly he was staring at her.
"Didn't you break up with him over the summer?" Nora looked at the group as well, briefly making eye contact with Evan who just nodded at her.
"On the train." Noelle said.
"It's not your fault you're irresistible." Nora chuckled when she kicked her under the table, but Noelle smiled nonetheless.
"Miss Zabini," Professor Slughorn came up behind Nora, surprising her when she heard his voice.
"Professor," Noelle nodded.
"Miss Lockwood, would you come with me?" He said, tone much more serious than she had ever heard.
"Uh, alright." Nora stood up and pulled her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you later," she added to Noelle.
She followed Slughorn from the Great Hall and down to the dungeons. He led her to his office, and gestured for her to take a seat opposite him. However, she paused in the doorway. Standing near the fireplace was Professor Dumbledore. He turned as they entered.
"Am I in trouble?" Nora asked cautiously as she took a seat. Dumbledore moved to stand beside Slughorn who was awkwardly patting his stomach.
"Oh no, dear." Slughorn said quickly. He looked at Dumbledore with a frown.
"Miss Lockwood," Dumbledore began. "There is something we need to tell you. This morning I received several owls from both the ministry and your parents. You're older brother Nicholas has-"
"No." Nora stood up quickly, the chair scratching against the floor.
"Nora," Slughorn reached out and took her hand. "Nicholas has died."
Nora slowly sat back down, eyes blurring as she stared at the lines on the floor. Her chest was tightening painfully as her mind began to race. "I have to go to class." She swallowed painfully and reached for her bag.
"Miss Lockwood, you have been excused from your classes for the time being. Your mother has requested you return home immediately." Dumbledore adjusted his glasses. "All the arrangements have been made.
"But…I, I can't-" Nora looked between the two men. "I need to pack a bag."
"We can have someone-"
"No, I want to do it. I need to…I'll do it." She got out of her seat and rushed for the door. She pushed it open and took a sharp turn from Slughorn's office. She leaned against the wall once she had rounded the corner. It felt as if all the air had been sucked from her body. She clutched her chest and let her body rock against the wall.
"Are you okay?"
Nora looked up to see Sirius Black and James Potter. They froze at the sight of her. She shook her head quickly and gasped for air.
"Hey, just breathe." Sirius put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Breathe."
"I can't," She gasped and with that the tears began to fall. Sirius reached out and caught her just as her legs gave out. She grabbed onto him, letting out a sob. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't do anything.
"Should I get someone?" Potter asked from a few feet away.
Nora nodded against Sirius. "Noelle." Potter gave a quick nod and took off down the hall, digging in his pocket. Sirius's hand was smoothing her hair, as she cried in his arms.
They stayed like this, sitting on the cold stone floor for a while. Nora had stopped crying but was still shaking against him, her eyes slightly out of focus. Potter back nearly fifteen minutes later slightly out of breath. Noelle was right behind him, instantly dropping to the ground in front of Nora. She put her hands on her face, and examined her face.
"What's happened?" Noelle said, voice steady and calm as ever.
Nora just shook her head, feeling her eyes beginning to sting once more.
"You have to tell me. I can't help you if you don't tell me." Noelle kept her eyes locked onto Nora's as she waited.
"Nicholas." Was all she said before tears began to fall once more. Noelle opened her mouth slightly before taking a deep breathe. She gently pulled Nora out of Sirius's arms and into her own. The two got to their feet and Noelle began to led her down the hall towards the Slytherin common room. She nodded to Potter as they passed each other. Noelle guided her the way back to their dorm and sat her down on her bed.
"I have to go home," Nora said softly, the tears falling silently now. Noelle nodded and began to move around the dorm collecting some of Nora's things into a bag. When Noelle finished the bag she sat down next to Nora and took her hand, her expression softer than normal.
"What do you need?" She asked softly. Nora swallowed and closed her eyes. Noelle didn't say anything but instead carefully wiped the tears from her face and smoothed her hair. They sat in the silence together until the door to their dormitory opened. Nora opened her eyes and quickly turned away to hide her face.
"What?" Noelle snapped.
"Uh, Professor Slughorn sent me to get Nora." Aria Greengrass said, her snooty voice slightly higher in pitch.
"I'll take her." Noelle got to her feet.
"He asked me-"
"I said, I will take her." Noelle said and after a moment the door slammed shut. "Let's go." Noelle's voice instantly softened as she shouldered Nora's bag. Nora took a deep breath before checking to her feet. She straightened her shoulders and shook out her hair. Noelle led the way from their room. The common room was fairly empty as most students were in class. Luckily they didn't have to go far before they were back in Slughorn's office. Slughorn jumped to his feet when they entered. Nora looked between him and the headmaster.
"I'm ready to go."