A/N: A little spoiler warning for a tiny COG reference near the end of the chapter. It is not a very big one (we're fifty years before the movie after all), it is just some trivia for the worldbuilding and you will not be very spoiled if you have yet to see the movie but I'd rather err on the side of caution and warn you than accidentally ruin your fun because of that.


"Trelawney? Trelawney, it's me, it's Mesmer. Trelawney, wake up. Wake up, you blind owl."

The witch lying on the sofa opened her milky eyes. "Mesmer? Wh-What happened?"

"You fainted," the Divination Professor said with a sigh. "My fault, I know. And I'm sorry. I should have known better. Are you alright?"

The witch slowly sat up and raised a hand over her head. "Oh Mesmer," she lamented, "it was so horrible. What I've seen… I think… Yes, it has to be… I must have seen The End."

The group of people a few feet away looked each other. "The end of what?" Elphias Doge asked.

"The End. The end of time, the end of everything," she bemoaned and dramatically fell back on the sofa while the students started shaking in fear. "The pain, the despair… the Darkness… And that being. He was the most terrible thing really. A monster with red eyes… A man who tricked the Devil himself, now unable to go to neither Heaven nor Hell… Trapped in a farce of life… Neither dead nor alive… Jack O'Lantern is here tonight!"

Mesmer slowly massaged his temples while the rest of the room gasped. Slowly, he said, "Well, at least you're in the theme of the party, I have to give you that."

Trelawney closed her eyes and left out another little moan of pain.

Mesmer rolled his eyes and turned to the rest of the room. "She'll be fine," he reassured them. "Give her ten minutes and she'll be back to seeing your doom. It is however terrible manner to look at a lady the way you currently are. So…"

The students mumbled but ultimately walked away from Cassandra Trelawney whispering, "You'll really let me tell them their end?"

"Cassandra Trelawney," Elphias Doge relevantly whispered. "The Cassandra Trelawney here, at Hogwarts. I knew Professor had to know other seers and that he must have a lot of influence but never would I have thought... Can you imagine our luck?" he asked Harry who couldn't stop a snort.

The veil had fallen when she fainted and Harry had finally been able to see the family resemblance between this woman and Professor Trelawney. Considering how she seemed to act like her great-great-granddaughter, he didn't have to.

"I am sure Albus will regret not choosing Divination once I tell him who came," Elphias continued. "This is a… a once in a lifetime opportunity! Who knows?" he suddenly exclaimed. "Maybe she'll even make a prophecy! Can you imagine? The great Trelawney making a prophecy right under your eyes?

Harry snorted.

"I should prepare my questions for her," he finished as he retrieved a pencil and some parchment.

"You do that," Harry told him as he looked around the room.

Now that the scene was over, the students were back to talking to the members of the Divination guild or outright making a line to some members who apparently had taken their own crystal ball or tarot cards so that one of them would be kind enough to reveal their future.

Sometimes, their eyes would turn to Trelawney whose scarf was back to covering her face, but eventually they stopped, so engrossed they now were in their conversation.

Cassandra Trelawney was talking to Professor Mesmer whose face was unusually grave and Harry discreetly tried to walk closer to hear whatever they were saying.

Unfortunately, it seemed one of them had casted a charm to stop anybody from overhearing them.

Harry sighed and looked around the room in hope to find a good place to hide until the end of the party. Not seeing any obvious one, he then tried to find somebody sane.

When he finally spotted one, Harry couldn't stop a a chuckle.

"A wizard from such an esteemed family," a man with a hot pink turban told Black who was slowly massaging his temples, "considering your roots, there is little doubt that it is on astrology you should focus all your efforts. A Black, the son of Professor Black furthermore, you are without a doubt a member of the Order of Asteria so it is only natural for you to take this path."

"The Order of what?" Harry couldn't help asking.

The turbaned man turned to him. "You have never heard of the Order of Astoria?" he exclaimed. "I didn't even believe this was possible! The Order of Astoria is –after the Divination Guild naturally- the most influential organisation in the country. The warlocks of the Order of Astoria are known to control our world in the shadows."

"It's only a religious group," Black turned away from the older man and told Harry. Rolling his eyes, he explained, "One which believes the stars are watching over the people on Earth."

The man knowingly nodded. "The Black family has always been known for his strong connections with the Order of Asteria. Why, I think they name many of their children after stars because they are true believers."

"Yes, yes," he impatiently replied as he grabbed Harry by the shoulder. "Now, if you would excuse us-"

And Black and Harry fled.

"I thought it would only be entertaining," he hissed, "but Mesmer has thrown me to the wolves. This is the fifth one telling me I need to study Astrology and three have tried to use legimency on me."

Harry startled. "What?"

"I asked Mesmer earlier, apparently that's standard procedure. Something about they protecting themselves. And seers being by nature very curious creatures."

Slowly, Harry turned his head and looked at the members of the Guild.

Most of them were looking at him not without some curiosity.

Harry thought he was going to cry. "How do we avoid them?"

"I've been asking myself the same question. I suppose," he started musing, "that we can't. All we can hope for is to find the least worst person to converse with so that the others do not have the opportunity to incommode us."

Harry mentally eliminated three quarters of the Guild. "What about Professor Mesmer?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Potter, Mesmer is the worst of them." Glancing at the man looking at the door, a troubled look on his face he shrugged. "Also, I think he has a lot in his mind. No, we need somebody else."

The two pondered a few seconds. Suddenly, Harry thought about something.

"You need eyecontact for legimency, right?"

"Not necessarily but here? Yes. They'd need eyecontact or everybody else would know what is happening."

"Does that mean a blind woman cannot use legimency then?"

Black took a pause. "I..." He looked troubled. "I've never really thought about it but I suppose you're right."

"I suppose we don't really have a choice there," he murmured as they walked in the direction of the woman who was now leaving the couch. Raising his voice, he asked the witch, "Would you want one of us to help you, ma'am?"

Cassandra Trelawney took a few tentative steps. "This is very kind of you. But I do not require your help, for the Higher Being is guiding me and my Third Eye is showing me where I am supposed to go and what I need to do."

That being said, she walked away.

Only to be stopped by the table in front of her.

The two wizards looked at each other. "But Prof- I mean, ma'am," Harry tried, "what if…" Suddenly remembering Professor Trelawney, inspiration struck. "What if we were sent by the Higher Being to help you?"

"Nice," Black murmured as the woman now seemed deep in thought, "that may just work."

"You are right," she said. "I can See it now. I See we were all fated to meet, today, and that the Higher Being sent you to me so that I could help you in your journey."

Harry bit a remark. "Naturally."

"Please forgive my curiosity, ma'am. I was wondering… An esteemed seer such as you is most certainly very busy predicting the future of very proeminent and powerful families. I would have thought you wouldn't have time to come to a school such as Hogwarts."

"That is normally true. However, as I said, the Higher Being is guiding me," she mysteriously told the Slytherin. "And if the Higher Being needs me to be here, then I have the duty to go where I am needed, regardless of what I may have previously planned."

"The Higher Being told you to come to Hogwarts?" he asked not without a note of disbelief.

"The Higher Being didn't tell me exactly, but yes. I have to say, you are very blessed to have a seer such as Mesmer to guide you in your journey toward enlightement. And I am very thankful that he has informed me of the vision he's had of me coming here tonight for I had no idea before his letter that I was supposed to come."

At these words Black painfully closed his eyes. "Mesmer told you he's had a vision of you coming to Hogwarts."

She nodded. "He said it was very important."

Harry grimaced. "And what… What are you supposed to do now that you're here? Like… are you supposed to give us a lecture, or- or..."

"That I do not know yet," she dreamily told them. "I do not know for the Higher Being has yet to explain why I was sent here."

"I'll ask the Higher Being," Black muttered as he left them and walked in the direction of Professor Mesmer who seemed to be still looking at the door.

"Could it be you are a Seer too?" Cassandra Trelawney asked the empty space where Black used to be. "My poor boy!" she exclaimed. She then blinked and tilted her head. "Why, yes, yes… I can See it now. I can See you talking to a large audience and proving yourself to be the superior seer. It's just a pity you die but such is the fate of beings like us."

Harry didn't know if he should laugh or cry.

"What about you?" Trelawney turned in his direction. "Lost souls like yours… Did the Higher Being send you too? It is clear than Ananke has marked you, but-" she frowned "-it is not clear why." She paused for a moment and, before Harry could say anything, she continued, "Forgive me for asking, but there's-" Trelawney looked troubled. "There is something I've heard. It seems to be important, so very important, but I cannot understand why."

Harry shrugged. "What is it?"

"Who is Sybill?"


"You're late," Mesmer accused when he spotted a blonde man wearing a black cape with red lining entering the room. "You were supposed to be on time, Time Keeper!"

"I got lost," he told him. "I left the group to see the castle and didn't know where I was supposed to go. Is it me or there's a room without a roof?"

"Oh, you mean the Great Hall? No, no, this sky is not real. The roof was just charmed somewhere in the fifteen century so that the new students wouldn't have to be sorted outside. Still, it's always interesting to try applying astrology on it."

The man frowned. "So then, how high is the ceiling?"

"I'm not… I'm not really sure, now that you mention it."

"And not one of you has ever tried to touch the stars," he stated.

"I've never really thought about it, to be honest." Mesmer shook his head. "How's London?"

"Oh, everything is fine. I was planning to do something for tonight but I'm rather glad I cancelled my plans and came here." He smiled. "Thank you, really. Thank you. For your invitation."

Mesmer looked away and embarrassingly waved his hand. "Oh don't get any idea. I only did it to annoy Professor Black."

The man's green eyes sparkled. "Naturally. You had no other reason for doing this at all."

The Divination Professor gave a small smile. "I may have had one or two," he admitted. "I'll explain later and-" Seeing Phineas Black coming, he shook his head. "Sorry, the show must go on." They both laughed. "Is there a problem, Mister Black?" he asked the Fifth Year once he had stopped chuckling.

The Slytherin blankly looked at him. "Madam Trelawney wishes to know what else your Third Eye has seen. She is wondering what the… ah… what the 'Great Being' needs her to do now that she has come here."

"Ah yes. Well..." he seemed to be deep in thoughts. "There's the room nearby with a crystal ball and a tarot deck. I am sure Trelawney will enjoy predicting everybody's doom there."

"Are you trying to apologize for something here?" The man asked and seer grimaced. "Because if you are, I have to say I've seen better."

"Well, I still haven't forgiven her for that time she proposed to pierce my eyes in order to 'help me' with my Sight," he fought back. "Mister Black, if you would please show Trelawney the Green Room and help her with the decoration I have no doubt she will ask for, I would be much obliged. Sorry," he regretfully said once the wizard was gone, "but I need to make sure the others behave."

The green-eyed man shrugged. "Sure. Just asking, what am I supposed to do now that I'm here?"

He shrugged. "Oh, just enjoy the party. You're the guest tonight. Try to confuse a couple students of mine if you want but-"

He suddenly stopped and stared at the green-eyed.

"Actually," he slowly said, "why don't you use your 'magic' on a new student of mine, Evans? I'm sure he's going to love it."


Not for the first time in his life, Aberforth was wondering if he shouldn't have listened to his brother.

When he had picked Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, he had done it out of spite. Care of Magical Creatures, he had suspected he would be good at it. Besides, the creatures he was going to study couldn't be worse than his goat Grumble.

Divination however? He had picked it because the teacher had called Albus 'the stupid Dumbledore' and he 'the clever one' when he had been a First Year and he had known Albus was bound to hate it.

But if the lessons were mostly entertaining, he was now wondering what mess he had just gotten himself into.

"I See… I See… I See…" Cassandra Trelawney mysteriously said and Aberforth couldn't help rolling his eyes. That was the last time he would follow Caradoc's lead. "No, I suppose they are too young to be called this so… I See you with kids."

Aberforth blankly looked at Trelawney. "Me. With kids." He couldn't stop a snort at the thought.

But the woman nodded. "I See you working with kids by your side. I suppose this is only natural for them to follow your lead considering what you are."

"And what am I?"

But the woman didn't answer his question. "I also see a lot of pain in your future. A lot of pain, and despair, I'm afraid. B-But… I think I'm Seeing something, or someone. It's-" She frowned. "-it's quite blurry, I confess so I'm not really sure. I see a chicken. No it's not a chicken, it's a rooster." She paused. "What am I saying?" she said as she shook her head. "It's not a rooster, it cannot be a rooster. Of course it cannot be a rooster. It has never been a rootser, hasn't it? This is a phoenix I'm Seeing."

Aberforth paused at that. "A phoenix."

He knew the Dumbledores have always had strong ties with phoenixes and he remembered the stories his father would tell his children about their great-great-grandfather's. A phoenix would always come to a Dumbledore in need, he used to say.

But no phoenix had come when his sister had been attacked and when his father had to be sent to Azkaban so Aberforth really didn't give a damn about these flaming chickens.

"A phoenix," she confirmed. "There will be a phoenix and this phoenix will protect you and never leave you, no matter what."

Aberforth blinked and considered the statement for a moment.

His lips then stretched into a humourless smile. A Dumbledore working with kids and with a phoenix…

"You're confusing me with my brother too, aren't you?"

Trelawney blinked and, not unlike an owl, titled her head. "Now, what makes you say that?"

"Oh, nothing," he said as he got up. "Just a feeling I've got."

Even blind people were now confusing him with his brother. That really was a new low, he couldn't help thinking as he walked to the door.

"Goodbye."

But before he could open the door, Aberforth heard something falling.

"THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING…" a inhumanly deep voice loudly said behind him and Aberforth's blood froze. "EVERYTHING ENDS BEFORE IT EVEN BEGINS..."

The hand stopped reaching for the doorknob.

Aberforth slowly turned. "Wh-What?" He couldn't stop a shiver as he turned back. "S-Sorry… What?" he weakly asked the witch.

But Cassandra Trelawney didn't seem to hear him. Her white eyes started to roll as if she was about to have some sort of seizure. Before the boy could scream for help she spoke again, in that harsh voice, very unlike the soft one she had been using before.

"A BROKEN HOME… UNFORTUNATE SOULS LOST IN DESPAIR… AN INNOCENT SCREAMING FOR HELP… WITH SILVER BLOOD AND GOLDEN WINGS THE GREAT ADVENTURER SHALL BRING THEM HOME..."

"Oi," Aberforth weakly tried. "A-Are you-"

Trelawney suddenly shook her head and the Gryffindor startled. "Oh, sorry," she had the gall to say, her voice back to normal. "It looks like I'm still a little dozy from earlier."

"Wh-What was that just-"

"Would you be nice enough to ask your friends to wait a minute when you leave? I think I need to rest a moment."

Aberthforth stared at her.

"H-Hold on, wh-what did you just say?"

"I said I needed to rest and-"

"No, no… Before."

She tilted her head. "The part about you and your brother? Why do you think I am confusing you with him? Are you sure you are not the one being confused, young man?"

Aberforth gapped.

Very, very slowly, he opened the door and left the room without losing eyecontact with the seer. Not bothering to look at the rest of the file, he passed the message. A few voices weakly protested but he ignored them. That being done, he slowly went to find a quiet place and lent on the wall where he took a few deep breaths.

"Well..." he finally said. "Shit."