Saiph came down to breakfast the next day completely energised and ready for the day to start. From what she remembered, today was the day Harry was supposed to go to divination and get a prediction of death. Gryffindors took divination with Hufflepuffs though, so she wouldn't be there to see it.
She sat down at the Slytherin table and took in all the different foods spread across it. There were sausages, scones, pancakes, BLT's, wraps, salads, if you could name it, it was there. Just as she was about to stack her plate, she was interrupted by a rather rambunctious group of Slytherins (including her entire friend group) entering the hall.
The first thing Draco did when they entered the hall was a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit as the Slytherins around him burst into laughter. Pansy opened her mouth to shriek something at the poor Gryffindors before Saiph cut her off. "Now Pansy, we wouldn't want him to fall out of his seat again now would we?" She laughed walking up to the group. "Don't mind us, Potter, we were just having a good laugh, but if it's too much for you and you feel like fainting, just tell us, okay?" She said with fake sympathy.
In truth, Saiph didn't really blame the Potter boy for fainting when coming face to face with a Dementor, but she had to keep face as a Slytherin, especially one friends with Draco Saiph led the group back to the Slytherin table and passed them their schedules. She looked at her own as she started to eat, there was something wrong on it though, it had changed from canon. On the first period on Monday, it read; Divination, North tower, Slytherin and Gryffindor.
'I sometimes feel like the world does this to me on purpose,' Saiph thought to herself. She sighed as she thought of all the stairs she would have to climb up to get there. Breakfast was soon over and Saiph started to make her way to the North tower with her friends, Daphne and Theodore, No one else from her friend group had chosen divination as an elective. 'I wonder if the Story will change because the Slytherins are now there?' Saiph wondered to herself.
She soon reached the tower and climbed to the top in record time but to Saiph's disbelief she wasn't one bit tired after the climb. Maybe it would kick in later but Saiph had never been one for physical activity so this was extremely weird. At the top of the tower, there was a small room with a few students already waiting. On the roof of the room, there was a small trapdoor.
"How are we supposed to get up there?" Theodore asked
"I honestly don't know Theo, maybe the teacher will get us to wingardium Leviosa each other when she gets here." Replied Daphne. Saiph smiled at her resourcefulness "Daphne, as much as I love your ideas, the teacher's probably already up there with a ladder." She said, thinking of her fall into her suitcase yesterday morning. Just as the words left her mouth, the trap door opened and a silver ladder slid out. "See, told ya."
They each climbed the ladder one by one until they all filed into the room. The classroom didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a strange mix between attic and an old-fashioned teashop. There were at least twenty round tables crammed into the space with beanbags and couches set around them. The curtains on the windows were all closed so it was dark, the only source of light being lamps that were draped with red scarves so the whole room was covered in a maroon hue. There were shelves running along the walls containing all sorts of crystal balls, tarot cards and astrology charts, All covered in dust. It reminded Saiph of somewhere but she couldn't remember where.
Saiph quickly sat down on a green silk beanbag as relaxed into it, her friends following in suit and taking seats around her. "Where is she?" she heard Ron ask, but Saiph didn't care one bit at that moment. As soon as she had stepped into the room a calm feeling had washed over her and she felt completely at peace. She lazily rolled her head to one side as she heard a new voice speak.
"Welcome," it said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last." Professor Trelawney, a woman with fuzzy brown hair and large round glasses that gave her bug eyes. She was draped in all sorts of beads and bangles that jingled as she walked. "Sit my children, sit," She said to the Gryffindors who had not followed Saiph's example. They awkwardly shuffled over to the free tables and took a seat, then she began to speak again.
"Welcome to Divination," She said whisply, walking over to sit in an armchair by the fire. "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."
The room was silent as she paused to adjust her shaw, then she continued. "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…"
Saiph felt like she was falling asleep through the entire speech before Daphne nudged her awake. Professor Trelawney focused her eyes on the drowsy girl and smiled a creepy smile. "Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearing, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future." the Professor said as she looked around the room. "It is a gift granted to few. You. Boy." She said pointing at Neville, who was sweating nervously.
"Is your Grandmother well?" She asked.
"I think so," said Neville tremulously.
"I wouldn't be sure if I were you, dear." She replied, obviously oblivious to how that would sound to someone else. Saiph snorted at this and rolled forward on her beanbag to lean on the small table sending a dopey grin over to Harry who gave her a weird look in return. In all honesty, Saiph felt as high as an aeroplane, she was not sure why though she hadn't taken any drugs recently. Had She?
Saiph leaned over to Theo and landed her head on his shoulder. He looked down quizzically at her wondering why his friend was acting like this all of the sudden. "Hey Theo," She said "Have I taken any drugs lately?"
He frowned, thinking about it for a second "Not that I know of, Why?" He questions.
Saiph stared at him with large eyes for a few seconds before answering "I'm feeling a little woozy." She slurred before promptly falling asleep on his lap, snoring softly.
Saiph woke up twenty minutes later with a thumping headache, the drowsiness had worn off by now and the embarrassment of how she had acted settled in. The class was in the middle of doing their tea predictions when she awoke. Suddenly a steaming cup of tea was placed in front of her, Saiph looked up at Theo.
"Morning sleepyhead." He joked, "I got you some tea, are you going to be okay now?"
Saiph looked appreciatively at the boy "Yeah I am, sorry, I don't know what that was." She told him.
Saiph gulped down her tea so she could get started with the exercise and reached for her divination book. "Here," Daphne said, taking her empty cup, "I'll predict something for you." She looked into the cup then looked at the book. This gesture repeated several times, confusion growing more and more on her face before she finally said, "Death," She looked frightened. "Someone close to you will die and – you will suffer for it – Maybe? Blame yourself? I'm not sure, sorry" She rambled.
Saiphs eyes grew wide at this prediction, from what she knew from the books no one would die this year, but information from the books couldn't be trusted anymore, she realised. One thing had already changed, what was stopping something else from doing so as well. Saiph's eyes flickered around the room with anxiety and she felt herself reaching for her charm bracelet again.
Daphne had obviously seen her worry and tried to ease her racing mind. "Hey," she said unsurely "Divination's all bullshit anyway, and even if it was any good I most likely read it wrong, it is my first time after all." Saiph wasn't so sure though and continued to stare vacantly at the fire which suddenly turned a dark purple.
Startled, Saiph jumped out of her seat. Professor Trelawney also noticed the fire changed and rushed away from Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan to tend to the raging purple flames. Had she done that? It seemed all around her mysterious and weird things were happening. Weirder than the normal wizarding weird.
Swiftly, Saiph sat back in her seat so as not to draw attention to herself. If it was her, she didn't want anyone knowing. Wandless and wordless magic were powerful things by themselves, but together? And triggered by emotions? They were dangerously unstoppable then.
After the Divination teacher had gotten the fire sorted she wandered over to the table where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sat reading their own predictions.
"Let me see that, my dear," she said reprovingly to Ron, sweeping Harry's cup out of his hands. Everyone watched silently as Professor Trelawney rotated the cup in her hands. "The falcon… my dear, you have a deadly enemy."
"But everyone knows that," said Hermione in a loud whisper. Professor Trelawney stared at her. "Well they do," she huffed. "Everybody knows about Harry and You-know-who."
"She's got a point," Daphne whispered to Saiph, probably still trying to reassure her friend, but Saiph had already forgotten all about her previous miss grievances and was instead listening intently to the student and teacher talk.
Professor Trelawney chose not to reply to Hermione's statements and instead continued examining Harry Potter's cursed cup. "The club … an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup…"
"I thought that was a bowler hat." Said Ron, Saiph huffed out a laugh at this and Ron sent her a look.
"The skull…" Professor Trelawney was at it again with another unfortunate prediction. To any other person the bug-eyed Professor seemed to be making it all up, but Saiph knew better. "Danger in your path my dear," She resumed.
Everyone was staring transfixed as she turned the cup once more to see the final prediction. She gasped then screamed and Neville dropped his cup. It made a small tinkle in the stunned silence. Professor Trelawney sank into her chair with a hand over her heart, looking like she had just seen a ghost. "My dear boy – my poor dear boy – no – it is kinder not to say – no – don't ask me…" Professor Trelawney sure knew how to be dramatic.
Dean Thomas was the only one who dared to ask. Everyone had now crowded around the golden trio's table to watch the chaos, pressing closely on Professor Trelawney's chair to try to get a better look. "My dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically. "You have the Grim."
Saiph rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. "You mean the big black dog that symbolises death?" She asked, squinting her eyes in fake scepticism. She didn't want to sound crazy by admitting she believed all of this and knew for a fact it was real, so she would just have to play pretend for now.
"Yes," the Professor replied. "You have seen it?" Saiph hesitated for a second before answering, a memory sliding into her mind of all the Big Black Dogs she had seen wandering around New York. Any one of them could have been a 'Grim' but most likely weren't. What exactly separated a Grim from any normal black dogs, she didn't know and didn't have the nerve to ask. Just in case she had actually seen one.
She recalled the fates seen cutting strings in Percy Jackson, maybe it was a bit like that, like you just had a feeling about them and knew they meant death.
Saiph chuckled nervously "Not that I know of, but I have seen a couple black dogs in my lifetime, they were all relatively friendly though." Professor Trelawney examined the girl for a few more seconds before turning back to the cup. "Very well then, my dear." Saiph always got this strange feeling in the pit of her stomach when she heard the professor talk. It was like she knew things about the black that no one else did.
After that shock, Professor Trelawney asked the students to pack up their things and dismissed them. Daphne, Theo, and Saiph made their way to their next class; Charms with the Ravenclaws. There they met up with the rest of their small group who had just come from Ancient Runes.
"It was so boring," Pansy whined. "We had to study Ancient Greek writing and the teacher gave us a bunch of homework."
"I can help you with that, I'm actually half greek, I get it from my mum," Saiph offered. Where did that come from? Saiph knew almost nothing about her mother (except now that she was Greek) none of the other memories had come back yet.
"Really? You will? Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Pansy squealed.
"Come to think of it," Blaise started, "You've never told us that you're half Greek." He commented.
Saiph sighed and thought of an excuse, Why hadn't she told them? "Ah well I guess it never came up, plus she left when I was young so I never really got to know her." She found herself saying. Sensing the sympathy comments from a mile away she quickly held up her bare wrist. "Oop, would you look at the time class is about to start." She then hurried off into the charms classroom to take her seat.
The Slytherins and Ravenclaws spent the next two hours learning about the heating and cooling spells. Then they got to practise with them. 'These will be useful for quests' Saiph thought while practising heating and cooling a glass of water. What quests? Why would she be going on a quest? Saiph had gotten a little too distracted with her thoughts though, as when she looked by at the glass it was completely frozen over. She sighed and melted it once more with the wave of her wand.
Class ended soon after that and it was now time for lunch, and after, their first Care of Magical creatures lesson.