"Tell me Harry what do you see at the bottom of the cauldron?" Dumbledore said as he arranged several books on his desk in front of him.
"I see... a wolf sir, with its hackles raised," Harry said glancing at Dumbledore after confirming what he saw at the bottom of the cauldron. The lines on Dumbledore's aged face seemed tense to Harry who was motioned to continue. Harry nodded and then turned back to the large silver-looking cauldron as well as the multicolored mass of tea leaves at the bottom. He tapped his magic and, as he had been instructed, pushed a small percentage into the cauldron letting it seep into the entire thing once again, before guiding it even further into the leaves which instantly began swirling.
As the leaves settled at the bottom of the cauldron Harry cut off the flow of his magic and slowly the leaves stopped moving settling into the bottom of the cauldron forming a new shape. A waning moon hung over a swirl of brightly colored leaves.
"And what now Harry?" Dumbledore said to him as he flipped through the books a few pages at a time.
" I see a half crescent moon sitting over a swirl of bright green leaves professor," Harry said as he pulled his hands away from the ancient puter cauldron and looked up at Dumbledore who was flipping through a different book once again before stopping all of his movement and looking past Harry. "Of Course..." he mumbled.
"Sir?" Harry questioned.
"Ahh nothing Harry, simply more information added to the final assessment. One final time if you would be so kind." and so once again Harry repeated himself while humming a song he had heard on the Wizard Wireless while had stayed at the Greengrass's Estate. The leaves were still swirling well after Harry had stopped letting his magic flow into them which drew his attention as it was a different result than the other times he had done this.
"I'm not exactly sure what this symbol is sir... The leaves are... oddly shaped here." When Dumbledore stood and moved behind Harry he gasped sharply. A perfectly formed Triangle with a circle nestled inside and a single line bisecting the entire thing, Outside of the triangle was what appeared to be a snake curling upward with large fangs and vibrant green eyes.
" I believe that we are done here, Harry. Thank you for indulging an old man in his worrying. Most people do not possess the openness to look towards Divination." Dumbledore stated quickly before ushering Harry out of his office rather rudely
Harry nearly tripped over the first step of the stairs leading out of Dumbledore's office as he exited the upper reaches of the castle. Idly wondering what he would do now Harry began walking. It was only a few hours until the other students arrived to start the year, but until then he was mostly alone in the castle. Mostly alone except for the House Elves.
It was odd seeing them cleaning the castle, normally they did their work out of sight, but as there were not meant to be students about at this time they were out and about, dusting, moving suits of armor into position, and generally making quick work of bringing the castle up to their standard.
'Excuse me," Harry said to one such elf that was busy shooing the paintings back to their own canvases. " I was wondering where I could get some food? I know it's not close to a meal time..."
" Oh yes, young Master Potter be needing his food, Missy McGonagall be saying so yes. I take, yes, follow me." The elf said quickly, and with that said it began moving down the hallway leading to a tapestry of a beautiful young woman that Harry quickly realized was a very much alive version of The Gray Lady, but curiously missing a placard announcing her as such.
"What may I do for you?" She intoned as Harry and the elf approached.
"We be needing to use the secret passage behind you, miss Ravenclaw Ghostie." The elf announced as it stopped and did a short bow before the large portrait.
"Normally my passageway is reserved for Ravenclaws only, however, I have knowledge of you Harry Potter from my Ghost, You may use my passageway as long as you continue to impress me." And with that, the portrait slid upwards into the wall of the castle allowing Harry access to a staircase that continued both upward and downward well beyond the reach of Harry's Vision. The walls inside had writing along them, answers to riddles, bits of advice, and even small nooks where one might store books? What an interesting little passthrough Harry had been granted access to. Though why the Ravenclaws cared so much about riddles he did not know.
When they exited the hidden staircase at the bottom of its path, they were let out onto the second floor, right next to the row of abandoned classrooms on this floor and the large room that would be used as Professor Lockhart's new teaching area. Harry frowned to himself as he thought about the professor. He seemed to have, rather odd priorities in Harry's opinion. While Dumbledore had always had a calm and collected feel to him when dealing with crowds and admirers Professor Lockhart seemed more akin to a man dying of thirst who had come across a vast oasis.
"Where exactly are we going?" Harry said and after a moment quickly added, " Not that I'm not appreciative, but..."
"We is going to the kitchens." The elf said simply as it lead them down to a dead-end hallway with a large stained glass relief of a bakery in full working order, much like the stained glass work in the infirmary the artwork moved and reacted to their presence. The glass work simply shifted out of their way as they approached and suddenly Harry was in the largest kitchen he had ever seen. It was easily two stories high and they were on a balcony where house-elves were garnishing dishes and preparing for what Harry was sure would be the feast that the students would eat this evening.
Harry was in awe of everything going on around him, he wandered from elf to elf watching them work, Harry knew a bit about cooking from doing so for his horrid relatives, but some of the techniques the elves were using were completely lost to him. Rather abruptly an elf walked up to him and cleared its throat. This elf was different from the other elves most notably due to the large chef's hat it wore. "I be the head of the Kitchen Elvesies, my name be Chef, as that's be what I do." the so-named Chef said pointing at its large chef's hat. "What can the kitchen elves be doing for a student?"
" Oh I was already in the castle, and I know it's not likely but if I could have something to keep me until the feast tonight, I would very much appreciate it." and almost as if magic he suddenly had food in front of him and was being guided to a small table and some stools for him to sit on.
As Harry ate, he reflected on his time spent this summer, With Tonks teaching him how to dodge and always be moving, of Daphne and the weird feeling he got in his chest whenever she would smile at him, of the Potter Family Grimoire staying silent except for when he had first opened it. Of... Voldemort getting the stone and then disappearing. Harry vowed to himself that this year would be different, starting as soon as the other students arrived off of the train.