Chapter 3

Charms was rather uneventful. When the bell rang for lunch, Teddy jumped up and hurried down to the great hall, closely followed by a panting Ross. "Hey…wait…up!" he panted. Teddy reached the great hall in record time. He plopped down into the nearest seat, and was already pulling the steak and kidney pie toward him when Ross sat down. "What's gotten into you, mate? You practically ate your body weight in sausages this morning, and you're acting as if you haven't eaten at all!" Ross said, but Teddy didn't hear him. He had filled his plate with as much food as it would allow, and ate the entire contents as fast as he had eaten breakfast.

"Dunno," said Teddy thickly, speaking through mouthfuls of pie. "I'm just really hungry."

"Well, try to breath a little between bites, it looks like your forgetting to. Can't have you stop breathing," said Ross skeptically, turning to his own plate and beginning to eat.

When they finished lunch (well, when Ross was finished. Teddy was still at it), they hurried up to Divination, which was located in the North tower. They had left late, because Teddy had been so reluctant to leave, so they only just made it. The usual silver ladder fell and the students climbed up into the little, attic-like classroom.

Professor Trelawney had retired four years ago, before Teddy had her as a teacher. She had been replaced with Professor Saoirse. She was very misty, often vague, and definitely a true Seer. But more often than not, her predictions were too unclear for anyone to fully understand.

"Class," she said in her loftiest voice, "I must say that I am very worried by the findings in my crystal ball." The class tensed up. This didn't sound like it was going in a good direction. "Ankakumikaityn, my dears, the nomad wolf. It wakes from its long rest, dormant all these years, barricaded by a force too powerful for him to overcome. But the bonds are broken, and he shall emerge." The class stared at her, puzzled. The prediction was just as vague as it ever was. Doreen Diggle, a short Hufflepuff, raised her hand timidly.

"What do you mean, Professor Saoirse?" she asked.

"Do not ask questions!" Professor Saoirse shouted. "I am a Seer! Here to channel what the divine wishes to communicate! Do not ask me to interpret!"

"A lot of help she is," muttered Ross under his breath. Teddy nodded distractedly. He was still pondering the prediction.

What did she mean by "the nomad wolf?" He couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy. Wolves, his name had been attached to them ever since he was very small. His dad was a werewolf; he knew that. Harry once told him that his father was concerned that the werewolf trait had been passed on to Teddy. So, every year from his first birthday on, his Gran had always taken him to the Healers at St. Mungo's. They never saw anything remotely werewolfish in him, and advised him and his grandmother not to worry. So Teddy never gave the idea a second thought. But at the mention of wolf, Teddy began to worry. Ross noticed the look of concern on Teddy's face and said. "Don't worry. You know that she speaks in symbols. The prediction probably meant that a colony of crumpled-horned snorkacks has taken residence in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom or something."

"Yeah, you're right," Teddy sighed, and with a little bit of difficulty, forced the thought out of his mind.

Teddy and Ross were heading back to the common room. They had just finished dinner (during which Teddy had eaten half of a rather large turkey, as well as the majority of a tureen of French onion soup) and were keen to start working on homework. Despite the fact that the end of term was only a month or so away, teachers still felt it necessary to load on homework without mercy.

"I still have to do that essay for Professor Slughorn," Teddy said, as he and Ross approached the portrait of the fat lady. "Agueweed." She swung open and they walked inside the common room.

"What, the one he assigned us a week ago?" Ross asked, slightly bemused.

"Yep,"

"The one due tomorrow?"

"Yep," replied Teddy. He approached the nearest table and dropped his bag beside it, which made a resounding clunk. Ross followed suit. They both sat down and pulled out their books and quills. Teddy pulled out a roll of parchment and began to write. It was very slow work, and Teddy kept pausing every so often. His back was prickling unpleasantly, and he had no idea why. He kept changing positions, but the prickling didn't cease. The frequent stops caused what was already a long essay to take even longer to write. The common room emptied out, until only Ross and Teddy remained. Finally even Ross headed up to the dormitory, telling Teddy that he was exhausted. So Teddy sat alone, writing, the prickling becoming even more unpleasant. It was half past midnight when Teddy finally finished his essay. He didn't even bother reading it over. He was so tired; all he could think about was going to bed. Haphazardly, he shoved his textbook and essay into his bag and trudged up the stairs to the dormitory. He, eager for a rest, pulled on his pajamas and dove into bed.