Chapter Five: Seeing Isn't Always Believing
It's still not mine!
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The next morning I woke up far earlier than I needed in order to convince Pomfrey to release me, making it back to the common room before Ron or Harry had come down the stairs yet. Hermione, however, was waiting on one of the couches so I went and sat down next to her.
"Parvati and Lavender wondered where you were," she informed me, not looking up from the book she was reading.
"Wonderful, now all of the gossipers of the school are going to know," I groaned. "Which means the Slytherins are going to be giving me shit all day…"
"Do you know why the dementor affected you like that?" she asked, placing her book on the table and looking at me with curiosity.
"Yes,"
"Well?" she asked when I failed to elaborate.
"Well what? I've got some nasty memories that I avoid thinking about as much as humanly possible." I shrugged as though I didn't care, but I don't think that she was convinced. The choking in my voice and tears in my eyes may have been the reason for that. "Look Hermione, I'd rather not talk about this." I added when she continued to look doubtful.
"Alright, but if you do ever want to talk or need to, you know that I'm a good listener," she replied, the last of it in a whisper as the boys came down the stairs.
The four of us headed off to the Great Hall and I couldn't help but grin a little. It felt so good to be back in my old shoes once more and I was excited to be at Hogwarts again, though I wasn't sure about how much effort I would really be putting in seeing as I didn't have to, already having gone through Hogwarts. We were greeted with whispers as we entered the Great Hall, which wasn't all that new. What was new was that people seemed to be looking at me more so than at Harry. Again, I was hoping to attribute this only to the redness of my eyes, perhaps even the dark circles underneath from the lack of sleep the night before.
"So, you fainted, Macauley? Knocked out for the rest of the train ride?" Malfoy shouted across the hall. Ron gave him a glare, but other than that we ignored the prat. I glanced at the Head Table and felt a slight rise in my attitude to see Snape giving a glare in Malfoy's direction, though no one else seemed to notice.
We sat down midway along the table and both boys began piling their plates with all sorts of foods. McGonagall made her way towards us and handed Hermione and I the four schedules since neither Harry nor Ron seemed interested in anything but breakfast at that particular moment.
Just before Hermione and I began dissecting the new routine, there was a roar of laughter from across the hall at the Slytherin table. We looked up to see Malfoy sitting there and twitching randomly before letting out a terrible little shriek before falling back onto the table.
"Ignore him," I looked over to see the twins coming to sit down. Fred sat next to Harry, across from me while George sat on my left.
"He's a git," George agreed.
"He's not the one who fainted," Harry reminded them. "That was Kailey and I,"
"I doubt many people realized you did though, I was out for way longer," I said quietly, rubbing furiously at my face. I wasn't sure if the tears were from the lack of sleep or because I was a little upset.
George reached around my shoulder, giving me a one-armed hug. "That only means you've seen worse," his twin said supportively from across the table.
"Malfoy probably has no idea what it's like to be in a situation so upsetting that to have to relive it knocks you out," Hermione added. "It makes you and Harry both stronger," I sighed and nodded in agreement, looking over at the schedules Hermione was still holding.
"What do we have today?" Ron asked as Fred and George turned to face each other and start muttering about pranking their first victim of the year.
"A ton of classes," I replied. "I didn't sign up for Arithmancy…oh that's just Hermione's," I took my own schedule from her and scanned it. "We start with Divination," I muttered disgustedly.
"Is that bad?" Harry asked, sounding annoyed.
"It's all a load of guess work," I replied, beginning to devour my syrup-drowned pancakes.
"So it's easy then?" Ron asked, sounding delighted.
"Sure," I replied. "That's not to say you can blow it off, though," I added after a moment of thought.
"C'mon, we should get going," Hermione said, placing her fork and knife back onto the table. "The North Tower is probably a long walk," I shrugged and stood up with her, the boys following in suite.
The long walk to the Divination classroom was basically just that; long.
"Are you certain you know where you're going?" Hermione asked nervously after we'd been walking for five minutes. "Nothing looks familiar around here,"
"It looks like a secret passage," Harry observed.
I glanced around the corridor we were walking through. It was a passage that led directly to the staircase we would need to come out in Trelawney's room. I realized with a slight bit of panic I had taken the shortcut that the Marauder's and I—er, Keena, had found in fifth year on our way up to Divination. We had been hoping to claim getting lost so we could ditch the class, but it turned out to lead us directly to where we did not want to go.
"It is," I answered Harry's previous statement. "I found it over the summer," Well, I had walked around the castle enough times to be able to do it with my eyes closed, well assuming I had never really had to before that is.
We arrived at the base of Trelawney's stairs with five minutes to spare. In what seemed like no time, the ladder that led up to the Divination classroom slid down and a soft sounding voice from above bid us to enter. The entire class just glanced at one another.
"So…who's first?" I asked when no one moved towards the ladder. Shifting of feet and scratching of heads greeted me in response. "Okay then,"
I climbed up the ladder and unwisely inhaled a large amount of perfumed air as I looked around the room. There were no more chairs and tables in the room as there had been all those years ago during the Marauder era. Then again, Trelawney had never been able to move herself around the chairs without tripping so the poufs and cushions really did make much more sense. Plus, they would probably be easier to fall asleep in.
Everyone else filed in behind me and we all stood somewhat awkwardly before I rolled my eyes (inwardly, of course) and led Hermione, Ron and Harry over to a table with two cushions and two poufs surrounding it. The rest of the class followed our example and we sat in curious silence for about a minute before what I was sure was a giant bug with glasses emerged from a dark corner, making Neville give a little squeak.
"Welcome, third years, to your first lesson of Divination, one of the most noble and ancient arts, though difficult for some who may lack in the Sight," she paused and she scanned the room. "My name is Professor Trelawney, though you may not have seen me before as often enough the chaos of school clouds my Inner Eye,"
I snorted, though a little too loudly because Trelawney heard and turned to get a good look at me.
"You are not a believer?" she asked.
"You're asking is pretty good justification as to why," I said with a smile. Some of the class looked shocked while the others looked impressed. Maybe James and Sirius did rub off on me after all… "But feel free to change my views," I added. Might as well finish what I've started…
"Very well," she bristled a little at the challenge. "You there dear, is your grandmother well?" she targeted a shaking Neville, who nodded nervously. "Don't be too sure, dear," she said this much more calmly than before. "And you, that thing you've been dreading?" she said moving her gaze to Lavender Brown. Lavender started and her eyes widened. "It will happen Friday, the sixteenth of October," Lavender whimpered. "Is that enough proof for the moment?" her voice had become calm and misty again as she turned to face me.
"We'll see," I replied. She inclined her head before addressing the class once more.
"Our first term shall be devoted to studying the readings of tea leaves, while the second will be on palmistry readings. If we complete studying fire omens, we shall move onto crystal balls for the final term. Of course, during February there shall be a disruption of classes due to a small epidemic of flu, during which I shall lose my voice. By Easter, we will lose at least one member of our group forever, possibly two," the entire class stiffened at the last statement, though Trelawney was fiddling with a shawl as though she hadn't noticed a thing, though I spotted the small smile she was trying to hide. She had always been a show off. "Now, dear, could you pass me that teapot?" she said to Lavender, who still looked to be in a bit of shock.
Lavender passed along the large silver teapot into Trelawney's bejeweled hands.
"Now, each of you shall take a cup, and come up to me. I shall fill it with tea and you will drain the cup, leaving only the dregs. Swish the cup around three times with your left hands before turning them upside down on the saucers. Your partners shall read the tea leaves using your copies of Unfogging the Future," she paused for a moment to allow the directions to sink in. "Oh and dear boy, would you mind taking a blue cup after you break the first one? I rather enjoy the pink," she directed this towards Neville who nodded. "Go on now, begin,"
I stood with the others and moved in front of Neville. "Here you go, Neville," I said, carrying a blue cup over to his table for him. "Now you don't have to worry about broken glass,"
"Toying with the fates is an unwise move," Trelawney whispered, standing over Neville's table. I looked up at her and gave her a shrug. It wasn't as if I hadn't changed the fates before. After all, what didn't occur didn't need to be swept up.
"I'm sorry, Professor, I just thought you might like to have all of your teacups in one piece." I replied, moving to go and sit with the others once more.
Trelawney came around and filled our cups with translucent brown liquid that held large spots of dark dreg. I wrinkled my nose and leaned over to Hermione. "Will you drink it for me? You know how I hate tea," I muttered. Hermione gave a small smile.
"Kailey, when did you become so much more—rebellious against the teachers?" she muttered back in reply.
I just shrugged, a small grin still playing on my face before turning to grimace at the awaiting cup. I downed it as quickly as I could, careful to avoid the unwanted dregs before following the rest of Trelawney's instructions. I traded saucers with Hermione and we began to look up the answers.
"Okay, you've got what looks like an apple here and that means…achievement." I snorted. "No surprises there, huh, Hermione?" I grinned. She just shook her head, though she couldn't hold in a small smile. "And this square thing could be a book I think. Um…let's see…it's closed so it means that you have to investigate something or you will have to. And that over here could be a triangle which means something unexpected," I looked up at her to see her staring with one eyebrow raised.
"So I'm going to have to investigate something, achieve or accomplish said investigation and it's going to have an unexpected result?" she asked, making sure she had understood everything correctly.
"More or less," I nodded.
"Does it sound accurate?" she whispered, a truly curious expression on her face. I thought for a moment before giving a nod then a shrug. She looked amused by my response.
"Okay, what's in mine?" I asked, leaning over to look at my saucer with her.
"Well, this here looks like a sword and that means an argument of some sort. This could be a thimble and it means changes at home, which actually makes sense for you since you basically have a new home altogether." She paused turning the cup over to get a better look. "This is a dog I think, and it seems to be near the bottom so that means you have a friend in need of help. And here you have an hourglass next to a knife. That probably together means you have to decide something or risk a friendship."
"Well, that doesn't sound too good." I replied leaning back. "Let me get it strait. I've got a friend in need of help," she nodded. Well at least I knew that already… "And I have to make some sort of decision, after an argument which could determine the success or failure of a friendship?" she nodded. "Wonderful news," I said sarcastically.
Just then Harry let out a snort over something that Ron said and Trelawney came swooping over like an oversized beetle. Hermione and I looked over with somewhat mild interest as to what she was going to do or say.
"You have the falcon, my dear, a deadly enemy." She stated.
"As if we didn't know that already," Hermione muttered a bit loudly. Trelawney looked over with a raised eyebrow. "Well, everyone knows about him and You-Know-Who," she folded her arms and sat back. Much of the class exchanged looks, obviously noting that Hermione didn't like the new professor either.
"Now, you also have a pair of scissors and a knife…separation and loss of friendship, perhaps trust. Here you have a skull; danger in your path and a club; attack…my, my," she murmured. "OH!" she started and shoved the saucer away from herself, causing most of the class to jump. "You poor, poor child…my dear…oh, though it is better I do not say…" she held a hand over her heart dramatically.
"Say what?" asked Seamus as if on cue.
"Poor boy, you have…the Grim." Most of the class shuddered, though a few did look confused. Hermione and I exchanged looks of annoyance.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Omen of death," I stated before Trelawney could open her mouth.
"My dear, I do believe that I am the teacher," she stated rather huffily.
"Sorry, Professor, but I assumed you wanted a moment to contain yourself," I replied almost instantly. She had looked as though she were about to go into shock, at least.
"Indeed. Well, this is just too much. Class is dismissed," she said, laying a hand on her forehead, adding to her drama. "And you dear, you shall stay a moment," she said as I rose to leave the classroom. I nodded to the others and went to the front of the classroom.
Trelawney waited until the last of the students had descended down the ladder before turning to face me. She gestured to a pouf close to her armchair and we both sat down. "Now, child, I did not wish to tell you so during the lesson, however, I sense great power within you. A great Sight," I raised both my eyebrows. "I understand how much it is to wish for acceptance amongst your peers, however, I would like you to embrace this part of yourself," she paused before adding, "And I do mean all of yourself, past and present." I sat up straighter.
"What is it you're implying here, professor?" I asked carefully.
"My Inner Eye allows me to See much, dear child. You have much conflict within yourself. A terrible past haunts you but has clearly given you more power than you have realized. Do not waste your Sight, you cannot change all of the fates," she held her gaze on me for another moment before I could think of a response.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but I do not know what you are talking about," I stated after a moment's consideration.
"I'm afraid you do, child. You remember the vision that I had, my first true vision, I announced on the first day of fifth year. You asked me if I had been sure I had Seen three bodies lying in the ashes of the house. The first two, I latter figured out, were James and Lily Potter, the baby their son. The third body was you, Keena McIntosh,"
How on earth she managed to keep her tones breathy throughout the entire ordeal was far beyond me. I, on the other hand, was leaning so far back in my pouf that, had it been a chair, it would have flipped over by now. We both stayed silent for several minutes, ignoring the bell signaling the start of the next class, each of us eying the other. Finally I decided it would be best if I spoke.
"This conversation never took place. Tell Dumbledore about this if you really feel that I am that much of a threat but I guarantee no one else will believe you," I stood, holding my book bag tightly. "My name is Kailey Snape. It's best for you to remember that," and I rushed out of the room before she could say another word.
How the Hell did she piece all of that together…? Was it just luck or did she really See who I was—er—am…? Either way this is bad…I'll have to tell Snape…
I burst into Transfiguration just in time to watch McGonagall transform into a tabby cat. The room was completely silent, the exact opposite to the way most classes normally acted whenever she made her grand demonstration. Hoping she didn't notice how late I was, I sat down in an empty chair next to Harry.
"Honestly, what is the problem today? Miss Snape, why are you late?" Most of the class turned their heads around, searching for whoever she could have been talking about.
"Trelawney held me back for a moment, M—Professor," I mentally kicked myself for almost calling her Mickey and did so again when I realized that the class was now staring at me with impressions of confusion, shock or (in Neville's case) a bit of fear. Clearly no one expected me to reply.
"Ah, so you've all come from Divination then? I see," she shook her head disapprovingly. "Which of you shall be dying this year?" the class, most of who had been trading glances between watching Harry and watching me, turned to face McGonagall with expressions of surprise mixed with what might have been horror in some.
"I am," Harry muttered.
"Well, Mr. Potter, you need not worry. Sibyll enjoys predicting the deaths of her students, especially during the first class. I for one--" she paused and regained herself after a moment. "Divination is highly imprecise magic and true Seers are extremely rare and while Professor Trelawney…" she stopped again, looking frustrated. I had to hide a small snigger. "You look fine to me, Potter, so I am not letting you off of any assignments. If you do die, I will not hold homework against you,"
Hermione and I laughed out loud and Harry smiled, though most everyone else did not look convinced.
"Now, back to Transfiguration, a more concrete form of magic,"
"So, Kailey, what did Professor Trelawney want with you?" Hermione asked as we left McGonagall's classroom, heading for the Great Hall.
"Well, let's just say she's not as dimwitted as I had been hoping," I replied in a whisper.
"What d'you mean?" Ron asked, sounding alarmed. "Harry isn't really going to die, is he?"
"Thanks, Ron," Harry said sarcastically.
"No, he's not going to die as far as I know," I answered, rolling my eyes. "But she figured out that I know more than I let on,"
"Well obviously she would have the way you didn't let Neville break his cup," Hermione stated. "Honestly, why bother intervening with that?"
"To prove she isn't always right, Hermione, so that people wouldn't look at Harry as though he was made of china," I replied simply. "Trust me, it will ruin the effect. Oh, and remind me to 'ask' Lavender what her greatest fear is so that she won't have to worry so much."
"Is that really a smart thing to do?" Hermione asked. "I mean, meddling for the sake of meddling?"
I thought for a moment then shook my head. "I suppose you're right, I mean, I can't handle everything, can I?"
"Yeah, imagine the pressure of the Quidditch teams," Ron joked.
"I think Wood would've eaten me alive had I let him know that we weren't going to win the Quidditch cup these past two years," I grinned.
"Could always make up for it by telling him we were destined to win this year," Harry suggested.
"How early do you want to wake up on Saturdays this year?" I asked in reply. Harry shuddered.
"Never mind, I don't even want to know," he muttered.
That's the end of this chapter! I hope the wait was worth it (it did take up 14 pages)! I'll try to update, but I'm working a lot this summer, so the chapters may be farther apart than they used to be! Please remember to Review! Until the 6th!
:-D