The first class of the day was Divination. Grace was excited. She thought the subject, while not accurate, was interesting and figured it would be fun. She was sure she'll be able to use her imagination, and that was exciting. When she arrived to class with the other Gryffindors, everyone started pairing off. Harry and Ron took a table in at the bottom. Lavender and Parvati took one behind them on the second level. Neville took the table next to Ron and Harry's and she was about to sit with him when Dean took the seat instead. Grace frowned, looking around her. There were a few open seats up further up but she didn't want to sit with Slytherins, and she didn't know the few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in the class enough to sit with them. There was an empty table next to Parvati and Lavender, but if she sat at an open table, that means she'll probably have to sit with Hermione. The only other seat was with Seamus, who sat at the table on the other side of Harry and Ron.
"Can I sit with you?" Grace asked him in a small voice as she fidgeted with her bag.
"Course!" Seamus smiled at her, and she sat in the seat opposite of him, her back to Harry. "I'd happily pick you than Hermione," he whispered and Grace snorted then grinned at him. "Don't tell her I said that."
"Your secret's safe with me," she replied and Seamus grinned at her.
"Welcome, my children!" A woman with bushy blonde hair and excentric, large glasses greeted them. "In this room, you shall explore the mysterious art of Divination! In this room you shall discover if you possesstheSight!" She announced, then accidentally knocked into her desk. Grace clapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. "I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future-"
"What rubbish," Hermione hissed. Grace whipped around in her seat and saw Hermione sit between Ron and Harry.
"Where'd you come from?" Ron asked.
"Me? I've been here all along."
"Did you see her come in?" Grace whispered to Seamus, and he shook his head, also looking confused.
"But know this," Professor Trelawney continued, forcing Graces attention back to her. "One either has thegiftor not. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have theSight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can take you only so far I this field…" Grace turned in her seat to look at Hermione with a grin, which Ron and Harry were both doing as well. Hermione, looked startled at the thought of not relying on books. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," She paused, looking to Parvati, "beware a red-haired man."
Grace snorted into her hand when she saw Parvati give Ron a startled look and moved their table a little further back. "In the second term," Professor Trelawney continued, "we shall progress to the crystal ball – if we have finished the fire omens, tht is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flue. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever." Grace and Seamus looked at each other nervously as tension filled the room. "I wonder dear," Professor Trelawney turned to Grace. "If you could pass me the largest silver teapot?" Grace blinked and nodded as she stood up. She picked up the enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on Trelawney's desk. "Thank you," Grace nodded and made her way back to her seat. "By the way," Grace paused and looked at Trelawney. "You should have your answers by Christmas."
Grace sat down in her seat and frowned. What did Professor Trelawney mean by she would have her answers by Christmas? What answers? "Now, I want you all to collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on it's saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six ofUnfogging the Future. I shall movce among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear-" Trelawney caught Neville by the arm as he stood up – "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue-patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."
Grace and Seamus shared another look before they stood up and went to select their teacups. They both chose blue ones to be safe. There was the familiar sound of glass breaking, and Grace turned to see Neville looking down at a broken teacup and Trelawney holding out a dustpan and a broom. "One of the blue ones, the, dear, if you wouldn't mind…thank you."
"Wow…" Grace whispered, blinking as she and Seamus stood in line.
"Bit odd isn't she?" He whispered back and she nodded.
"But brilliant," Grace grinned, turning to Seamus, who looked at her bewildered. "This is going to be so much fun."
Once her and Seamus sat back at their table, they both started drinking the tea. It was a little on the floral side, and very Earthy. It wasn't Grace's favorite, but it wasn't about the taste of the tea but about the tea leaves. Grace pulled out her textbook, as well as a blank notebook, a quill and a bottle of ink.
"What's all that for?" Seamus asked, nodding to her notebook.
"I want to keep notes on what the tea leaves say and what how they're interpreted," She answered as she wrote the date, and drew a line down the top half of her page before writing both her and Seamus' name on each side of the line. "So it says here," she spoke up after she skimmed the page. "That the closest to the top of the cup is immediate future, middle of the cup is distant future, and bottom of the cup is near future. The right of the cup, closes to the handle is positive, furthest is negative…"
"So the middle would be neutral?" Seamus asked, not even bothering to look in his book, instead leaned off his seat to look at hers, which was placed between them on the side of the table.
"I would think so," she shrugged. "Let me do yours first!" she grinned excitedly as she reached over and took Seamus' teacup. Her brows frowned in concentration as she looked over his cup to try and decipher what the leaves were making. Once she figured it out, she wrote them down in her notebook.
"At the top, it looks like an hourglass that means," she paused, glancing at her book. "You'll have to make a decision soon, really soon-"
"Does it say what kind of decision?" He asked, leaning forward to take a peek.
"It's interpretation, Seamus, and I'm not done yet!" She huffed and brought his teacup closer to her face. "In the middle of the cup it looks like a bean but I think might be a nest-"
"What's tha' mean?"
"It means to save your money," she frowned. "Next to it is a palm leaf, which means victory… so whatever you need to save for will be worth it."
"Well that doesn't tell me anything," Seamus muttered with disappointment.
"Did you expect it to tell you who you're going to marry and if you'll be rich and successful?" Grace asked dryly and Seamus nodded.
"Yeah, actually," Grace laughed and shook her head. Seamus then took her teacup and looked at it, frowning and then turned to the text book.
"Tell me, what's in the cup?" Professor Trelawney said, coming up to their table, making both of them jump.
"Er…" Seamus looked at their teacher than at her cup. "Up here near the top it looks like a key," he started, then looked at the book. "Which means you're going to succeed at something very soon," Trelawney nodded, looking over Seamus' shoulder at her cup. "There's also this small thing that looks a bit like a heart here in the middle but closer to the bottom, that means-" quickly glanced at the book to make sure he was right. "That means love, its not in the near future but not distant either, whatever that means," he shrugged. "Then there is what looks like a house at the bottom of the cup in the middle, next to scales…I think?" he frowned, leaning closer and squinting. "Yeah, they're scales but they're wonky so that means…an injustice, and the house means security and safety, or parents…" Seamus frowned in confusion, trying to understand. "There's an injustice regarding your parents?"
"Good, good," Trelawney nodded, patting Seamus' shoulder before moving on. Grace frowned as she looked at her notes, then looked at her cup that Seamus had returned. A success, a romance, and an injustice regarding her parents… what an odd combination of symbols. Trelawney exclaimed, making Grace jump and turn around to see her looking at Ron with her large eyes. "Your aura is pulsing, are you in the beyond!?"
"Ye-yeah, I think so," Ron nodded nervously, looking at Trelawney bewildered.
"Tell me what you see in Mr. Potters cup, Mr. Weasley," Trelawney nodded to the teacup and Ron nodded, looking at his book.
"Well, he's got a wonky sort of cross – that's trials and suffering," he said, looking at Harry nervously, then back at his book. "But this lot here could be the sun – that's great happiness. So… he's going to suffer but be happy about it…" Ron said, looking at Harry unsurely.
"Give me the cup," Trelawney muttered, motioning for the cup. "Ah!" She exclaimed, throwing the cup back on the table and backing up. "My dear boy… you have… theGrim!" Grace frowned, looking from Trelawney to Harry.
"The Grin? What's the Grin?" Seamus asked.
"Not the grin, you idiot," Parvati glowered at Seamus. "TheGrim."
"What does that mean, Professor?" Dean spoke up.
"The Grim," Grace spoke up, looking at her book. "Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen of…" she paused, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat, then glanced at Harry. "It's an omen of death…" she finished nervously. Her heart broke at the dreadful look in Harry's eyes as he looked back at her. Trelawney moved onto Dean and Neville's table, but the class was tense after that.
Grace reached behind her chair and tugged on Harry's sleeve. He turned and looked at her, but she just grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his and squeezed it gently. Harry smiled softly as he squeezed her hand back, not letting go for the duration of the class.