He would have held you, things your father never could do
Thursday, 2 September, 1993 The Divination Classroom
"Welcome to Divination" said Professor Trelawney, who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front of 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"
Nobody said anything to this extraordinary pronouncement. Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued, "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical art. 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..."
Professor Trelawney continued making her grandiose speech filled with strange predictions for several of Harry's classmates and broke them up to start with tea reading. Harry and Ron tried to drink their scalding tea quickly and without burning their tongues. They swirled the dregs around as instructed, then flipped the cups to drain them. Harry reached for Ron's cup first, and started flipping through his copy of Unfogging the Future.
"What can you see in mine?" Ron asked, flipping to pages five and six.
"A load of soggy brown stuff," Harry muttered. The heavy sage and incense clouding the room was making his head feel funny. Though, he mused, he had always been particularly sensitive to smells. The smoke was making him feel sleepy and stupid, rather like Dudley.
"Broaden your minds, my dears," Trelawney moaned dramatically, "and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!"
Harry tried to squint at the soggy tea leaves in Ron's cup. "Right, you've got a crooked sort of cross..." He peeked down at the page, "That means you're going to have trials and suffering- sorry about that- but there's a thing that could be the sun...hang on...that means great happiness..." Harry trailed off uncertainly, "So you're going to suffer but be very happy afterwards? Or that you're going to have to suffer to be able to see the happiness?"
Ron snorted, "Your Inner Eye is as blind as you mate!" They both had to pause to stifle their snickers as Professor Trelawney snapped her gaze to them.
Ron snatched Harry's cup before she could come over to chastise them. "My Turn." He peered into Harry's tea cup, turning it this way and that to try and make sense of the shapes.
"Er, I think it's supposed to stay the same orientation there mate" Harry said uncertainly. Ron shrugged, unconcerned as he spotted some kind of shape.
"Oh! I think this is some kind of upside down tree?" He scanned the chart they were using to translate, "That means you... have been left behind by someone's interrupted journey." He squinted as he turned the cup again, "And here looks like some kind of Antlers I think...which means you have some kind of power over the otherworlds or the woods or something."
Harry blinked, thinking this sounded way more detailed than what he had seen. He opened his mouth to respond when-
"Let me see that, my dear" Professor Trelawney said, startling the boys from over Harry's shoulder. "The Stag rarely shows itself in the cup of someone so young, even as well accomplished as Mr. Potter here." She grabbed the cup from Harry and re-oriented it for a left handed drinker. Harry wondered how she knew he only drank his tea with his left hand before she started speaking again.
"The Falcon my dear, not the Stag." She glanced at Ron, "It means you have a deadly enemy." Hermione muttered something at this, but Professor Trelawney ignored her as she continued reading Harry's cup. "The Skull, great changes are coming to your life dear. The Skull shows up when something is ending." She gave the cup one more look, gasped, and screamed.
There was second crash as Neville smashed his second cup. Professor Trelawney sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at her heart and her eyes closed.
"My dear boy...my poor, dear boy...no...it is kinder not to say... but it is my duty to tell you..."
"What is it, Professor?" said Dean Thomas at once. Everyone had gotten to their feet, abandoning their own attempts at divining their leaves for guidance. They crowded around Harry and Ron's table, trying to get a good look into Harry's cup.
"My dear," Professor Trelawney's eyes opened dramatically, "you have the Grim!" Several people started muttering, while others were looking worriedly at Harry, as though he might drop dead in front of them. "It is one of the few omens of physical death present in the leaves!"
Harry tuned out for the rest of the class as his friends worried around him. His stomach had sunk somewhere near his knees as he stifled the urge to...do something. He was feeling vaguely floaty and numb between the news that death was coming near him again, the ever present feelings of being an imposter and a disappointment, and the hazy smoke.
"Harry!" Hermione's voice pierced the fog and he shook his head to clear it.
"What is it Mione?" He peered up at her, still feeling vaguely disconnected.
"Professor Trelawney dismissed us, she said she'll explain more next class about what we've all seen." She bit her lip, hesitating before continuing. "I don't believe it Harry. Divination is a very wooly subject and true seers are so rare." Harry smiled at her and started to gather his things.
"I don't know if I agree, but I guess we'll find out." He started towards the trap door, "We've got Transfiguration next so we best get moving."
Harry chose a seat right next to the windows, hoping to stay out of his friends attention for a bit. Despite this, he could feel stares on the side of his head, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment. Nobody seemed to be paying particular attention to Professor McGonagall, who was telling them about Animagi. Under normal circumstances, this would be a very fascinating subject, and Harry felt something in him resonate vaguely at the idea, but he was still so far into his head that it barely registered. It seemed attention was still on him when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle marking around her eyes.
"Really, what has gotten into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with a faint pop, and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not gotten applause from a class."
Everybody's heads turned towards Harry again, but nobody spoke. Hermione, of course, was the first to raise her hand.
"Please, Professor, we've just come from our first Divination Class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and -"
"Ah, of course" said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say anymore Ms. Granger. Tell me, which of you has the Grim in their leaves this year?"
Everyone stared at her, gobsmacked.
"Me," said Harry, finally.
"I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her gaze. "Then you should know, Mr Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has seen the Grim, or the Tower, in the cup of at least one student per year for at least the last decade. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her idea of a teaching moment, though it seems rather more dramatic than necessary this year. Needless to say she and I have very different teaching ideas." She paused, something in her eyes softened as she looked at Harry. "Divination is a strange branch of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience for it. True Seers are very rare, though that only refers to prophecy and not other aspects of the art. I think I'll allow Professor Trelawney to explain herself in your next lesson more thoroughly." She paused, and seemed to take a deep breath.
In a very matter of fact tone, she continued. "You look in excellent health to me, Mr Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off of homework today. I assure you that if you die, you won't have to hand it in." The tension broke as several students, Harry included, let out surprised giggles. Professor McGonagall smiled slightly, then returned to her lesson.
"The vast majority of Animagi are wix who have performed a long and complicated ritual which allows them to access their guardian form at will. This form is based on several things..." They all hastened to take notes, as it was a rather fascinating subject. After her lecture, Professor McGonagall took questions-though she refused to elaborate on the ritual.
"I have some suspicions that the only time I did this in my class, at least one of my students went on and performed the ritual himself." Harry was confused, as she almost seemed to turn to him at this.
He raised his own hand, almost surprising himself. "Professor, you said the majority of Animagi undergo the ritual..." She nodded, and Hermione shot him a surprised look which he ignored. "What about the rest?"
"An excellent question Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall began, "as this is part of why Animagi must register with the Ministry before attempting the ritual and upon its completion. If an Animagus completes the ritual before having children, there is a high chance their form will be passed down to their child. This is very rare, as the Ministry has been very diligent in monitoring the ingredients needed for parts of the ritual. Originally, this was implemented around the time of the Statute of Secrecy, as these children are wont to transform anywhere. Since then, there have been advancements made and now the Animagus form can be locked away until the child is older, usually between ten and fifteen years old, before it wears off. These children will still retain some aspects of their animal form, such as heightened senses, animal instincts, and odd behaviors."
A chill ran down Harry's spine at that. Why did that sound exactly like what he sometimes experienced? As far back as he could remember, he had extremely good hearing, a better sense of smell than his friends, and a ridiculous startle response that Ron found hysterical. Of course, some of these he hadn't realized weren't normal until Hogwarts-and the startle response could be a product of the Dursleys.
Still, Harry made a note to speak with Professor McGonagall after class.