Cole's Divination
The following weeks since Professor Maximus’ punishment, Lilith and Moon balanced homework, Quidditch and their punishment. In the duration of the punishment, Team Cap George was obsessively cursing that one beater was always missing, eating in the air or dozing off. And Cole took it upon himself to see to it that Lilith was eating enough and not being stressed by Gryffindor’s Team Cap. Moon was extremely proud of his individuality that everybody pissed off.
“Then do my homework—pleaaseeee.” Lilith would beg but Cole insisted that she train herself to actually learn.
Cole have tried to find the right time to talk to George about her new name that she would like to choose since Lilith have asked him to do it. Earlier that day, before she threw her teammates to the Quidditch pitch, he woke up and greeted her in their dormitories and asked her to talk inside Hagrid’s house. She, in turn, suggested that he borrowed Lilith’s broom for a speedy transportation. Inside the house, they were all chilly and woken up by the coming November cold by travelling through the cold morning air. Then he asked her about her name for her transition. She tried to nonchalantly reply, the way Lilith does but her face faltered and she teared up. She told her the name she wanted and hugged him rather tightly— the bone-crushing sort of embrace.
“Remember our conversation about George?” Cole finally found the right time to talk about it with Lilith who he hoped would later tell Moon since they had different schedules this week and they were all busy for the House Cup ranking and the Triwizard Tournament. Unfortunately, the right time was apparently climbing up hurriedly to the North Tower for Divination classes.
“Did you hear that?” Lilith gasped suddenly. She stopped moving and sharpened her ears but the sound was drowned out by the echoes of feet around them
“No. What was it?”
“It was hissing.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a Parslemouth.”
She whirled towards him, she tried to speak but nothing came.
“NO.” He clucked his tongue and backed away from her. “We don’t need Voldemort back to life.”
“Oh please Nicholas, how could I possibly speak snake? Voldy already died, let him rest with the worms.” She rolled her eyes and took his hand and sped up the spiral staircase. “What did George say?”
“Regina.”
“Like the Queen?”
“Exactly like the Queen.”
Divination is always boring to the four of them, only George was interested because she needed to know who would win in Quidditch but Professor Hemlock never answered her. Professor Hemlock is a witch that claimed to be a seer albeit not being related to the Trelawneys whose kin seemed to be all seers and oracles. Professor Hemlock was old, battered witch who seemed to have different personalities about her. Moon could tell which personality teaches whenever she puts her jade ring on different fingers. On the thumb, Professor Hemlock is a cranky old seer. On the forefinger, she was soft-spoken and her eyes glowed orange under her gold-rimmed spectacles. On the middle finger, she was stable and almost sad—mourning. On the ring finger she was ecstatic as a drug lord and on the pinkie she was boring and spoke too slowly.
The jade ring was on the pinkie today and Moon struggled to stay awake as they search their kintsugi bowls that they had taken home to break and repair with melted gold for meanings.
“I got a heart shape on my bowl professor!” Theron Birch said proudly, he and his family believed in the complicated arts of telling the future. Cole gagged when he showed off in class.
“You. . . must be. . .getting a . . . sweetheart. . . this year.” She said, with three breaths in between the words.
“As if that was not obvious.” Cole muttered, very much annoyed.
“Child, you’re. . .” Professor Hemlock placed a hand on her mouth with. “It. . . upsets me to. . .say. But that. . .in your. . .plate is a—is a wolf” She whimpered.
“It means you’re getting an encounter with one.” George had said, reading off the pages of her Kinstugi: How Gold Tells What Lies Ahead.
“I don’t actually believe this, sorry Professor.” He shook his head dismissively.
“Nicholas.” Lilith hissed. “Behave!”
Professor Hemlock had switched her jade ring to her other hand and on the thumb. Moon straightened as he caught this. She turns not only cranky but berserk. “The four of you!” She said, “Dark lies ahead. I see it.” She grimaced and lowered her eyes. “Elizabeth sees it too,” she pointed darkly towards Moon and Lilith, “She tries to help you. She cannot say it yet.”
“What?” Moon asked. Eager and hungry.
“No. I must not tell. She has her reasons.” She waved him off angrily. “McCornell, you would be chosen as a champion for Hogwarts and I will not say anything else. But you must be careful, child. Be very careful.”
“Rubbish.” He said, but she ignored.
“Lilith Malfoy. Midge Riverson. Enrique Silverbugg. Flameus Falcon. Elena Ravens. Regina Areda. Pete Scammander.” George blushed blood red. “Nicholas McCornell. Marigold Mandrakes. Leslie Faun.” Professor Hemlock aggressively ran her hands through her thinning hair, it was so hard they all thought she’d pull a handful of scalp. “The ones who are not here: Cassandra, Ted, Winter, Marcia, Tulip, Sterling. You will unite in the brink of death.”
“You’re mad.” Cole breathed.
Professor Hemlock exploded savagely tipped off the round table that he and Lilith used. “I shall—“ she raised her wand, green light washing through the room. Everyone watched in fear. It is the killing curse. As she looked around, her face contorted and she hung her head to look at her palms as if saying “What have I done?”
She took her ring off and wore it on her middle finger. Tears leaked from her eyes. Moon sighed—reading the room, and signaled to Pete who sat in the back.
“Class dismissed.” Pete said walking towards the door to guide everyone out and sticking out a wand at Cole’s face. George guarded him and Moon pulled him along while they descended from the stairs.
“You don’t believe what she said, don’t you?” Moon asked, pushing Lilith who walked in front of them on the back so she would move faster.
“No. Why?”
“She mentioned everyone in the room but me.”
Pete laughed and clapped his younger brother in the back. “Don’t believe her, Moon. You don’t die. You’re stubborn enough to outlive us all.”
Lilith snorted, “Good one.”
Moon only grimaced at them while they high-five each other and give him teasing stares. “When did you two get close?” He huffed. “And what the hell was that Cole?”
“Later,” he said. “Gryffindor has Transfiguration next but Maximus would teach in the basement, he allows other students to watch from the upper levels. They are about to turn animals into other living things.”
Moon excitedly bobbed his head.
“Gather around. Let’s have a bit of discussion.” He shouted, his neck veins almost exploding. “Don’t embarrass yourselves to them,” he pointed up to the onlookers. “They might be planning to ask you to the Yule Ball.” Several people laughed and when they did, he scowled suddenly and clapped his hands.
He walked around the class pointing randomly at Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students and making them answer specific questions straight from their textbooks.
“Listen Mister Stacktable, if you want good marks,” He dropped the six-inch Transfiguration book on his armchair loudly. “You should start reading your books!”
The onlookers were all unfazed. Professor Maximus was always grumpy as a baby giant—it was no surprise.
“Get out of my class before I fail you and ruin your life.” He muttered and Conrad Stacktable stuffed quill and parchment into his bag and ran.
Professor smiled, as though bullying a student fulfilled one of his daily goals. “Let’s start shall we? Wands out—yes, Miss Malfoy unless you want yourself turned into a snake you should mind your wand pointing at you.”
She blushed, stunned at his comment but later on switched his wand to the right side.
“I want to introduce you to someone really famous, whom I had the luxury of teaching, Mr. Alexander Scammander.” He nodded to everyone with pride as though introducing the man was the most pleasant thing he did today. “Like Miss Luna Lovegood, he’s a magizoologist. A very famous one and today he’s gracing you all with his presence.”
“Hullo, you can call me Alexander.” He smiled. He was handsome. Lilith thought some people in the room swooned—George included. Lilith gave a look that meant: “Are you mental? That’s Moon’s cousin!!” But she was elbowed roughly.
Alexander smiled awkwardly for a few seconds and glanced briefly towards their direction and turned around only to come back with cages. “These are expanding cages for magical creatures that you might transfigure inside. It keeps the creature tiny as the cage. I made it myself.” He found Moon in the crowd and winked at him. Moon gagged.
“Of course, since you will all be turning non-living things into animals, your creation will not move unless you’re very good at it.” Professor Maximus boasted and looked everyone in the eye as if challenging them. “Prepare the wands and Transform these boxes filled with roaches into newborn dragons.”
“What kind of dragons, Professor?” George asked, stalling time. Some people giggled but Professor Maximus was far too smart to not know her true intentions.
“Since you asked Miss Areda,” Maximus boomed with a smile so sly Voldemort would have risen from the dead and asked him to be a Death Eater. “You shall transform the roaches into Hibredian Black Dragon.”
“But—“
“No buts, Miss Areda. You asked and I answered.”
She scowled and sneered at Lilith’s direction when she saw Lilith smile.
George waved her wand and tried to turn the box full of roaches into a Hibdredian Black Dragon but she accidentally opened the box and the roaches came spilling out on her lap and she screamed and screamed.
Lilith, was much better. She had turned it into a Hibderian Black Dragon in the flick of a wand which fit exactly inside the golden cage without magic. The crowd that gathered around them applauded which Professor Maximus clucked with disappointment at.
“Ten points to Gryffindor. Well done Miss Malfoy.” He grabbed at the side of his corduroy robes angrily as though he was trying to not transform everybody into Hibderian Black Dragons (not including Alexander Scammander). “I trust that you really read your books. You get full marks this semester.” He turned around to leave but gave them one last speech.
“I want you all to say goodbye to Alexander here who I have taught in his time in Hogwarts. He’s the best example to you all, he behaved here and gotten good marks. I wish all of you were all like that.” He shook his head pensively. Moon could have sworn he looked at him. “But I do wish you all good luck with your subjects and I do hope you enjoy the coming Triwizard Tournament and the remaining Quidditch Matches,” He folded his hands together gingerly, “I will miss you all, and I will see you in the next Semester.” He teared up and before the tears leaked, he patted Alexander’s shoulder and left. The crowd that gathered at the balconies fell silent too, they never heard a teacher say they would miss them.
At lunch break, all of them were in a foul mood after Potions. Professor Quigley might have apologized already but that doesn’t mean he stopped being a creep. He always had his eyes sticking towards Samantha Jore. They ate away in the Great Hall, not one of the teachers were there as usual so they casually ate together in the Gryffindor table.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to explain your behavior in divination?” Lilith asked Cole in a hushed tone.
He told them to finish their meals so he could tell them inside Hagrid’s house where no one would overhear. When they arrived there, Cole turned as gray as the moon. “What Professor Hemlock meant was that I’ll get bitten by a warewolf.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’ve been dreading this for years. I—I don’t know how I would be able to get through every moon cycle. Let alone make wolfsbane.”
George’s face contorted. Moon looked at him in shock.
“How do you know this?” Lilith asked.
“It was a prophesy for me. It’s my fate. I didn’t know when it would happen, I was just warned when I was a kid and Professor just gave me an exact date.”
“That’s okay, I’ll just protect you, Nicholas.” Lilith assured, but it sounded like she only assured herself. Cole already knew what was coming, he’s accepted it.
“No. You can’t. Not this time.”
Lilith clenched her teeth tightly as though it might break. “I’ll try anyway.”
As they walked to the Defense Against Dark Arts class in the dungeons next to the hallways, George suddenly asked, “You guys still have detention?”
“Yeah.” They answered in unison. Even after the full marks, Lilith would still need to wipe the dust in that nasty rusty old coin shelves. If she got pissed enough, she swore she would steal some of the gold ones and get it molten into a “Stupid Motherfucker” trophy and gift it to her bestie Nicholas.
“And you got a pair of ruby earrings that you share that Cole and I don’t have?”
“Right. We’re thinking of bringing you there, but your schedules are packed. We’ll bring you after Quidditch season.”
George slowly nodded as if coming to terms of what she just heard, “So you lot, are dating.”
“Bloody no!” Moon exclaimed. “If you must know, I have been threatened to wear this earring and I have been bullied for the past week by her!”
“Are you saying you don’t like the earring?” Lilith stared daggers at him, reaching out to his ear to get it.
“DON’T BLOODY TAKE IT OFF!” He ran away from her as far as possible.
“Soo, they aren’t dating at all? Isn’t the ROR the reason why Harry Potter kissed Cho Chang? Shouldn’t it be acting accordingly to their chemistry?” George muttered to Cole who just settled into rolling his eyes at the silly two.
“They’re both mental.” He somehow managed to shake his head and roll his eyes at the same time. “The mistletoe? Yes. I suppose ROR does not favor all the Potters. I heard that’s where Pete snogged Stacy Felummette during his third year. Apparently the room let them have couple’s ice cream there.”