Stay - Mattheo Riddle

The Grim

Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings. 'Sit, my children, sit,' she said, and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto pouffes. 

Riddle, Potter, Nott and Rowle sat themselves around the same round table while Blaise and Draco sat at one next to them. '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.'

Theodore and Kirra shared a look, stifling their laughter. Nobody said anything in answer 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 arts. 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 ...' 

"remind me again why I took this subject" Jasper huffed in annoyance, "the teacher is obviously a loony"

'Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future,' Professor Trelawney went on, her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to nervous face. 

'It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy,' she said suddenly to Neville, who almost toppled off his pouffe, 'is your grandmother well?' 

'I think so,' said Neville tremulously.

'I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear,' said Professor Trelawney, the firelight glinting on her long emerald earrings. Neville gulped. Professor Trelawney continued placidly, '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 shot suddenly at Parvati Patil, 'beware a red-haired man.'

Parvati gave a startled look at Ron, who was right behind her, and edged her chair away from him. 

'In the summer term,' Professor Trelawney went on, 'we shall progress to the crystal ball – if we have finished with fire-omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our numbers will leave us forever.' 

A very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but Professor Trelawney seemed unaware of it, Kirra, Riddle and Nott all shared a worried look, the three of them did have a tendency of getting into trouble, and the girl had literally died a few months before. 

'I wonder, dear,' she said to Lavender Brown, who was nearest and shrank back in her chair, 'if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?' Lavender, looking relieved, stood up, took an enormous teapot from the shelf and put it down on the table in front of Professor Trelawney.

'Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading – it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October.' Lavender trembled. 

'Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. 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 its saucer; wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read." 

Kirra hated when they had to be split into pairs, she turned her head to look away from the teacher and over to the boys, she opened her mouth to speak but shut it when she noticed the two of them already doing rock, paper, scissors.