Cursed (Hogwarts Legacy fanfiction - original in German)

Chapter 18 - Tempt your fate

The divination class fulfilled Imelda's prophecy for a few endless minutes, during which Professor Onai gave them a lecture on a somewhat outdated but still intriguing way to supposedly predict a person's future using a drop of blood. Phina wasn't really paying attention as the professor recounted her travels and the African wizard tribe she had visited to learn this technique. Natty was the only one who was truly attentive to her mother's stories. 

It wasn't until the second half of the class that the students suddenly woke up from their apathy, and everyone seemed to sit up a bit straighter as Professor Onai announced that she would now also like to demonstrate this spell practically. Charlotte from Hufflepuff immediately took a sharp breath and leaned back a bit.
"How is she going to get blood? I can't stand the sight of blood! I'm telling you, I'll faint right away!" she whispered nervously to her seatmate, who had her eyes wide open and was staring at Professor Onai just as questioningly as the rest of the class. 

The professor smiled gently and raised her hands reassuringly.
"Calm down. Of course, I won't force anyone. If there are no volunteers, we can try to take a glimpse into my own future," she said, and at that moment, there was some murmuring in the ranks of the students. This time, however, it was not about the drop of blood required for the spell but more about the curiosity of being able to see one's own future. Phina could hear that some of her classmates were now considering volunteering out of curiosity about what might come out of it. 

She herself had to admit that it sounded tempting, especially with all the uncertain things happening in her life right now. Would she ever find out who "M" was and what he or she had warned her about? Would Ominis ever reconcile with them? Would Sebastian and she find a cure for Anne? After a few more questions that raced through Phina's mind and got tangled up, she decided with a headshake that she would rather find all of this out on her own, independently, and not through a flimsy spell that had never been mentioned in any divination book because it seemed not particularly useful or reliable. 

When Professor Onai asked again if anyone wanted to volunteer, the room fell silent again. No one dared, but when the professor's gaze reached Sebastian, he suddenly shrugged and cleared his throat.
"I'll do it," he announced, and Phina was almost startled by how calm and almost indifferent he appeared as he got up from his seat and walked to the front of the class to Professor Onai. She knew he didn't really believe in anything related to divination, but still, Phina was seized by a fear that felt irrational and foolish but no less unsettling for it.

"Excellent, thank you very much, Mr. Sallow," Professor Onai exclaimed as she retrieved a sewing needle, rather large in Phina's opinion, and handed it to Sebastian before placing a small white porcelain bowl on her desk. All the students gathered around, watching Sebastian intently as he casually pricked the tip of his left ring finger with the needle until a small drop of blood formed, which he allowed to drip into the little bowl in front of him. Only Charlotte remained seated at her desk and joined the group later when her seatmate signaled her frantically that the worst was probably over and she could join them calmly. Professor Onai had given Sebastian a small bandage, and the prick was so harmless that it didn't require any magic to treat, and Sebastian seemed just as content with a simple bandage. 

The sound of the blood drop hitting the bowl unavoidably reminded Phina of her strange dream, and she felt an inner restlessness about whether it was really a good idea to let Professor Onai peer into Sebastian's future. She cast a concerned glance at her best friend, and when he noticed, he immediately stood beside her and briefly put an arm around her.

"It's all right, Phina. It was just a small drop. You won't even see the prick by tonight," he tried to reassure her. Apparently, he thought that Phina looked concerned for that reason. Charlotte was probably the only one in the room who was slightly paler than Phina as they watched Professor Onai holding her wand over the porcelain bowl, whispering a few incantations in an unknown, presumably African language.