Magic? || Years 5-7

Trelawney on the Steps: Year 5

Amisty listened to Harry carefully in the courtyard, her horror growing and growing as the story continued.

"And now Rookwood is helping him get it, get it since Bode couldn't under the Imperius Curse of Lucius Malfoy..."

Hermione went very quiet, not looking at any of them.

"So that's why they killed him," Hermione whispered quietly. "When Bode tried to steal the weapon, something funny happened to him. I think there must be defensive spells on it, or around it, to stop people from touching it. That's why he was in St. Mungo's, his brain had gone all funny and he couldn't talk. But remember what the Healer told us? He was recovering. And they couldn't risk him getting better, could they? I mean, the shock of whatever happened when he touched that weapon probably made the Imperius Curse lift. Once he'd got his voice back, he'd explain what he'd been doing, wouldn't he? They would have known he'd been sent to steal the weapon. Of course, it would have been easy for Lucius Malfoy to put the curse on him. Never out of the Ministry, is he?"

"He was even hanging around that day I had my hearing," Harry murmured, thinking back. "In the -- hang on... He was in the Department of Mysteries corridor that day! Your dad said he was probably trying to sneak down and find out what happened in my hearing, but what if -- "

"Sturgis," Hermione gasped.

"Sorry?" Ron asked.

"Sturgis Podmore," Hermione continued, her hand rose to her chin. "Arrested for trying to get through a door. Lucius Malfoy got him too. I bet he did it the day you saw him there, Harry. Sturgis had Moody's Invisibility Cloak, right? So what if he was standing guard by the door, invisible, and Malfoy heard him move, or guessed he was there, or just did the Imperius Curse on the off chance that a guard was there? So when Sturgis next had an opportunity -- probably when it was his turn on guard duty again -- he tried to get into the department to steal the weapon for Voldemort -- Ron, be quiet -- be he got caught and sent to Azkaban..."

She paused, lifting her gaze to Harry.

"And now Rookwood's told Voldemort how to get the weapon?"

"I didn't hear all the conversation, but that's what it sounded like. Rookwood used to work there... Maybe Voldemort'll send Rookwood to do it?" Harry replied.

Hermione frowned, looking at the ground. Hen, her head snapped back up to Harry, "But you shouldn't have seen this at all, Harry."

"What?"

She gave him a disapproving sort of look, "You're supposed to be learning how to close your mind to this sort of thing."

"I know I am," He replied. "But -- "

"Well, I think we should just try and forget what you saw," Hermione cut him off, her voice firm. "And you ought to put in a bit more effort on your Occlumency from now on."

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Right before Amisty took a sip of pumpkin juice when a loud, piercing scream came from outside the Great Hall. She jumped, almost spilling it all over herself.

"What on earth?" She muttered under her breath, looking up and getting a waft of sherry. Uh oh.

"Was that Professor Trelawney?" Hermione asked, setting down her silverware and peering out the doorway.

"Let's see what's going on," Ron replied, leading the way out the door with an alarmed expression. Considering the Divination professor never spoke much more above a dreamy whisper, Amisty was rather concerned.

It was quite the sight. Amisty leaned down, peeking under Ron's arm. There was a ring of students and teachers around Professor Trelawney who looked on the verge of falling apart. She had her wand in one hand and an empty bottle of sherry in the other with her glasses tilted so drastically off her nose one eye looked much larger than the other. Shawls and scarves littered the floor around her and trailing off her shoulders, and two trunks seemed to have been thrown at her feet.