Divination ( (3rd-7th years))

[Professor Sybil Trelawney]

"Oh, goodnes...It's almost time..." Sybil muttered to herself as she threw the cooking sherry bottle into the blue fire. Even though empty, a small burst of fire exploded when the bottle crashed into it. She bustled through her books trying to come up with a lesson plan quickly. She had been losing her motivation for class work as of late, and had been falling farther behind in her syllabus. She picked up the final book on the shelf, and murmured to herself. Yes, that would do. She had never covered the subject before, and she was pretty sure that the students would enjoy it. It would make for a short lesson, and get them out of the stuffy classroom. The students came in slowly one by one. For once, Sybil wished that one of her students would come in with a happy, smiling face. She knew her class wasn't the most popular, but surely someone enjoyed it. The somber faces almost wanted her to give up her chosen profession.

Wobbly, she stood up to address the class in front of her familiar overstuffed, purple armchair. "Students, settle down. Settle down. We are going to have a rather different class today. Instead of sitting in class today, we are going to do an out of class exercise today." Sybil pointed out the window. Most everyone groaned when they saw the cold snowy day. Unhindered, the divination teacher pressed forward. "We will be studying water divination today. It is one of the oldest forms of divination known to man. Many consider it unreliable, but I find it very reliable for simple questions. The most common forms of divination include water gazing, divination by floating, divination by steam, divination by stones, and divination by oil. Many witches believe that they can interpret the swirls in the river, and some even believe that by throwing water into the air can implicate guilty parties." She flipped through the pages in the book. "Please turn to page 693. These are the main forms of water divination. Your assignment will be to use one of these methods of divination. I expect at least a foot of parchment," the class groaned loudly, "by the end of the week. Class is dismissed." Sybil turned around and nearly stumbled over the small table that stood beside her chair.

((Students, please post your assignment in this thread. Roleplay out the events in your post, and let me know what you have learned. Assignments will be due by February 4th. House points will be awarded based on creativity, and initiative. The forms of divination you can include:

Water Gazing - This one is simple enough. A person stares into a bowl of water while focusing on their question. The water will reveal the answer to the reader. This isn’t always accurate. However, don’t throw out the water! The water becomes more accurate with time.

Divination by Floating - This is for yes or no answers only. Throw a light object into the water such as a piece of paper, feather, etc. Normally, this object will need to have some connection with the thing you are asking about. Drop it into a lake or river. If it sinks to the bottom, your answer is yes. If it washes ashore, the answer is no.

Divination by Steam - Hang a mirror on the wall. Concentrate on your question. Create a room full of steam by a shower, pot of boiling water, etc. Allow the condensation to build up in the room. As the water on the mirror begins to drip, words will appear on the mirror telling you the answer.

Divination by Stones – Ask a yes/no question. Throw a rock into a lake. An even number of ripples is a yes while an odd number of ripples is a no.

Divination by Oil – Ask a question while dribbling a bit of oil into a bowl of water. The water will act as a mirror. The oil will take the form of your answer.

Interpret the River – This can be done anytime day or night, but many believe that the best answers can be found by moonlight. Focusing on the swirls in the river, ask the question you wish to find the answer to. The ripples should point you in the right direction, and give you the answer you seek.

Spray Falls on the Guilty One – Now, this one will probably be the most difficult to pull off. The wizard must ask a question while shooting water in the air using the Aquementi charm. Whatever the water falls upon will be the answer to the question.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.))

[Woodrow Winchester R4]

( Sorry about how it looks, when I wrote, I was in a bit of a hurry)

Woodrow looked at the Professor, half shocked, half excited. He wouldn't be confined to the classroom room for this exercise, and what's more, he could actually have some fun with this one. He had two or three of the methods in mind to try. As he left the classroom, descending down the ladder, he decided he would deffinately have som fun with the aguamenti charm first. He made his way down the winding stairs of the divination tower, and then made his way down some more stairs until he reached the entrance hall. Going outside, he saw some students near the lake, and decided maybe his question could be answered really easily. Walking over to them, but staying at good ten feet he pointed his wand at the group and said, " Aguamenti!", then asked the question, '' Who will appear foolish wet?''. The stream of water shot out and completely avoided the person right in front of him, to land on the person opposite of that person. Unluckily though, that other person was a girl who had just done her hair, an now it was ruined. The girls eyes had that crazed look in them, and they were locked on Woodrow. Backing away, he said, " Oh look at the time, I best be on my way." But he wasn't so lucky, the girl had her wand out and used a tickling charm on him, which caused him to go into a fit of laughing, and then used the aguamenti charm on his well. She then stalked off with her friend, leavig Woodrow lying on the ground, incapacitated with laughter.

Thirty minutes later, after the tickling charm had worn off, Woodrow decided that the real answer to his question had been himself, and that the method he had just used was not very good. So next he decided to use the water gazing method. He got a bowl from the great hall, and then headed up to his common room. Once in the common room, he set the bowl on the table, and used the aguamenti charm to fill it. Looking into the bowl, he focused on the question, ' What will be my profession when I am older?'. After ten minutes, an answer appeared to him, it said, ' One that pays.' Woodrow shook his head at the very vague answer, and decided to wait about an hour, seeing as the book said that the water grew more accurate as time passed.

One hour later, he again gazed into the bowl, and this time used asimpler question. He focused on ' Will I get a good grade in divination?'. This time, the answer appeared more quickly, saying ' Yes, and no, does an E sound good?' He again shook his head, the water had asked him a question in turn, was that supposed to happen, he wondered. Instantly the water had another answer, ' I don't know.' Sitting up, he said aloud, " Oh great, now it's not even an answer. Deciding he didn't want to test anymore methods, he began to write down his tests and results. To summarize what he had learned, he wrote ' Divination by water isn't always the surest way of finding out things, but it can be used by some to get answers, though not in the most obvious way. Water can be somewhat carefree with it's answers, and can be a bit unhelpful to some. I think I'll stick to crystal balls and tea leaves myself.'

[Dakota Fox S6]

Divination was the most useless subject of the entire curriculum. Dakota pushed her cheek into the palm of her hand and stared with a bored expression out of the tower window. It was a beautiful day, and although Dakota didn't even appreciate good weather, her conceited self bemoaned the fact she had to remain indoors, in this incense-filled room that frankly made her want to be sick, attending the most boring lesson on the planet with the most useless professor in the entire history of schooling. It was the worst punishment anyone could receive - and really, Dakota, being such an honoury and respected descendant of the Foxes, should not have to sit here and supposedly learn something that would no doubt never come in useful in the future.

But enough about her lamenting. Dakota's eyes swivelled on Professor Trelawney as she began to outline the day's work. Dakota's heart swelled with joy when she said they would have an out-of-class exercise, and thoughts of skiving work and sitting in the Student Lounge or Common Room filled her mind. Oh, she relished the freedom. But then Professor Trelawney outlined the task they had to do and Dakota narrowed her eyes at the passage that explained the work in her textbook. Again, pointless things. The only reason Dakota had even chosen Divination was because she would not even contemplate taking Care of Magical Creatures (even more pointless and boring, and animals elicited nothing but 'Ew' from Dakota) and Arithmancy (too much trouble for what it was worth). That and weren't Divination and Ancient Runes really the same thing?

Taking her textbook and throwing it into her bag, Dakota stalked haughtily out of the classroom and down the tower steps. She had already selected the task she would attempt - Divination by Stones. After all, it was the easiest one. The moment she had thrown a stone in she would have completed the task, and then she could go and find a fun pastime to toy with. Like a boy... maybe Tiernan, who she hadn't actually seen for a while. Dakota smirked. That boy was just wrapped around her little finger, like all the other men - oh wait - boys.

Obviously the only place with a lake was in the grounds. Dakota left the warmth of the castle, but only before grabbing her bunny-fur-lined coat and wrapping it around her snuggly. She remembered, as she passed a bench, her conversation with Pyro Blackfire no more than a month ago before the Christmas holidays. Smirking to herself, Dakota walked towards the lake. As she went along, she picked up a stone. When she finally reached the water's edge, she dropped her bag on the floor, held the stone before her, and asked out loud her question. "Will I become Minister of Magic in the future?" Then she dropped the stone.

Dakota bent down to peer avidly at the ripples. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... Dakota expected an even number for yes, after all. However, when the ripples can to eleven, Dakota arched an unbelieving eyebrow. Either she must have counted wrong or the stone was wrong. This was Divination, after all - it never worked. Dakota didn't believe it did anyway, despite what those loony Seers said. Chewing her tongue in thought, she bent down and picked up another stone between her gloved hands. She asked the question once more and threw the stone in. Again, she counted the ripples. This time, she did not count wrong; and this time, she counted nine.

Huffing frustratedly to herself, Dakota decided the technique simply did not work. Grabbing her bag, she moved away from the lake. It took her half an hour to go to the Library and write up her assignment, which constituted very few words: 'The Divination by Stones technique does not work and my attempts have proven this. The answer to my question was most definitely, without a doubt, yes. It repeatedly told me no. Therefore, it is a dubious technique that evidently does not work.'

[Josephine Bowman S7]

Josephine’s footsteps sounded around her, echoing into the depths of her mind as she made her way up the steps of the North Tower. Her shoulders were slouching forward slightly, her hair down and covering her face, holding the natural waves that she hardly ever allowed it to. Blue eyes were downcast and if one looked closely they could catch the red tint to them…it was obvious she wasn’t sleeping, what wasn’t obvious was why. Josephine was a popular girl, caught up in her own world of opportunity, but anymore she looked like a lost First Year in the middle of the marble staircase as it began moving. Black robes fell around her in a disorganized way as she found herself in front of the ladder, hands rearranging her clothes enough so she could climb up the ladder and into the Divination classroom.

As always Josephine was met with the stark contrast to the stonewalls of the staircase…the stuffy smoke laden room was suffocating today. Normally Jo would have loved the atmosphere, but today…well today the only thing she wanted was to be lost in her own thoughts so she could forget everything that had happened. That, unfortunately, was not going to happen, which was another dark stab to her heart. Her eyes settled on Dakota and form made its slow wander over to the same small table, not much of an acknowledgement was given or received. It was here that Jo would hopefully get lost into a different world, one of her best classes was Divination and she had every intention of learning a way to get rid of her nightmares that day.

Professor Trelawney began to address the class and unlike everyone else Jo was actually eager to perform this task. She had been using Divination for a while in attempts to save her sister...failed attempts, but attempts nonetheless. Now to have a way to find answers to her simple questions would be rather useful for her. It took little time for her to put her books back into her bag and contemplate the different ways to find the answer to her question. Even with the snowy day outside she knew that the one sure way she wanted to find her answer was to use the technique of interpreting the river. She felt it was a little more advanced than the others and might give more reliable answers, but being as it was the middle of the day she decided to wait until night fell as the book clearly stated that some of the best answers came by moonlight…she only hoped the moon would be shining that night.

~~~

The night didn’t seem to come quick enough for Josephine, her whole form scrunched up on a bench on the south side of Hogwarts as she waited for the moon to rise. The night was already all around her, settling down on her like a cold blanket. The howls of the Forbidden Forest greeted her ears and the soft wind rustled her clothes, though it didn’t bite into her skin like she expected it would. Whether that was due to her intense focus on watching the lake or the fact that she had forgotten what it was like to be cold it was anyone’s guess. The only thing that mattered at that late hour was the question she was going to ask. A sigh came from her lips, shoulders falling from the effort it took as her eyes finally caught the beginnings of the near full moon. The waning moon was still bright, illuminating the cold, snowy world around Josephine as her form pulled up from the bench, moving to the water before her.

She’d read about what she had to do in her book earlier…determined to not have to look at the book at all, she had memorized what she had needed to. Now, she bent down…feeling compelled to at least touch the water, to give it some understanding of who she was, as if that would give her better results, she sighed again. Delicate fingers touched the water, the ripples moving out softly as she ran her fingers through the surface of the water briefly before she pulled her wand out to melt some of the snow by the waters edge. Quietly she sat down in the now dry spot her eyes fixed on the water. She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there quietly as she stared at the dark water. The only question she could ask passed through her mind, bringing with it guilt, frustration, and pain…her mind was too crowded all of a sudden, her concentration evaporating as she found herself weeping outside, all alone. This was not how the night was supposed to go.

“Why?” she said softly…pain and anger threatening to overtake her entire being as she looked out at the water, her hands shaking. “Why her? She would have done anything anyone ever asked of her…she was innocent, beautiful, caring…she basically raised me and my sister…she didn’t deserve to die, not like that. Why?” The last of her words were shouted across the cold desolate lake in a small voice…she felt like a child again, lost without her father. Tears brimmed her eyes as she shook with the force of her sobs as she watched the ripples begin as if cued by some raging tide. They pulled to and fro as they began to narrow and move, their direction unmistakable, as they seemed to point to her. It was like a stab to the heart as she watched them. “Me? This happened because of me?” Josephine didn’t want to wait for the answer, not knowing if one was even going to be found in the water as she pulled her form up from the ground.

This assignment was her undoing to say the least. If Josephine Bowman hadn’t been so adamant in her belief that Divination worked, maybe she would have seen the stick that had caused the ripples to lead toward her…maybe she would have been more skeptical of the ripples that were never quite clear enough to read by a mere 5th year on her first attempt. The truth was that Josephine had jumped the gun…her whole life coming to a crushing halt as she tore back into Hogwarts and down the staircase leading to the Slytherin Dormitory. She would write her paper…and it would consist of open-ended questions and obscure answers to an unnamed question…but in her heart she knew there was no obscured answer. She was to blame for her sister’s death; because she had not been able to find a cure quick enough…it was her fault. As she placed the last full-stop at the end of her last sentence a form stepped from the shadows of the corridor leading to the boy’s dormitory. Josephine’s eyes fell on him…like he was her savior. “I need to ask you something Stephen…something important.”

[Ruby Lehane]

Ruby Lehane, sixth year Slytherin, moved through the corridors at an easy pace. Her robes clung in all the right places as her crimpy blonde hair lifted from her back, caused by the movement of her body. Icy blue orbs were locked on the hallway as she moved. She had little need to look at anyone, her head held higher than most. Ruby was a girl of 17, old enough to do magic outside of Hogwarts and well…let’s just say she had plans for the days that would follow her graduation from Hogwarts…plans that would assure her a place in the world. Right now, however, her focus was on her homework and the task at hand. Divination…her thoughts jumped back to Professor Trelawney’s class and the task to use some form of water divination. It was going to be easy enough for Ruby…well not quite as easy as she wanted. Wynd was the natural when it came to Divination…Ruby wasn’t. She only took the course because she was interested in seeing into their future.

Not that Ruby needed to look into the future to know what was in store for the two of them. She was more than certain in the fate that they were writing, the destiny that had been set up for them when they were just children. She didn’t need water to tell her whether or not she was right about that future. Still it was her homework assignment and Ruby wasn’t one to avoid homework to the last minute. So she headed straight for the place that would give her the very best of privacy. Down one more flight of stairs she came to the statue of Boris the Bewildered. She smirked at the familiar statue as she waved her wand and said the password. The door clicked open behind the statue and Ruby slipped through the door, shutting it behind her quickly.

The candles flickered to life in the Prefect’s bathroom, the large bath tub filling a large percentage of the room and the many drains that poured all sorts of different colored water, foams, and bubbles made that familiar smile come to her face. This was one of her favorite places to go as a Prefect. She sat her books down on one of the many chairs as she pinned up her hair with one tiny metal bar. Waving her wand at the faucets they turned on beginning to fill the massive tub, but she would be attending to her bath later…first she had to ask the questions for her Divination class.

With that thought she headed to the mirror, her eyes watching as the steam began to cloud the mirror. She smiled as she waited…patient as a cat ready to spring. It didn’t take long before the condensation on the mirror built up so much that it began to slide down the reflective surface. That’s when her question came to mind and with a smirk she added her own personal touch. “Mirror, mirror on the wall…will we achieve our darkest desires?” It was a simple question, but she didn’t feel she needed a complicated question and turns out she didn’t as the condensation dripped down the mirror, the word yes becoming clearly visible. “Maybe Divination isn’t as hokey as I thought.” She smirked before she ran her hand across the words and turned from the mirror, diving into the pool with her mind already set on the paper she would write and the next question she would ask.

[Kelvin Morton S4]

Kelvin quickly hurried up the stairs to divination. He was afraid that he wouldn't get to say hi to Professor Trelawney before the class started. She was his favorite Professor and his idle, his mentor. Kelvin looked up to Trelawney so much and he would never want to miss one of her classes. Kelvin quickened his pace as he reached the top of the tower and a ladder extended to the classroom. He climbed the ladder quickly and entered just before the lesson began. The familiar fire and incense reached his nostrils and Kelvin smiled. He loved this place, it was his favorite classroom and his most valued class. He looked at the dreamlike classroom and smiled, happy to be back for another year. "Hi Professor! Back again for your wonderful class!" Kelvin said with a bright smile as he took a seat by himself near the front of the classroom. He wanted to be as close as he could get to Professor Trelawney. Besides he wanted the Professor to see him future and tell him about it as he did back in her third year.

Professor seemed to start a new kind of divination that day-Water Divination on page 693- slight easy. She told students all the options of water divination like divination by oil, steam & so on. Kelvin thought to take a special one. And that was, of course, 'Interpret the river'. Though the best answer could have been found by moonlight, but Kelvin was eager to perform it as quickly as possible.

When the class was dismissed, Kelvin wished goodbye to professor, pulled his bag & ran toward the lake. He was lucky in case of daylight. Sun was shining brightly. 'What should I ask', he thought. AAhh....yes..! Though it was funny question, but important too. His pet owl Elf was gone somewhere before an hour but didn't come back. So Kelvin was slight sad. He hoped to get right direction of him. Focusing on the swirls of the lake, he started thinking of it. One minute passed, two minutes, three minutes..but he didn't feel any changes in the swirls. Sure, he was not concentrating correctly. He had to get the answer. Again, he tried with his hundred percent capability & yes! Swirls changed direction & showed the South.
He looked up in the sky toward that direction. Nothing was there. He became sad. What happened? Why it didn't work, he thought. Sigh, he took the bag & turned toward back. But wait...a familiar voice was coming from South direction. Yes, it was Elf. Taken aback, he turned. His Elf was flying above the Ravenclaw tower. It really works! How the divination could have wrong. Kelvin shouted excitedly his name-"Elf....my boy..come here". Elf came & took place on his shoulder. "Where were you, Elf? You know how much worry I was", Kelvin said & then tapped Elf's back slowly with his hand. "I think we should go now, my boy." Then they went back to their common room, for taking a nap. After all Kelvin was too tired!
He decided to tell that to Professor in there next class.

Professor Sybil would surely feel happy after getting today's incidence.

[Wynd Lehane]

It felt as though they had barely sat down before they were heading back down the stairs. Wynd could not hide his annoyance. He and his sister had taken the time to climb all the way up the to the tower where Professor Trelawney held her classes only to be told to go back down. Really, must she take out hangover on the students? Maybe she shouldn't drink before class. What she did on her free time was no business of theirs but why did the students have to suffer like this? Many of the other students were excited about getting to leave class early but Wynd felt cheated. "She should be sacked," Wynd told his sister as they walked down the stairs. "Of course," he continued "I don't really want to be taught by a half-horse either."

At the bottom of the tower, the two siblings went their separate ways. Ruby wanted to do the assignment right away while Wynd wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He had done a lot of research on his own of Divination and found that Divination by Water was fairly inaccurate. It might have been fine for a beginner to learn how nature influences Divination but out of all the elements not many Seers liked to use water. Wynd needed time to calm down and realise that he was still in class and that by not doing the assignment he would hurt his house rather than aid. He had practice after class but since Professor Trelawney had cut class short he had some time to kill before then. What to do? He gave Ruby a nod as she headed off to do the assignment and he walked the other way. Maybe he would head down to the Great Hall and get something to eat.

The sun had long since set when Mary finally let them end practice. Quidditch had let him quell his anger and clear his head. It was just busy work but he had to do it. Sometimes you just had to buck up and do it. A question had come to mind to. Now where to go? He could go to the lake but since the sun had gone down so had the temperature and he was anxious to be inside the castle. He held his ribs from where a Bludger had hit him and he thought of the perfect place. He would just have to drop off his equipment and grab a few things from his room.

Ten minutes later or so he found himself in front of Boris the Bewildered. His statue anyway. "Ocean Mist," he told the lifeless thing. The door of the Prefect Bathroom slid open and Wynd passed through. He waited to hear the click as it slid shut behind him before waving his wand and the taps opening to fill the tub with water. Wynd took off all his clothes and folded them neatly in the corner. The mermaid was busy combing her hair and didn't even seem to notice that Wynd was there. Good, he didn't really want to talk to her anyway. When the water had reached a good level, Wynd stopped the water flow and reached into his cloak to find a little feather. He was going to ask the water using Floating. Holding the feather between his thumb and forefinger he asked the water aloud, "Will we be stopped?" He casually tossed the feather out to the water. Hitting the water it floated as he knew it would, but the water splashed getting the feather wet and it sank. "......Yes." He stated. That wasn't the answer he was looking for. He went over to his clothes and reached around in the pocket of his trousers until he found a bronze knut. Turning back to the water he asked the water again. "Will we be stopped?" If the answer was yes then surely Ruby would want to know. He tossed the knut into the water and counted the ripples. 19. Odd. No. Yes and no. What did it mean? His mind busy with thought he hardly felt the warmth of the water as he slid in and a wave of relief washed over his sore muscles.

[Seana Melling S7]

If there was one class Seana Melling couldn’t stand it was Divination…so you’re probably wondering why on earth she was taking it at a N.E.W.T. level. Oddly enough her future career company thought a well-rounded Hogwarts student looked better than a straight edged student. So that’s why she was sitting on the shore next to the lake. She was more than annoyed at the idea of having to “divine” anything. She was sure Divination was a hoax, thought up by muggles and then thrown into the wizarding world by some mudblood who thought they’d have a little fun attempting idiotic notions of…what did muggles call it…psychic abilities? She rolled her eyes as she pulled out her piece of parchment with the instructions for her class written on it.

“Divination by Floating. This is for yes or no answers only. Throw a light object into the water such as a piece of paper, feather, etc. Normally, this object will need to have some connection with the thing you are asking about. Drop it into a lake or river. If it sinks to the bottom, your answer is yes. If it washes ashore, the answer is no,” Seana read aloud to herself as she looked down at the ring that sat in her hand. She’d already tested her theory back in her dorm. The ring was made of metal…it would sink no question about that so her answer to her question would most assuredly turn up as yes. It was a simple experiment…one that she was more than happy to fix considering she already knew the answer to the question.

“Will Jayden and I always be together?” it was a dreamy question as her mind traveled to the image of her boyfriend…his dark hair and eyes, tall athletic frame…he was perfect in every way and this was his ring. She dropped it into the water happily, watching it start to sink into the water…but then it was no longer sinking…the small wave had caught it and washed it ashore. That can’t be right…must have been caught on the wave. “Will Jayden love me forever?” Seana said with a bit more force as she dropped the ring back in the water after having plucked it forcefully from the ground. Once again the ring washed up on shore…She grabbed it up and stared at the ring incredulously. “Fine…Do I have a twin sister?” It was a moment of desperation and as she sat there she watched the ring sink firmly to the bottom…her eyes lit on the glimmering metal as she grabbed it and pulled it out. “Jayden!” she screamed out in rage as she tore from the shore of the lake, her assignment forgotten for the time being until she had the time to write it up leaving out the exact details of her questions.

[Kyle Reese S5]

Reese quirked a brow at the homework assignment he had been allotted for Divination. “Water divination…sounds enthralling,” Reese muttered to himself as he sat in the empty dorm room. His friends and fellow Slytherin dorm mates were all probably running amok somewhere in the castle…some place Reese was sure he wanted to be. Anything would be more entertaining than sitting in front of a bowl of water with a scroll and quill beside him. “Alright so what am I supposed to ask you again?” Golden green orbs glanced to the left where the assignment sat open so he could read it when he needed to.

“Water gazing…” Reese said with a cluck of his tongue and his eyes flickered back to the bowl of water. “Stare into the bowl of water while focusing on your question…” voice slips into one of those deep trance like tones you hear in horror movies as he continues talking out loud, “the water will reveal the answer to your question.” He snickered to himself as he dipped his finger in the water and swirled it around for a moment or two before finally getting back to the task at hand. He knew the sooner he got it over with the sooner he’d be able to catch up with his friends.

“Okay so I ask you anything right…doesn’t have to be a yes or no…hmmm,” Reese said as his eyes settled on the reflection of the top of his four-poster bed in the water. “Focus Reese…Focus.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his fathers image swimming in front of his closed eyes. He wanted to concentrate on his father’s figure…the features on his face, the lines in his forehead, the gold green eyes that were much like his own, the whiting blonde hair and the deteriorating body that once resembled the strong businessman that Reese had grown up admiring.

Once that image was solidified in his memory…he opened his eyes, concentrating on the water…trying not to get distracted by the four-poster bed or by the soft movement of the water bowl every time he breathed or shifted, which caused ripples and waves in the clear glass-like surface. The harder he concentrated, the worse everything seemed to become…a headache sprang to life within his head as she continued to force the water to show him something…to do anything. His hands clenched together and he shook with the effort to obtain some sort of response.

After who knows how long of staring into the water without receiving even the slightest bit of answer Reese finally gave up…his head pounding in his ear drums and his breath short and raspy from being held too long. His paper for Trelawney would not be one of success, but one of failure. He picked the quill up and stuck it in ink before writing. First attempt was a failure…I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe some are more adapt at divining than others or perhaps the question I attempted to ask was not meant to be answered. He sat the pen aside and read the little bit he had written. Nodding his head he continued on with a long explanation as to how he can better from this experience of failure and how water divining may not be his best choice of divination. He also mentioned that he was only a 4th year and hardly knowledgable in such an area of divination unlike the masterful work of Trelawney, herself. “Now just add a little sucking up here and some embellishments on how great she is and here I have an E mark paper,” he smirked to himself as he sat it aside with the rest of his Divination papers. “Now to throw the water out.” He picked up the bowl of water, but for the life of him he couldn’t seem to throw it out, instead he slipped the bowl under his bed and nodded…hoping to use it again another day with better results.

[Billy Brady H6]

Billy marched up the stairs to the Divination classroom, with Sita not far behind him. They’d just had another lesson together, and not surprisingly Sita, as usual, was reluctant to let Billy out of her sight, not that it bothered him too much anymore. He’d grown accustomed to having this girl follow him, as well as the mocking he got from his other friends for it. Having waited for Sita for a fairly long time after the last lesson (she hadn’t let him go without her, despite his eagerness to get to one of his favourite lessons), and the distance between the rooms, Billy wasn’t surprised to find that there were already a fair number of students in the Divination classroom when he arrived. And Divination, being the, ahem, popular subject it was he guessed that there wouldn’t be too many more arrivals after them.

They sat down at one of the small, round tables near the back of the room, and soon enough Professor Trelawney started the lesson. Billy was surprised when she announced that the lesson would be different today…it’d make a change from the usual future-predicting nonsense that usually occupied the lessons. It really was the “joke” subject of the school, but…Billy liked jokes. And it was, basically, a doss. But Billy decided to put his mind to the task at hand, that of choosing his own assignment for the lesson. Not surprisingly Sita interrupted his thoughts and suggested that they try last one, the “Spray Falls on the Guilty One” (which, to Billy, sounded like some sort of awful film) assignment together, which he quite happily agreed to.

They followed some of the other students outside, and walked over to the lake where a lot of the others had gathered. Being the middle of April, it was nice and fairly warm outside so no cloaks were needed, for a change. Billy decided to go first, and cast the aguamenti charm, making sure his wand was pointing upwards…he liked pranks, but he wasn’t cruel enough to get Sita wet straight away, for no reason. Actually, that did seem like a fun prospect…though he was sure she’d retaliate somehow. As the stream of water flowed out of his wand, he asked a question to which he was sure Sita would be the answer. Especially as a clip in her hair gave the answer away. The question was “where is the nearest pink thing?” and Billy was pleased to see the water flow over to Sita, hitting her directly where that clip was.

At least it was proof he could do Divination he thought, as Sita glared over at him, failing to see the funny side as he burst out laughing.

[Sita Mehadi H7]

If Billy had expected Sita to be in a good mood after making her wet, he was the world's greatest fool. By aiming (indirectly) for her clip, he'd ensured that the deluge of water hit her on the head, from where it went on to soak the rest of her body as well, not to mention the ultimate insult of ensuring that her straightened hair would go curly and unmanageable as it dried again. She'd have to wash, dry and straighten it all over again, and she didn't have time for that! She had a Charms essay in for a couple of days’ time. It was a tricky situation... if she spent the time maintaining her dignity tonight, Billy might be too busy to help her with the Charms. Since Charms was one of her weakest subjects (and one of Billy's stronger ones), Sita definitely needed the help... otherwise she would probably get a failing grade. But still... the hair would still have to come first.

What a bother. There was nothing to be done about it now that she was wet, of course. She'd have to guilt Billy into helping her, however busy he might claim to be, or else blackmail him that he could go somewhere else for help with his Potions homework; thank goodness she had some talents to barter with. Sita glared to the full extent of her capabilities for glaring. An essentially cheerful and mild-tempered girl, her glare wasn’t quite the death stare that Billy deserved right now, but it did serve to curb his laughter. Just as well too – Sita wasn’t great with hexes, but at that moment she might easily have found the ferocity to pull one off.

“Not funny,” she said vehemently, pulling out her own wand and pointing it straight at him, waving it threateningly, a few sparks flying out of the end of her wand. Billy might be amused, but Sita’s temper was quite high. “My turn now,” she added grimly. She regarded her wand thoughtfully, knowing that even after much practice, she still struggled with the Aguamenti spell. Still, pride wouldn’t allow her to request Billy’s assistance at the present moment, so she pressed ahead. She screwed up her eyes and cast the spell, asking, “Who jinxed my broom at the last practice?” When she looked up, Billy was covered from his nose to his shins in pink glitter; obviously she’d not managed to cast the spell properly. She wondered if the results were valid.

“Was it you?” she asked, stepping right up to him and jabbing her wand as close to his chest as she dared (she wouldn’t want her wand to actually touch it, because then she’d have to clean the glitter off it!). “Because if it was,” she said, sounding quite hurt and disappointed – it had been a humiliating experience and Ivy had been very angry and exasperated, although not with Sita on that occasion, “then you’re in for it next time we play tennis, and I’ll tell Ivy.” Billy should be very scared at either prospect: Sita was very accurate with her shots and put a lot of power into them, whereas he didn’t always possess the skill to return them or even get out of the way of them, and Ivy could be pretty formidable on the Quidditch pitch.

Sita was unimpressed by Billy’s lack of an immediate reply. “I know that I can’t prove it with the glitter,” she said, “because the glitter doesn’t necessarily have the same properties as the water, and admittedly my wand was pointing at you so it would tend to go in your direction.” She withdrew her wand. “But,” she said, pointing her index finger at him, “if it was you, then you should tell me sooner rather than later, rather than not telling me at all. It’s a horrible thing to do to a friend, I was… I was really upset, I didn’t want you to see because you think it’s girly to cry and wouldn’t want to hang around with me anymore and then I’d be lonely, but… I want to prove myself on the team, it matters to me – you know that I care about my sport and I want to make the main team as soon as I can now that I’ve got into Quidditch – and it was so embarrassing, everyone on the team laughing at me, not all of them outright but I’m sure they were really, I must’ve looked ridiculous, and you laughed too, Billy. So if it was you, the least you could do is own up to it.

“Come here,” she said without any pause, seeing the best way to move on. She grabbed his wrist and giving him hold of the hand she was holding her wand in, “and show me how to do the spell properly. I want to be able to write something for my foot of parchment.” A lot of hard work later, and she was ready. “Right,” she said, determination in her voice. “Aguamenti!" she cried, her wand pointing at the ground just in front of her feet, and then she asked her question: “Where is the quill that Billy borrowed from me yesterday?” With a burst of triumph, she saw the flow of water bend towards Billy’s schoolbag. Revenge. Now that was something she could write about.

[Trinity Bleu]

Divination was one of those subjects: taught by crackpots, filled with pointless content and almost universally hated. Along with Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic (Trinity's least favourite subjects; they were so boring she could almost break a window and leap out or drown herself in the Lake in a desperate bid for freedom from Binns' droning voice or Hagrid's desire to expose them to dangerous and lethal animals, but Trinity chose to sleep in the former's classes and avoid contact in the latter rather than commit suicide at her tender age of sixteen), Divination was a dummy subject; it was renowned for teaching useless material, requiring little knowledge or skill to pass (I didn't say pass well), and the teachers of these subjects did not exactly help their cause (if anything, they made it much, much worse, so much so Trinity considered History of Magic torture, not education). Then again, History of Magic was a compulsory subject; Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, on the other hand, had been entirely her own choice. So why had she even chosen them, especially when they were infamous for all the wrong reasons?

It was simple, really; Trinity had chosen by method of elimination. First, Muggle Studies was struck off because she was raised a muggle, she was half-muggle (or rather, half-blood); she knew all that was needed to be known. Second, she had deterred from Arithmancy because it was apparently maths-based and, if her memory served, Maths (or rather, Numeracy, as they called it) was not her strongest subject in primary school; that and people claimed it to be the hardest subject of the choices. Third, Ancient Runes: Trinity had been very close to choosing this subject, until she'd discovered in an introductory class how annoying she found the 'maybe' factor. At least in Divination foresight was meant to be an accurate (ish) prediction of the future. Ancient Runes, though, was all about maybes and what ifs, and that wasn't Trinity's cup of tea at all. And so, by process of elimination, she had ended up taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures; and regretted it to this day.

Actually, though, Trinity didn't mind Divination so much; it was Care of Magical Creatures that drove her round the bend. She didn't dislike animals and actually, what they studied could be really fascinating, but Hagrid was useless at organising lessons. Trinity had nothing against him, but his classes could go out slightly out of hand. One would think this would suit Trinity's personality - she liked to think outside of the box and experience adventures and excitement. However, when an extremely odd and deformed creature runs off into the Forbidden Forest during a class, and you end up doing nothing but wandering aimlessly around and ditching class since your professor is off trying to catch the creature, lessons can become a bit of a bore. Divination Trinity could endure; for it was only Trelawney she could not stand. In actual fact, Trinity was fascinated with the subject of fortune-telling. She wasn't sure she believed it worked, but she was interested in the principles of it. Her cynical side chided her curiosity, but her imaginative nature wanted to explore more.

And so here she was, seated in the strongly-perfume-scented room, waiting for her professor to start the class. As students walked in, Trinity's fingers tapped impatiently against the table, and some people glanced at her, irritated, as they sauntered past. Trinity merely sent them a casual, cool smile and ignored them. Finally the lesson began, but what with the choking smell that surrounded her and the boring drone of Trelawney's voice, Trinity was only half-listening to her professor's instructions, choosing instead to stare out of the window at the fair and inviting day outside. It was only when Trelawney almost fell over her chair, bringing forth laughter from the class, that Trinity looked up to see what the commotion was about. "Hey," she hissed at her next-door neighbour as students hurried out of the classroom. "Where's everyone going? What's going on?" After finding out about their assignment, Trinity gave a heavy, bored sigh. A foot of parchment?! What did Trelawney think Trinity was, a freaking carriage-pulling, workaholic steed?!

Slouching up from her seat, Trinity grabbed her things and made for the door. Should've skipped class, she grumbled in her head. The weather outside barely warm, but it was still a cloudless day, so Trinity naturally headed outdoors to the Courtyard where she could, for the first time, look over the work she had been assigned. After glancing through the list of possibilities, Trinity was quick to make her choice - the first one, Water Gazing. It seemed the simplest. However, moments later Trinity realised she didn't have a bowl. Giving a frustrated growl, she heaved herself off her feet from the ground and stalked back into the castle. She headed for the Kitchens, a place forbidden to students, but Trinity had long since befriended the house elves who worked there, and they were always happy to see a friendly face. Many a time Trinity had snooped down to get a midnight snack or just kill some time. "Hey folks," she greeted as she entered the Kitchens, having dodged several passerbys first so she wouldn't be caught. "D'ya have a bowl I can borrow? For quite a while, mind you. Apparently my fortune-telling will be more accurate over time."

Five minutes later, Trinity exited the Kitchens with a bowl in one hand and a bar of Honeyduke's chocolate in the other. As the substance melted deliciously in her mouth, she made her way to the toilets. After filling the bowl up to the brim, she went to her dorm, placing it on her bedside table. Taking the last square of chocolate and putting it in her mouth, Trinity sat on the carpet and looked up at the bowl of water, wondering what question she could ask that could easily take form in the water. It also had to be something she knew the answer too, right, so she could test whether or not it had worked? That limited the sorts of questions Trinity could ask. Then again, she wasn't really bothered if it was accurate... She chewed on her lip for a while, eventually deciding on a question that she would likely not gain a good answer to, but which she had been dying to ask for many years. Fixing her eyes to stare at the bowl of water steadily, Trinity thought in her head, Who is Dacien Munroe? After several minutes of intense staring, she assumed it had not work and gave up, rolling her eyes in exasperation and standing up. "Whatever," she declared indifferently, stomping out of the room and promptly forgetting the assignment. "I need to do something better than this."

It wasn't till she came back to her dorm that evening did she see the undefined but definite shapes in the bowl. Eyes wide, she quickly grabbed some parchment and began to write. She detailed the primary shape of a man, who she assumed must be her father; beside him was the figure of a woman and, standing around them - children. There was no doubt about it, Trinity thought as she stared avidly into the bowl. Those were children. One was standing beside the woman, another by the man, and one between them in the middle, just in front. The shape looked like a typical portrait of a happy family - but made from water, of course. After finishing her assignment essay, which had come easier than Trinity had expected, she continued to watch the bowl of water for a long time into the night, until her dormmates entered and told her to put the light out so they could sleep. Trinity did so. She dreamt of half-brothers and -sisters, of a step-mother to complement her step-father... of a father who would never be a true father to her.

The next morning, she woke up, crawled out of bed and emptied the water out of the window. Before hiding under the covers again to dream about flying or Eric or home.