「005. professional inner eye optometrist 」
THE DAYS following the world cup were nothing short of odd and confusing. in recent light of the disastrous aftermath, maeve and fitz had left just two days later with sad faces. the world cup had left them shaken and honey downed her tea like her life depended on it. try as she might, a few nightmares spawned in the night after the world cup. the sick red flames of burning tents haunted her dreams, as did the green of the skull in sky- poor winky's sobbing making honey wake up on the day maeve and fitz left with tears in her eyes too.
"i'm sorry we cut it short," aunt claire siad, hugging honey's mum tightly, kissing both sides of her cheeks quickly, "it is just with the world cup...."
"no- of course," rushed out honey's mum, her dad next to her in solemn silence, "it's understandable- of course. what with what happened and all."
"stay safe, michelle," her uncle said, clasping her hand and shaking it, "we are family, yes? owl us if you need anything- anything at all. merlin knows this situation could go pears."
"pear-shaped, dear." aunt claire mumbled.
"ah yes, of course." nodded her uncle. he levitated their luggage to their fireplace connected to the floo network. "we must be going- we told my maman we'd visit her. she was very worried."
"send my love," her dad said, nodding.
her cousins, aunt and uncle along with their luggage were gone with a fist of floo powder and the cry of, "château de vignes!"
the days following her cousins' departure were odd ones indeed.
the house was oddly silent, and they all seemed to move like clockwork for a day or so. it was almost like fitz and maeve were still here, because for once in a very long time- there was a drop of shouting related to arguments.
her mum called them down for breakfast every morning, a shaky and wobbling hand placing toast in front of each of them, spread with honey from the farmer's market for honey (ironic, truly) and a sharp strawberry jam for lee. she didn't say a word, leaving the room with her own food to trundle up the stairs to her office in silence.
her dad was in and out from the hours of nine to five some days, but would come home with bits and pieces, always nodding and saying hello to the two of them before going to the spare room.
then, the most peculiar and odd thing to have happened yet simply happened on an unsuspecting tuesday whilst in diagon alley. it was only a few days until the school ter, and although most of their school equipment had been purchased already, the last few things had to be taken care of.
they strolled down the streets of diagon alley- her dad had even taken the day off just to come with them- which in itself was a surprise. her dad, although perfectly fine with magic, did often get overwhelmed with so much magic in one place- condensed in a row of shops all for wizards.
sometimes, honey wondered in the dead of night- when thoughts tended to spiral and the mind wandered to the dark lands never touched when sobered with night full of sleep- whether the reason her parents fought so much was because of magic. sometimes, honey wondered, if her life would be a lot happier- less full of rage (from her parents and herself), had she been a muggleborn or a pureblood. although honey knew the importance of not discriminating by blood, the thoughts still clawed at her.
"ice cream?" her mum had said after getting a few more potion ingredients for honey (lee had dropped the subject for his NEWTs as quickly as he could- opting instead for charms, transfiguration and arithmancy).
the two had looked at each other, and then to their mum and shrugged.
"let's find one with none of that cockroach cluster icecream," shivered her dad, "dead weird."
her mum pursed her lips, like she wanted to say something- and honey thought she would.
she didn't say anything.
once they'd settled with their ice cream, honey stared down with a high amount of neutrality as she went for her chocolate fudge ice cream quietly. lee was beside her with his own scoop of chocolate orange, the two silent as they stared at their parents.
"what is it?" muttered honey finally, breaking the silence.
"what is what, love?" her mum asked.
"first off- you called me love. you haven't called me that since i was ten," bit honey. "second- you bought us ice cream. out with it."
"no need to use that tone with me," muttered her mother.
"right then," honey replied after the ice cold chocolate fudge ice cream dissolved on her tongue, "what is it you are itching to tell us, then?"
"well," began her dad, the plain vanilla in his hand looking a bit melted, "after everything that happened... with that quibble- no erm... quidditch world cup. the blokes in hoods-" he pitched his voice a bit quieter. the ice cream shop didn't exactly seem to fit the serious talk that was apparently taking place, "the death eaters. well erm, we wanted to check if you two were ok."
"we understand it must be difficult," her mother said, "how traumatising this might be. death eaters are... they're venomous and foul. they'd kill the likes of a blood traitor like me and skin your father. we just..." her mother sighed- the gooey green pistachio looking like it might dissolved in the cup she held, "we just wanted to check you were all right. i was around your age when the war happened- saw through days at school with people who grew to join him."
honey felt a bit uncomfortable- and as much as she wanted to bite back a nasty reply, she seized up under the eyes and attention of her parents. it should have been welcomed- well, it would have been welcomed years ago when honey had first needed it. but now it was soured, and she felt anger squirm within her.
"you're allowed to be scared, s'all." her dad finished, "and erm... well, yeah."
the madness hadn't stopped there.
honey hadn't had a parent visit her room since she was eleven.
then her dad asked if he could come into her room, and honey- out of pure surprise an a bit of curiosity- let him in.
her mum had been flapping around the whole house until honey had escaped into her room. all her mum seemed to do with check on her every few minutes- the piano frequently stopped playing as her mum then went to lee to do the same thing in the interval between asking honey and honey giving her a response.
it was all due to the world cup, no doubt.
"can i come in?" her dad had asked.
she let him in with a bit of surprise in her voice. "er... yeah."
she placed her quill down, back in the ink pot, and stared up at her dad who had shuffled into the room.
he gave a guffawed laugh, "woah- haven't seen this place in forever."
it wasn't funny, and honey made sure he knowed that.
"you or mum haven't bothered to come in here for forever," she muttered back, staring at her quill with a lot of interest.
he gave a strained sort of look. "your mother and i think it's best if you stay at hogwarts over christmas."
she knew it would end soon.
"arguing too much, are we?" she bit back, testing the limits of how much it would take before her dad simply got up and left.
"er..." he looked a bit awkward, and then looked away. "no- s'not that. your mum, her department- says most students in hogwarts might want to stay over the christmas holidays. apparently something big is happening but your mother can't announce it yet. it's supposed to be fun, you know."
"right then," she mumbled.
"it's got something to do with that dress your aunt sent over, you know- so you best pack that. your mother's telling lee right now about it."
"ok then," she muttered, unbothered.
"um..."
"you can go now," she said, finally picking up her quill- finishing her letter to harry.
she'd had just about enough of her parents fake love and attention showered on her. she couldn't wait to go back to hogwarts.
boarding the hogwarts express with emmery's family was a wish come true. honey believed if she spent any more time around her parents she might burst with rage and anger and finally blow the house down with accidental magic.
"aye now honey there's no need for these formalities," emmery's nan said, waddling over to her, squeezing her tight- her thick irish accent oozing in her voice, "sure you're practically family now!" there were a few odd squeaks from behind her, but she couldn't really turn her head with emmery's nan not not only hugging her but also emmery too.
"nan- you're squishing me too much," wheezed emmery.
"don't be daft, now." huffed her nan, moving away regardless to turn to her husband, emmery's grandfather, "owen would you get their bags for them?"
"'course i will," mumbled emmery's grandad, huffing and clearing his throat before muttering a quick spell under his breath, all their luggage floating carefully. "now then..." and then he began to mutter a few more charms.
"um- mrs tates," lee piped up, "how are we going to kings cross?"
"the ministry have given us a car. now-" she waved her wand at salem and emmery, "i want no fuss from you two. you'll be good and-"
"granny we'll be alright," mumbled salem, red from embarrassment, "merlin, we're not going to kill them or anything."
"best should hope not," emmery's nan replied tartly, "else you're getting no brownies owled over to you the whole year!"
the train ride started to become strange before the train started to even move, when a racoon jumped into her arms like it was a baby that needed to be rocked gently to sleep (except the baby was furry, grey, smelt oddly like tulips and had jumped from another person's lap).
"what the-"
"stanley!" hissed a voice, a tall figure (by the name of kai sasuki) quickly standing up and grabbing the racoon, "what did we say about jumping into people's arms? a lot of people get freaked out!"
"that... that's a racoon," honey mumbled luggage now dropped to her feet.
"kai- don't be a dolt- come help me with her luggage," emmery instructed, having walked a bit faster and already placed her luggage away. she turned to honey, grabbing her trunk and heaving one side- kai's tall and lanky frame coming to help with the other. in the end, kai was the one who had to lift it up (emmery was far too short).
"hello," kai said, a bit stiffly, "erm... welcome."
"hello lapdog," honey blandly said, rubbing her eyes as she sat down, letting pygmalion out of his cage and letting him pat around her lap.
"honey-"
"right- sorry. um- hello kai."
he frowned a bit at her, but didn't say anything except, "that's a pigeon."
"and that's a racoon."
"does it deliver messages like a pigeon?"
"i dunno- is a racoon allowed as a pet?"
"nobody follows the pets rule," kai said, shrugging. "plus, stan's a real gent. aren't you?" the racoon stared up at kai, made a chittering noise and then jumped onto the ground to play with a bit of fluff. "he's dead respectful with toad- y'see."
"exciting stuff," muttered honey. "i thought you lived in scotland?"
"i do- but mum makes me get the traian up to hogwarts because it's tradition."
"...lovely."
silence.
she expected emmery to break off into chatter, or maybe for kai to try break off into chatter with emmery- maybe even a simple how was your summer? instead, honey was greeted with silence. the two seemed to look at each other, and then at honey.
it felt weird, obviously. it felt weird being there, because less than two years ago honey would've screamed at emmery for anything like this- and only a year ago she would have insulted them. and from the looks of it, kai did look like a decent friend. he wasn't glaring at her (apprehensive, obviously. and honey doubted they'd become the best of friends in a simple train ride). it wasn't like intense jealousy was going to fall apart in a day- honey hardly doubted it.
she'd missed practically two years of inside jokes, laughter and whatever else- that was certainly a lot to catch up on.
"where's toad?" honey finally asked, looking around.
toad, ironically named, was emmery's frog. she'd got it in first year- and had practically sobbed when she showed honey the frog in question. toad was a relatively large pale green frog that's tongue accidentally flinged itself at it's eye. she was a respectable frog, ribbiting about with not much fuss.
"she's-" a ribbit was heard, emmery climbed a seat and gasped, "toad! how did you get up there?"
"jumping s'pose," mumbled kai.
silence.
awkward silence.
heavy, unforgivable and awkward silence.
emmery was about to open her mouth when the compartment door slammed open- and a ginger stick nearly fell onto poor stanley the racoon. said ginger stick being-
"ron!" gasped kai, whilst honey hissed "ron you weirdo!"
"told you that was here voice," grunted ron, his left side of his face the one that had splatted onto the ground a bit squashed, looked to two people outside, "she's here- worry warts."
"honey!" hermione's voice came from outside the compartment. suddenly, hermione's dark curly hair popped into view with a bright smile on the girls face, "you're here!" at that moment, hermione seemed to realise honey wasn't the only person in the compartment. "oh! kai, emmery! it's erm..." she looked back, "harry, let's go find our compartment, then. we're about to set off."
"what? but we said-"
"you can go, if you want." emmery cut in quite quickly.
honey's mouth was moving faster than her mind, "what? no- no i'll-"
"it's fine-"
"but i-"
"harry stop being a dolt, we'll just-"
"why is there a racoon-"
"ron just shut up-"
"JUST STAY HERE!" kai's voice finally called- and the discordant conversations broke off quiet quickly.
stanley chittered.
"um..." ron began, looking back to hermione and harry, "alright, then."
the three of them shuffled in awkwardly, with emmery sitting opposite her next to kai and ron who was still eying stanley the racoon with a palpable amount of suspicion. honey was sat next to hermione, engrossed in a book with harry looking a bit forlorn as he looked out the window. it was silent, perhaps even more silent than it had been when it had just been emmery, kai and herself.
the jacket, she thought suddenly as she looked at harry, the jacket!
give it to him later, she thought after a moment.
(later ended up being christmas).
"so," began ron, "were you lot there to see ireland win?"
suddenly the awkward silence was broken.
when the sorting hat shouted out the last student to sort to a house (kevin whitby- who ended up in hufflepuff), professor mcgonogall picked up the hat and stoll and carried them away. small sounds of muttering could be heard- glad for it to finally be over.
dumbledore, or in all his cooky-glory, said two words which made his worrying morals a bit more palatable: "dig in."
the fat friar (the hufflepuff house ghost) floated around the first year hufflepuffs, all newly sorted and looking quite excited, greeting them with smiles and chorusing about older students in a kind tone. beside honey, hannah was piling her plate with mashed potatoes whilst vi was pouring gravy on her plate- perhaps trying to drown her parsnips.
freya looked a bit pale, but it was clear she'd recovered from the world cup.
still, in the most hannah abbott fashion, the sweet hannah asked, "are you alright, freya? after..."
"i'm fine, yes." nodded freya, picking at her peas with disdain- a look of regret flashing on her face (perhaps for putting them on her plate). "the healers and mediwitches gave me a once-over. nothing bad, i'm fine."
"must've been terrifying," hannah said.
"it was," agreed honey quietly.
vi hadn't spoken, but was sending a glance at freya before going back to drowning her parsnips with vigour.
the meal carried on in a similar fashion- vi once again complaining about the lack of 'non-white people food' ("i'm going to start a petition for them to at least have a bowl of budae jigae." she'd said a whopping five times) followed by freya still disliking her peas ("i don't know why i put them on my plate!") and hannah mothering the three of them and honey... well she was simply having food, like a normal person.
it's not like she was feeling antsy or anything, like there was something scratching at the back of her brain that made her feel like she could hear nails slowly scraping down a blackboard- like chalk was being written on the blackboard, sending shivers up her spine.
she'd ignore it, because she'd had her tea.
(that was supposed to fix all her problems).
plates clattered and honey placed her spoon down- the remnants of the pecan pie slice fully demolished by yours truly (honey jordan!) and with a small twinkle, the golden plates vanished- the pounding sound of wind and rain echoing through the now silent hall.
"so!" said dumbledore, smiling around at them all in slight psychopathic fashion. "now that we are all fed and watered, i must once more ask for your attention, while i give out a few notices. "
"mr. filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include screaming yo-yos, fanged frisbees, and ever-bashing boomerangs. the full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, i believe, and can be viewed in mr. filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." the corners of dumbledore's mouth twitched.
he continued, "as ever, i would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of hogsmeade to all below third year... it is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house quidditch cup will not take place this year."
"your joking," gasped honey, looking around to her roommates- catching the eye of her brother who looked just as shocked as she was.
most if not all the students were mouthing soundlessly at dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak.
dumbhedore went on, "this is due to an event that will be starting in october, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but i am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. i have great pleasure in announcing that this year at hogwarts -"
but at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the great hall banged open. a man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travelling cloak. every head in the great hall swivelled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling.
he lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark grey hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. a dull clunk echoed through the hall on his every other step. he reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward dumbledore. another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling.
there were a few murmurs in the hall from shock.
the lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any harry had ever seen.it looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. the mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing.
but it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. one of them was small, dark, and beady. the other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. the blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.
no doubt this was mad-eye moody (she'd heard enough about him from her mum).
he reached dumbledor and then stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face. dumbhedore shook it, muttering words nobody could really hear. he seemed to be making some inquiry of mad-eye, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. the stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark grey hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it.
he then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. his normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the hall and the students.
"may i introduce our new defence against the dark arts teacher?" said dumbledore brightly into the silence. "professor moody."
it was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except dumbledore and hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. everyone else seemed too transfixed by moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.
"mad-eye moody?" muttered freya, "who in god's name is that?"
"an ex-auror," whispered honey, "retired now. mum says it's because the ministry realised he couldn't tell the difference between a handshake and a threat anymore. he's an ex-auror- a dark-wizard catcher. threw most of the death-eaters that were lurking around into azkaban."
"did he really?"
"he did," nodded vi, "my appa says mad-eye is the brave wizard for putting barty crouches own son into prison."
moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his travelling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. as he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and honey saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.
dumbledore cleared his throat. "as i was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at mad-eye moody, "we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. it is my very great pleasure to inform you that the triwizard tournament will be taking place at hogwarts this year."
"you're JOKING!" said fred loudly.
the tension that had filled the hall ever since moody's arrival suddenly broke. nearly everyone laughed, and dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.
"i am not joking, mr. weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, i did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar." professor mcgonagall cleared her throat loudly.
"er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said dumbledore, "where was i? ah yes, the triwizard tournament...well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so i hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."
well, honey didn't- because she certainly wasn't told about this.
"the triwizard tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest european schools of wizardry: hogwarts, beauxbatons, and durmstrang. a champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. the schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
"death toll?" she heard a few people ask.
"beauxbatons," was the only thing honey said before she broke into a grin, "fitz and maeve!"
"there have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. however, our own departments of international magical cooperation and magical games and sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. we have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger."
"the heads of beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in october, and the selection of the three champions will take place at halloween. an impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the triwizard cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand galleons personal prize money."
the hall broke out into excited chatter at the words a thousand galleons personal prize money.
"a thousand galleons," whispered freya- eyes as wide as said galleons, "holy mary... that's a lot of money."
"d'you think you'd try out?" hannah whispered to honey.
"merlin, no." muttered honey, "too embarrassing, don't you think?"
but then dumbledore spoke again, and the hall quieted once more. "eager though i know all of you will be to bring the triwizard cup to hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the ministry of magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. this-"
dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the weasley twins were suddenly looking furious, "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. i will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them hogwarts champion."
his light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over fred's and george's mutinous faces. "i therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. "he delegations from beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving in october and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. i know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the hogwarts champion when they are selected."
there were a few unhappy faces, to put it lightly.
"and now, it is late, and i know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. bedtime! chop chop!"
drifting into a nightmare was like an unsuspecting boat-ride down a waterfall.
objectively, it looked fine because there was the gorgeous glistening water running down the trop sparkling with happy memories to lull you into a sense of security. the water full of dreams had done just that to honey before she'd dropped to the depths and woken with a scream.
it was then honey realised that maybe the tea wasn't working as well as it was in the beginning of the summer.
she walked down the halls with determination, long white nightdress flowing in the moonlight making her look like a victorian ghost. she thundered up the stairs, careful to make sure filch wasn't there before she climbed even more stairs, the ones that spiralled up to trelawney's classroom and office (her office being a room just below the ladder and trapdoor they had to climb for lessons).
with each step, a memory of her dream flashed- and it made her go faster each time.
step.
green lights, spilled drink, hair floating in the water- a siren-like voice echoing from the depths.
step.
it felt like honey was drowning. water shimmered above her like liquid mercury and all honey could do was hold in her scream.
step.
a cry. a scream. a flash of green light.
step.
KILL THE SPARE.
she finally reached the door, and she knocked on it hastily, looking around to see if anybody was near. then, after a few seconds more- she knocked on the door again. and then again. and then another time.
after ten times, the door opened, professor trelawney still in her clothes from the feast as if she'd known not to go to sleep just yet.
"ah," the woman said, looking a bit sympathetic, "i knew you would come soon. i didn't expect the first day, of course." she looked at honey's red rimmed eyes and opened the door a bit wider, "come in."
trelawney's office was a lot more subdued than her classroom. the walls were fashioned from an earthy colour, swirling with deep red fabrics that twisted themselves into planets across one wall- another had a few framed photos of a young bushy-haired girl and trelawney along with a few drawings done in colouring pencil, sloppy lines and colouring that didn't stay in the boundaries graced the wall into various papers ranging from a drawing over a daily prophet paper (there was a picture of fudge which seemed to be there, and didn't look to happy to see a hippogriff in a dress over half the picture) to bright green paper.
"my niece," professor trelawney supplied, "never had children myself- of course i knew that was destined." she hummed a bit, her eyes glazing before she snapped back to honey, "ah- yes. the tea, hm?"
"tea?"
"your tea, my girl." professor trelawney said simply, "it's not working as much, is it?"
"it's been getting weaker," admitted honey.
"i thought as much," professor trelawney replied airily. "that tea will only help for so long if you do not learn control, my child. you can't stop the whispers, i run mad with them sometimes." there was a laugh after that, a bit pained and maybe slightly hysterical, "you are young, too. younger than i was when i discovered my prophetic abilities. who knows..." she mumbled something, "who knows if the tea will work for you again."
she stared intently at honey with her owlish eyes, like she was staring right into the back of honey's inner eye- like she was some muggle optometrist giving honey's eyes a checkup- like she was a mundane specsavers employee.
"how many of your visions have ended up coming true?" she asked.
"um..." she frowned, "big ones or small ones?"
"big ones."
"so far..." she thought about it for a moment. sirius over ron's bed. peter pettigrew- though she hadn't understood at the time... "maybe two or three?"
"any lines of prophecy?" trelawney continued.
"a few snippets," honey muttered. "i mostly see things in my sleep."
trelawney hummed a bit.
"you know- my whole family has had a gift or divinations, my dear?" she looked around as she talked, taking a biscuit and letting the crumbs fly everywhere as she spoke, "then my grandmother didn't... then my mother didn't... my sister didn't, my brother didn't- then i did."
honey didn't know where this was leading, and neither did trelawney- since she seemed to quickly gloss over the fact.
"of course, i've only ever had two big prophecies, the first more significant," she said, "and it's never easy, really. having what we have. our mind's eye is keen and sharp, ready to look past pages and see peoples hearts."
"er... right," mumbled honey.
silence.
"professor, can i ask you a question?"
"of course, child."
"can we... change the future?" honey asked tentatively.
trelawney stared blankly at her before shaking her head. "no, dear. we can't. as seers- it is our job to see fate's sewing machines stitches everything as it should be. we are bystanders like everybody else- we just know the setting of the sewing machine, that is all."
it didn't necessarily make sense, but honey got the idea that it was a no, you can't change the future.
"professor?"
"yes?"
"if we can't change... fate," she grimaced at the word- it sounded too much like something a divinations textbook might say, "well- surely somebody has tried to change fate, right? s'not impossible to believe some bloke wanted to direct himself elsewhere, right?"
trelawney hummed for a moment, and then her owlish eyes behind her spectacles blinked in quick succession.
"most definitely," she said, not elaborating at all as she continued. "yes- sunday, i think. seven in the evening."
"what for, professor?"
"you'll need to learn, obviously. bring a bit of parchment- perhaps a quil. oh and your wand! can't forget that." she hummed, "though- i often do. you know i found my wand in the river once and nearly battled the giant squid-"
"professor!" honey exclaimed, "what exactly is happening at seven in the evening on a sunday?"
"not just a sunday, child." said professor trelawney, like honey was being silly. "lessons- of course. you'll have to learn control."
"control of what?"
"your abilities, child. what else? the sky?"
professor trelawney shoved another biscuit into her mouth, and honey wondered what the fuck just happened.
rosie speaks!
ok finally this chapter is out. i had exams
and stuff and sort of just slid away for
a few !! it's okay tho i'm back so slay <3
i was feeling a bit shit today ngl had a few
uncool things happen to me and i don't
appreciate it but this made me smile especially
the end. i cant wait !!
please share your thoughts!
as always, please stay safe and wear
a mask !
word count: 5,800 words