act one: the girl in the bubble
chapter ten

Divination was a course that Daphne knew was deemed for the mad. Most students thought it was some sort of joke or that it meant nothing to their curriculum. But to Daphne, the longer she sat in the classroom, the more she felt like it was something she needed. It was something that in some part of her mind clicked deeper into who she was. But she didn't understand why.

The girl almost heard a sort of ticking in her ears. Though, there was nothing around her that could cause the ticking sound. Not that Daphne could see at least. She passed it off as some sort of clock being left within the room. Her eyes slowly moved back down to the cup of tea leaves in her hand while everyone continued to make a fuss about the class being weird.

When Harry and Ron had had their teacups filled, they went back to their table and tried to drink the scalding tea quickly. Daphne simply remained in her spot since she already had hers filled. The two boys swilled the dregs around as Professor Trelawney had instructed, then drained the cups and swapped them.

"Right," Ron finally spoke up, as they both opened their books at pages five and six, "What can you see in mine?"

"A load of soggy brown stuff," Harry muttered as he tried not to laugh.

Daphne snickered before shaking her head, "Did you tosh in a cup, Harry? That's rather rude."

"Shove off, Daph," Harry joked playfully as he looked at the girl.

The heavily perfumed smoke in the room was making everyone feel sleepy and stupid. Well, except for Daphne who just felt as if her mind was beginning to wander. Wander to a place that she hated going too. Wandering back into the visions that plagued her mind.

"Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!" Professor Trelawney cried through the gloom, causing Daphne to nearly jump out of her seat, Harry tried to pull himself together but fell apart seeing Daphne's reaction.

"Right, you've got a wonky sort of cross ..." Harry tried to decipher, consulting Unfogging the Future, "That means you're going to have 'trials and suffering' – sorry about that – but there's a thing that could be the sun. Hang on ... that means 'great happiness' ... so you're going to suffer but be very happy ..."

"You need your Inner Eye testing, if you ask me," Ron couldn't help but snicker, and they both had to stifle their laughs as Professor Trelawney gazed in their direction, "My turn ... but I really want to say the same thing. You're going to suffer, but be happy about it..."Ron peered into Harry's teacup, his forehead wrinkled with effort. "There's a blob a bit like a bowler hat," he tried to change around.

"Like the weird little hats that I swear can fly?" Daphne wasn't even paying attention to her own task with the teacups anymore as she listened to the boys.

"Maybe you're going to work for the Ministry of Magic ..." Ron turned the teacup the other way up as he inspected it, "But this way it looks more like an acorn ... what's that?" He scanned his copy of Unfogging the Future.

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered as he looked over at Daphne who simply smiled.

''A windfall, unexpected gold,' Excellent, you can lend me some. And there's a thing here," Ron turned the cup again, "that looks like an animal. Yeah, if that was its head ... it looks like a hippo ...no, a sheep ..."

Professor Tralawney stopped in front of Ron as she beamed, "Your aura is pulsing, dear! Are you in the beyond?! I think you are!" She was going mad.

"Sure," Ron made a face before losing her attention.

Professor Trelawney whirled around as Harry let out a snort of laughter, "Let me see that, my dear," she said approvingly to Ron, sweeping over and snatching Harry's cup from him to look closely.

Everyone went quiet to watch. Professor Trelawney was staring into the teacup, rotating it anticlockwise. She was processing what she was seeing and broadcasting it to give someone a sort of future.

"The falcon ... my dear, you have a deadly enemy," Trelawney's words weren't new, everyone knew that.

"But everyone knows that," Hermione spoke up in a loud whisper, Professor Trelawney stared at her, "Well, they do," Hermione shrugged, "Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."

Daphne couldn't help but cover her mouth to contain her laughter while Harry and Ron stared at her with a mixture of amazement and admiration. They had never heard Hermione speak to a teacher like that before. Nor did they ever think that they would. Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered her huge eyes to Harry's cup again and continued to turn it.

"The club ... an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup ..." Trelawney looked saddened as she looked at the boy, "Despite the sense of nearing love..."

Excuse me, Daphne found herself being caught off guard at that one. Nearing love? Harry has a lot of people who have feelings for him just because of who he is. This was something that Daphne was not ready to deal with as his best friend.

"That's a good joke," Daphne placed a hand on Harry's shoulder who rolled his eyes and shrugged her off.

"I thought that was a bowler hat," Ron spoke sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, "The skull ... danger in your path, my dear ..."

"The skull... danger in your path, my dear..." Trelawney trailed off as Daphne found herself moving to peer into the cup as well.

Everyone was staring, transfixed, at Professor Trelawney, who gave the cup a final turn, gasped,

and then screamed. Daphne couldn't help but cover her ears as Harry was quick to grab ahold of her gently, There was another tinkle of breaking china; Neville had smashed his second cup. Professor Trelawney sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at her heart and her eyes closed.

"My dear boy — my poor dear boy — no — it is kinder not to say — no — don't ask me..." Trelawney seemed to be in a sort of panic as she adjusted her hair.

"What is it, Professor?" said Dean Thomas at once, finding himself rather curious.

Everyone had got to their feet, and slowly they crowded around Daphne, Hermione, Harry and Ron's table, pressing close to Professor Trelawney's chair to get a good look at Harry's cup. Daphne remained in Harry's grasp and she could feel the concern oozing off of the boy.

"Oh mt, dear boy, my dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically, "you have the Grim."

"The what?" asked Harry as he finally removed himself from Daphne upon realizing he had still been holding onto her as the tips of his ears turned pink.

"The grin? What's the grin?" Seamus called out as he seemed confused while Harry took his cup.

"Not the grin, you idiot, the Grim," Ben yelled back in return which startled Daphne, "Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen of death," Ben read out from the book while Daphne paused and Harry looked into the cup further.

Daphne's head had a surge of pain which caused her to huff out air while she placed a hand on her forehead. Ignoring the looks she received from Ron and Hermione before Harry grew pale. Dog. Black dog. She made the connection in her mind, the Grim was Sirius Black.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry

hadn't understood, "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen

— the worst omen — of death!"

Daphne felt as if she were about to hurl. That dog on the cover of Death Omens in Flourish and Blotts — the dog in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent...Everything started to connect. Lavender Brown clapped her hands to her mouth too. Everyone was looking at Harry, everyone except Daphne and Hermione, who had gotten up and moved around to the back of Professor Trelawney's chair.

"I don't think it looks like a Grim," Hermione spoke flatly, looking over the class entirely.

Professor Trelawney surveyed Hermione with mounting dislike, "You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."

Seamus Finnigan was tilting his head from side to side, almost as if he were trying to see it at different angles, "It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, with his eyes almost shut, "but it looks more like a donkey from here," he said, leaning to the left.

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" Harry exclaimed, taking even himself by surprise.

Now nobody seemed to want to look at him. Daphne was now startled by him as she remained to cover her ears which caused his expression to falter as his head hung low. She tried to act unbothered but still shied away.

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney in her mistiest voice, "Yes... please pack away your things...Ms. Black...stay behind please."

Silently the class took their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books, and

closed their bags. Everyone was avoiding Harry's eyes, even Ron. Daphne ignored whatever they tried to say to her as she grabbed her belongings.

"Until we meet again," said Professor Trelawney faintly, "fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear,"

— she pointed at Neville, "you'll be late next time, so mind you work extra-hard to catch up."

"We'll wait for you," Harry's tone was now gentle as he spoke to Daphne, the girl simply nodded in return.

Daphne walked over to Professor Trelawney as she moved to sit behind her desk. Daphne fiddled with part of her bag as she found herself growing rather nervous. No, Daphne couldn't help but snap at herself in her mind. Remember, don't care. If you don't care, you won't be nervous. She tried to use that logic to her advantage knowing her problem was she cared too much.

"Your aura is strong," Trelawney spoke after a moment as she still looked frail from fear, "Do you know what you possess?"

Daphne tucked a piece of her hair behind her ears as her face clouded with false confusion, "What do you mean, Professor?"

Trelawney seemed to see past her lies, "You were the one prophesied so long ago..." She seemed to be in awe of this as she rose to her feet before frowning, "Oh my poor, sweet girl, if only your fate hadn't been intertwined..."

"What do you mean?" Daphne found herself at a loss for words as the woman began to try and dismiss her.

"Only time will tell. And into the beyond!" And thus, Trelawney began to spew her madness at the young girl once more.

Daphne found herself looking rather annoyed as she walked back out of the classrooms and to the winding steps as she looked at her friends. Ron seemed a bit curious but kept himself silent. No one wanting to say anything to accept the other.

"We all heard that, didn't we?" Daphne asked as she looked at her friends who trailed a bit in front of her.

Ron nodded his head, "We did..."

"Don't listen to her, Daphne. She's mad," Hermione huffed out as she continued to swear against the lesson in her mind.

Daphne, Harry, Ron, and Hermione descended Professor Trelawney's ladder and the winding stair in silence. Harry attempted to help Daphne despite how uncomfortable she now seemed. He backed off of her once noting that she was safe. The group then set off for Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson. It took them so long to find her classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time.

Daphne and Harry chose a seat right at the back of the room, feeling as though they were sitting in a very bright spotlight; the rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at Harry, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment. Few looked at Daphne in fear which caused her to keep her head down.

They hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was telling them about Animagi, the wizards who could transform at will into animals, and weren't even watching when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes. But all Daphne could think about was Trelawney's words and Sirius Black.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself

with a faint pop, and staring around at them all in disbelief, "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Everybody's heads turned toward the back again, but nobody spoke. But it seemed the Professor realized who they began to stare at. Daphne pursed her lips together while Harry refused to look in her direction.

Then Hermione raised her hand, "Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning seemingly knowing what this was about, "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her, confused. Did she know more about this course than the rest of them? It would make sense, she's taught alongside Trelawney for a number of years. Daphne figured something like this was common - though she knew better than to think it actually happened.

"Me," said Harry, finally before frowning as he looked at Daphne.

"And me," Daphne spoke as she leaned back into her chair which caused a few to look at her, "Sadly my fates somehow intertwined. Guess I'm getting to meet my Aunt and Uncle after all."

"I see," said Professor McGonagall, staring blankly at the two as she adjusted herself, "Then you should know, Black, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —" Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney..."

It seemed that McGonagall had even begun to stare at Daphne as if she knew something. Daphne narrowed her eyes which caused McGonagall to break her view from the young girl and focus on the matters at hand once more.

She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to

me, Potter, as do you, Black, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

It seemed that helped everyone's feelings. Hermione laughed alongside others. Harry seemed to feel a bit better. It was harder to feel scared of a lump of tea leaves away from the dim red light and befuddling perfume of Professor Trelawney's classroom. Not everyone was convinced, however. Not that part of Daphne could blame them.

Ron still looked worried, and Lavender whispered, "But what about Neville's cup?"

When the Transfiguration class had finished, they joined the crowd thundering toward the Great Hall for lunch, "Ron, cheer up," said Hermione, pushing a dish of stew toward him, "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but didn't start. Daphne kept pouring herself whatever was near her into her goblet and downing it endlessly which caused a few glances.

"Harry, Daphne," Ron spoke, in a low, serious voice, "You haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"Yeah, I have," Harry confirmed stupidly, "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys."

"I saw one in Diagon Alley," Daphne shrugged as she placed her goblet down, "It's nothing important."

Ron let his fork fall with a clatter. Looking struck with fear as he looked between the two friends in fright.

"Probably a stray," said Hermione calmly, refusing to believe anything from Trelawney.

Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad, he clearly did not agree, "Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's — that's bad," he paused, "My — my uncle Bilius saw one and — and he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence," Hermione huffed airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice into her glimmering goblet.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron's voice rose, starting to get angry, "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"

"There you are, then," Hermione snapped in a superior tone.

"They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!" Ron mouthed wordlessly at Hermione, who opened her bag, took out her new Arithmancy book, and propped it open against the juice jug.

"I think Divination seems very wooly," Hermione grumbled under her breath, searching for her page, "A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."

"There was nothing wooly about the Grim in that cup!" Ron stammered out hotly.

"You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," Hermione grinned coolly.

"Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change!" He had touched a nerve and he knew it just by how she reacted.

Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew everywhere. Daphne found herself freezing at the sudden burst of anger. She paused as she held her hands close to her before rising up from the table.

"I'll be back."