𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 75

CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVE
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-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH THEY GO 
TO DIVINATION

. . .

Harry followed Aviana up the ladder into the Divination classroom, instantly overwhelmed by that usual haze of herbs and incense that pigmented the air. She led the way over to the low table where Ron was already sat, snatching a cushion for her to sit between them. Harry sat down on the other side, watching as Ron opposite him tried to mouth several things particularly accentuated for him to try and understand, but the former could only shrug and glance over to Professor Trelawney as she hastily handed out copies of The Dream Oracle.

As she approached the three of them, she glanced furtively at Aviana - who was still somehow an unpredictable presence at  the table - she slammed down a copy of the textbook between them, stomping off to the next table. The professor pursed her lips, and she threw the next copy of the Oracle at Seamus and Dean, narrowly avoiding Seamus's head, and thrust the final one into Neville's chest with such force that he slipped off his pouf. 

"Well, carry on!" Professor Trelawney said loudly, her voice high pitched and somewhat hysterical - more of a screech than anything. "You know what to do! Or am I such a substandard teacher that you have never learned how to open a book?" 

The class stared up at the woman, dumbfounded. Aviana was the first to move, clearing her throat as she reached for the textbook before her, flicking through the pages. "I think someone got the results of her inspection back." She said pointedly, under her breath as she found where they left off, hands spreading over the pages to secure it. 

"Professor?" Parvati Patil almost hovered out of her seat as she rose her hand slightly. Her and Lavender Brown had always seemed to particularly admire Professor Trelawney. "Professor? Is there anything - er - wrong?"

"Wrong!" Professor Trelawney repeated in a voice threaded with sharp emotion. "Certainly not! I have been insulted, certainly.... Insinuations have been made against me... Unfounded accusations levelled... but no, there is nothing wrong, certainly not..."She took a great shuddering breath and looked away from Parvati, angry tears spilling from under her glasses. "I say nothing," the woman continued in a choked voice, and Aviana shifted, looking thoroughly uncomfortable, "of sixteen years' devoted service... It has passed, apparently, unnoticed... But I shall not be insulted, no, I shall not!" 

"But Professor, who's insulting you?" Lavender asked timidly. 

"The establishment! Professor Trelawney exclaimed, in a deep, dramatic, wavering voice. "Yes, those with eyes too clouded by the Mundane to See as I See, to Know as I Know... Of course, we Seers have always been feared, always persecuted... It is- alas - our fate. . . ."She gulped, dabbed at her wet cheeks with the end of her shawl, and then pulled a small, embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve, into which she blew her nose. Ron sniggered. Lavender shot him a disgusted look.

"You would've thought she predicted this." Aviana murmured, her chin balanced on her upturned palm as she watched the scene unfold. 

 "Professor," Parvati pressed, "do you mean... is it something Professor Umbridge...?" 

"Do not speak to me about that woman!" Professor Trelawney almost hissed, leaping to her feet, her beads rattling and her spectacles flashing. "Kindly continue with your work!" 

"It can't have been that bad, could it?" Ron asked, under his breath. 

He dared to glance over his shoulder, where Trelawney was stood over a group of Ravenclaws, tears leaking from behind her glasses, muttering what sounded like threats under her breath: "...may well choose to leave... the indignity of it...' 

Aviana was leant as far back in her chair as she could be without falling off it herself, her head tilting to purposefully allow her to eavesdrop on the mutterings. 

"Oh, it's bad." Aviana hummed, glancing back to the table, straining to hear more. Once again, Harry was given the impression that Aviana was more than interest in gossip, and it quite easily linked to her need to know anything and everything she could. "Oooh." The girl grinned, leaning back to the two boys. "She's on probation." 

"What does that even mean?" Harry asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "On probation?" He repeated. 

"That's what she said." Aviana shrugged. 

"You're enjoying this way too much." Ron shifted in his seat, in an odd display of sympathy for Trelawney - he never really seemed to subscribe to the idea that anything they were taught in Divination was substantial; it was merely an easy passing grade. "The woman's obviously not doing well." 

"Then she should have cancelled the class so that she could collect herself appropriately." Aviana said. "Then I would have more time to do my more important work." 

"What does probation mean?" Harry repeated, thoroughly bewildered. 

"It means she's going to be more on edge than she ever was." Aviana replied. "You know, Umbridge will be back for more observations, for fuck's sake, Trelawney's teachings will constantly be under question, and... it's not definite that she will keep her job." She said. "Now shut up." She instructed, and leant back once more.

There was silence between the three as Harry and Ron waited for more information, watching both Aviana and the rest of the class absent-mindedly. 

Aviana righted herself suddenly, and the three of them scrambled to get back to their work as Trelawney appeared out of the blue, looming over Aviana to read over her shoulder. 

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