Muggles & Spark Plugs - Arthur Weasley

15: Breakthrough

He did not want to tell Ivory or Professor Trelawney, considering Ivory had acted as if a breakout of the flu had occurred, and Sybil Trelawney was wacko enough without any mention of a dream in which Fred drowned. Though to be fair, his own head seemed to be weird enough with the dreams that according to the art of Divination contained visions that told the future. He was not so certain of that anymore, but then he remembered the dream that had started it all: the one where he had missed dinner and read old Quidditch textbooks and had seen Louis Anderson read the same. And the tea leaves. Aquila morte. Death of an eagle. His dreams were messed up even if they weren't vision material: a creature determined to kill him when the creature turned out to be himself, and the latest: death by the sea. He just needed some thoughts to be out of his head and stay out.

That single thought was what caused Fred to begin his nightly wanders. He had pretended to fall asleep before his roommates, silently listening to the conversations of Quidditch die out. Once they did, he would creep out of bed and out the Common Room, keeping in mind that he would have to answer the Eagle's riddle when he returned.

He would also have to look out for Filch.

He stepped out into the dimly lit corridor. Fred stared at the tall knights of armor. A shiver ran through him. He took one look at the shielded swords at their sides and walked in the opposite direction without a backwards glance.

His feet were strangely loud as he had not quite adjusted to having his hearing back. He was almost certain Filch would hear him a full corridor away. His shoes squeaked a bit on the clean floor. It seemed the caretaker had already been through here.

He hoped so nevertheless.

He passed vacant classrooms with a mixture of disappointment and pleased. Though his brain thought of the presence of knowledge, Fred was pleased to find the classrooms without a teacher. His best and only guess was they were asleep in their own dormitories.

He passed the library with a longing look. No, he thought, it's after-hours, the place is closed. He turned away from the inviting doors and continued his walk.

Even though the classrooms and library he had passed, it was a staircase that made him stop. He had seemingly been walking aimlessly in a straight line for the past so minutes and almost crashed into the first, floor-length stair. He looked up from his shoes to see a staircase before him. Though he had been at Hogwarts for a little over two months, the staircase in front of him was one he had not seen before. He stared at the footprints etched into the dust and began climbing without a second thought.

He reached the top a moment later, the top of his head hitting something he presumed to be the ceiling above him. He looked up. It was not the ceiling but a trap door he lifted and entered. He stepped into a room where tables and chairs obscured most of the space. Crystal balls sat upon the tabletops next to cups of tea.

"The divination classroom."

"I see you are awake." The voice of Professor Trelawney said from behind. "Visions keeping your mind up?"

"No, professor," Fred said. "Well, I just needed a stroll."

"A stroll ended you up here?"

"Yes, professor."

She walked into his line of vision and beckoned him to the closest table. She sat down in the chair. Fred sat across, his eyes on the crystal ball before them.

"See what finds you in this." The professor told him.

He rode his eyebrows at her wording. "You mean, I don't do the finding?"