Chapter 77: Divination class

“I was more hoping for the professor of ancient runes position.”

Rick was having tea in Dumbledore’s office after receiving an invitation for it. Albus was sitting leisurely at his desk, hearing the answer to the question he had asked.

“Bathsheda is already doing an excellent job, I’m afraid.”

“What about Moody? He’s retired, one of the most- He’s Moody.” The sigh Rick let out was one of defeat.

Albus gave him an even look. “If I had no other choice, I would ask it of him.”

“There are plenty other than me!”

“Yes but none would be as invested as you will be.”

“... And why is that?”

“Because this year, the Minister, to keep riding on the popularity of the Quidditch World Cup on our soil, decided to revive the Triwizard tournament which will take place at Hogwarts.”

Rick looked at Dumbledore in silence. His eyes fixed on him unblinking for nearly a minute until it did.“... I’m sorry. For a moment I thought you said that the buffoon wanted to bring back that barbaric competition and at Hogwarts.”“You heard me well.” Albus sipped his tea and took a sherbet lemon.

Rick looked at Dumbledore again to see if the old headmaster was joking or not. Clearly he wasn’t.

“The DADA results had never been so high in the last thirty years than when you were being a substitute. Either Quirell’s or Lockhart’s. The students are eager for you to come back. Furthermore…”“Voldemort. The Triwizard tournament is the perfect opportunity to use someone else's hands to…”

He didn’t dare to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it. It was his daughter who was concerned after all. An evenement such as the Triwizard tournament was a danger for Rose. It was discontinued more than two hundred years ago because all the champions, the judges and at least a dozen of the spectators had been killed in the first of the three tasks. More than 70% of participants ended up either maimed or dead in the long history of the tournament, so the last iteration wasn’t an isolated incident. To think that someone would bring it back for the simple purpose of boosting their popularity was asinine.

Then again, Cornelius Fudge wasn’t known for being smart but for being accommodating if your pockets were deep. The fiasco of the previous year when Peter Pettigrew and Augustus Rookwood escaped Azkaban proved that. Fudge’s answer had been to have dementors patrol the most important magical community to find them.

That meant Hogwarts and Hogsmeade for the simple reason that Lily worked and lived there. He believed they were after Lily and her family in revenge for killing Voldemort. The results of dementors patrolling the area? No less than five people almost kissed and the two Death Eaters were still at large to this day. Amelia had kept quiet about how they escaped because it was an ongoing investigation to Rick’s frustration. If those two found Voldemort, trouble was on the horizon.

“If I die because of the curse, I’m haunting you.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “Now, I’m sure everything will be fine. The contract is only for nine months.”

“Nine? Not ten?”

“Yes. I realize that nothing happened to you or any one else whose contract lasted less than a full school year. I still have a problem getting a teacher every year but I can at least assure your safety.”

“... Right. Officially I’ll do ten though.”

“Yes.”

Rick didn’t take a moment more to make a decision. Curse or not, if Rose was in danger, no matter how low the odds, he would do it. He nodded his agreement to Dumbledore and stood up from his seat to take his leave.

“A moment of your time for a bit longer, please.”

“Yes? What do you need?”

“When you were at the orphanage, did you ever… Went somewhere on vacation or something like that?”

“No. The orphanage didn’t have the funds for it. If it had, Miss Wilson would have renovated the building instead. Why?”

“I’ve been retracing Tom’s life in the hope of finding more horcruxes.”

“What does that have to-”

Finally, after more than two decades, something clicked in Rick’s mind. The reason why Dumbledore came to visit him when he was eleven with Minerva and who was the previous student he had delivered their Hogwarts letter when he was the Deputy Headmaster.

“Noooo. He was- Really?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t here that day just to be Minerva’s company. You wanted to check if…”

“Yes. I was… a bit paranoid at the time. A few weeks earlier, Tom visited the castle in the hope to become the new DADA teacher. To be fair, after our simple discussion I realized I was being a fool and you were nothing like him. Even Miss Wilson said as such.”

Rick was surprised by the revelation. “She knew him?”

“She grew up at the orphanage too and was quite terrified of him despite being three years older. As years passed and I witnessed you mature into a responsible young man, I was even more certain you had nothing in common with him. You had the same thirst for knowledge but where Tom was ambitious, selfish and self-centered, you proved yourself to be the opposite.”

“... Do you think… No. It can’t be a coincidence. The same childhood at the same orphanage…”

“In the same room.”

“Shit…” Rick put his head in his hands and wiped his face. “Could Fate have hoped I would be the one to kill him, found me inadequate and chose Rose? Or chose Rose to motivate me even more? Or…”

“Do not dwell on this too much or you will lose your mind. Rose is more important, so is the rest of your family.”

“... You’re right. If I lose my focus on theories and questions that will never get an answer, I will lose it all.” Rick took a big breath and went back to the original topic.  “You think he already made horcruxes back at the orphanage? Pre-dating the diary?”

“It’s a possibility. Tom had proven to be… surprisingly sentimental regarding his Horcruxes. Either by the items he used for them or the location. It’s possible he may have placed one if not more in locations when he lived as Tom. A part of his identity he spent years hiding and that no one knows anything about. At least no one alive except me, maybe. I tried to search for records at the orphanage but unfortunately it had been demolished a few years after you graduated.”

“Did you try the city archives? Orphanages are- were handled by the government and as such most of the information on their management is public information, I think. Or try to contact Miss Willson?”

“She passed away in 1983. An illness called… ‘Cancer’ if I remember correctly. The public archives are a good lead. I didn’t know about that.”

“Most muggles don’t know about it either so don’t feel too down. On that note, No news on how to destroy the Horcruxes without the destruction of the objects?”

Dumbledore’s demeanor and expression changed for a more relaxed and happy one.

“We did. Well to be more accurate, Regulus found that goblins could potentially do it.”

“Let me guess, they won’t share the how and ask for an exorbitant price.”

“We haven’t asked yet as the discovery is merely a month old but yes that is what we think will happen.”

“I don’t like to say it but… We may have no choice but to destroy them. It may be for the best even.”

“As a last resort. There is still hope to save such priceless artifacts. The cup alone could help many students.”

“Fine by me. I’ll be going then. Oh! Is Minerva the one I need to see about the textbooks for my class or is it too late?”

“It’s Minerva, yes. You’re not too late. The letters are being sent next week. You may have to rewrite them. May I know which manual you have in mind?”

“Why? Mine of course. DADA for dummies I called it. The first volume contained everything students need to know from first to third year. The second from fourth to fifth and the last one the Newts years. I’ll send you a copy if you want.”

“I’d like that very much, thank you.”

Rick left Dumbledore's office and made his way to Minerva’s. She was happy to see him until he told her that the supplies letter needed to be rewritten. For five seconds. She was pulling his leg. Since every year saw a new DADA professor, she didn’t write anything on the letter until the last moment so she wouldn’t have to remake them. They talked a bit about the World Cup that would start soon and Rick confessed he hasn’t been paying much attention to it. The bit he did, he saw the Bulgarian’s seeker and was quite impressed. Then the subject turned to the school quidditch cup. With the Triwizard tournament it was cancelled and she wasn't happy about it.

“I had so much hope! Not six but seven cups in a row! Seven! It’s never been done before!”

“I wouldn’t count on that. Lyra and Vega are quite good on brooms. It would be a harsh competition with Slytherin. I do admit that the odds are in Gryffindor’s favor.”

“Why did your children have to be in Slytherin?!”

“They all take after their mother more and Blacks are notorious for being in Slytherin. The exception being Sirius and Lea. Besides, are you really complaining when you already have four of them?”

“I’m greedy and wanted them all! So what?!”

Rick rolled his eyes in amusement and exasperation but said nothing about it.

“I’m sure we can get Albus to see reason for quidditch. There may not be a cup but at least some friendly games. After all, some seventh-years want to go pro. If they don’t play during the year they can’t be recruited.”

“Oh, yes, excellent idea!”

On the spot she stood up from her seat and left her office to talk with Dumbledore. Rick shook his head and simply left the castle, flying home in his crow form. As he saw Lions’ Pride getting closer he thought back to the last three years.

Almost all his children had started Hogwarts or would be by September. All his ‘legitimate’ one at least. Camelia and Sage were sorted in Gryffindor to no one’s surprise. Lyra joined Draco in Slytherin and supported him with her family name alone. The fact she was best friends with the twins who were in Gryffindors, like Draco was with Rose, created even more tension in the house of snakes. The cousins presented a united front that took over Slytherin, replacing the pureblood fanatic faction.

Lea had been an even longer hatstall than Rose and by far. She had spent no less than ten minutes talking with the sorting hat as if it was a friend, to finally be sent to Hufflepuff. Rick would never forget Bella’s face when she heard the news. She looked like a goldfish. She knew her daughter could end up in the house of the badger but was so sure that her Slytherin traits would prevail.

Apparently the decisive factor for Lea becoming a badger was because she liked black and yellow more than green and silver and wanted to go into the house with those colors. Rick laughed at that because he had said the same thing to the hat during his own sorting. Bella banged her head against the wall. She wasn’t angry or upset at her daughter’s sorting however, not like Lea would have cared anyway.

Veronica and Vega were starting in september and there was no doubt they would be sorted in Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively. Atria, who would start next year, would probably be a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw.

Lea being a badger wasn’t the only surprise in the family. Duncan became a badger too. Neither Marlene nor Sirius cared he wasn’t a Gryffindor. As long as he wasn’t sorted into Slytherin, everything was fine in their opinion. He was happy to be with Susan, whom he considered as a big sister like he did Rose.

On the adult side nothing much happened. Bella and Marlene were now fourth time World Champions in pairs. The former was also three times World champion as a solo and the latter once.

Andromeda got tired of working at Up Your Arsenal and against all expectations became a solicitor. She had passed the exams a few months earlier and now that Atria was close to entering Hogwarts, searched for a firm to start working and gain experience.

Nymphadora had been picked from the Auror hopeful at the end of her second year because the third year of the program was useless for her. She was personally mentored by Moody. Both he and Amelia had high expectations of her.

The last of the Black sisters was busy making political alliances and raising Rigella. She has also been subtly trying to get Rick to give her another child for the past couple months. For what reason? No one knew. Not even her mother or sisters.

Dorea was spending almost all her time with Arcturus. Ever since Melania’s death in the summer of 92, the former Lord Black had become a recluse. He wasn’t quite the same man anymore. Even Cassiopeia agreed on that and felt saddened to see her little brother like this. She missed their sibling banter.

Druella had started painting again to connect with Lea. Often they disappeared for hours to just talk about art.

Regulus was still working on the Horcruxes problem. His grandmother’s death affected him a lot and he threw himself in the quest to defeat Voldemort for good. but also in the preservation and development of the Black Library. He often left the country in search of dark magic, dark artifacts or simply magical knowledge to record. He recently joined Bill Weasley in Egypt as a dark magic expert. Bill had been working for almost two years into breaking newly discovered tombs in the country of the pharaohs. Regulus may or may not have met with a Scandinavian witch who shared the same interests.

Landing in front of his home, Rick took back his human form. Going through the door, he found his wives relaxing in the small pool he had created in the basement while having drinks. The whole room had been worked with magic to recreate either a beach, a forest lake or a Japanese hot spring. One kiss for each wife as a greeting and he conjured a chair to have a talk.

“How did it go?”

“What did the old coot want?”

“Well… I’m the new DADA Professor.”

“That’s great! You already did a good job at it.” Bella gave him a proud and worshiping smile.

“What about the curse?” Lily was way more worried than Bella for their husband. That is if Bella was worried in the first place.

“Dumbledore has apparently found a solution to avoid it. Or rather a loophole. I’m still doing it for only a year. That’s not the most important thing he wanted to talk about actually. Fudge-”

“What did that worm do again?” The distaste in Bella’s voice was well deserved in Rick and Lily’s opinion. The man always looked at her cleavage when he saw her.

“Start again the Triwizard tournament that will be held at Hogwarts this September.”

“... 100 Galleons he was whispered to do so by Nott.”

Lily wasn’t of the same mind. “I’m not sure, Bella. What would be the purpose?”

“I don’t know about Nott but Albus and I believe it’s the perfect opportunity for Voldemort to get to Rose indirectly.”

“She will not participate in this barbaric-”

“She may not have a choice if her name is chosen by the goblet of fire, Lily. It’s a binding contract that can’t be undone. But it’s not like Rose will be able to participate. He may be a worm but Fudge will not risk sending children to their death, he would be ousted from office in a flash especially after last year's blunder with the dementors. I think only adults, so seventh-year and maybe some sixth-year, will be able to enter their name for the selection.”

“Bella has a point.”

Lily didn’t like this one bit but said nothing. Not because she had nothing to say but because Rose came into the room with Hermione and Susan and it wasn’t a talk she wanted to have in front of children, especially Rose since it concerned Voldemort.

“AUNT BELLA! WEAR A TOP!” Rose exclaimed with a blush on her face. Next to her Susan just sniggered and Hermione’s mind had checked out, her focus being on the naked breasts of Lady Black. More particularly the dangle type piercings on her nipples.

Bella grinned, her teasing sense tickling. “Now, why would I do that, dear?”

“It’s indecent!”

“It’s my home.”

“We have guests!”

“Please. Suzie’s worse even though she has a top.”

Rick didn’t dare to look and took his wife’s words for it. Susan was growing up to be as beautiful and as stacked as her Aunt and he didn’t feel right at the idea of possibly overlapping his memories of Amelia on top of her niece.

“Is it? Auntie said- She played me, did she? Just to embarrass Uncle. Again.” the redhead badger said in realization with a very cold and unamused tone.

“Probably.”/ “Yes.”/ “She’s lucky I can’t use dark magic or I would have cursed her for it.”

Bella, Lily and Rick all had an answer for Susan. Rose pulled out her wand and banished Bella’s towel on the ground to cover her head from head to navel.

“You do know I’m going to get you back for this, right?” came from under the towel that Bella didn’t even bother to remove.

“I’ll manage.” Rose shrugged. “Anyway, Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Hermione wants to drop divination this year because it’s-”

“Hogwash.” the bushy hair witch cut in, her brain having rebooted now that Bella’s tits were not on display anymore.

“And honestly I think I will too. It’s nothing like you told me about.”

Rick sighed and knew a long conversation was going to happen. He conjured four chairs and a table away from his wives and invited the girls to take a seat. Only Susan did not. She wasn’t taking divination to begin with and preferred to go take a swim.

“Divination is the way I told you about, Rose. The problem is your professor.”

“I knew it! She’s a charlatan!”

“No, Hermione, she isn’t.”

“But-”

“I know. It’s just that she’s not a seer but a prophetess.”

That piece of information confused the girls.

“Isn’t it the same thing?”

“If it was, Rose, there wouldn’t be two different words for it.”

“It’s the principle of no equivalence.”

“What principle is that?” wondered the redhead at her friend’s words.

“Exactly what it means and what I said. In a language no two words mean exactly the same thing. In our case here, a seer is someone who sees and a prophet or a prophetess is someone who prophesied. Yes, it’s confusing but let me talk.”

Rose was about to interrupt when her father preempted her.

“Divination is separated into two main branches. The first one is… let’s say the more eclectic and deals with the future, present and past. The second has only one thing going for it: Fate with a big capital ‘F’. Prophecies belong to this category. Now, since Fate is a very complex concept, let’s start with the first branch, that way you’ll understand what the second branch is not, better.Let’s just say anyone can practice the first one without having the third eye while no one can practice the second. It’s an inborn gift.

It’s a common misconception to think that divination means seeing the future. It’s more than that. It’s also seeing the present or the past; however the last two are rarer and with time, divination became synonymous with seeing the future only.

A seer is someone with the third eye. Regardless of what time they can see, having the third eye allows you to see farther and in clearer detail which in turn allows you to make better predictions.

Let’s focus on the future aspect. The future is not set in stone. It’s always ever changing and is determined by choices which are made. The principle of divining the future is to get a glimpse of A future not THE future.”

Rose frowned in confusion. “There is more than one future?”

“Yes, Rose. Pay attention because it’s really theoretical now.”

Rick put his hands in his pockets and pulled them out clenched into fists.

“Let’s do a small test and experiment. In one of my hands, I have a small object. I offer you one chance, one choice to choose the hand that has the object.”

“Le-”

“Not yet. It’s not about finding the object, be patient.”

Rose pouted and Rick smiled amusedly.

“Now you have a choice. Let’s call this moment T1. It’s our ‘present’ for now. How many outcomes, in other words how many futures do you have in this situation?”

“Four.”

“Correct, Hermione. Please enumerate them.”

“Rose can choose your left hand and there is an object. She can choose your left hand and there is no object. The same for your right hand.”

“Yes. Four futures. Now, Rose, go ahead. Choose.”

“Left.”

Rick opened his hand and it was empty. He kept his right hand closed.

“So it’s in the other hand.” his daughter remarked.

“Again, the object is not important. What’s important is that you made a choice and there was a consequence. The consequence is?”

“You opened your hand and there was no object.”

“Exactly. Let’s call this moment T2, our new ‘present’. It’s our reality, however when we were in T1, you could have made a different choice. You could have chosen my right hand. In that case we would not be in our current ‘present’ T2 but in another present that we will call T2-A for alternate. There is no way to know what you would have chosen. If a seer had tried at T1 to divine what hand you would have chosen they would have either seen T2 or T2-A. With me so far, girls?”

““Yes.””

“Good. Now, you may think divining the future is actually easy with this example. After all you only had two futures based on your choice, Rose. You got the object or you didn’t. But it’s more complex in truth. If the seer had tried to divine in which hand was the object and not which hand you would choose, you would have how many futures?”

“Four, like Hermione said.”

“Wrong. It’s five.”

Rick opened his right hand and revealed its content. A big nothing.

“The future is not just based on your choices at T1. It is based on the choices of everyone in some measure. In our restricted example, it was your choice but mine too. I chose to not have an object in any hands and to lead you on. Do you understand where I’m going with this?”

“I think I do. There are an infinite number of futures and it’s difficult to predict accurately.” replied Hermione.

“Correct. It’s called the chaos theory or a prettier name: the butterfly effect. A butterfly could bat its wings on the other side of the world and the air it displaces could start a chain reaction that could create a storm here. The farther you try to see in the future, the more it’s unclear. The more… connected the future you’re trying to see is, the more unclear it is. In our little experiment, everything was well defined and there were only two people involved to just find an object. Now imagine something like who will win the world cup?”

“It’s… well from what we just talk about it’s impossible or just… really improbable to determine.” Rose answered.

“Yes. However the better the third eye of a seer, the farther in time and the most accurate the prediction will be. Instinctively their magic will find the future with the most odds to happen. But as I said if you don’t have the third eye it’s fine too. You won’t be able to see very far but you can still predict small things a bit.

There are many ways to divine. Tarot cards, crystal balls, tea leaves, palm reading, astrology, scrying, cartomancy, numerology, and many, many more. I even heard about a tribe reading the future from pine needles.

Anyways, if you have difficulties predicting the future then maybe the method you’re using isn’t the right fit or you’re too close minded to let magic guide you in your interpretation. By the way, if a seer tells you the future is going to happen like they say, then they are quacks.”

“Professor Trelawney is a quack then.”

“Your father said she was a prophetess which… we don’t know anything more about since it’s in the second branch of divination.”

“I’m coming to it. Not yet though. You remember the part about divination not being only about the future?” the girls nodded and Rick continued his explanations. “A seer can see the present and by that I mean what’s happening at the current moment elsewhere or the past. Maybe you have heard a few stories about someone being able to touch an object and knew its whole history? Ah, yes you did, that’s good. Anyway, seers that can see the present or the future are very rare. A seer that can see the three Times even more. To give you a name, Luna is a very powerful seer. She can see the future, the present and so much more than just time.”

“Wait! Are you saying that the invisible creatures she talks about are real?”

Rick nodded in confirmation to his daughter. Years ago Lily had invited their old classmate Pandora Esmere (now Lovegood) to catch up and talk about charms or magic in general. She had come with her daughter, Luna who was perhaps no older than four at the time. Beyond how adorable the blonde was, Rick felt through his gift that she was special. He was able to feel what her magic felt after all. After talking with her for a while, he realized that she may be a powerful seer and Pandora confirmed that in her family line many witches had the third eye. She herself had a minor ability to see the past of an object. A vision of the previous owner but nothing more.

“They are. It took me an incredible amount of focus with my gift to sense them. And barely at that because their magic is very faint.”

“I can’t believe it. And everyone is mocking her.” The redhead was dumbfounded.

“Rose.” The tone Rick used clearly indicated he wasn’t happy about what he just heard.

“Not me, dad! I may have always thought that Luna was quirky but I never laughed about it! I like her too much!”

“Glad to hear it because being a seer is already difficult socially. A seer as powerful as Luna… Nevermind. Back to the topic at hand. I invite you to read actual books about divination, there are quite a few you can take from the unrestricted section of the library at Potter Manor. Did I change your mind a bit about the subject?”

“I don’t know about Hermione but you sure were better at explaining it than Professor Trelawney ever did. I don’t think it’s just a trick now.”

“Yes, you did away with the mysticism and presented it in a… more scientific manner that makes sense to me. I still can't wrap my mind around it. Divination being linked to science I mean.”

“Divination is both. Partly mysticism and partly science since probabilities and patterns are involved. Now let’s talk about your Professor and the second branch of the subject.

Divining is something that you do. You go search for the answers. Consciously or not in case of dream interpretation. The correct term is not seer by the way but diviner. Seer is only if you have the gift of the third eye but I digress.

A prophet, or a prophetess, doesn't go searching for answers. The answer is given to them. Their bodies are… kind of a vessel for… well… A superior power? Some believe it’s Magic with a capital M, some believe it is Fate with capital F. A power or being beyond mortal comprehension. Maybe God, Gods or the Power-that-be. In truth nobody knows. The only proof that it may be the case is that prophecies are gibberish. It’s not ‘Tomorrow you’ll die.’ But more like ‘When the shark eats a red sock with yellow dots, the racoon will fall from the tree and never get up.’”

That made the girls giggle with how absurd it was.

“Who or what the heck is the shark? What red socks with yellow dots? And what racoon? Answer? Nobody knows. Many believe it’s gibberish because the superior entity that delivered the prophecy perceives things differently the way we do and talk as if it makes sense to us.

The shark could have been someone from the sea with knives or someone with pointy teeth or an actual shark.

If you ask a prophet what they meant, there is a 100% chance they wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. The reason is simple: they don’t remember making the prophecy at all.”

“That must give credence to the possibility of their body being taken over.”

“Yes, Rose. Exactly. If someone remembers saying a prophecy they’re a fraud. Now let’s talk about prophecies, fate and free will.”

“Free will? Isn’t it contradictory to Fate?” wondered aloud Hermione.

“For the unlearned, yes.” Rick chuckled at the basic and wrong understanding of the young witch in front of him. “In truth they're not mutually exclusive. Let’s start by defining what fate is. Any ideas?”

“Something that is bound to happen no matter what?”

“Correct. Naturally there is one and only one fate. Death. It’s something inevitable. You can delay it but sooner or later you’re going to die. It’s an event that can happen at any moment. You could die at 500 years old or you can die in your mother’s womb. You can die because you were hit by a car or because you chose to jump off the roof of a building. Just because something is bound to happen doesn’t mean that the path to that event is linear. Your choices and others’ choices matter.”

“That’s what you meant by free will.” understanding had dawned on Hermione.

“Yes. Let’s say a prophecy talks about someone walking on the moon. It doesn’t say how many people would be with that person or how they would do it. It’s up to the person or other people. I could have stuck that person on a shuttle and sent them there. They wouldn’t have done anything at all but the prophecy would be fulfilled.

A prophecy never states the how. It states the what, the who, sometimes the when and the where. Always in a cryptic manner. Never ever the how. That’s why prophecies can only be understood when they come to pass. More often than not they are not understood at all.

One thing is sure. Trying to manipulate a prophecy is shooting yourself in your own foot. To have the arrogance to think you can use to your own ends what Fate has decreed is a sure way for you to not get what you want and to be punished for it. Same if you try to avoid it if it’s close ended.”

“Close ended?” Rose asked.

“A prophecy that tells you that it’s going to be like this and like this only. The resolution is determined. For example: The world will end on December 21st 2012. An open ended prophecy’s resolution depends on the person involved in the prophecy. Another example: jerk A will have to decide to either destroy the world or save it.

An open ended prophecy is preferable but more dangerous.”

“Since the resolution is not set in stone, people may try to push it in a certain way and just like you say, it doesn’t end well.”

“Correct, Hermione. The best thing to do regarding a prophecy is to not think about it. What will happen will happen so there is no point in turning yourself mad. At least that’s my opinion on the subject although it is very difficult to put it into action. Now, Rose, if divination doesn't interest you then I’ll write to Minerva a word for you about dropping it. I do encourage you to at least pursue it for your OWLs. If you’re interested but it’s your Professor that you just don’t like then… suck it up. Sometimes in life we have to endure people we don’t like.”

With his class on divination over, Rick stood up and let the girls think about their future. Walking out of the room he hit Susan’s bikini top with an engorgement charm then sent a patronus to Amelia which will deliver a message of pay back.