Divination

Perhaps because she had previously divined that she would have bad luck and then really suffered terrible misfortune, Professor Trelawney headed straight for Harry and Ron.

"All right." Harry took a deep breath. As Professor Trelawney drifted toward their table like a sleepwalker, he steeled himself and stood up.

"Professor," he did his best to make his voice sound ordinary, "I had a very unusual dream the night before last."

The whispers around them died down. Several curious gazes turned their way. Everyone wanted to hear what story he would tell this time.

Professor Trelawney leaned forward slightly and listened intently. The beads of her necklaces and bracelets clinked softly, and the strong scent of incense mixed with spices washed over them.

"Tell it carefully, my dear child," she urged in her ethereal voice. Her eyes glittered with anticipation behind their thick lenses. "Every detail in a dream may be a stone cast by fate, stirring ripples of omen across the lake that reflects the future."

Harry glanced at Ron, who gave him an encouraging look.

He cleared his throat and began weaving the absurd story that had only just taken shape in his mind:

"I dreamed that I was in a forest. It was very dark, and all the trees had grotesque shapes."

"Then I saw a... er... a winged... sharp-beaked toad."

At that, Parvati and Lavender snickered quietly beside them.

Professor Trelawney, however, showed no amusement. Her expression was solemn, as though she were listening to some sacred revelation.

"It was hopping in front of me, flapping its wings, but it couldn't fly very high." Harry continued to make things up, trying to make the story sound more 'fateful.' "I don't know why, but I started chasing it."

"After I'd been running for a while, the forest disappeared,