she'd heard some rather odd stories about it from nymphie, but divination slightly correlated with astronomy, so elara figured she'd take her chances. she climbed the last few steps of the tower and emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class was already assembled. there were no doors off this landing, but her classmates were making gestures to the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it.

"'sybill trelawney, divination teacher,'" harry read from a few feet behind her. "how're we supposed to get up there?"

as though in answer to his question, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at his feet. everyone got quiet.

"after you," said ron, grinning, so harry climbed the ladder first.

elara climbed up after the first five people had. she emerged into the strangest-looking classroom she'd had ever seen. in fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. at least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. it was stiflingly warm,and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle. the shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards,countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

"where is she?" ron said.

a voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, misty sort of voice.

"welcome," it said. "how nice to see you in the physical world at last."

elara's immediate impression was of a large, glittering insect. professor trelawney moved into the firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.

"sit, my children, sit," she said, and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs. elara ended up with parvati patil and lavender brown who were looking at elara like she had sprouted nine heads.

she suppressed a sigh. while this was a normal, everyday occurrence, it hurt just a bit.

"welcome to divination," said professor trelawney, who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "my name is professor trelawney. you may not have seen me before. i find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my inner eye."

nobody said anything to this extraordinary pronouncement. professor trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued, "so you have chosen to study divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. i must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the sight, there is very little i will be able to teach you... books can take you only so far in this field...

"many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future," professor trelawney went on, her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to nervous face. "it is a gift granted to few. you, boy," she said suddenly to neville longbottom, who almost toppled off his pouf. "is your grandmother well?"

"i think so," said neville tremulously.

"i wouldn't be so sure if i were you, dear," said professor trelawney, the firelight glinting on herlong emerald earrings. neville gulped. professor trelawney continued placidly. "we will be covering the basic methods of divination this year. the first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. next term we shall progress to palmistry. by the way, my dear," she shot suddenly at parvati, "beware a red-haired man."

parvati gave a startled look at ron, who was right behind her and edged her chair away from him. elara had to repress a laugh.

"in the second term," professor trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball — if we have finished with fire omens, that is. unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in february bya nasty bout of flu. i myself will lose my voice. and around easter, one of our number will leave us for ever."

a very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but Professor Trelawney seemed unaware of it.

"i wonder, dear," she said to lavender, who was nearest and shrank back in her chair, "if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

lavender, looking relieved, stood up, took an enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on the table in front of professor trelawney.

"thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading — it will happen on friday the sixteenth of october... and you," professor trelawney pointed a skinny finger at elara. "for you -- it will be in january."

lavender trembled and elara fiddled with her hair.

"now, I want you all to divide into pairs. collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and i will fill it. then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. you will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of unfogging the future. i shall move among you, helping and instructing. oh, and dear," — she caught neville by the arm as he made to stand up, "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? i'm rather attached to the pink."

sure enough, neville had broken his first teacup. lavender and parvati quickly paired up, leaving elara to gaze around the room for someone who was left without a partner.

elara and hermoine awkwardly caught each other's eyes, and through mutual understanding, they moved together and began examining the tea cups.

to elara, the tea leaves in hermoine's cup made a brown, muddled, mess. although, once she began examining the cup with different angles, she was able to make out some shapes. "seems like you got a... hammer? which means -- hold on." elara leaned over to glance at her open book, " -- which means you're going to exact revenge? and uh... a really ugly looking rat, which means an unexpected enemy. real happy stuff, but let me know when you're going to get that revenge, will you? that'd be fun to watch."

hermoine made a funny snorting sort of noise and looked like she didn't know if she should be laughing or not. she looked at elara funny before smiling. the gesture made elara feel a little warm inside. it had been a long time since she'd gotten a real, genuine smile from someone who isn't family.

"well... you don't have a very happy cup either. you've got the rat too. also a skull, which means danger in your path. oooh, there's a rose, which means you'll find love." hermoine gave elara a curious look, who waved it off. "you've got a knife, which means loads of pain."

"wouldn't it be funny if our 'unexpected enemy' turned out to be the same person?" elara asked dryly, flicking a wry smile towards hermoine, who laughed slightly.

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..."

"what is it, professor?" said dean thomas at once. elara and hermoine got to their feet, and slowly, along with everyone else, they crowded around harry and ron's table, pressing close to professor trelawney's chair to get a good look at harry's cup.

"my dear," professor trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically, "you have the grim."

"the what?" said harry.

everyone around elara clapped their hands to their mouths in horror, with a few exceptions. dean shrugged and lavender looked puzzled.

"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!"

everyone, including elara, was looking at harry, everyone except hermione, who had moved around to the back of professor trelawney's chair.

"i don't think it looks like a grim," she said flatly.

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.

"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!" said harry angrily. elara peered at him.

"i think we will leave the lesson here for today," said professor trelawney in her mistiest voice."yes... please pack away your things..."

elara was among the first to leave for transfiguration. she was glad to be out of the hot and stuffy classroom. professor trelawney's words seemed a bit far-fetched. elara headed for the transfiguration classroom thinking about her own teacup. an unexpected enemy did put her slightly on edge.

transfiguration carried on normally with the exception of professor mcgonagall debunking professor trelawney's predictions and implying she's a right old fraud.

elara had care of magical creatures after transfiguration. she walked by herself in silence as she went down the sloping lawns to hagrid's hut on the edge of the forbidden forest. it was only when she spotted three only-too-familiar backs ahead of them that she realized they must be having these lessons with the slytherins. draco was talking animatedly to crabbe and goyle, who were chortling.

hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. he stood in his moleskin overcoat, with fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start.

"c'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "got a real treat for yeh today! great lesson comin' up! everyone here? right, follow me!"

for one fleeting moment, elara thought that hagrid was going to lead them into the forest; elara loved the forbidden forest and all it's mysteries. however, hagrid strolledoff around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. there was nothing in there.

"everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "that's it — make sure yeh can see — now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books —"

"how?" said the cold, drawling voice of draco malfoy.

"eh?" said hagrid.

"how do we open our books?" malfoy repeated. he took out his copy of the monster book of monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. other people took theirs out too; some, like elara, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.

"hasn' — hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said hagrid, looking crestfallen.

the class all shook their heads.

"yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world."look —"

he took hermione granger's copy and ripped off the spellotape that bound it. the book tried to bite, but hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and layquiet in his hand.

"oh, how silly we've all been!" draco sneered. "we should have stroked them! why didn't we guess!"

"i — i thought they were funny," hagrid said uncertainly to hermione.

"oh, tremendously funny!" said draco. "really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"shut up, draco," elara snapped. hagrid was looking downcast and she wanted hagrid's first lesson to be a success.

the class stared at her. elara never talked, much less yell at someone.

"righ' then," said hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "so — so yeh've got yer booksan'... an'... now yeh need the magical creatures. yeah. so i'll go an' get 'em. hang on..."

he strode away from them into the forest and out of sight.

"god, this place is going to the dogs," said draco loudly. "that oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when i tell him —"

"oooh your father? merlin's beard! i'm terrified!" elara mocked, glaring at draco. she never liked him.

the gryffindors snickered.

"careful, dear cousin, there's a dementor behind you —"

before elara could retort, lavender brown squealed and pointed to the opposite side of the paddock.

trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures elara had ever seen. they had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes. the talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.

"gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. elara stood still as hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"hippogriffs!" hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "beau'iful, aren' they?"

elara could see what hagrid meant. once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray,bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.

"so," said hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer..."

elara stepped forwards. harry, ron, and hermoine did too, albeit hesitantly.

"now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," said hagrid. "easily offended, hippogriffs are. don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

draco, crabbe, and goyle weren't listening; they were talking in an undertone and elara had a nasty feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the lesson.

"yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," hagrid continued. "it's polite, see? yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. if he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. if he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."

"right — who wants ter go first?"

most of the class backed farther away in answer. even elara had misgivings. the hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings;they didn't seem to like being tethered like this.

"no one?" said hagrid, with a pleading look.

"i'll do it." elara stepped up as she raised her hand. something was telling her to try, but she couldn't place a finger on what.

she climbed over the paddock fence without another word.

"right then — let's see how yeh get on with buckbeak."

he untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. the class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath.draco's eyes were narrowed maliciously.

"easy now, 'lara," said hagrid quietly. "yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much..."

seeing as how elara zones out quite easily, not blinking was an easy feat. buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at elara with one fierce orange eye. "tha's it," said hagrid."tha's it, 'lara... now, bow."

elara dipped into a graceful bow and then looked up. almost as if on cue, the hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow.

the class behind her made noise of awe.

"well done, 'lara!" said hagrid, ecstatic. "right — yeh can touch him! pat his beak, go on!"

elara reached out slowly toward the hippogriff. she patted the beak several times and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as though enjoying it.

there was applause from the people behind her. elara smiled gently at the beautiful creature standing in front of her.

"righ' then, 'lara," said hagrid. "i reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!"

this was more than elara had bargained for. she blanched visibly. she much preferred to have two feet on the ground.

"yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," said hagrid, "an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that..."

deciding she wouldn't like to make a fool of herself in front of her peers, elara did as she was told.

elara put her foot on the top of buckbeak's wing and hoisted herself onto its back. buckbeak stood up. she wasn't sure where to hold on; everything in front of her was covered with feathers.

"i'm sorry in advance," she whispered to the creature. "i'm terrified of heights."

to her surprise, buckbeak nodded it's head in understanding.

"go on, then!" roared hagrid, slapping the hippogriffs hindquarters.