Chapter 65: The Second Prophecy
"An unspeakable darkness… it approaches… it touches… there is a great unease…"
"A terror of the living… a perversion of the natural order… a world of chaos…"
"Until one… approaches… there will be a great catastrophe."
The slumbering Sybill Trelawney whispered, her voice a low, guttural rasp. Ryan sat opposite her, holding his breath, afraid to disturb the creation of a genuine, bona fide prophecy. He could tell that her words were pointing to the same event as his own daily intel. This was unprecedented. He had never heard of two Seers making a prophecy about the same event. Then again, he thought, I am a cheater.
The prophecy, however, was not yet complete. But Sybill Trelawney suddenly jolted awake. "My apologies," she said, blinking her large, magnified eyes. "I seem to have dozed off for a moment."
You were in the middle of a sentence! Ryan had to physically restrain himself from screaming. First, his superpower had turned into a riddler, and now the professor was a living cliffhanger. It was not a good day.
"So sorry," she said, sitting up and rearranging her divinatory tools. "Let me try that again for you."
Don't approach.
Don't disturb.
I see… death.
In the shadow of a great and terrible conflict.
"That," she said, her normal, misty voice returning, "is my interpretation of your prophecy. I imagine you have foreseen a great war in the future?"
A great war… Voldemort's return? Ryan wasn't so sure. And he had very little faith in the "normal version" of Professor Trelawney's abilities. "Thank you for your help, Professor," he said politely.
"It was my pleasure," she replied, beaming. "After all, you did say you believed I was the most capable Seer."
Ryan, who was now desperate to speak with Dumbledore, was forced to make small talk with the professor about their shared "craft."
Ryan: So, this is what it's like to talk to someone who actually believes this stuff. I guess she's not so bad, when she's not making real prophecies.
Sybill: I'm actually holding a conversation with Ryan Welles, the greatest Seer of our time! I must be more talented than I thought!
The two of them, each lost in their own self-affirming thoughts, were getting along surprisingly well.
"Sybill? Ryan?" A voice came from outside the door. It was Dumbledore. "The students told me Ryan was here. I have something to discuss with both of you."
Professor Trelawney gasped. In all her years at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had never once come to her office. If she hadn't just had her confidence so thoroughly boosted by her conversation with Ryan, she would have assumed he was here to fire her.
Why is Dumbledore in such a hurry to see me? Ryan wondered. Just last night, he had been brushing him off. And why did he need to speak with both of them? The great Dumbledore, who had always been so dismissive of divination, was now seeking out not one, but two Seers.
Did he dream of a meteor hitting Hogwarts last night?
They opened the door. Dumbledore was still wearing the same robes he had been wearing the night before. His face was grim, all traces of the usual kindly old man gone. "Headmaster," Ryan asked, "is there a problem?"
"I was looking for you, Ryan," Dumbledore said. "I heard you were here."
"I was, Headmaster. I had a prophecy I couldn't interpret, so I came to ask the professor for her assistance."
"You had a prophecy as well?" Dumbledore let slip.
As well? Ryan's mind raced. So, someone else had a prophecy, and that's why Dumbledore is here. And he was in his formal robes last night… He was meeting with Grindelwald! Either by Apparition, or by Floo. And he received a prophecy from him. A prophecy that has clearly shaken him. And now he's come to me for help. And since he's found both of us here, he's decided to kill two birds with one stone.
The situation was much more serious than he had thought. All three of them—himself, Sybill, and Grindelwald, the three most powerful Seers of their time—had all had a prophecy about the same event. He could only hope that Grindelwald's vision was different from his own and Sybill's.
"It wasn't just me," he said. "Professor Trelawney also…"
"I was only helping Mr. Welles with his prophecy," Sybill interjected quickly. "I didn't have one of my own."
Ryan just looked at Dumbledore and nodded. A moment later, Dumbledore's voice echoed in his mind. Did Sybill have a true prophecy just now?
What is this magic?! Ryan thought, startled.
Just a little trick, Dumbledore's voice replied. A variation of Legilimency. An inverse application, if you will. Projecting one's own thoughts into another's mind. Professor Snape knows it as well, I believe.
That is not a "little trick"! Ryan thought, but he answered Dumbledore's question. Yes, she did. A true prophecy. But he couldn't stop the flood of other thoughts. I wonder if Professor Snape can do this…
I believe he can, Dumbledore's voice replied, a note of uncertainty in it.
~~~
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