Month: September 2015

sansasparkles:

something that’s bothered me since i read hp, and something which i haven’t seen any posts about to my memory is … sybil trelawney.

because the thing is, we know that she made the prophecy which essentially made harry the chosen one. we also witness her making a prophecy regarding voldemort’s return (which i don’t think harry told anyone about? HARRY NO).

and i don’t … think she knows this.

when she makes the prophecy regarding voldemort’s return, she has a sort of fit that she awakens from, seemingly unaware of what has just passed, to harry’s disturbance. when he asks her about it, she seems confused and acts as if she just dozed off.

if we assume the prophecy regarding the chosen one was a similar occurrence – that all of sybil’s prophecies take place in this manner – it’s no wonder she’s self conscious about her inability to prophesy on demand. she has no idea that she really is a prophetess. even if those two prophecies are the only ones she ever made, they are clearly HUGE prophecies – they predict changes in the course of wizarding history!

so, if we assume that sybil was never told that she made these earth-shattering predictions … what if she later found out?

like ok. some time after the war harry’s catching up with professor mcgonagall, and he just lets slip the deal with the prophecy in the ministry and dumbledore’s plans etc, and probably mentions offhand that trelawney made these predictions.

and mcgonagall, after recovering from the shock of the real depth of dumbledore’s plans, says:

“potter. potter, are you telling me that your former teacher, my colleague, sybil trelawney, is a legitimate prophetess? the same trelawney who once told you that you would grow up to be minister for magic and have twelve children after predicting you would die every year that your attended her classes? that trelawney?”

and harry, who has considered the oddness of it all before but never quite realised how it would look to other people, says “… oh. oh yeah. i didn’t really think much about it too much what with the war and all.” (understandable, harry.)

and mcgonagall says “… did you ever inform her of this? did dumbledore ever tell her the truth?” privately thinking i knew he hired her for a reason, my god.

and poor harry just says “well … no. i don’t think so. i asked her what she was talking about when she made the prophecy about pettigrew, but she didn’t seem to understand what i was saying.”

so obviously now minerva has a dilemma on her hands. after she’s bid harry goodbye, she probably sits in her office and just. thinks. about what to do.

and then she sends sybil an owl inviting her to tea.

sybil arrives in a swirl of Dramatic Robes and peers at her suspiciously, because while they’ve mellowed out a little since she was fired during umbridge’s reign, they’re still not exactly close friends.

sybil sniffs and says “yes, hello minerva. i predicted this turn of events, of course. i assume you are disappointed in my delving into the mystical diving arts, as usual, being as you are immune to their effects, but i have decided to allow you your conversation as a gesture of grace.”

and minerva says, “have a biscuit, sybil.”

and … minerva tells her the truth. she tells her everything that harry told her, the details of the prophecies, why dumbledore kept it from her, why she doesn’t remember making the prophecies.

sybil is really quiet while all this is being said and minerva feels increasingly awkward, eventually running out of things to say.

but just as she’s about to suggest another cup of tea, sybil bursts into tears and practically leaps across the table to hug her. minerva feels much more awkward than before, but decides to pat her back and try to be comforting, as best as she can be in the circumstances.

and from that point on, trelawney is different. she loses a lot of the affectations and airs and just … seems a lot more comfortable in herself. she’s still interested in divination, of course, she’s dedicated her life to it and now she knows she actually is a prophetess she probably wants to learn more about why she doesn’t remember making those prophecies.

but she stops predicting students will die and her drinking eases off a lot. she still has a flair for the dramatic but it no longer seems desperate, now she’s free to have a bit of fun scaring the students and making them laugh in equal measure.

and sometimes she’ll invite minerva down for tea, and while they’re still far from best friends, things have changed between them now. they have a new kind of trust in one another, just enough to be able to sit down in the late hogwarts spring sometimes and chat. and for both of them, having hogwarts survive the war, and understanding themselves just a bit better, is enough.