Chapter 10: School Begins

A/N: A huge thanks to all of you who cast a vote for this. You can't imagine how excited I was to see that it received an honorable mention in the challenge. With so many wonderful stories to choose from, I'm incredibly humbled that you liked this one enough to have it be grouped with such good company among the winners. Also, a huge bow goes to my beta, Lilith Kayden, who really makes me think about what I'm doing with this and everything else I write. And of course, we can't forget the disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 10: School Begins

The week went by quickly. Sybill had holed herself up in her cottage for most of it. She had met her neighbors, who seemed to be lovely people. There was a newly married couple to her right and an older couple with three teenage children on her left. The children attended Hogwarts. The mother, Jeanette, had been quite friendly, asking if Sybill was related to the batty Divination teacher who taught at Hogwarts. Sybill had laughed and explained her story to Jeanette. She had been amazed that the nice woman who was now her neighbor was one and the same as the crackpot that her children had described. The two women had become fast friends.

She had not ventured to Hogwarts, as she had everything ready for classes prior to her move. She had received an owl from Severus in the middle of the week, wondering where she had gotten off to. His attempt to be nonchalant about his wonderings had made her smile. She had written him back, explaining that she was just decorating and would see him at the feast. There had also been a joint owl from Minerva, Rolanda, and Pomona, congratulating her on her new home. She had smiled at that and penned them a quick thank you. No other owls had come her way.

Tonight the feast had finally arrived. Sybill stared into her closet and wondered what to wear. The students would see the real her for the first time tonight, and she wanted to look her best. She chose some dark red robes that looked like an elegant Muggle dress. Putting the robes on, she admired herself in the mirror. She had to admit that she looked good. The garment came down in a scoop neck and flattered her waist by tapering into it. A red sash was tied at the waist and hung down along the right side of the skirt, almost reaching the floor. The skirt itself did reach the floor, its silky material embroidered with a vine and leaf pattern. She smiled at her reflection. Yes, she looked good. Of course, after the person she had been before, she could wear a sack and look good. She grinned as she went over to her dresser.

She picked up some silver hair clips and put one in her black hair on either side of her head, pulling her hair away from her face. Her green eyes shone even brighter with her hair pulled back in this way. She applied some light makeup and was ready to go. She left her little cottage, which had become a sanctuary for her in the past week, and Apparated to Hogwarts.

oooOOOooo

Sybill entered the Great Hall. She noticed she was the last one to arrive, as the entire teacher's table was filled, except for Hagrid's and Flitwick's places. Hagrid, of course, was escorting the first years from Hogsmeade Station. Flitwick was in charge of the sorting this year, as Severus refused to do it. She caught Severus eyeing her appreciatively from the end of the table. Giving him a smile, she wandered over to him and sat in the conveniently empty seat beside him.

"Hey there," she said to him.

"We were beginning to wonder if you would leave the sanctity of your home to grace us with your presence," Severus said dourly.

Sybill laughed. "I missed you too," she told him, eliciting a scowl from his face.

Rolanda turned and asked Sybill about her new house, and she excitedly told her everything she had done with it. She invited Rolanda to come for dinner that next week and was happy that the witch accepted her invitation. She had missed their daily chats.

"Aren't you going to eat here most of the time?" Rolanda asked.

"Yes, but I want to spend some time in my home too. That's why I bought it, anyway."

Soon, students started trickling into the Hall. Sybill smiled at their arrival. There seemed to be a special lightness in the air that had been missing for several years since the return of Voldemort. Before she knew it, all the tables were filled, and the first-years were coming in to be sorted. On the occasions when Sybill had dragged herself to the feast, she always paid close attention to the sorting. She would get impressions about the new students. Such impressions were usually correct.

She didn't always get to the feast, however, because each new school year tended to depress her. It marked another year of her not being able to be herself. Most years, she sequestered herself in her room and spent the evening with her only friend, Mr. Scotch-bottle. Scotch-bottle was usually empty by the end of the evening. Of course, he always brought his relatives, so that never was a problem for her. She would just grab another 'friend' and suck him dry.

But this year was different, of course. There was no need for her to be maudlin or to sink into the depths of despair. Her life was now her own. She was looking forward to this feast more than she had ever looked forward to any Hogwarts event. It was a celebration for her as well as for the students.

Professor Flitwick called the first student to be sorted, and a small, thin girl sat on the chair and had the Sorting Hat placed on her head. Sybill found this group of first-years to be just as interesting as the ones from previous years. She sensed possible Seeing ability from two of them. One was the young girl, Penelope Archer, who was currently being sorted. The other was a boy who was tall for his age. He had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His eyes seemed to have knowledge of their own. Such wisdom pointed to ability in Divination. She would need to keep an eye on these two as they progressed through their first two years. She always watched the ones with potential, even though before she could do nothing about it.

The sorting ended, and Minerva had stood up and was addressing the students. She announced the new Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, who stood and waved. Then it was time to re-introduce Sybill.

"Students, we have among us a teacher who has taught here for quite some time. Her appearance, however, has changed. Her personality is also different. She had been in hiding for her entire tenure here at Hogwarts, but with Voldemort's demise, she can finally reveal her true identity. I would like to re-introduce you to Sybill Trelawney, Professor of Divination."

Sybill stood. There was a hush in the Great Hall. No one spoke for a few seconds and then some brave soul began to clap. The brave soul was none other than the new head girl, Hermione Granger. Sybill waved, and the rest of the students began to clap as well.

She sat down again and muttered under her breath, "That went well."

Severus looked to her. "At least they didn't boo."

She cracked a smile. "That's definitely a plus."

oooOOOooo

Sybill was making her way down the hall after the feast. She heard her name called and turned. Hermione Granger was rushing up behind her. Sybill groaned inwardly. After such a wonderful evening, she was in no mood to quarrel with the girl.

"Professor, might I have a word?" Hermione asked.

"Of course, Miss Granger. Congratulations on your new head girl position," Sybill offered magnanimously.

"Thank you," Hermione said. She looked down and was suddenly speechless. Sybill thought this rather odd coming from the normally opinionated girl.

"What did you need, Miss Granger?" Sybill asked.

Hermione looked up at the professor. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior last month. It was very disrespectful."

Sybill stared at Hermione in shock. She had been expecting another outburst. An apology had been the farthest thing from her mind.

"That's alright," Sybill finally said after a few moments.

"My parents wrote to me about a week ago and invited me to see them," Hermione explained hurriedly. "They're still a bit upset with me, but they can understand my motives. They want to start over again."

Sybill smiled. "That's wonderful news, Miss Granger."

Hermione nodded. "I should have believed you. You told me that was exactly what would happen, and it did."

Sybill was the one who was at a loss for words now. She would have bet her crystal ball that Hermione Granger would never admit that Sybill had been right about any vision that she had given.

"It's sometimes hard to believe things that can't be proven," Sybill said after a long pause.

Hermione fidgeted. This was obviously quite difficult for the girl. "That's true," she admitted, "but I didn't need to be so rude. I'm sorry that I was."

Sybill put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Don't worry about it anymore. You were stressed out about your parents. Sometimes we say things before thinking in situations like that."

Hermione gave Sybill a slim smile. She nodded her head and told Sybill thank you. She then turned and went her way. Sybill was left staring after her. She felt Severus' presence behind her before he even spoke.

"Perhaps Miss Granger has grown up a little in these last weeks," he observed.

Sybill turned to him. "Are you following me around?" she accused.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her. "I was just heading to my room when I heard your voices. I thought I might have to defend your honor again, so I listened in."

Sybill smiled at him. She had the urge to kiss him on the cheek, but refrained. It wasn't quite time for that yet. She squeezed his hand instead.

"Thank you, Severus, you are a good friend."

"Good friends usually see their friends get home safely," Severus drawled. "Might I walk you home?" Another raised eyebrow accentuated the question.

"That would be lovely," Sybill replied.

They headed for the door, already discussing the upcoming class schedule as they went.

oooOOOooo

Sybill perused her schedule for the day. She was to start with seventh-years. All four houses were combined for that, as there were so few who went on to N.E.W.T. level Divination. She had an hour off afterward, then sixth-year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. That should be an interesting combination. The rest of her day consisted of lunch, followed by Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw fourth-years and then breaks until the last class of the day, which was the third-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Firenze would teach the other classes.

She had met with Firenze the day before, and they had agreed on the splitting up of classes. Firenze had requested to teach all of the fifth-years, as he had felt they were old enough to delve deeply into the reading of the stars. Sybill had readily agreed and had asked if she could take the seventh-years. She had felt she had a lot to make up to them. She wanted to prepare them as well as possible for their N.E.W.T.s.

Firenze and she had gotten into a deep discussion about the differences in their arts, and Sybill had learned quite a lot about the type of star-gazing that the Centaurs practiced. She had asked Firenze if they could spend an evening sometime soon studying and reading the stars. The Centaur had looked at her solemnly and finally nodded his head. She had hoped that he had found her more serious and less defensive demeanor to be sincere. She had explained her previous situation to him and also had told him that she had never held any ill will towards him. Firenze had surprised her by revealing that he had seen her need to be deceptive in the stars and had never taken anything she had said personally. He had even gone along with it by badmouthing her ineptitude occasionally.

All in all, the meeting had been very amiable and quite revealing. Sybill foresaw a good future working relationship with the Centaur. She hoped that together they could make the Divination department as well known and respected as the other major subjects at the school.

Glancing back down at her schedule, she realized it was time to get going. She was happy to have such a light load of teaching. It would give her plenty of private time to work with those students who seemed to have a special gift. Finishing up her breakfast, she rose to leave, just as Severus was headed in for his breakfast. Smiling and waving, she headed out of the Hall.

oooOOOooo

Sybill stood in front of the seventh-years. They were all looking at her suspiciously. She smiled at them, and a few of them lost their suspicious looks, but the remainder continued to eye her cautiously.

"All right, welcome to seventh-year Divination. I suspect that most of the ten of you in here have an interest in the subject, although I know of at least one of you who just wants an easy O. I will advise you that this class will not be like the ones previous. I must apologize for my lack of teaching in the past." Sybill crossed her arms in front of her and began to walk back and forth in front of the classroom.

"Unfortunately, as part of my disguise, I had to pretend to be less than I truly am. You will actually learn something this year. With your N.E.W.T.s ahead of you at the end of the year, we will be working extensively on advanced Divination. We will also be covering some topics that were left out of the curriculum in years past. No one will be receiving an easy O this year."

The students were now looking at her in amazement. One of them raised a hand and asked her why she had been in hiding. She quickly gave them the run down of her prophecy and what it meant. She then continued with the lesson.

"All right, as you can see, we are going to read tea leaves today."

The students made motions to pick up their cups.

"Wait!" she ordered. "I know that in the past, tea reading has been a large part of our studies, but it will no longer be so. I want you all to understand that tea reading is the most imprecise of all of the Seer's tools. It is only to be used as a last resort. Miss Lovegood," she motioned to the blonde student in front. "Pick up your cup, and tell me what you see."

Luna did as she was told and looked back at Sybill dreamily. "I see a flower."

Sybill went up to the girl and took her cup. She nodded and then handed the cup to Luna's work partner.

"What do you see, Mr. Harper?"

Frank Harper studied the leaves. "I see a pig."

Sybill nodded and handed the cup to a third student.

"What about you, Miss Tuttle?"

"I think it looks like a tree."

Sybill took the cup back.

"So, we have three different people with three different images staring back at them. Who is right?"

She passed the cup around so everyone could take a look. She was met with blank stares.

Smiling she continued her lecture. "Who saw the flower?"

A hand was raised.

"Who saw the pig?"

Two hands went up.

"And who saw the tree?"

Another hand went up.

"Who saw something entirely different?"

The rest of the class raised their hands.

"Here we have the first problem with tea reading: interpretation. What looks like a tree to Miss Tuttle, appears to be a pig to Mr. Harper. Are you beginning to see the problem with such a device?"

The students nodded.

"Okay, let's take Mr. Harper's pig. That's what we'll agree to see in the cup. What does it mean?"

Frank raised his hand. Sybill nodded for him to answer.

"It means gluttony or greed."

"That's correct."

Another hand was raised.

"It could also mean prosperity," the student answered.

"Yes, anything else?"

"Laziness," came a voice from the back.

"Good. So, now we have three different interpretations from one picture. Which is the right one?"

Blank stares again met her gaze.

"They all could possibly be the right answer. Let's assume we settle on greed and gluttony. What does that tell us?"

A hand went up in back.

"That we should beware of wanting too much."

"Could be... what else?"

"Maybe someone will try and take something from us because they are greedy?" Luna replied.

"Another possibility. Good. So, we have already come up with two possibilities for what this could mean. How are we supposed to know which is right?"

She waited.

"We can't," she went on. "Then you might ask: What is the purpose of studying such a haphazard science in the first place? Does anyone have any ideas?"

The students just stared. They couldn't believe that Professor Trelawney was knocking the very thing she had sworn by for the last six years. Sybill gave them a smile.

"You are wondering why I am knocking something I used extensively in prior years?"

They nodded in unison.

"I can finally teach you something useful instead of something so imprecise. As for the answer to my question, tea reading can be useful as a last resort, as I said before. It can also be used in conjunction with other things to make a vision clearer. Take the crystal ball for instance. You gaze into it and see your best friend sneaking around in your room. You have no idea why she is doing that. You turn to your tea leaves and see the pig, which signifies greed in this case. You can surmise that your friend may be greedy and wants something of yours. Does that make any sense?"

The class nodded in unison.

"All right. Take your crystal balls, and use your tea leaves to augment whatever you see in them. Explore several possibilities. I want a two foot parchment on what you find handed in tomorrow."

The class set to work. Sybill watched them. She knew of two students in there who might actually have the Sight. She had wanted to work with them privately for a while, but her disguise had prevented her from doing something like that. Suddenly an idea came to her. She would need to talk with Minerva during her break.

oooOOOooo

"Minerva, might I have a word?" Sybill asked as she entered the Headmistress' office.

"Of course, Sybill, how was your first class?"

"Oh, no problem. I got some wide-eyed stares of incredulity, but everyone behaved themselves."

Minerva smiled at that.

"I was wondering. There are a couple of students in each year that I think might be able to acquire the Sight if given the proper training." She hesitated a minute before proceeding. "I would like to pass along an idea to you."

"Go on," Minerva said with interest.

"Could we pull those students all into one class? I could teach them what they need to know by year and also take the extra time to give them the skills needed to receive visions."

Minerva regarded her for a moment and thought it over. "That would be a good idea, Sybill. The hard part would be to find a time when all of those students can be in a class together."

Sybill rose. "I'll leave that to you. Let me know when we can get started."

Minerva smiled at Sybill as she left.

oooOOOooo

The third-years fidgeted in front of her. They had no doubt heard the rumors of the batty professor of Divination. She cleared her throat and began her lesson.

"I know that many of you have heard interesting things about me. I assure you, everything you have heard was completely true."

Every eye went wide.

"However, that Professor Trelawney no longer exists. I can guarantee to you that this class will not be easy. You will have to work. You will do things that seem odd, but if you work hard, you will be able to succeed. Some of you will not have a knack for this type of study. Don't be discouraged if you don't. Not everyone can do this type of magic." Sybill walked back and forth and eyed her students. "We will be studying things that are possible for you to master. We will spend a lot of our time this year reading tea leaves, but that is not the only thing we will do. Card reading is also something anyone can do as long as you set the reading spell over the cards before you begin. We will learn that spell next week."

She gave a similar class to the one she had given to the seventh-years, teaching the third-years that tea reading was an imprecise tool that should be used sparingly. She was happy to be instilling this knowledge at the beginning of these students' studies. It would help them immensely in their knowledge of Divination.

"All right, now that we have seen the vast possibilities in tea reading I want you all to look at your cups. Please draw what you see on the top of your paper, and come up with three unique interpretations of what you see. From those, please list three meanings for each of the interpretations of your picture, then three interpretations of those meanings. Finally come up with what you ultimately think your tea leaves represent. Your assignment is due tomorrow. You may begin. I will be right back."

Sybill went to the ladder and quickly descended. She saw Severus trying to make a quick escape.

"Don't run off!" she told him.

Severus stopped and turned around.

"Don't tell me, you had a vision that I was here," he said with a frown.

"No, I saw your head peeking above the floor for a minute and felt your presence while you listened to me. You don't realize how huge your aura is."

Severus frowned.

"So, why were you spying on me?"

I wasn't spying," he said indignantly.

"It may not be what you normally did as a spy, but hiding at the bottom of my ladder, listening to my class, is spying."

"I had a free hour. I just wanted to make sure the students were treating you well."

Sybill's heart felt full with his words. He certainly cared about her well being.

"Thank you," she said finally. "They have been fine. The sixth-years gave me a bit of a time, but everyone else has been attentive and well behaved."

Severus gave her a smirk. "Never would I have thought to hear you tell your students that tea reading was an imprecise art."

"Never would I have hoped to be able to do so. I'm happy to be myself again. I just wish my parents were still alive to see me."

Severus nodded. "I should get going."

"Thanks for stopping by," Sybill said.

She went up the ladder again as Severus watched her. Popping her head through, she couldn't help herself.

"You are in grave danger if you think that you can chat amongst yourselves and not do your assignment," she chided her students, who had been talking animatedly in her absence.

Severus smiled, turned, and left.

A/N: Next up: Lucius gets information on Sybill. He and Lestrange begin to plot.