𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦

𝘍𝘈𝘜𝘓𝘛𝘠 𝘗𝘙𝘌𝘋𝘐𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘚

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"So there's Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins," said Ron, tracing his finger down today's schedule.

"Don't forget about double Divination this afternoon," Harry pointed out.

"Please don't." Alina groaned. "I don't have anything personal against Professor Trelawney, but I don't know how many times I can hear about my tragic fate and how I'll have my heart broken and shattered into a million pieces by some war I cannot stop neither avoid."

"At least she doesn't predict your death," said Harry.

"Does anyone even believe in these predictions?" Alina asked.

"You should have given it up like me," said Hermione. "I take Arithmancy instead."

"Lovely," said Alina, an obvious hint of irony in her voice.

"Isn't it the same as Divination?" Ron asked.

"Almost," said Alina. "It's about predicting the future, but with numbers."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden rustling noise above them, a signal that the owls came with the mail. In only a few seconds, about a hundred owls flew through the open windows and circled around the Great Hall, searching for their owners. A large parcel was dropped in Neville Longbottom's lap, as the boy always forgot to pack something before coming to Hogwarts. On the other side of the Hall, Draco Malfoy's eagle own landed on his shoulder, carefully delivering his package.

Alina's Southern White-Faced owl flew above their heads, then landed on the table, but not before dropping a small size package. Before she opened it, Alina fed her owl some treats. Then, she reached for her package and chuckled when it revealed a new Potions book with a note from her mother.

"What a joke," Alina said. "As if this book is going to make me less of a disaster in Potions."

"You know, you should get ready for your O.W.L.s," Hermione pointed out, making Alina shrug.

"The only way I could pass the Potions exam is with some help from above," she said.

Next to them stood a concerned-looking Harry. He has been looking at the ceiling since the owls have arrived, but there was no sign of Hedwig and the boy couldn't help but wonder whether she reached Sirius or not. What if she found herself in trouble on the way? What if she couldn't find Sirius? Many questions were going through Harry's head as they finished breakfast and finally made their way to the greenhouse. The only thing that managed to distract him from his worries was Madam Sprout's strange request of collecting the pus from the bubotubers.

"Gross," said Alina, watching the other students as they started to squeeze the plants and collect the petrol smelling yellowish-green liquid in tiny bottles.

"An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne," Madam Sprout said.

"There's something new to learn every day," Alina muttered under her breath, making Harry chuckle.

The blonde Gryffindor was relieved to hear the sound of the bell, which signaled the end of the Herbology class. She washed her hands and then wiped them on a towel, right before the class got separated in two: the Hufflepuffs were heading to the Transfiguration class, while the Gryffindors were expected at Hagrid's hut for the Care of Magical Creatures.

Right outside the wooden cabin stood Hagrid, one of his hands resting on the collar of his black boarhound, Fang. At his feet, however, there were several open wooden crates which Fang wanted to examine, but couldn't, given Hagrid's grip. As the students got closer to the crates, a strange sound echoed from their inside.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at Harry, Ron, Hermione and Alina. "Blast-Ended Skrewts! The Slytherins won't want to miss this!"

"Blast what?" Alina asked.

Her question was answered by Lavender Brown, who got close enough to the crates to see its contents and squealed in disgust. "Ew!"

Her reaction made the four friends curious, so they took a few steps forward to peek inside the crates. Alina's eyes widened when she saw the deformed, awfully pale and slimy-looking creatures, whose legs were sticking out in all the oddest places and whose heads were not visible. And as if that wasn't enough, they smelled of rotten fish. From time to time, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt.

"They have just hatched!" Hagrid said excitedly. "You will be able to raise them yourselves!"

"And why would we want to raise them?" said a cold voice.

Alina didn't even need to turn around to see who the voice belonged to, but she did it nonetheless and her eyes met Draco's icy grey ones. The Slytherins had arrived.

Behind him stood his two minions, Crabbe and Goyle, who were chuckling appreciatively at his words.

"I mean, what do they do?" asked Malfoy. "What is the point of them?"

That was a very good question, actually. It was hard to imagine how these disgusting looking creatures whose rears sparked from time to time would prove themselves useful in any way. Alina turned to look at Hagrid, who seemed to be a little lost in thought. He stood silent for a moment, and then he opened his mouth and said roughly, "That's next lesson, Malfoy. You're just feeding them today."

Apparently, Hagrid didn't know what their point was either.

"And I thought Herbology class was gross," Alina whispered, earning a laugh from Hagrid.

"What did you do in Herbology, Alina?" he asked.

"We collected pus from the bubotubers," said Alina. "A very educative experience."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all started to laugh and Alina eventually scrunched up her nose in amusement too. Hagrid's laugh was contagious. However, they were interrupted by Dean Thomas, who sounded like he got injured.

Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.

"Its end exploded!" Dean Thomas complained.

"What is this pointy thing on it?" Lavender Brown asked.

"Oh, it's a sting!" said Hagrid enthusiastically. "They're the males. The females have some sort of sucker things on their bellies. I think they might be to suck blood."

Hagrid's explanation shocked Alina, who now had a clearly horrified look on her face.

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

Alina had to bite her lower lip to prevent herself from smiling. She didn't want to show Draco that she agreed with him, even though she didn't see the point of raising Blast-End Skrewts. Hermione, however, was quick to come in Hagrid's defense.

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

In fact, Hermione only said that to shut Malfoy up. She believed he was right too, she surely didn't want to see these creatures all grown up, probably reaching about six feet long. They were a possible threat and the last thing she wanted was for the skrewts to attack the students.

They all knew that once Hagrid would find out what these things like to eat, there was a high chance for them to turn out dangerous for everyone. But time passed pretty quickly and luckily for the four of them, uneventful, and Care of Magical Creatures was over, which meant it was time for Divination class.

Hermione parted ways with them, heading to Arithmancy, while Harry, Ron and Alina walked to the North Tower, where Professor Trelawney lived. As usual, all the curtains were closed shut and the room was dimly lit by the many lamps stored here. Harry, Ron and Alina walked over to an empty small circular table and sat down there.

"Good day!" Professor Trelawney said, right behind Harry, making the tree of them jump. "Oh, dear! Miss van Blumenthal, you need to be very careful this year!"

"And why is that, Professor Trelawney?" Alina asked, letting out a sigh at the end. She knew this was coming.

"I see difficult times for you... The ones that mean the most to you, they will break your heart again and again. What the future has in store for you... it's tragic, Miss van Blumenthal. I see you grieving, mourning the loss of somebody dear to you... your heart is shattered... and forever scarred. You will lose something... or someone... very important to you," the teacher said. "Oh, child... you shouldn't suffer like this. How unfair fate could be to some..."

Alina lost count of the number of times Professor Trelawney predicted tragic events for her. And truth to be told, she was quite skeptical about it. During her first year at Hogwarts, she was told that something evil will interfere with her family, and for once, Professor Trelawney was right. That was when her brother, Friedrich, disappeared. But other than that, none of her predictions seemed to come true.

"Oh, Mr. Potter!" Professor Trelawney exclaimed mournfully. She was about to tell Harry about his own prediction. "I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass... and perhaps sooner than you think. It will be a difficult year for you as well, my dear..."

Then, she started talking about the stars and how the future is written in them and it cannot be changed. The only people that seemed to believe in what Professor Trelawney said, and be genuinely interested in Divination, were Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who deeply admired Professor Trelawney.

Usually, predictions wouldn't bother her. She didn't even listen to them most of the time. But today, for some reason, a cold shiver ran down her spine when she thought about Professor Trelawney's words. Could it be that she was going to lose another person she cared about? No, that couldn't happen. She didn't believe her brother was gone either. He couldn't be dead.

There was something that told her Friedrich is alive, but lost somewhere. Something horrible must have happened to him, and Alina was not going to give up until she found him. She has been searching for clues ever since he disappeared, but every lead she thought she had turned out to be another dead end. However, she knew he was out there... somewhere.

But even though Friedrich wasn't dead, according to his sister at least, he was lost and his mysterious disappearance broke her heart. She grieved for him, even though she felt he was alive. And she was not going to grieve for another dear person's disappearance. Whatever it might be that fate had in store for her, it better not be another tragic outcome. There was only so much a young girl could handle.

"Alina!" Professor Trelawney called, waking her up from her daydream.

"Yes, Professor?" Alina asked.

"I was saying that you were born under Mars," said Professor Trelawney.

"March? No, actually..." said Alina.

"Mars! The planet Mars!" Professor Trelawney corrected her. "You're reckless, but brave. Like the God of War, you have a tough and long battle to fight... you were born in spring, weren't you?"

"Actually, Professor... that was what I was trying to say. I was born in August," Alina confessed.

"Oh..." Professor Trelawney trailed, then turned her attention towards Harry. "What about you, Harry? I believe Saturn was in power when you were born... in midwinter."

"I was born in July," said Harry.

Apparently, Professor Trelawney's predictions weren't accurate today, much to Harry and Alina's relief. None of them had the odds in their favor, according to their Divination teacher, but maybe her instinct was just wrong today. After all, she did get their birth months wrong. But neither Harry nor Alina knew how Divination actually worked, so they could only hope that she was mistaken about everything she said today.

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this story is so close to 900 reads 🥺 thank you from the bottom of my heart!

for now, the story is going to follow the book canon, but that's going to change in the second act, so please be patient 🥰 i have a lot of surprises in store for you! i can't even begin to tell you how many exciting things and plot twists i have for the following books!

also, taylor swift and harry styles won their grammys last night and i'm so so happy for them! i cried while watching taylor's iconic performance and i'm so damn proud of her. not to mention we had a cute harry & taylor moment, which means they're on good terms so!!! we can still dream of a collab one day! disclaimer: i stopped shipping them right after they broke up, the only reason why i'm pairing them in oc stories is because visually, they look so damn  good together

bts were snubbed though and it's unfair 😔 but they're still winners in our hearts

ok rant over ily, tysm for reading this! don't be a stranger! 💜