Chapter 4: Present Vision

A week later, Sybill knocked on Hagrid’s door. He had invited her to lunch. She heard his giant dog, Fang, bark a few times, warning her that she had better be a friend, or else. Loud footsteps came towards the door, and it was thrown open. Hagrid looked down at her and smiled happily.

“Ah, Professor Trelawney! I’m glad yeh could come by.”

He stood aside so she could enter his home. Sybill looked around at the cluttered, yet homey, hut. Hagrid pointed for her to have a seat at the table, and he hurried over to his kitchen area to get some refreshments. Sybill eased herself into the smaller chair and placed her hands on the table. It was a bit higher than the tables she was used to, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Hagrid returned to the table, setting a bowl in front of Sybill. She stared at it, but even her fine talent in Divination could not help her to identify just what it was that Hagrid had placed before her.

“Hagrid! You shouldn’t have!” Sybill cried.

“Nonesense, Professor. I invited yeh ter lunch, and lunch I will provide.”

Sybill looked up warily at Hagrid. His eyes grew wide, and he motioned for her to try it before he dug into his serving before him. Sybill gave him a tentative smile. She picked up her spoon in trepidation and stirred the mushy mass, trying to identify something in the bowl. It was hopeless. Everything was covered in brownish-green goo. She glanced back at Hagrid and saw him watching her eagerly. She would need all of her acting skills to keep Hagrid happy today. She reluctantly lifted a spoonful to her mouth and tried the goop. Good Heavens, it was worse than it looked. She finally recognized the dish as some sort of stew, but the kind of meat that was in it was totally beyond her comprehension. In reality, it tasted like a burned building in liquefied form. She gave Hagrid a wan smile.

“Delicious!” she lied.

Hagrid gave her a huge smile and began to gulp down his own bowl, making sounds like Mmmm, and ahh, as he ate. Sybill forced herself to take a few tiny bites of the mystery-meat stew without grimacing. She watched Hagrid closely, and when he was absorbed in his bowl, she secretly took her wand and vanished her serving. Hagrid looked up a few seconds later and noticed her empty bowl.

“Yer bowl’s empty, Professor, I’ll get yeh some more.”

“No! No, Hagrid, I’m quite full, thank you,” she assured him.

“Yer sure?”

“Quite… quite sure, Hagrid.”

Hagrid smiled brightly at her.

“How are yeh adjusting, Professor?”

Sybill gave him a true smile, glad that the eating part of her visit was now over.

“Things have been going well, Hagrid. I’ve been busy with castle repairs, just like everybody else. I’m looking forward to the children’s return. For the first time that I can remember, I’m eager to teach.”

“Didn’ yeh like teaching before, Professor?”

“Hagrid, please call me Sybill,” she admonished. “I did like teaching before. I just had to do such a poor job of it that it became more of a burden than a joy.”

“Oh, I see,” Hagrid said thoughtfully.

“So how is Olympe?” Sybill asked curiously.

“Ah, she’s fine,” Hagrid said with a glint in his eye. “Wait, how did yeh know about her?”

Sybill smiled. “I might have kept myself locked in the castle, but I was aware of much more of the goings on than I let on. I know you visit her occasionally. As a matter of fact, you seemed to disappear for a day or two after the battle. How is she doing?”

Hagrid chuckled. “I guess I’m not as sneaky as I thought!”

“Not to a Seer, Hagrid, not to a Seer.”

“She’s fine. She was practically rippin’ ‘er hair out worrying abou’ me, though. I knew she would be, so I went to see ‘er as soon as I could.”

Sybill nodded. “You care about her a great deal, don’t you, Hagrid?”

“Yah, I do,” he said with a faraway look.

“You shouldn’t let her slip through your fingers.”

“Wha’ do yeh mean?”

Sybill got a faraway look for a minute and then responded. “You are both well suited, Hagrid. You will not find another woman to be as good as a companion as she is. She too, will be hard pressed to find someone to equal you. She loves you.”

Hagrid scoffed. “Oi, I know she cares, but she’d never want someone like me aroun’ forever.”

“You underestimate her, Hagrid.”

“How would yeh know tha’?”

“I’m a Seer, Hagrid. That means I see things. I see the two of you together, very happily.”

“Do yeh now? Really? She could be happy with me?”

Sybill laughed. “Oh, of course, Hagrid! Stop being so silly. You are a fine man and a wonderful, good-hearted person. She would be a fool not to see those traits in you.”

Hagrid sat silently for a while, absorbing everything that Sybill said. Finally, he looked back up at her.

“I’ll have to give it some thought, Professor.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Sybill said.

Hagrid smacked himself in the head, making Sybill give him a curious look.

“I fergot ter offer yeh somethin’ to drink, Professor! What’ll yeh have? I’ve got some nice scotch if ye’d like?”

“No thanks, Hagrid. I’m giving up on strong drink. It’s part of the ‘New Me’ project. No more crazy ranting from alcohol.”

Hagrid laughed. “How about some pumpkin juice, then?”

“That would be lovely.”

Sybill sat back and watched Hagrid get her drink. Her thoughts wandered to scotch. Suddenly, she remembered that she had quite a bit of it stored in the Room of Requirement. She would need to do something about all of that alcohol stored and ready for her access at the simple uttering of a need. She would head over to the Room of Requirement when she returned to the castle. She certainly didn’t want that temptation right down the hall from her!

oooOOOooo

The castle continued to repair itself. Most of the huge holes were now gone. There was still much to do, and the wizards and witches within were all helping, but the castle was quickly becoming what it had been before the battle.

Severus had been out of the hospital for several days now. He had stubbornly declined the offer for him to remain as Headmaster. He had not liked the attention before, and he certainly did not want the attention now. He didn’t even want the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. He felt that now that Voldemort had been defeated, he was happy to leave the Dark Arts behind him. He, of course, would use his acquired knowledge, but he had no desire to be involved with even the class that defended against them. He was satisfied with resuming his position as Potions master.

Severus was now helping with the castle’s repairs. He was up on the seventh floor, examining the Room of Requirement. He was unsure if it would ever be the same. The door stood open and could not be shut. The interior of the room was a charcoal black cavern. Nothing remained in it but its four walls. He hoped that if they could restore the room, the rest of its magic would be restored too, but he couldn’t be sure.

Being well trained in the Dark Arts, Severus knew all about Fiendfyre. Unfortunately, he was unsure how to counteract the damage done by it. Perhaps the counter curse to put Fiendfyre out would help some. He cast the spell and watched a purple light leave his wand and circle the room. The room remained the same.

Sybill wandered into the room, turning her head to examine the ruins before her.

“Are you following me, witch?” Severus asked without turning. His voice was still hoarse from his injuries.

“Ah, you sound much better, Severus,” Sybill mused. “No, I wasn’t following you. I was hoping that this room had been fixed somehow. I have a lot of scotch hidden in one of these rooms, and I’d like to dispose of it.”

“It’s a bit early for a drink, isn’t it?” Severus asked while continuing to eye the wall.

Sybill laughed at his assumption. “I actually intended to pour it down the sink.”

“Such a waste of good scotch.”

“It’s not good for me. I let it take me over for a while, burying my sorrows in it. It was a foolish habit to get into.”

Turning to Sybill, Severus smirked. “I found you rather funny when you were drunk, Sybill. You said the craziest things, and that’s saying a lot for you.”

Sybill grinned widely at him. “I can only imagine, as I can’t remember half of the things I did when I was drunk.”

“Do you have any inspiration as to how we can fix this room?” Severus asked as he turned back to the wall after a minute of silence.

She walked over to one of the walls and touched it tentatively. The charcoal crumbled in her hands, revealing a pristine wall underneath. Sybill furrowed her brows and began to crumble more of the wall. Soon she had a small circle of the real wall exposed underneath. Severus had wandered up to her and began to crumble more of the charcoal away to reveal the wall behind it.

“Maybe a good Scourgify will clean it?” Sybill asked.

Severus tried the spell, but nothing happened. He tried a few other cleaning spells, but none worked. Even peeling and vanishing spells proved ineffective against the charred walls. He turned back to Sybill.

“It looks like we have to do it with our bare hands.”

She nodded and they went back to work. It went slowly. It took two hours to clear several feet of wall, and the room was enormous.

“Maybe we should call in reinforcements?” Sybill wondered aloud.

“We at least need a break. All of this dust is irritating my throat.”

“Come on, I’ve got some ice cold lemonade in my room,” Sybill offered and turned to leave.

Severus took his wand and waved it over the two of them, making the soot that covered them disappear. They headed out of the room and down the hall to Sybill’s quarters. Sybill led the way. Severus was close behind her. Before long they had entered her room. Severus looked around. It was not at all what he had expected.

“I got rid of all of the beads and pillows when I changed my appearance. I couldn’t stand the stuff.”

Severus smirked at her. She conjured up two glasses while a pitcher with lemonade floated over from her fridge. She poured and handed a glass to Severus. She then filled one for herself. Motioning to the sofa, she took a seat and was soon joined by Severus. After drinking half of the glass, she turned to him.

“You’re working yourself too hard, you know,” she told him.

“It keeps my mind off other things,” Severus said blandly.

“You’ll have to face your demons eventually, Severus.”

“I’ll choose later, thank you.”

“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here,” Sybill offered.

“Yes, just the person I want to confide in: the woman who is more of a bat than I am.”

Sybill laughed. “You’ll find me to be a good listener, Severus. I know it seems like I was very self-absorbed, but remember, that was an act.”

Severus nodded. “I don’t want to talk about it anyway.”

Sybill nodded. Suddenly she dropped her glass and grasped her head. She bent over and cradled her head in her hands.

“Oww! Oh Merlin, that hurts. Make it stop!” she screamed as she held her head. “Please, make it stop!”

Severus grabbed her and turned her toward him. “Sybill, what is it?” he said with concern.

“Oh, please make it stop!”

As quickly as it began, it had ended, and Sybill collapsed against Severus. “Oh that hurt!” she exclaimed. Tears streamed down her face from the pain.

Severus pushed her away so he could look at her. “What was that?” he asked.

Sybill looked at Severus. She breathed raggedly as she tried to collect her scattered thoughts. This type of premonition always left her brain a bit befuddled. She searched his face as she tried to catch her breath.

“It was a vision of the present. These types of visions are rare, and always painful.”

“Are you alright? What did you see?” Severus demanded.

“I . . . I saw Rodolphus Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy. They seek revenge for Voldemort’s death. They want to kill me for ever uttering the prophecy.”

“They will not succeed.”

“I shouldn’t have thought I was safe!” she wailed. “I’ll never be safe! That horrid prophecy will haunt me until the day I die!” Furious tears ran down Sybill’s face.

Severus grasped both of Sybill’s arms and held her tightly. “Stop it this instant!” he demanded. “We will find Lucius and Rodolphus before they can harm you. Surely you can figure out where they are!”

Sybill stopped crying and stared at Severus. She calmed herself down before she spoke.

“Of course you’re right. Everything will be fine, right?”

“Of course,” Severus assured her.

“But I don’t know where they are or where to find them.”

“Can you look in your crystal ball?”

“I can try.”

She tried crystal-gazing for half an hour. She could conjure up a picture of the two men, but even Severus didn’t recognize where they were. She finally pushed the ball away from her.

“It’s hopeless,” she said in defeat.

Severus stooped down so he could look into her face.

“We’ll find them. Don’t worry.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Sybill asked him.

“I owe you. Poppy told me you sensed that I was still alive. Everyone else had forgotten about me. I… appreciate you being concerned about a dead man.”

“But you weren’t dead, and I knew it.”

“I appreciate that too.”

Sybill smirked at him.

“Oh, get out of here. I don’t need a sappy Severus Snape fawning all over me.”

Severus raised an eyebrow at her. “I, madam, am never sappy.”

“Until this very minute,” Sybill finished for him.

“I resent that remark,” Severus said in mock indignation and with a slight frown on his face.

Sybill laughed. “Very funny. Now get out of here. I need to think.”

Severus rose to his full height. “Let me know if you have any more of these visions,” he advised Sybill.

“You’ll be the first to know.”

Severus turned and left. Sybill hurried and grabbed her teapot, pouring a cup of the ever present tea. She swirled the tea and poured it out slowly into the sink, carefully keeping the leaves behind. When all of the tea was gone, she placed the cup upside down on the counter next to the sink. She feared looking into it for what she would find. She slowly picked up the cup and stared into the bottom of it. Damn, the Grim. She could use some of that scotch she had poured down the sink right about now.

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Next up: Old habits die hard.

Thanks gang, for reading and reviewing. It’s fun to hear from you. And of course, Lilith Kayden, I am indebted to you.