Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 54

The Astronomy theory exam on Monday morning didn't go as bad as Diana had thought. She hadn't been very fond of that subject throughout the past years, but Regulus had been there to help and tutor her. In exchange, she helped him study for his History of Magic exam, which Regulus had failed to listen to throughout the whole year. She didn't really blame him.

     "I didn't know you were so good at Astronomy," Diana told Regulus in a quiet tone as the three of them were sitting in the library the night before their Astronomy O.W.L exam.

     Layla was busy trying to memorize all the names of Jupiter's moons, holding her ears and muttering the names under her breath for more focus.

     "It's not that hard when your whole family is named after stars," Regulus joked, grinning.

      "Are they really?" Diana asked in amusement.

      "Yeah." He shrugged. "But that's not the reason I like Astronomy. I just find it fascinating, to know about the universe and its galaxies and stars. It's beautiful."

      "Sure. But it would've been more beautiful if we didn't have to memorize all their stupid names!" Diana retorted jokingly, making him laugh.

      They had to wait until the following evening for their practical Astronomy; the afternoon was devoted instead to Divination. For that one, one by one they were called up into a dark and gloomy room, where a table was situated with two of the examiners already sitting around it.

     "Good afternoon, Miss... Greengrass, is it?" The old wizard asked her as Diana entered the room and closed the door behind her, looking for her name on the list he had in hand. There was also another witch sitting beside him.

     "Please, take your seat," said the old witch, gesturing at the chair in front of them around the round table, which had a crystal orb on it, as well as a cup of tea filled halfway.

      Gulping worriedly, Diana sat down, drawing her chair closer to the table. The smell of rosewood and the warmth of the room immediately made her drowsy, and the fact that it was only lightened by a few small candles certainly didn't help.

     "Let's start with the crystal gazing," said the witch, speaking in a whisper. "Tell us what you see. Take your time."

     Diana moved closer to the table, her eyes fixed on the crystal orb. But she couldn't see anything except for fog.

     You're not an actual Seer. Don't expect to see anything in there, Diana told herself. Just make something up.

      "I... I see... a small cottage," she started making up a fake prediction. "It's in the middle of the woods. It's... dark... everywhere is dark... and, um... it's very misty."

     "Go on," the old wizard whispered after a long pause of silence. "What else do you see?"

     "It's night, and the moon is out," she said the first words that she could think of. "Someone is running... and... er... I think it's a girl..."

     "Interesting." The witch nodded. "And what do you think it means?"

     Diana was silent for longer that she had hoped, trying to search her mind for a good enough answer. "It means that... um..."

     Diana's head was empty of words now. The strong scent of the room was bringing her a bad headache, growing with each passing moment as she stared into the crystal orb.

     But right at that moment, Diana took aback when something started to actually appear within the orb, and the fog slowly cleared out.

     It was a dark forest, just like she had said only a minute ago. Something was moving through the woods. It was someone.

     It was a person, but it wasn't a girl. It was a cloaked boy. She couldn't see his face through the mist inside the orb, but she got a feeling that he was a handsome young man.

      Diana gazed more deeply into the orb, unable to blink, barely breathing. The sound of the two examiners calling her name started fading to her ears. The vision became more and more clear.

     The boy stopped by a tree. He ran his skinny and pale hand across the trunk of it, until he stopped. There was a hole inside the tree trunk. He reached out for something inside it, pulling it out. Diana couldn't make out what it was at first. She moved her head closer to the orb, holding her breath.

     It looked like a tiara.

     Then, everything happened fast. The room went dark to Diana's eyes. Her vision turned black. Her head felt like it was about to explode.

      She then heard a scream. She tried holding her ears to muffle the voice out, but it only became louder. Then came a hissing voice. It sounded like a strange language she'd never heard before.

     Images started flashing before her eyes, changing quickly.

     She saw a girl who was dead on the floor of the bathroom.

The image changed. A flash of green light passed before her eyes, and she saw three Muggles laying dead in their house.

The next moment, it was a stout and middle-aged witch.

The image changed again. Another Muggle man was dead near the forest.

And at last, she saw a familiar looking man and woman, dead in their house. She heard a scream, and then the cries of a baby.

The hissing voice became louder and louder to her ears, until someone shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Diana screamed, finally snapping her eyes open. She found herself on the floor. She must've fallen off her chair. She was breathing heavily, sweats running down her forehead.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened, dear?"

The two examiners had gotten up to their feet, trying to help her stand up. Diana looked around her, blinking hard.

"I—I'm — f-fine —" she tried to say, panting hard. Her mind was still fuzzy. Her head still hurt.

Without saying another word, Diana managed to escape the examiners, running out of the dark room as her heart pounded in her chest.