The Boggart

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I drew another loop along my paper waiting for Bri to read my tea leaves. Professor Trelawney had gone over the way to "read" them twice, yet no one had seen anything solid in the bottom of our cups.

"Cassidy!" Bri hissed, jolting me back from my trance. All I had been doing since dinner yesterday was attempting to remember even a glimpse of the hour after potions. Harry, Ron and Hermione had come to find me at breakfast this morning to apologize and see how I was feeling. Hermione felt so guilty for making me take it in her place, but I reminded her that I offered, and that it hadn't been bad at all that I was aware of. I had no recollection of any of it.

At least until they had offhandedly mentioned the twins taking me back to my common room, since they were the only ones who could seem to remember where it was. I had felt my face burn red at once, but tried to seem like I didn't care. 'How nice of them.' 'They shouldn't have.' I must have been a disaster. How embarrassing.

Which left me here, ignoring the first Divination lesson of the year, trying to recall any piece of information from my walk with the Weasley boys yesterday. Any indication that I might have embarrassed myself. I could have showed them how to get into the Hufflepuff dorms, if they didn't already know. Just think of all the damage the Weasley twins could do with that.

"Quit obsessing, you were fine when you got inside, I hardly even noticed." Maddie nudged my arm and I hissed in pain. The slices in my skin were almost completely gone now, but I had grudgingly accepted by now that they would leave scars. The girls in our dormitory had asked the first night of course, when we all got into our pajamas for bed. I had planned a story the minute I saw Fred's eyes linger on the cuts which I used then. The official story of how my cat at home had lashed out at me. The cuts were deeper than that, I knew, but who was going to assume I was lying? No one here knew that my father would have never allowed us a cat. Too much work, too messy. Not that I would have ever asked for a pet. I would never have put any animal through what Tommy and I had gone through every day.

"Time is almost up! Has anyone found anything in their leaves? Miss Abbot?" She inquired, picking Hannah from our side of the room.

"Er... well this sort of looks like a rabbit here." Hannah grasped at straws and I clapped a fist over my mouth to stop from laughing.

"It's not like looking at clouds dear, do you see a rabbit or not?" Professor Trelawney grabbed for Maddie's teacup from Hannah's outstretched hands and turned it upside down before nodding a bit.

"Well Miss Abbot, I will say you might have the gift here. A rabbit it is. I'm sorry to say Miss..."

"Lockwood." Maddie whispered nervously when she realized Trelawney was looking at her.

"Miss Lockwood. A rabbit in your leaves symbolizes that you have a long way to go until you are successful in life. Nevertheless, don't let that get you down dear girl. Work extra hard, you'll get there. Divination can help you, if you have the Sight..." She trailed off, wandering to Bri and reaching for my cup. "Your cup, Miss Olsen?"

"Yes, Professor." I tapped my fingers nervously on my thigh waiting to hear of my certain death tomorrow.

"Well, dear girl. You're in luck, see." She leaned the cup down so both Bri and I could see into the leaves. "You've got the sun."

"The sun?" I looked to her confused and watched Bri flip ferociously through her book.

"The sun, great happiness." She smiled, and I bit the side of my cheek as I offered her a smile back. Perhaps the Tommy news had yet to travel all the way to her tower, but there was no great happiness in my life yet.

"In your future." She added, and I felt my eyebrows furrow for a second. "Just wait."

The girls and I scampered down the ladder back to the swirling steps underneath the divination classroom minutes later, after rinsing our teacups and setting them upside down to dry.

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