Fear of a Name

Chapter Ten: Tell the Truth

We emerged in quite possibly the strangest classroom ever, and Harry whispered to me that he thought it looked like a cross between someone's attic and an old fashioned tea shop. I knew what neither of those things were, but I didn't ask because I didn't want him to think I was stupid.

There were an assortment of chairs and pouffes around at least twenty small tables, and the room looked decidedly full. The curtains at the window were pulled, not a sliver of light shining through them, and the room was lit by a dim, crimson light, the same colour as blood. The perfumed smell coming from the fire was making my head spin it was so sickly, and it was stiflingly hot.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I all sat down around the same table, and I could tell that Ron, like me, was already feeling sleepy. I poked him, trying to keep us both awake.
"Where is she?" he asked, yawning.
Suddenly, a soft, misty voice came out of the shadows, followed by a witch. Before I could get a good look at her, however, I was finally overcome by the scent in the room and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!"
I woke with a jump as Harry yelled at everyone, apparently angry about something. Nobody seemed to be able to bring themselves to look at him.
"I think we will leave the lesson here for today. Yes... please pack away your things..." said the Professor.
Everyone took their teacups back to Professor Trelawney in silence, packed away their books, and closed their bags.
"Until we meet again," said the Professor, "fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear," she pointed at Neville, "you'll be late next time, so mind you work extra hard to catch up."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I climbed down Professor Trelawney's ladder and the winding staircase before walking to Transfiguration, arriving just in time.
I sat at the front of the class, listening eagerly to what Professor McGonagall was telling us about Animagi (witches and wizards who could transform at will into animals), and I was amazed when she transformed herself in front of our eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes. I had seen Pettigrew transform into a rat once or twice, but I had never expected Professor McGonagall to be able to do it too.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" she said, turning back into herself with a faint pop and staring around at everyone. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."
I saw everybody's heads turn toward Harry, but nobody spoke for about a minute, before Hermione raised her hand.
"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and—"
"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, and I saw her frown suddenly. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her, me included.
"Me," said Harry, after two minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"I see," said Professor McGonagall. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sibyll Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues—" Professor McGonagall broke off, and I saw that she looked irritated.

She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney..."
She stopped again, and then said, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."
Hermione and I both laughed, however not everyone seemed to be convinced; I could see Ron still looked worried, and someone whispered, "But what about Neville's cup?"

Then we had Herbology, where nothing much happened, except for the fact Ron and Hermione were arguing about whether the Grim was real or not. Harry and I must have told them both to shut up at least fifty times that lesson.

I skipped lunch, not wanting anyone to ask why I wasn't eating again. I couldn't tell them that my father had forbidden me to eat for a week, especially as today was the last day of my ban. I would be able to eat again as normal tomorrow. I wandered around the grounds for about half an hour, before coming across a rather curious tree. I started to walk closer to it, but as soon as I was within the reach of its thick, gnarled branches, it started to try and attack me. I stepped back quickly, pointed my wand at a knot on the trunk, and said, "Immobulus!"

The tree stopped moving immediately, and I smiled as I sat down, leaning against its trunk. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Professor Lupin coming up to me, looking amazed.
"How did you do that?" he asked, clearly impressed. "How did you know what to do?"
"Everything has a weakness, if you search hard enough," I replied. "It's up to you whether you want to find it or not. Also I read about it in a book."

He looked at me as my stomach made a growling noise, clearly indicating that I was hungry.
"Why aren't you having any lunch?" he said worriedly.
"I'm not hungry," I muttered, my stomach growling again.
"Ivory, look at me."
I obeyed instantly, looking into his tired eyes with fear. Normally if someone told me to look at them, it was because they wanted to see my pain as they tortured me.

"Tell the truth," said Lupin, firmly but kindly.
"I'm not allowed to eat, sir," I told him quietly.
"Not allowed? Who told you that?"
I bit my lip and said, "I... cannot say. The consequences would be too great... I have said too much already, sir."
Lupin looked at me again, before nodding his head sadly and saying, "I understand. If you ever want to tell me anything, I will be happy to listen."

I watched as he walked away, and it was as if my happiness left with him. I had said too much — that was the second time I had almost given away the fact I wasn't treated kindly in front of him; the first was on the train, after the Dementor had left, and I was telling everyone what I had heard.
I needed to be more careful — the truth could hurt everyone badly.