HARRY POTTER and the Prisoner of Azkaban CHAPTER 6
Chapter 6
TALONS AND TEA LEAVES
The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they walk past the Slytherin table, Harry hears Malfoy making fun of him. “Potter! The dementors are coming! Woohooo!” Malfoy laughs. “Just ignore him,” says Hermione. But it is hard for Harry. He feels weak and ashamed.
Fred Weasley gives Harry a paper. “Here’s your schedule for third year,” Fred says. Ron and Hermione get their schedules too. “Oh good, we have Divination together!” says Hermione happily. Ron looks at her paper. “Hermione, your schedule is wrong. You have ten classes a day! And here, three classes at the same time!”
“Don’t worry,” says Hermione. “I talked to Professor McGonagall. She says it’s okay.” “No one is that smart, Hermione,” says Ron. “Not even you.” “Mind your own business!” Hermione says angrily. Soon, they leave for their first class: Divination. The classroom is far away. After walking for a long time, they get lost. They see a painting of an empty field. A fat gray pony walks into the painting. Then a short, fat knight appears. He has fallen off his pony!
“Excuse me, sir Knight?” says Harry. “Can you show us the way to the North Tower?” The knight looks excited. “A quest! Follow me, my friends!”
He tries to jump on his pony but he falls again. “We go on foot! Follow me!” The knight runs through other paintings. Harry, Ron, and Hermione follow him up stairs and down halls. Finally, they reach the classroom. “Goodbye, friends! Call me if you need help!” says the knight. Then he disappears. They open the classroom door and go inside.
The room is very strange—like an old coffee shop. There are round tables, soft chairs, and red lights. The room is warm and dark. On shelves, there are crystal balls, cards, and teacups. “Where’s the teacher?” asks Ron. A soft voice speaks from the shadows. “Welcome,” says the voice. “Welcome to Divination class!”
A very thin, old woman appears. She has large glasses that make her eyes look big. She wears many necklaces, bracelets, and rings. “My name is Professor Trelawney. Divination is the most difficult magic. If you do not have the Sight to see the future, I cannot teach you. Books will not help.” Hermione looks worried. She learns everything from books!
“Today, we will read tea leaves,” says Professor Trelawney. “Work in pairs. Drink your tea, then give your cup to your partner. They will read the leaves.” She looks at Neville. “Neville? After you break your first cup, choose a blue one, not a pink one. I like the pink cups.” Neville does not understand. He takes a cup - and drops it! It breaks. “Pick a blue one next, dear,” says Professor Trelawney.
Harry and Ron drink their tea and exchange cups. “What do you see in my cup, Harry?” Ron asks. Harry looks. “Some wet brown stuff.” “Open your minds!” says Professor Trelawney. “Let your eyes really see!” Harry looks again. “I see a cross… That means ‘problems.’ But also a sun… ‘true happiness.’ So you will have a hard but happy life, Ron!”
Ron looks into Harry’s cup. “There’s a hat. Maybe you’ll be a business man…” He turns the cup. “Now I see an animal… a sheep?” Professor Trelawney comes quickly. She looks into the cup. “The falcon… you have a terrible enemy,” she says. “But everyone knows that!” says Hermione. “Everyone knows about Harry and You-Know-Who.” Harry and Ron are surprised Hermione speaks like that to a teacher.
Professor Trelawney looks into the cup again. “The club… an attack. The skull… danger…” Then she screams. Neville is scared and drops his second cup. “What is it, Professor?” Harry asks. “You have The Grim!” she cries. “The phantom dog! The worst omen—death!”
Harry remembers the black shadow he saw before. It had the shape of a large dog. And he remembers the black dog on the cover of the book about omens. Hermione looks at the cup. “I don’t see a Grim.” Professor Trelawney looks at Hermione. “I’m sorry to say, but you do not have a future in Divination.” She looks at Harry, worried. “Class is over.”
Next, the children go to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid…
