Div 1.1 | Complete

Sophia opened a window, leaning out a bit to breathe in the fresh air. A new year, new classes; she hoped at least some of the newcomers would come with an open mind and learn to appreciate her Art.

Her class was not among the most popular. In fact, it was a rather under-appreciated discipline. The woman was long used to this, of course. A lot of people just couldn't understand. She tried to remedy that, though. It was the reason she taught, to try to put a truth out there amid all the misinformation about Divination.

The smell of incense was subtle in the well-lit tower classroom, just strong enough to ease anxiety without being over-powering.

Sitting behind her desk, Sophia rested her chin in her palms as she waited for her first years to arrive.

Scarlet walked excitedly with a grin etched on her face. She's particularly excited for this class - not only will it help her understand her nightmares that causes her to forget things about her life and others, but it also fascinates her. She sighed nervously. Remember, Scarlet, this class is as important as Occlumency. It will help you... understand. Don't you mess it up.

She walked inside and politely bowed at the professor. She looked at Professor Wyse's eyes and unintentionally read her mind. Under-appreciated? This class is... under-appreciated? Why so?

She shook her head, relaxed and took a seat.

Sophia's occlumency shields snapped into place more quickly than the kind smile which spread across her lips. She often them down when she was alone - a habit which she needed to get out of the habit of now that school was back in session.

"That would because most believe that they have little use or need for Divination, Miss Potter," she answered the unspoken question. "It's not something one can touch - it's intangible. It doesn't feel real to them like Potions or Defensive Arts. Divination is not so easily grasped, and few people make the effort to do so."

A large raven fluttered in through a window, settling itself upon a perch in the corner.

"Ah, welcome back, laddie," Sophia greeted her familiar. The bird proceeded to preen his feathers.

Scarlet looked up with a snap. "You can...?" she said - muttered, actually. She shook her head. "I... Whoa."

She straightened herself. She felt happy, for some reason. She felt like she's no different to the people in Hogwarts. Of course a few people would know Occlumency - but never knew she'd meet one of those few. She smiled. "I think intangible art's one of those few that are the best," she said, looking down. "It's one of those where you can really go deep in thought."

"I quite agree with you, Miss Potter," Sophia said with a small grin, then, she frowned a bit. "It would seem your classmate is rather late. I don't suppose you know Miss Wayland, perchance?"

"Oh Proffesor I'm so sorry I'm late I got lost trying to find the classroom!" Tayla apologised as she swiftly entered the classroom and took a seat beside her only classmate and fellow Gryffindor she thought was called Scarlet.

Scarlet shook her head in dismay. "Apparently not," she said shyly. "I haven't met much of my school mates. Just one Slytherin and a Ravenclaw."

A few seconds later, a Gryffindor came inside and apologized for her tardiness. I suppose she's Miss Wayland.

"The names Tayla and your Scarlet?" Tayla introduced politely.
'Gosh i hope i got her name right!' she thought as she nodded her head respectfully to the proffesor.

Scarlet smiled at Tayla. "Hello," she said, waving slightly. "I'm Scarlet, yes - Scarlet Valora Potter. But you can call me Riley or Letty, or Scar. Or Valora... Or Potter... Or simply Scarlet." she said, slightly babbling.

"Lovely to meet you Letty. Feel free to call me Tay" Tayla responded to the babbling girl beside her smiling sweetly.

"Moving about the castle is a bit confusing at first," Sophia conceded. "I'll let your tardiness slide this once, since you are new, Miss Wayland, but next time, I'm taking House points unless you've a valid excuse from another professor.

"Now that we're all here, let us begin, shall we?" she smiled kindly at her small class. There weren't as many as she'd hoped there would be, but it was better than none, and this way she could get to know her students, all the better.

"Divination is one of the most imprecise, and frankly, unreliable arts you can study," Sophia began. "Can either of you guess why it is I would say that?"

Tayla grinned at the teacher in thanks and raised her hand to answer the question.
"Because the future is not set in stone and changes depending on what course we decide to take?" she thought that was the right answer but wasn't to worried about it if she was wrong.

"Correct, Miss Wayland," Sophia smiled at the girl. "Five points.

"The future is not set in stone," she reiterated. "In fact, as the title of your text states, it is fickle. The decisions that you make today, that I make today, affects what might happen tomorrow. Because of that, Divination isn't so much a map as it is a guide. Not everything that it is foreseen comes to pass. In fact, often times, it is people themselves who bring such things to fulfillment. Muggles have referred to this tendency as 'self-fulfilling prophecies'.

"Now, the first thing that comes to a lot of minds when a person thinks about Divination is the ability to predict the future," Sophia continued. "While this is certainly part of the art, Divination is also about opening oneself to the world around you, learning to pay attention, to listen, to perceive that which so often goes unnoticed.

"Throughout the course of this class, I will teach you about some of the different branches of Divination. Can either you tell me what some of those might be?"

Sophia was a bit disappointed when neither of her students moved to answer. Frowning slightly, she waved and a list of topics appeared on the chalkboard.

"For this year, we'll focus mostly on means of divining such as scrying, tasseography, and palmistry - that sort of thing," she told them. "As you continue through this course, you'll learn about signs and omens, dreams, prophecy, Tarot, geomantic signs, and we'll touch on Runes and Astrology, though, there are separate course for each of those.

"For your homework, I'd like each of you to write me an essay about which branch of Divination you most look forward to learning about," instructed the professor. "Minimum of two feet, if you please."

She brought her hands together. "Now, if you ladies have no other questions, I suppose your free to go." The woman smiled kindly at the two girls.