Catch The Snitch

Professor Cassandra Lockwood watched as the students began filing through the trapdoor into her classroom in the North Tower. The room was much the same as it had been in the time of the famous Harry Potter: shelves filled with tea pots, teacups, and crystal orbs along with small tables, chairs, and large cushions positioned throughout the cozy room. The ceiling was low and made of exposed beams, giving it the feel of an attic. Professor Lockwood preferred a well-lit area so the heavy drapes used to cover the windows were drawn back and she had ensured the grime had been scrubbed off the glass so plenty of light could come in. She had charmed a few small orbs to hover around the front of the class where there were no windows and instead an unlit fireplace stood. It was too hot for a September afternoon up here in the tower for a fire. The orbs provided plenty of natural-feeling light.

“Please, take a seat wherever you like,” she invited when it looked like most of the students had arrived. She stood next to a portable chalkboard that she had placed in front of the barren fireplace, wearing her usual plain black robes and small diamond earrings. She watched as the students found their places and then cleared her throat for silence.

“Welcome to Divination,” she said, smiling easily and warmly as she looked around at the faces peering up at her from their spots around the tables. “I am Professor Lockwood, and I will be your instructor for what I hope will prove to be a fascinating and enlightening year.” She pulled out her wand and flicked it at the chalkboard which began spelling her name out in loopy writing.

Professor Cassandra Lockwood

“Now, you may have many preconceived notions about what Divination is and how it is used. In fact, many have argued that it is not true magic at all and does not have a place in the wizarding world.” She looked around the class, making sure she had everyone’s attention. “That is for you to decide on your own. My purpose is to give you an understanding of some of the popular techniques used in this ancient art, a chance to try them out for yourself, and an opportunity to reflect on that experience. To that end, please know that your work will be graded on effort and completeness, as well as the ability to correctly identify symbols, more than accuracy in fortune telling.” She smiled as she looked around again.

“So hopefully that will ease any anxiety you may have had about being skilled or not in Divination, for many say that true Diviners are born with a gift making them capable of seeing the future.” She began slowly moving about the room as she spoke, her fingers loosely laced in front of her. She was used to public speaking and always spoke with deliberate intent. “And so that brings me to the big question. What is Divination? Loosely defined, it can be seen as using supernatural items, as well as a bit of psychic ability, in order to predict the future. Now, it is true that some are gifted much the way that some are born with natural talents in sports, art, or any other subject. It is my belief that the intuition needed to provide true insights into future events can be cultivated within anyone, and so I hope you all will approach this class with an open mind and the same willingness and dedication you would apply to any other class.” She pulled out her wand again and pointed it at the board where more writing began to appear.

“Now then, let’s go over the schedule for this school year before we begin our first exercise. You may want to write this down…”

Term 1:
Lesson 1 - Introduction and Techniques for Successful Reading
Lesson 2 - Symbolism
Lesson 3 - Tasseography
Lesson 4 - Term 1 Project Presentation
Term 2:
Lesson 5 - Dream Interpretation
Lesson 6 - Casting
Lesson 7 - Scrying and Term 2 Project Presentation
Term 3:
Lesson 8 - Oracle Cards
Lesson 9 - Intro to Tarot
FINALS

Lockwood continued to speak as the students took their notes. “You will notice there are two project presentations due as well as finals. Please do not stress over these. They are meant to be fun and insightful. I will give you more details about your project one submission in lesson 2. For now, let us begin lesson 1.” She waved her wand and the chalkboard rolled to the side of the classroom where it could still be seen but allowed Lockwood more room in front of her class as she spoke to them.

“One of the most important considerations when performing a reading is having a clear mind, and I cannot stress this enough. The subtle magics of intuition cannot come through when the mind is busy. It is like trying to hear a whisper on a busy day in the heart of Diagon Alley. We will learn about many Divining tools in this class, and I want to remind you that these are tools only. The power is in the wielder. And so we achieve a clear mind through various means such as meditation and mindfulness. It is difficult to calm the mind, so finding something to focus on can aid in this. Sometimes listening to soft music, looking at calming scenery, taking a bath, and such things can calm the mind. Today we will practice sitting quietly for 10 minutes and trying to focus on our breath.” She smiled again as she looked around. “It may seem like a short time, but trust me it will seem much longer once we get started.”

She guided the students into getting comfortable in their seats, closing their eyes, and focusing on their breath. When the time was over, her voice gently brought them back.

“Very good everyone,” she said, nodding approvingly. “Anyone who wants to share their experience may do so now…”

[Student Responses]

“Wonderful,” Lockwood said after they had finished the exercise. “For your homework, I would like you to practice a meditation technique of your choosing, preferably 10 to 15 minutes once a day but you must practice at least once. When you are done, you will journal about your experience. Your journal can be as detailed or short as you’d like as long as it describes your experience with your meditative practice. As you practice clearing your mind, you become prepared to receive potentially powerful insights. It is like training your muscles for a new sport - “ She was cut off as a large bird hit one of the large windows suddenly, causing several students to jump as it made a loud thwack! It could then be seen spiraling off before it gained control and took off flying into the horizon.

“Hmm,” Lockwood mused quietly from her place at the front of the classroom, watching the bird fly away. Her expression was unreadable. “A very interesting sign indeed… Class dismissed. I look forward to our next lesson.” She continued to muse as the students gathered up their things and took their leave.

[OOC - If you would like your character to participate in sharing their meditative experience, please feel free to add that into your role play. Your character’s homework journal assignment may be included at the end of your post or in a separate post later on. Lemme know if you have any questions!]

Kyle had no idea what he was doing in Divination class, both literally and figuratively.

Too late for regrets now, he chided himself mentally as he climbed through the trapdoor into the classroom. It was brighter than he had last remembered: the heavy drapes had been drawn back, and sunlight streamed in through the windows. Instinctively he gravitated towards the tables close to the back of the room and took his seat. Truth be told, he didn’t really want to to take this class, but Divination was the least bad of the available options he had, and he needed to find one more class to take for his N.E.W.T.s.

The professor was a new face. She had been present at the Start-of-Term Feast, and based on the way she had dressed, he hadn’t thought that she would be the new Divination professor. Granted, not every seer dressed in gaudy robes and wore enough accessories to put a Christmas tree to shame, but Kyle still found himself surprised by her simple and elegant attire. Once all the students had taken their seats, the professor introduced herself as Professor Lockwood, and expressed her hope that it would be “a fascinating and enlightening year” for the class. Kyle’s hopes were, in comparison, a little more modest. He merely wanted to scrape a pass.

As though she had sensed or foreseen Kyle’s concern, the professor proceeded to address how the students would be assessed. Several students – Kyle included – exchanged looks of relief. He was definitely no seer, so he’d have a better chance at a passing grade if he could rely on hard work rather than inborn talent. Suddenly the class didn’t feel as bad as he had initially thought… until the first class exercise.

While Professor Lockwood spoke at length about the importance of clearing one’s head of distracting thoughts, Kyle’s head was ironically filling up with those very thoughts. How was he going to calm his mind when he was perpetually had something weighing on his mind? Already, his internal monologue was restarting. Quit overthinking things, he mentally admonished himself, and just bloody do as the professor says.

Forcing himself to sit still, he closed his eyes and followed Professor Lockwood’s instructions, focusing all his attention on his breathing. Breathe in, breathe out. Breath in, breathe out. He took a deep breath, letting the air fill up his lungs, and feeling his chest and stomach expanding outwards. And then he exhaled, letting the air out in a steady stream…

Suddenly his throat itched, and he tried to cough as quietly as he could. Then his nose began to itch. And then his arm too. One by one, every conceivable minor discomfort began to clamour for his attention. With a quick, furtive and possibly not particularly sightly motion, he simultaneously scratched his arm with one hand while giving his nose a swift pinch with the other hand to quell the urge to sneeze, and went back to his original posture. Breathe in, breathe ou—ACHOO!!!

The fragile silence in the classroom was abruptly shattered as Kyle sneezed, not once but twice in a row, forcefully expelling whatever had been irritating his nose along with what little was left of his focus and dignity. From across the classroom someone snickered, and another of his classmates trembled as he fought hard to suppress his laughter. Dammit… he couldn’t even sit still for five minutes, much less clear his head and peer into the future. At this rate, the only thing he could predict with any reasonable amount of accuracy was that he’d flunk this class at the end of the year.

Needless to say, Kyle had chosen to remain silent as Professor Lockwood asked the class to share their experience. Batting aside his own negative thoughts, he did his best to pay attention as his classmates talked about what they had done, and tried to figure out where he had gone wrong. Come to think of it, the sensation that his classmates described seemed somewhat similar to his focused state of mind when he was flying on a broomstick. Maybe he could pretend to be flying, and then try to clear his mind? Yea, he could do that for his homework, and hopefully redeem himself—

A loud ‘twack!’ derailed Kyle’s train of thought, and he looked up just in time to see a bird spiralling off after colliding into one of the windows. For a moment he thought the bird had died, but mercifully it recovered and managed to fly off. Suddenly, for some reason, he got reminded of his tailslide attempt the other day and how he had almost crashed into the Quidditch pitch and gotten himself killed. Was this some sort of omen? He shuddered involuntarily and tried his best to dispel the idea before it could take root in his mind. Maybe it was all just a really unfortunate coincidence, but he couldn’t help but feel spooked by it. He looked to Professor Lockwood hoping to find some answers, but her expression was unreadable, and her choice of words too cryptic. With that. Professor Lockwood dismissed the class. Gathering his belongings, Kyle followed the rest of the students and exited the classroom, his mind more clouded than ever.

Upon entry into the classroom, Quinn was compelled to have a look around at all the divination paraphernalia. As far as Hogwarts classrooms went, it was peculiar, and that was saying a lot. But of everything on display, she was most drawn to a set of ornate tarot cards on a shelf. Of course, as a muggleborn, she was vaguely aware of how they were used in the muggle world by so-called fortune tellers, but it was a surprise to her to find that there might really be something to them.

As their professor invited them to sit anywhere, she spotted a cozy-looking cushion and settled onto it. As the room's furnishings seemed to have been specifically chosen to make people feel comfortable, she used the cushion as an excuse to tug off her black Mary Janes--she really hated shoes and only wore them when necessary. Today she was sporting knee-length socks, one black with red stripes, the other black with gold stripes.

The exercise they were asked to do seemed simple enough at first, but once Quinn attempted it, she found it rather difficult. How could she deliberately not think about anything at all? Even focusing on her breathing was hard. Her mind was always buzzing with thoughts.

Kyle's sneezing didn't help matters.

During a quiet moment after Prof. Lockwood asked them to share their experience, she volunteered. "It was challenging and I don't think I did very well. I became hyper-aware of subtle sounds around me, like other peoples' breathing, the minor irritations of my clothing, and my posture...I found myself drifting into thinking about lyrics for a song I've been composing without realizing it, only to be snapped back and reminded of what I was trying to do when I heard someone sneezing."

She startled at the sound of a poor bird striking a window, but at least it survived, and she relaxed once more.

When they were dismissed, she wasn't all that eager to get up because she was quite comfortable where she was, but reluctantly she tugged her shoes back on and stood to leave.

Professor Lockwood could tell many of the students were struggling with clearing their minds, which was to be expected. The mind was not a naturally calm and thoughtless place - nor should it be. Thankfully the group settled down after just a few giggles when the 7th year boy in the back sneezed. Cassandra subtly checked her roster as the students focused on clearing their minds - ah yes, Kyle Winters; one of the few brave Slytherins to sign up for her class. She wanted to applaud him for doing so, whatever the reason may be, and she hoped the giggles didn’t put him off. “Don’t lose your determination if you didn’t have the experience you were expecting,” she advised, her eyes sweeping about the room to take in all of her students. “Like anything, it is all about practice. That is why I want you to take time during the week to practice. I know how difficult it can be to get away from the activity and noise here at the school, so you can try meditating in bed right before you go to sleep or get up in the morning. Or you can take a walk and find a quiet place to sit for a few minutes and practice. Anywhere you can relax and not be disturbed.”

She moved on to allowing the students to share their experiences and was delighted when the blond Gryffindor girl gave her account. Cassandra had noticed her immediately since she had allowed herself to get comfortable right away, something that was generally taken to indicate a more creative, free spirit - qualities important in a Seer. After the girl shared, Cassandra said, “Thank you for sharing your honest experience Miss-” she consulted the roster again, “Rockwell, is it? You raise some good points about the typical distractions that can come up. This is completely normal, and actually the functioning of a healthy brain.” She was addressing the whole class now.

“The human brain is not designed to be passive, so there is no need to see distracting thoughts and sensations as your enemy. Noticing that your brain is starting to think about other things is a wonderful step in the direction of clearing your mind because in the right settings, clearing your mind can open you up to a different and more mysterious type of magic. The type of magic that has you turning left when danger lurks to the right. The type of magic that allows you to say all the right things at an important meeting with little to no thought on your part. The type of magic that tells you not to trust someone even though everyone else does. The type of magic… Well, I could go on, but you get my point.”

She proceeded to give out the verbal instructions for the homework assignment then dismissed the class after the bird had hit the window bringing everything abruptly to a halt. When she had pictured this day in her mind - teaching her first lesson at Hogwarts - she had imagined she would stay behind after the lesson and try to get to know some of the students who expressed an interest in the subject. However, the bird hitting the window had broken most of her concentration as she remembered the threatening message given to her on the day she arrived. That message had also involved a bird, and she couldn’t help wondering if the two were related. The most obvious thing to do would be to make her way to the grounds below to see if the bird had landed down there and if it happened to have a message for her. Perhaps she shouldn’t have charmed such a powerful scrubbing spell on those windows.

Eager to set off for the grounds, she headed for the trapdoor after most of the students had filed out. Noticing the Gryffindor student was still gathering her things, she said, “Excellent work today, Ms. Rockwell. I look forward to seeing you at our next lesson.”

Divination Assignment 1: Meditative Technique
I would like to preface my report with a disclaimer: my attempt at meditation did not proceed as intended. However, the unexpected result seemed significant enough, and therefore I have included it in this report.


Chosen Technique

Originally, my chosen meditative technique was simply to sit still in a comfortable and quiet environment and attempt to clear my mind. However, without anything to focus on, I found myself very easily distracted. As such, halfway through the attempt, I decided to focus on an image in my head. In this particular case it was a simple symbol I had came up with on the spot. Whenever I felt my mind wandering, I would focus on that symbol again to clear my mind. I also set a timer that would alert me with a sound every five minutes.


Meditative Experience

For the first five minutes, I was largely able to remain still, although I was regularly interrupted by various physical discomforts. And while I tried to empty my mind, my thoughts were wandering wildly and kept going back to my preoccupations and worries. After a while I tried to focus on a symbol in my head whenever I got distracted, and it seemed to help me clear my mind better.

Some time before the fifteenth minute, however, I unfortunately dozed off and began to dream. The dream started with me walking along a railroad. There was a sign beside the tracks, and oddly the symbol that I had in my head was on it. Somehow I was able to recognise that it was illogical for a symbol I had came up with to appear on a sign, and concluded that I must have been dreaming.

Curious about how the rest of the dream would pan out, and worried that I might wake up prematurely if I deviated away from the ‘intended storyline’, so to speak, I continued to walk along the railroad. My stump began to hurt, but I continued on until a fence forced me to cross over to the other side of the tracks. As I was doing so, the sleeper I was stepping upon broke underfoot, and my prosthesis became stuck in the ballast. Despite multiple attempts I was not able to free it. At the same time, I somehow knew that there was a train approaching, though I did not see or hear it. Hastily I slipped my prosthesis off and hopped to the other side of the tracks just as the train appeared from behind, and after it had passed, there was no sign of my prosthesis anywhere on the tracks.

I was forced to hop for a short while before I found a slightly bent but sturdy metal pole that I used as a makeshift crutch, and I was able to continue my journey albeit at a much slower pace. The pain in my stump was getting worse and worse, and after a while I noticed that the leg of my jeans was starting to get soaked with blood. By then I could see a train station in the distance, but no matter how much I walked, I was never able to reach it. I began to panic, and the dream ended abruptly.


Conclusion

It appears that focusing on a symbol in my mind might not have been the right thing to do as part of a meditative exercise. In an attempt to prevent my mind from wandering too much, I had likely overcompensated and instead closed my mind off from what I might otherwise have been able to sense. As such, I regret to say that the method I had adopted was not ideal.

Nevertheless, the dream that I had did contain a few symbols that could have been meaningful and worthy of further analysis, such as the railroad, the train, and the sign. Other parts of the dream, which was my losing of my prosthesis, finding a makeshift crutch, and my leg bleeding, might or might not have held any significance, as these are issues that I worry about daily as a result of my condition. It might be useful to study these symbols further to determine how my condition affects their meaning.

A small school owl descended sleepily upon Kyle one afternoon and held out its leg to deliver a roll of parchment. It was Kyle’s Divination assignment, containing Professor Cassandra’s grade of “Outstanding” across the top in her purple ink writing along with commentary in the margins.

“Mr. Winters,

Excellent work in completing this assignment. You have successfully completed a meditative exercise and described your experience. I appreciate the thought and detail you put into your work. The train, railroad, and sign (as well as the unattainable train station) would all be good places to start in coming up with your symbol dictionary.

There is no true right or wrong way to experience visions. What you’ve described here is a lucid dream, which can be very useful in bringing subconscious issues to the surface. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to try meditating again while staying awake. You can sit for less time (5 or 10 minutes instead of 15) if that helps from nodding off. The body is trained to fall asleep when it isn’t being asked to physically do anything, and while this can be helpful in receiving a strong vision like yours, it is most ideal to be able to call forth visions from a calm, awake mind.

As a side note, sometimes having visions as vivid as the one you’ve described can be disorienting and even frightening, especially if it is the first time you’ve experienced such a thing. Please feel free to see me if you’d like to discuss this dream in more depth, or if you have any questions or concerns. Again, excellent work.

-Professor Lockwood”