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Professor Trelawney swept the cards back onto the table with a swish of her wand, and had
Harry cut the pack. “Your birthday?” she asked. Harry couldn’t believe how she kept
forgetting; once she had insisted that he had been born during the winter. The other partners
were dealing out cards and beginning their readings, oblivious to Harry and the professor.
“July thirty-first,” he replied. She starting placing the cards on the table before her, nodding and
gasping as she saw various messages in their arrangement.
“You had a mortal enemy,” she told him, as she had many times before. Harry groaned
inwardly--everyone knew that. Then he realized that she said had. “He no longer wishes to be
your enemy,” she said, tapping a card with a snake on it. “This is you,” she said, tapping a card
with a winged lion. “He has seen your power and--he wishes to recruit you.” Harry looked up,
his eyes wide. “But he has withdrawn from you--he will send his servants to you instead.” She
turned over a card. “A man who betrayed your family.” Wormtail, he thought. She turned over
another card. “A man whose son is also your enemy.” Malfoy? Crabbe? Goyle? All
possibilities. “But the son--” she tapped a card with a dragon on it “--may not be your enemy
for much longer.” That was surprising, thought Harry. “And--” she paused after turning over
another card. “--your mortal enemy’s heir.” heir? Voldemort had an heir? The card depicted
some sort of raptor, a huge bird of prey.
She turned over more cards. “There are three women in your life.” Harry thought of all the girls
who’d been making him feel like an animal in the zoo. Only three? “One is an older woman, but
there is much guilt in that...you once desired her, but you are no longer interested.” Well, that
was true of Cho, he thought. “Two others: She--” Trelawney tapped a card with a picture of
the winged messenger of the gods on it. “--is torn between you and--” Flip! went the card. “--
your brother.” I don’t have a brother, Harry thought irritably. This is a such a load of dung. “--
who will turn on you for taking her from him. But she--” Trelawney held up the lovers card. “--
she is your true love, a warrior woman, your soul mate--although you must wait for her...she will
be with another for a while, but remain pure, waiting for you. Only together can you defeat your
mortal enemy.”
Did that mean Voldemort? He could be defeated? That was good news. Harry stared at the
cards before him, trying to remember everything she’d said. “Is that all?” he asked anxiously,
forgetting that he’d thought it was ridiculous a moment before.
“Well, there are other connections. See, the woman you lust after--” Harry was jolted as she
tapped the messenger card again. “--is linked with the heir of your foe. She is being held
prisoner by him.” What? Harry thought. I don’t know anyone being held prisoner...and as for
lust... “And the older woman is connected to your enemy’s servant--” she pointed to the card
that was not Wormtail. Was that Malfoy’s dad? he wondered again. What could Cho have to
do with him? Then she pointed out that the card that was the son (the one with the dragon on it),
the one who would not be his enemy for long, was connected to the lovers card. “Your true
love will be torn--but when she finally comes to you, he will turn on you--and yet, he will also
be needed to help you defeat your foe.”
She stopped and Harry felt his head swimming. Too much information, too many people to
keep track of... “And now, the last two cards.” She put another card on what he thought of as
Wormtail’s card (he now noticed that it in fact depicted a large rat). “Another brother,” she
said. How many brothers am I supposed to have? Harry wondered. “And for him, at the hand of the traitor...” and she turned over the last card. It was the Spectre of Death.
“Death?” Harry whispered, then tried to remind himself that he didn’t have one brother, let
alone two.
“Not necessarily. This--” she tapped the deadly-looking card, “--can just mean a change, a
transition.” She opened her eyes wider. “Ah--” she said, “and your mortal enemy will tempt
you with your most deeply-held desire--it is a fourth woman--you love each other--”
But she’s not my true love? Harry thought. Then how can she be my most deeply-held desire?
And what about the one I’m lusting after?
“You will be confronted with a choice. And if you do not choose wisely--” suddenly, her voice
caught as she gazed at the cards. “The world as we know it will end,” she said softly.
Harry looked up at her enormous eyes behind her glasses. “What?” he heard himself saying, as
though it were somebody else. “I have to make a choice that could end the world as we know
it?” He stood up, running his hands through his hair. He pointed down at the cards. “This is
ridiculous. I don’t have any brothers. You tell me I have both a true love and another woman is
my most deeply-held desire--make up your mind! And nothing I decide could end the world as
we know it. Nothing!” He suddenly swept the cards off the table with his arm, then stood again,
panting, looking at her defiantly. He was a prefect; he wasn’t supposed to be speaking to
teachers this way. Well, at this rate, he wouldn’t be a prefect much longer...