| Details for Seer Soiree |
| Summary: | Professor Mopsus summons Gabrielle and Cillian for a chat about their burgeoning powers. |
| Date: | April 5, 1938 |
| Location: | Divination Classroom |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Divination Classroom, Hogwarts Castle
At least twenty small, circular tables are crammed inside this round room. Each table is surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little pouffes. The curtains at the windows are typically kept closed, the room lit instead by many small lamps scattered around the room. During the day it can get stiflingly warm thanks to the fire which is kept burning under a crowded mantelpiece and is frequently used to heat a large copper kettle that hangs on a swinging arm attached to the side of the fireplace itself. The shelves running around the circular walls are crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, bowls of all types, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls and a huge array of teacups.
In a high seat behind his desk sits Manto Mopsus, Professor of Divination. His blind eyes stare out aimlessly over the top of his teacup. In a rare sigh, the curtains on the windows are actually open, letting in the late afternoon sun. Patiently, Professor Mopsus waits, having sent his notes to Gabrielle Evans and Cillian Peele (secretly by house-elf, of course), summoning them to the Divination Tower.
Gabrielle comes into the room, sketchbook in hand. She has several pencils stuck in the messy bun she has her hair up in. It seems she's doing that more and more, making sure she has drawing utensils within reach always. She'll make her way in, announcing herself, although she knows he knows. "I'm here, sir." She'll walk up to the nearest seat near his desk.
This is a very important event, yes. So Cillian has combed his hair and brushed off his robes and tried to make a bouquet out of chocolate but just really manages a stack of chocolate bars tied with a golden ribbon and he scurries into the room, his satchel bulging with books and his burlap sack hanging from his shoulder. "Ah! Here we are. Oh! Fair Maiden Gabrielle, ye dun look a day over 16…a-and Professor, ye look." A pause. "Like a very smart professor."
Mopsus dips his head with a smile as each child enters, chuckling at Cillian's compliments. "Welcome, both of you. Tea?" He taps the teapot in front of him with his wand, and it lifts into the air, ready to pour into an empty cup if either of them asks for it. "Do the two of you know why you are here?"
Gabrielle tries to not make a face,as she hates the tea used in the Divination room. But she'll respond with a polite, "Yes, please." she'll just add sugar…or steal some of Cillian chocolate…whatever that is. She had an idea of what this was about, but now, with Cillian here, it's turning into another idea. "I think so sir."
The chocolate is set carefully on the edge of the professor's desk before Cillian settles down at a desk comfortably, smoothing down his robes and kicking his feet as he watches the tea pouring with a thoughtful tilt of his head. "Ahh, thank ye kindly sir, of course sir…" There's a pause before he rummages around in his sack for a piece of wrapped chocolate, getting to his feet to 'sneak' in plain sight over to Gabrielle's table and set the chocolate down before scurrying back to his own seat, settling down. "Ye 'ave very pretty cups Professor."
Blessedly, it is clear that the tea being poured into their cups isn't the stuff typically used for tasseomancy, but rather a soothing Earl Grey. "Then tell us, Miss Evans," Mopsus instructs. "Your instincts have served you well in the past."
Oh..thank Merlin.Real tea! Gabby will give Cillian a grateful smile, although she knows Mopsus had to have heard him move. Her smile drops some, and she'll take a deep breathe, "Because Cillian and I are both Seers." She'll unconsciously run at her right palm.
Cillian folds his hands in his lap and squints as he looks between Mopsus and Gabrielle, smiling pleasantly before he moves a hand to scratch above his eyepatch with a slow blink. Then there's another blink of his good eye. After another moment there's another blink. "I just thought…I was 'ere because one of ye were needin' chocolate…"
"As it so happens, I have had a stubborn craving for chocolate for several days now. Good instincts on you as well, Mister Peele." Professor Mopsus reaches forward to collect his bounty. "Cillian. Tell me about the dream."
Gabrielle smiles nervously at the talk of chocolate. She wishes that's why Cillian was here. She'll close her eyes for a moment, before putting on a brave face and turning to give Cillian a supportful smile.
Cillian looks between the two once more, pushing himself back further into his chair, eye widening as he mentally folds in on himself protectively, wrapping an arm around himself in a half hug as his other hand idly scratches his cheek. Lips press together in a grim line before puckering in something an amorous duck's beak before his lips part into a soft inquisitive squeak. "W-well…well last night?" He takes a deep breath. "I dreamed…I was trapped in a river of beetles…and they was nibbling on me all over before a large professor with the 'ead of a rat waved his wand and…turned them all into buttons and I drowned because I wasn't a shirt."
Mopsus purses his lips, tutting sympathetically. "That sounds a bit troubling. At least you were able to rescue yourself. But that isn't the dream I mean. This was a dream like no other. It came to you in the minutes before midnight. I want to hear it in your words, Cillian. It is important, if you are to understand what all of this means for you."
"…I rescued my…hunh?" Cillian scratches his head before lowering his hand to hug himself with his other arm as well, watching Mopsus almost suspiciously for a few moments. Then he glances to Gabrielle and back to Mopsus. "Do ye mean the one…with the tings that made Gabrielle get whiter when I was warning her against divin' into tings that'll spread to affect others who are not just her?" Blink Blink. "I closed my eyes and truly saw, the things that should not be…a heart of gold, shining bright and radiating heat. A hand that's black reached out to touch, the heart as it did beat and from that finger darkness spread and the shadowed did then eat. The golden heart was left a lump of coal bereft of heat and golden gleam." He takes a deep breath. "I closed my eyes and truly saw a knight brave and true, the shine from his armor added to his aura as a large box he did pursue. Pandora's lesson did come to the mind of this fighter who was dumb. The box was opened and like the lass before, horrors and shadows and screams and the things we abhor. Spreading like the sickness that infected the heart…left behind was a darkness…blind, bleak and stark…"
Gabrielle blinks.No wonder the prophecies didn't upset him, if that's what his dreams are like. She'll make a sympathetic face as he starts talking about the dream.Maybe her prophecies are less scary…at least she doesn't remember them.
Mopsus nods, listening silently to Cillian's poetic recounting of the vision. "Do you understand what it means for you, Cillian, that you had this dream? Do you know what a Seer is?"
Cillian unhugs himself and then hugs himself again, tucking his chin down to his chest and kicking his feet, bottom lip trembling a bit as he takes a deep breath and shrugs his shoulders. "I tink…mebbe…a Seer is like Gabrielle. A fair maiden who be 'aving fits and write tings or draw tings and sees tings and gets moody due to the trauma of cuttin' their hand on a rock?"
Gabrielle 's mother hen instincts over ride letting Mopsus deal with this and she'll move over to Cillian, taking his hand and rubbing the back of it. She'll not say anything though. She'll make it clear with body posture though, that if he wants a hug, she's right there.
"Miss Evans' prophecies manifest in a way that is rarely seen, undoubtedly due to her strong predilection toward artistic expression." Mopsus folds his small hands on the desk before him. "A Seer will often prophesy in the way most suited to his or her strongest form of expression. I, for instance, do not have visions, as the images would mean nothing to me." He gestures toward his blank-staring eyes. "I speak prophecy, when it comes to me, as my words are my most powerful tool of expression."
"Oracles." Cillian blurts out after a moment, carefully patting Gabrielle's hand before slipping his own out of hers and patting the hand once more. He watches Mopsus quietly however, not speaking. Then he nods again.
Great, she's even weird for a Seer. Gabby will nod to what Mopsus says though, it makes sense. She'll pull her hand away from Cillian, if he doesn't need her, but moves to sit down in the chair next to him. She'll nod again , "Yes, Oracles." She hadn't thought of that, exactly, but yeah.
"Oracles," Professor Mopsus echoes, "Seers, Augurs, Soothsayers, Prophets…we have been called all of these. We are those rare few that were born with a connection to the ebb of the universe. We feel it, and sometimes, it flows through us. I know that it can be frightening and disorienting, but I want to assure both of you that this is nothing to fear."
There's another pause as he tilts his head from one side and then to the other, two fingers brushing against his eyepatch as he takes a deep breath and then another deep breath and…then another deep breath, bending over in his chair…well leaning over to rest his hands on his knees as he stares at the floor. "Is this because me eye is missing?"
Gabrielle frowns, why would he think…oh…Mopsus's eyes.She'll not say anything, but will place a hand on his back, rubbing softly.She'll glance to Mopsus, waiting for him to reply.
Mopsus spreads his hands. "I fear that I'm unaware of how you lost your sight in that eye, my dear boy. So I cannot say. But you wouldn't be the first Seer with vision difficulties. Sometimes magic has a price. Perhaps this is ours. But…maybe this will help. You see, I suspected that you were a Seer, because this last August, I received a prophecy. Luckily, Professor Lunet was nearby at the time, and recorded my words: 'When comes the heir, so shall arrive the child of two sires and the wandering woman. With one eye fixed upon the world, the other upon eternity, he shall gather unto himself voyagers and thieves, and you shall know him as their leader.' I am now very certain that it was referring to you."
Cillian squints and turns to Gabrielle for a moment, patting her arm and then wiggling a bit. "Can ye…can ye scratch that bit between me shoulders…its itchy…" But then he freezes up as he stares at Mopsus rather intently, head tilting to the side and his mouth opens and then shuts. "Well." A pause. "Bugger me." Buh-Link.
Gabrielle starts to comply with the scratches and stops as well. She blinks as well, "What heir? To what?"
Mopsus waves a hand. "I wouldn't concern yourself about the heir. That was simply an indicator to clarify the time of Cillian's arrival. What I want to discuss with the both of you is your newfound Sight, and to reassure you about this prophecy that we all shared. You see, I have been in contact with every Seer I know of, and every one of us experienced the same. I won't lie to you. This means that events of significant magnitude are shaping up. But it also means that these events are not specific to you. In fact, the prophecies of a Seer rarely have anything to do with that Seer. We are merely conduits for foresight as we come into proximity of the intersections of destiny."
"I…" Cillian considers how to reply. "I dun really understand half of what ye be sayin' but I tink I have the gist of it." He takes a deep breath. "I'll need to make sure ye get yer weekly chocolate, I'll send it with Gabrielle here - and fair maiden! Why 'ave ye stopped scratchin?" There's a confused pout before he looks back to Mopsus. "You see what I see what Gabrielle sees what everybody else sees that everybody else sees but the seeing is bigger than the people who are seeing indeed." A pause. "Significant Magnitude…this means not safe or gonna be easy."
Gabrielle raises an eyebrow. Somehow, Mopsus isn't making her feel better about this. She'll nod and start scratching cillian's back again, "No…I don't think it's going to be safe or easy, at all."
Mopsus smiles at Cillian's summary. "No, it won't be safe or easy. More importantly, this isn't a call to arms. Not for us. I want you to resist the urge to get involved. We are messengers. Our mission is to share what we learn. Believe me, I know it can be difficult to stand by when we know better than anyone the gravity of the situation. But we are a rare resource to the wizarding world, and as selfish as it may sound, our gift must be protected."
"Well, I'm only 11…so ye know, I really dun know anyting about healin' black hearts and I could 'ave me boys in the Armor Gallery take care of that stupid knight but…yeah, there isn't anyting we could do." Cillian picks up his tea finally, sipping daintily before setting the tea back down. "Well, thankfully only the few of us actually know…the professor and the fair maiden and…me cuz if other people be knowin' they could try to take us and use us like the wizarding wireless!"
Gabrielle 's jaw tightens. This would be so different if her mother wasn't involved. She'd happily sit in the background, being safe. She'll nod, "I was worried about that too, Cillian. That we'd be…watched, like we'd just spout of prophecies at random for people." She'll look to Mopsus, "Sir, how many Seers are there? Is having 3 in a room a lot?"
Mopsus nods in confirmation. "Three in one room is quite a lot. In fact, there are more Seers in England today than there have been since the Middle Ages. The currents of fate are converging, and more and more of us are being born. However, I would not worry overmuch about others trying to abuse our powers. Anyone that knows anything about the Sight knows that it cannot be used deliberately."
"Hmmm." Cillian processes the information as he eyes Gabrielle. "I just dun want knobs. I dunno about the other tings. I mean, they'd 'ave to watch me in the bath if they were that focussed and I manage to find some odd tings behind my ears…so then they'd get scared." He waves a hand vaguely before looking back to Mopsus with a polite nod. "I quite feel like pissing meself at the moment, but this tea is quite delicious so I shall err, refrain." He picks his tea back up to take a sip.
Gabrielle will go back to softly scratching at Cillian's back. she's not sure if it's to comfort him, or her. She'll make a slight yuck face at Cillian's whole, knobs, bathtub, pissing himself rant, and then shake her head and ask Mopsus, "Did we all have the same exact prophecy? Or where they all a bit different? Mine…it showed the heart, but it was in the process of being corrupted, not corrupt. Cillian's made it sounds like it does become corrupt. Is that just how we interpret what the Fates send us, or were we given something slightly different?"
"That is correct, Gabrielle. Much like more deliberate forms of Divination, the Sight still requires interpretation, and our own minds are filters, you might say. For instance, when I experienced the prophecy, it was spoken, not a vision." Mopsus clears his throat, and then recites: "'Brightly gleams the golden heart, warm and livegiving. The hand of darkness shall grasp it with a tainted touch. A lone knight, clad in invincible armour, shall battle through all foes to the box of horrors, and in so opening it, unleash its shadows upon the world.'"
Cillian calmly sips his tea and takes a deep breath before taking another sip of his tea before he sighs softly. "So of Gabrielle be seein' tings and drawing them and ye be given the words…what do I be seein'? It always feels like me other eye catches the bad tings in me dreams and me good eye is better for ye know, measuring sugar."
Gabrielle nods, "So…wouldn't it be good to get all of the prophecies together? Like overlaying puzzle pieces, they would complete each other." She'll listen intently at Mopsus's words. Already picking up on something, but she'll turn to Cillian, and give him a small smile. "I don't think it's I'm seeing them and Professor Mopsus is getting words. I think it's like…like we're given the prophecy. But it's like it's in a completely different language, and we're interpreting it the best we can, through art, words…dreams. It's like… A sense beyond what we have, so our brains have to translate it into something we can understand. " She'll look up to Mopsus, to see if that is close.
Mopsus nods. "Very well put, Gabrielle. Cillian, it is as my prophecy about you said: one eye fixed upon the world, the other upon eternity. It seems clear to me that you receive visions, but you have an interesting mnemonic device — a mental 'trick' — to help you interpret and distinguish your visions from reality." He tilts his head toward Gabrielle, "looking" in her general direction. "As for comparing all of the prophecies, that is the purview of the Department of Mysteries. They will compare the prophecies received from all registered Seers and attempt to glean as much truth from them as possible. Sadly, we will not be privy to that information, as the Mysteries are just that: mysterious."
Cillian hmms softly and worries his bottom lip before tilting his head to the side and then back to the other side. "Hmmm, thank ye again…Da…" He mutters softly.
Gabrielle frowns again, and will take a deep breathe, but then shake her self. Not the time. She'll then turn towards Cillian, " Hey…it'll be ok.We'll just…take care of each other, with this. " She'll glance to Mopsus, "If it happens again, we should come straight to you, right sir?"
Mopsus nods deeply. "Yes, most definitely. I'm sorry if I have alarmed you two. I realize that all of this is a quite a bit to take in at once. But it is better that you are prepared, and I want you to feel comfortable coming to me with any questions you may have. I do have some idea of what the two of you are going through."
Cillian is quiet as he sits his tea and keeps his eyes lowered, he has alot to think about.
Gabrielle will watch Cillian for a moment, worried. It's way easier to worry about him, than think about what it means for her, really. She'll look up to Mopsus and make her way over to where her own tea is, "Thank you sir."
Mopsus dips his head. "Of course, Gabrielle. I am always here for you. Oh, Cillian, one more thing. I would like you to consider taking additional lessons with me. Just some rudimentary Divination theory, to help you better understand the Sight, and how you might interpret what you see."
Cillian considers this as he carefully gets to his feet, hand shaking before he smooths down his outfit and he tilts his head to the side, looking between Gabrielle and Mopsus. "O-of course Professor…thank you. I need…to do tings. Like…cry into me pillow and I 'ave 3 pounds of chocolate to retrieve by the end of two days…"He gives a little bow. "I-I will do the tings, with the classes and the…sight tings." Another pause. "Okay, walking now…" He heads for the exit, blinking slowly to himself, taking a deep breath."