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It was mid-afternoon when Sid rose to pull the curtains closed, snuffing out his cigarette as he did so. With the curtains drawn the Divination classroom became a decadent, over-decorated cave, like some madman had mashed a once-tasteful Turkish bath into a Russian egg full of draperies and mismatched lamps. Gold glittered in the shadowy corners; velvet and silk hangings strung the ceiling, the walls (those that could be seen, at any rate) done in careful, flowing patterns. Little of it matched. The tables the students sat it were lit with small patterned lamps that burned purple, the light making the blue in the room more ethereal. Smoke, sweet and fragrant, curled and wove along the ceiling.

Sid rather liked the effect, though the decorations were a mishmash of Hogwarts’ old ones, those left behind by previous Professors, and his own - his only major contribution being to charm most of it to blues and purples rather than the original faded reds. The shapes and privacy made it easy to slide into the chemical daze he so often relied on, easy to separate himself from the rest of the world and focus on the now.

Classes had continued unabated after the kidnappings, Hogwarts as always trying to force the image of normality upon its students. That their classmates had not yet been found didn’t seem to stop anyone from keeping to the others in their plotted routine. That it was Valentine's Day...well, someone had continued to decorate despite the recent downturn. It seemed rather inappropriate, given the circumstances.

Perhaps they found it reassuring. Sid’s own Hogwarts years had been chaotic, certainly - a mass kidnapping hardly compared to the Battle of Hogwarts and the year that had preceded it. He was aware, blithely, of how lucky his house and heritage had made him. Slytherin Purebloods had been the safest lot in the castle his entire term there. Now, blood and bonds didn’t seem to matter much at all.

It was troubling; it spoke to the feeling of chaos his visions had given him as of late.

That today was one of his first classes, well, that only fit with the visions too. His arrival at Hogwarts had been all too recent, but the schedules and chaos had delayed things. He’d met with some of the students before. But the choice to see all of them at once was purposeful; the events unfolding were once where the students might see the application of Divination, and that he was hardly to pass up.

He realized, as he heard the sound of feet on the ladder, that’d he’d relit his cigarette without thinking and taken another drag. He snuffed it out hurriedly, pulling fabrics forward to cover some of his more questionable possessions as the trapdoor opened. He was the picture of relaxation when the first student appeared, lounging at his desk as the students filtered in. The only tell was the slight redness to his otherwise dark eyes.

“Good afternoon,” he said when they’d more or less found their seats, eyes half-lidded and his smile ever so slightly smirk-like, as was his usual wont. He watched them a long moment, aware quite how many professors of Divination they’d gone through. Just how much did they know, truly?

“In light of recent events,” he said after a pause, “I thought it best we all meet together, though some of us are...unable to attend. Divination is often seen as impractical, as frivolous in a world that demands hard facts.” He wanted something in his fingers to play with; he settled for his wand, where he’d usually have held his cigarette and its holder. “Today we will see if we cannot turn our abilities to practical use, and perhaps aid our fellows.”

He rose and stood in front of his desk, hips canted against it as he watched them. The crystal ball next to his hip sprang to life as he passed it, a soft glow emanating from within.

“I will warn you now - what you might see or feel today may be unpleasant. Divination is not always innocent, its results not always rosy. It is important to remember that each answer is but a piece of a larger puzzle. They must find their place in context before their true nature is clear, no matter how they may appear at first.”

He picked up the ball, spun it casually on his fingers. “We shall start with these. Before we begin - questions? Concerns?”

Ayla entered the North Tower with her fellow Fifth years. She wasn't too keen on all the years being collected but she supposed she was just going to have to deal with it. Besides with everything that had happened over the last few days she didn't think any of the older years would be willing to start anything with her. In fact most of them seemed to have moved on from daily tormenting her like they did when she was younger. She supposed they were growing up afterall.

She settled into one of the puffe chairs and turned her emerald eyes to the newest Divination Professor. He reminded her of the little Irish Professor they had in her third year. He had changed the tower's decorations from red to blues as well, though she had to admit this one was a little more attractive than that one. She just hoped he was a little nicer than Professor Cosmo had been. She had been a great Professor but Ayla certainly hadn't flourished under her.

She gave her own greeting to the Professor when he addressed the large group of gathered students, but otherwise stayed quiet. On one hand she wasn't interested in drawing attention to herself in a group such as this and on the other hand she really had nothing to say. While she wasn't directly impacted by the students that went missing, many of her friends were and it was strange to be walking from class to class as if nothing had happened, as if their empty desks weren't giant eyesores. The not knowing was the worst part. No one seemed to know where they had gone or when they'd be back . . . if they'd be back at all.

Xavier entered the Tower with a slight scowl on his lips. He hadn't been even trying to hide his distaste for classes that day. His friends were out there somewhere, someone or something had taken them and he was supposed to just go to class like nothing had happened? Even seeing the usual Valentine's decorations around the castle, the younger years bustling around giving each other presents and candies and Valentine's cards made him sick to his stomach. Had he had a girlfriend he'd likely be shrugging her off too in light of the current situation. He wasn't a big fan of it but it just wasn't right to sit in class without Gracie and Carstairs, whatever their relationship was now. He needed them back, he needed all of the missing students back.

He squinted at the newest Divination Professor. He had no real opinion of the man, at least not yet. If experience was anything to go by he wouldn't last long enough for an opinion to matter much. He had heard a few years back before the Second Wizarding War that the Defense Against the Dark Arts post had been the hardest to keep a Professor employed in, Tawse believed that Storm had managed to shrug that curse and pass it off to the Divination position.

Xavier surveyed the room as the student gathered. He made note of the younger years that had piled in as well. He was mildly curious as to why Blackburn had decided to bring them all together. His cold grey blue eyes fell upon Turquoise hair and Hufflepuff garb. He took in the sight of his former girlfriend, a smirk tugging at his lips as he noticed some of the jewelry she was wearing were pieces he had given her. He also noticed that aside from the little heart earrings she wasn't dressed up for Valentine's. He wondered if she was being affected by the missing students as well or if she had finally given up on her useless Hopeless Romantic ideals.

"“We shall start with these. Before we begin - questions? Concerns?"

Xavier tore his attention from the Hufflepuff Chaser and brought it to the front of the class, "Ye a See'r?"

Sid's gaze had falled to the ball in his hand, watching the liquid inside it swirl and curl as it spun. Dark shapes had risen inside it, grouped together. He hadn't been focusing on the missing students, but it was difficult not to wonder - and hope - that that might mean something.

"Ye a See'r?"

He looked up, caught the eye of the boy in Slytherin garb. Sid couldn't help but raise one eyebrow very slightly at the boy's stunning features. Well formed jaw, excellent cheekbones. Darian would probably love to have the boy model for Libertine; he looked the sort who'd look fetching while glowering in a suit.

"Yes," he answered somewhat plainly. "I am."

Had he foreseen this? He saw the question unasked on a few faces and tilted his head, flipping the ball in his fingers and catching it again. Eventually, he answered. "I had portents of this event, as did your - our - Counselor. Unfortunately, they were not acted upon."

“And so we use… crystal balls?”

Theo’s tone was—not unpleasant, exactly; he spoke softly, and calmly, with a curious tilt to his head more bird than boy. Certainly he would never dream of speaking to a member of the faculty any other way. But even as he lounged in his seat with what could only be described as teenage indolence, there was a sense of disquiet about him, as though something shifted slithered restlessly beneath his skin. It had been there since he had watched his girlfriend – and one of his closest friends – vanish before his very eyes, and once the shock had faded it had settled in to stay.

(One might argue that it had been there since break, but—it had already been there long before then, if he were honest. Its rediscovery hadn’t been so much a surprise as it had been a reunion.)

The Head Boy now leveled that gaze onto Sid, skipping past the rich fabrics and poise to take in the whole. The man was so put together, that Theo wondered– childishly, perversely– “Wouldn’t any reflective surface do, sir?”

Ah, the question. Sid distantly recognized it as an echo of sentiments he'd heard among the students. He wondered where'd they'd come from. The dislike of crystal balls seemed odd to him. He, personally, quite liked them - and who could argue with their aesthetic properties?

The boy's expression was subtle as his own. Sid's smile was many layered; now, it edged into an aloof sort of smirk.

"Of course." He couldn't remember the boy's name, though the badge on his uniform spoke to his station. How responsible of him. "If you object, I can arrange such a surface for you - perhaps a bucket?"

Theo blinked. Then, his expression cleared.

“No objections here, sir,” he demurred, eyes cast downward in a brief, bashful look. As much as a bucket would, actually, have been quite appreciated– “I only meant that our last few professors avoided them,” he explained. And paused, face wrinkling slightly in recollection; even Professor Trelawney had seemed more inclined towards tea. “We were encouraged to study other methods. You might find some of us… lacking, in this area.” He offered Sid a shrug, apologetic—a clear indication of whom, specifically, had been included in the admission.

Theo glanced at the crystal ball, measuring its shape and soft glow without so much as a squint. Given the clarity of the glass and its multidimensional shape, crystal balls could, theoretically, offer the most accurate illustrations. But with their results far more transient than that of most media… “How are we to interpret what we might see? Are we comparing our results with our classmates’?” With such a likely variation in strength and skill, it was just as likely some visions would be more detailed or vague than others. What appeared to be a dog for one might seem something else to someone else entirely.

Alvis fidgeted. He couldn't help himself. He'd been fidgeting for two days.

Hogwarts had always been a bit of a mess, mentally speaking, but this was the worst it'd been in a long time. Though he worried for Juni and Esther Morrell and all the rest, Alvis had just enough awareness of his Legilimency to tell that most of this anxiety wasn't his own. It'd been skimmed off Ambrose and Moira and others, like Whitman, and continued to linger as the situation grew on. His first instinct was to help where he could, but usual methods of reaching out -- calming potions, reassurances, understanding shoulders -- could only relieve so much. The students were still missing.

Divination, then, would be a welcome distraction, especially with this new professor. Though they'd only had a few classes, something about Sid Blackthorn intrigued Alvis. Maybe it was his mind, or maybe it was those eyes, which stirred an entirely different sort of anxiety than that brought on by the kidnapping. That he'd only professed to being a seer after he'd been asked was definitely a plus. In Alvis's experience, those who touted Seer-dom at the drop of a hat were the least likely to use their gifts well and wisely if, indeed, they had any at all.

He watched the tense stand-off between Whitman and Blackthorn without a word, rolling his personal crystal ball between nervous fingers. It was smaller than the one on the table -- about the size of a baseball -- and had been a gift from his grandmother third year. Given his druthers, he preferred dousing. But centering on a crystal could be calming as well.

He waited for a gap between Whitman's questions, then quietly raised his hand. "Is it all right if we use our own?"

"Did they." He was surprised, and it showed in the rise of his eyebrows. The chaos of the professors had been clear to him once he was past the interview, the classroom left empty and ramshackle in the absence of an active one. It'd been hard to gauge what, if anything, the children had been taught.

"I see." It was the vague way he settled against the desk that bore his apology - he didn't bother to retract any bite his words might have had, uncaring. "They are, as said -" he nodded towards Whitman, "Not all too different from other methods of liquid scrying.  If you have questions during our work, I will be available."

He spun the ball in his hand again; the liquid inside swirled wildly, revealing flecks of gold to the candlelight. Sid had always liked his tools fancy.

"If you have your own, all the better; if not, there are spares." He caught the ball in his palm. "If there are no further questions, shall we begin?"

He looked at the lot of them; frowned as he grasped the crystal in his hand and brought it to cup in both hands, arms tucked in front of him. "As with all scrying, context and connection are important. Some of you know those missing personally; others as classmates; others, as a mere roster of names. For those with a personal connection, that can be used to guide you; for others..."

Sid was aware the students may not have been given details. Well, to hell with that. If it helped, it helped; he hadn't guzzled an experimental potion over the weekend casually.

"The students are fourteen in number, male and female. Those that vanished had eaten candy from or shopped at Honeydukes' Sweet Shop - and all vanished at roughly the same time. Given the methods used, they are all likely in one place." Or were. "For our purposes, their gathering can serve as a focus. Focus on their number; the suddenness with which they were taken; the surprise and fear of it. Watch the water."

His voice had dropped to a monotone, almost hypnotic tone; he purred the words, looking into the ball held in his hands. Dark shapes whirled within. "If they are your friends...you know their faces, their colors, their shapes. As you watch the water, look for familiar things - a silhouette, a flicker of shadow. The water is a guide for your inner eye...allow it to open."

Rose, unlike her peers, had the faint hint of a smile on her face as she entered into the tower and found herself a place to sit. True, she was worried about the other missing students but there wasn't much else she could do about it. Besides, they were missing, not dead. Not yet. Rose had to hold onto the glimmer of hope that they were going to make it back, especially Juni - she being one of the few who could actually put up with Rose.

She sat back in her seat, cradling one of the crystal balls in her hands with both caution and care. It was a sensation she was familiar with, as she had assumed such a position in her bed for years while staring into her own crystal ball. Hers was a little smaller, but still served her well. Though her mismatched eyes stared into the murky middle of the orb her ears were still trained on the conversation being had. She wasn't interested in what her classmates had to say, but Rose couldn't help but glance up at the new professor when he mentioned that he too was a Seer. Though, that shouldn't have been a surprise, since being one was a likely job qualification.

"If they are your friends...you know their faces, their colors, their shapes."

Rose remained sitting back, focusing on the ball as well as keeping the mental image of Juni's face clear within her mind. She saw the silvery grey mist of the crystal ball slowly swirl like someone had begun to use it like paint and make strokes within the emptiness.

"...your inner eye...allow it to open."

Her whole body visibly relaxed as she let herself be absorbed into the images within the crystal ball. The mist swirled with more energy and began to make more distinct shapes within, and Rose thought she saw human shaped figures. Show me Juni. Show me the others. As quick as a blink she saw Juni's face, clear as day, looking around. She was confused, possibly worried? Rose's pupils dilated ever so slightly.