Winifred was glad to be back at school. But even after a few days she was already bored. Sunday morning came and went and after lunch she had nothing to do- and ended up packing up her pack of tarot cards, her favorite crystal ball, and tea leaves and self-heating kettle and heading to the courtyard. Winnie sat her backpack down and spread out a large blanket on the grass. She also tossed a few pillows onto the blanket she'd carried down with her. Tying her hair back with a ribbon she set out her things on the blanket.

Once her tools were spread out in front of her, Winnie crossed her legs and made a show of shuffling her tarot deck. "Get a peek into your future! Bonafide seer offering fortune-telling for those brave enough to seek out the possibilities! Master of the tarot, crystal ball, reading tea leaves, and reading palms!" Winnie put up a small sign she'd made indicating the price- twenty knuts for one fortune or a sickle for two.

"First five people get a free fortune telling!" she called out to a group passing by as she set up a few mugs to the left of her self-heating kettle. A prod with her wand and it started heating up. "Better to be safe than sorry! Always be prepared! Ask the powers that be before making any big decisions in your life!"

It was the first day since they'd returned to Hogwarts that the sun had been shining.  Noriko had decided to take advantage of the improving weather and head outside to the courtyard to find a quiet place to read.  It was still early enough in the semester that most of their professors hadn't yet burdened them with a heavy workload, but she still liked to try and read ahead, so that she could potentially beat Eirene to some of the answers in class and earn extra points to Slytherin.

The courtyard was already bustling with students who had apparently had the same idea as she had.  They were mingling about and passing through, chatting in pairs and small groups, enjoying the sunny weather.  Noriko smiled at some younger students that she recognized, and then had prepared to find a quiet place to settle down and start reading, when a voice cut through the relatively quiet courtyard.

"Better to be safe than sorry! Always be prepared!"

The cry came from an older Hufflepuff girl, who was seated cross-legged on a blanket, surrounded by what looked to be the trappings of divination.  Noriko frowned, hugging her books against her chest, and then walked over, pausing alongside the girl's blanket to read her sign.

"You're charging for fortune-telling?" she asked the older girl uncertainly.  This was, she was almost sure, not the way they were supposed to use the divination skills that they learned in class.  One of their previous professors had had very stern things to say about charlatans who tricked Muggles into paying to have their future told.   

"I'm not charging the first five people who want their fortunes told," Winifred said to the Slytherin girl. "Just everyone after that. I'm a real seer, after all. Why in my third year I uttered half a prophecy in the library right in front of the old head of Slytherin- back when Morgan was the head of house. And a seer will repeat it until the prophecy comes out in full." Of course Winnie had no idea if she'd ever finished the prophecy or not. She didn't even remember the half one she gave.

"And I dream things a lot that happen and sometimes I just know things before they happen. Little things. I think that having someone with real, genuine, bonafide talent is worth a sickle to make sure that nothing bad is going to happen or to find a few tidbits about your future. Real seers charge a lot of money for that sometimes. I'm still honing my talent, though. But I am really good at it either way."

Winifred motioned to the various things on her blanket. "You want a future told?" Winifred asked. "I can do tarot, read tea leaves, read palms, check the crystal ball- all the normal stuff." Winifred pushed her bangs to the side. "Like I said- first five people are free. So you really have nothing to lose if you think about it. Except maybe some sleep at night if you're doomed."

A Seer!  Noriko regarded the Hufflepuff girl with much more respect.  She hadn't heard that there were any Seers at Hogwarts, but then, maybe they kept that sort of thing secret from the younger students.  If Librarian Professor Morgan had seen this girl make a prophecy, then maybe she really was a Seer.

Divination was one of Noriko's favorite subjects, even if she could never admit to it around Eirene.  She'd been interested in it ever since her parents had taken her and her siblings to visit their family in Japan the summer before she'd started at Hogwarts.  Noriko's elegant older cousin Toshiko was a diviner, following in their family tradition of making prophetic calendars and interpreting dreams.

The chance to have a real live Seer make a prophecy about her was too good to pass up.  Noriko glanced over her shoulder, just to make sure that Eirene and none of the other Ravenclaws were around to see, and then sidled closer.

"Well, if you don't mind practicing on me," she said, giving the older Hufflepuff student a smile.  "Maybe a Tarot reading?"  They'd started learning about Tarot in her divination class at the end of the prior school year, and Noriko had worked hard to memorize all the cards, but she still didn't feel like she was very good at it.  It would probably be helpful to see how a real Seer did a reading!

Winifred was excited to have her first person interested. She motioned to the blanket. "Sit down!" she encouraged- doing her best not to hold it against the other girl that she was a Slytherin. Picking up the deck of Tarot cards she handed it to Noriko. "I'm Winifred. I'm sorry- but I don't know your name. Take these and shuffle them. I'm just going to do a simple six card spread, and if something seems particularly interesting I can do another one."

After Noriko shuffled the cards, Winifred fanned them out in front of her. "Okay, choose six cards." She took them in the order they were chosen and spread them out on the blanket between them. "And think about all the things that have been bothering you or what you're afraid of- what you'd like to know. And consider whether or not what I see here matches anything that you're wanting to have answered about your life."

She let a very long, dramatic silence fall between them as she carefully considered each of the cards before her. Winnie knew that part of giving a reading was theatrics. "Okay. This first card is how you feel about yourself. This one represents strength. It shows that you've been facing some kind of challenge or difficulty in life, but that you truly feel as though you have the strength to overcome it and come out on top. Consequently if you need to give up any bad habits..." Winnie trailed off for a moment. All Slytherins had bad habits, she was sure of it. "Now would be the time. You know- things like lying or cheating, treating others poorly, or if for some reason you're doing something you shouldn't- like smoking or whatever. But I think you're too young for all of that."

"Do you have any questions about this one in particular?" Winnie asked her. "Or does that all make sense to you based on whatever is going on in your life after all?"

Sebastian stepped into the courtyard,  It was a  relaxing Sunday afternoon. He  was thinking of  flying on one of his brooms for a few to enjoy a few moments in the sky. He  was checking the weather when he heard  someone crying out "Get a peek into your future! Bonafide seer offering fortune-telling for those brave enough to seek out the possibilities! Master of the tarot, crystal ball, reading tea leaves, and reading palms!" He looked around and spotted a student setting up the tools of a seer and a a sign with prices. He frowned seeing these things. In Ireland he saw lots of people posing as seers claiming to tell the future.

 He saw them as a child before the first wizarding war and saw them while treating injured people during the second war as well. Taking money and giving nothing but lies. Families desperate for answers and getting nothing for the money they dished out. The thought of the same thing happening here at the school got his control tested. He took a few deep breaths, and started for the tree nearby to get close enough to listen in to see what she was truly doing before he made any decisions.

He watched as a student of his own house came close. He listened to her saying she was a true seer and had given prophecy here in the library to none other than the previous Head of Slytherin?! He would check on that himself  later. He made sure to stay out of sight and close enough to listen to everything that was going on.

"I'm Noriko," said Noriko.  She was pleased to be on a first-name basis with a sixth year girl, especially one who was a Seer.  Carefully spreading her skirt, she joined Winifred to sit on the blanket.  Taking the cards from her, she quickly began to shuffle them.

Tarot readings, she knew, were a powerful and personal form of divination.  Each of the cards had different meanings, and it was up to the diviner to interpret them and help make connections for the wix getting their fortune read.  She'd laid out Tarot card spreads a few times with a partner in class, but Noriko still didn't feel like she was very good at interpreting all of the possible cards and recognizing connections without checking her notes.  She was excited to see how a real Seer did it!

After she returned the shuffled deck to Winifred, the other girl fanned them out.  Noriko followed her instructions and chose six cards, passing them back to the Seer.  Excitedly, she leaned forward on her knees, peering down as the Hufflepuff Seer laid them out.

Finally, after a long moment of anticipation, Winifred started to talk.

The first card represented her.  Noriko remembered that from Divination class.  Strength?  She blinked, her brows knitting as she tried to think how it applied to her life.  What sorts of challenges or difficulties was she facing?  Well, there was always Taiki.  Having him as a brother -- and a brother in the same Hogwarts house, no less! -- definitely counted as a challenge.  She was glad that the reading suggested that she had the strength to overcome him.  Sometimes it felt as if he would always be her bane.

Bad habits, though -- that she wasn't as sure about.  She was usually nice to everyone, although maybe she had been bragging a little too much before the Ravenclaws about how Slytherin had won the House Cup.  Noriko gave a small nod, determined to put a stop to that.

She shook her head quickly at the Seer's first question.  "No.  I mean, yes," she corrected herself, turning a little red.  She didn't have questions, and it did make sense.  She pointed to the next card.  "What does that one mean?"