Outfit

Winifred had carried her beanbag down stairs- the crystal ball nestled securely in it. She had carried the small blue table down already. Reaching the table, she set the bean bag down and set up her crystal ball on top of the table. Winifred had realized in the past couple of weeks that she was a seer. She had made some comments to her friends that had come true, and had dreamed a couple of things that seemed to have come true as well. So it was all very exciting.

And because Winifred was now gifted in the art of divination, she had decided to give free readings of people's futures in the entrance hall as people came in and out of the castle. "Come and see the great Madam Oliver!" she called out. "She can tell your future and answer your questions about your deepest, darkest fears and secrets!" She rubbed the crystal ball a lot and beckoned people to come near her.

Pax was just meandering into the Entrance Hall with the intent of going outside for a bit to clear his head before the inevitable return to studying (and possibly poring over a D&D rulebook or two, if he had time) when his attention was caught by something other than the Scottish weather's unconvincing attempt at spring.

Winifred Oliver, of course, had a habit of catching attention. Pax found that people who stood out were more often than not a little scary-- but just as equally interesting. And given one of the things that fascinated Pax most in the world was Divination, the combination of Winifred and foretelling the future was just too much for the first-year to just ignore. He veered towards his house-mate in what he hoped was a nonchalant fashion. (It wasn't.)

'What's this about, Winifred?' he asked tentatively. Could she really see the future? She did have a tendency to exaggerate a little, but if she really could, well, how cool would that be? 'Is, is this like a project for Divination class or something?' He peered curiously at the crystal ball, wondering if he might be able to catch sight of anything in it. He'd always wanted a crystal ball, but his parents had been somewhat dubious about getting him one, at least until he knew how to use it.

Unlike some of the other students ignoring the spectacle in the Entrance Hall, Eirene stopped to stare at the strange sight, tempted to tell Winifred that she wasn't allowed to set up her Divination stand there. She should have reserved a classroom! Or displayed a signed permission slip from a professor.

Letting out a huff, Eirene maneuvered through the crowd, only to see Pax reach the table first. She faltered, listening to his questions, and then assuming he felt as skeptical about this as she did.

"My mother says Divination is silly," Eirene piped up with that oh so helpful comment, hovering next to Pax.

Winifred smiled at Pax whenever he approached. "I have recently discovered that I have the ability to see the future," she announced proudly to him. "I keep having dreams that come true and have made multiple predictions!" And by predicitons Winifred really meant that she had guessed something that anybody could probably guess- but that didn't matter. She was now The Great Seeing Winifred. How proud her family would be!

"Not a project for Divination," she assured Pax. Her attentions were diverted from him when another first year approached. She quickly announced that her mother said that Divination was silly. Her own mother said the same thing sometimes- but that didn't matter. Divination was real, Winifred had learned this first hand now!

She hovered over her crystal ball, muttering in a language she made up, glancing at Eirene as she did so. "I see darkness in your future," she stated. "I see that someone you consider to be a close friend will stop speaking to you... forever." Winifred gazed into the crystal ball again. "And also, the new Transifguration professor will never like you, and you will fail your next in her class." Winifred looked up again, still rubbing the crystal ball. "You'll see how silly divination is when those things happen."

Pax was visibly stung at Eirene's remark about Divination. Of course, they hadn't really talked about the subject before, so she wasn't to know how keen on it he was anymore than he was to know her mother's sceptical viewpoint. So he did try not to look hurt. It wasn't a personal slight, at any rate. Although Winifred didn't seem to take very well to it either; somewhat more understandable since she was, well, setting up to tell people's fortunes.

'U-um.' Pax blurted out, not remembering to take the time for form a coherent reaction to Winifred's predictions about Eirene. 'Um. Um. I don't know if-- that--' He looked frantically from Winifred to Eirene, hoping Winifred wasn't serious. Although, even if she wasn't, those weren't things he'd especially recommend joking about. Eirene had already gone through falling out with Noriko (before the two of them had made up), and as for failing a class... It just wasn't the kind of possibility you suggested to a Ravenclaw, least of all Eirene Antonopoulos.

'Y-you don't really see all that in there, do you Winnie?' Pax wheedled hopefully, squinting at the crystal ball. 'I mean, it, it takes a bit longer to scry in the crystal ball usually, doesn't it? And, and, I'm sure Eirene doesn't really think Divination is silly, that's just her mum's opinion.' Pax gave a brief glance in Eirene's direction that was trying desperately to not look like the expression of someone who wants their own values validated by the approval of a friend. 'Some people don't really, y'know, get Divination, because they think it's all guessing, but... Winnie, are...' Pax lowered his voice a little. 'Are you actually a Seer? Like, with a capital S?'

Eirene raised her eyebrows at Winnie when she peered into the crystal ball, still skeptical but admittedly curious to hear what she'd predict. She glanced at Pax, confused by his hurt look, and moved closer to the Divination stand.

Darkness! A friend would stop talking to her? Forever? And her Transfiguration professor wouldn't like her? Forever? And she'd fail?! Nooooooo!

Her eyes bugged out of her head as her mouth opened, struggling to form words. Pax rambled nervously, but Eirene barely heard it, only picking out a few bits and pieces. Once he'd asked whether Winnie was actually a seer, Eirene found her voice and let out a loud huff.

"No, she's not! It's silly!" Eirene put her hands on her hips and frowned at the third-year, her stern expression made less effective by the slight wobble in her chin. "My mother says it is the most ridiculous and useless subject, and she knows what she's talking about, so I believe her, and everyone else should too!" She announced, looking at Pax for support.

Rarely far behind when Winnie had a master plan, Ambrose lurked just behind her shoulder, watching Eirene.

"Are you calling Winnie a liar, Eirene?" He asked accusingly, folding his arms and looking down his nose at her in a most odd way that was unlike his usual less than self assured way. Still, he was loyal to his friends and calling Winnie a hoax wasn't very kind. Winnie wouldn't make stuff up, she just wouldn't!

"Winnie's predicted stuff that came true." Ambrose claimed, believing hook, line and sinker everything Oliver said anyhow.

Winifred smirked at Eiren when she could see that her prediction seemed to bother the first year. "I don't give a tinker's toot what your mother thinks-" she said to Eirene. "Because she is wrong. If Divination was a bunch of crap then they wouldn't teach it! Your mom is probably just bad at it. She probably doesn't have the gift so that's why she thinks it is really dumb."

"And yes, Pax, I really do see all of that. Maybe if she wasn't such a very mean first year then she wouldn't have to worry about whether or not one of her friend's would stop talking to her." Winifred stuck her tongue out at Eirene, then smiled brightly at Ambrose when he defended her ability to see the future.

"Yeah- you tell 'em Ambrose! Tell them all about the things that I predicted for you that came true!" Winnie predicted a lot of stuff. After she figured out that she might have a gift (which meant she'd babbled about things that happened and had a few dreams that seemed a little too coincidental) Winnie had started  telling her friends all kinds of things she had seen in her "visions". (Guesses, really.)

"What a load of hogswash!" came Bilius's voice, rolling in sarcastic tones through the crowd. The small boy shouldered his way through the group, smirking smugly at Winnie as he laughed.

"Tricking the firsties out of their knuts now, Oliver?" He asked imperiously, his large nose in the air - or at least as high as he could manage. "Thought you were above petty trickery. Gonna start predicting sexual orientation next? That'll be a laugh."

He sneered so throughly it should have been audible, looking her outfit up and down.

"Well, she predicted I'd have some chicken soup at lunch last Tuesday," Ambrose began, thinking back, "That I'd get called to read the book aloud to everyone in transfiguration and later that day I was… unfortunately… that I'd oversleep on Friday morning and miss breakfast,"

Ambrose had been late to sleep the night before given their astronomy lesson, because he'd been trying to finish off his transfiguration homework which he'd forgotten.

"… so she's predicted loads of things, and they've all come true!" Ambrose claimed rather forcefully, folding his arms and leering down at Billy. The confidence would wane in seconds.