Why had not many come to visit her this term? She had been put into storage until this term and now that she was out, she wanted to see all the wonderful students. So why hadn't anyone come in? Students still had the gifts, they had to. It wasn't something that just disappeared and Sybill Trelawney was eager to see the younger generations work with her favorite forms.

Looking around the quiet room she saw the crystal balls on the shelves, maybe she'd ask the Professor to bring one over. Though she did have her portrait one, pushing up her glasses she gazed inside it.

Soooo...The Room of Serenity.

Adi like Divination but was utter rubbish at it. He still hadn't gotten over his surprise that he had been able to use a crystal to find his watch last term during the activity of the last lesson the previous term. Heh. He figured it was probably because he had been so intent on finding it, the crystal decided to listen to him.

But now was the perfect time to practice! The moment he stepped into the room, he noticed a woman in a portrait crystal gazing. Hmmm... was that a sign? Should he crystal gaze into nothingness too?

Maybe.

Moving past the portrait without a word since he did not want to disturb the occupant he got one of the crystal balls from the back before flopping down onto a cushion. First things first. Clear the mind. Adi took a few deep breaths and tried to shake away the many thoughts in his head before letting his look fall randomly on the ball.

And GAAAAAZE!

Nick wasn't happy about having to be here. This room exemplified everything he couldn't stand about Divination. All this 'trance' business and opening up one's mind and senses was too vague for him. Divination had always been difficult to grasp for him, due to its infuriating lack of structure. There was no way to quantify divination, no right or wrong technique that was better or worse than any other. It was all about getting into the right frame of mind, and succeeding or failing was based almost entirely on whether one had a natural affinity for the subject - at least, that's how Nicholas chose to see things.

'Another futile attempt to practice that which cannot be practiced.' he thought to himself as he stepped inside and scanned the room. Nearly deserted. Aside from a particularly active portrait, there was only one other student present. Of course, Nick would have preferred to practice by himself, as he found it rather embarrassing when others bore witness to his failure. He gave a polite wave and a near-silent "Hello." to the familiar boy. Aditya, the Hufflepuff prefect, if he wasn't mistaken. He'd seen him around before, but they'd never spoken. He was the sort of guy who had a lot of friends, and Nick had always been rather withdrawn. In all honesty, he found Adi's outgoing personality a little intimidating. Not that he'd ever admit that.

Adi wasn't having much progress. That was no surprising one bit given his lack of talent for the subject of Divination. He would be able to tell anyone about the theoretical aspect but give him something practical to do and expect failure.

He allowed his mind and eyes to wander. He caught sight of the portrait of the woman once more and the fifth year wondered if she was seeing anything in the crystal ball. "Probably,'' he answered his own question.

Sigh. Was it too late to back out of taking an OWL for this subject?

Out of the corner of his eyes, Adi noticed movement. Oh. It was another student. He didn't know him but the Puffer sent him a cheery wave. "Hello. Are you any good at crystal gazing?" Or anything in Divination for that matter? Adi would take all the help he could get.

Nick hadn't really expected to have his greeting returned at all, let alone so heartily. He'd already begun shuffling his way towards a table when he was asked a question. Am I good at Divination? he thought it over in his head for a short moment before turning to face the older student once more.
"I'm afraid, If I'm honest, that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing." he admitted frankly. As embarrassing as he found failure, it would be easier to swallow if he made no pretense of competence beforehand.

It seemed, however, that he and Adi were in the same boat. Nicholas didn't have the faintest idea how to 'open his mind' or 'look PAST the crystal', and it seemed that the older student wasn't very good with the practical aspect of Divination either. Why would he have asked if he knew what he was doing? This presented Nick with an opportunity to make a friend, something he rarely did these days.
Stepping over to Adi's table and sitting down, he extended an arm in a polite greeting, as he'd always been taught. A bad first impression could mean the difference between a life-long friend and a bitter enemy.

As she looked into the crystal ball she noticed a few students come into the room. Her focus changed the them as she listened to their conversation. "Hello my children are you here to cast yourself into the future?" Her hands moved above her head and back down to her sides as she talked. Pushing up her glasses she observed them both.

"You, do you have the inner eye?" pointing at one and then the other. She wanted to see what they were doing and what they were going to do. Could they be coming up with a prophecies or just a crystal ball session.

Adi looked understandingly at the guy. "I know what I'm supposed to be doing but apparently I'm not doing it right or it's not enough.'' He looked back at the crystal ball. "It's annoying not being able to see anything and I was just wondering if its too late to back out of taking the subject for OWL.'' Using the crystal at the end of last term had encouraged him but now he was getting discouraged again.

The fifth year reached out a hand to shake the guy's own. "Hi! I'm guessing you came to try to brush up on your Inner Eye.'' Hehe. Practice makes perfect, right? "I'm Adi, anyway.'' Just in case the guy didn't know his name.

Ohh! The woman in the Portrait had noticed them! "I hope we didn't disturb you. But yes, I'm here to get some practice with the crystal ball today.'' Adi noted that the woman had the same habit as he, pushing the glasses back in place. "I would be inclined to think I have not. That or all the crystal balls hate me.'' Maybe the woman had some tips on how he could better the little amount of Divination skills he had.

Cassie had been working all morning. She had been moving around the castle looking for Portraits that would help her. She had noticed them being extra awake lately and that was what brought her to the idea for the meeting. This was going to be super fun and just thinking about everything one could learn from these portraits that had been hanging for years in this castle.

As she walked back in she set up the portraits nicely in the front of the room. "There now you all can see perfectly." She snapped excitedly for the meeting to start. Looking towards the portrait that hung in the middle of the front wall, "Isn't this excited Sybil." The past Divination professor had been one of the extra talkative lately, she struggled to go into the room for just a quick moment without being there for a period of time chatting.

Once she had all the portraits set up, Cassie moved to make sure the snacks were ready. Some chips and cookies as well as tea and hot chocolate. Yes! Things were ready.

*beam*

SNAC Meeting!

Adi seriously hoped that this meeting was going to be just as exciting as the one when the students had 'met' Professor Cassie's grandfather. Okay, admittedly that was a bit creepy too but interesting never the less.

"Hello, Professor!'' Adi greeted the moment he stepped into the room and noticed the woman. And looky! Portraits! There were more around this time than the time he had been in here. "Hey, everyone.'' Was the meeting going to involve an activity with the portraits? Hmmm. Adi was very curious.

Hady had never attended one of the SNAC Meetings. This would be her first and she was excited and ready!

Making her way into the Room of Serenity she swept her gaze over all the portraits in interest. Would whatever they'd be doing have to do with the portraits? If so that would be pretty cool. Walking deeper into the room she smiled seeing Adi and Professor Morgan.

"Hello Professor, hello Adi!" Hady greeted warmly giving a wave to both in turn. Would more people be coming soon? She was curious to see who else was in this and what they'd be doing today.

Cassie never disappointed AJ in the food department, and she had proved herself with the whole spirit revelation so this lion was totes coming. In fact she wouldn't miss it for the world. Maybe that was a little too strong. Either way she was here.

AJ made her way into the room, and noticed there were only two other people other than the professor. Was she actually early? This legit never happened. "Hello, professor. Hey Adi and Hady." Smiles were given to each of them. Food had been spotted... not the actual portraits, but the food.

"Exactly my problem!" Nick agreed quickly. "I know what should be the right technique, but it just doesn't really work." He shrugged, defeated by the ambiguity of the instructions he'd received from his textbooks. What really infuriated Nick was the fact that according to all sources, he was doing it right, but still, it didn't work! What could he do differently? As far as he could tell, there was nothing he could do. The older boy appeared to be in a similar situation.

"You're taking an OWL in divination?" He asked to confirm. "I'm dreading having to choose, really. Divination is definitely not on my list of subjects where I want to test myself." In all honesty, he hadn't really given it much thought. He tried to avoid thinking of tests and exams, OWLs and NEWTs. It was all so scary, and he felt a the gaping maw in the pit of his stomach churn whenever he gave it any thought. Maybe that wasn't the right way of thinking about the inevitable, but it was the only way he could cope.
"Nicholas Kain." He introduced himself concisely and politely. Adi didn't seem like the fountain of divination knowledge he was hoping to find to help him, but he seemed confident enough that they could perhaps workshop their skills together. It was then that he noticed the portrait had addressed them!

"Well, we're trying to, anyway. As it turns out, casting oneself into the future isn't as easy as the textbooks make it sound." He shrugged apologetically at the lady in the portrait. He hung his head, as if she was his professor, disappointed in his performance. "We'd appreciate any help you could offer."

Janelle almost bounced into the Room of Serenity. She was in a very good mood and looking forward to the SNAC meeting.. Her sister had told her some of the cool stuff they'd done last year and she was anticipating much fun.

"Hello Professor", Janelle said, happily greeting Professor Cassie. Oh and friends were here too. "Hi Adi, hi Hady. She giggled 'cause she was a first year and that rhyming thing was still funny to her. "Hi everyone else", Janelle said. She didn't want to leave anyone out.

Janelle found a seat, sat down and made herself comfortable. She was ready to get started, but where was everyone? There had to be more people than this in SNAC.

It was time for another SNAC meeting, and Lux knew that she would enjoy it as long as no talking with the dead was involved. That had seriously creeped her out even if Professor Cassie's grandfather seemed pretty nice.

OOOH, PORTRAITS!!

Having no idea what they had to do with Divination, she waved to Adi, Hady, AJ "Hey, guys! Hello, Professor Cassie." Taking a seat she waited for more people to arrive.

The portraits that had been sat in the front of the room were all chatting among themselves as the students started coming into the room. They were very excited to see the members of this SNAC club that Professor Morgan had spoke to them about. Helping with the school and the students learning was all in their highest interest.

Edgar Stroulger, Sybill Trelawney, Emeric Switch, and Greta Catchlove started to wave and welcome everyone that passed through the door.




Sybill was very interested in the boys, they were trying to get to the beyond. It warmed her heart to see them doing. “No my dear boy, you haven’t disturbed me.” She had just been looking at her own crystal ball. “Crystal balls do not hate, you just have to have the gift.” She sensed that they might have it, but that one might not.

Looking at the other boy she peered down at his ball, “You must release your mind, awaken the inner eye and become one with the Crystal ball.” Pushing up her glasses she moved her hands over her own crystal ball and looked inside. “You can unlock past secrets, help predict the future, and see what is needed once you have opened your mind and your eye.”

Now more people were showing up and that made the second year relax a bit and smile more. The more the better right? As Janelle, Lux, and AJ arrived she gave them all a wave while returning the 'hellos' she received from them in turn. It was nice seeing many faces she knew.

After some hellos were given Hady ventured further into the room to look at which portraits were there. Oh look they were greeting the kids as well! Grinning a little it she walked over and waved to each of the portraits. "Hello!" She greeted warmly to them all. Would they get to talk to the portraits today? Maybe they'd learn something interesting.

YAY! Members were coming in and Cassie always got excited. She looked to the portraits that seemed to be feeling the same excitement. No need for soft music or huge focus on the inner eye today, no she knew that the excitement around the room was going to be better than calm would be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

SNAC Meeting!

Adi seriously hoped that this meeting was going to be just as exciting as the one when the students had 'met' Professor Cassie's grandfather. Okay, admittedly that was a bit creepy too but interesting never the less.

"Hello, Professor!'' Adi greeted the moment he stepped into the room and noticed the woman. And looky! Portraits! There were more around this time than the time he had been in here. "Hey, everyone.'' Was the meeting going to involve an activity with the portraits? Hmmm. Adi was very curious.

"Adi, hello, how are you today?" So good to see the Hufflepuff prefect coming into the room. "Feel free to grab a snack or a drink. I have hot chocolate and tea." They would get started once the rest had come in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

Hady had never attended one of the SNAC Meetings. This would be her first and she was excited and ready!

Making her way into the Room of Serenity she swept her gaze over all the portraits in interest. Would whatever they'd be doing have to do with the portraits? If so that would be pretty cool. Walking deeper into the room she smiled seeing Adi and Professor Morgan.

"Hello Professor, hello Adi!" Hady greeted warmly giving a wave to both in turn. Would more people be coming soon? She was curious to see who else was in this and what they'd be doing today.

Another student was coming in and Cassie beamed, "Hello, how are you today!" Glancing back at the portraits she chuckled, they seemed so excited. Oh this was going to be a fun day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

Cassie never disappointed AJ in the food department, and she had proved herself with the whole spirit revelation so this lion was totes coming. In fact she wouldn't miss it for the world. Maybe that was a little too strong. Either way she was here.

AJ made her way into the room, and noticed there were only two other people other than the professor. Was she actually early? This legit never happened. "Hello, professor. Hey Adi and Hady." Smiles were given to each of them. Food had been spotted... not the actual portraits, but the food.

"Aj, welcome, Hello" She snapped happily. Not many seemed to be coming in quickly, but no matter she was sure all her little SNACinators would be here soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Janelle almost bounced into the Room of Serenity. She was in a very good mood and looking forward to the SNAC meeting.. Her sister had told her some of the cool stuff they'd done last year and she was anticipating much fun.

"Hello Professor", Janelle said, happily greeting Professor Cassie. Oh and friends were here too. "Hi Adi, hi Hady. She giggled 'cause she was a first year and that rhyming thing was still funny to her. "Hi everyone else", Janelle said. She didn't want to leave anyone out.

Janelle found a seat, sat down and made herself comfortable. She was ready to get started, but where was everyone? There had to be more people than this in SNAC.

Another member, oh YAY! "Hello, welcome. Have some snacks we will be starting very soon." Hearing the portraits chatting about each student as they came in Cassie gave them a look. They weren't being mean, but patience would be nice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

It was time for another SNAC meeting, and Lux knew that she would enjoy it as long as no talking with the dead was involved. That had seriously creeped her out even if Professor Cassie's grandfather seemed pretty nice.

OOOH, PORTRAITS!!

Having no idea what they had to do with Divination, she waved to Adi, Hady, AJ "Hey, guys! Hello, Professor Cassie." Taking a seat she waited for more people to arrive.

Another member and Cassie snapped to welcome them, "Hello, welcome Lux. Have some snacks we'll be starting very soon!" She pointed to the little table with the cookies and brownies.


Giving a few more moments she decided it was time to start. If other members came in late that would be alright, but for now the members that were here were the ones that were ready to start. "Hello everyone! We are going to get started. I don't know if any of you have noticed, but we have some special guest here today. I've been noticing a change in the portraits around the school. They seem to want to talk a bit more, so I thought this might be a great way to learn more about them, about the school, and do a bit of divination." She snapped and smiled!

"Now the form of Divination that we will be doing today in our meeting is oculomancy, can anyone tell me what that is and why the portraits could be used for it." It didn't have to be used on portraits, but why not use it when you could.

Janelle was busy listening to the portrait people's chatter. She decided to take the Professor's advice and grab some snacks. It was just in time too because as she returned to her seat, the meeting was called to order.

Oculomancy, Janelle knew what that was.......kind of. She didn't know a whole lot about it, but she was going to take a stab at answering the question. Janelle raised her hand and waited for Professor Cassie to call on her. "Oculomancy is telling things about a person by looking at their eyes.". That was a very simple answer. There was a lot more detail to it, but that was her explanation in a nutshell. "I guess we can read the eyes of the people in the portraits and try to figure things out about them"

Hot chocolate? Adi wouldn’t hesitate to help himself to a cup of that. “Thanks, Professor. And I’m great, thanks for asking.’’ He got himself some of the deliciousness before flopping down on a cushion to wait for the others. Soon they started trickling in. Hady, AJ, Janelle and Lux all got ‘hellos’ when they arrived.

Yep, Adi had certainly noticed the portraits. They were always so fun to interact with and he was pleased to finally understand why so many of them were there today. The fifth year raised a hand. “Oculomancy is where the eyes and reflections in them are studied to learn more about that person. So, I think that’s what we’ll be doing with the portraits.’’




“Looks like we have something in common then,’’ Adi said cheerfully despite the frustration the situation put him in. “I realised I’m rubbish at the subject the moment I started taking the subject here. Oddly enough, I think crystal ball gazing was the first Divination object I was introduced to.’’ Thinking back to that year when he was a weeeeee tiny firstie, the year those Durmstrang and Beauxbations students visited, he remembered sitting in the classroom with a ball before him.

“Yeah, I am. I wasn’t sure if to go ahead with it but at the end of last term I had a bit of luck using a piece of crystal to find one of my belongings. It gave me encouragement really but now I’m just not getting the feeling to go ahead with it anymore. “ Which was disappointing since Adi was actually enjoying the subject. “Nice to meet you, Nicholas. Can I call you Nick? Or Nicky?” Hehe. Nicknames and Adi were a must.

Nicholas seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Adi. Yes, he’d hang on to any tip and never let go of it! He listened to the portrait of the lady, glad that they weren’t disturbing her. “I’ve tried that,’’ he said honestly. “But it’s always the same disappointment. Maybe I’m just not er… releasing my mind enough?” The Hufflepuff could certainly try that again.

Lux did not need to be told twice to have a snack. Rubbing her hands together happily, she settled in to enjoy the amazing food Professor Cassie provided as well as a nice cup of tea. Yummy.

After swallowing her cookie, she raised her hand to answer the first question. It was a good thing that she had read up on Divination, because she actually knew the topic this time."Oculomency studies the eyes in order to learn about a person. Are we going to practice it in the portraits?"

"I've never been any good at it at all."
Nicholas found Adi's honesty refreshing, and although the older boy admittedly didn't have much experience or faith in his divining ability, he had at the very least managed to doSOMETHING. In his four years at Hogwarts, Nicholas Kain had never managed to conjure up even the slightest hint of a vision, nor had he ever gotten a glimpse of the past or future. While the other students in Divination class were busy peering into eternity, opening their minds to the ebb and flow of time itself, Nicholas just sat there and stared at a Crystal ball. Empty, meaningless, colorless crystal. That's all he'd ever seen, and as far as he was concerned, that was probably all he'd ever see. Needless to say, he wasn't expecting today's exercise to go very well at all.

"At least you've managed to get into the right mindset once in your life. When it comes to divination, I may as well be a Squib." He sighed, defeated. He looked up at the older boy with a malformed smirk on his face as he suggested 'Nicky' and shook his head. "My father would kill me if he caught me actually encouraging nicknames, so if he's ever around, don't let him hear you calling me anything but Nicholas... But Nick is good." He smiled.

The portrait was helping them! This was good, as they'd need all the help they could get. Her advice, however, wasn't of much use to Nicholas. He had lost count of the numerous times a divination teacher had instructed him to 'Release his mind' or 'Open his inner eye', and then seemingly taken offense when he asked how. 'Just do it!' They'd told him. In all honesty, by this point, he was afraid to ask.

Still, he wasn't going to get anywhere if he didn't.
"How exactly.. do I open my inner eye?"

Hady smiled brightly, she was in a wonderful mood today. "Oh I'm great Professor thanks." After her warm greeting she made her way to the snack table helping herself to a nice warm mug of hot cocoa. That stuff was lovely on a chilly day inside.

Gathering the warm mug in her hands and taking a small sip she sighed contently. Her attention soon shifting towards Professor Morgan and the portraits as they were mentioned.

Oculomency hmm?

That sounded interesting. The second year kept quiet while her fellow classmates answered the question. No need to repeat what they all had already said. Learning to read people through their eyes sounds rather fun. How did it work though?

All the portraits were excited to see the student. Well most of them at least. Edgar looked at the a little suspiciously, but he always seemed to look at everyone in that way.


Hello everyone, so excited to see you all."[/b] Greta was excited, she hadn't been in the corridors since they closed up her passage way. Such a lovely password it was to use too. Cheese Charmer was always her favorite.

Emric looked out at the members of this little club the professor told them about, "Good day to you all." She was always up for helping the students, she just wished it wasn't Divination she was helping with.

Sybill stood in her portrait and put her hands up, "Welcome my dear children. It is lovely to be in your prescience. I feel that many you have the gift." She listened to Professor Morgan begin and nodded as the students answered. It had been a long time since she did that form of Divination.




She listened to the boys and tutted with her mouth as they both seemed discouraged and not fully focused. "My dear boys, you need to calm your mind and open it up to the inner eye's awakening. Focusing on your discourage will only keep it closed." Looking back into her own ball she ran her hands over it a few times. "I see.. I see success in your future. I see the eye opening."

Hearing the next question she looked at the Ravenclaw, "You need to focus and stay calm. You need to let the gift awaken inside of you."

All of them were answering so well. It was no wonder they were her SNACinators. She snapped excitedly! "Very good, Oculomency is the study of the eyes. We of course would use this on individuals, but we can use it on the portraits. My friends here have agreed to talk with you so that you can study their eyes and determine what's going on through Oculomency. Now some of the portraits might be harder to determine what their eye color is, if you ask them they will tell you." She looked around at the portraits and the members.

"Now I'm going to let you go and explore, discuss, and enjoy the portraits. Grab snacks and have some fun. Meetings are not classes, so no need for the formalities that we use. I just want you to enjoy doing this and seeing what we find. While you are doing this take the opportunity to learn from the past as well. These portraits have plenty of stories to tell."

She snapped happily, "Books are up front if you need them."