The first day of classes dawned crisp and grey, a thin veil of fog curling around the castle's towers like a waking serpent.
Cassius adjusted his bag over one shoulder, moving through the bustle of students with Hermione and Daphne flanking him—the calm eye of a very noisy storm.
Timetables were clutched, traded, argued over.
First-years ran in literal circles.
Upper-years sprinted like condemned prisoners being chased by an executioner.
But the three of them walked with practiced confidence.
Ancient Runes occupied their first slot.
Divination occupied the same slot.
Normally, this was where a normal student would have to choose.
But they had something the others didn't.
Something glowing faintly beneath their robes.
And for these three this was their second time going through this hustle and bustle as they climbed the tower to reach divinations
For Cassius his first class of the day Ancient Runes was effectively a blowoff class, he had afterall, already passed the O.W.L exam which covered information up to the 5th year, but even still his participation in the classes was required to give him the right to participate in the 6th year class leading the the N.E.W.T exam.
~
Earlier that day.
They slipped into the girls bathroom on the 3rd floor.
This same bathroom was where Moaning Myrtle was housed, though seeing the now 13 year old Cassius who was growing up into a fine young man, well Myrtle seemed to be moaning for a different reason now...
Stepping into individual stall the three pulled out their time turners.
"Three full rotations," Cassius confirmed.
He pulled his own Time-Turner out, feeling the faint hum of temporal magic vibrating through the chain.
Hermione swallowed, equal parts terror and giddy awe. "Alright… on three."
Cassius smirked. "One."
Daphne raised a brow. "Of course you'd start early."
Cassius turned the hourglass.
Reality shimmered.
And the world snapped backward.
~
Three Hours Earlier — The Divination Stairwell
As the world solidified again, the three found themselves standing exactly where they had been previously only the suns light was still low in the sky, rather than already approaching midday.
Hermione staggered slightly. "Oh—oh Merlin—that's going to take some getting used to."
"Just wait till you get to try apparation" Daphne mused at her muggleborn friends discomfort over the use of Temporal magic.
Cassius adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves.
"let's get a move on, we need to chart our course properly so we dont get seen by those who have already seen us."
The two nodded, but the struggle was less real than they expected when Cassius waved his wand and a disillusionment charm covered all three of them allowing for easy travel from point A to point B without being sighted.
~
The Divination classroom was a suffocating haze of incense and thick velvet curtains, the air warm enough to wilt flowers.
Steaming tea pots rested on all of the tables with waiting cups to receive the brewing liquid.
Soft chimes tinkled every time someone breathed.
Professor Sybill Trelawney materialized from the shadows like a moth in human form—silks drifting, glasses enormous, expression distant.
"Ahhh…" she sighed dramatically, raising long fingers. "I sense… newcomers with great burdens."
Cassius resisted the urge to sigh.
Hermione sat ramrod straight.
Daphne looked around, unimpressed.
"Today," Trelawney declared, "we begin with tea leaves. The Inner Eye will reveal what is hidden… to those who are willing to see."
Cassius wanted to doubt that, but his system screen had updated to reflect that merely attending the class had already gifted him with Level 0 Divination.
Quickly refocusing some of his idle training selves away from their current studies and onto divination to help the subject quickly flourish in his hands.
For now he would simply drink his tea in the calm tranquil environment as he awaited his Inner eye awakening though that might not happen until they reached the point of using crystal balls later in the year.
~
The class itself passed by in a flash as most of the time was left to self-study or just cafe level conversation as the students drank down their prepared cups of leaf in tea.
The tea was drunk bit by bit.
Allowing the leaves to settle.
Trelawney drifted from table to table, her voice thick and dreamy.
As the students hastily dove into their books cross referencing what they saw in the person opposite thems Rorschach test.
Hermione, to her credit, was doing far better than her original timeline self.
House Draconis had widened her mind, increased her flexibility.
She didn't sneer or scoff—she evaluated, deduced, and applied logic even here.
Daphne watched her cup with mild curiosity.
Awaiting to see what her own cup provided as her future, then she looked into Cassius's cup that was cradled in her hands.
And froze.
"Cassius…" she whispered.
Hermione leaned over.
"What is—oh."
The tea leaves at the bottom of Cassius's cup were arranged with impossible clarity.
Not random.
Not vague.
Not metaphorical.
Literally no room for interpretation, it simply just... was.
At the bottom of his cup, an impossible, geometrically flawless five-pointed star.
Trelawney noticed the shift in the air and swooped in like a vulture sensing a corpse.
"My dear boy," she breathed, peering through her massive lenses. "Your aura shines brighter than dragonflame—your future…"
She squinted.
Her breath caught.
"…oh my."
Hermione whispered, "A star means… fortune. Triumph. Joy."
Daphne added softly, "Success in every endeavor."
Cassius simply shrugged. "Well. That's convenient."
Trelawney looked ready to faint. "This—this is unprecedented! A star so clear indicates a life shaped by destiny itself!"
Before she could continue her dramatics, a choked sound came from across the room.
Harry Potter sat pale and trembling, staring into his cup with dawning horror.
Ron Weasley leaned over him.
"...Sorry mate"
Trelawney loomed behind them.
"What is it you saw?"
"Well" Ron began taking the cup back to point it out. " That there is a sort of wonky cross, meaning trials and suffering, meanwhile that there could be the sun, so he's going to suffer but he's going to be happy about it?"
"Oh? That's fine, quite a common thing in this class my dear, give me the cup?"
Trelawny wasnt lying in almost all cases she would predict the death or grim end of a student every year in this class, and the most common way to pass was to just make things up while having a grim or finality to your prediction.
"Oh, AHHHHH!" However when she was handed harry's cup after a simple clance she slammed the cup down enough to crack it. "You have the Grim."
"Whats the Grin?" A boy in the back called out.
"Not the Grin, you idiot, the grim." Another admonished his sleeping friend who misheard.
"Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it's among the darkest omens in our world... An omen of death."
Harry went rigid hearing the fully explanation being spelt out for him.
Ron looked like he was about to vomit another school year was cursed.
Half the class gasped.
Cassius calmly sipped on another cup of tea.
It tasted pleasantly herbal with a hint of bright future.