Tea Leaves and Memories
AULIS VOROZHEYKIN.
KOLDOVSTORETZ. DIRECTOR OF STUDIES.
Russian. | English.
Spoken. | Thought.
With this year's Hogwarts spring ball - the Wonderland Waltz, they'd nicknamed it, satisfying some strange English magl fairy-tale obsession on the part of the organisers, Aulis was sure - rapidly approaching, the director of studies at Koldovstoretz was in dire need of a reading. Despite his lack of the Sight, Aulis was actually not a bad diviner in the slightest, having studied it for years at school and then practiced it for a while and then taught it for even longer back where he had once been a student. The tarot cards he often carried with him, flourishing about for dramatic effect, were not just for show - he could interpret a spread quite effectively, and even crystal balls and tea leaves weren't bad, though they certainly weren't his favourites. It was hard to be impressive or flamboyant when you were staring at a lump of soggy grinds at the bottom of a cup.
Still, he was certain that utilising as many divinatory methods as possible to glean some information about tomorrow's ball would be most helpful. The events at this school were almost always dangerous, for one reason or another - and though Aulis had recently hosted his own flawless international gathering to show the other schools how it was done, he had no trust or faith in the Scottish school system and their ability to follow his impeccable example. Thus came the need to prepare as much as he could before the morrow, and for Aulis, that meant sneaking into the divination tower.
He was sure it would have been just as fine to hunt down the divination professor, whoever that may have been, and ask them for permission, but that also meant more time and effort. The former Div professor himself could have also just used his cabin, but an unfortunate (if attractive) houseguest - @Santiago Peralta - meant that his usual solo space was a bit more crowded than usual. Plus, the tower would have all the fixings for a full reading - tea, crystal, tarot, fire, bones, sticks, whatever you could name. And, luckily for Aulis, the tower was unlocked. (Or maybe he'd had to cast a sly, wandless "Alohomora". He couldn't remember, and he would certainly protest that it had been unlocked and the ladder unfurled when he had come to climb up into the classroom, if he were to be caught.)
First came his favourite - tarot, at a centre table in the intensely incense-scented and shrouded, draped tower room. Aulis gave his own deck a good shuffle, then split it in two. He had first brewed a good cup of strong black tea from what seemed to be the unknown home professor's private stores - if they didn't want their tea drank, perhaps they shouldn't have kept it in this classroom - and he sipped at it as he shuffled, wishing that he had thought to stop by the kitchens to grab some cream from the friendly house-elves there.
Aulis pulled three cards, then turned them over one by one as he took a mouthful of dark, bitter dregs; not needing any ostentatious dialogue to accompany his reading, since he was just doing it for himself, his mind raced to interpret what he saw.
Tower, reversed. Disaster avoided, perhaps - or at least delayed. If something was to go wrong at tomorrow's ball, it wouldn't be immediate.
Five of wands. Competition and conflict. Aulis knew that there was a sort of "royalty" election occurring tomorrow at the ball, for some of his students had gossiped about it, though he was quite sure none had entered themselves into the contest.
Eight of wands. Snap decisions and quick movements. If something did happen, it wouldn't be a slow burn, but rather something that happened in the blink of an eye.
The wands suit was also associated with fire, an idea that was not lost on the Director as he had pulled two of them in a row. Would the ball catch aflame, perhaps? He made a mental note to review any dry leaves or open flames when he arrived tomorrow.
Aulis took a last sip of his tea and looked down at the leaves, turning and tilting his head from side to side in an attempt to read the shapes within. Unfortunately, he was not so skilled at this as he was with tarot, and the Russian was so engrossed in his interpretation that he wouldn't hear anyone else enter.
Still, he was certain that utilising as many divinatory methods as possible to glean some information about tomorrow's ball would be most helpful. The events at this school were almost always dangerous, for one reason or another - and though Aulis had recently hosted his own flawless international gathering to show the other schools how it was done, he had no trust or faith in the Scottish school system and their ability to follow his impeccable example. Thus came the need to prepare as much as he could before the morrow, and for Aulis, that meant sneaking into the divination tower.
He was sure it would have been just as fine to hunt down the divination professor, whoever that may have been, and ask them for permission, but that also meant more time and effort. The former Div professor himself could have also just used his cabin, but an unfortunate (if attractive) houseguest - @Santiago Peralta - meant that his usual solo space was a bit more crowded than usual. Plus, the tower would have all the fixings for a full reading - tea, crystal, tarot, fire, bones, sticks, whatever you could name. And, luckily for Aulis, the tower was unlocked. (Or maybe he'd had to cast a sly, wandless "Alohomora". He couldn't remember, and he would certainly protest that it had been unlocked and the ladder unfurled when he had come to climb up into the classroom, if he were to be caught.)
First came his favourite - tarot, at a centre table in the intensely incense-scented and shrouded, draped tower room. Aulis gave his own deck a good shuffle, then split it in two. He had first brewed a good cup of strong black tea from what seemed to be the unknown home professor's private stores - if they didn't want their tea drank, perhaps they shouldn't have kept it in this classroom - and he sipped at it as he shuffled, wishing that he had thought to stop by the kitchens to grab some cream from the friendly house-elves there.
Aulis pulled three cards, then turned them over one by one as he took a mouthful of dark, bitter dregs; not needing any ostentatious dialogue to accompany his reading, since he was just doing it for himself, his mind raced to interpret what he saw.
Tower, reversed. Disaster avoided, perhaps - or at least delayed. If something was to go wrong at tomorrow's ball, it wouldn't be immediate.
Five of wands. Competition and conflict. Aulis knew that there was a sort of "royalty" election occurring tomorrow at the ball, for some of his students had gossiped about it, though he was quite sure none had entered themselves into the contest.
Eight of wands. Snap decisions and quick movements. If something did happen, it wouldn't be a slow burn, but rather something that happened in the blink of an eye.
The wands suit was also associated with fire, an idea that was not lost on the Director as he had pulled two of them in a row. Would the ball catch aflame, perhaps? He made a mental note to review any dry leaves or open flames when he arrived tomorrow.
Aulis took a last sip of his tea and looked down at the leaves, turning and tilting his head from side to side in an attempt to read the shapes within. Unfortunately, he was not so skilled at this as he was with tarot, and the Russian was so engrossed in his interpretation that he wouldn't hear anyone else enter.
|| DATE. 18th Apr. 2026 | LOCATION. Divination Tower, Hogwarts, SCT | OUTFIT. see banner | WORD COUNT. 736/200 ||
|| KEEN EYE | PERFECTIONIST II | CHARMER | NONVERBAL MAGIC | WANDLESS MAGIC | LEGILIMENS | OCCLUMENS ||
@Desislava Nenovsky
|| KEEN EYE | PERFECTIONIST II | CHARMER | NONVERBAL MAGIC | WANDLESS MAGIC | LEGILIMENS | OCCLUMENS ||
@Desislava Nenovsky
Tea Leaves and Memories
 
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The Seer of the Sea