Rating:
G
House:
Riddikulus
Characters:
Other Magical Creature Sibyll Trelawney
Genres:
Humor Wizarding Society
Era:
The Harry Potter at Hogwarts Years
Spoilers:
Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Half-Blood Prince
Stats:
Published: 06/27/2007
Updated: 06/27/2007
Words: 1,009
Chapters: 1
Hits: 224

Cassandra in Chains

SomeGuyFawkes

Story Summary:
The Harry Potter universe has many examples of the false economy of isolating and imprisoning decent people "for their own good". Sibyll Trelawney is a case in point. What if she was a valuable resource that was squandered by Dumbledore?

Chapter 01

Posted:
06/27/2007
Hits:
224
Author's Note:
The compulsion charm on Trelawney has been discussed much. Meteoricshipyards' story "Luna's Hubby", http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2919503/1/ , gives a good treatment of this idea.


Squeegee appeared in his usual corner with a soft pop. He noted, with pride, that that was his quietest apparition yet. Alas, it was not quiet enough.

"I knew you wa come," said the dreaded voice, slurring badly. The speaker was in a recliner over by the fireplace. She was a thin woman with bushy reddish-brown hair and enormous "coke bottle" glasses. Her glasses perched crookedly about halfway down her nose, her face was flushed, and her arm swayed clumsily near an empty sherry bottle on the stand next to her chair.

This was Professor Sibyll Trelawney and these were her quarters. As the junior elf at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Squeegee was assigned to look after her. More senior elves got the more pleasant tasks.

Squeegee shuddered. "Yes, miss," he said. "Squeegee comes every night about this time." Usually Professor Trelawney was asleep when the elf arrived to clean up. He always came as late as possible in hopes that she would be.

"Saw... has foreseen... Jus lie ya houssse. The boy knew buh tole me to STAY THERE!" Trelawney was babbling.

It sounded to Squeegee like she might remind him again of the horrible night, years ago, when his previous masters were killed and their manor destroyed. She was the only teacher, or creature for that matter, at Hogwarts that ever reminded him of that. She claimed to have predicted it! Of course, she had also predicted Squeegee's death on countless occasions and, thankfully, had not been right yet.

Squeegee knew he shouldn't but he hated working in the north tower. The sole classroom was not too bad but the teacher, Professor Trelawney, hardly belonged at Hogwarts in his opinion. She was drunk almost every evening and always predicted terrible things. On Squeegee's first day at Hogwarts, she had proclaimed, in sincere anguish, that a nundu would soon follow him into the kitchens! Despite Master Dumbledore's assurances, Squeegee had been a nervous wreck for a fortnight.

Squeegee's dreams were never quite refreshing after Master Gideon's murder. But, since meeting "Miss Sibyll", they had been plagued with: fangs, rusty blades, jagged cliffs, and glowing yellow or red eyes. Squeegee now cringed at the sight of dusty glass reflections, or haphazard piles of chicken bones, or anything that sounded like moving cards. He would never drink tea again. If someone swirled a beverage in his presence, he ran for the nearest door.

Squeegee could tell that Professor Trelawney felt no malice and he had survived over six hundred hideous "deaths" so far. Yet, she was a teacher. She must have some skills in her discipline, right?

Master Dumbledore obviously valued her. He paid her well and allowed her to remain in her quarters rather than attend meals or most staff functions. In fact, he had placed a strong compulsion in Trelawney's rooms to keep her there. Squeegee could detect it. On Trelawney's rare trips to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, Master Dumbledore always accompanied her. He visited her on occasional evenings, maybe about once a month and he was the only staff member to visit her besides Professor Sprout. Squeegee had heard about other masters and "kept women". He wasn't sure that this was the same but he stayed away during the visits and, like a good elf, he said nothing about them.

Tonight, though, Miss Sibyll was awake and Squeegee had no desire to learn more about his future. He hurriedly started waving his hands. In the fireplace, the last embers and ashes were replaced by a neat stack of oak logs, unlit. The dinner tray, which he always provided at 7:30 pm sharp, vanished back to the kitchen. Various papers, knickknacks and detritus started flying back to the appropriate shelf, drawer, office tray, or dust bin. The wizarding wireless switched from the unpredictable "pop" station to classical instrumental music with a soft somnolence. The waste baskets and chamber pot emptied.

Before he could start the dusting or mopping, however, Trelawney spoke again.

Her speech was no longer slurred; her voice was firm and harsh:

"TONIGHT A FOOL'S ERRAND WILL ONLY RESULT IN DEATH! THAT WHICH IS SOUGHT HAS ALREADY BEEN FOUND... STAY THE SEARCH AND SAVE THE SOUL. JOURNEY FORTH ONLY TO DESPAIR."

House elves have no word for "groan". Nevertheless, groan is what Squeegee did. He had heard Miss Sibyll use that voice, on a few occasions now, and he assumed that it was just another form of drama from her. These harsh-toned predictions were usually vague, even for Miss Sibyll, and Squeegee could never make sense of them. After that first month, everyone had said not to be too concerned about Miss Sibyll's predictions anyway.

The harsh voice was also often accompanied by uncharacteristically insulting language. For example, about a year ago Squeegee had heard:

"IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO TEACH HIM OCCLUMENCY YOURSELF! ...

NOW, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, KEEP THEM OUT OF THE DEATH CHAMBER!"

A year before that, he had heard:

"FOOL! THE CONTRACT IS ONLY MAGICALLY BINDING FOR THE THREE LEGITIMATE PARTIES. HELLO! 'TRI' AS IN THREE! ...

ANYWAY, YOU MORON, NOT EVEN A MAGICAL CONTRACT IS ENFORCEABLE WHEN IT IS FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED... IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE, STOP THE FARCE NOW!"

Squeegee had not had any idea what that was about. Nevertheless, he had reported these strange new pronouncements. The head elf and Professor Snape had both assured him that Miss Sibyll's latest-style messages would receive "all warranted attention at the appropriate levels". Squeegee was reassured that, as far as he could tell, no bad occurrences ever seemed related to these harsh words.

Squeegee sighed as he completed his cleaning. Glancing at Miss Sibyll, he saw that she was finally asleep. With a snap of his fingers her clothing was replaced with a simple nightgown. Another snap saw her tucked warmly in bed.

As Squeegee put out the lights and popped back to the kitchen, he was glad that Miss Sibyll's latest prediction contained neither claws nor bloody corpses. Perhaps he could sleep peacefully tonight.