Cassandra Trelawney

Cassandra Trelawney
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Family information
Family members	Sybill Trelawney (great-great-granddaughter)
Affiliation
Occupation	Seer
Loyalty	Trelawney family

Cassandra Trelawney was a famous, celebrated witch and Seer. She was the great-great-grandmother to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Divination Professor Sybill Trelawney. She possessed the Inner Eye, which was passed on into generations later.

Magical abilities and skills

Divination: Though none of her so-called predictions were actually shown or mentioned to have come true, it stands to reason that she was a very accurate and talented seer given that she has been referred to as "Legendary" or more than one occasion. In deed when Dumbledore was preparing to simply scrap the Hogwarts divination program, Sybil Trelawney's heritage was enough to make him consider giving her at least a fair chance. However Dumbledore noted that Professor Trelawney's skills were far less apparent and inferior to that of her great-grandmother's, this is noteworthy as many of Trelawney's predictions tend to come true during the course of her appearances (with the exception of predicting a student dying each year which actually will eventually come true as everyone dies). Indeed many individual of both noteworthy ability and rank have mentioned her "legendary" powers when comparing her to Sybill Trelawney's own teaching methods and predictions, including the legendary Albus Dumbledore and the then Hogwarts High Inquisitor Delores Umbridge.

Behind the scenes

• "Trelawney" must have been Cassandra's married name. If her maiden name was Trelawney, then Sybill Trelawney's surname would not be, as it would be whatever the surname of Cassandra's husband was. Alternately, Cassandra might have been a single mother/may have not taken her husband's name.

Etymology

Cassandra is generally taken to mean "she who entangles men". This meaning came from the Greek culture and was translated to mean various other things as well; such as "oracle".

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a princess of Troy. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy. However, when she did not return his love, Apollo placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)