Sybill Trelawney

From Harry Potter Wiki

Professor Sybill Patricia Trelawney ^[2] is the professor of Divination at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She has held the post since 1979 (sixteen years at the beginning of 1996). She is the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney. Trelawney usually wears gauzy shawls, cloaks and bangles, all covered with shining sequins. She has thick glasses, which cause her eyes to appear about ten times their normal size. She talks in ethereal and misty tones.

Contents 1 Divination 2 True Prophecies 2.1 The Chosen One 2.2 The Servant Rejoins His Master 2.2.1 Context 2.2.2 Coming true 3 Teaching Career 3.1 Audition with Dumbledore 3.2 1993-1994 3.3 1995-1996 3.4 1997-1998 and Battle at Hogwarts 4 Magical Abilities and Skills 5 Etymology 6 Behind the scenes 7 Appearances 8 Notes and references

[edit] Divination

Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger believe Trelawney is a fraud, which the teachers (particularly Professor McGonagall) are inclined to agree with. According to McGonagall, Trelawney has a habit of predicting the death of one of her students each year (including Harry), although the predictions have never been known to come true. This does not help her credibility as a Seer.

In Harry's third year (his first in Divination), Trelawney read the tea leaves in Harry's cup. She saw four things: The falcon, a deadly enemy; The club, an attack; The skull, danger in your path; The grim, a spectral dog which is an omen of death. Every class thereafter, she continued to insinuate that Harry's death could come at any time, to Harry and his friends' irritation.

Trelawney made a number of other predictions in her first class with Harry:

• She told Neville Longbottom to take a blue cup after breaking his first one, because she likes the pink ones. Neville immediately took a cup, broke it, and then later broke his second cup too.
• She also asked Neville about his grandmother, saying she may have been ill.
• And that he will be late for his next divination class.
• She told Parvati Patil to beware of red headed men. Parvati immediately suspected Ron. At the Yule Ball, Harry and Ron, Parvati's and her sister Padma's dates, ignored her and her sister. Three years later, Ron started going out with Parvati's best friend Lavender Brown, who started to ignore Parvati.
• She predicted a bout of flu in February, and that she will lose her voice.
• That what Lavender was dreading would happen on October 16th. On that day, Lavender got a note that her pet rabbit had been eaten by a fox. Hermione was sceptical, indicating that Lavender could hardly have dreaded her new rabbit dying, and that the death could not have happened on the day the news arrived.
• On the beginning of 1993–1994 school year, She told in the whole class that, near Easter, one of their number will leave them forever. It seems that her prediction had happened when Hermione quit the class in disgust near Easter holidays.
• At the Christmas lunch, Trelawney at first refused to join the table, since when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley got up from the table first together, but Albus Dumbledore was the first among those at the table to die. However, in 1995, thirteen members of the order dined together, and the first to rise was Sirius, who later died.
• When Dolores Umbridge was appointed Hogwarts High Inquisitor during Harry's fifth year, she insisted that Trelawney demonstrate her abilities by prophesying something. Trelawney replied that she saw dark events ahead for Umbridge, which Umbridge immediately dismissed as nonsense. Later, Umbridge was dragged off and imprisoned by centaurs in the Forbidden Forest.
• In Harry's sixth year he saw Trelawney coming, and hid from her. As she passed, he saw that she was examining a pack of cards and muttered, "A dark young man, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner". She dismissed her own words as nonsense, unaware of Harry's presence or his dislike of her. Later in the year, Harry saw Draco arguing with Snape when he questioned Draco on the progress of his mission for Voldemort. Later Trelawney again met Harry in the corridors, and this time complains that Dumbledore had been repeatedly dismissing her warnings of impending disaster. She looked at some Tarot cards and saw, "... the lightning-struck tower... Calamity. Disaster. Coming nearer all the time...". This seems to predict the events of Dumbledore's death on the Astronomy Tower. The Lightning-Struck Tower tarot card (The Tower) is generally considered representative of disaster or life-altering change.

[edit] True Prophecies

Trelawney has made only two known true prophecies. Although some of her predictions may seem to have come true (Binky the rabbit, Hermione leaving, etc.) they are just coincidences. When prophesising, Trelawney falls into a trance and does not remember afterwards what she has said. True prophecies are recorded by the Ministry of Magic, and copies are stored by them. It is known that the Ministry had a copy of Trelawney's first prophecy, but not known whether the second was recorded. Both prophecies involved Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore expresses the view that prophecies are self-fulfilling, that if the people concerned ignore them, then they will not happen. Nonetheless, he recognises the existence of a special kind of magic which causes them to happen.

[edit] The Chosen One

The first prediction was made in the presence of Albus Dumbledore at the Hog's Head inn ^[3]. Trelawney was in the middle of an interview for a teaching job at Hogwarts when it happened. Dumbledore reported that he had decided not to give Trelawney the job, but changed his mind when he heard the prophecy. Trelawney herself is not aware that she made the prophecy, merely remembering that she came over faint, which she attributed to not having eaten that day.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

This prediction is believed to refer to Voldemort ("the Dark Lord") and Harry Potter, who was born on July 31st. At the time of its prophesying the identity of the approaching one could not be known as he had not been born. The time of year the prophecy was made is unknown, but it was described as 'dark and stormy', so it is possible that the prediction was made at the time of conception of the child foretold, at around Halloween.

It later became apparent that the prophecy could have applied either to Harry, or to Neville Longbottom, who was also born at the end of the seventh month on July 30th. Part of the prediction came to pass on the night of October 31st, 1981, when Lord Voldemort's body was destroyed after Harry survived an attack from him, reputedly using the killing curse Avada Kedavra. The attack left Harry with an ability to speak Parseltongue, a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, and a mental connection to Voldemort. It was Dumbledore's view that it was Voldemort's choice of Harry as his target from the two possible boys which made Harry the one foretold. Had Voldemort chosen Neville, then he would have had a different adversary. Both boys had parents who had defied the dark lord thrice.

The prophecy as interpreted by Dumbledore to Harry in June 1996 would read: "Someone (Harry or Neville) with the power to vanquish Voldemort is coming...born to those who have defied Voldemort three times (the Potters or the Longbottoms), born at the end of July...and Voldemort will attempt to kill Harry, but Harry will unexpectedly survive...either Harry or Voldemort must be killed by the other because one of them must die...Harry will be born at the end of July..."

[edit] The Servant Rejoins His Master

[edit] Context

Professor Trelawney prophecised this occurrence subconsciously to Harry Potter in 1994, in her classroom.

[edit] Coming true

This prophecy came to pass when Peter Pettigrew's true identity was revealed and he escaped to help bring Lord Voldemort back to health.

[edit] Teaching Career

[edit] Audition with Dumbledore

In 1980, Sybill Trelawney arranged a meeting with Hogwarts' Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the Hog's Head in order to audition to become the new Divination Professor. Dumbledore, who thought Divination is a subject that should no longer be continued, gave Sybill a chance because she was the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney, but was disappointed when Sybill did not show any of her ancestor's gift. After courteously telling her she was not fit for the position, and was about to leave, Sybill entered a trance and made a prophecy about the Dark Lord's defeat. Though Death Eater Severus Snape was eavesdropping, Dumbledore hired Trelawney in order to protect her from Lord Voldemort.

[edit] 1993-1994

Professor Trelawney first met with Harry Potter in 1993 when the latter chose Divination as his third year elective course. She annoyed him to no end with her repeatedly predictions about his death with the association of the Grim, but surprised him at the near end of the year when she made another prophecy about the Return of the Dark Lord. Dumbledore noted that he should give her a raise.

In the following year, Trelawney continued to annoy Harry with her predictions about his death.

[edit] 1995-1996

In 1996, Professor Trelawney was put on probation by Dolores Umbridge, Hogwarts High Inquisitor. This led to her becoming increasingly paranoid and obsessed that Umbridge was haunting her. Her fears grew to the extent that she actually turned to drinking, and was always seen drunk with a bottle of sherry in her hand. Eventually, she was sacked by Umbridge, who, in her great dislike for Trelawney, almost threw her bodily from the castle, ignoring the fact that Trelawney was in paroxysms of grief over her dismissal. Before she could be chased off the premises, Dumbledore came to her aid and insisted that she stay at Hogwarts, as Umbridge had no authority to order Trelawney off campus. She was replaced by the centaur, Firenze. However, after Umbridge was removed by a group of centaurs and was returned to the Ministry of Magic, Trelawney was reinstated, though Firenze would also continue teaching Divination.

[edit] 1997-1998 and Battle at Hogwarts

Trelawney later reveals to Harry the identity of the person who heard the prophecy about him and Voldemort : Severus Snape. In the Battle of Hogwarts she fought by dropping crystal balls on enemies' heads, successfully knocking out Fenrir Greyback in this manner and saving Lavender Brown's life.

[edit] Magical Abilities and Skills

Seer: Professor Trelawney inherited the inner eye from her Ancestor Cassandra Trelawney, although real prophecies made by her were rare.

[edit] Etymology

Both her name and her surname are related to her future telling ability. "Sybill" has Greek origin and means "prophetess", while "Trelawney" may come from the occultist and seer Dr. Trelawney, from Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time. Alternatively, it may be derived from from a famous cry of defiance from the southwest of England, where Rowling grew up, often shouted at football matches:

And shall Trelawney live? And shall Trelawney die? Here's ten thousand Cornishmen who ask the reason why!

The cry is a line from The Song of the Western Men, written in 1833 by the poet and parson Robert Stephens Hawker and the unofficial Cornish national anthem. It concerns the march to London in 1688 in protest at the incarceration in the Tower of Jonathan Trelawny, Bishop of Bristol. This could be a reference to Trelawney predicting the death of one of her students every year.

[edit] Behind the scenes

• Emma Thompson portrays Trelawney in the films adaptations, although she did not return for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
• J. K. Rowling has stated that she does not believe in magic, and does not intend that her readers should believe in it either. She has hinted that the portrayal of Trelawney (a mystic and fortune-teller, perhaps the kind of "magic" that children are most likely to come across) as something of an ineffectual old fraud may be related to this. However, her name and the reference to a grandmother named Cassandra somewhat contradicts this. In Greek Legends, Cassandra was a seer granted true sight by one god, but later cursed by his wrath that she would never be believed. This suggests that perhaps some of Trelawney's pronouncements may be more accurate than is often believed.
• Trelawney told Lavender Brown that the worst thing for her will come true on Friday, October 16th. However, October 16th, 1993 was a Saturday.

[edit] Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[edit] Notes and references

Preceded by: Unknown Divination Professor at Hogwarts 1979-1996 Succeeded by: Firenze Preceded by: Firenze Divination Professor at Hogwarts (along with Firenze) 1996-? Succeeded by: Unknown