Sybill Patricia Trelawney (spelled "Sibyll" in U.S. editions of the books)is professor of Divination at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardy. She has held the post since 1979 (sixteen years at the end of Harry's fifth year). She is the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney.
Trelawney wears gauzy bangles, cloaks and shawls, 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.
Her first name is a reference to the Sibyls of ancient Greece, who were oracles that made cryptic predictions about the future which often could not be understood until they had already come to pass. The name "Trelawney" may be a reference to "Dr. Trelawney", a minor character from A Dance to the Music of Time, a series of novels by Anthony Powell.
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, although the predictions have never been known to come true. This does not help her credibility as a Seer.
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.
In Harry's third year (his first in Divination), Trelawney read the tealeaves 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 tells Neville Longbottom to please take a blue cup after breaking his first one, because she likes the pink ones. Neville immediately takes a cup, breaks it, and then later breaks his second cup too.
- She also asks Neville about his grandmother, saying she may be ill.
- And that he will be late for his next divination class.
- She tells Parvati Patil to beware of red headed men. Parvati immediately suspects Ron.
- She predicts a bout of flu in February, and that she will lose her voice.
- That what Lavender Brown is dreading will happen on 16th October. On that day, Lavender gets a note that her pet rabbit has been eaten by a fox. Hermione is skeptical, 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.
- That someone will leave before Easter. Hermione quits the classes in disgust at that time.
At the Christmas lunch, Trelawney at first refuses to join the table, since when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die. Harry and Ron get up together, but neither has died. However, Ron was in the habit of carrying his rat Scabbers in his pocket. It may be that Scabbers, really the transformed wizard Peter Pettigrew, made the numbers up to fourteen. Later, in Order of the Phoenix, thirteen members of the order dine together, and the first to rise is Sirius, who later dies.
True Prophecies
Trelawney has made only two true prophecies. When prophecying, 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 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.
The chosen one
The first prediction was made in the presence of Albus Dumbledore at the Hog's Head inn. 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 31. 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 7th month on July 30. Part of the prediction came to pass on the night of October 31, 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 scar, 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 at the end of Order of the Phoenix 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 by killed by the other because one of them must die...Harry will be born at the end of July..."
Rowling has confirmed that the prophecy refers to Harry, and not Neville. The phrase regarding who lives and who dies is not entirely clear and may not mean what it appears to.
Dumbledore showed a momentary 'gleam of triumph' when he was told that Voldemort had recreated his body using Harry's blood, in Goblet of Fire. Whether this had anything to do with the prophecy, or not, is unknown, but this was also an act by the Dark Lord which made the two more equal. It was Voldemorts purpose in doing this to get around the protection which prevented him from touching Harry.
The servant rejoins his master
- "It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight... the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight... before midnight...the servant...will set out...to rejoin...his master...."
This prophecy came to pass when Peter Pettigrew's true identity was revealed and he escaped to nurse Voldemort back to health. This prophecy may also refer to the breakout of Barty Crouch Jr. from Azkaban.
Teaching Career
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 drink, 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 did not have the authority to order Trelawney off campus. She was replaced by a centaur named 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. She later reveals to Harry the identity of the person who heard the prophecy about him and Voldemort which he did not know: Severus Snape and in the Battle of Hogwarts she fought by dropping crystal balls on enemies heads succesfully knocking out Fenrir Greyback in this manner and saving Lavander Brown's life.