Vague and not very useful, right? Well, that's why I rolled a combination of rune-dice, always in sets of three, five, or seven (magic numbers for the win!) to narrow down what was supposed to happen. It was all very complicated, but it allowed me to have a far broader set of answers.
I carefully thought about the questions I wanted to ask before randomly grabbing a few bone-dice and then rolling them inside the turtle shell. I asked them out loud, because that seemed to work better than asking it in my head, for some reason, and spent the next hour tossing my rune-carved sheep knuckle-bones into the turtle shell at my dining table.
The outcomes were surprising, to say the least.
Using Arithmancy to predict the future was entirely possible, but it used the same methodology as mundane predictive algorithms worked; they observed and followed trends. Input the data-numbers and a NEWT level Arithmancer could calculate the most likely outcome with ease. However, unforeseen variables could throw said results wildly off course.
Divination on the other hand was both more and less successful. Most of the time, Divination was utterly useless. Scrying was the only useful art the average witch or wizard would be capable of, and even then, most of those methods, like tea leaf and palm readings, were painfully imprecise. And Scrying's main purpose, locating something or someone far away or hidden, could be done with modern spells like the Point Me charm. Sure, advanced Divination could pierce through Unplottable charms, but any wizard worth their wand would know (or learn) how to cast wards that would deflect Scrying attempts.
Ultimately, the most 'useful' form of Divination was Prophecy, but only Seers could have them, and even then, it was rare. Like, once a century rare. And Seer bloodlines were finicky, and rarer than even Metamorphs and Parseltongues.
But! Divination, when right, was right. I wasn't sure if knowing the outcome of the future set it in stone or what, but once a prediction was made, it would happen, and no 'unforeseen variables' could change it like with Arithmancy based predictive models, save for the outcome or interference of another prediction.
As such, when I wanted or needed to use Divination, I relied on using rune-bones, one of the oldest and most reliable methods of Scrying-type Divination magic known to man. I also had a strange amount of success with them, which was why I kept using that method so often.
'Did my ancestors have ties to some Seer blood? Am I perhaps related to Professor Trelawny? Her family is the only one in all of Britain that has a direct lineage connected to Seers,' I mused thoughtfully. The old saying that every pureblood was related to each other rang in my head, and I couldn't deny that it was highly likely I had some relation to the Hogwarts Divination Professor. Hell, I had distant – very distant! – blood ties with the Blacks and Potters. Though not since well before the Statue of Secrecy, at least.
I pushed my mind back to focusing on what the rune-bones were telling me, and grimaced. One of the questions I had asked them was 'Will Harry Potter encounter the Philosopher's Stone before the end of his time at Hogwarts this year?' and my dice had told me in several different ways 'Yes.'
My next question was 'Will there be an economic recession on September 16th?' This one was less definite and more vague, due to the fact several months separated me from the event in question, but the bones had still come up with various degrees of confirmation. Sort of. If you squinted and looked at the answers from the right angle.
Smaller things, like if it would rain today or tomorrow, or what color of shirt Sam would wear on various days, were asked, and I got a bunch of answers I would have to get confirmation on later. But, if the small stuff came true, then so too would the bigger events.
I took a deep breath, then picked up my rune-bones for one more toss.
"Will Dumbledore try to interfere with me helping Harry over the course of Summer Break?" I asked out loud, before grabbing five bone-dice at random and tossing them into the special scrying bowl. They clacked and clattered loudly within the shell before coming to a rest.
I stared into the turtle shell bowl and grimaced at the result. "Damn it," I grumbled.
The rune for 'Yes' was face up in the middle of the shell, right in the neutral position, and the rune for 'New Encounters' had collided with the one for 'Danger,' leaving both in the negative hexagram. Meanwhile the 'Opportunity' rune was inverted in the positive section along with the rune for 'Wisdom.'
'Yes' being in the neutral hexagram was obvious. It meant Dumbledore was definitely going to try and do something to interfere over the summer. However, the next set of runes revealed that I was going to meet somebody new, and they were likely very important to my plans. This could mean I'd meet Dumbledore face to face, or perhaps it would be somebody associated with him. Lastly, inverted Opportunity mean misfortune, but combined with 'Wisdom' in the positive hexagram meant I could turn my bad luck around if I played it smart.
This changed things. And I didn't like it.
"At least I have a few weeks to prepare," I muttered.
Harry POV
"…and it says here, on chapter fourteen, that this is indeed the best way to counter a Jelly-Legs Jinx!" Hermione shouted at Ron.
"Merlin's sake, Hermione, that's not going to be on the test!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.
"How can you be sure?!"
"Because we haven't even gone over it in class yet!"
"But that doesn't mean it won't come up later!"
"Quirrell hasn't even gotten to chapter nine! No way he's gonna get to chapter fourteen by the end of the school year!"
"Are they still going at it?" Susan whispered to Harry, who nodded weakly.
"Yeah, it's… almost impressive."
"I'm surprised Madam Pince hasn't thrown us out yet," Neville said nervously as he glanced over at the stern librarian.
"I think that's due to the newest charm Hermione learned the other day," Hannah guessed.
"Which one?" Susan asked her fellow Puff.
"The Sound Muffling Charm," Hannah replied.
"Makes sense," Harry said, returning to his book. It was a guide to brewing potions, and Harry would be damned if Snape tried to pull a fast one with his test just to make his grades slip in that class!
Despite being the last weekend of April, Hermione was already pushing for their group to begin studying for the upcoming exams.
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