A few shelves down, Snape and Albus came to the next section: DIVINERS AND FALSE PROPHETS.
Confused, Albus asked, “But Professor, isn’t Divination one of the greatest wizard arts? I mean, this is the Hall of Prophecy, after all.”
Snape scoffed. “‘Great,’ Potter, is entirely a matter of opinion. Divination has never been a reliable form of magic. It involves much theory, but little actual science. Nevertheless, it has proven accurate in certain cases, and occasionally even helpful. These, however, are the vast majority of diviners. That is to say,” he smirked, “those who used false or even forbidden means to make prophecies. Prophecies, might I add, that had no basis in actual magic, but were derived from their . . . worthless . . . methods.”
Albus glanced down the aisles and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Spanning the length of each aisle was a strange staircase, starting from the floor and going up in sort of a rectangular spiral. As the staircase neared ceiling level, it came to a flat landing, then led back downwards to make some sort of corrupted double-helix. It reminded Albus of a picture he had once seen, something about “Pence-Rose Stairs” or something. The stairs themselves were rickety and uneven. Those in the aisles trudged up and down the stairs, carrying large metal weights and tripping often. The thestrals turned down one of the aisles, and Albus noticed that the eyes of everyone on the staircase were white and cloudy.
Snape pulled aside one of the diviners: a slight, bony woman with frazzled hair, gauzy clothing, large glasses, and a lot of gaudy jewelry. Albus thought it strange that she should wear glasses when she obviously still couldn’t see.
The woman looked confused. “Who touches this Seer? Where are you taking me?”
Snape looked down on her with a slightly annoyed expression. “Sybill, this is Severus Snape, and I have pulled you away to give witness to Mr. Albus Potter.”
Still looking confused, she began, “I was once teacher of the great art of Divination at Hogwarts. Because the images of the Inner Eye are often difficult to discern, my prophecies did not always come out as predicted, though they sometimes did. But I always knew that this was not good enough for Albus Dumbledore, so he brought in a centaur to teach some of the classes. Now my Inner Eye and both of my outer eyes are made to see no more. The prophecies were always a burden to bear; now I must bear physical burdens as I climb stairs as unstable as the prophecies of some of my former students.” With that, she felt her way back to the staircase and began her ascent once more.
Snape and Albus left to head for the next section. Suddenly, Albus jumped, for a group of what appeared to be dead bodies popped out into the open, blocking their path. Turning paper-white, Snape raised his wand. “Inferi,” he said darkly. As he pointed his wand at them, however, they began to speak in unison.
“You shall not pass here.”
“We shall pass, Dark Ones, for this pilgrimage is has been ordered by the voice of Magic itself, through the messengers who carry the soul of Hogwarts.”
The Inferi replied, “Very well. But before you reach the end, there is a shelf that has partially fallen, and it blocks the path to your destination. An alternate path is through the door on the side, just before you reach the shelf. You have been warned!” Seemingly appeased, the inferi barricade broke up, and Snape and Albus went into an aisle labeled BARRATORS.
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