Sibyll Trelawney

Sibyll Patricia Trelawney is a fictional character who appears in J.K. Rowling's series of Harry Potter novels. She is great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney, named for Cassandra of Greek mythology. She was played by Emma Thompson in the third film.

Trelawney is professor of Divination at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger believe Trelawney is a fraud, which the teachers (particularly Professor Minerva McGonagall) are inclined to agree with. But is have to be said that most of Professor Trelawny's predictions came true, her fault is that she overused her predictions of doom so often that they lost their effect, and that she always directed her prophecies to Harry when it should have applied to someone else (i.e Cedric Diggory). Trelawney is known for predicting the death of one of her students at the start of the term and repeating the prediction over the year, although these predictions have never been known to come to pass. Trelawney dons many gauzy bangles, cloaks and shawls, all covered with shining sequins. She also wears thick glasses, which cause her eyes to appear about ten times their normal size. She talks in ethereal and misty tones.

Rowling has often stated that she does not believe in magic, and doesn't 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.

In Harry's third year (his first in Divination), Trelawney predicted Harry's death. Every class thereafter, she continued to insinuate that Harry's death could come at any time, to Harry and his friends' irritation. Eventually, due to this and other factors (such as high stress levels), Hermione dropped the class. Harry and Ron have continued their Divination studies.

The name "Sibyll" 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. Dr. Trelawney is a mystic and seer, sort of like a low-rent version of Aleister Crowley.

Trelawney has been at Hogwarts since 1979 (sixteen years at the end of Harry's fifth year) and has made only two accurate predictions. Both of them involve Lord Voldemort. The first prediction, made shortly before starting her teaching post at Hogwarts, is:

"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, it could have also applied to Neville Longbottom (born July 30). Part of the prediction has already come to pass on the night of October 31 1981, when Potter stripped Lord Voldemort of his powers by surviving the Avada Kedavra curse (the killing curse).

The prophecy as interpreted by Dumbledore to Harry at the end of his fifth year 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..."

This interpretation may not be entirely correct—"the one" is described twice but may not be the same in both cases (Neville may have a role to play yet) and the phrase regarding who lives and who dies is not entirely clear and may not mean what it appears to.

The second prediction is:

"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.

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.