What if Harry levelled with Professor Trelawney?

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 54972

While I can understand why Harry doesn't think much of Professor Trelawney,
I do wonder what would have happened if he had levelled with her about that
dream he had in class---or the other dreams he's had involving Lord V?

Granted, she may come across as a "right old fraud," but she's also
apparently good enough at her job to stay on at Hogwarts, and that has to
count for something.  A lot of Hogwarts faculty are at or near the tops of
their specialities---Professor McGonagall's an Animagus, which is _rare_
even among magical folk and about the ultimate in Transfiguration, which she
teaches; Professor Snape's love of his subject and deep knowledge of it
shines through his scenes, and we have Professor Dumbledore's own word that
Divination is Not Easy At All.

I think Professor Trelawney's there more to expose pupils to the various
tools of Divination, and see if any of them do have the Sight---and that
she's not nearly as much of a New Age space-case as she lets on, any more
than Dumbledore is really just a nice, slightly dotty old man.  One of my
own favorite theories is that Professor Trelawney is actually a DE mole,
under orders to keep an eye on things at Hogwarts and otherwise keep a low
profile.  What better cover, after all, than as a dippy old bat who makes
phony predictions constantly?  Nobody takes her seriously, and that's often
a great asset to a spy.  Even if Professor Snape _wanted_ to do that
(assuming that Snape is Ever So Evil after all) his sinister manner and his
known background as a DE would preclude him from doing much good.  And we've
seen a deal before, in PS/SS, where the real bad guy was the last person
anybody would suspect..."Who would believe p-p-poor, stut-t-tering Professor
Quirrel was the one?"