Is Trelawney a witch?

[arcum42]

No: HPFGUIDX 87104

> Arianna (that's me, I'm new) responds:
> Are we even sure that Trelawney is a witch?  I have always 
> thought she was a squib.  I can think of two canon references 
> that imply that Trelawney cannot perform magic and was never a 
> student at Hogwarts.
> 1) In PoA, she asks Neville to avoid her pink tea cups (p 104 
> American ed.), as he has a tendency to break things, and she is 
> fond of those particular cups.  Why would it matter if Neville
> broke  the cup?  Hermione has performed the Reparo spell,  Harry 
> repairs a bowl in OoP (p329), and Snape repairs a jar on p592 
> (OoP).  Wouldn't she be able to repair her pink teacup if it were
> to shatter?
Possibly. We don't really know how much damage can be done
to a teacup before it's unrepairable, though, and she may not
have wanted to risk it on a good cup...

> 2) When Dumbledore tells Harry about the prophesy, he states 
> (OoP 840 American Ed.),  "I thought it common politeness to 
> meet her."  Now perhaps I am taking this too literately, but the 
> implication is that Dumbledore has never seen this woman 
> before.  It would have been just as easy, and more likely, to have 
> referred to her as a former student if she had been.  <snip>

She may not have been. He had only been headmaster for less then
10 years at the time, IIRC, and she could, of course, have gone to
another wizarding school, as well...

> Harry does comment that he has seen Trelawney with a wand 
> (OoP 594),  but he has never seen her *use* it.   She could have 
> gotten one as a gift, or it could have been her 
> great-great-grandmother's.  Has anyone found direct evidence 
> that she is a witch?
> 

That I did. GoF, US edition, page 575
"If you will all look this way, I will dim the lights. . . ."

She waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire was the
only source of light now."
--Arcum