Trelawney is a squib, here's why...

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 101569

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arielock2001" <arielock at a...> 
wrote:
>   Arianna:
> Just because she has a wand doesn't mean she can perform 
> magic with it.   She may have inherited it, she may have bought it 
> at a second hand wand store, or it may be a stick she found in a 
> hedge.  The story is told from Harry's pov.  He may assume that 
> she is a witch and that that is her wand.  He has assumed many 
> things in the past that have been incorrect.    
> 	Besides, as Justine notes, even if she did make the lights 
go 
> out, she could have learned it from Kwikspell.  With her flair for 
> drama, if she is a witch, why is this all we have seen? 
> 	If this group (HPfGU) hasn't found one direct instance of 
> Trelawney actually performing magic, there is probably a reason.


Jen: You make a good case, Arianna! If Trelawney is a squib, which I 
tend to think is the case, why? I'm just wondering if this has a 
purpose for the future plot, or is it a literary device to tell the 
reader Harry's POV can be deceiving?


> Arianna:
> Now the defense might ask: "How can Trelawney have known 
> private info about some students?  For example, she makes an 
> unsolicited reference to Neville's grandmother during their first 
> class in PoA.  How could she have known that she was a 
> significant person in his life?  Even if she was aware of the fate 
> of his parents, wouldn't she have to have been involved in the 
> wizarding world to have heard of the tragedy?" 

Jen: Umbridge knows of Sybill's family lineage, that the Seer 
abilities of the Trelawney family 'skipped' three generations. That 
makes me believe Trelawney grew up in the WW and is familiar with 
people in the WW, esp. those who have passed through Hogwarts. And 
re: Neville's parents and his Gran, all she'd have to do there is 
read the Daily Prophet after the torture of the Longbottoms to know 
what happened, or overhear students talking about it, like you said 
below.

Arianna:
>     	No.  The Longbottom's torture took place well after 
Trelawney 
> met Dumbledore, and squibs are involved in the wizarding world 
> if they choose to be.  My bet, though, is that she used the same 
> technique employed by real world "psychics."  She found a way 
> to secretly listen to the students' conversations.  In this case, 
> when HRH finally find the divination classroom for the first time 
> (PoA), they notice all their classmates sitting outside her office 
> *talking*.  Trelawney was just listening to their conversations 
> and lowered the ladder when she had gathered enough info to 
> make an impressive first class. She probably also heard Neville 
> complaining about how clumsy he is.

Jen: This makes me wonder again whether being a Seer is enough to be 
considered a witch a wizard. Divination is a Muggle practice, too. 
(Although I believe RW psychics/intuitives, good ones, do more than 
listen in on conversations <g>). Sprout, Snape and the others who 
work in areas that don't require a wand, are still working with 
magical plants, potions, etc. Divination, or at least Trelawney's 
form of it, looks purely Muggle.