[HPforGrownups] Some Sybil questions (or questions on the Sybil...)

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 124898

First Steve, who wrote:
>I suspect the Cassandra had a more active psychic ability, and that
>she was able to use it more readily, and therefore was able to
>demonstrate her abilities in easier, more obvious, and more frequent
>ways. Thus, her ability was easily demonstrated to the world around
>her. Therefore, She wouldn't necessarily have needed any great
>historically significant prophecy to solidify her reputation.

Would that work, though? Do prophecies have to have a capital S Significance
to be remembered? After all, if Cassandra is just prophesying things like
"Henry's dog is going to pee against that lamppost", would anyone care!
Ridiculous example, I know, but there's a world of difference between that
and the kind of stuff that's preserved in the Ministry.

Just by the bye, who used to preserve prophecies _before_ the Ministry was
formed?

>Oddly, if we look at the real world, most psychics do seem to be
>female. Can we assume that translates as well into the wizard world?
>
>I don't think we can say NO psychic ability in the intervening
>generations, only that there was no significant ability, and/or that
>none in those generations were interested in pursuing that ability.

For Sybil to be a Trelawny, then the two intervening generations have to
pass through the male line. _Do_ most psychics in our world tend to be
female? A quick tour round the best known mediums (John Edward, James van
Praagh, Colin Fry, Derek Acorah) suggests that there's a good number of men
up there, at least among the more upfront media ones.

>Sybil DOES have psychic ability beyond her 'involuntary trance'
>abilities. She saw the Grim repeatedly when giving Harry /readings/.

>the class, etc...). Although, she is not always very good at
>interpreting what she sees.

This is actually a very important observation. I wonder if other Seers are
better at remembering what they've said. Maybe (and this could speak to the
problem of the intervening generations) Sybil just didn't have anyone in the
family to give her the practical instruction to get the right sort of focus.

Another question: did Sybil go to Hogwarts, and did she study Divination
there? If so, why doesn't she have better control of her powers? Is there a
tradition of scatterbrained Div teachers?

>It's kind of a flip of a coin, but in the moment, I am leaning toward
>the eavesdropper being a random insignificant character. Although,
>tomorrow, my opinion might be exactly the opposite.

I'd lean towards that one too.

>I do however believe that Dumbledore hired her both because she might
>be IN danger as well as A danger, but also because he wanted to keep
>he close by. She seemed to be intune to the events surrounding Harry's
>life and fate, and it would be good to keep her close in case of new
>information via prophecy arose.

Something which is very much in DD's character. However, following on from
what I suggested above, do other Seers have better recollection? Might DD
have _expected_ that if Sybil had another episode of prophesying, that she'd
have the skills to recollect and record it? His comments in PoA about the
second prophecy don't really answer that.

>While Sybil could be making 10 prophecies a day when no one is
>looking, I suspect what triggers her trance is the proximity of
>someone for whom there are siginificant prophetic events; someone with
>a strong aura of Destiny. While Sybil's prophecies relate to
>Dumbledore and Harry, their fruition will have massive impact on the
>entire wizard and muggle world. So, as the Centaurs might put it,
>Sybil's prophecies are not about single events or individuals, but
>about 'great tides'.

Do you want to develop that idea as it would relate back to Cassandra? It's
an interesting one...

Meanwhile Hickengruendler wrote:

>I agree with Ffred on that point. The eavesdropper was caught, after
>all. If it were Peter, then Dumbledore and the Potters would have
>known it and never made him secret-keeper.

It's worth remembering that if Peter was the eavesdropper, he would have
been able to do it most effectively in his human form. As a trusted insider,
he'd have been far less suspicious in the corridor as himself than as a rat.

Cheers

Ffred

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