The art of divination is often not taken seriously even in the magical world of Harry Potter. This also applies to the somewhat quirky divination teacher Sybill Trelawney. However, according to a fan theory, there could be more behind her dark death prophecies.
Who is Trelawney? Starting in their third year, students at Hogwarts can take the subject of Divination. This ancient art is taught by Sybill Trelawney. She is a descendant of a very famous seer, Cassandra Trelawney.
At first glance, Sybill herself does not seem very gifted. Her “predictions” often resemble generic horoscopes more than anything. She has a particular fondness for dark prophecies that are supposed to predict misfortune, illness, or even death.
Only two of her prophecies are generally considered true:
- The prophecy regarding the fall of Voldemort, which was made before Harry’s birth
- The prophecy about Voldemort’s return, from Harry’s third year
But is that really all? According to many fans, the answer is no. Particularly popular is a theory suggesting that Trelawney predicted one, or even two truly significant deaths.
Spoiler alert: There are about to be a lot of spoilers regarding Harry Potter.
When 13 dine together, one dies
The theory refers to a scene in the third part. It is Christmas, and the students and teachers remaining at Hogwarts gather to eat in the Great Hall. Among those at the table are Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore. When Trelawney joins, she initially refuses to take a seat. At Dumbledore’s request, she says:
I dare not, Headmaster! If I sit at the table, we are thirteen! Nothing could bring more misfortune! Never forget, when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die.
Reluctantly, Trelawney then sits down as the thirteenth person at the table. When Harry and Ron later get up first, she again prophesies their impending deaths. The prediction thus seems at first glance to be nothing but superstition.
What those present do not know at this point is that there was actually another person at the table all along, namely Peter Pettigrew in the form of Ron’s rat Scabbers. So there were already thirteen people at the table before Trelawney sat down. Consequently, the first person to rise was Dumbledore, when he greeted the divination teacher. And as we know, it was indeed Dumbledore who was destined to die a little over three years later.
More instances? But this was not the only case. In part five, there is a very similar situation. At “Number 12 Grimmauld Place,” thirteen members of the “Order of the Phoenix” dine together at a table. The first to stand up is Sirius Black. He is also the one who will soon die first from the group.
Just coincidence? Did Sybill Trelawney really predict the deaths of two important figures without anyone noticing? Or is it merely coincidence – a lucky shot?
We may never be entirely sure about this. Perhaps it is also just an Easter egg from J.K. Rowling, who cheekily hinted at future events with Trelawney’s predictions.
The “prediction of the 13” is certainly not an isolated instance. Some of Trelawney’s cryptic prophecies can be interpreted in such a way that they ultimately turn out to be true. Particularly prominent in this regard is Dumbledore’s death, as seen in another example:
The Tower Struck by Lightning
In addition to classic prophecies, there are various forms of divination, such as tea leaf reading, dream interpretation, or tarot card laying.
In the latter case, Harry happens to observe his former divination teacher in part 6. The meaning of the cards visibly disturbs Trelawney:
- Three of the cards predicted conflict, violence, and evil omens. These all came true shortly afterwards with the Death Eater attack on Hogwarts.
- The fourth card means: “A dark young man who dislikes the querent.” This young man could be Draco Malfoy in this context, and the querent could be Snape or Dumbledore.
- The fifth card was the “tower struck by lightning.” It signifies misfortune and disaster, which also occurred with Dumbledore’s death later on. The tower is also a reference to the Astronomy tower, where Dumbledore was killed by a “green flash.”
A real prediction? Since Trelawney initially believed this prediction to be a mistake, she kept laying the cards again. But each time, she received the same result.
She eventually shared this with Dumbledore. However, he sent her away, pretending he did not believe her. At that time, Dumbledore was already planning his own death. He must have known that Trelawney’s prophecy was secretly correct.
Another clue is the name of the chapter in which Dumbledore dies. It is named after the tarot card: “The Tower Struck by Lightning.” Therefore, many fans are certain that Trelawney indeed predicted Dumbledore’s death in one way or another.
What do you think about all this? Do you believe that many of Trelawney’s dark predictions are actually true? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments! Many details about such theories can, of course, be found especially in the books. You can learn about the major differences between the films and the books here on MeinMMO: The 10 biggest differences between films and books ranked
