How was she supposed to see the future in fiery tendrils? Unless the future is fire itself.

The fire popped sarcastically in front of her closed lids.

She grinned in response And what if the future is fire. What am I meant to see? Would it simply be fire? Because, then wouldn't I technically be seeing nothing since fire is what I am using to see the future?"

At that, a log rolled over in the fire, chuckling and shifting in its laughter.

Lydia nodded, feeling content that someone could understand her so well.

That's when she gasped and her eyes shot open. Then she saw it. Like a charmer with his hypnotized snake, except she was the snake. And it was the fire that was charming her.

This fire was playful and rowdy. She couldn't explain how she knew it, just that its flames flickered restlessly and they loved to push the limits on how far they could extend their reach without setting things ablaze. The fire was compassionate, always returning its chaotic grasp to the hearth, rather than letting it run rampant. It longed for adventure, but thrived in the comfort of its home, as well as shrank from the fear of hurting others. It wondered if it would ever come to learn of its true potential or if it would forever squander its abilities and hide its power.

Lydia then realized that the feelings she was experiencing were not actually those of the fire, but the fire's interpretation of someone's feelings in the present. What she was feeling was herself - at her core. She was feeling the parts of her that she pushes deep down. And it shook her.

The fire showed many things in the flames, but once the connection between her and the flames ended, it was like she forgot all the details.

She was left only with this sensation of dread and self-pity. Unsure of how to analyze a feeling, she wrote simply:

I have this strange feeling. Like meeting someone I know, but whose name I've forgotten.

Teresa found the note on the Divination classroom and followed the other students since she had no idea where the place was. She sit a bit away from the fire and listened to Professor Wong talk a lot of non sense about predictions with fire which made her want to laugh but did her best to keep quiet. When the professor explained what the assignment was she wanted to just leave but for a grade she was willing to write whatever he wanted to hear.

She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, there was a lot of silence but also some giggling. When she opened her eyes she could see the flames dancing and smoke, but she couldn't see anything else. She heard a voice telling her -Terry would die on her next task- but she knew perfectly well it was one of the other students so she stare at her and this one only giggled. "So immature." She said, but in truth was the most exciting thing that happened since she didn't see or hear anything else, only students playing pranks like the ones did to her.

She was about to give up when she saw a flame move differently but nothing more, maybe it was just a trick of the tired eyes. Then Terry wrote: 'My interpretation of the flames was none since I honestly didn't see or hear anything but students whispering and playing around. I have no gift for divination.'

Professor Wong explained the practice of Pyromancy and then instructed the class on what they needed to do.

Nathaniel closed his eyes briefly. He doubted he'd see anything in the flames; besides, he'd never much seen the value in divination. He loved astronomy, sure, but divination? Why would you want to look into the future? He felt like you should believe in the future and let it hold what it may. To look forward and predict it seemed impatient to Nathaniel, greedy almost. He very much felt that you ought to enjoy today instead.

None-the-less, he opened his eyes and stared into the flames of the bonfire. He would soon see what, if anything, would appear in the dancing fire before him. Orange, yellow, red, black. Shades of colour flickered in front of his eyes. He stared into the centre and his eyes adjusted to the light source. It was white hot in the centre.

He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand, not taking his eyes from the fire, but getting tired of staring and finding nothing. The warmth from the fire held him in her arms, and he felt content in the heat. And then he saw the figure in the fire. It slinked around in a circle motion: a black cat. He stared at the cat and the cat stared back, and as quickly as it came, he blinked and it was gone.

Perhaps it was just a shadow. He thought. If it had been a black cat though, and not just a trick of the light, what did it mean? Did he want to know what it meant anyway?

He pulled out a piece of parchment. "I saw nothing in the flames," he wrote. "I find it difficult to predict future events through the Pyromancy method." He folded the parchment to hand into the professor at the end of the session. With quiet determination, he decided that he'd research the symbolism of black cats when he returned to Ilvermorney that night: it was about time he set foot in the school's library.

Eva cleared her mind and continued to sit there trying to relax. Opening her eyes, Eva stared into the flame, seeing a mix of colors, red, orange, bright yellow sparks and listening to the crackling of the wood. Continuing to watch, Eva only appreciated the dancing movement of the flame, but could not appreciate anything out of the ordinary.

After trying for what seemed like hours, Eva decided she had no talent for Pyromancy. Taking out her parchment and quill, she wrote the following: Evalyn Ridgewell, Ilvermorny Divination - Pyromancy Assignment Although I truly attempted to see something within the flames, I was highly unsuccessful. All I appreciated was the dancing movement of the flames and the colors associated with the fire, but saw nothing else...perhaps I have no aptitude for divination.

Picking up her quill, she thought for a moment before writing on the parchment: I don't see myself as having any real skill in Divination. However I saw a dog-like shape in the flames. I think this was most likely some form of wolf baying at the moon, and is a foreshadowing of the full moon tomorrow night.

Still not certain if it was just like one of those magic eye pictures her father had given her when she was younger, or if she had actually seen that shape in the flames, she handed her parchment to the professor.

Carlos tried his best to relax and to concentrate on the task. He took deep breaths, inhaled the smell of the fire and stared into the flames. The outcome was a big fat nothing. He saw nothing but the dancing, but totally normal, flames, he heard nothing but the crackling of the wood and he smelled nothing but the typical scents of a bonfire.

Just awesome... he thought and closed his eyes for a while to calm himself down. What a waste of time!

Nevertheless he tried again for a couple of times as he had never been someone to give up that easily. Still the result was disappointing, divination just wasn't something for him. Oh well, no one's perfect after all. he told himself when he decided to give up trying. Hopefully others would have more luck with this lesson.

A lesson in the evening sounded fun, especially if it was the normally not so interesting divination class. Corvus took a seat on a wooden fence in the back of the class. He wasn't an unobservant student, but like Astronomy, he was convinced that every person could attend these classes. These vague subjects didn't meet his expectations for magic lessons. However, he listened attentively when the professor mentioned sacrificial fires and he chuckled inwardly. I wonder what was sacrificed for this lesson?, he thought amused. Noticing how many other students seemed to think the same about this lesson, he decided to lean back a bit and endure the lesson. It was somehow soothing to look at the flames and he liked the smell of burning wood. Actually, it would have been a nice bonfire if it wouldn't have been for the class.

After a while, Corvus took a piece of parchment, his quill and a small ink bottle out of his bag to complete the assignment for this lesson. Now what to write down?, he wondered and looked at the flames again. Surely he could make something up. However, he knew very well that a lesson like this was difficult to grade and if he said that he had seen something, he would have to explain more about it. If he really concentrated on the bonfire for some moments, the sound of crackling wood almost sounded like a faint hiss. Yet he was aware that one's perception could change if you focused on something for a while. He sighed and dipped the quill into the ink.

Corvus Farlan Montgomery ~ Horned Serpent ~ Ilvermorny After looking at the flames, I haven't seen or heard anything. It just looked, sounded and smelled like a regular bonfire to me. However, I congratulate those who are able to discover the future or any signs of upcoming things in the flames as it is surely an esteemed and ancient branch of magic.

He chuckled a bit upon the last sentence and wondered if it was probably too much, but decided to keep it this way.

Lenore walked out past the quodpot field and into the clearing behind it. There was a brightly burning bonfire and several students were gathered close by, the light playing with the features of their faces, trading places with the shadows as the flames changed and danced, causing them to look oddly comical one moment and suddenly frightening the next. She paused for a moment and watched. The shadows were as hypnotizing as the light. She blinked and moved on, making her way to a tree just out of reach of the firelight where she climbed onto a low-hanging branch and boosted herself to one a bit higher. Here she sat, one foot on the branch and one dangling down. She leaned back against the trunk of the tree. She listened to the sound of the flames, dimmed by the night's distance. She heard the wind blowing through the leaves of her tree and felt it on her face. The stars twinkled in the sky as if winking. They seemed, as they always did to her, to be taunting her with some unshared secret. We know but you don't. We see but you never will.

Her attention turned in time to Professor Wong as he asked the students to gaze into the bonfire. She couldn't hear him clearly over the night's noises but he was loud enough to make the assignment clear. She would have to stand looking into that blaze while it cast it's painter's light on her own face, changing it as it had changed the faces of others. She wondered if the fire might see more in her than she would see in it. Probably. She had never had a vision of any kind and didn't expect that tonight would change that fact. Still... if she were to see something... She decided to wait until the rest of the students had had enough of the fire and returned to the castle. A conversation with the elements was a conversation best held alone.

She continued to sit quietly on her branch. Sometimes she watched the students gathered near the fire and sometimes she didn't. Sometimes she just closed her eyes and listened to the more subtle voices of the darkness. She heard owls hoot and flutter, likely searching for their first meal of the night.

Finally, after nearly an hour, the last of the students gathered up their items, handed a piece of parchment to Professor Wong, bid him goodnight, and headed off toward Ilvermorny castle. Lenore watched as the professor waited a few minutes, looked up to where she was sitting, and nodding, walked away. He seemed to know that she wanted some space and she appreciated that. She knew too that he wasn't likely to go far, no teacher was going to leave a student alone in a field at night, but it was enough. She slipped down from the tree as only one who has spent a great deal of time in them does and walked out to face the fire.

The flames were still high and bright despite the length of time that they had been burning. Perhaps they were enchanted to do that. Would a fire that had been touched by magic tell the same tales as a fire that had not? Would it still retain its natural voice or would it bear the tincture of the spell? She closed her eyes and breathed in the warm scent of the burning wood. It mingled with the cool air as a breeze past by, rustling both her cloak and the flames. The red light on her eyelids flickered and danced.

We know what you don't.

She opened her eyes and looked into the fire. What did the fire know? Would it share it's secrets or would it share the star's silence?

The fire continued its dance, writhing and twisting, turning and arching. It was mesmerizing. It was alluring. It was silent.

We see what you never will.

Lenore closed her eyes softly and smiled to herself. Silent as the stars. Like the rest of nature, fire was a mute lover. Still, what need was there of talk? Beauty was enough.

She stepped backward before turning to walk away, the way that one might step respectfully from a king before leaving the throne room. Then she went to where Professor Wong had been standing and found a single small piece of parchment lying on the grass, kept from being blown away by a quill and ink. She took it and wrote:

Lenore Addlebourne of Slytherin House - Hogwarts If the fire has a voice it did not speak to me.

Even before arriving at the field that night, Bran smelled the delightful smell of wood smoke, a sure sign of autumn. He grinned, glad that he’d worn a sweater for the chilly night air. Seeing other students gathered around a bonfire, the youth decided this might be the best Divination class he’d ever been subjected to attend. Finding a place near the fire, Bran sat down cross-legged and listened to Professor Wong’s explanation and instructions. He rolled his eyes slightly thinking of the numerous times in the past that he’d stared into a fire while camping and never seen the future. Still this was for a grade so he’d go along with it.

Following the professor’s directions, Bran closed his eyes. Whispers and giggles around him alerted him to the fact that others weren’t taking this as seriously either. He inhaled and smiled at the aroma of smoke. It was a pleasant scent to Bran and one that brought back plenty of memories. People shifted position and there were rustling noises around him, but he continued to breathe and felt himself relaxing. Opening his eyes at last, Bran glazed into the flickering flames, watching as they danced around. It seemed to form a circle of bending, lithe columns and the boy could imagine Native Americans dancing around a fire on a crisp night such as this, but he saw no actual shapes in the flames.

A breeze blew lightly, fanning the flames and making them leap higher. One tongue of flame darted out to the side, its tip shaped like an arrow point. Never saw that happen before, Bran mused, finding it pretty cool. The flames burned brighter and straightened taller and thin in the heart of the bonfire while the outer edges snapped and cracked sharply like sticks being broken. The smoke became a thin, grey tendril stretching upward into the dark starry sky.

Bran’s eyes began to tire after staring at one place for a while and so the boy straightened his legs and flopped backward on the ground to gaze up at the stars instead. He saw an after image of red and orange fade into the darkness and then suddenly there was a bright spark shooting upward over him. He sat up quickly, somewhat startled, and looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed. He looked over at Professor Wong but the man only gave him a knowing smile and turned away. Now what was that all about?? Bran thought. Did it mean something? Or nothing at all? With a confused frown, Bran took out a piece of parchment, glad that he’d brought along his self-inking quill. He recorded his experiences and turned in his paper.

I have always like bonfires – the smell of smoke and sounds of crackling flames. Tonight’s fire was very similar to those I’ve seen all my life. However, there were a few odd experiences. A flame narrowed and shot sideways with an arrowhead –like tip on it. The flames rose higher and the smoke thinned out. Then the flames seemed to die down. But when I laid back on the grass, a single bright spark shot out right over me. I don’t know what it all means, if it means anything at all, but this is what I experienced and now the relaxed feeling I normally have at a bonfire has become a more confused feeling. Brandon Calder – Ilvermorny - Thunderbird

At first, all she saw were the dancing flames, and they didn't look like anything in particular. She squinted, straining to see anything within the fire. Nothing. She sighed, trying to relax again. Slowly, some shadowy shapes seemed to appear and swoop in and out of the flames. Nothing was particularly clear, but the shapes made her think of birds, fluttering and dancing in the tongues of flame. "This could all be in my imagination, though" she thought. She did tend to see bird shapes in many things that weren't actually birds, and even if they were birds, what could it mean? The shapes made her happy and relaxed, though, so she figured that if the shapes really were there, they couldn't mean anything ominous. Perhaps they had something to do with her future? She did want to become a Magizoologist, and specialize in birds. Could the birds in the flames mean that her dream would be fulfilled one day? She hoped so. Rain took out her notebook and described the "bird" shapes that she saw. She scribbled down detailed depictions of how they moved, how they made her feel, and how she hoped that they were confirmation that her dream for the future would become reality. She did make sure to mention that she could be imagining all of this, though!