When the Dog Star Dims

“When the dog star dims there will be a dreadful destruction... vengeance will be craved... many shall pass by his bloody hands... when the dog star dims... none will stand before the lion’s wrath... he shall make all repent... when the dog star dims...”

Filius Flitwick blinked, looking at the ancient lady that stared right at him. He had been excited, running around all of the stores in Diagon Alley. He was going to Hogwarts, after all. He had managed to make it to the Leaky Cauldron, while his parents were talking to someone they knew. He had thought the corner was empty, so he had gone there with his pumpkin juice. However, it hadn’t been empty; a woman so old and shrunken that he hadn’t seen had been sitting there.

The eleven-year-old boy looked around, confused. Who was this lady? Where was her family? Why had she told him anything?

The bartender came over and looked at Filius worriedly. “D-Did she say something?” When the boy nodded, the man swore quietly.

“Sir?” Filius asked, worried.

“Do you know who she is?” The bartender demanded, his voice a soft hiss. When Filius shook his head, the man said, “That’s Cassandra Trelawney.”

Oh. Filius had heard about the famous Seer. The bartender looked as if he were going to speak, but she spoke again.

“The young lion shall slay the older lion... his vengeance will have no end... the snake with seven heads shall be destroyed... when the dog star dims... the young lion shall reign... he shall slay all in his way... when the dog star dims...”

Filius looked at the bartender, “She said something like that, right before you came.” He repeated the older woman’s words. The bartender shook his head, utterly confused.

“It seems like a particularly disturbing pro-”

At this moment, Cassandra Trelawney reached forward, grabbing Filius, looking at him desperately. “This is how our world will end... when the dog star dims... this is how our world will end... when the lion’s sword reaps all... this is how our world will end... when the dog star dims... this is how our world will end...”

The bartender was pale, his eyes wide in worry and fear. He went to the fireplace, probably using it to get someone, but Filius couldn’t get the words out of his head.

Our world will end.

The woman was crying, and Filius felt like joining her. A few people from the Ministry looked anxious-they must had just come through the fireplace.

“That’s a lot of prophecies for one day, let alone in the last few minutes,” one of the Ministry wizards said quietly. They were speaking softly, worried.

Filius was worried too, but confused. Sirius was a star in the constellation Canis Major. And it would probably explode with a supernova, so how could it dim? What would the star have to do with their world ending?

“Oh son, there you are. Come on now, we have shopping to finish!” Filius’s parents had found him.

Cassandra Trelawney’s eyes never left Filius’s, and the short boy couldn’t help but look at her as he stood to leave the Leaky Cauldron. Only he heard her next words:

“You will see our world end, oh small raven. But if your tears are of joy or sadness, I cannot see...”

Filius quickly hurried after his parents, trying very hard to put all of the Seer’s words out of his head. He was going to Hogwarts... and he was most definitely not going to take Divination!