WARNING: Seeing as this is an article about looking into the beyond, you may just encounter some spoilers along the way.

Hermione called the subject “woolly” while the likes of Lavender and Parvati swore by it. Harry and Ron had more of a lackadaisical approach to the lesson. Whichever way you slice it; Divination wasn’t everyone’s... cup of tea.

But during their tea leaves-reading sessions in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, equipped with a copy of Unfogging the Future, Harry and Ron discovered some interesting suggestions of their future in the form of ‘some soggy brown stuff’, to use Harry’s words.

While Ron and Harry analysed their tea leaves one way, Professor Trelawney conveniently re-interpreted some of their findings with the most depressing outcomes possible – so you can certainly take this practice with a pinch of salt. (But don’t be adding it to your tea.)

Whether you endorse Professor Trelawney’s Divination methods or not, here’s a quick reminder of what the pair discovered during their foray – just in case you fancy having a quick look next time you’re enjoying a cuppa yourself.

The cross: trials and suffering

The first symbol that Harry identified with his Divination partner Ron was a ‘wonky cross’, which apparently means ‘trials and suffering’. Alas, being friends with Harry Potter means that ‘trials and suffering’ are part and parcel of the relationship. Ron would indeed be put through his paces in many adventures to come – and we’re not just talking about his mum’s corned beef sandwiches.

The sun: great happiness

Thankfully, Harry also spotted a sun symbol for Ron shortly afterwards. The sun means ‘great happiness’ according to their textbook. A bit vague, sure, but maybe Unfogging the Future author Cassandra Vablatsky threw in a cheery one to offset many of the more pessimistic symbols.

The acorn: a windfall, unexpected gold

It makes sense that an acorn, the nut of oak trees, would represent such a fruitful fortune – with Unfogging the Future decreeing an acorn meant a windfall.

Of course, Harry’s Gringotts vault wasn’t exactly modest, but he would indeed acquire even more gold in only the next book, due to technically winning the Triwizard Tournament.

Happily for all of us, Harry gave the Galleons to Ron’s brothers, Fred & George, to kickstart their positively nutty joke shop business.

The falcon: a deadly enemy

Sometimes Divination truly did penetrate the depths of the deep beyond... on other occasions, it didn’t half state the obvious.

Upon finding a falcon in Harry’s teacup, Hermione called Trelawney out on such rudimentary fortune-telling. Of course, as the setting for this scene was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it could also have referred to the looming Peter Pettigrew.

The club: an attack

Perhaps another basic assessment from Professor Trelawney was identifying a club symbol in Harry’s teacup, signifying an attack was on the horizon. But she wasn’t wrong. In the crescendo of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry, Ron and Hermione would indeed find themselves in a shocking showdown between Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, a werewolf-changing Remus Lupin, and later, an onslaught of Dementors. Just another day in the office for a young Harry Potter.

Also worth mentioning that Ron initially thought this symbol was a ‘bowler hat’, which he joked may mean that Harry would become Minister of Magic in a cheeky reference to Cornelius Fudge’s preferred choice of headwear. But he wasn’t far off. Harry didn’t get the top job... but in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, we did find him working at the Ministry, while their best friend Hermione did get the gig.

The skull: danger in your path

We imagine at this point, you’re starting to get the picture. But of course, we would soon learn in the following book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, that the skull symbol would be a significant omen in Harry’s story – Lord Voldemort’s Dark Mark.

The Grim: you all know this one

And finally, the big black dog was the thing that really sent Professor Trelawney into a tailspin. ‘The omen of death’, as she relished explaining to the class, was yet another of Harry’s ill-fated tea leaves. But thankfully, in the case of Harry, a big black dog also just so happened to be the Animagus form of his lovely dogfather – sorry godfather, Sirius Black. So at least it wasn’t all bad.

Much to consider when you next pop the kettle on.