Divination is the branch of magic that involves attempting to foresee the future, or gather insights into events through magical means. It is considered a highly inexact and difficult art, with many in the wizarding world viewing it with skepticism. Professor McGonagall describes it as “one of the most imprecise branches of magic”. The success of most forms of Divination is largely dependent on interpretation and is often vague. However, true, unerring foresight is possible for those who possess the Inner Eye. This is an innate and very rare gift that allows a witch or wizard, known as a Seer, to make genuine prophecies. A Seer often has no control over their visions and may not even remember making a prophecy after the fact.
Various methods are taught and practiced within the wizarding world, though their reliability is often questioned. Known methods include:
Divination is an elective subject available to students from their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For many years, it was taught exclusively by Professor Sybill Trelawney in her classroom at the top of the North Tower. The Divination Classroom was a circular, stuffy room, perpetually filled with perfumed smoke and accessed only by a trapdoor and a silver ladder, creating an atmosphere Professor Trelawney believed was necessary for the art. The subject has a poor reputation among more logical and academically rigorous individuals. Hermione Granger famously dropped the class in her third year out of frustration with its lack of precision and Professor Trelawney's morbid predictions. Professor McGonagall also held the subject in low esteem. Albus Dumbledore admitted he considered discontinuing the subject at Hogwarts and only kept Trelawney on staff to protect her from Lord Voldemort after she made her first great prophecy. In Harry's fifth year, after Dolores Umbridge sacked Trelawney, the centaur Firenze was hired to teach the subject. His classes were held in a ground-floor classroom enchanted to look like a clearing in the Forbidden Forest at twilight.
While most Divination is guesswork, true prophecies are real and immensely powerful. They are made by a Seer with the Inner Eye.
Prophecies are recorded in glass orbs and stored in the Hall of Prophecy within the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic.
Divination, and specifically prophecy, is the central engine of the entire plot of the *Harry Potter* series. The first prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney caused Lord Voldemort to target the Potter family, leading to the murder of James and Lily Potter and the creation of Voldemort's own nemesis in Harry Potter. The series explores themes of fate and free will, questioning whether the prophecy's power lay in its own magic or in the choices made by those who heard it. The second prophecy directly facilitated Voldemort's return to power at the end of Harry's fourth year. Even mundane classroom predictions sometimes came true in unexpected ways. The “Grim” Harry Potter saw in his tea leaves was a foreshadowing of his godfather, Sirius Black, an Animagus who could transform into a large black dog.
The word “Divination” comes from the Latin verb divinare, meaning “to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to be inspired by a god.” This connects to the idea that true foresight is a rare, almost divine gift.
In interviews, J.K. Rowling has stated that the theme of prophecy was a way to explore the concepts of fate and free will, emphasizing that it is our choices that define us, not our predictions. Harry's decision to act against Voldemort is more important than the prophecy that foretold he could. In the film adaptations, Sybill Trelawney's delivery of her true prophecies is portrayed as a more conscious and dramatic event, with her voice changing and her body contorting, whereas in the books she enters a true trance and has no memory of the event afterward (film).