The Sight

• Effect: A rare, innate magical ability that allows a wizard or witch, known as a Seer, to foresee future events through genuine prophecies.
• Type: An advanced and imprecise branch of Divination; an innate magical ability.
• Manifestation: True prophecies are often delivered involuntarily while the Seer is in a trance-like state. The Seer's voice and demeanor may change, and they typically have no memory of the event afterward. This ability is distinct from the learned practices of Divination such as Tasseomancy or Crystallomancy, which are often vague and unreliable.

The Sight is an exceptionally rare gift. The most prominent Seer in the series is Sybill Trelawney, who inherited the ability from her celebrated great-great-grandmother, Cassandra Trelawney. While most of Professor Trelawney's day-to-day predictions are gloomy and often incorrect, she made two pivotal, genuine prophecies.

• The First Prophecy: Delivered to Albus Dumbledore during her job interview at the Hog's Head Inn in early 1980. This prophecy foretold the birth of a boy with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. It stated that he would be born to parents who had thrice defied Lord Voldemort, and be born as the seventh month dies. The prophecy was partially overheard by Severus Snape, who relayed the information to Voldemort, setting in motion the events that led to the deaths of James Potter and Lily Potter and Voldemort's first downfall.
• The Second Prophecy: Made to Harry Potter at the end of the 1993-1994 school year. This prophecy foretold that the servant of the Dark Lord, who had been chained for twelve years, would break free that night. It predicted the servant would set out to rejoin his master, enabling Voldemort to rise again, greater and more terrible than before. This prophecy referred to Peter Pettigrew's imminent escape and return to Voldemort's side.

The Centaur community is also deeply connected with seeing the future, primarily through Astrology and the observation of celestial movements. However, as Firenze explained, their visions are complex and can be misinterpreted.

The true Sight cannot be learned from a textbook like Unfogging the Future. It is an innate talent that one is born with. While Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry offers Divination as a subject, it teaches methods of interpreting signs and omens, not how to acquire the ability itself. This distinction is the source of much skepticism from logical minds like Hermione Granger and pragmatic witches like Minerva McGonagall. The interpretation of a Prophecy is as important as the Prophecy itself. As Albus Dumbledore explained to Harry, a Prophecy does not make an event inevitable. Rather, it is the choices made by those who hear it that give it power. Lord Voldemort's obsession with the first Prophecy and his actions to prevent it were directly responsible for creating his own nemesis in Harry Potter, thereby making the Prophecy self-fulfilling.

The term Sight or Inner Eye refers to a form of perception beyond ordinary vision. A practitioner is called a Seer, literally meaning “one who sees,” but in this context, it implies seeing into the future or the unseen.

• In an interview, J.K. Rowling distinguished between true Seers and those who are simply talented at the practice of Divination, noting that the former is a very rare gift. (J.K. Rowling interview)
• The film adaptation of //Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban// visually depicts Sybill Trelawney's second prophecy by having her eyes turn white and her body convulse as she speaks in a deep, harsh voice. (film)
• On the Pottermore website, it is clarified that while many claim to have the “Inner Eye,” genuine Seers are extremely rare, and the subject of Divination is clouded by many charlatans. (Pottermore)