Hogwarts Moments: Storytelling Through Divination
A year ago, I looked at two Hogwarts Moments sets to see how they can be used as natural backdrops for minifigure photography. Today that journey continues as we explore the Divination classroom to see how simple things like light, some photo editing, and composition can transform a LEGO set into a storytelling extravaganza.
While these sets are no longer available from LEGO, their spiritual successor—the House Banners—carry on the tradition of a foldable set that serves as a background for photography and provides lots of little details for minifgures to interact with. So break out the popcorn and sit back as I tell you a few of the tales that happened in the Divination classroom through immersive photography. (Fair warning, there are some spoilers for the third and fourth Harry Potter books.) Be warned that there may be a few unexpected cut scenes along the way…
Open the tiny magical book and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the boundless Wizarding World! Enter Professor Trelawney's classroom, discover her special artifacts, and find out about some magical prophecies!
Setting the Scene
Professor Trelawney is great at turning every lesson into a spectacular show, and her room is a perfect mirror of her inner world: extraordinary, even strange... and intriguing. The Hogwarts Moments set of her classroom collection exactly corresponds to the book description and cinematic visualization of this beautiful location:
"Harry emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. Small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves."
Let’s delay no longer and dive right into the book to explore the Divination Classroom together and see how many scenes this small brick-built book can contain.
The New Magical Discipline
Trelawney: "Welcome to Divination. How nice to see you in the physical world at last! So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!"
Harry's immediate impression was of a large, glittering insect. Professor Trelawney's large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.
Trelawney: "The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Divide into pairs, take a teacup and drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup, turn it upside down on its saucer, then give your cup to your partner to read, using the 'Unfogging the Future' book. Oh, and dear... after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one from another tea set? I'm rather attached to this one."
Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf of teacups when there was a tinkle of breaking china. Professor Trelawney swept over to him holding a dustpan and brush...
The Art of Tasseomancy
When Harry and Ron had their teacups filled, they went back to their table and tried to drink the scalding tea quickly. They swilled the dregs around as Professor Trelawney had instructed, then drained the cups and swapped over.
Ron: "Right, what can you see in mine?"
Harry: "A load of soggy brown stuff."
Professor Trelawney took Harry's cup... gasped and then screamed.
Trelawney: "My dear boy! No... it is kinder not to say... You have the Grim! The giant, spectral dog, one of the darkest omens!"
(Seeing dark signs is Professor Trelawney's favorite way of greeting a new class.)
Needless to say, Harry became her best object of study. He couldn't stand the hours he spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lopsided shapes and symbols... Was he going to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for the Grim?
Practicing Crystal Gazing
Trelawney: "Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art. I do not expect any of you to See when first you peer into the Orb's infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and external eyes..."
Harry felt extremely foolish, staring blankly at the crystal ball, trying to keep his mind empty when thoughts such as "this is stupid" kept drifting across it. It didn't help that Ron kept breaking into silent giggles and Hermione kept snorting.
Professor Trelawney found the girl's mind "hopelessly mundane", and Hermione was glad to give up this discipline by the end of the year. So was Divination as deceptive as Hermione thought, or was it a Gift granted to few?
The Prophecy
Exams started in June. The tower room was hotter than ever before; the curtains were closed, the fire was alight, and the usual sickly scent made Harry cough as he stumbled through the clutter of chairs and table to where Professor Trelawney sat waiting for him before a large crystal ball. As always, Harry didn't show brilliant results with any predictions of doom: their absence made the professor a little bit disappointed:
Trelawney: "Well, dear, I think we'll leave it there... I'm sure you did your best."
Relieved, Harry got up, picked up his bag, and turned to go when he caught the sight of a strange reflection in the crystal ball: it seemed that the fire acquired the shape of a face... these mad eyes looked at him from all newspapers. Sirius Black?
Suddenly a loud, harsh voice spoke behind him.
Trelawney: "IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."
Harry wheeled around. Professor Trelawney had gone rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused, she didn't seem to hear him. Trelawney spoke again, in the same harsh voice, quite unlike her own...
Trelawney: "THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT... THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANTS AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS..."
(If you are curious about the secret of the Prophecy, read about everything that happened in the mysterious Shrieking Shack that I wrote about last July.)
Planetary Movements
The next year at Hogwarts was marked with the new Divination classes in the North Tower where Professor Trelawney lived.
Trelawney: "My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars. The movements of the planets will reveal the mysterious portents only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance."
The professor lifted, from under her chair, a miniature model of the solar system: all the planets and the fiery sun were hanging in the air. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who deeply admired Professor Trelawney, were sitting on poufs very close to her.
Each of the students had been given a complicated circular chart and was attempting to fill in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. It was dull work, requiring much consultation of timetables and the calculation of angles.
The heavily perfumed fumes washed over Harry, and the breeze from the window played across his face. His eyelids began to droop...
Wormtail: “Lord Voldemort, perhaps if we were to do it without the boy...”
Voldemort: “No! The boy is everything! It cannot be done without him. And it will be done. Exactly as I said.”
Unknown Person: “I will not disappoint you, my Lord.”
Voldemort: “First, gather our old comrades. Send them a sign.”
Voldemort: “Harry, at last! Step aside, Wormtail, so I can give our guest a proper greeting...”
Harry woke up with a start, but we know that this event wasn’t a simple dream in the same way that Professor Trelawney's prophecy hadn't been for show...
To be continued…
In these photos, I’ve tried to show how Hogwarts Moments sets can be even more flexible with photography than regular sets. You don’t have to worry about a roof that gets in the way, walls won’t block your view, you can use the covers as a backdrop, and lighting is not a problem. I look forward to the next sets like these to explore even more photographic possibilities! I hope you enjoyed the brightest scenes in the Divination Classroom!
How would you show a lit-up crystal ball in a LEGO MOC? Let us know in the comments below.
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