Ornithomancy

"Every single Divination and Care of Magical Creatures lesson was now conducted in the presence of Umbridge and her clipboard. She lurked by the fire in the heavily perfumed tower room, interrupting Professor Trelawney's increasingly hysterical talks with difficult questions about ornithomancy and heptomology, insisting that she predicted students' answers before they gave them and demanding that she demonstrate her skill at the crystal ball, the tea leaves and the rune stones in turn."

- Description

Ornithomancy is a Divination method of reading omens from the actions of birds. In the Muggle world, it has a long and illustrious heritage - the case of Alexander of Macedon, for example, whose birth was reported to have been attended by two eagles landing on the roof of the chamber where his mother was in labour, signifying his mastery of two empires.

When inspecting Sybill Trelawney's classes in January, 1996, Dolores Umbridge (then-Hogwarts High Inquisitor) would interrupt her talks with difficult questions on ornithomancy and heptomology.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix