From 1979 to 1996 Sybill's occupation was Divination Professor for Hogwarts, in Hogwarts.
- Occupation Notes
- Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger believe Trelawney is a fraud, with which the teachers are inclined to agree. Her credibility as a Seer is undermined by her habit of making repeated predictions each year that one of her students will die - pronouncements which have never yet come true.
In Harry's third year (his first in Divination), Trelawney began to predict his imminent demise. During every class thereafter, she continued to insinuate that his death could come at any time, to the great irritation of Harry and his friends. Eventually, in part due to this habit of Trelawney's, Hermione dropped the class. Harry and Ron continued Divination studies until their fifth year, at the end of which they failed the exams and could not continue further - although neither was upset about this.
In 1996, Professor Trelawney was put on probation by Dolores Umbridge, Hogwarts High Inquisitor. This news pushed Trelawney into a spiral of alcohol-induced paranoia, and she was subsequently seen around the school clutching a bottle of cooking sherry and moaning about her victimisation at Umbridge's hands.
Her fears were proved justified when Umbridge dismissed Trelawney, although Dumbledore exercised his remaining authority as Headmaster to prevent Umbridge from evicting Trelawney to boot. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince it is revealed that Dumbledore feared for Trelawney's safety if she ventured outside the school, since Lord Voldemort would probably want to obtain from her the prediction she made concerning him. Dumbledore employed a centaur named Firenze as Trelawney's replacement. Trelawney was reinstated after Umbridge was ousted from the school and returned to the Ministry of Magic. Much to her displeasure, Trelawney now shared responsibility for teaching Divination with Firenze.