Two conversations.
Dream, with Mathew perched on his shaking shoulder, made his way to the throne room, where he found Lucienne and Mervyn waiting for him.
Lucienne stood leaning against one of the dark walls, a large leather bound book in her hands and glasses slightly askew. Mervyn, on the other hand, stood in the centre of the room, puffing on his cigar. He glared angrily at Dream as the doors flew open to allow him entry.
Mathew flew off his shoulder to land on Lucienne’s as soon as he could but kept a wary eye on Dream.
“Well hello to you too My Lord. Thank you so much for the rain you brought home with you. I’m sure we all loved getting soaking wet and cold at the same time” Mervyn snarked, receiving a seething glare from Dream for his effort.
“Mervyn, I do not have time for your humour right now. If you are willing to listen to what I have to say, then you may stay, if not, leave. “ Dream snapped.
Mervyn subsided and said.
“Apologies. I will listen.”
Dream gave a sharp nod before moving to sit on the stares to his throne, he refused to climb the long spiral staircase at that moment. Lucienne closed her book and placed it under her arm.
Dream sighed, leaning back against the step behind him as he did and prepared to tell some of his most important subjects what he had to do.
“I was summoned by my brother Destiny and given a task.”
Lucienne gasped at his words, remembering other times Dream had been summoned by his eldest brother.
“I have been asked to watch over Harry Potter, his friends as well as the Dark Lord Voldemort, formally known as Tom Riddle, and two others and if needed, help Potter and those he trusts get to either a safe location of their choosing, a safe location of my own choosing or the British wizarding school known as Hogwarts.”
Mervyn scoffed.
“Why have you agreed to do it?” he asked scathingly.
“I have no choice. My brother informed me that if Voldemort grows even more powerful than he is already, all of humanity and us Endless would regret it. I cannot let that happen despite the fact I do not know specifically what would occur if Lord Voldemort grows greater. I will not risk the death of an entire species or a planet again.
“Boss, can you explain the existence of wizards?” Mathew nervously asked, clearly noticing the rain still pouring from the sky of The Dreaming.
“I will speak to you separately afterwards, my raven. Lucienne, Mervyn, you are both aware of the existence of the Wizarding World, yes?” Dream replied to Mathew’s question, a tiny smile quirking his lips but his eyes still shining with starlight in his fury at his brother and the situation Destiny had placed Dream in.
“Yes Lord Morpheus.” Lucienne confirmed, Mervyn just nodded.
“Unfortunately.” Mervyn muttered, clearly not expecting to be overheard.
“Indeed, it is unfortunate. However, we must not judge all wizards simply because of the actions of a few.” Dream stated, clearly startling Mervyn.
“My Lord, what about your duties to The Dreaming and to your creations?” Lucienne asked suddenly, a hint of anger in her tone.
“You know just as well as I do that I can separate my consciousness between here and the Waking World if I need to and I can look in on someone’s dreams as well as complete my duties here if I must.”
Lucienne sighed again but nodded.
“What will you do next then, my lord?” She asked.
“I believe I will look in on the dreams of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, just as soon as I have spoken to Mathew.”
Lucienne, knowing a dismissal when she heard one, turned to leave the throne room with Mervyn reluctantly following.
Mathew flew over to Dream and landed with a quiet caw in his lap. Dream unconsciously began to stroke his raven’s head and back.
“Thank you for speaking with me boss, I appreciate it.” Mathew muttered quietly, making himself comfortable.
“You are welcome Mathew. After all, I will need you to accompany me to the Waking World if I am to go there, for both mine and Lucienne’s peace of mind.” Dream said.
Mathew nodded against Dream’s hand.
“I’d prefer to go with you anyway boss, make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”
Dream frowned but there was very little true anger in the action. Dream loved Mathew as much as he loved Jessemy, just in a different way despite the fact Mathew had only been Dream’s raven for a short time.
“So boss, wizards?” Mathew asked, pulling Dream out of his thoughts.
“Yes, Wizards exist. They have many secret communities in the Waking World. The community we are currently concerned with is the British wizarding community based in London, England. Most, but not all, British magic users use wands to cast spells.”
“What, like in the fairy tales?” Mathew interrupted incredulously.
“Indeed, like in the stories. In fact, they are similar to the magic users found in children’s stories written by non-magical humans, which they call muggles.”
Mathew laughed, puffing up his feathers in his humour.
“And who is Harry Potter?” he asked after controlling his laughter.
“Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans is a magical child born in 1980. He is the subject of a prophecy given by seer Sybill Trelawney before his birth. The prophecy states that Harry Potter must be the one to defeat Voldemort or die trying.”
“Oh…right then. Yeah, we should definitely help him.” Mathew replied, fluttering his wings in worry once again.
“if he needs it, we shall help him.”
“Good, I’m glad. Do you have any information about Voldemort?”
“Yes, of course I do. He was born in 1926 in a non-magical orphanage to Tom Riddle Sr and Merope Gaunt. He was originally named Tom Marvolo Riddle by his mother before she passed into my sister Death’s realm. Merope Gaunt had come from a family where her father and brother were not kind to her. She fell in love with Tom Riddle Sr, who was a rich non-magical living in the village the Gaunt family lived near. Merope, not being a powerful magic user herself yet wanting Tom Riddle Sr, gave him a love potion to make him fall in love with her. The pair ran away together and Merope fell pregnant with his child. She, thinking Riddle Sr would stay with her to care for the baby, stopped giving him the love potion. Riddle left her and Merope ended up giving birth to her son at Wool’s Orphanage in London. “
“Whoa, fuck, that’s a lot and a huge goddamn mess. “ Mathew stammered.
“indeed.” Dream replied.
The Dream Lord and the raven fell into a comfortable silence then. Dream continued to stroke his raven even as he thought about how he could help Harry and his friends survive long enough for him to fight Voldemort.
“Boss.” Mathew said after some time, startling Dream.
“Yes, Mathew?”
“I think you should visit Hob Gadling. Clearly you need time to rest and think about possible courses of action and he might be able to help you if you tell him about your task. He clearly makes you feel happier.”
Dream thought about it for a moment. He had visited Hob the day before but he missed his lover dearly, especially now Destiny had made things harder for him. Hob was kind to Dream, even when Dream wasn’t kind in return and Hob had a lot of life experience, both with the better and worse sides of life. Maybe, just maybe Hob could help Dream think of the best way to go about his task and if not, Dream knew Hob would just allow him to be with him, Hob would hold Dream just the way he liked and be there to act as a soothing presence for the Endless being.
“I think, Mathew, that you may be correct. I will visit with Hob. In the meantime, I believe it would be a good idea for you to speak with Lucienne and ask her to assist you in learning more information about the British wizarding community.”
Mathew nodded.
“Alright, boss, will do.” He said before taking off and flying towards the throne room doors and through them to the library.