How to anger Dream of the Endless in 3 very easy steps...by Vernon Dursley
The voice that spoke held authority, but at the same time was soft, deep, and smooth. There was no anger in the words, merely a hint of curiosity. Dream examined the little raven that had bumped into him. It was a female raven with the most striking green eyes he had ever seen. Well, there was one person who had the same eye color. A human he met about 16 years ago. The bird he held in his hand was terrified because it looked like she was petrified with fear. Before he could reassure the bird he meant her no harm, his librarian and Merv rushed to his side.
‘My Lord! I am so sorry, your sister was looking for you to inform you about a new raven…’
‘But said little raven found me first.’ Dream smirked and very gently handed the bird over to Lucienne, who cradled her into her chest, making soft reassuring sounds. ‘I am afraid I have caused her quite a scare,’ Dream said. ‘To be honest my Lord, I think she was more afraid of me,’ Merv said. ‘She saw me and took off. Not every day a newly turned raven sees a guy with a pumpkin for a head.’
At that point Death came back and observed. ‘What happened? Did you scare her, Dream?’ Dream looked offended. ‘Sister,’ came the sullen reply. Why did she always assumed the worst of him?
Lucienne told Death what happened and Death looked over at her brother. There went the smooth introduction she had planned. Okay, time for some repairs. She asked Lucienne to hand Reggie over. Lucienne complied and Death got a hold of a still frozen raven. ‘Ow dear…she had quite a shock it seems.’
She walked away from the others and heard Reggie speak very softly. ‘Please don’t let him hurt me, please don’t let him hurt me, please don’t let him hurt me.’ It was like a chant. ‘Oh sweetie, Dream is not going to hurt you, I promise.’
‘But he is the king and I flew into him and there was a man with a weird head and…and…I am so sorry!’ If she could have cried, Death was sure she would cry her eyes out. Poor thing. After that uncle of hers, it was no wonder she was afraid of repercussions.
‘Sweetie, listen to me, please. Dream will not hurt you. He is the king of this realm and ravens are the sacred animals that help him. He relies on you and the other raven he currently has. Even when he is angry, he will not hurt you,’ Death needed Reggie to trust Dream. ‘But I flew into him, and there was a man with a pumpkin for a head…and I flew into him and he is the king.’
‘The man with the pumpkin head is called Merv. He is really sweet and helps in the kingdom. But I understand he looks a bit frightening. I assure you, Merv is a sweetheart. And Dream, he is strict, but fair. He can be ruthless, but never to you. Do you think I would have brought you here if he was to be mean to you?’
‘No ma’am.’
‘Are you hurt anywhere?’ Death put Reggie on a table and she hopped around. ‘No ma’am.’
‘Good. How about we go back to the others and I will give you a proper introduction?’
They went back to the others, Reggie perched on Death’s shoulder. The others, Lucienne, Merv and Dream were waiting patiently. ‘Brother, this is Regina Lilian Potter, but she likes to be called Reggie.’ Just like Lucienne, Dream’s eyes widened a fraction, but he otherwise showed no signs. ‘Reggie, this is my brother, Dream of the Endless. But he also goes by Morpheus.’ Dream extended his hand, just like Lucienne had, indicating she could hop on. Reggie wanted to make a better impression, so she hopped on his hand. ‘I am so sorry sir, that I flew into you, that was not my intention.’
Dream smiled softly. The little raven reminded him of Jessamy. There was a story here, if his sister made this particular child a raven. ‘No harm done, little one. I assure you, I am not mad at you. I once met your mother you know...Fierce woman. She unintentionally visited the Dreamlands once and when I confronted her, she told me to bugger off. I was quite…refreshing.’ Dream sounded amused.
If Reggie could smile, she would have blinded him with it. Her mum…he had met her mum. ‘Can you tell me more sir?’ she asked eagerly. ‘Yes child, I will tell you about your mum, and about your world.’ Dream knew who the child was and what she was meant to be when he learned her name. ‘You must be tired,’ he said. ‘Matthew!’ Dream called. A rush of wings announced the presence of a bigger raven. ‘Sir?’
‘Matthew, this is Regina…but she prefers Reggie, as I understood. Will you show her where she can sleep?’ ‘Yes sir.’
Matthew looked at the little raven. She was adorable. ‘Let’s go!’
‘Uhm…sir, mister Raven…Uhm, I can’t fly so well yet.’ Reggie was embarrassed.
‘Oh I am no mister Raven, just call me Matthew. I will help you.’ Matthew turned around so he could see the people and made a shooing motion with his wings. ‘Go on, this must be done in private…it’s embarrassing enough as it is…shoo.’
Dream raised his brow, Lucienne looked over her glasses, but Merv burst out laughing and even Death could not contain her smile. She decided to interfere and moved over to her brother. ‘We have to talk.’ Dream nodded and they left, just like Lucienne and Merv.
‘Okay, so, first flying lesson from one with wings, because believe me when I tell you, humas don’t understand any of it’ Matthew said. 15 minutes later Reggie was flying without bumping into anything and flew alongside Matthew to the throne room, where she and Matthew could sleep. He showed her the bird perch and even though it was a bit weird to sleep on a stick, Reggie was asleep in seconds.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
‘So you have a plan, I presume,’ Dream asked his sister. She smiled at him, but it wasn’t a happy smile. ‘Dear brother, if you had seen what I have seen, what has been done to this child…you would have done the same.’
‘Tell me.’ And so Death spoke. She told him everything about Reggie. About who she was meant to be, even though Dream already knew that. She told him about Voldemort, Dumbledore and most importantly, what her relatives had done to her. Dream was very quiet throughout the story. Abuse…he hated it. Humans could be so cruel to each other. He put his anger aside for the moment, to listen to his sister. She revealed her plan to him. After talking for what seemed like hours, she looked at him. At this point, they were sitting in the middle of Fiddler’s Green.
‘I am happy you have confided in me, sister. I will teach her what she needs to know. When she is old enough and you perform the ritual, she will have confidence in her own abilities. I could already sense her magic. But perhaps, at that time we will need a wizard to aid us. I will look into it, there is no rush. I will bring her here when she is dreaming, every other day, so we can begin her training. During the day she can read or help Matthew. Let her become stronger first, and perhaps in time, less skittish.’
‘Thank you, brother. I knew you would help me and her. What will you do about her relatives?’ Death asked, for she knew her brother. He would not let the treatment go unpunished. Dream was feared for a very good reason.
‘Oh sister, they will pay. All of them.’ And with these ominous words Death smiled, kissed her brother on his cheek and vanished. She popped over to Reggie, but seeing as she was sound asleep, she went on her way. Duty called.
Back in Fiddler’s Green, Dream was contemplating what he wanted to do first. The uncle, yes, that is where he would start. From what he knew about the Wizarding World, if the proper steps were taken, the uncle would be arrested by the Aurors and would by now be in a holding cell. Muggles were not sent to Azkaban on a daily basis, but the man killed a magical child. That would not go unpunished. Yes, the uncle would receive a visit first.