Magical Oaths
Dream looked at the wizard in front of him. His plan to include the man in Reggie’s training had come about earlier. He should have known Reggie would be curious about the man because she was right from the start. He looked from Severus to Reggie, his gaze softening. He tapped his fingers on his shoulder and Reggie flew toward him, landing on his shoulder.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘Please don’t be mad. We just talked, that’s all, I promise.’ Dream sighed. It was hard to stay angry with the little raven.
‘She is right, we only talked. No more, no less.’ Severus said, his eyes fixated on the being in front of him. Dream once again looked at him. ‘It seems my plans have moved faster than I wanted, but it matters not. Now that you two have met, you will help. That is if you choose to.’
Severus nodded. ‘What do you need from me?’ Dream looked around the room where they were. ‘Can we talk somewhere where we don't run the risk of students hearing us?’ asked Dream.
Severus stooped to pick up his wand. ‘I can seal the room with a spell so that what we say stays inside. But I wonder...there are more people here who want to help. And if Regina is to defeat the Dark Lord, she'll need all the help she can get.’
Dream thought about the offer. ‘Please, sir. I would also like to meet the other people, can I please?’ If only Lucienne could see him now. The dreaded Dream King was practically brought to his knees by a begging girl who was also a raven... and too cute for her own good.
He glanced at the raven on his shoulder, took another deep breath, and nodded. ‘All right then. All right, but while we're here, Severus...I need the Invisibility Cloak. Go get it and get the others right away. I'll wait here. If you see another raven flying, call it to you. His name is Matthew.’
Reggie gave a squeal in delight and hopped on his shoulder like a human would do a happy dance. Dream chuckled.
Severus left his chambers in a hurry and summoned his Patronus. The deer looked at him and he gave the message to Minerva, Filius, Lucius, and Remus to come to his chambers. He himself then went to the Headmaster's room to fetch the cloak that had been hidden there.
Gaining entry, he ran up the spiral stone steps and opened the door. He cast the counter-spell and opened the cupboard where the cloak lay. Carefully he took out the cloak, hid it under his robe and closed the closet again, then left the room. As he came down the stairs, he met Lucius.
‘What is going on?’
‘Dream of the Endless is here, with the girl.’
Lucius' eyes widened and together the men walked back to Severus' chambers. When they got there, the others were waiting and to Severus' dismay, Sirius was there too. Remus looked at him and raised his hands in an apologetic gesture. ‘He is her godfather.’
Severus looked at Sirius, and to his surprise, the man seemed unable to hold his gaze. Weird. He wasn't usually this shy or reserved. He decided to ignore it for now and opened the door to his quarters. Everyone walked in and Severus locked the room with a privacy spell and an anti-eavesdropping spell.
The professors and Sirius saw a man sitting, young in complexion, with tousled dark hair and eyes like the starry night sky. The man was dressed completely in black and had a raven on his shoulder. A rather small raven with bright green eyes, much like the Killing Curse. The man didn't smile but gestured to the other seats.
‘Sit down.’
Everyone took their seats without protest. Dream closed his eyes and seemed to think, before opening them again.
‘My name is Dream. I am one of the Endless. I am also known as Morpheus, or the Dream King. Together with my brothers and sisters, I am a personification of human nature. Everyone dreams, everyone longs for things, everyone is desperate and eventually, everyone dies. We are powerful and hold the balance within the universe.’ He paused for a moment to look everyone in the eyes.
“My sister, Death, is more powerful than all of us. She wields the Book of Life and knows who should die and when. Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, has done the unthinkable and through a chain of events it is now up to the little raven on my shoulder to stop the man.’
Sirius wanted to say something, but Remus nudged him, in order for him to not open his mouth.
‘Thanks to Albus Dumbledore, Reggie died before she could do this. The abuse and beatings she endured were too much for her. In her wisdom, my sister decided to turn her into a raven. Every night she turns into a girl in her dreams and can learn to use magic. Because she is so young but very talented, we started with elemental magic. At the moment, she controls both air and earth. But elemental magic alone won't get her there. She also needs to learn the other things she would learn if she did go to this school.’
Dream rose from the chair and looked down at the wizards and the witch in his presence.
‘What I ask of you is the following. Are you willing to teach her? I can only make sure she's human at night. Only at the age of 17 is it possible to change her back into a real person. It would mean that you take turns teaching her at night. I will take you to the Dreamlands, wherever she is and will make sure that you wake up rested.’
Lucius glanced sideways at Severus, then at Minerva and Filius. He stood up and faced Dream. ‘It would be my honor.’
He looked at the raven, who looked back at him. ‘My name…is Lucius Malfoy. I'm ashamed of my past, where I followed the man who killed your parents. I didn't know any better, I thought he was the solution to our world's problems. I knew both of your parents and we ran into each other in fights between the two sides. I respected them and what happened to you, I am deeply ashamed of it. I will do everything I can to teach you what I know. I'll fight beside you and fall for you if that's what it takes.’
Lucius took out his wand and repeated his oath. ‘So mote it be.’ His wand glowed, signifying that the oath had been accepted by Lady Magic.
It was a powerful moment.
Minerva stood up and stood next to Lucius. She smiled at the young raven. ‘My name is Minerva McGonagall. I was there that night Albus left you with your family.’ She swallowed. After a few deep breaths, she continued.
‘I knew right away it wasn't right to leave you there. But I assumed that Albus was right and that they would love you, and take care of you. I'm so terribly sorry. I wish I could take it back, I would have lovingly been the one who raised you.’
Tears ran down her cheeks. To her surprise, the raven flew towards her and landed on her shoulder. She looked at the bird and saw the same eyes as Lily.
‘It's good, really. I'm not mad at you. I don't mind being a raven now. Flying is really fun and Dream and Lucienne and Merv are all very nice to me.’ Reggie stroked Minerva's face with her wing. Severus saw that Minerva wasn't the only one upset. He also had to swallow a few times himself.
Minerva nodded. ‘I, too, will gladly teach you everything I know. I'll fight beside you and fall for you if that's what it takes.’ After raising her wand and pronouncing the oath, this too was accepted by Lady Magic.
Remus rose third, along with Sirius. Both gave the same oath, as did Filius, who told Reggie about her mother and how he believed Reggie would be just as talented.
Severus got up last. All eyes on him, he walked over to Minerva, where Reggie was still sitting on the shoulder.
‘I loved your mother. I screwed up and I will never completely forgive myself for that. I was young and stupid and angry and I can't take it back. I, too, thought you were well looked after by your family because Albus made it seem that way. I was a dumbass.’
Reggie giggled and it broke the tension in the room. Severus repeated the same oath as the others and this oath was also accepted.
‘It's about time.’
Everyone turned, wand in hand, ready to overpower the intruder. Behind the group stood a dark-skinned woman, with black hair, black clothing, and a silver pendant around her neck.
‘Death!’ Reggie fluttered towards her and accidentally landed on her head. ‘Whoops.’ She dropped to the shoulder of Death, who gave the group a big grin.
‘Wixen, Baby brother.’
Dream gave her a look that indicated he wasn't impressed.
‘I'm not coming alone,’ said Death cheerfully. Severus looked sideways at the others. Was this Death? The Grim Reaper? It was a beautiful woman...dressed in normal clothes, no cloak...the others also looked surprised.
‘Hello Severus,’ said a voice. Severus jerked his head back to Death and his mouth fell open when he saw who it was.