It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, but Draco Malfoy was sitting in the Library. He had a Transfiguration essay to complete by tomorrow about the methods, benefits and uses of reversing transfiguration. He needed to write two rolls of parchment and he had only written one so far. Professor McGonagall always gave them so much homework! And it was only the start of the year. Draco was dreading the amount of work he'd have closer to exams. Draco sighed, and continued to write.

'Untransfiguration has been used for centuries in order to reverse the transfiguration of humans into other animals or inanimate objects. The first wizard to be successfully untransfigured was Lancelot Wimple, whose wife had transfigured him into a rocking chair in October, 1374…'

Before long, though, Draco caught himself looking out the window again. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, but he couldn't… well, shouldn't… go outside! It just wasn't fair. Knowing his luck, this would be the last sunny day until next year.

Draco put his pen down. He needed a break. The letters on the page were starting to swim before his eyes. Draco stood up and wandered down one of the aisles and looked idly at the books on the shelves. 1000 Simple Spells: Caring for Plants, Divination for Dummies, Dream Spells, Advanced Invisibility Spells. Hang on. Draco stopped and looked back at the tattered red book on the shelf. He took it off the shelf and looked at the cover. Dream Spells, he read. A Journey Into The Depths Of The Mind. And then beneath that, in small letters was written, By Gwendolyn Harvey, Dream Witch. Draco opened the book and took a look at the contents page.

He read the chapter titles out loud. "Sleeping spells, Entering dreams…" He looked around to make sure no one had seen him take the book. It wouldn't be good if word got back to his father that he was reading this un-Malfoy-like book.

"This could be interesting", he mused to himself, hoping the his father couldn't hear. Draco took the book back to his table with him. When he left the library later that afternoon, he made sure to take he book with him. At least it would be good for some light reading.


It was 3:00 in the morning, and Draco was still awake. Dream Spells wasn't just a book to read as a break, when there was nothing else to read. It was interesting. And more so, it was useful. Well, potentially, at least. There were a lot of spells that could be very useful, and also very dangerous, so long as they fell into the wrong hands. Luckily – for Draco, at least – the book had fallen into his hands. And he would definitely not waste this gift. He put in a bookmark in the book at the chapter he was at (Changing appearances), placed the book onto his bedside table and went to sleep. Or at least tried to. But sleep didn't come.

'Ironic', Draco thought to himself. 'I can't get to sleep because I'm too busy thinking about sleep.'

Draco sat up and picked up the book again. He turned back to the first chapter – Sleeping spells.

'I may as well see if these spells work', he thought.

Draco picked up his wand and pointed it at himself. "Dormio!" he chanted, and then promptly fell asleep.


Within a week, Draco had finished Dream Spells. He could think of so many things that he wanted to try, so many people he wanted to get revenge on! But first, he had to try it out. There was no point in trying something and failing. Things like this needed practice, and anyway, Malfoys never fail in front of their enemies.

Firstly, Draco wanted to make sure that he could get into someone's dream. That was meant to be the hard part. The book had said that once one was in a dream, the rest was easy. He opened the chapter Entering Dreams and read:

'There are two steps involved in entering a dream. The first step involves opening the target's mind to a foreign intrusion by casting the charm, Somnus, on the target. This requires the caster being in the presence of the target. The Somnus charm allows the next step to take place. But be warned. The mind never likes being forced to stay open, so rebels. The Somnus charm is never maintained in a person for more than 24 hours, and in strong minds, is maintained for much less. However, the caster has a window of at least 12 hours before the spell disintegrates. Also, anyone within a few 100m radius can enter a dream, not just the caster of the Somnus charm.

'With these warnings in mind, the caster is able to progress to the second step. This one is much more difficult and takes force of mind. The caster casts Incipe somnium, and with enough force of mind, can enter a target's dreams. If there are multiple people within the caster's range that have are within the Somnus charm's window, the caster will enter a target's dream at random. Casting Incipe somnium again will move the caster into another random mind. If there is no suitable dream to enter, the spell will have no effect.

'When the caster has finished in the dream, they just need to cast Finem somnium to return to their own mind. If the target's mind regains control while the caster is still there, the caster will be forcefully pushed out. This can be quite painful, so beware.'

Now that Draco knew the theory, it was time to put it into practice.

That night, as he and his roommates were getting ready for bed, Draco surreptitiously pointed his wand at Blaise Zabini and muttered "Somnus!" under his breath. There was no reaction from Blaise. Draco wasn't sure if the spell worked. The only way to check was to move onto step two.

The boys got into bed and turned off the lights. Draco waited half an hour, and when he could hear four sets of heavy, regular breathing, he knew that he could experiment. Draco whispered "Incipe somnium!" under his breath. Nothing happened. He closed his eye's tightly and imagined himself in a dream. He whispered the spell again.

This time it worked. The experience of entering a dream was strange. Draco felt as if he was walking through water. It took a lot of energy to get through. He felt a strange cool tingling sensation. It wasn't on his skin, not really, though it felt like it was. But at the same time, it felt like it was on his brain.

Draco opened his eyes. He blinked. His mind told him to close his eyes tightly and wait until he woke up. But Draco kept his eyes open and stared. Firstly, he had gotten into a dream successfully. Secondly, before him was one of the strangest sights Draco had ever seen. It was hard to describe. He kept on seeing things out of the corner of his eyes – a griffin, a giant tadpole, a ladder that went straight into a purple sky – but when he looked it wasn't there. All that was there was a swirling, multicoloured chaos. For that's what it was, mused Draco. Without a dreamer, the stuff that makes up a dream just wouldn't have any shape. Or it would have every single shape simultaneously until the dreamer needed it to be just one shape. But where was the dreamer? Draco looked around, and tried to make out anything solid in the chaotic jumble of undetermined dreams.

"What are you looking at?" asked a voice behind him suddenly. Draco spun round. There was Blaise. He was standing in a wide field, with nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. Draco looked back over his shoulder, but the dream chaos had gone! There was just more and more grass.

"Nothing", Draco answered, hurriedly. At least now he knew that he was in the right dream. "Where are we?" he continued.

"Dunno", replied Blaise. Draco blinked. And the scene had changed. They were now standing in the middle of an ancient stadium. There were crowds of people sitting above them, all yelling. Draco caught the words "Fight!" from all directions.

Draco looked at Blaise, and stepped back in shock. He was now dressed in armour and carrying a sword. Draco looked down at himself. He was also wearing armour and carrying a sword. He looked back at Blaise.

"Just follow the plan", Blaise mouthed at him. Blaise stepped forward and took a swing at Draco. Draco just managed to block him, but was forced back. Blaise swung at Draco again and again, forcing Draco further back.

Suddenly, Draco's back hit something hard. He hazarded a look behind him, and saw that he was now standing in front of a small wooden door in the wall of the stadium. He looked back. Blaise had raised his sword for a final swing. Draco raised his blade and there was a clash of metal. Draco's arm reverberated from the blow. Blaise bore down on Draco, pushing his further into the door.

"Come on", he hissed. "We don't have much time!"

Draco realised that his wand was now in his other hand. He put it behind his back and muttered "Alohamora!" under his breath. The door swung open suddenly, and Draco and Blaise fell into it. Blaise quickly stood up and closed the door. There was a thump. Someone was trying to open it from the other side.

"Help me", Blaise groaned, throwing all his weight and strength at the door. Draco pointed his wand at the door again and chanted "Colloportus!"

"Will that hold them?" Blaise asked.

"It should", Draco replied, confidently. His father had taught him that spell in his second year.

Blaise moved away from the door, and when he was certain that no one was getting through, he turned to Draco.

"Let's go", he said.

The two boys ran as fast as they could down the passage. They heard a smash as the door was literally torn off its hinges. They ran even faster.

Suddenly, the passage ended. Blaise and Draco entered a blinding light. Soon, it cleared, and they saw that they were standing on the edge of a cliff. One more step, and they would have fallen down. Draco took a look over the edge and gulped. He couldn't see the bottom.

Behind them, there was some clattering and the sound of running feet. Three soldiers exited the tunnel.

"Surrender in the name of the Emperor!" one of the yelled as they adjusted to the light.

"Never!" said Blaise.

"Then we will have to take you by force", said the soldier. The soldiers began to advance.

"Do you trust me?" Blaise asked Draco suddenly.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" repeated Blaise.

"I guess", replied Draco, uneasily.

Blaise took Draco's hand, and jumped off the cliff. Draco felt himself dragged along, as well.

"What did you do that for?" he yelled at Blaise next to him.

"Don't worry", Blaise replied. "They'll —"

Then he disappeared. Draco screamed. He felt a sharp pain in his head, as if something was pulling his brain in a specific direction. Draco felt the cold tingling sensation again, and with what felt like a thump, he landed back in his bed.

Obviously, Draco realised. He had never left his bed. It had all been in his mind. Or rather, in Blaise's mind. Draco then heard movement in the room. He twitched open his curtain, and saw the outline of Blaise standing in the firelight of a single torch. He was drinking some water.

'He probably woke up', Draco thought. 'That's what woke me up. There was no dream to grab onto, so my mind shot back into my own head.'

Draco heard Blaise return to his bed. He smiled. It seemed like this experiment was a success.


The next morning, Draco saw that Blaise looked tired. As they sat at the Slytherin table over breakfast, Blaise turned to Draco.

"I dreamt about you last night", he said.

"Oh yeah?" said Draco, innocently. "What about?"

"I dunno. Something about fighting and a stadium and then I was falling. Then I woke."

"Sounds important", Draco said seriously. "Maybe you should get Trelawney to interpret it during Divination this morning?"

Blaise snorted. Draco smiled. This dream thing was going to be fun.