Alexandra Potter
Chapter Eleven: Firsts and Lasts
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Am I dreaming?
The question came by instinct. It was habit, now. But this time it was different.
This time she was asleep.
Alex looked around, suddenly aware of her surroundings. She was sitting alone in the Great Hall with breakfast spread before her, but the place wasn't quite right. She picked up a glass goblet. It didn't lack in detail. It wasn't blurry, or anything like that. It looked like a glass, its edges clearly defined. But still, something was different. It seemed softer, somehow. Less real. Like she could just -
Disappear, Alex thought, and the glass was gone. But it didn't go with a pop or a puff of smoke. No - she wanted the glass gone, and the dream changed to not include it. It was as if it never existed.
Alex felt her excitement begin to rise. This was it. This was the first stage of somniamancy - what she'd been trying to achieve for weeks. Somniamancy was a very special branch of magic - you couldn't just pick up your wand and have at it. You first had to be asleep. But that created a problem: how to cast spells when your mind was wandering, drifting aimlessly through dreams? First you had to become aware -. only then could you even begin somniamancy.
Wand, Alex thought, and her wand appeared in her hand. It had a solid weight to it that was utterly undreamlike. Her waking body, she knew, would be clutching the wand tightly - she'd been sleeping with it stuck to her hand for weeks now, in preparation for this moment.
Her heart thumped in her chest.Stop that, she thought. She didn't want to wake herself up. The book warned that could happen, especially the first few times.Get a hold of yourself.
She stood up. After becoming aware inside a dream, the next step was navigation. She left the Great Hall through the main doors - pushing them open like they weighed nothing. The Entrance Hall beyond was as empty as the Great Hall before it. The quiet was unnerving. It wasn't right. Hogwarts wasn't this quiet, not even at night. It was like the whole castle was frozen.
She made her way to Hufflepuff House, and then to her dorm. It was dark - pitch black, she knew - but Alex could see without a problem. And there she was, lying on her back, her eyes closed. Her hair was loose and tangled, but clear of her face. Hovering just above the centre of her forehead was a mote of light, like someone had plucked a star from the night's sky and placed it there. Just as the book had described.
The sickly green glow surrounding her scar - that was something the bookhadn'tdescribed.I wonder what it means?She reached out a cautious hand, and pressed an experimental finger to the light.
"Ow!" she said, snatching her hand back. Her sleeping body twitched. It was like a bee sting, but the pain quickly faded.Okay, leaving that alone for now. She wasn't quite sure what Dumbledore would think of somniamancy, but she was pretty sure it wasn't the kind of thing she could ask him about.I'll just have to figure out another way to bring up my scar.
She turned her attention back to the white light over her forehead. Her own sleeping mind.
Here goes nothing.
"Recludo!" she said, taking her wand from the eleventh - pressed to her right temple - to point at the ball of light. A gust of wind whispered through the window, rusting the curtains around her bed, and the dark seemed to get deeper.Did it work?
"Somentia!" she said, sweeping her wand widely. Where her wand passed, little twinkling lights appeared in the darkness - just like the one over her own head. It had worked - she had escaped her own dream. Each one of those lights was a sleeping person, lying somewhere within Hogwarts. Only there weren't enough lights - no more than fifteen. Alex knew there were at least thirty students staying at Hogwarts for the holidays.The spell has limited range, then.
One light was close, she could tell. It was brighter than the rest, and twinkling more energetically. Alex knew who it had to be - Roland Peaks, third year Hufflepuff. Curious, she crept out of her dorm and walked down the stairs. But as she passed the landing into the boys dorms, the dream began to change. The portraits on the walls grew hazy, and the dark gathered around her like a thick mist.
"Lumos," she said, and her wand lit up - yet, despite the bright light, the corridor remained vague and nonspecific, like there was a repulsion Charm on it. Luckily, the book had warned her of this too. She'd never been down the boys' corridor before. If she'd still been inside her own dream, her mind might have invented something to fill the gap. But whatever this place was, it was outside her mind. She couldn't just will things to happen anymore.
She slipped into Peaks' dorm. She could tell it was like her own in shape and size, but beyond that she could see nothing - except for a shining light in the corner of the room. Peaks. She stood for a moment, watching, and thinking. She needed to practice, but she didn't want to give Peaks a nightmare. He hadn't done anything to her.
No harm in taking a look, though, she thought. A peek inside Peaks.
"Alohamora," she said, jabbing her wand at the light. It swelled and elongated, stretching out into a disc of light no larger than a dinner plate, hovering over Peaks' face. Alex stepped forward and bit her lip.What's the worst that can happen? It's just a dream.
She leaned over and pushed her face into the light.
The world burst into full colour, and she found herself standing in an unfamiliar kitchen. Large, made of stone, it felt old fashioned, somehow, and she realised there weren't any electric appliances. A large iron AGA dominated one side of the kitchen, and Alex could feel the dry heat radiating from it. It smelled slightly of bacon. A bony woman was sitting at the oak table, and a fat man paced behind her. They were arguing, Alex knew, but she couldn't hear any words. She just knew it.
"Hello," said a boy's voice, and Alex jumped. Roland Peaks was standing in the kitchen doorway, watching everything with a look of detachment. He was a chubby boy, and short, with white blond hair and clear eyes. "You're Alexandra Potter."
"Yes," said Alex, unsure. She'd only meant to look. Would he remember this, in the morning? Would he be suspicious? "You're Roland, aren't you?"
Roland nodded. "Would you like to see my room?" he said, "I've got a telescope, you know."
Alex looked around the kitchen, before shrugging. "Sure," she said.What I am doing here?
He led her through a rarely used living room and up carpeted stairs. Roland's room was large, colourful, and cluttered. Moving posters of Quidditch teams hung on the walls; another poster was stuck to the ceiling above his bed, this one of a winking witch. Her robes kept fluttering up to reveal pink panties. Alex rolled her eyes.
"Nice," she said, and she moved into the sun by the bay windows. His telescope was there, pointing not at the sky but across the suburban street.
"Do you want to have sex?" said Roland, and Alex glanced back at him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her eagerly.Ew.
"Maybe I should go," she said, mostly to herself. There was nothing to do here. She touched the warm metal of the telescope. It felt so real.
"Oh," said Roland. "Okay."
"Do you have a mirror?" she asked. There were several ways to escape dreams, but a mirror would be easiest.
"Bathroom," said Roland, pulling out a pile of comics from under his bed. "Goodbye."
Alex found the bathroom easily enough. It gleamed white, and there was a large mirror over the sink. She looked into it, and saw herself looking back; the shining light on her forehead was still there.
"Recludo," she said, casting the spell once more. The light flashed brightly; suddenly she was back in the dark of Roland's dorm, her face hovering above his.Weirdo, she thought, before leaving the dorm. It was time to get down to work. It was time to find Daphne.
Once she was out of the boys dorms, the castle became clearer once more, and her light Charm revealed a world in full colour. She began to wander, casting the Somementus Charm periodically, each time lighting Hogwarts up with twinkling stars. It was hard to keep track of them, though, and she found herself walking in circles more than once. Finding the Slytherin dorms was going to be harder than she thought.
She decided to pick one light and pursue it. If it wasn't Daphne, then she could try again, and again, until it was. The light led her upwards and into the East wing, and Alex began to suspect who it was she was tracking. And then she came out at a T junction, and she knew exactly where she was.Of all the people I could pick, it would have to be him.
A gargoyle shaped like a griffin loomed in a dark alcove in the wall, and beyond it Dumbledore's office. Alex turned to follow a different light, but paused. What did Albus Dumbledore dream of? Surely more interesting things than Roland Peaks. She turned back to the gargoyle, and bit her lip. It was wrong, she knew. It wasn't like Roland. Dumbledore was always nice to her. He was a teacher. She should just leave.
She raised her wand.
"Alohamora," she said.
The gargoyle's eyes snapped open. They were a brilliant piercing blue, and they stared at her. Alex stepped backwards.
"Hello?" she said, her heart beating hard. Her small voice echoed in the dark. The gargoyle was still staring at her. And then it reared up, flapping its stone wings, and shrieked.
The sound hit Alex like a physical force, a powerful wind pushing her down the corridor. She stumbled, and, with a great tearing sound, a black rent slashed through her dream, like a claw through paper.
"No!" she called, struggling to stand, "stop!" But the wind kept blowing, and the dream was falling apart. The gargoyle shrieked again, and stamped a hoof. When it did, the stone around its feet cracked, and the dream shattered.
Alex gasped, and sat up in bed. She was tangled in her covers. Her heart was beating hard; her pyjamas were soaked in sweat. She tore the sheets away from her body, jumped out of bed, and walked over to the open window. The cool air washed over her, and she shivered slightly as her sweat evaporated. She stood like that for five minutes, breathing deeply, letting herself calm down.
She was fine. It was just a dream.
Dear Alex,
Could you get any more mysterious? "The thing I'm working on" - I'm sure you're doing it deliberately! But fine, make me wonder. Whatever it is it must be complicated, if you call it "tricky". But if you need help, you can always ask me. I owe Daphne myself. There's a lot that goes on in Slytherin you don't hear about.
Hufflepuff has a pool? You somehow forgot to mention that. Of course, Slytherin has our own attractions. I could tell you about them, but I'd have to kill you.
It was good to see Nott - a break from old ladies and ambitious young men. He spent most of the time going on about Daphne, though. You should be careful around him - I think he thinks he's Daphne's protector, or something, and he kept asking about you. Vince and Greg were more fun. They're fair beaters, so they took turns at trying to hit me with bludgers as I looked for the snitch. I broke my leg, which was pretty painful, but Healer Ramsay had it cleaned up soon enough.
Vince was rather proud of the whole thing. I think he's going to try out as beater next year. I fear it's gone to his head: he's been talking about playing for the Wimbledon wasps.
It's my birthday in four days. I don't think I mentioned it - so close to Christmas, they kind of merge together. Normally I have a party, but the ball is on the 21st this year, so it looks like instead of a party I'm going to be dancing with my parents' friends' daughters. Mother says next year I can have an extra big party to make up for it.
An advance warning: my parents are going to be sending you a Christmas present, so you might like to get them something back.
Thinking of you,
Draco
Dear Draco,
FOUR DAYS?! It's actually three now, as it took your letter a day to get here. How could you forget your own birthday? Mine's 31st July, by the way. Don't forget! Anyway, it's too late for me to get you a present, now - it's still a couple of days til the next Hogsmeade visit. Your Christmas present will just have to be your birthday present too.
Happy Birthday, though. I hope you have fun dancing with all those other girls. If any of them try any funny business, make sure to tell them the Girl Who Lived is your girlfriend. Boyfriend thieves are nothing next to Dark wizards.
Just joking.
Mostly.
It's funny you mentioned that you'd like to help. There is, actually, something that would help a lot. I told you about Hufflepuff, now it's your turn! SO. Where's the entrance to the Slytherin common rooms? How do you get in?
Thanks!
Alex
xxx