The Nightmare

[G]

"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us.
What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”


Thursday, September 2nd, 2117.
The Hufflepuff Commonroom - 6:00 AM.



The shop was dimly lit, flickering light thrown from the candles grouped between the clutter of her work station. From this view, peering through the frost-bitten glass of the front window, it was only possible to see her silhouette, frizzy, unkempt hair forming a gold tinged crown around her small frame. She was bent over her desk, shuffling through pieces of parchment with one hand, a long, ostrich feather quill in the other; occasionally making a notation on this piece or that. An ordinary night spent till late in her shop, going over records, cataloging new items she'd procured.

The shop was filled with these; shelves of strange and ancient looking things. His eyes moved over them with little interest - there was only one thing he was interested in, and he doubted she'd be foolhardy enough to keep it here, where any member of the Wizarding public might stumble on it. He wasn't even sure she had it, but this was the last lead he'd been able to find, to lead him to... he shook his head slightly, trying to clear the fog that seemed to have gathered in the corners of his mind. The name of the object escaped him; but no matter. He knew how important it was; knew he must have it.

He took a step toward the door, then froze as she looked up from her work, a small frown deepening the wrinkles on her aged brow. She looked toward the window, lips pursed. He didn't move, though he knew she couldn't see him; not in the darkness, made deeper by the light inside. Not through the misty glass. After a moment, she looked back to her papers, and he drew his wand, pointing it at the bell that hung below her shop sign.

"Muffliato," he said in a raspy whisper, and reached for the handle, knowing the doorbell of Angelique's Antiques and Oddities would not make a sound, now, when he slipped it open; just wide enough to steal inside. A manic, almost desperate desire was overtaking him now, as he stalked silently between the shelves toward her. He was going to hurt her, to make her tell him what he needed to know. She looked up again as he reached her; her expression one of surprise rather than fear. That would change soon.

"Hello? I'm sorry, dear, we're closed," she was saying, her voice cracked with age, and he could see her clearly now, her still-bright blue eyes widening; a tinge of fright in them now as he lifted his wand rather than reply.

"Crucio," he muttered, and she shrieked in pain, her back twisting into a rigid arch as she fell from her chair to the cold ground beneath, twisting in agony beneath the point of his wand. He cut off the spell with a twist of it, and she panted, fighting to catch her breath as she looked up at him; panic shining in her bright eyes now.

"Wh... what do you want?" she tried to ask, but he had muttered the word again, his body filling with a cruel delight as she began to writhe, wizened fingers clutching at her head, her chest.

"P... please! Why!" she managed to cry, and his lips curled into a twisted smile, leaning over her.

"There'll be plenty of time to answer my questions later, dear," he said, the word a cruel mockery of her earlier endearment. He cursed her again, and her screams echoed into the street beyond.

[P.K.]

Dawn shuddered awake with a small frightful cry. "Stop!" The darkness that surrounded her as she set up clutching at the blankets around her as she stared widely around with her good eye. The familier familiarity of the room washed over her but did little to stop her trembling. Her breathing shake in shaky gasps as she tried to calm herself hopping she hadn't woken anyone else with her cry. She released the blankets and rubbed her hands together to warm them as her body felt chilly. "What a horrible dream." She breathed out putting hand hand to her racing heart. Where had that come from?

[G]

Ingwe Ellis was startled into waking by a loud cry, and sat bolt upright in bed, her heart thudding.

"D.. Dawn?" Her voice was groggy with sleep. She pulled the blankets aside, crossing the room to stand a few feet away from her classmates bed; the source of the sound. The girl was breathing heavily, obviously very shaken, and Ingwe teetered uncertainly on the balls of her feet, unsure whether to approach or not.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her timid voice barely louder than the other girls' shuddering breaths. "You... you were yelling, just now, in your sleep! Saying... what do you want? And stop, please, stop!" The slender girl shuddered, looking almost as shaken as Dawn herself did.

She glanced toward the window, the pale blue sky outside telling her it was still very early. "Do... do you want to come downstairs with me? I could make us some cocoa, if you want to talk about it?"

[P.K.]

Dawn looked up at the other girl through the darkness. "O-oh I'm sorry Ingwe." She said softly. "I didn't mean to wake you. Yes, I had a terrible dream." She said before taking in a deep breath. "Yes, yes that sounds nice." She breathed before slipping out of the coverings and standing quietly before looking to Ingwe with a small smile. "Thank you." She said.

[G]

When the two were sitting comfortably in the Hufflepuff commonroom - a cozy space furnished in warm colours with a number of large, squashy beanbags atop a thick, soft rug - warm cups of cocoa in hand, Ingwe having prepared them from the small kitchenette toward the back of the room, which was stocked with an array of comfort food and drinks, she broached the subject of the dream again.

"So.. what happened, in your nightmare? It sounded awful!" she asked, sounding both trepidatious and concerned. "You know, dreams have meaning. I wonder what brought on such a horrible one!"

The common-room was nearly empty at this early hour, the only other occupants they could see a couple of second-year students playing Wizards' Chess at a small coffee table a little apart from where the girls' were sitting. Both of them, a girl with red, curled hair and a blonde boy who was regarding the board with a nervous expression, looked engrossed in their game, leaving the girls' free to talk in peace.

[P.K.]

Dawn looked down at the coco gently glowing on it and watching the steam swirl away. "I'm not really sure what brought it on." She admitted. "I certainly hope its nothing more then stress." she said before taking in a deep breath. "Well, from what I can recall there was an older women." she said starting to explain what she had seen. "oh, she was in a shop I believe, Uhm... angelique's uh...oddities O-or something like that. There were shelves and shelves of stuff, It... it was late and she was working." Dawn paused recalling more details of the horrible nightmare. "Someone crept into the store, I think, With magic." She shook her head dreading to recall the rest. the more she thought about it the more it seemed all to real. "Cruciatus... He tortured her." Dawn whispered staring into her mug of Coco, feeling less comfortable suddenly as she said it out loud.

"That's when I woke up..." She looked to Ingwe with a nervous look. "That couldn't... possibly have a meaning... " She said hopefully her good eye searching for some sort of confirmation that it was just stress... or something but not anything that had a meaning behind it.

[Minkasha]

“Knight to D6” The female Hufflepuff brushed back her wild red hair from her young face, totally in the moment as her obsidian colored mounted horseman levitated himself over her pawn and set upon a granite colored opposing piece. The boy, whimpered for he was helpless to watch his poor devoted pawn be broken into bits by the falling weapon of the knight.

“I tried something different too…” Jacob said to Saundra sheepishly, fingers curled to lips. Saundra smiled, a naturally fitting expression for her, and she patted the boy’s other hand on the table.

“You did” she teased with a giggle. Jacob glanced over to the two first year girls as they began talking but his friend was very interested in the game. “Jacob!” She whispered in a poorly whispered tone of excitement. It startled Jacob and he rocked back in his seat, leafy green eyes wide with surprise. “We have a game here”

“You’re right.” The boy sighed and looked hard at the board “Queen to-”

"oh, she was in a shop I believe, Uhm... angelique's uh...oddities” Jacob stopped paying attention to the board entirely, honing his eyes frightfully to the lightning scarred girl. Each of the words that continued to spill out so uncertainly screeched like strings of violins abused to make horrid sounds. It was of the cruel and frightening things he dreamed formlessly about. The bad things that would begin to eat away at his life, somehow. The boy’s tears rained on the table in a matter of seconds.

“WHY WOULD YOU DREAM OF MY GRAN LIKE THAT!? LEAVE MY GRAN ALONE!” Jacob screamed at the top of his lungs, wailing and shaking where he sat. Saundra was entirely disconnected prior, eyes glued to the board as he had spoken his Wizard Chess command – until now. The redhead looked frazzled and stood up, putting her hands on Jacob’s shoulders, but it only made him cry harder – if that was possible. His face was turning red from acute shock. “THAT’S MY GRAN!” Jacob explained manically, getting up and pacing in a circle. “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” Tears stained his sweater, his black wool pants were rustling together passionately in his small strides. His steps were getting wobbly and he looked ready to collapse. “Dreams can be real. Wizards dream real things all the time. Merlin! Merlin! Oh my Merlin!” Paranoid whispers sputter from clanking teeth, entirely set off by Dawn’s beyond canny detail and synchronicity to his beloved childhood locale.

Saundra looked frightened and deeply concerned, hands hovering but not moving to or from the boy's proximity.

[Death of Korzan]

“WHY WOULD YOU DREAM OF MY GRAN LIKE THAT!? LEAVE MY GRAN ALONE!” Jacob screamed at the top of his lungs, wailing and shaking where he sat. Saundra was entirely disconnected prior, eyes glued to the board as he had spoken his Wizard Chess command – until now. The redhead looked frazzled and stood up, putting her hands on Jacob’s shoulders, but it only made him cry harder – if that was possible. His face was turning red from acute shock. “THAT’S MY GRAN!” Jacob explained manically, getting up and pacing in a circle. “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” Tears stained his sweater, his black wool pants were rustling together passionately in his small strides. His steps were getting wobbly and he looked ready to collapse. “Dreams can be real. Wizards dream real things all the time. Merlin! Merlin! Oh my Merlin!” Paranoid whispers sputter from clanking teeth, entirely set off by Dawn’s beyond canny detail and synchronicity to his beloved childhood locale.

Percy - who had been sat in the far right corner of the room drinking a fizzy muggle beverage and chatting with another First Year girl - perked up with fright and concern as Jacob yelled, watching as the boy settled into panicked whispers. Rising up from the chair - after politely excusing himself from the other First Year's company - the boy placed the mug of black liquid down upon the table he was sat at and made his way towards the obviously stressed out boy. "Is everything alright there?" The American boy spoke, placing one hand on the whispering boy's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

Looking up from the boy and at the two girls who had clearly been at the centre of whatever had freaked the boy out, Percy raised one of his eyebrows apprehensively. "What happpened girls?" He asked politely, his voice laden with concern.

[P.K.]

Dawn jumped with a small startled squeak as the young man across the room screamed at her. Dawn was speechless as he burst into a tearful panic. Her chest tightened making it hard to breath as her white knuckled grip clutched the warm mug of coco. She felt so terrible but she didn't know what to say so him in his panic. She hopped that he was wrong that it wasn't real but... why had she dreamed of Jacob's grandmother? a women she didn't even know.

Dawn's head was spinning, her good and bad eye wide in shock and speechless fear and paling face. She turned her head to Percy as he came over and spoke. "I-i..." Dawn started before swallowing looking once to Ingwe before returning her nervous gaze to Percy. "A nightmare." She responded before starting to get up from the chair. "I think we should tell someone." She started.

[G]

Ingwe looked on the verge of tears as the scene unfolded, the easily frightened girl startled by Jacob's outburst. Ironically, the youngest of the congregation seemed the most calm; Percy approaching to gently ask what was going on.

"I mean... it was just a bad dream, though, right? Are you sure it was your grandmother?" He certainly seemed sure, she thought as she watched the boys hysterics. "How could you dream about someone you don't even know?" she directed her next question back at Dawn. But hadn't she herself just said that dreams had meaning? Especially in the wizarding world. The 3rd year swallowed, not wanting to imagine the possibility that Dawn's dream might have been real.

"You could tell Professor Grimm," she suggested. The Headmistress intimidated Ingwe far too much to suggest going to her, but Professor Grimm was kind, and easy-going, as well as being the Hufflepuff Head of House. "But I'm sure your gran is fine, Jacob," she said kindly to the younger student. "why don't you send an owl home, and then you'll know she's okay."

[Death of Korzan]

"Let's all take a deep breath." Percy said, his pre-pubescent voice indeed coming across as the most calm in the room. "Someone take Jacob and sit him down, get him a cup of Hot Chocolate or some of that Muggle Pepsi, it's good stuff." The boy smiled, turning back to the girls as the First Year he was speaking to originally began to move towards the nigh-on hysterical boy. "Now, what happened in the nightmare, in detail? My mother's a seer, so if we tell the teachers I could also send an owl?"

[Minkasha]

Nothing reached Jacob. He stood firmly in place, chest bouncing up and down like a yo-yo being strung back and forth. His heartbeat culled his hearing, his breathing was getting heavier. The look in his eyes was dilated and he had stopped talking entirely. Saundra approached slowly with her hands nearing him and braving to touching. Inches from touching him, the blonde Hufflepuff buckled and collapsed, passing out.

“I think he’s hyperventilating!” Saundra said with worry, kneeling down to her friend. “I’ll run to grab an adult” Saundra told Percy and the girls, running off urgently. Her voluminous red hair waved behind her.

[P.K.]

Dawn shook her head. "I don't know." She responded to Ingwe looking to Jacob as he collapsed to the floor. This was a horrible mess all around. What was going on? Dawn felt even more confused and concerned now if she was really dreaming that about someone else grandma... And their dreams did in fact mean something... had it already happened? or was it going to?

Dawn keeled down next to the boy as Saundra said she would look for an adult. "Right." She felt at the boys face before looking to Percy. She didn't want to repeat the story, but she did, relating what she had told Ingwe to Percy with a trembling and troubled tone.

[Death of Korzan]

Percy listened to the recalling of the girl's nightmare with deep intent, his calm, young brow furrowing with concern after the mentioning of the Cruciatus curse's use and location of the nightmare - usually his own bad dreams had been in imaginary places or places that did not seem right, but the detail Dawn had been able to place upon the location was troubling to say the least. The Three Forbidden Curses were banned in almost all Wizarding nations - and for good reason - and if anything, as the son of an Auror, the idea of someone using them painted worry over all of his features.

"Yeah...we should definitely go and tell a teacher or something." Percy spoke softly, placing his hand on Dawn's shoulder to comfort her as much as he could - not knowing her beyond this encounter and a small greeting at the Hufflepuff table after the Sorting Hat had spoken. "Hopefully it's just a bad dream, but...you went into a lot of detail there." The American boy spoke, finishing his sentence softly and out of earshot of Jacob, lest the hysterical boy still hear him despite his state.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

mood:https://media.tumblr.com/e146e79327f9da6a1c5d1200c3136b27/tumblr_inline_mlxe4u5kgF1qz4rgp.gifAstyrd had been up for a while now. The nightmare had woken her.

Well, perhaps, more specifically, the pain of the nightmare had woken her. Not only had Astryd seen the poor shopkeeper tortured under the curse, the searing pain of the Cruciatus Curse leaked into the legilimens through the dream and left the girl nearly immobile in bed. When it had passed, or perhaps when Astryd had gotten as much of the occlumens charms back into place around her mind as she could manage, the redhead had sat upright and pulled a leatherbound notebook into her lap.

She pulled the quill from it's spine and flipped open the book, writing down every last detail of the dream she could recall; dreams were such fleeting things and often times they warped after waking, so for accuracy it was of dire importance that it's written down. Astryd kept a notebook at her bedside for just this purpose. Many of the dreams were her fellow student's; mundane things, their anxieties and wishes, things that slipped through her charms whilst they slept.

This nightmare was something else.

Groggy with sleep she'd desperately need to get through the rest of the day, Astryd pulled herself from the bedsheets and slid her feet mostly into her slippers. She'd find her head-of-house and he'd help her sort it out; it wouldn't be the first time, though this would prove to be far more dower of a situation. Her nightclothes (https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/56785f42190000190178a726.jpeg?cache=spiye4d08v&ops=scalefit_600_noupscale) were disheveled but she wasn't awake enough to pull on a robe. In her clutches she carried the notebook and she shuffled out of the sleeping dorms into the common room. Where would she find Professor Grimm in the wee hours of the morning was unclear, but she'd set to it anyway.

It was still dark out. She could tell because the windows of the common room (https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/2/25/HufflepuffBasement2.png/revision/latest?cb=20161206201741) weren't overflowing with their usual sunbeams. As her slippers quietly moved over the well-worn and honey-colored floors of the commonroom, she slowly looked around and what she saw brought the sixth year to a halt. There were a lot of students awake. She glanced out the windows again to gauge the time. Maybe half past six? Classes didn't start til nine in the morning at Hogwarts, and breakfast and morning mail were usually closer to seven thirty or eight. Astryd slowly licked her lips and let her eyes dart over the students gathered.

"Uh..." She mentally pulled the strings at a few of her charms and felt around the room. They knew about the nightmare, too. Her eyes flashed over the face of Dawn, the beautiful scarring and Astryd's brow knit together.

The older student announced, "I'll be right back with Professor Grimm."

And in her slippers and all, Astryd turned and left the Hufflepuff common room and went to find Professor Grimm. The hallways of Hogwarts were barely waking up themselves, some of the portraits still snoozing in their frames. She knocked firmly on the door to Caelin Grimm's office and his quarters within, all connected to the charms classroom (https://i.pinimg.com/736x/7b/dc/2e/7bdc2e4a7afc5c368f6bfc1bb128f342--school-site-school-days.jpg). Her notebook was tucked under her left arm and she bounced nervously on the balls of her feet.

[G]

by rabbit & G
The door to Grimm's office opened almost instantly, the tall Professor greeting Astryd with a smile that held a hint of strain. Saundra sat inside, looking worried herself.

"Miss Elkridge, come in," he said, stepping back to allow her through the doorway. The cozy, cluttered room was in its' usual state of disarray, the teapot in it's usual place atop the coffee table.

"Sit down, sit down. Would you like a cup of tea?" he said, pouring her one without waiting for her response and handing it to the clearly shaken girl. "Now, what's going on? Can I presume this is about the nightmare?" As Astryd's Head of House, Grimm was aware of her legilimensy, and given the early hour and the notebook tucked under her arm, it seemed reasonable to deduce that she was here for the same reason the second year had come.

Astryd nodded in answer to her his questions, taking the tea by the saucer and sitting down even as she lifted the cup to her lips to sip. After swallowing, she held the cup and saucer in her lap a moment and then hurriedly set it down on the coffee table. The witch pulled the notebook out from under her arm and flipped it open to the pages upon which she'd written down the details of the nightmare.

"Whether she got it and I picked it up or it channeled through me to her, I'm not sure. It's all there, and the pain..." She passed him the open book. Astryd had a fair complexion to begin with but upon recalling the pain of the curse, she became absolutely pallid. She raised a gently trembling hand to push her bangs away from her face and then reclaimed the teacup and took another drink. What was it about a good cuppa that soothed the nerves? Her eyes darted over to the second year and gave her a sympathetic little smile.

"She wake you?"

"Oh no, it's fine. That's what I'm here for, after all - to support my house." He took the notebook, returning Astryd's smile, but his brow quickly furrowed as he read her account of the nightmare.

"Hmm, well; it was definitely the same dream for both of you. That's certainly concerning. But lets' not jump to any wild conclusions before we have any facts; we'll contact Mister Skelters' family immediately - if this nightmare is prophetic, we can give them some warning, at least."

Turning to rummage through the piles of parchment on his desk, he withdrew a clean piece, taking up quill and ink and scrawling a polite, concise note in loopy cursive. Rolling the parchment tightly, he plucked a piece of string from underneath the mess and deftly tied it.

"I believe you have an Owl, Saundra," he said kindly, and the girl nodded. "Very good - take this up to the owlery and send it off, straightaway. I'll go and make sure Jacob is alright."

The second year agreed, looking relieved to have something useful to contribute to the situation, and hurried off.

"Now, Astryd - will you accompany me back to the dormitory? Oh, and here," he said, taking something else from his desk, and breaking off a piece to offer to the older girl. It was a dark, rich chocolate.

The redhead blinked down at the offering then stood to accept it after replacing the cup and saucer on the coffee table. She was surprised by the offer and stammered, "Oh- aha... Ah, thank you, professor."

Half of her wanted to treasure the offering forever and the other half of her said: chocolate. The part that insisted on eating it won, and also appeared to be the part that was coming out of her sleepy stupor in the whirlwind of the morning. She promptly reminded herself she was standing in her favorite professor's office in her nightclothes and she hadn't even taken down her hair from it's bun, let alone combed it out or washed her face. Astryd ate the chocolate, savoring the dark bitterness and trying to push the panic away.

With that, she took the lead, reclaiming her notebook before leaving with Professor Grimm to head back to the Hufflepuff dormitory. Caelin Grimm followed, gently steering the conversation to less troubling subjects as they walked. When he had arrived at the dormitory, promptly pushing tea and the warming, calming honeyduke chocolate onto everyone and hearing their accounts, he reassured the young Skelter boy and did his best to keep him calm until Saundra returned from the owlery.

"You see, all taken care of," he told Jacob, and, encouraging the second years' to return to their game, he had made to leave. Before he returned to his classroom, he pulled Astryd aside to speak to her out of earshot from the younger students.

"Will you keep an eye on Dawn, and let me know if either of you have any more of these nightmares?" he had requested; the first confirmation that despite his calm manner, he was concerned. Then he had strode off, needing to prepare for the day ahead.