New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

Plans: Challenge one of the tournament tonight at the Hogwarts where I am a student with MoSh. It looks like I'll be working with Draco, though, since we're in the same house. MoSh will be working with Harry and Hermione since they're all in Gryffindor. This sucks.

Tour of the Castle
I am in a bedroom at Hogwarts and I'm not lucid. I really need to RC every time I'm in a bedroom that isn't my own... So I leave the bedroom and enter an office of some kind, there is a big ornate wooden desk, there isn't much in the room, it looks like it isn't in use right now. I look around for a bit, not sure what I'm supposed to be doing in there. I was still pondering that when there was a knock at the door, I open the door to reveal Professor McGonagall waiting at the door. I let her inside, she says she has come to help me get acquainted with the castle. So now I follow McGonagall down the hall. I notice there are two exits from the living area / office, one of them leads to the main hallway while the other leads directly to a classroom, it's the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I follow McGonagall to the main hallway and then we go around the school, meeting an assortment of people. Filched greeted me with a grunt and a glare until I say he has an adorable kitty, after which I pick up a surprised Mrs. Norris and then give her cause to purr, and she purrs very loud indeed! I comment to Filch that I love anything feline, I am a hopeless cat lover. Mrs. Norris clearly likes me, so Filch soon calms down. He had been a bit upset when I had first scooped Mrs. Norris into my arms. McGonagall says we need to keep going, so I set Mrs. Norris down and follow McGonagall. We are seeing where all of the classrooms are, meeting all of the teachers and others that work there, for the most part I get a friendly welcome.

There are a couple people there who seem less than thrilled to see me. And those are actually people I have already met, I am sure of that. Somewhere along this tour I have become lucid, so I am now aware I am dreaming. Snape greets me with a grunt and a dirty look, I know he wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I am figuring he voted me in only because, when choosing between Umbridge and me, I am the obvious choice. Lucius is in the halls, I wonder how much time Lucius is at Hogwarts. As McGonagall is introducing me to people, she is saying the role they play at Hogwarts. It turns out the heads of the houses aren't the same as in the book. In fact, McGonagall introduces Arthur Weasley as the head of Gryffindor, I say I thought that was McGonagall. McGonagall says no, seems surprised, then says there would be far too much room for bias if the heads of the houses were also teachers. She says Snape would never flunk anyone in his house. She says Arthur Weasley is head of Gryffindor, Xenophilius Lovegood is head of Ravenclaw, I have never heard the name of the person who is head of Hufflepuff, and Lucius Malfoy is the head of Slytherin.

Speaking of Lucius Malfoy, McGonagall meet up with him in one of the halls. He doesn't seem too happy to see me, but at least he is making an effort to hide that. He McGonagall has something she needs to attend to, and she needs me to wait. Right there with Lucius? Don't take too long... So there I am in the hallway with Lucius, and it seems a bit awkward, so I just wait there silently while Lucius is giving me a strange look. While I am standing there thinking the situation rather sucks, someone even worse comes along. Dolores Umbridge comes along down the hall. She is still not pleased to see me, but it seems she is currently more angry a Lucius for some reason. She walks right over to Lucius and says she should curse him into next week for that trick. She says it took her hours to find the proper counter-curse to get rid of that obscenity from her forehead. I remember the word BITCH being tattooed on her face, I look to see if it is really gone. Lucius is also looking, he says it's good she cleared up that label... the word BITCH didn't properly describe Umbridge. I look and now the words UGLY BITCH are displayed on her forehead, glowing and changing color constantly. I say Lucius is right on this one, Umbridge's forehead looks much better now, then I turn away quickly because I think I might start laughing. McGonagall comes out of the room where she had gone, she looks at Umbridge and gasps. She is staring, all she can say is, "Dolores! Your face! It's..." I interrupt McGonagall and say her face sure does look a lot better. McGonagall is about to say something else when Umbridge takes a look at me, gives a huff, then says I shouldn't get too comfortable since I won't be at the school for long. She leaves in a huff. McGonagall makes no further attempt to stop her, but she does want to know who put it there. I say I didn't do it, but I think it was Q. Q has a sense of humor and would no doubt find that amusing. From the closed door of a women's restroom a bit farther up the hall comes, "Lucius Malfoy!!!" There are a few other sounds, then Umbridge comes out of the bathroom and storms over to Lucius. I notice that, unfortunately, her forehead is now clear of writing. Damn. She got rid of it. She points at her forehead and tells Lucius that she has countered how curse. As I am watching, however, the words DUMB UGLY BITCH appear on her forehead in neon pink. I snort a bit of laughter, turning it into a cough, though it still gets Umbridge's attention. She heads off in a huff again.

I follow McGonagall through the rest of the tour of the castle, though nothing more worth noting takes place. I am thinking it would be sooooo easy to get lost in there that it isn't even funny. I wonder how the students manage to find their classes at all. I guess it is something they get used to, but it seems the setup would lead to a lot of tardy first years, at least for a while. The tour ends back where we started, back in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. McGonagall says again that everyone, or most everyone, is glad to have me aboard. So don't pay any attention to Umbridge, she is all talk and there really is nothing she can do now that I have been voted in by a majority of the board members at Hogwarts. Speaking of Umbridge, she storms into the room and demands to know where Lucius Malfoy is, I see her forehead now sports only one word, and that is FUCKTARD. Q must have heard Tigress use that word. McGonagall says that is really immature, but she seems to be snickering a bit, too. I wonder what it will say next... I was fortunately able to wait until McGonagall left the room before I woke up.

Concert Shirt Swap
I am in a large room, it is an auditorium, and there are people coming into the room and taking seats, it looks like there is going to be a concert going on soon. I am thinking I somehow got in without a ticket, and I am hoping I don't get caught... because the ticket price is outrageously expensive, there's no way I could afford one. I am trying to remember who is playing, is it even worth that kind of money? Well, no matter, I got in free, so I'm happy. It turns out that they are even giving out free t-shirts, one of the employees gives me one, so I look at the shirt, and it displays the names of the bands to be playing. There are a couple opening acts I don't recognize, but the headlining groups are Metallica and Disturbed, awesome! I take my shirt off right there in front of everyone, not really being concerned about the people who are around me to see. I put on my shirt but then I realize I have a big hole in it! That really pissed me off, so I switched back to my own shirt. I look around and I see that some people have laid their shirts around, I figure I will make a swap. Bit when I try, someone calls me on it, I say I thought it was mine... Sorry. The music starts, it's Metallica playing, I am hoping I haven't missed Disturbed. Of course now the place is darker, so I am able to swap my shirt with another. Then I make my way towards the front of the crowd to get closer to the band. It's Metallica, but I don't recognize the songs.

A River Runs Through It
There is a river running through our yard, across the driveway, blocks the driveway. The water is rancid. Oil in it. Can't get out, worried about dogs... what if they drink this crap??? They can't reach. Not an issue. What if it erodes and grows wider? We need a bridge. Mom talking to my brother, John about the bridge. I follow the river to see where it comes from, can it be diverted? Somehow I become lucid... that's John! I don't want to lose him again... I hug him, I don't want to let him go, he wants to know what brought that on...

I am in my own bedroom, I get up off the bed and go out into the living room. I haven't been sleeping, I have been lying in there relaxing, but now I think it is time to get doing something. I go outside to get a bit of fresh air, but there is something weird about the yard. It takes me a bit to recognize what is wrong with the yard, but I finally see that there is a river running through it! I see my mother out there talking to someone, I go over to see what is going on, because I know there isn't supposed to be a river in the yard. The river flows across the driveway, so it is impossible to get our cars out of the driveway. I find it is my brother John that my mom is talking to, I also get a closer look at the water. The water is disgusting. There is a lot of oil and crap in the water, and it also smells bad. My mother is talking to John about leaving the river there and building a bridge... but why would she want to keep the river stench going through the yard?! I follow the river to the west to see if I can find out where the river is coming from and maybe it can be diverted. Somewhere as I'm following the river I become lucid, though I can't identify exactly where.

Now that I'm lucid I head back to where my mom is talking to John still, but now I realize it's a dream and that as soon as I wake up John will be gone again. This realization makes me sad, I miss my brother. I decide to take advantage of the time I have with him. I run over to John and I throw my arms around him in a great big bear hug. He seems a bit surprised, but he returns the hug. I keep hugging him, I really don't want to let go. It seems almost as if, by holding on to him tightly enough, I can pull him from the dream into waking life. Of course that isn't possible, but I hold on to him tightly just the same. I am still holding him when I wake up, and of course he isn't there.