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Lusus naturae

{a freak of nature}

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"Why, Mixi is a house-elf, misses."

House-elf? Where had I hea-house-elf? As in a Harry Potter house-elf?

"Oh," I uttered as I looked down upon it – Mixi, was it? – only to see it fidgeting its twig-like fingers. Everything about it looked just as it had been described: bat-like ears, the bulbous eyes and just the nervous demeanor it held spelled out that magical, fictional creature.

Magical…

I was dreaming.

Of course, it made perfect sense.

The strange room, the house and the fact that I had no idea where I was fit perfectly in a dream. Had this been real life, I would had been troubled. Yet, here I was – standing in front of one of the magical creatures of the Wizarding World; I dare say the creature looked just as alive and not the digitalized version seen in the movies. Though, I had to admit that seeing it in flesh and blood, there was nothing pretty looking about the creature; it reminded me both of a naked mole rat and a hairless human. I found it curious that my brain would conjured up a creature and a name when the only known house-elf that easily came to mind was Dobby.

"Why you and not Dobby?" I asked aloud. Since I was still dreaming, my unconscious brain would try to find an answer. Yet, it wouldn't because I was still in control – I was aware of myself in this dream.

"D-dobby, misses?" It asked. I could not tell whether it was male or female, though I could only assumed – going by its name – it was female but I could be wrong.

No, it was definitely a female.

"Yes – why am I dreaming about some random, made-up house-elf and not that funny creature, Dobby?"

"Dreaming? Misses isn't dreaming. Oh no, she's wide awake talking to Mixi," the house-elf gestured before it looked to her right at something out of my view. "Why would misses want to speak to Dobby?"

So this was my brain's way of trying to collect information from me – the conscious part of my brain and by doing so, it would regurgitate whatever I tell it back to me.

Ooh, I was being too rational...

Was I lucid dreaming? It would explain why I was being rational in this dream, so aware of my thinking process. If this was the case, it also meant I could control it...

I stepped forward closing the gap between us before I sat down on my haunches, enough so as to be on its eye-level. "Awake? No, I'm not awake." I stated as I stretched out my hand towards it only to see the house-elf flinch away. Ha, nervous creature. "Because if I were – you don't exist. In fact, you came from a creative mind – not mine, of course, I'm afraid I'm not that creative."

The house-elf looked at me in the most curious manner. Considering I was dreaming and in control – to an extent – I decided to ask the house-elf, also known as my brain, things about the wizarding world. I was a fan and one one who knew more than the basics – really, I was a nerd. There were certain aspects about the world that even Rowling did not clear up. So, I decided to play on that. Trick my brain, if you will.

"Tell me then, how do house-elves come to existence? How long do you guys live for? Can you tell me, Mi–"

"Well, well, look who took more than she should."

So concentrated I was on the house-elf, I failed to notice the person who stood behind it. Standing at a distance from the creature was a pretty brunette no older than sixteen or seventeen; her wavy shoulder length hair framed her face in a way that it flaunted her features. Even the style of her clothes were different from what I was accustomed to seeing; I couldn't help but admire her well-put together appearance. Yet, despite this, there was an air of superiority about her appearance – stuck-up came to mind. Plus, there was something about her that looked familiar...

Surely my brain picked out a person from the "outside" world.

The girl walked forward not taking mind of the house-elf in front of her that, had it not been for it stepping away, she would had surely kicked it. "Was it..." she looked around before turning back to me with a knowing smile, "one of our lovely plants?"

That smile... I have seen it before...

It then hit me, she looked awfully a lot like that girl from that TV-show Gossip Girl, Blair Something? From the little that I knew, isn't she some kind of rich snob? It would explain why this dream girl had no regards to the house-elf and had that kind of "air" about her that screamed stuck-up.

Eh, my brain was trying was trying to hard in this dream.

I stood up to stretch up my legs, relieving them from the position I was previously in. "Why are you here?" I asked in a casual manner.

The smile she previously wore disappeared by a degree, "what do you think?"

It was here that I became aware of her accent, "oh, this is good; you're speaking in a British accent." She gave me a blank stare, "well, you are in my dream, so it's na-"

"Dream?" She raised an eyebrow, "I see you're still under."

I said nothing.

"Bloody hell, are you out of your mind?" She hissed under her breath as she closed the door behind, not bothering to check whether the house-elf was standing there. It wasn't. "Not only is your father downstairs but we'll be leaving for Hogwarts in a couple of hours and here you are wasted. How long has it been?"

"Hogwarts?" There it was again – first it was the house-elf and now it's the wizarding school.

"Where do you think we'll be spending our sixth years at?" The girl asked pointedly.

Sixth? If so, that made her sixteen if not fifteen...

"I'm nineteen," I mused, "considering we're in a dream, I suppose it is poss-"

"Snap out of it, Delmira!" she demanded, looking all-too irritated. "First time you got caught, you had a free pass due to Xavior. Now there's no excuse for you this time." She stopped and took a breath, her expression softening a bit. "I'm only looking out for you as you would do for me."

"Woah, my name's Maria and not Delmirah," I voiced, raising my hand to quiet her retort. This situation was getting too charged up for my taste, not to mention the sick feeling I was getting at the pit of my stomach. The kind of feeling you only get when something was not quit right. "I have to wake up now," I said more to myself than to her as I looked down at the floor before I turned toward the bed. "This is only a dream; I'll wake up any min-"

"Maria? What a common name!" She scoffed from behind me but I had a feeling it was not the name itself that bothered her.

"Time to wake up," I tapped my fingers against one another; how exactly do I go about doing that?

This can't be possible...

I suddenly felt a strong grip on my upper arm twirling me around with such force, had it not been for her taking hold of my shoulders, I would have tumbled onto her. With her face so close to mine, I could see every detail about her face. Very, very light freckles... practically unnoticeable.

"You must have taken a bad patch, Delmira, but you're definitely not dreaming," she said above a whisper.

"My name is not Del-" I whispered only to be cut off by her sudden jerk as I was led across the room.

For a couple of minutes, this dream was becoming all too frightening. A Nightmare. I was no longer in control, but that soon changed when I saw her. Them. It was the ultimate proof that I was, in fact, dreaming. I actually let out a sigh of relief because of this.

How?

It's only in a dream that your appearance might change from whom you really are, and I definitely did not looked like the girl who stood beside the snob. Though, I had to admit I liked this dream version of myself – an attractive version of myself, which did not made much sense because that wouldn't be me... I think.

In dreamland, anything goes."Well, I look better if that's what you're trying to say," I started as I stared into the mirror. "I'm a bit too skinny though; I'm surprised I even have these large boobs." I said thoughtfully as I poked my right breast. I turned to the girl/snob, "So you bro-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"

It came out of nowhere but that was the least of my worries when I felt the sharp stinging sensation of her slap spread across my cheek. Instinctively my hand went up to it, my fingers gingerly touching upon the skin. "How…" I stared, bewildered.

"Do dreams hurt, Delmira?" She asked softly.

No, they shouldn't.

Never in a dream had I actually felt any kind of pain…

I took a step away from her, "W-who are you?"

This resulted an eye roll from her. "Why, I'm your favorite and only cousin Pansy Parkinson." She started; her words intentionally slow as if she were speaking to a small child. "And you are Delmira Castellvi. Has that refreshed your mind, dear?"

I took another step away from her but could not utter a response, much less a retort.

This couldn't be real; a fictional world along with its characters was just that, fictional.

Pansy Parkinson… Hogwarts… House-elf… all from the Harry Potter books.

This was a nightmare, a horrible waking nightmare…

Note

For those who might be curious, the title of each chapter is in Latin and underneath is their English translation :)

ps: Feel free to check out my new Harry Potter story "Abnormal"!