"It's just a..." Cuff trailed off as he opened the heavy wooden door, which creaked as it swung open. Inside the room several small, green faces stared up at him. Crinkled and creased like a bunched up packet of crisps.

"Dream," Cuff finished, mouth hanging open in shock.

"Dweam?" The little green mouths questioned?

To which Cuff answered by screaming, which was in turn answered by many shrill screams. A wailing cacophony of sound until the door shut with a deep boom.

Cuff's chest heaved heavily and with a deep breath he swung the door open once more.

His jaw dropped, eyes roamed all around the room. He took a step in, his floor clacking off the ground and echoing about the hollow, empty, room.

"Indeed, a dream," Cuff said out loud to himself. Taking a deep breath in relief, he takes a proper look around the room. The room is entirely bare, bar a set of drawers in the left corner, and an incredibly ornate fireplace directly in front of him. The brown wooden floors and honey orange and soft red walls give the room a cosy feel.

Cuff cocks his head to one side, listening intently, but hears nothing at all. The room is dead silent. He notices a door to his direct left, in the bottom left corner of the room, and another to his right, but there's no sound at all from either.

Sighing, he drops his satchel on the floor. He stands for a moment, deliberating, until eventually with another sigh he closes the entrance to his quarters.

"Just a dream," he whispers to himself as he walks slowly to the door on his right, his shoes clacking on the wood, cutting through the silence like a marching band in a library. He encloses his hand slowly around the circular doorknob, twisting right he holds his breath, and pushes the door open. To his joy, and slight dismay, the room is entirely empty. Deep red paint covers the walls and the wood is a shade darker, but other than that there is nothing to see. Leaving the door open he approaches the final unopened door, this time with confidence and speed.

Grabbing the doorknob firmly he twists it and nothing happens. Frowning he tries again, but harder, and again nothing happens.

"Right, probably locked," he facepalms, taking out the key. He hadn't bothered looking too closely earlier, but realised the key was curiosly hefty. He hadn't remembered it weighing so much earlier, but it felt natural lying in his hand. The key's blade was simple with an ornate handle. Silvery black in colour and boasting an incredibly detailed owl in the centre of the handle. It was so detailed Cuff spent several minutes staring at it, tracing the lines with his eyes, before realising he'd been standing at the door staring at a key for the last few minutes.

Shake his head he inserted the key slowly into the lock, worried of damaging it incase it wasn't the right key. His worries were unfounded however, as it slotted in with a clunk. He opened the lock and pushed the heavy door open quickly, dragging his feet to stop it from smashing into the wall; these doors were surprisingly easy to push open.

"Oh!" Cuff exclaimed, for inside was a kitchen. A bright yellow paint on the walls gave the room a nice shine, complemented by the wide window, which stretched halfway around the room. The room wasn't particularly big, but it wasn't small either, just big enough, is what Cuff thought. With no sight of anything abnormal Cuff went back into the main room, wondering what the point of this dream was.

After double checking everything was still in his satchel he glanced about.

"Hmm," he rubbed his chin, "it feels like something's missing." Walking about the room, his shoes clicking and clacking as he does, he trails his hands on the walls, crouching every now and then, humming and muttering to himself. "Something is definitely missing," he mutters, walking into the deep-red walled room that is completely bare. "Yep, something is definitely missing from here," he muses. "But what should every house have that this doesn't?" He questions the air. Walking back into the kitchen he pauses in the doorway, nodding his head. As he walks back into the main room he pauses, "Ah, my key," he says to himself, retrieving it from the lock of the kitchen and then walking into the bare room again, muttering and shaking his head.

Standing in the centre of the main room, eyes closed and arms outstretched is Cuff. He drops his arms to the side with a plop, and sighs, "it's hopeless," he says out loud. Grumbling, he walks over to the drawers and pulls the top left one open. Despite how faded it looks with age the drawer slides open satisfyingly, exposing a small plastic bag of blue powder, almost shiny enough to look like glitter but clearly still a blue powder. He flips it over to the other side and sees a little sticker of a little blue fairy looking thing. Shrugging he unseals the bag, and as he opens it blue smokes poofs up, shimmering and dancing about in the air. Eyebrows raised Cuff smears some on his finger and sniffs it.

"Wow," he croaks. It smells amazing. Like blooming flowers, the bursting juice of fruit as you bite into it, the smell of honey and maple in the air, freshly cut grass. Gentle, powerful scents drift into his nose, changing one into another. It's so amazing, he sniffs harder and harder at his finger, until eventually he sticks his nose into the opening of the bag, breathing deeply. The room starts colouring strangely, flowers bloom up around his now bare feet. The flowers burst between his toes and fruits dangle in front of his face, bursting into vibrant colours, and into his nose with delicious smells. Underneath it all is an earthy, flowery smell. He can hear the merry buzz of bees as they jump from flower to flower. The bag of blue powder is gone from his hand. His arms unknowingly filled with fruits, all kinds of animals flock around him, waiting their turn for a bite of fruit from him. A beautiful white deer clops slowly towards him, head dipped shyly. As Cuff offers an apple to it, it slowly lifts its head, a wild smile filled with cruel teeth open as it jumps forward to take its bite, its skin dripping off and eyes shining black. The world around cuff bleeds and darkness gathers around him as he starts falling.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"A piano!" Cuff shouts out loud.

Three old faces peer down at him, confusion clear in their eyes. The man in the middle of the three of them looks suspiciously like the man from the painting Cuff recognised previously - Nathaniel Hone's The Conjurer. That same man tugged at his beard, looked left and right and then opened his mouth.

"Pixie dust on school grounds? I hope you can explain this, groundsman," he said, sternly yet gently.

"Pixie dust? Pixies like Fairies?" Cuff questioned.

"Oh, I can't believe this. Racism towards Pixies in this day an' age," the woman on the left said, clutching at the hem of her dress and tugging. "Disgraceful," she spat, "I can't believe the old mans' being replaced by this," she said as she turned to the man in the middle.

"Indeed, headmaster, this is really too audacious. I mean honestly I'm not the biggest fan of pixies but this is a bit much," the man on the right said, his chubby cheeks wobbling as he spoke.

"Bin it Frank, I'll bet my toes you've never even met a pixie," the woman snapped at Frank.

"Now now, Hilde, I'm on your side here," Frank raised his hands.

"Bahh, crock of shit, I nev-" Hilde began.

"Alright you two, enough." The headmaster said. "Now, young man, an explanation," the headmaster turned toward Cuff once more.

Silence fell in the room once more. The clock ticked, there was a faint scratching coming from behind the three as Cuff tried to digest what was going on.

"Pixie dust? I have no idea what's going on. Is that code for something? How do you even get pixie dust," Cuff rambled, words jumbling and running off his tongue. Light seemed to dawn in the three's eyes until the final line came out of Cuff's mouth.

"That's it!" Hilde shouted, raising her hand.

"Out!" The headmaster waved, the other two froze, and after a moment Hilde's arm dropped by her side, and without another word stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Frank looked at Cuff as though he were an alien, nodded at the headmaster and left too, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Something here is clearly not right. Sit," the headmaster waved to the chair opposite the desk, walking to the window and peering out while he pondered.

It was now that Cuff realised the scratching noise was coming from the same quill as before, only this time the quill was writing on paper without the assistance of anybody. Some papers lifted off the desk, floating across the room to the headmaster, who grunted after glancing at each, after which they floated back to the table, gently landing upon it.

Cuff looked around him in awe, "this is some dream," he muttered to himself.

The headmaster turned, chuckling. "This is no dream, my boy," shaking his head.

"Right, of course it isn't," Cuff rolled his eyes.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by the headmaster, who started walking towards cuff, frowning. With the flick of his hand a stick appeared in it. It was beautifully made, expertly crafted, with a detailed handle.

"This is a wand," the headmaster said, as though reading Cuff's thoughts. "And this, is your contract," he drew the wand across the table, and as he did a black piece of paper drew up, with the word GRONDSMAN in block capitals across the top.

"You read this right?" the headmaster continued, but stopped when he saw Cuff shake his head.

"What? You didn't read your contract?" the headmaster's jaw dropped.

"Uh, it's not that important.. right?" Cuff asked sheepishly.

The headmaster dragged his hand along his face, "oh dear," he said, and sat down with a thump, the contract fizzling into green embers as he placed his wand on the table.

"And Nathaniel found you from where?" he questioned, staring intently at Cuff.

"Uhm, well he didn't? I mean I kind of walked into the room, I guess I found him really?" Cuff, replied with uncertainty. He didn't like where this was going.

"No, my boy, I mean where did you study magic before?" the headmaster questioned, leaning in now, tugging furiously at his beard.

"Well, nowhere," Cuff replied, linking and unlinking his fingers repeatedly.

"Merlin's beard," the headmaster muttered as he stood, grabbing his wand.

"Nathaniel! Nathaniel the Lesser you answer immediately," his voice thundered, echoing against the walls. The candles fluttered out and silence reigned over the room. Cuff felt goosebumps rising along his skin in droves. A pressure built in his chest like no other.

"Nathaniel!" The headmaster bellowed a final time, lightning danced along his body as his hair and clothes lifted with power. The candles relit and spewed flames viciously, loose papers flying around the room. His hand with the wand shook, and in a spew of paper and flame he disappeared. There was silence and then a pop rang out and Cuff almost blew off the chair, papers and books flew away from where the headmaster had been standing.

A laugh rang out through the school and then there was silence.

The clock ticked and the papers settled, and Cuff muttered to himself,

"This is no dream, this is a nightmare."