The First Evil
Chapter One: The Speaking Book
"It will be here in two days," announced Hermione Granger as she entered the Gryffindor common room.
"What will?" asked Ron and Harry in unison, looking up from their potions homework.
"The cloud." Hermione whispered to them as she quickly surveyed the room to see if anybody else was listening.
"The cloud? That doesn't sound too scary, Hermione. Wow, since the Yule Ball you've turned into such a girl! Rain won't mess up your hair that much." Ron scoffed, then looked back down at his homework.
Hermione scowled at him, "The cloud is something more than just a cloud, Ron."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Which was so apparent when you came in here supposedly ranting about the weather."
"The cloud is a mystical force of energy that takes away all happiness. That causes destruction. Sort of like a mystical version of a Dementor."
Harry shivered, remembering his third year's near kiss from the ice-handed monsters.
"So it will be here in two days," said Ron blankly, staring at Hermione, "Are you crazy? Are you sure? Does anybody else know about it?"
"Yes, that's how I know," Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron again, "I heard the teachers talking about it."
"And did they said it was the end of the world?" Ron snapped.
"Possibly!" snapped back Hermione, and Ron shut up.
"What do you mean by that, Herm? What did they say? Does it have to do with Voldemort?" Harry jumped forward in his seat.
"No, not Voldemort. Just...okay. I know what it is now, because after I heard the teachers talking I checked a book out of the library," she pulled a thick volume from her bag, "One of those talking books, you know."
Ron nodded, but Harry was confused.
"You mean like, a book on tape?"
"No," Hermione squinted at him, "Like this."
She opened the book, and there was a flash of light. Then, there in front of them inside the was a tiny woman dressed in stark white robes with rims of gold.
"What do you wish to know?" she said, and Harry swore that she was glowing.
"This is a talking book?" he raised his eyebrows to Hermione, and she nodded.
"We wish to know the origin of The Cloud." Hermione said, carefully watching the expression on the small woman's face.
It remained unfazed, "Do you truly wish to see it? Do you truly wish to know it? Do you truly want to feel it inside your bones, cutting away at every morsel of your living soul?"
Hermione exchanged weary looks with Harry and Ron, "Why do you not dare speak it's name?"
"For it has hundreds, all lost in the sands of time again and again. The only thing it shall be called, the only thing worth calling it is evil. The first evil. Evil that occupies everything. Evil that is in every body, mind, soul, breath and bone. Evil that lurks in the shadows and is embraced by the moonlight. Evil that is everywhere. Inescapable. Unapproachable. Deeper rooted than anything any human has ever experienced. And it doesn't go away. It sits, patiently, waiting for the right soul, a soul of fear and anger and weakness, to pick it up. Such evil has no form, invisible in our realm. But you can feel it. Cold. Bleak. Black. Dark. You know when it's there. There isn't any other possible way. And it will eat away at you, night and day, until you reach a borderline between sanity and insanity. And eventually, the borderline will break, letting all strings break. And your soul will be lost forever. In the sands of time."
Harry looked at his friends, whose jaws were nearly touching the floor.
"Okay," he announced, standing up, "time to panic."
*A/N: I need feedback, guys. I have a good feeling about this one! *smiles**
