The air was
fresh in the distance when the sun disappeared over the horizon letting dark
take his place. It was as if the night was trying to be as inconspicuous as
possible. It was strange, when something happens, something mysterious and
weird, there is normally something odd going on around it. But tonight was as
normal as any other night. No thunder and lightening, no torrential rain, no
creatures lying in the shadows, no bird swooping over head calling into the
distance. But surely no decent story would start, 'a normal, night were nothing
was happening?' but who said this was a decent story? After all maybe you're
being lead into a false sense of security.
Down in the
grounds the temperament was calm. The last bird had gone to rest with the
sunset. Down in the Forbidden forest the centaurs and all the other strange and
wild beasts went about their business. The lake's surface was calm. But nothing
is ever as it seems. Something is always wrong. Something is always out there.
It's a fact of life. Stories wouldn't exist if everything were normal, if
everything was fine. In the distance was were everything started. The castle of
Hogwarts was protected by a charm that made all nosy humans suddenly remember
something they had to do and turn back. With this 'force field' the castle and
its occupants were safe. But what was approaching the castle was far from human
and no charm could ever stop this thing. It brought with it a sense of mystery
and confusion. And music. In films don't the bad guys always have a theme tune
of some sort? A deep menacing tune that would remind the viewer the evil was
menacing there ready to kill someone off. It was like that now. A ringing
abnormal tune that hit the heart and bled the brain. The noise was a screeching
but deep sound that had a tune. Or did it? It was a type of noise you didn't
know whether you were imagining it or not. But whatever it was it was heading towards the castle.
Harry,
Ron and the rest of the dormitory slept soundly. In the other tower Hermione
sat up in her bed reading a thick book on the uses of the Chaos Curse. She was
concentrating so much on her book that she didn't her the silent music drift
through the room. It was only while taking a sip of her water from the bedside
table she heard it. She cocked her head and listened harder. She frowned it was
as if the more you tried to hear the music the more unreal it became. The page
turned and shaking her head she returned reading. Her head snapped up,
'What the hell is
that?'
She whispered to
the rest of her dormitory hoping someone else was awake. She gingerly got out off bed,
'Smiling,'
She spun around,
hands clasping her face. The smiling, what was that? It was as if something had
entered her thoughts. An invisible thing that looked, no, not looked but seemed
to be smiling. She turned around, the room becoming, a blur something was here.
The noise! It bored into her, bearing no remorse. Her heart sped up. Whining
she went to get back in bed, pull the covers over her head and hoped nothing
was there. But the sense that something was there was immense. Taking a deep
breath she turned again this time, to the window.
Everything else was now lost in thoughts. For some reason, although not entirely sure why, she screamed and raced from the dormitory. Not daring to look back she ploughed down the spiral stairs into the common room. Noise! The music, like shrill laughter did not decease it simply stayed around her, in her, part of her. A sense filled her. Not her own but something else's. A huge power, like a person exploding with power. Bunched up, cooped up ready to fly out screaming, roaring a sense so strong it was impossible, filling her emotions, breaking her down in a huge rush ripping her apart. Her vision swam, pictures became a blur and the room disappeared.