i was sleeping soundly, although, possibly, pronouncing random nothings in my deep slumber. I had been lying on my bed for the best part of two hours, facing the bedroom window, glasses askew and mouth open, slithers of saliva sliding down from the junction of my lips, puddling on the glossy patina coating my pillow, the residual transfer of my hair wax onto the soft cotton textile. of light, coloured portentuously, vaguely accentuated the dark circles which had hexed themselves beneath the loopholes created by my eyelids. the alarm clock suddenly rang, its hands denoting that it was 5 o'clock. cached within my memory, i made paces to the bathroom, turning the hot water tap counter-clockwise, sending tendrils of water fanning downwards from the shower rose. i began to breach the cone of water. almost instantaneously, my soul made its sudden apparition from my bed, convulsions rushing through my body as the entity progressed to reenter its abode.
---//---
my robe lurched with the pulse of the wind, as the metal doors of the train opened, people alighting and boarding through the portal. passing under bridges, i stared deeply into my own reflection, catching glimpses of the circles under my eyes during the short lapses that natural light brought to the tran carriage. facing the man's shoes, i looked up at his face. his eyes embodied a sense of sadness. suddenly his mobile phone rang, the ratchet startling all passengers within a 10m radius of him. i stared out the window, unmethodically focusing on trees, fences, graffiti. anything that would make the man figure that he wasn't talking with a decibel factor equivalent to that of a jackhammer. however, his voice exuded a sense of happiness. how could he be sad? after he finished his phone call, i looked up at his eyes once again. i tried to reduce his eyes to lines and gradients, trying to pinpoint the chief charactersitic of his eye which compelled to believe this emotional interpretation. the dark circles. i glanced around the carriage at the other forlorn characters. all embodied the same facial property. who had cursed these people, including myself, with this hex, with which an enormous, transcendental, almost magical, power would be needed to cause such great and widespread damage? could it be? could it be that He Who Must Not Be Named has caused this great affliction?
---//---
I stared at him, malevolence brimming, seeping out of my fingers. they clutched firmly onto my wand, but still held it with a wariness of its great power.
"do you want a book sir?"
the evil had been spilt. i pulled out my wand, and pointed it at him, my hand shaking with the overwhelming evil that was ready to be unleashed.
suddenly, his hand flashed out of sight for less than an instant, suddenly reappearing, with a wand held within its fingers.
"Priori Incantem!" he summoned.
I felt the power seep away from my fingers. The wand stayed within my clutch only from the balance it had been given by my 3rd,4th, and 5th fingers.
"Ha. Muggle. Arrows, Wand!"
Dejected by the man's inflictions from his arrows, i replaced my wand in its sheath.
"Muggle, learn to believe that you can't do magic, and just read it from books, like this one."
I had finally procured the sixth installment.
Another man, also dressed in robes, came along.
"Imperio!", he said to the man who had just served me,"Now go to Azkaban, also known as the next counter."
---//---
After exiting Chadstone Shopping Centre, i boarded the bus. I seated myself, and returned to reading The Book. A young boy sat next to me.
As the bus began to move from its stop, he proceeded to reach into his bag. He pulled out another bag, plastic it was, marked clearly with the Borders insignia. He then reached in, only slightly, and retrieved a book. The Book. Unphased by the fact that somebody else would know the same secrets of the story that i would know, i proceeded to read.
Later, in the journey:
"Excuse me, i see that you're reading the same book as i am. I'm just wondering whether you know what the Imperius Curse is." he asked.
Newbs. I'll show him the Imperius Curse. Banish him from reading The Sixth until he has read the first five.
4PS: I love the start of Chapter Three.
