Chapter 21: The mirror
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
Chapter 21
The mirror
It's been over a month since the troll incident. Hermione Granger managed to survive the attack with no permanent injuries. At least physically, but her parents decided the school was too dangerous and that she would get her education somewhere else.
Dumbledore would have tried to convince them otherwise but he was too busy dealing with the board of governors who were trying to get him fired. One student dead and another one almost dying in one year did not make Dumbledore look very good. However, thanks to his tremendous political influence he was able to avoid losing his job.
It also didn't help the board members' case when Lucius Malfoy seemed to lose his head and viciously attacked the Headmaster.
Normally he could have gotten away with this but Malfoy and Minister Fudge seem to be on bad terms at the moment. So Malfoy ended up losing his job and spending a week at the ministry cells for the attack.
It was Christmas morning and Harry had decided to stay in Hogwarts for some peace and quiet time.
Harry was currently having breakfast by himself when an owl landed on his table. The owl was carrying a big package.
"What is this?" He took the box and examined it. There was a note that said.
"This belonged to your father. I hope it will be as useful to you as it was to him."
There was no name signing the note or the box. Harry proceeded to open the box after making sure it was not cursed.
Inside was a beautiful cloak. It looked very ancient and had complex patterns. On the upper part of the cloak, close to the neck, there was a symbol. A triangle with a circle inside and a straight line going through the circle.
Harry could swear he had already seen that symbol before, but couldn't recall where.
However, what surprised him the most was seeing his arm disappear after he put the cloak over it.
"An invisibility cloak!" That was quite a gift, he thought. Those are very rare. But then he remembered the contents of the note.
"Wait. The note said this belonged to my father. But that would mean this cloak is well over a decade old." That was strange. Invisibility cloaks don't last that long. The enchantments lose their effect eventually, no matter how high the quality of the work.
Upon further inspection, he noticed something else. There seems to be a mild compulsion put on the cloak.
He didn't notice before because it seemed like a harmless and very weak compulsion.
'Even if it is weak, it would be more than enough to work if the target was an untrained first-year student.'
—-
That night Harry was walking through the halls of Hogwarts. It was only a little bit before curfew.
Harry was sure that the one that gave him the cloak was Dumbledore and was curious about him placing that compulsion on it.
He needed to know what was the Headmaster planning.
So tonight he lowered his shields and let the compulsion guide him towards an abandoned classroom on the third floor.
Inside the classroom, there was a single item. In the middle of the room, there was a big silver mirror with complex runes carved alongside it.
The moment he went in front of the mirror the image changed. Instead of his own reflection, he saw a much older version of himself. Very well dressed, and he seemed to have the invisibility cloak on one shoulder, several rings that looked like house rings, and a wand he didn't recognize. He was smiling, something the real Harry didn't do often, at least not a real smile.
There was someone next to him. It looked like a woman but it was too blurry to tell who it was.
Harry stopped looking at his reflection and directed his eyes upwards. There were words carved on the upper part of the mirror.
'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'
"I show you not your face but your heart's desire."
He then realized what this thing was. He has never seen it before but the mirror of Erised was a well-known ancient artifact. It was also considered borderline a dark artifact due to its addictive nature.
'Why did Dumbledore bring this thing here? and why did he want me to find it?'
Harry was suddenly startled by a strong presence getting close to the classroom he was in. He waited for whoever it was to enter the room while pretending he didn't notice.
He then saw the headmaster dispel his invisibility and reveal himself.
"Ahh Mr. Potter, I see you have discovered the wonders of the mirror of Erised."
'I see. I understand now.' Harry realized the motives of the Headmaster and decided to play along. But he never lowered his guard and prepared his occlumency defenses just in case.
"Headmaster? what are you doing here?."
"mmm I could ask the same. Shouldn't you be in bed?" He gave Harry a smile.
"ohh I'm sorry I was just" He looked at the mirror and tried to seem nervous.
Dumbledore gave a soft laugh. "Don't worry my boy. You are not in trouble. Now, tell me. What did you see in the mirror?."
'That's quite a personal question, old man. Now, what should I tell him?. What does he expect me to see in the mirror?...yes, probably what any orphan would want to see.'
"I see my parents sir. ''. Dumbledore then used a mild legilimency to perceive if he was telling the truth. Something that is easy to fool with his skills.
He looked at the old man innocently while giving his answer and then looked at the floor pretending to be embarrassed, but he was actually trying to avoid looking into his eyes too much.
He was confident in his mental defenses but there is no need to get arrogant and make a mistake now.
The headmaster seemed to like his answers and gave him a big smile. "I see. And, do you understand what the mirror does?."
When Harry was unsure if to talk about the inscription. Dumbledore gave him a clue.
"Let's just say that if the happiest man in the world looked into the mirror he would just see himself, unchanged."
"It shows you what you desire the most then? '' Harry answered.
"Indeed" Dumbledore then got a bit more serious. "But let me warn you to not look for the mirror again. Because of its nature, it can be very addicting. That's why it's going to be moved somewhere else soon."
He walked towards the door, turned around, and said. "I believe it is time to go to bed young one." Then disappeared.
'What a manipulative old man.' Harry thought.
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