Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It all belongs to J. K. Rowling, the queen of literature.
Author's Note: This was written for the International Wizarding School Competition Round 2. Please read, review, and enjoy.
BIG THANKS TO 3CHEERSFORIDIOTS FOR BETA-ING. IT REALLY MEANS A LOT TO ME SO THANKS AGAIN.
School and Year: Mahoutokoro, Year 2
Theme: Confundus
Main prompt: Mirror of Erised / Additional prompt: The Three Broomsticks
Word count: 2,115
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Three Broomsticks was packed today, for it was the second Hogsmeade trip of the year, and it was blistery and cold outside. The bar was filled with students but a few adults were also scattered around.
Sitting at two tables which had been shoved together to make more room were eight students; James Potter, Victoire and Dominique Weasley, Rose Granger-Weasley, and Fred and Roxanne Weasley. Albus Potter and Louis Weasley were too young to go, and Molly and Lucy Weasley, even though they were old enough, had chosen to stay inside the castle and begin studying for exams, much to James's astonishment. They begun studying weeks ago and had become, if it were possible, even more irritating and obnoxious.
As the small crowd of cousins and siblings sat together, drinking in warm gulps of Butterbeer or, in Victoire's case, Firewhiskey, they chatted about what they would do after leaving the Three Broomsticks.
"Fred and I are going to go to the Shrieking Shack, aren't we, Fred?" said James, glancing at his best mate and partner-in-crime.
"Sounds good to me," replied Fred.
"I want to go to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and get some new quills," stated Rose.
"Rosie, you should go to Honeydukes with us later," said Roxanne."We'll go and get lots of candy to send to Hugo."
"Oh, alright, I'll go to Honeydukes with you," Rose replied.
"Hey, I want to send some stuff to Lily. She was really sad when we left. Would you pick up some stuff for her?" James said, pulling out his money bag and counting the gold, silver, and bronze coins.
"I'll go with you guys too," said Roxanne, who also began counting her money.
"Vic, will you go Gladrags with me?" Dominique asked her older sister. "I need a new cloak, 'cause this one is starting to fray."
"Sure thing, Dom," replied Victoire, "Louis wanted more quidditch socks, anyways.
"You ready?" asked Fred, turning to James.
"You bet. Let's go," he replied, standing up and downing the last bit of his Butterbeer.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
James and Fred, after tightening their cloaks around them and walking out of the door, headed down the lane towards the Shrieking Shack, talking animatedly.
"Did you know that the Shrieking Shack is the first place my dad met Sirius?" James said excitedly to Fred.
"Really? Cool!" Fred exclaimed. They continued chatting until they approached the end of the lane where only a few deserted shops stood.
"Hey Fred, look at that!"
"What?" James was pointing at a dilapidated store.
"I remember seeing that place last time we came here," James said. "I think it was an old antique shop or something," James continued, diverting his course so he was approaching the building's door.
"Must've closed up," Fred said, following his friend.
"I guess." James turned to start walking back towards the Shrieking Shack, but the large form of Professor Slughorn, who was walking down the lane, caught his eye.
"Uh oh!" James whispered to Fred, pointing at Slughorn.
"What do we do?" Fred said, looking around frantically for somewhere to hide, as Slughorn would see them soon.
"Oh, here!" James grabbed something out of his pocket and inserted it into the door of the was a click and the door swung open. James had brought out the knife that his father had given , it was exactly like one Sirius Black had given his godson and it could open any lock.
A cloud of dust greeted them and after a moment of coughing, James and Fred squinted through the semi-darkness.
"That was close," Fred said, rushing to a grimy window to peer outside for any sign of Slughorn.
"Well, there's not much here, is there?" James said wryly, proceeding to light the tip of his wand. There was, in fact, almost nothing in the dusty room. A few nicknacks stood on tables, gathering dust, and the counter where people would pay, was so thickly covered with the gray powder, that is looked like dirty snow had fallen.
"Well, I guess we could look around a bit," said Fred, shrugging and lighting his wand tip two boys wandered around the shop for a few minutes, covering their mouths and noses with their cloaks, so as not to breathe in the dust.
After fifteen minutes of browsing and occasional coughing, Fred noticed something. A ray of light was shining through a crack at the bottom of a well-hidden door.
"Hey, James. C'mere," Fred said, over his shoulder. He heard James's muffled footsteps approach.
"What is it, Fred?" James asked.
"Look," Fred pointed with his wand, "there's a door and there's light coming from under it. Wanna check it out?"
"Sure. There's nothing interesting in here anyways." James stepped forward and grasped a small knob, pushing the door open.
"Woah."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Both boys were surprised at what they saw. A gigantic mirror with ornate writing stood in the middle of the room.
"That is so cool," said James, in awe. "I've never seen anything like that. It's so big!" The two boys wandered in front of it and gasped. What they saw, shocked them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
James saw himself being lifted onto the shoulders of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he was holding the Quidditch Cup. His parents were there, congratulating him on the victory. He tore his eyes away and glanced around quickly, looking for the team or his father and mother, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fred saw an older version of himself; a Chudley Cannons uniform upon him and a beater's bat in hand. His parents, Uncle Ron, and his sister, Roxanne, were there at the Quidditch World Cup, where he was competing with his team. They were applauding and cheering, while he flew through the air on a Firebolt. He forced himself to look away and see whether or not it was real; to see if his family or his Firebolt was there with him, but he saw nothing other than more dusty artifacts.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
James and Fred turned to look at each other.
"Fred," James began slowly and confusedly."What was that?"
"Uh, I - I don't know, James," Fred replied, just as slowly and confusedly."Er - what did you see?"
"Uh - I saw - I saw myself winning the Quidditch Cup and my mum and dad were were congratulating me," James replied."What about you?"
"I - I saw myself playing with the Chudley Cannons and my parents and Uncle Ron and Roxanne were there and they were cheering me on," Fred said, still bewildered.
"Fred," James began, realization beginning to dawn on his face, "I think I know what this is. My dad once told me that when he was 11 and here at Hogwarts, he found a special mirror that showed him his parents. He said that Dumbledore had told him that it showed someone's greatest wish or something like that. Maybe this is that mirror!"
"Oh my gosh, maybe!" Fred exclaimed. "Should we tell the others?" he asked.
"You think we should?" James asked, "I mean, do you think Victoire would tell on us? She is a prefect and all." Fred shrugged.
"I don't think so. I mean, she has been a bit more cool lately."
"Well, okay then!" said James, two boys turned and ran out of the old store.
"You go Honeydukes," James yelled to Fred, "and I'll go to Gladrags."
"Okay, will do!" Fred replied, and he set off down the street together, then he turned left to go to Honeydukes, and James turned right, running into Gladrags.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After about ten minutes, James and Fred were pulling their cousins into the shop.
"What in Merlin's name in going on?" asked Victoire, whose hands were on her hips and was looking extremely imposing.
"Vic, Roxy," said Fred, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet, "you guys have got to see this." Fred and James led them into the small back room with the mirror and pointed at it.
"Cool! What is that?" asked Roxanne.
"That," started Fred, sidling up next to his little sister, "is a special mirror that shows what your greatest wish is or something like that."
"Yeah, my dad said that he saw Granddad James and Grandmum Lily in it when he was younger," said James.
"How does it work?" asked Victoire, walking around and inspecting it.
"I dunno but we wanted to show you!" James said, excitedly.
"Roxy, why don't you look in it?" asked Fred, giving his sister a small prod. "Tell us what you see!"
"Alright," Roxanne replied, and she walked in front of it, looked, and gasped.
"Woah," she sighed.
"What is it?" exclaimed Fred, buffing his sister out of the way, having momentarily forgotten that he couldn't see what other people could.
"I see myself playing as a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and Aunt Ginny and Mum are there! They're the other two chasers! We're all playing together!"
"That is so cool! My turn, my turn," Dominique begged, and she ran in front of it and covered her mouth in shock.
"Wow! I'm a mooncalf trainer! Oh, I've always wanted to train creatures! Do you think I'll really be able to do that?" Dominique was talking in a flurry, and running back to her older sister."Go on, Vic! It's your turn!"
"No, it's okay! Rose, you can go now," Victoire said. Rose smiled and took her place in front of the mirror. She smiled broadly.
"What do you see?" prompted James.
"I've passed all my exams and McGonagall is congratulating me and Mum and Dad are there." She stared at the mirror for a few seconds more than forced herself to look away, giving Victoire the chance to look at it.
"Go on, Vic," prompted Fred.
When Victoire looked at it hesitantly, a few tears fell from her beautiful eyes.
"Vic, what is it? What's wrong?" asked Dominique, approaching her sister.
"It's - uh - it's nothing. James, what - erm - what did you see?" Victoire asked, attempting to change the subject.
As James told the others of what he had seen, Dominique continued staring at her sister, the look on her face silently asking her to tell her the truth and Victoire knew that her sister would never let the matter drop.
"I - I saw myself with Teddy," she muttered, not realizing that the others were silent again.
"Wait a second," James started, looking incredulous."My Teddy? My big brother, Teddy? When I saw you guys, I thought you guys were just snogging for the heck of it. Do you love him?"
"I - yes, James. I do and I miss him so terribly," Victoire said sadly. James looked angry for a moment, for Teddy was his idol, and the thought of somebody possibly taking him away, was hurtful, but when James looked at Victoire's face, covered with marks left by silent tears, he realized that others' happiness sometimes came before his own.
"It's - it's okay. Just - just don't hurt him or anything, okay?" James said, a bit unwillingly.
"James, I would never take Teddy away from you," admonished Victoire, " - and I swear, I won't hurt him." They smiled at each other and the children continued examining the mirror. Victoire was running her hands along the frame, trying to find out whether it was made in a special way, while the others kept jumping back in front of the mirror and seeing if their wish had possibly changed. It always stayed the same however, and after another hour in the shop, they decided to leave as they had already examined it as much as possible, and grown slightly bored.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After the short adventure, the small collection of cousins and siblings left the shop and finished their shopping, wondering about what they had seen and whether their wishes might actually come true.
Once the children's trip into Hogsmeade was over and dinner time was upon them, they all made their way back to the castle and told Molly, Lucy, Albus, and Louis about the bewildering discovery they had made and what they had seen. Albus and Louis made Fred and James take them later.
A few times, James and Fred used their fathers' secret passageway to get into Hogsmeade and look into the mirror again, and see if it had changed, but after a few trips and nothing changing, the mirror mysteriously vanished. They searched the building again, wondering if it could've just been moved to a different room, but it was gone. None of the children ever saw it again, but maybe that was good. After all, it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.