Breathing deeply through his nose, Harry savoured the fresh smell of the earth as he walked deeper into the dark forest. The sun was only just starting to rise now, casting soft rays of light through the small gaps in the leaves, bird song started to ring through the air as his weight snapped small branches on the ground.
Pulling the sleeves up of his black Auror uniform, Harry stopped in front of a cave entrance, its walls covered in thick moss, a tree sat far above the rocky face, its roots could be seen running down its side before burying themselves into the ground. With a flick of his wrist, he release his wand from its holster.
"Lumos" he muttered before proceeding inside, the light cast shadows where it could making the cave look more daunting, its damp smell harshly hitting his nose.
His footsteps echoed softly, his senses wary of traps that may have been left by the Death Eaters who were supposedly there conducting research in ways Voledmort could extend his reach permanently on the Dark Lord's orders. With a resigned sigh, he pulled out a small compact mirror.
"Ronald Weasley" he called out, the mirror almost instantly showed his friends freckled face.
"Found anything yet Harry?" Ron asked through the mirror, his eyes on the paperwork that sat on his desk, "honestly, if I had known there'd be this much paperwork, I would have gone for another career" he whined after signing a document before reaching for another.
"Better than this, there's nothing here, no traps, no signs of life. Nothing" Harry grumbled, his attention now on Ron as he carried on walking through the damp cave. Pausing Harry took in the cave, "think this is a dead end mate" there were no paths which he could follow having hit the back of the cave.
"Well come back and we'll inform Kingsley it was a false lead" Ron muttered before groaning as more paperwork was dropped on his desk.
Sighing, Harry nodded his head in agreement "yeah okay, this was a waste of tim-wait."
Ron lifted his head to look worriedly at his dark haired friend.
"You found something?" he asked concerned, "remember, if you do find something, don't touch it okay? Call for backup and we'll get some curse breakers down there."
Not paying attention to Ron, Harry found a large crack in the corner of the wall that could have easily been missed.
"Yeah, I'll call you back Ron" he said distractedly closing his mirror and wiggling through the crack, it was just large enough for him to fit through with a small amount of discomfort. He doubted any of the Crabbe family had been here.
Twisting his body through the rough edges, he managed to get himself through to the other side with no extreme difficulty. Quickly dusting the dirt from his uniform, he looked around his new surroundings, his mouth fell open in shock at how large the room was. Mosaics and colourful glowing crystals covered the walls, marble steps lead down to shallow, clear water that surrounded what looked like a large ancient mirror. Its frame made of the same white and pale pink crystals that erupted from the walls and ceiling. Witch fire glowed brightly within their pits on the outskirts of the water.
Cancelling his lumos spell, Harry cautiously cast defensive spells, trying to detect any traps or other defences that may have been put in place. Satisfied but concerned that he found none, he took tentative steps down the staircase, looking at the story the mosaics presented but was unable to decipher them fully, just that the mirror was important in an ancient magical tribes culture and that it had helped them survive for generations.
Heat radiated from his pocket as the compact mirror vibrated.
"Hey Ron" he said breathlessly, only giving his friend a quick glance before returning to study the mirror across the shallow water.
"Mate! You alright? Blimey you idiot, don't just turn the mirror off without warning" he voice was laced in frustration as he rubbed his eyes, "anyway, what's got your attention? You look like Hermione in a library."
"Ron, you have got to see this place. It's...beautiful" Harry replied as he walked through the water towards the mirror fascinated. It looked like it had grown there with the crystals but that was impossible, mirrors were man made. He sensed magic pulsing from it, the Mirror of Erised flashing through his mind as shifted closer.
Raising a brow at his friends words, Ron looked at him in concern, "I knew it was too soon for you to go back to the field" he said exasperated, "why did I let you convince me to vouch for you I do not know. Harry, come back to the Ministry, I'll ask for them to send someone else over."
"Ron. I'm fine. My mentality is fine." Harry growled angrily, shaking his head and pushing back the memory of his last mission. "Seriously, this place is beautiful" he moved the mirror so Ron could see the room for himself minus the mirror, he didn't want his friend to see that for some reason.
He heard Ron's loud intake of breath as he took in the room from the small mirror on his side.
"Okay mate, yeah, I agree with you on that. Seems like the Death Eaters didn't get in there at all" he said happily.
"I agree, but I'm still going to take a look around. This might be another departments area. Seems historical in my opinion."
Turning the mirror back to face him, Harry said goodbye to Ron before closing the mirror again and turning his attention back to the mirror, taking small steps to stand before it.
Pushing the compact mirror back into his pocket a small photograph fell out and fluttered to the floor. He quickly leant down to pick it back up and looked at the moving image of the marauders at Hogwarts. A small fond smile spread across his lips as James threw his arms around Sirius and Remus's shoulders. He wondered what Hogwarts must have been like for them during their stay there. 'A lot different from mine, I imagine' he thought in amusement remembering that every year something had tried to kill him, being manipulated into following a prophecy and the school body believing he was mad.
Pocketing the picture, he stood up to face the mirror only to frown in disbelief. The mirror showed James playing with his snitch talking to Sirius and Remus at the lake, Peter was next to them, stuffing his face with food as he disgustinly spoke with his mouth full. They looked to be in the fifth or sixth year of Hogwarts, only a few small pale scars were present on Remus's face, his father and godfather looked handsome and filled with youthful joy. Harry was amazed how relaxed they all looked sitting on the ground with the orange leaves falling around them having been blown by the light breeze.
"What?" he breathed, placing his hand on the surface yelping as he was jolted through the mirror by his hand. His stomach jumping into his throat as he fell though the darkness, the light from the room quickly fading away as his body fell further.
He released a groan from the pain as his body hit dry ground.
"Damnit" he wheezed forcing his eyes open and his body to sit up on his knees. Quickly grabbing his wand he took in his surroundings, panic raising in his mind when he saw that he wasn't in the cave before his body relaxed when he saw Hogwarts.
Confusion soon took over in the place of panic, Hogwarts no longer looked like how it was when he attended, having rebuilt most of the castle after the attack and some of the school was still under construction. But it looked like how it did when he attended!
"What the hell is going on?" he whispered pushing himself to his feet as he walked towards his old school in the hopes of answers. It was dark out, the lights from the windows cast a welcoming glow across the grounds and brought a sad smile to Harry's face and the memory of his first home.
As he neared the entrance he stood still in shock as the blood fled from his face, making him slightly light headed and his heart started to beat uncontrollably.
"Impossible" his voice shuddered as his mind went into overdrive, his bright green eyes wide, "Dumbledore?"