Harry Potter
And The Mirror of Enchantment
By Jobby Shipper
Rating: Mature
Pairings: Harry x Draco
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Harry Potter, the other characters, the world they live in, or anything else about the story. All of those rights belong to J. K. Rowling. I am doing this for my own fun and enjoyment.
Timeline: Takes place in the movie verse ONLY and right after Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix.
Arthur's Disclaimer: I have never ready the books, only seen the movies, and this story was something that came to mind shortly after seeing the 5th film, and I figured it would be an interesting story to tell. Since Draco's mother hasn't been in the movies that I'm aware of, it allows the movie verse a chance for a story to be told that is impossible to tell in the novel verse. I hope you will all put aside the continuity of the novels to enjoy this story as it is. Thank you.
Prologue
Thunder rumbled in the distance, allowing for eerie shadows to be cast off the large, looming, gothic mansion that was Malfoy Manor. It would surely begin raining before long, but it was very easy to tell that it had already rained earlier. Drenching sheets had actually fallen from the dark sky before, and the promise of more rain to come brought happiness to the plant life around the grounds, despite that there was so little to be happy about at such a desolate place.
In his study, deep in thought, Lucius Malfoy was sitting at his desk reading the latest edition of The Daily Prophet. A scowl was on his face from the pages that he was reading. Much of the attack in The Ministry of Magic had been put off as merely a fight between only Dumbledore and The Dark Lord himself. Everyone knew for a fact that Voldemort had returned now, and there was little to be done to otherwise persuade Cornelius Fudge of otherwise. Although the fool had unexpectedly allowed Voldemort time to prepare for the coming war with his Death Eaters at his ever beak and call, their spared time had run out and The Ministry were in the process of searching out for anyone that had involvement with 'He Who Must Not Be Named'.
The scowl turned into a smirk at that. There was little to no chance that Lucius would be fingered as there was no proof to him being a Death Eater. People obviously knew now. The Boy Who Lived had been the first to find out, but he hadn't specifically revealed anything, not that it would've mattered anyway. Not even his band of young wizards that had fought with Harry Potter would be able to prove that he was with The Death Eaters they had faced. So he was obviously very safe in that standing, but there were others that could cause him problems.
Remus Lupin and Alistair Moody were among those. Lucius could discredit children from Hogwarts, but two wizards that were well respected in the wizarding community would most likely be a different story. The only thing that kept Lucius thinking that he still had the power of no proof was that the entire summer had gone by without him being questioned or sought after for arrest. It was very rewarding to him to know that he was so protected.
His smirk opened slightly as a wicked, but quiet, laugh escaped his lips before he placed his hand to his chin, winding up with the smirk present once more. It occurred to him that being the powerful man that he was tended to cause the possibilities of rumors about him being in Voldemort's camp a bit mute. The Malfoy's had been a very powerful family for generations. Though they all had their corrupt nature to them, no one could ever put proof to anything that had been done, and Lucius didn't plan to be the first to slip up either.
It would've been ill advised to allow something so foolish to occur in the first place. He was a well respected dignitary in the wizarding world, and his son Draco's future depended on keeping the family name from becoming stained. That was why his darling, beautiful wife, Narcissa, had to be dealt with. It was a tragic loss, but what life didn't have some sort of tragedy involved in it? It was an inescapable part of any person's world no matter if they were pureblood, half-blood, muggle, mudblood, or whatever you were.
Lucius had never told Draco the truth about his mother, and hadn't even needed to mention anything to him about it until the blonde haired boy was a year away from starting at Hogwarts. He, of course, lied to his son about it, giving one of the easiest explanations anyone could give: she had died in a car crash. It had actually been rather humorous to say the least in all honesty, considering that he apparently thought alike with the Dursley family, the people that had taken care of The Boy Who Lived for so many long years.
Then, the sheer thought of that made Lucius' skin crawl. Comparing himself to mere muggles, especially ones as repulsive from what he had learned to a man of such powerful, noble dignity was, by no stretch of the imagination, something that Lucius should ever actually pride himself on, not that he'd actually do so in the first place, that was. However, even still, he owned those horrid muggles a bit of gratitude for trying to keep Potter away from the wizarding world.
Not that it was actually his doing in the first place anyway, but he was partially responsible for where Potter ended up. Dumbledore had never actually thought it worth his time to explain the past of Mister Harry Potter's placement in the wizarding world originally, nor did the old headmaster find it really necessary to tell him more then he actually needed to know. If Lucius had actually cared at all about the boy, he would've educated him in the truth.
The rain started pouring once more in drenching sheets as Lucius stood up from his desk and moved over to the window, looking out at the beauty of the rain as it fell. He remembered the day so very well when Dumbledore decided that the boy couldn't go with whom he rightfully belonged with. It was during an emergency meeting at The Ministry of Magic that Lucius had offered rather ceremoniously to take care of The Boy Who Lived as his own, claiming brightly that Draco needed a brother in his life, and after having lost his brother, could've used a younger brother. However, Dumbledore saw right through Lucius, believing even that early on that Lucius had been a Death Eater.
It was a mistake that Albus Dumbledore would live to regret for sure. Sadly though, it was one that Lucius had to deal with on a daily basis. His son had turned out to be less then helpful when it came to dealing with Potter though. Lucius was doing everything he could please The Dark Lord, but it appeared as if that would never be enough to stop The Boy Who Lived, and it looked as if Draco would never accept the destiny that had been laid out before him in order to help insure the downfall of Harry Potter.
Lucius' face hindered slightly, and he didn't allow his look to recover either for that matter. Whenever he thought of his son, all he could do was feel a tad disgusted by how poorly things had turned out. It was no surprise to Lucius that Draco Malfoy was more of a coward and loner then someone that could someday be worthy enough to actually take over the great work that Lucius had done with his life. If Draco had even been offered The Dark Mark, he'd probably decline having it, forcing The Death Eaters to kill him, and it would've been no surprise if they forced Lucius to do the deed himself. That would be much like Voldemort.
All these thoughts made him wonder if things would've been different had Narcissa still been alive to have helped care for him. Lucius scoffed once more. 'Like it would've made much of a difference anyway,' he thought to himself, and it made complete sense as well. Narcissa was never a cruel person and everyone knew it. She was the light of the eye of maybe people when she went to places like Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. And he didn't even want to think of the things that occurred when she made a historical appearance at Hogwarts.
Clasping his hands behind his back, Lucius suddenly brought his face back to its normal, emotionless demeanor. The last thing he needed was for his son to walk in when he had the look of disgust for him clearly present, even if he was presently looking out the window. It would've been saddening to him if it didn't seem so pathetic. He used to take so much pride in his son. His first two years at Hogwarts had shown much greatness in Draco and his blooming rivalry with Harry Potter was something that would become legend at the school for decades to come. All of that came crashing down in the third year though, when his own son whined and cried to him about a blasted Hippogriff named Buckbeak that had attacked him. Some of the other kids in Slytherin had even told him that Draco had been such a baby over the attack.
Lucius didn't know what it was that had come over his son to make him become such a… what was the word that muggles used? Pansy? Yes, that was the word. Draco had been coming into his own, and then the evolution completely stopped out of nowhere. It was so embarrassing to Lucius that he actually had to take the whole thing to The Ministry of Magic in order to have the damn creature killed, but in order to keep his son happy, in hopes that he could overcome whatever blasted weakness had taken hold of him. Sadly though, he seemed to get worse. Lucius had to keep getting more contacts within Hogwarts to see if there was any type improvement in the boy, but trusting in Slytherin students like Crabbe and Goyle was, in all honest, a waste of his time, and the others hadn't ever seemed to be too much of a help either, but what little he did learn had to be good enough.
Perhaps his mother's weakness had managed to come out in Draco after all. It seemed like a far fetched idea considering that he'd only been two years old when she died, but there was no other explanation that could suffice for him. What hurt his pride was about everything was that there was no chance that he would be able to find a new woman to marry, especially with the implications. He hadn't even felt that remarriage was all that important until Draco seemed to become a lost cause. All he could do was hope that he could actually get a new hair to continue the Malfoy name the proper way.
Sure, that seemed very cruel, but the Malfoy family had never been known to really be all that generous to anyone. It was a common fact. You dealt with the Malfoys, you were dealing with devils… Except with his son, you were dealing with…. Well, he wasn't sure he wanted to put words to it besides the muggle word pansy. 'Oh what does it matter anyway, Lucius?' he thought. 'Once you admit it to yourself, then you'll be able to accept it and move on to other things.'
Lucius knew he needed something to drink, and pumpkin juice simply wasn't going to do the trick for him, but what else was there? Muggle alcohol? It wasn't exactly a delicacy in any pureblood wizard family, and he honestly didn't need anything that would affect his mood anyway. Pumpkin juice was his only answer, and so he moved over to the small bar and poured him some, taking a sip of it as he moved back over to the desk and sat down again, pondering over things once more.
All of the thinking he'd been doing about Draco had him wondering a very important thing. Most of Draco's summer after everything with The Death Eaters, The Order, Doris Umbridge's stay at Hogwarts coming to an end, and so on, he'd spent a lot of time in his room, simply preparing himself for his sixth year at the school. It was a normal thing for Draco to do during the summers, but he didn't spend everyday hold up in his room. The boy rarely came to meals at the same time Lucius was, and it was all he could do but to not wonder what could possibly be going on with him.
'Why do you care?' Lucius thought. 'He's become weak, useless in your eyes, and you should just kill him right now. Try some other way to get a new heir. You know the truth about him. You've seen his journals… The things he says in them about… other guys.' Lucius finished drinking the rest of his pumpkin juice in one gulp after thinking all of that and sighed. A tear actually came to his eye, but he wiped it away immediately. Emotions made someone weak, and Lucius Malfoy was far from it. He was strong and would prove it to everyone that dared to cross him very soon.
The room was very spacious. Any boy would be lucky to have a room of such luxurious accommodations, considering everything inside, but the blonde haired boy that sat on the bed, hearing the pattering of the rain on the roof, looked anything but happy. His mind was scattered, and his face showed confusion that no one would understand unless he were willing to open up, and it wasn't entirely likely that he would do even that.
The last two weeks of summer vacation had been a very enlightening one for Draco Malfoy, but at the same time, it had also been very confusing as well. It would've never even happened if Draco hadn't actually done something that his father had forbidden him to do years before: He explored Malfoy Manor, but made sure that it was late in the night when he did. For some reason, the house that would eventually become his own wasn't some sort of secret, hidden mansion in the forest that needed the mysteries discovered according to his father. It sounded like some video game he'd heard about. Something muggles played, but he never bothered with such useless devices as the video game consoles. He was far better then that.
However, Draco had never been one to disobey his father either, but after everything that happened in the past year, he felt he needed something to keep himself occupied, and it needed to be a bit dangerous, because he had to face it, being a Malfoy wasn't really a dangerous life, despite all of the horrible things that had been going on, and considering that it was more then obvious that his family wasn't really the kind that got the rebuttal of the problems seemed to make things even more boring for him.
After all the years of his life, it seemed only right to take a stand against his father for once and do something that he wanted instead of what daddy dearest thought was right. However, Draco was no fool. He only did his rebelling at night when his father was asleep and unable to know of what he was doing. He had sword to the house elves and anyone else that he would come across to keep what they'd seen to themselves upon pain of death if they told. Thankfully, his threats hadn't fallen on dull ears, because he was never presented to his father for what he was doing.
As he sat on his bed though, just staring at nothing in particular, Draco couldn't help but ask himself it was really all worth it. So much had finally changed in his eyes, but it wasn't like he could actually go around explaining things to people. How could he? Somehow, his father would find out what was going on and put a stop to everything immediately. He'd probably even be killed in the process as well. It was that bad… Well, it wasn't bad for Draco entirely, but still bad for his father, and things would wind up even worse for him should things be revealed. However, Draco knew good and well that nothing ever stays buried. Everything comes out in the end, and this was sure to do so before too long. It was all a matter of when.
For that matter, it was also about who he actually told. This revelation was too deep, too intense, too horrifying, and made Draco feel like he had been betrayed in every single way. All signs pointing him to the realization that the Malfoy family would never be the same again once this information had got out, but the question lied as to when it would get out… 'No! You idiot! That's not the question at all, and you know it! Someone has to be told! Who are you going to tell though? Potter?'
A large smirk appeared on his face as he thought about that possibility. It seemed like the logical person to go to, considering the ramifications of what he now knew, but after everything that he'd done, all of the horrible things he'd said and done, and the way he treated him… It just didn't seem likely that Potter would care, nor even give him the chance to explain what it was that needed to be told. As badly as he wanted to let Potter in on the whole thing, and with everything that had been told him, it was the right thing to do, but he was too frightened of total rejection before things could be explained to him in full.
Severus Snape had a right to know though as well. What difference it really made was uncertain… No, that wasn't true. It made a world of difference, and he knew that his potions professor would have to be informed. There was Dumbledore, but that old fool didn't exactly need to be involved. He liked to put his big nose in people's business where it didn't belong, and there wasn't anything he could do about it anyway, so that was totally out of the question once he came down to the decision. Perhaps Professor Trelawney would've been a good candidate to take things to since she had her premonitions, but Doris Umbridge had been right about trying to get rid of her, despite being reinstated after Umbridge was thrown out of Hogwarts. Trelawney had a sense about her though that there was logic behind her madness. Although she wasn't involved in what had been discovered, a helping hand from someone like her could've been of use.
A lot of decisions had to be made for sure. Draco had spent all of the time after discovering the treasure that he'd found learning everything of what could've been for so long, and hadn't even realized until that very day that it was his last day of break before returning to Hogwarts. He knew good and well that his decision to reveal what he knew to others could put them in just as much, if not more, danger as he would be in for simply knowing, but it made little difference at this point. The truth had been revealed to him, and he was about to set off on a quest that would define his future, and if nothing else, change the very path that Draco Malfoy had set off on originally, which was to follow everything that his father had laid out for him. He would no longer linger in the shadow of the man that he knew wasn't entirely pure as his blood begged to challenge him. Just because Lucius Malfoy was a pureblood, did not excuse that he was no where near the man that he once worshiped and one day wanted to become.
Precious knowledge as it was, Draco knew that he had to tread lightly for the remainder of the day and until he was safely back at Hogwarts and away from Malfoy Manor. It would be difficult for him to accomplish, but considering the alternative, he didn't want to slip up, for it could mean his very demise, and he knew, deep down, that simple wasn't in the cards for himself. Draco Malfoy was evolving, and the future rest in his hands, and what he had found during his search to discover the mysteries of Malfoy Manor.