Durmstrang

Year 1

Theme: Alohomora

Main prompt: 3). Mirror of Erised [Object]

Optional Prompts:

1). The Three Broomsticks [Setting]

7). Swish and flick [Action]

Word count: 1817

Betaed by the wonderful Heather. Thank you so much!

Author's note: Parts of the Guardians Universe.

"Swish and flick, Hermione; that's the key. Magic will do the rest."

"Hermione! Come and give me a hand!" Rosmerta, Rosie, shouted and the eleven, soon to be twelve-year-old, had come back in, running.

"Sorry Aunt Rosie. I was exercising my swish and flick action. See?" Hermione did a handy demonstration, closing the back door of the pub. The Three Broomsticks was closed for the time being, something unusual. However, every summer, the last two weeks of August, it was closed. No one came, no one bothered. That's when Rosie had Hermione come over. It was safe.

Hermione loved it here. She swished and flicked, and the mugs from the sink stood up and...crashed to the floor.

"Hermione! You know very well that swish and flick has a total use in the magic world. They are part of the spell opening the portal if you are near the portal. Why must you do this every summer in my pub? Do you enjoy breaking my mugs and cups? Should I rename it from Three Broomsticks to Three Broken Mugs?"

Hermione laughs and grins.

"Maybe."

Of course she knew that, but she couldn't help it. She needed to be perfect at the action; so what if it was the use of the levitation spell?

Plus, every time she did it, she felt a part of herself unlocking away. She was discovering who she really was, who she wanted to be, and how to best combine her talents. She was a witch like Rosie, but Rosie had found herself a long time ago, whereas she hadn't. She was still searching. And every day she found something new. The world she belonged to, the world she was in, was full of wonders and secrets, and she wanted to uncover them all. To know who she really was.

Hermione had known she was different ever since she was little. Her parents were different too. Sometimes, when they didn't know she was watching, listening in, they would whisper and talk secretively, like in those spy movies.

Once, she'd been to their dental practice she had gotten off from school earlier; she had wanted to buy some new books, and they weren't there. That had been the moment she had asked them what was going on. She may have been just six, going on seven, but she considered herself smart enough to know they were hiding something from her. And she hadn't liked that at all. So she had asked and they, they had answered. Only it was one she hadn't been prepared to hear.

"You're special Hermione," they had said. "We're different." Those had been the words to change her six-year-old world forever.

At six, she supposed you could believe anything, but...magic? What her parents had said sounded both insane and normal.

They had said it was because it was in her blood, in her veins.

"We are part of the Guardians, Hermione. We serve a higher purpose. Magic exists. In many, many worlds. It's all real. They are all real. Different Universes for different choices. There is a council of beings who oversee them. They're people, humans just like you and I. We didn't want to tell you until you were older, and we still will not tell you everything. I know you think big, but you're just six. You're still a little girl."

Her parents had been right. Five years ago she hadn't understood like she did now, but that hadn't stopped her from asking her mother to tell her everything. And she had done so. Of course, as Hermione had grown older, the tale had been retold. But that had been the moment she had found out the big secret, and how to protect it while exploring it and make it an unsecret for herself.

And now, she knew everything that there was to know. It was scary at the beginning, to know how many worlds truly existed and how many versions of herself be. Her parents had said quite a few were on that council. They had also said that their universe was special and unique so far.

They had an unique version of the Mirror of Erised: "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," which, in reverse, meant "I show not your face but your heart's desire." The mirror was a special mirror in every universe, but in theirs, it was so much more. The Mirror of Erised, in Universe 1231, file 545, in the case of the council, was the portal to another world, another dimension that had no business with the council. They were allies, but that was it. Phoenixia was the home of the phoenixes, of light and goodness. It was beautiful...and magical. She hadn't seen the version of herself there, and frankly, she didn't think she wanted to.

Either way, the mirror had been a gift to the council. And in a fight between good and evil—the usual stuff—it had been put in their universe. And then people like her parents had been brought in. However, they didn't actually have magic like she did. They could hold on in a fight, but they refused to show her, saying she had magic and had to learn to fight with her own magic.

The mirror of Erised was currently in Hogwarts; the founders had been Protectors as well. Protectors. She'd given that name to people like her parents or Rosie because they protected the portals. And Rosie did it every single moment.

You see, Rosie, or rather Rosmerta, was the owner of the The Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade. Her pub existed in both worlds. Like a breach. It was a different kind of portal altogether. It was because she belonged to both worlds. The mirror functioned differently. You had to know it was a door to another world; you had to believe it, and you had to have the key. From the pub, you could only enter with Rosie's help, and she had to be willing, consenting, in the right state of mind. Her parents just called themselves part of the Guardians, but she had felt better calling them protectors. They and some other special people were there to protect the world from the evil, evil that would come and try to enter the most pure world. It was especially important since once it had been so done already.

When Minerva McGonagall had come to introduce her to Hogwarts, they had played the perfect magic-are-you-crazy act. No one could know.

And now here she was, three days until the first of September, in Rosie's pub.

The Three Broomsticks was her absolute favourite place. It held so much magic, and she could go to the land of the Phoenixes, but she usually liked to spend time in the pub. It was old, ancient, but it didn't look so. It was homey. Her home away from home, where she could train her magic, discovering her powers without alerting anyone who shouldn't be alerted. It had its own very large library. It was perfect.

"Maybe? Young lady!"

Rosie waves her hand and the broken mugs disappeared. She takes Hermione from the kitchen, into the main area. The tables look odd without their customers.

"Come and sit, my dear."

Hermione stays at the table, wondering how different will it be when she'll come here in three years time as a Hogwarts student and not as a family friend. It definitely will be weird, just as for Blaise, Luna, Susan and Sally. Except Luna, they will all go to Hogwarts this year. It will be so weird, pretending she didn't know Blaise or Susan. Sally was a Muggleborn like her, but the other two were purebloods.

"I know you want to practice, to be a good protector, but...you can't forget you're a witch too. If you want to discover everything, that's where you start. By being you." Rosie pats her hair.

"Your friends know this too."

Hermione sighed. She knew it as well.

"I do too. I just.. I don't know."

"But I do, "Rosie said. "I don't know how many of your friends' alternative personas are on the council. I know, however, you are. A lot. And I know you all have a connection. Since you've known that from young age and because that's how it was, you have to define yourself."

"Come with me," and both went upstairs to a very special room, one that existed both in the pub and Hogwarts. Hermione still hadn't gotten around that. You gotta love magic.

And there it was, the Mirror of Erised.

"Go on, look, and tell me what you see," Rosie said, but without saying anything, she left the room.

Hermione had never really looked into the mirror before to see. Sure, she'd used it to cross over, but...she never wanted to see what it had to offer. She knew it was dangerous.

But now she looked. And there she was. A bit older, smiling, in what looked like a family photo, but there were some faces she couldn't see. She saw herself showing the swish and flick action to someone, saw her going to Hogsmeade, and she saw Three Broomsticks. She was with some people and she brought them here to the Mirror, here.

"Swish and flick" she did and said, and the mirror became glossy white and showed her Phoenixia.

Hermione touched it and the image vanished. She didn't want to go there right now; these days were her last days freely at the pub until Christmas. She couldn't pop in anymore every other night. She'd have to be at Hogwarts. There was something brewing. The Mirror had felt touched, like someone had visited it before. That shouldn't have been the case. Dumbledore had no business with it. He knew its dangers. And if it was indeed him, why?

She wasn't worried about him coming accidentally here, at the pub, but still, it made her feel anxious. What if it wasn't him? Rosie was right. She could feel something was stirring. The adults had warned them about Voldemort. Amelia, Susan's aunt, had told her Dumbledore didn't really believe he was dead.

Well, they would see. Hermione hadn't wanted to learn her future; her parents had wished to know if she would be safe, but she'd said she'd make her own future. Everyone had agreed.

So in three days everything would be new for her too. A new adventure, a start, and hopefully mysteries to uncover. She closed the door behind her with a smile on her face.

She still had a lot to learn and discover, but now she'd seen what she'd really wanted, and she knew that it didn't depend on her magic; it depended on her.

"Hey, Aunt Rosie, let me do the dishes for you!"

"Swish and then flick"

Behind her, the mirror glowed in the dark.