Hurry, hurry, hurry, have to hurry, I have to hurry…
Fred Weasley let out a string of curse words as he rounded the corner through the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was past midnight and Filch, the bitter caretaker, was out for his blood. He and his twin brother, George, while only third years, had already earned themselves a reputation as the school troublemakers.
On that particular night, he and George had been in the kitchens snagging food from the house-elves – sweet little things, really, always making sure they had enough to eat. On the way back to the Gryffindor common room was when the trouble started. They met Filch somewhere along the second floor corridor and had been running ever since.
Somehow, Fred and George had gotten separated in their mad dash from the insane caretaker. So Fred now had two objectives – Find George and get the hell out of there.
"Come, my sweet," A voice came from down the hall. "I can hear him – one of the Weasley brats. Must be down here somewhere."
Filch. Fred's blood ran cold. He could hear the old caretaker's steps coming down the hall. He debated running but realized it was useless – Filch finding him was inevitable.
But then Fred noticed something he hadn't seen before – a doorway to his right. Fred gave the hall a nervous look, and then ducked inside.
The room was bare enough – there weren't any empty desks or tables like in some of the other unused classrooms. The only thing Fred could actually see was a large ornate mirror.
He frowned, walking closer to it. He'd never seen anything like this before, and he and George knew the school better than most normal students. It was odd they'd never come across this mirror in one of their escapades.
As he approached it, he saw letters engraved on the stone above the actual mirror. They didn't create proper words, however, so he thought they must be in another language or something like that. He took a closer look into the mirror, but immediately jumped back.
Fred closed his eyes. What did I just see? Someone's behind me, I know someone is. I saw someone else in the mirror. But as Fred peered around the empty classroom, not one face popped out at him. Curious, he approached the mirror again. But instead, this time, he kept looking.
What he saw shocked him. It was him, but there was a crowd of people standing behind him. Fred frowned, peering closer into the mirror. He could see many familiar faces, including his mother, father, George, his other siblings like Ron and Ginny, his other friend Lee Jordan, his professors in school, Ron's friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, his Quidditch team, and just random people he vaguely recalled passing in the halls. They were all standing behind him smiling. Smiling and laughing. They all had bright grins on their faces. A lot of them looked happier than Fred had ever seen them.
Fred felt an odd sensation in his stomach. It was pleasing. He had never felt more overjoyed than when he looked in that mirror.
He swiped a hand across the room, making sure no one was there that he couldn't see. It didn't make sense that his mum, dad, or younger sister, Ginny, would be here of course, but one could never be so sure.
Filch was surely gone by now, looking down another corridor for Fred and his twin. It was most assuredly safe to go. But for some odd reason, Fred didn't want to. He wanted to stay here with the mirror and all the grinning people inside of it. But, after one last fleeting glance at the mirror, Fred ducked out into the hallway.
As he hurried back to Gryffindor Tower, he thought about the strange mirror. What was it? And why was it here at the school? He'd talk to George about it.
"What kept you?" George said as Fred hopped in the portrait hole. "I've been here for about two quarters of an hour waiting. Did Filch catch you?"
"No," Fred told his twin. "He didn't." He proceeded to tell George about the odd mirror he'd found on the seventh fifth floor. George was curious, so the boys decided to go back to look for it the next night.
But they couldn't find it. It had disappeared. Fred had managed to lead them to the room he was almost positive he had found the mirror in, but it was no longer there. He and George scoured the surrounding rooms looking for it, but never could find it.
But the image of the laughing people Fred had seen in it stuck with him for a long while. He was sure he'd never forget it.
The deepest desire of Fred Weasley's heart was to make people laugh, bring joy to people's lives, and all in all, make others as happy as he was.