Disclaimer: As usual, and like everyone else on this website, I do not own Harry Potter, or Terry Boot.
It wasn't easy to measure up to the other students in Terry Boot's class. There was Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age. There was Draco Malfoy, the boy with the perfect lineage and blood purity. There was Blaise Zabini, proud owner of two mansions before he'd even started Hogwarts. And of course, there was Harry Potter, the chosen-boy-who-lived-to-be-the youngest-seeker-in-a-century-with-girls-drooling-over-him. All in all, it was hard to shine through.
Ron Weasley had it easy - people might only see him as the best friend of Harry Potter, but at least they saw him. He got Lavender Brown, who was easily considered the prettiest girl in their year. He was great at Quidditch, if you forgot about his dismal performance in his first few games. He was a Weasley, and they were always popular. And he might not realise it, but he had a fairly good shot at being Head Boy - if he hadn't decided to ditch Hogwarts in his 7th year, that was. Here he was, skipping his education, and while normally everyone would have frowned at that, this year, he was the subject of admiration - because, as a healthy pureblood young man, Ron Weasley had a choice; and he chose to be a loyal and faithful friend, even in the face of death.
When it seemed that Ron Weasley would have given anything to be Harry Potter, Terry Boot would have given anything to be Ron Weasley. At least, that's what he used to think.
But as Terry looked at the Head Boy badge in his hand, coveted for so long, that had miraculously not made its way to a Slytherin this year, he realised that getting the attention you wanted simply wasn't all it was cut out to be.
"Mr. Boot."
Terry looked up suddenly, facing Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Sprout. He wasn't sure what this was about. He was, frankly, terrorized. It was only their first day of classes, two students had been beaten as punishment - and he preferred not to think about what the Carrows had done to Ginny Weasley. His task as Head Boy should be to enforce discipline, but less than 24 hours in his job, he thought he wanted to spend the rest of the year not enforcing discipline.
"Mr Boot," repeated Professor McGonagall. "We know today has been a trying experience, and we expect this to last for as long as this War is being fought."
Terry nodded, his throat completely dry.
"We would like you to know that while normally you'd be responsible for the safety of students, we realise this year it will be a very hard task, and we won't hold it against your reputation if you don't always succeed," Professor Sprout said, sounding very kind.
"However," Professor Flitwick continued, "there is something you can do to ensure that Hogwarts remains just a bit safer this year. And we know that you are fully capable of accomplishing this task."
He said that last sentence with a finality that did not allow Terry to protest. McGonagall turned to a large object at the back of Flitwick's office, hidden below a large piece of cloth.
"This," she said, "is the Mirror of Erised. It belonged to Professor Dumbledore, and he bequeathed it to Hogwarts in his Last Will. It is a powerful magical object that shows you your heart's desire - or in some cases, how to obtain your heart's desire. Can you imagine, Mr Boot, what could happen if this Mirror fell into the hands of Death Eaters?"
Terry thought about it for a a few seconds before answering.
"If it shows your heart's desire... I don't know much about Death Eaters, but I think a lot of them want to find Harry... Could this show them where he is?"
"Very good, Mr Boot. The ways this Mirror works are complicated, but there is a reasonable risk that a particularly faithful Death Eater like Bellatrix Lestrange could use it to locate Mr Potter, no matter how well he's hidden."
"Shit," Terry said, and then blushed realising he was swearing in front of teachers.
"Shit indeed," McGonagall answered, and he blushed even more. "Your task, Mr Boot, is to hide this Mirror. We will shrink it, to make matters easier, but after that, we won't be able to help you anymore. We request that you do not ask for help in concealing it. The Headmaster suspects we have it already, and I'm afraid there is only so much we can hide if he decides to use unusual interrogation methods. The less we know, the better."
"This doesn't mean," Sprout continued, "that you may not ask fellow students for help. In fact, we recommend you combine your intelligence with other qualities your fellow students have to make it harder for Death Eaters to find. Be very careful, however, not to allow other students, or even yourself, to look into it for too long. The Mirror can become very entrancing, which is why we try to keep it covered."
"Is it all clear, Terry?" Flitwick finally asked, sounding very kind. Terry nodded. It had been years since a teacher called him by his first name.
It was all clear. It was not alright. Terry Boot suddenly wanted to give it all back. He didn't want an important mission for the war. He did not want to be responsible for the safety of students who might get tortured. He did not want anyone to look up to him, or stand out in the crowd. He just wanted to go to the library and study and get 10 N.E.W.T.s and joke around with Anthony and bug Mike about his latest girlfriend.
He was rather certain that if he had looked in that Mirror just a year ago, he'd be standing there, proudly wearing the Head Boy badge, with his three favourite teachers looking at him with full trust - very much like he did right now. But now that he had it...
Terry watched as Flitwick removed the piece of cloth hiding the Mirror, getting ready with the other two witches to perform a complicated size-reduction spell. Just before they started, Terry caught a glimpse into the Mirror and saw himself, looking happy as if Christmas and Halloween had both arrived early, handing his Head Boy badge to Ron Weasley.
AN: This is my entry to the Mirror of Erised competition, launched by lost in my design. I got Terry Boot, which made me very happy, because I love writing about characters we don't know much about.
I thought it'd be fun to have Terry see almost the same thing Ron saw, except for completely different reasons...