The Mirror Of Erised
Disclaimer: When I look into the Mirror of Erised, I see myself as J.K. Rowling. There is a pool full of money behind me and large paintings of every possible cover for every Harry Potter book and movie...I think I may have gone off track here. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't own this, J.K. Rowling does. Now, let me get back to my Mirror.
Prologue: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whosi
A seventeen year old boy, dressed in simple school robes with a green and silver badge that had a snake engraved into it and formal wear underneath, sat on his bed. Being the only boy in his dorm, he was used to the silence and solitude. However, the reason he was alone was what upset him.
The other boys in his dormitory that were his age refused to sleep in the same room as him. They had ostracized him from his First Year simply because of two things. The first was because of his mother. The second was that he was a rather phenomenal wizard.
Even before he started his magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and was sorted into Slytherin, Merlin was exceptional at magic. His mother, Mevella Ambrosia, raised him in a small Muggle settlement after his father left them while he was young. Growing up in the Muggle world was particularly hard on the young boy, for, as proud as his mother was, he was forced to hide his magical powers away. If the Muggles caught wind of there being witches and wizards living in the area, then they'd be burnt alive. His mother told him this at age four.
Due to the constant danger Merlin and his mother lived through every day in that village, Merlin's mind matured quite quickly. By the age of ten, he was known as the brightest child in the village, much to his mother's chagrin. However, her worst fears came true, as, after years of repressing her magic, it released itself after a nasty row with the Peverell fellow from a few houses down.
Holliom Peverell was, as far as Merlin was aware, a wizard. The man was married once, and his wife, Fradino, gave birth to three boys. One of them, Antioch, was around Merlin's age. Cadmus was a year younger, and Ignotus two years younger than he. Merlin had spent some time around them in his youth, creating balls of light with them at age six. The three of them seemed to have aged quicker also, but Merlin noticed how the two older brothers shunned and ignored little Ignotus. Merlin asked Antioch why once, and had not talked to the brothers Peverell since.
Their father, however, was constantly pressuring Merlin's mother into marriage with him, being the only two of their 'kind' in the area. Mevella, however, was perfectly fine raising Merlin by herself.
One day, a week after Merlin's tenth birthday, it happened. Holliom was advancing on Mevella in town, and she pushed him away. However, rather than moving back slightly or tripping and falling, he was forcefully thrown through many wooden crates, as the immediate area, and Holliom, around Merlin's mother was set on fire from an outburst of magic. By the time Merlin had returned from his shopping, his mother was already unconscious and tied to a wooden pillar, flames lapping at the hem of her dress.
Mevella was the first witch to be burnt in the town that would one day be known as Godric's Hollow.
As soon as he saw his mother being charred, Merlin decided that he must flee. And that he did. For a year, he travelled, channelling his magic to keep him going and to find his way. He was tired, however, and hardly ever got a decent meal and when he did it was from whatever scraps he could scrounge from houses close to his position at the time.
One night, he was traversing through a particularly bothersome mountain range, when he was stopped abruptly by a force. Even at age eleven, he knew it was magic, but it was stronger than he had ever felt. Turning around, he saw the first human being, magical or no, he'd seen in a long time. Before he could say anything, the man smiled, and walked past him. Merlin saw many scars and wounds on his face, complete with dark stubble that sharpened the man's jaw, dark green eyes piercing through the air. The man, reaching out to the magical barrier, talked to Merlin without turning. "Impressive, isn't it? What a little magic can do when channelled properly." The man turned to face Merlin, smile still on his face, his dark green robes billowing in the night breeze.
"I have been keeping a close eye on you for a while, young Merlin Ambrosia. I have a proposal for you. Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?" the man asked nicely. Merlin gaped at the man in front of him who chuckled, touching Merlin's shoulder and turned on the spot, causing the world around Merlin to change until his feet hit the ground.
With that one movement and those simple words, Merlin had his life changed forever. That night he'd met one of the greatest wizards that ever lived, Salazar Slytherin.
Merlin, under the tutelage of Salazar, was sorted in to Slytherin by Godric's Hat. Unfortunately for him, so was Antioch Peverell. Antioch, and the rest the Slytherins, didn't take kindly to the fact that Merlin was miles ahead of them in terms of magic. So, they bullied him.
When this was brought to the attention of the Founders, Salazar demanded that Merlin have a dorm all to himself. With Rowena, Helena and Godric's approval, Salazar built a room for Merlin on the seventh floor.
Merlin, in his seven years, had tested all his favourite Charms on the room itself, and had succeeded in his goals. First, a complicated lock system, altering the room's layout dependent on the person's intent. Second, many charms making it Unplottable. But lastly, he had learnt and performed many Charms and rituals to give the room some form of sentience. If asked, the room would give you anything you required (within reason), as long as it was present in the castle in the first place. Dubbing the room 'The Room of Requirement' he had done something no one else had; created sentience in a room. And he wasn't even seventeen.
The one thing the room couldn't give Merlin that he desperately desired was friendship. The only friends he'd ever had, Slytherin's Antioch, Hufflepuff's Cadmus and Gryffindor's Ignotus all desperately avoided him due to, Merlin believed, the fact his mother had not only killed their father, but also because that incident had started the 'witch-hunts'. When the other students caught wind of this they also avoided, or bullied, poor Merlin.
However, he had found an answer. The Room had provided him with an untainted, full length mirror that he had been spending all year charming to allow him to converse with someone of his intellect.
As he sat on his bed, he had a realization. He knew the charm. He used it on the room. He stood up, and pointed his English oak, Elven hair wand at the mirror, and uttered the words, "Dare Sensus".
The mirror shone brightly, and then settled. Merlin looked into it, and was shocked and joyous to see that he he'd done it. He was surrounded by his fellow Slytherins, who were treating him like an equal. However, when he tried to talk to them, the reflections would not reply. They'd just look at him, no fear or contempt in their eyes, only the affection he so longed for. Confused, and yet so proud, he sought out his mentor.
"Master Salazar!" Merlin exclaimed, racing into his mentor's office. The gaunt looking man looked up from the ever-growing pile of paperwork to see his star pupil.
"What is of such importance, my boy?" he asked with a smile.
"I need your opinion on something, sir," Merlin whispered excitedly. "Immediately."
As Salazar and Merlin entered the Room, Salazar saw the room that Merlin had created for himself over the years, with a new item, one that intrigued him so. A large mirror stood in the centre of the Room of Requirement, one Salazar had never seen before.
"Brilliant addition, my lad," Salazar complimented, walking around it. "Absolute-" he stopped. He was looking in the mirror, and staring back at him was himself but Godric was by his side, and the school was full of only Pureblooded wizards. He could tell that, due to the companionship they all shared.
Merlin had noticed the halt, and stood next to Salazar. "Do you see it too, master? All the students, treating me as an equal?"
"No, Merlin, I see- Wait. You saw something different?" Salazar asked, taking his eyes off the mirror to face his pupil, who had already surpassed him in so many ways.
"Yes, I see myself accepted, not shunned or bullied," Merlin replied, looking quizzically at Salazar.
"Did you enchant this, Merlin?" Salazar asked worriedly.
"Yes," was the hesitant answer he received. Salazar sighed, and sat his favourite student down on his bed, before sitting with him.
"As you may have gathered, Merlin, there is a lot that I, and the other three founders of Hogwarts, cannot teach you. Part of this is because we don't know everything, not between the three of us. But mostly because seven years isn't enough time. One thing Rowena and I have experimented with is the affect of spells on mirrors. Most spells, such as Godric's Disarming Spell, rebound. Others, like that Reductor Curse the Peverells discovered, destroy the mirror. However, mirrors are different to normal objects, in both design and behavior. A mirror can be used by one person to check how they look, but be used to check around corners by another, or shards of it may be used to slit a throat. Mirrors have a plethora of uses and, thus, have different reactions to spells. For example, do you remember the spell you and I invented to bring artwork to life?" At Merlin's nod, he took a deep breath, and started again. "Well, Rowena and I tested it on a mirror we found. It had a...unique effect.
"The mirror," he continued, "came to life like the portraits, in a sense. It had a faint persona in it, that replicated your personality when you spoke to it, and could recall said personality to anyone. The mirror...it was dangerous, so we destroyed it. However, you seem to have stumbled upon something much more dangerous. This mirror, as far as I can tell, shows ones deepest desires, but only so that person can see them. What did you cast, exactly?"
"The Sentience Charm I cast on the Room, sir. Dare sensus," Merlin responded.
Salazar nodded, and said, "I think we learned something new today. That spell you used, worked on the Room perfectly, because you knew what you wanted. The same with the mirror. However, what you wanted was to see you deepest desire. The Sentience Charm must run on intent, Merlin. The intent of the caster, being you, and the fact that this is a mirror, has created this particular mirror here. Merlin, if this mirror were to fall into the wrong hands... You know what we must do, don't you?"
Merlin nodded, but was rather upset as this mirror had become rather important to him over the last year. But, it needed to be done. He turned his head, as Salazar cried out, "Reducto!" followed by a gasp of shock.
Merlin turned around to see his master with a look of shock at the mirror, which was still intact. "How... How did it do that, sir?" Merlin asked hesitantly.
"I don't know, Merlin. You didn't cast any other spells on the mirror, any spells to absorb spells, did you?" Salazar asked somewhat frantically.
"No, sir," Merlin replied, seeing the look of confusion in his teacher's eyes.
"I believe," Salazar started, "that this mirror has become something of a phenomenon, even to me. I must confer with Godric; however I don't think this has ever occurred before." Running a hand through his hair, Salazar saw something that intrigued him. "Merlin, what does that say up there?" he asked, pointing to the top of the mirror.
Merlin stood, and saw the words etched in steel. They must have been etched in when he cast the spell, as they were not there beforehand. He read them aloud, "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whosi." Salazar pondered for a moment, and then nodded.
"Read it like a mirror, Merlin. Backwards," he said and Merlin looked strangely at him before looking back at the mirror.
Confused, the boy read the words backwards, and it slowly dawned on him. "I show not your face, but your heart's desire."
"Merlin, keep this safe until I find a place for it. However, I believe the honour of naming the artifact is bestowed unto you," Salazar smiled at him.
Merlin paused for a moment, and then looked up at the man who he trusted more than anything. "Erised, sir. The Mirror of Erised."