Come What May
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter works belong to J.K. Rowling.
Mildly Inspired by Knowledge is Power by Fetucini
Chapter 07: Christmas and Presents
The huge win against Hufflepuff put Ravenclaw in the lead not only for the Quidditch cup but also for the house cup. Harry became an overnight celebrity in the Ravenclaw tower. Everyone knew he played a significant role by winning quite a few points, (135 points to be exact according to Terry), in classes, but his performance in the Quidditch field pushed his fame to an even greater level.
Harry didn't care about it, though he didn't like to be whispered about when ever he walked in the corridors. It put him on the edge to be started at continuously.
Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.
As Harry was heading out of the great hall after finishing dinner a couple of days before the Christmas vacation, he saw Malfoy heckling Longbottom.
"It's a pity some people can't celebrate the holidays with their parents… Hey Longbottom, I heard you were staying here… Why? Your grandmother doesn't want you either?" Malfoy laughed along with his Slytherin cronies.
Longbottom was about to get to his feet when Granger pulled him down and whispered something in his ear.
Malfoy glanced at Harry, as he was walking by and smirked at him. "What about you, Potter? Longbottom at least has a grandmother… Do your parents recognize you yet? Are they still insane?"
Harry stopped and turned around. He saw Malfoy and a few of the other Slytherins laughing. He remembered each and every face. He narrowed his eyes and smiled at them and then turned around and walked away. He found the perfect victims for his next prank.
Many students and professors wondered if Harry would retaliate and were surprised when he walked out calmly. But McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape knew that smile. They had seen it on James Potter's face the few times before the cause of that smile suffered some of the more vicious pranks seen at Hogwarts. The two head of houses shivered in recollection of those memories.
Ron Weasley watched Harry walk out of the hall. "Did you see that smile? It was creepy…"
"I wonder what happened to his parents. I will send a letter to grandmother." Mumbled Longbottom to himself.
"But don't forget to ask her about Nicholas Flamel and continue searching in the library," said Hermione.
Ron whined at her. "But Hermione, we already searched most of it…"
"Not in the restricted section," smirked back Hermione.
Longbottom goggled at her.
The next day, which was the last day before Christmas holidays began, Harry sat down for breakfast at the Ravenclaw table. Slowly the rest of the school joined including the Slytherins.
Within moments a few students at the Slytherin table farted loudly. Most prominent of these students were Malfoy and his cronies. The rest of the Slytherin students looked at them in disgust. "What's with you Malfoy, ate too much?" asked one-seventh year student, snickering.
Malfoy tried to respond, but it came out, as a Donkey's braw. Then, his ears grew longer like donkey's ears and his nose grew outwards like tree branch. The rest of his cronies suffered similar changes. There was a moment of silence before the three houses erupted into laughter, while the Slytherin house erupted into chaos, though some students in the snake house did enjoy the show.
All the while one spectacled Ravenclaw student ate his breakfast calmly with a small smile playing on his lips.
It took the professors the entire afternoon to calm the hysterical students who were pranked and undo the changes. Unfortunately they couldn't get rid of the farting, as it was one of those things, which looses its effects with time. This alienated Malfoy and his friends from rest of the Slytherin house as none would want to go near them.
Most everyone knew who the culprit was, but the professors had no proof to punish Harry. That was the day; the legend of Harry Potter began.
Later that day, Harry helped Professors Flitwick and McGonagall in decorating the great hall. It was the first time he decorated a Christmas tree and he enjoyed it greatly. He was never let near the Christmas tree in the Dursley's house. He was locked in his cupboard under the stairs and he spent his time imaging a Christmas with his parents, while peering at the tree from a slight crack in the door.
Once the holidays started, Harry spent most of his time by himself to Terry's consternation. When asked, he simply said he was working on a project. He did spend an hour or two playing exploding snap or wizard chess with Terry. Both games were new to the two muggle-raised children and they enjoyed learning about them. Harry particularly liked the sarcastic comments his borrowed chess pieces were making at him.
The day before Christmas, Terry met with Harry for dinner. Because there were only 16 students total in the castle, there was only one table for both the children and the remaining staff. Though Harry did notice that the headmaster was not present for dinner.
"Hey, Harry, do you know who Nicholas Flamel is?" whispered Terry over some fries. Harry looked at Terry strangely. "Why?"
Terry leaned forward and Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's lack of subtlety. "I heard Longbottom and Weasley talking about him. They were trying to find more information on him in the library. Something to do with the third floor corridor and being guarded by a fluffy… whatever that is."
Harry scowled in thought. Nicholas Flamel was famous for many things. But his most important discovery was that of the Sorcerer's stone, a stone, which can grant immortality and turn a normal metal into gold. He needed to look into this.
Terry nudged him out of his thoughts. "So, who is he?"
"He is a famous alchemist."
"I wonder why the 2 gryffs want with him."
Harry glanced at the two boys to see them whispering something in each other's ears.
The next morning, Harry woke up and was surprised to find a few Christmas presents before his bed, as he never got any at Dursleys. Mostly they were chocolates from people he helped during the study sessions, including a couple of third years.
Terry gave him a nice pair of Seeker gloves and Hagrid a small hand carved flute, which Harry liked immensely. He also got "Charms – ordinary and extraordinary," from Professor Flitwick and "The Animal Within," a book on becoming an Animagus from Professor McGonagall. Harry was also surprised to find a box of chocolates from Granger again thanking him for saving her from the Troll. He sighed and put it aside with the rest of the chocolates.
He looked at Terry who just finished his larger pile of gifts. Probably from his parents thought Harry with a bit of envy. He pulled a small box from under his bed and gave it to him. "Here's my present."
Terry looked at it curiously. "What is it?" he asked as he ripped open the package to find a Quill and an empty inkbottle. Not knowing what to say at that strange gift, he thanked Harry hesitantly.
Harry rolled his eyes. "That's not any quill you idiot. I enchanted it myself."
Terry looked at it with his eyes raised. "Oh! What does it do?"
"Well, I saw how most of the students don't even bother taking notes in classes like History. So I enchanted this quill to take the notes for the student."
"Cool!" exclaimed Terry. "How does it work?"
"There are instructions on the bottle, read them."
Terry took hold of the bottle and squinted at the numbered directions. "Put ink in the bottle. Touch wand to the quill. Dip the quill in the ink and write the following lines."
He glanced at Harry. "What's with the lines?"
Harry, who was reading the Animagus book, responded with his eyes still fixed on the book in front of him. "Those sentences have all the 26 English alphabet in them. Once you write those sentences, the quill remembers your handwriting and will use it the next time."
"Brilliant mate!" exclaimed Terry. He continued reading the instructions. "Once you finished writing the lines, deactivate the quill by tapping your wand to it. Then, tap your wand twice on the quill and read whatever you wish for 30 seconds, and deactivate it. To add another voice imprint, tap the wand twice on the quill and point it in the direction the voice is coming from. To activate the quill for taking notes, put it on parchment and tap it with your wand. Keep the ink bottle within 1 feet of the quill."
Terry immediately got up and got his wand and ink filler. He followed the instructions to the letter. After he finished writing the lines and reading out what he wrote, he put the quill on a blank parchment and tapped it with his wand. The quill flew into the air and hovered a couple of inches over the parchment.
"Cool!" exclaimed Terry and then was surprised, when the quill wrote that word on the parchment.
Harry smiled proudly at the quill. It took him a few weeks to figure out all the enchantments over it. He got the idea during his first history class. "Now it will write only what you speak. If you want to include someone else lets say… like Professor Binns, then tap your wand twice to it and point the quill in his direction for 30 seconds and it will record his voice too."
Terry slapped him on his back. "Brilliant mate! Thanks so much. You know you should think of selling these to other students…" he stopped on seeing Harry's smile. He knew that smile. It meant that he already had something in mind.
"Oh, I am not going to sell them. You are!"
"I am?" asked Terry a little bewildered.
"Yes, and I will give you 20% of the price."
That brought a smile to Terry's face. "Cool. How much do you want to sell them for?"
"For students, 12 Galleons."
Terry nodded his head. "Good price. Not too high and not too low. There are about 350 odd students here, right? So if you even sell like half of them, that's like 2,000 galleons."
"Yeah and this is just the beginning. Over summer I will be talking to my Gringotts manager to sell this in shops in Diagon and other magical alleys."
Terry laughed. "Harry Potter the savvy business man. You sound like my dad sometimes. He does a lot of investments too."
Harry's ears perked up at that. "He does? What kind of investments?"
"Mostly in technology companies around the world."
Harry thought about it for a minute. "I'd like to meet him one day."
Terry smiled at that. "Sure mate. Maybe I can drop by summer at your place and bring him along."
Harry observed how Terry didn't invite him to his house, but left it alone.
"So what are your plans today?"
"Visiting my parents with Hagrid," said Harry as he packed away all his presents. Terry nodded silently. After Malfoy's comment, Harry explained to him about his parent's condition even though he didn't ask about it.
That day, after lunch Hagrid and Harry flooed from Professor McGonagall's room to St. Mungos. Harry was excited to see his parents after over 3 months. The matron saw them approaching and smiled at them.
"Ahh… Harry and Hagrid. I was expecting you both. Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas to you too, Madame," responded Harry followed by Hagrid.
They stepped into the long-term ward spell damage ward and approached James and Lily's beds. As they stood before the couple, their eyes raked over Harry and that of Hagrid. They both sat on the provided chairs, though Hagrid glanced around before tapping his umbrella on the chair enlarging it much to Harry's surprise.
"Keep it to yerself, will ye Harry. Strictly speaking I'm not allowed to use me magic." Harry nodded, though he wondered why he was not allowed to use magic.
"Hello James. Hello Lily. Merry Christmas to yeh both. Guess who's with me… Your son Harry. Yeh would be proud of him James. The best flyer Hogwarts had ever seen. Yeh as well Lily… He's the best in his year in all classes I reckon by what Professor McGonagall says bout him." Hagrid rambled for a few more minutes telling them all about the what's happening at Hogwarts. He even mentioned Neville Longbottom, and how everyone's glad he got rid of you-know-who.
Harry let him, keeping half an ear open, while he was absorbed in staring at his mom and dad. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be waitin outside, Harry. Take yer time."
Harry nodded and Hagrid left after giving the couple of a teary eyed good-bye.
After he left, Harry scooted closer to his parents and took both their hands into his. "Hi mom, hi dad. Hagrid's a good friend isn't he?"
They both looked at Harry with a vacant expression, though they were smiling a little bit. Harry kissed them both and gave them a hug. "Merry Christmas. I have a present for you. I made it myself."
He took out two silver rings from his pocket. And if one looked closely at them, they would see runes inscribed in the inner surface. And if one were adept at translating runes, they would know that they mean – 'With All My Love, Harry'.
Harry put each of the rings on his parent's fingers and kissed them again. "I love you so much. This is my first real Christmas. One with my family."
He spent the next hour with them just holding their hands and now and then imparting them with his thoughts or ideas on what he wanted to do.
He bade them goodbye, his mood grimmer than it was before. He always found it hard to leave them alone in the hospital. But he knew what he had to do and he was determined to do it.
He thanked Hagrid who was waiting for him patiently outside the ward and they flooed back to Hogwarts.
That night the Christmas dinner was spectacular. Harry had never in all his life imagined such a Christmas dinner. A dozen fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce – and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favors were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Terry and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Professor Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.
Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy Weasley nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.
Though his mood was initially sour, Harry enjoyed listening to the idle banter. It was somewhat relaxing. He also noticed that Longbottom and Weasley were very excited about something.
When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of nonexplodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and his own new wizard chess set. He shrunk all the items he collected and gave them to Terry. "Take them up for me will you? I want to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
Terry shrugged and took them with him. He was used to these kind of odd requests from his friend.
Harry waited outside until he saw Professor Dumbledore ready to leave and then approached him. "Professor Dumbledore? Can I have a word with you please?"
Dumbledore turned around to see who addressed him and smiled at the sight of Harry. "Ahh… Mr. Potter. Had a good Christmas?"
"I did sir. Thanks. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course my dear boy. I am always available for a chat with a student. How about we take this to my office?"
Harry nodded and followed the headmaster who was humming a tune and moving quite fast for someone his age. Soon they reached a gargoyle and it jumped aside. "You will normally need a password for the gargoyle to open. But as I am the headmaster, it opened on sensing me."
Harry nodded as they climbed on to a revolving staircase, which carried them up stairs into a lobby with a heavy door, which opened as they approached it.
Harry was keen on seeing what the Headmaster's office looked like and wasn't disappointed with what he saw. Hundreds of silver instruments were distributed throughout the room. A couple were whirring around emitting small smoke rings now and then. A large telescope was located right before a window. But the most magnificent feature of the room, was a beautiful red and gold bird, Harry knew was a phoenix.
On seeing Harry, the phoenix gave a trill and flew up into the air and swooped down landing before him on the table. It looked into Harry's eyes for a couple of seconds, before it gave another Trill. Harry reached out to stroke its head and the phoenix gladly rubbed its head on Harry's palm.
"I didn't know there was a phoenix here, headmaster."
Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Not many do, my boy and I am surprised you know what Fawkes is. But then again, maybe I shouldn't be… Wonderful creatures phoenixes are. And Fawkes seemed to have taken an instant liking to you. Quite extraordinary."
Harry shrugged though he gazed at the Phoenix in fascination. It's not everyday you come across an immortal being. Fawkes suddenly jumped up from the table and landed on his shoulder. Then, he gave a loud Trill before he burst into fire covering Harry entirely with it.
But Harry didn't feel hot or was even hurt by it. On the contrary he felt like he was being hugged and it was very pleasant. Soon the fire abated and Fawkes flew back on to its perch. Harry who had his eyes closed, opened them and bowed slightly to the magnificent bird with a smile on his face. "Thank you Fawkes," was all he said.
Professor Dumbledore was more than surprised by what happened. Fawkes never acted like that, not even for him. Yes, he did travel through flaming, but that happened in less than a second. Never was he blessed with Phoenix fire, which was legendary among those who knew of the immortal birds. It was said they blessed only those who they respected and saw as equals. This more than anything else, firmed his decision to keep a strong eye on Harry Potter.
"You are a very lucky person, Mr. Potter. Not many can claim to be blessed with a Phoenix fire."
Harry nodded absent mindedly as his mind was still revolving around the warm feeling he had. It felt brilliant! It also made him feel somewhat light. Like a heavy burden has been removed from his shoulders.
"So, how can I help you today Mr. Potter?"
Harry came out his thoughts on the question. "I recently acquired my father's journal professor and it said that he loaned you a family heirloom, an invisibility cloak… I was wondering if I could have it back."
Professor Dumbledore face remained impassive, but inwardly he cursed himself and the boy sitting before him.
"Ah… Yes! I remember the cloak, Mr. Potter. As you know, it's been many years since I got it. I seemed to have forgotten where I had stored it…"
Harry looked crestfallen. "Please sir, it was a family heirloom, passed from father to son…"
Professor Dumbledore raised his hand. "Enough said my boy. I will get it back to you… Though I would need to look for it." He stroked his beard thinking. "I think this summer will give me ample time to look into it. Rest assured my boy, I will get it to you by the time you start your second year."
Harry nodded with a smile. It seemed fair to him. "Thank you sir. I best be going now…"
The headmaster chuckled. "Indeed… It's almost curfew. Have a good night."
Harry nodded and left the room. After the door closed, Professor Dumbledore slumped into his chair. Why couldn't the lad have asked him a bit sooner? He thought with James, the way he is, no one else knew about the cloak and just last night gave it to Neville Longbottom.
The headmaster knew that Neville would need access to such a cloak and that was the only one he had. Though he also knew that it was no ordinary cloak. If he was not mistaken, and he very rarely was, that cloak is part of the deathly hallows. It was unfortunate that he couldn't get the wand to work after he defeated Gellert. It was no more than a mere stick in his hand.
He didn't expect the cloak to work for him, but he couldn't miss the opportunity to examine it. For him or any other person other than Harry Potter, who's the rightful owner of the cloak at this point, it will act as any ordinary invisibility cloak, if even the simplest one of those can ever be called ordinary. But he expected Harry to be able to get more use out of it. Though he didn't know how.
The headmaster shook his head. He should have simply given the cloak to Harry and acquired a new one for Neville. Merlin knows he had enough funds in the order account to cover such a purchase. But he never expected James to maintain a journal and for Harry to find it. He needed to think of a way to rectify the situation. There is no way he was going to alienate someone like Harry and that made his decision. Once he acquired a new cloak, which he was going to place an order for in the next few days, he would exchange that with the cloak Neville had and give the original cloak back to its rightful owner, Harry Potter.
Unknown to the headmaster, Fawkes was staring at him while he was in his thoughts. Once he made a decision he put his head under his wing and went back to sleep.
The next afternoon Terry forced Harry to participate in the snowball fight, which the Weasleys and Longbottom joined. Covered in snow they trudged up the stairs into their common room.
As the winter vacation wound down, Harry spent more practicing magic and taking Ollivander's advice to heart perfecting it to the extent he could think of. On one of those occasions he was in the library, he came across Longbottom and Weasley arguing about something while browsing nearby books. Harry hid behind the shelves and listened to them.
"Let's go back to the common room, Neville," said Weasley.
"But I want to know what that bloody dog is guarding," whined Longbottom.
"But we looked everywhere…"
"I want to go back to the restricted section."
"Are you out of your mind? You know you were nearly caught by Filch yesterday night and that bloody cloak of yours doesn't work for two of us."
That got Harry's attention. Does Longbottom have an invisibility cloak as well?
"Well, it's day time now, isn't it? Maybe the books won't scream. We must find out what Snape wants to steal. Remember what Hagrid said? He is one of the professors guarding it."
Ron huffed in irritation. "Maybe we should just ask Hagrid. He did slip up and tell us about Fluffy and Flamel."
"Yeah… Why did Hermione have to go on a vacation?"
Harry stood silently as the two Gryffindors walked out of the library talking about a mirror. He understood that a dog called Fluffy was guarding something that belonged to Nicholas Flamel and Professor Snape wants to steal it… at least according to those two. And Hagrid knows about it as well. He also knew what ever it was, must be on the third floor.
That night after he was sure Terry was sleeping, Harry got up from his bed and made silently to the common room. He worked on this one charm all afternoon to get it right. He found it in the book Professor Flitwick gave him for Christmas. It was called the Disillusionment charm and makes a person merge with the background if done right.
He tapped his hand over his head and muttered the spell for the charm. He felt like he broke an egg over his head and it was solely trickling down his body. He looked down on himself and saw his body take the color and texture of the couch behind him. He moved his hand around and was sure that if one observed properly, they can make out his outline.
He stepped out of the common room and headed for the third floor corridor. He walked in silence with an ear out for Filch or any professors roaming the castle.
He climbed up the stairs and arrived on the third floor corridor. There was only a single door and he tried to push it open but it was locked. He pointed his wand at it and muttered "Alohomara," opening the door.
As he pushed open the door and stepped inside to find himself face to face with a huge three-headed dog. The dog was slumbering before it heard the door open. It slowly opened his eyes with a growl, irritated at being woken from its slumber.
It stared at Harry for a full second, before it gave a bark, which sounded more like a welcome, than a threat and started waging its tail.
Harry stepped closer, his wand in hand, and reached out to pet the dog. "You are fluffy?" he asked surprised. The dog gave a low bark and wagged its tail, enjoying being petted.
"A strange name for a Cerberus…" whispered Harry, though he didn't know that it was a real animal until now. He only heard of it in his Literature class a couple of years back in a muggle school.
"So Fluffy, what are you guarding here?" he spied the trap door immediately after he saw the dog. "Can you lift your leg fluffy?" asked Harry, again putting desire behind his words.
The Cerberus obeyed and lifted its huge paw from over the trap door. Harry lifted the door to see nothing but darkness beyond it. He pointed his wand and muttered "lumos," and there was light.
"Devils Snare," wondered Harry on seeing the creeping plant, which lay below the trap door. He recognized it as a trap and wondered what other traps were waiting beyond that. He was not stupid enough to venture into the unknown without a strong reason to do so.
He closed the trap door silently, when Fluffy nudged him whining, asking to be scratched. "All right, all right," Harry said absentmindedly.
He scratched the dog for a few more minutes, before he bid it good-bye and walked out of the room. Harry walked along with his mind full of ideas on what kinds of traps were laid by the professors. He didn't realize he was on the fifth floor until he stepped on to it. His feet were carrying him to the astronomy tower, which he found very peaceful when it was empty.
As he was about to step on to the stairs leading to the sixth floor, he came across a door emitting silver light from under it. He approached it cautiously and found it slightly ajar.
Sneaking through the cracked open door, Harry was met with a sight that surprised him a great deal. Neville Longbottom's head was floating in mid air, as he stared intently into a beautifully constructed mirror.
It looked like his theory was proved correct. Longbottom does have an invisibility cloak. Harry stuck to the shadows and entered the room. He was surprised when a shadow moved across the room. It was as if another invisible person was moving about.
As Harry stared intently at the shadow, he was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore become visible. He stood away from the mirror as he observed the 'Boy-Who-Lived' who was still staring into the mirror in fascination and wonder. The headmaster had a disappointed air about him.
"Back again, Neville?" he asked gently, causing said boy to jump in fright and spin around to see the aged headmaster smiling at him.
"I…I didn't hear you come in sir…" the boy stammered nervously.
"Strange how short sighted being invisible can make you." Professor Dumbledore joked taking a seat beside Neville on the floor before the mirror.
"So, you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the wonders of the Mirror of Erised" he stated, and it was then that Harry spotted an inscription on the mirror itself: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
Harry stared at the weird message intently, wondering if it was in some foreign language until he realized the first word was desire but spelt backwards. He quickly decoded the rest of the sentence to read: I show not your face but your hearts desire
It made Harry wonder if Longbottom wasn't in fact being vein, but was shown what his heart desires the most by the mirror?
"I…I didn't know it was called that sir" Neville responded after several moments of silence.
"But I expect you've realized by now what exactly it does?" Professor Dumbledore prompted, seemingly deflating when the boy answered in the negative. "It…err…it shows me being cheered on by lots of people…" he said quietly. "It shows me being a Quidditch star and…and famous," the boy said with a blush on his pudgy cheeks.
"And it showed your friend Ron himself as head boy," Professor Dumbledore urged and Harry understood why the old headmaster was disappointed with boy-who-lived. Though Harry wasn't surprised. It was in line with what any 11-year-old would want… and that made Harry wonder what he would see.
"How did you…?" Neville began only to be cut off gently by Professor Dumbledore.
"I don't need a cloak to become invisible Neville," he stole a glance at the mirror before turning back to the boy. "Now; can you tell me what you think it shows us all?"
Neville shook his head, looking ashamed that he didn't know what Dumbledore was asking him.
"Let me try and explain it – the happiest man on earth would look into the mirror and only see himself, as he is, does that help?"
Neville frowned and looked to the ground for a few moments before answering. "It shows us what we want, whatever we want…"
"Yes and no" Professor Dumbledore said slowly. "It shows us nothing more and nothing less then the deepest desire of our hearts. You, who want nothing more than to please others who have high expectations of you see yourself doing just that in a role that you could do that most easily."
Harry resisted the urge to snort; no, it showed that Neville was an attention seeking little prat. Though he couldn't really fault the boy. "Ronald Weasley," continued Professor Dumbledore, "who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone and the best of them all. However, this mirror neither gives us knowledge nor shows the truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they've seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what they see is even real or possible."
Neville looked at the mirror in a new light as Professor Dumbledore paused to let the information sink in. "The mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow and I ask that you not go looking for it again. If by some chance you do come across it though, you will now be prepared. Now before you head off to bed, I shall impart on you one last piece of advice; it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live – remember that." Harry's eyes widened slightly when the headmaster's eyes flickered over to his direction ever so briefly before returning to Neville.
"Sir, can I ask you a question?" Neville asked, as he stood up and adjusted his cloak around him.
"You already have, but I can allow just one more if you must" he said with a smile.
Neville smiled back before asking. "What is it you see when you look in the mirror?"
"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."
Neville just stared at him incredulously but Harry didn't believe the venerable headmaster for a second.
"One can never have enough pairs of socks" he defended himself. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair – people insist on giving me books."
Dazed by the unexpected answer, Neville left the room and closed the door behind him with a soft click and heavy groan. Harry and Professor Dumbledore stood in the room together in silence, both knowing that Professor Dumbledore knew of Harry's presence.
"The disillusionment charm is one of the more difficult charms to master, Mr. Potter," said Professor Dumbledore. "I don't think I ever heard of a first year being able to cast it successfully."
Harry made himself visible and stepped out of the shadows. "One does what one can, Professor."
"Indeed… Indeed," answered the headmaster.
"If you don't mind me asking professor," asked Harry as he took a step toward the mirror. "You seemed disappointed with Longbottom?"
Professor Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Was I? It seems I was expecting too much from the lad."
Harry shrugged. "What did you expect sir. He grew up in the lime light of the British wizarding world. He was the product of his environment… I guess as we all are." Then, he glanced at the mirror and saw what he expected to see. His parents standing on either side of him. All three of them were smiling and holding hands. Harry knew it wasn't real yet. But someday…
He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts "What do you see?" Professor Dumbledore asked gently.
Harry glanced back at the mirror. "I see the future sir, the future." Then, he turned around and walked away disillusioning himself and leaving an old man to his thoughts. "What a boy-who-lived he would have made," whispered Professor Dumbledore fervently as he stared at the spot Harry had occupied.
"Good luck… Harry Potter."