Harry hated Potions. Snape seemed to hate him, even though he tended to treat the Gryffindors worse, it was always double potions, so he couldn't even look forward to a quick escape from the class, and he was now partnered with Goyle.
It wasn't that he disliked Goyle. He just preferred having Draco as his partner in the class. Draco always did well, and now Blaise was the one doing absolutely nothing while Draco did all the work. Not that Harry had been able to do nothing when he worked with Draco. Snape wouldn't let him get away with that. But now Harry was stuck not only with doing all the work, but also with keeping Goyle from screwing it up by adding the newt eyes too soon, or cutting the polyps instead of crushing them.
Unfortunately, Goyle and Crabbe had become Harry's new best friends. Blaise joined him to study in the library sometimes, but he was busy trying to stay on equal ground with both Harry and Draco.
"That supposed to happen?" Goyle asked.
Harry looked over his shoulder. He'd asked Goyle to do a very simple task. Put some of the potion in a vial for Snape to grade. The vial, Harry saw, was now dripping liquid glass onto the stone floor.
"What did you do?" Harry asked, trying not to sound too angry.
"What you told me to," Goyle said. "Stir it three times, then bottle it."
"I said let it simmer three minutes, then bottle it," Harry said, his voice shaking slightly in his effort to stay calm.
Harry groaned, shaking his head as he three the rest of his supplies into his bag and pulled it over his shoulder, aware that he was looking at a failing grade for the class that day.
Blaise didn't join him in the library after dinner, though Harry did receive an owl asking him if he'd found anything on Flammel. Disheartened at his lack of progress, and honestly having completely forgotten all about Flammel, Harry didn't respond.
Harry waited in the Common Room until he was fairly certain that both Draco and Blaise would be asleep, then went upstairs to get his invisibility cloak.
The night after he'd discovered the mirror, Harry returned back to it. On his way out of the dorm, he'd had a sudden urge to wake Draco and take him so Draco could finally see Harry's parents. Harry didn't have any pictures to show, so the mirror was a wonderful thing in his opinion. Then he of course remembered that he wasn't speaking to Draco. Harry had considered waking Blaise, but didn't really want to share the magical mirror with him. For now, it was a secret he wanted to keep to himself.
Harry returned again for the third night to the room with the mirror. He sat in front of it for a while as he had the nights before. His parents seemed content to sit there with him as well.
It wasn't until an hour or so after midnight that Harry heard a rustling behind him that made him reach for his cloak.
"Back again, are we?"
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked, standing up and turning towards the Headmaster. "How did you know I was here?"
"A secret that I'll keep to myself for now," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in the blue eyes that bore into Harry's. "Just know that some of us have no need for a cloak to become invisible to others."
Harry stayed silent, waiting for Dumbledore to reprimand him for being out of bed, but the Headmaster only walked past him, eyes set on the mirror.
"It is a wonderful object, the Mirror of Erised," Dumbledore said. "I expect you have determined the use of it?"
"It shows me my parents," Harry said hesitantly. He was sure the mirror's function was much intricate than that; he just didn't know what it was.
"I'll give you a hint," Dumbledore said, turning away from the mirror to look at harry again. "The happiest man in the world would look into this mirror and see himself exactly as he is."
Harry considered the statement for a moment. "So, it shows us what we want," Harry said.
"In a way, it does," Dumbledore said. "The Mirror of Erised shows you your heart's deepest desire." Harry was silent for a long moment, eyes turned towards the mirror. Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence. "What troubles you, Harry?"
Harry shook his head, looking back up at the man. "It's just strange," he said. "I never thought I'd ever see my parents. Much less lifelike images, moving and smiling at me."
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, magic is a wondrous thing," he said. "Of course, I was never struck by it as fully as you have been. I grew up with it, you see. Where as you grew up without it. Taught to believe that magic and spells were all make believe."
Harry nodded, though Dumbledore was no longer looking at him. "It's weird," Harry said. "Wake up one day, and everything you believe isn't true anymore."
"How are you adjusting to the changes, Harry?" He asked.
Harry shrugged. "Takes some getting used to," he said honestly.
Dumbledore nodded, smiling in a way that made Harry wonder how much the older wizard knew. "It's difficult to get away from the way you were raised," he said. Dumbledore turned back to Harry and smiled. "But it helps if you have someone along to guide you." Harry stood, dumbfounded as Dumbledore started towards the door. "Good night, Harry."
Harry decided at that moment that Dumbledore wasn't an ordinary wizard. He wasn't sure how. But he always seemed to know things that had no way of knowing. Without a second thought, Harry grabbed his cloak and raced back towards the Slytherin Common Room. The Mirror of Erised hadn't been his secret in the first place. He might as well share it with one more.
Harry silently crept into the dorm and shook Draco's shoulder. "Wake up," he whispered. Draco just rolled over with a soft grunt. A second later, harry whipped the sheets off of the blonde, making him jump and shiver, glaring around at the nothingness. Harry dropped the cloak from his head, and could see that Draco almost screamed, but put a hand against his mouth to keep him quiet.
He pulled back when he saw Draco relax, his brain catching up to what was going on. "Come on," Harry said. "Get dressed. I want to show you something."
A/N: Comments? Opinions? You know I love them. And they inspire me to write more when I know you wonderful readers are enjoying this story.
