Chapter 12
The Mirror of Straeh
Dear Grandmother Sarabi,
Ha-ha! I've found out that someone called Nicola Fleming is involved with whatever is under the three-headed cat. Mina accidentally slipped it out when Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I had tea with her after my first Quidditch match, and Lion-Heart won! I won't tell you what happened to me during it because I don't want you to be scared. And I haven't told you about my friends yet, have I? Well, I'll tell you now.
Chrissie is fun, and she makes me laugh a lot, which is always a good thing, and she uses her humour out of class, too. She has a weird mind though, because sometimes she goes into a weird place in her head and comes out with some of the weirdest talk I've ever heard of before. Only a good kick from Sian will snap her out of it, because according to her, it's the only thing that works on her sister. Chris has a sense of humour too, and he is smart, so he and Sian help me get through my homework, which I'm glad of. Sian, as the eldest sister, wants what's best for her siblings and she watches out for them. She has a bit of snide humour, but some of the things she comes out with are good. She's starting to like me, but I think she needs time to get used to me. She tells me wonderful tales of her mother, which does shows that she loves her mother dearly.
Right, I've got to go, work to be done. Give my love to Grandmother Sarafina for me as usual, and I'll be in touch soon about if I'm coming home for Christmas or not.
Lots of love,
Kiara
P.S.: I think that Chris, Sian's brother, has a crush on me. I need your advice on what to do in your next letter, please. Thank you.
My grandmother got back to me in a couple of days. This time, she wasn't patient about me trying to find out what's under the cat was guarding.
My dearest Kiara,
How many times do I have to tell you, DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN THIS! This doesn't involve you, now leave it be to those who know what they're doing why don't you? Now, let's move on to other, happier things.
First of all, well done on winning your first Quidditch match" I'm so proud of you, my darling! Your parents will be so proud of you when I tell them! Now, these friends of yours. I'm glad you've mentioned three of them, which means that they are important to you than some of your other friends at school, if I am not mistaken. Don't worry about Sian, you'll get used to her over time, and as for her brother, this crush might just be that – a crush, so don't worry.
Right, I'd better go. I've given Sarafina your love like you asked and do be in touch about Christmas soon. It's all right if you don't want to come home for Christmas, we understand. After all, there will be other Christmas' we will share together. And remember, keep out of the Nicola Fleming business.
Love you always,
Grandmother Sarabi
As you can see, she wasn't best pleased and who can blame her? Anyhoo, on with this chapter.
Well, Christmas was indeed coming. One morning in mid-December, Dragon mort awoke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Fang twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quarrel around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver post had to be nursed back to health by Mina before they could fly off again. Mine was one of them, for I had written to Grandmother Sirabi again to say that I would be staying at Dragon Mort for the holidays. She didn't mind; after all, we'd had ten years of Christmas memories before my first year at Dragon Mort to remember, and a few more after that to share, too.
No one could wait for the holidays to start. Whilst the Lion-Heart common room and Great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classroom. Worst of all were Triphorm's classes down in the dungeons, where our breath rose in a mist before us and we kept as close as possible to our hot cauldrons.
"I do feel sorry," said Dani Malty, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Dragon Mort for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
She was looking over at me as she spoke. Crate, Gabber and Rae-Bradley chuckled. I was measuring out powdered spine of lion-fish and I just ignored them. Malty had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that Snake-Eyes had lost, she had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing me as Seeker next. Then she'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way I had managed to stay on my bucking broomstick. So Malty, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting me about having no proper family.
"You know, Malty," I said, "Nikita lives with her Granddad, so why do you have to have a go at me for living with my grandmothers?" Fortunately, Triphorm didn't see this, and what I said did shut Malty up and she sat scowling for the rest of the lesson.
As you have already read, I wasn't going back to my grandmothers for Christmas. Professor Darbus had come round the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays and after some thought, I signed up and wrote to Grandmother Sarabi straight afterwards. I didn't feel sorry for myself at all; that Christmas was one of the best I ever had, because I would be spending it with friends. I did feel sorry for my grandmothers, though but it was OK, for there were other Christmas' we would be spending together. Sian was going home for Christmas because her family wanted her there, but Chris and Chrissie were staying at the school, to keep me company.
When we left the dungeons at the end of Potions, we found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two large feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing told us that Mina was behind it.
"Hi, Mina, want any help?" Chrissie asked, sticking her head through the branches.
"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Chrissie."
"Would you mind moving out the way?" came Malty's cold drawl behind us. "Trying to be good for your mother and eldest sister, Dawson? Hoping to be more impressive to your mother by learning to be gamekeeper because you long to be your mother's favourite child? Aw, Mina's hut would like to be your own hut someday, and not having to lean on your eldest sister's arm every day."
"You are saying that I'm a big baby?"
"Yeah, pretty much – "
Chrissie dived at Malty just as Triphorm came up the stairs.
"DAWSON!"
Chrissie let go of the front of Malty's uniform.
"She was provoked, Professor Triphorm," said Mina, sticking her huge face out from behind the tree. "Malty was insultin' her family."
"Be that as it may, fighting is against Dragon Mort rules, Mina," said Triphorm silkily. "Five points from Lion-Heart, Dawson, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."
Malty, Crate, Gabber and Rae-Bradley pushed roughly past the tree, scattering pine needles everywhere and smirking.
"I'll get her," said Chrissie, grinding her teeth at Malty's back, "one of these days I'll get her – "
"I hate them both," I said, "Malty and Triphorm."
"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Mina. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."
So Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I followed Mina and her tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor Darbus and Professor Winds were busy with the Christmas decorations.
"Ah, Mina, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?"
The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.
"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Mina asked.
"Just one," said Sian. "And that reminds me – Chris, Kiara, Chrissie, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."
"Oh yeah, you're right," said Chris, tearing his eyes away from Professor Winds, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of her wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.
"The library?" said Mina, following us out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"
"Oh, we're not working," I told her brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicola Fleming we've been trying to find out who she is."
"You what?" Mina looked shocked. "Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that cat's guardin'."
"We just want to know who Nicola Fleming is, that's all," said Sian.
"Unless you'd like to save us the trouble?" I added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find her anywhere – just give us a hint – I know I've read her name somewhere."
"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Mina flatly.
"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Chrissie, and we left Mina looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.
We had indeed been searching books for Fleming's name ever since Mina had let it slip, because how else were we going to find out what Triphorm was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Fleming might have done to get herself into a book. She wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Noble Magical Names of Our Time; she was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.
Sian took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search whilst Chris and Chrissie strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. I wandered over to the Restricted Section. I had been wondering for a while if Fleming wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books and I knew I'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Dragon Mort and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"What are you looking for, girl?"
"Nothing," I said.
Sir Pincer the librarian brandished a feather duster at me.
"You'd better get out, then. Go on – out!"
Wishing I'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, I left the library. Me, Chris, Sian and Chrissie had already agreed we'd better not ask Sir Pincer where we could find Fleming. We were sure he'd be able to tell us, but we couldn't risk Triphorm hearing what we were up to.
I waited outside in the corridor to see if the other three had found anything, but I wasn't very hopeful. We had been looking for a fortnight, after all, but as we only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising we'd found nothing. What we really needed was a nice long search without Sir Pincer breathing down our necks.
Five minutes later, Chris, Sian and Chrissie joined me, shaking their heads. We went off to lunch.
"And you will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Sian. "And send me an owl if you find anything."
"And you can ask Ma and Dad if they know who Fleming is," Chris said. "It'd be safe to ask them."
"Very safe, seeing is our mother is the headmistress of this school!" said Sian.
"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that."
"No, you didn't," said Sian.
"Does your mother know who Fleming is, Sian?" I asked.
"Well, I asked her, and I think she does know who Fleming is, but she doesn't seem to want to tell me about her. She just taps her nose, smiles and then carries on writing or whatever she's doing. Sorry I can't be any more helpful."
"No problem, Sian," I said. and with that, we went off for lunch.
0000
Once the holidays had started, Chris, Chrissie and I were having too much fun to think much about Fleming. We had the dormitories to ourselves and the common room was far more emptier than usual, so we were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. We sat by the hour eating anything we could spare on a toasting fork – bread, crumpets, marshmallows – and plotting ways of getting Malty expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.
Chris and Chrissie also started teaching me wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Chris and Chrissie's sets were new and shiny. Like everything else they owned, it was newly brought by their parents. The chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Chris and Chrissie knew them so well they never had any trouble getting them to do what they wanted.
I played with the chessmen Zara Finn had lent me and they didn't trust me at all. I wasn't a very good player then and they kept shouting different bits of advice at me which was very confusing: "Don't send me there, can't you see her knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him."
On Christmas Eve, I went to bed looking forward to next day for the food, fun and presents. When I woke the next morning, the first thing I saw was a small pile of presents at the foot of my bed.
"Happy Christmas," said Chrissie sleepily, as I scrambled out of bed and pulled on my dressing-gown.
"You too," I said. "Hey, shall we go over to the boys' dormitory and open our presents with Chris?"
"All right, then," sighed Chrissie, pulling on her dressing-gown. We picked up our presents and went to the boys' dormitory to open our presents with Chris. When we opened the door to see him, he had just woken up and was about to open his presents.
"Merry Christmas, Chris!" me and Chrissie said together.
"Merry Christmas, you too!" he said. There were a few other beds in this room and it was blue. "Hey, get into a bed and make yourselves warm and let's open our presents together." And that's what Chrissie and I did.
I picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Kiara, from Mina. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Mina had obviously whittled it herself. I blew it – it sounded a bit like an owl.
A second, larger present lay beneath.
These come from me and your other Grandmother. Love from Grandmother Sarabi and Grandmother Sarafina. Inside were a bunch of sweets from my grandmothers and a box of cream cakes. Yummy!
"Mina and my grandmothers – so who sent these?"
"Me and Chris know who that ones from," said Chrissie, going a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "They're from Sian. She knows you don't get much from home and she secretly has a passion for knitting – but you didn't hear it from me – and – oh no – " she groaned, "she's made you a Dawson jumper."
I had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of home-made fudge.
"Every year she makes us a jumper," said Chrissie, unwrapping her own, "and mine's always green."
"Yeah, and mine's always black," said Chris. "Sian knows us well, you see."
"That's really nice of her," I said, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.
"Yeah, she's really good at cooking and she can be very considerate when she wants to be," said Chrissie.
My next present also contained sweets – a large box of Multi-Flavoured Fruit-Frogs from Chrissie.
My next present also contained sweets – a large bag of All-Flavour Beans from Chris.
This left only one parcel. I picked it up and felt it. It was very light. I unwrapped it.
Something long and silver fell to the floor with a loud bang. I picked it up, and saw that it was a small baton, with a small, square-shaped hole in the middle. It could have been a flute, if it weren't for the fact that there were no holes at the top, bottom, or along the thing.
"What is it?" said Chrissie, as she left her box of All-Flavour Beans that she got from Sian, and joined me, along with Chris as I picked it up. I shrugged my shoulders and was about to say something, when I pressed it around the hole, and a long flowing cloak fell to the floor, which was fluid and silvery grey.
"What is it?" I asked Chris and Chrissie, who were both looking at it in awe. I picked up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to touch, like water woven into material.
"It's an Invisibility Cloak," said Chris, he and Chrissie looking at the cloak with awe. "I'm sure it is, and so is Chrissie – try it on."
I threw the Cloak around my shoulders and Chris and Chrissie yelled.
"It is! Look down!"
I looked down at my feet, but they were gone. I dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, my reflection looked back at me, just my head suspended in mid-air, my body completely invisible. I pulled the Cloak over my head and my reflection vanished completely.
"There's a note!" said Chrissie suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"
I pulled off the Cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing I had never seen before were the following words:
Your parents left this in my possession before they left their home.
It is time it was returned to you.
Use it well.
As I am sure you have worked out by now, the Cloak itself lies within the baton. All you have to do is push the hole around the middle of the baton slightly, and the Cloak will come out swiftly ad silently. If you want the Cloak to go back into the baton, just press the middle of the baton and it will go swiftly and silently back inside, but you have to be close enough to the baton in order for the cloak to go back inside. Also, you should know that if the Cloak is inside the baton, if you hold the baton with both hands - with one above and the other just below the hole - this will make you invisible, too.
A Very Merry Christmas to you.
There was no signature. I stared at the note. Chris and Chrissie were both admiring the Cloak.
"I'd give anything for one of these," Chrissie said. "Anything."
"Me too," said Chris. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," I said. I felt very strange. Who had sent the Cloak? Had it really once belonged to my parents?
Before I could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Tanya and Geri Fang bounded in. I quickly pressed the baton around the middle, and the Cloak flew swiftly and silently back inside. I didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Hey, look – Kiara's got a Dawson jumper, too!"
Tanya and Geri were wearing yellow jumpers, one with a large blue T on it, the other with a large blue G.
"Kiara's is better than ours, though," said Tanya, holding up my jumper. "She obviously makes an effort if you're not family."
"why aren't you wearing yours, Chrissie? Chris?" Tanya demanded. "Come on, get them on, they're lovely and warm."
"You two haven't got letters on your jumpers," Tanya observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. but we're not stupid – we know we're called Tanya and Geri."
"What's everyone doing in here?"
Perdy Fang stuck her head through the door, looking disapproving. She had clearly come halfway through unwrapping her presents as she, too, carried a lumpy jumper over her arm, which Geri seized.
"P for prefect! Get it on, Perdy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Kiara got one."
"I – don't – want – " said Perdy thickly, as the twins forced the jumper over her head, knocking her glasses askew.
"And you're not sitting with Prefects today, either," said Tanya. "Christmas is a time for family."
They frog-marched Perdy from the room, her arms pinned to her sides by her jumper.
0000
I had never in all my life up until then had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of fat 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 crackers were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Smiths usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats. I pulled a wizard cracker with Tanya, and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed us all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear-admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up on the High Table, Crighton had swapped her pointed witches hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Winds had just read her.
Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Perdy nearly broke her teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in her slice. I watched Mina getting redder and redder in the face as she called for more wine, finally kissing Spud on the cheek, and his face turned red.
When I finally left the table, I was laden with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a make-your-own-shampoo kit and my own new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and I had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs Robbs' Christmas dinner.
The Dawsons, the Fangs and I spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight in the grounds. Then, cold, wet and gasping for breath, we returned to the fire in the Lion-Heart common room, where I broke in my new chess set by losing spectacularly to Chris. I suspected I wouldn't have lost so badly if Perdy hadn't tried to help me so much.
After a tea of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Perdy chase Tanya and Geri all over Lion-Heart Tower because they'd stolen her prefect badge.
It had been my best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of my mind all day. Not until I climbed into bed was I free to think about it: the Invisibility Cloak inside the baton and whoever had sent it.
Chrissie, full of turkey and with nothing mysterious to bother her, fell asleep almost as soon as she'd drawn the curtains of her four-poster. I leant over the side of my own bed, pulled the baton out, pressed it and watched as the Cloak fell swiftly and silently from it – I had moved it out of the boys' dormitory with Chrissie earlier and quickly stuffed it under my bed before we went down to dinner.
My parents … this had been my parents. I let the material flow over my hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it well, the note had said.
I had to try it, now. I slipped out of bed and wrapped the Cloak around myself. Looking down at my legs, I saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a very funny feeling.
Use it well.
Suddenly, I felt wide awake. The whole of Dragon Mort was open to me in this Cloak. Excitement flooded through me as I stood there in the dark and silence. I could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Match would never know.
Chrissie snored in her sleep. I thought to myself if I should wake her and Chris, but something held me back – my mother's Cloak – I felt that this time – the first time – I wanted to use it alone.
I crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room and climbed through the portrait hole.
"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lord. I said nothing and walked quickly down the corridor.
I kept pondering where I should go. I stopped, heart racing, and thought. And then it came to me. The Restricted Section in the library. I'd be able to read as long as I liked, as long as it took to find out who Fleming was. I set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around me as I walked.
The library was pitch black and very eerie. I lit a lamp to see my way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in mid-air, and although I could feel my arm supporting it, the sight gave me the creeps.
The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope which separated these books from the rest of the library, I held up my lamp to read the titles.
They didn't tell me much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages I couldn't understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Maybe I was imagining it, maybe not, but I thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't have been.
I had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, I looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting-looking book. A large black and silver volume caught my eye. I pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on my knee, let it fall open.
A piercing, blood-curdling shriek split the silence – the book was screaming! I snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. I stumbled backwards and knocked over my lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, I heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside – stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf , I ran for it. I passed Matchstick in the doorway; Match's pale, wild eyes looked straight through me and I slipped under Match's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in my ears.
I came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. I had been so busy getting away from the library , I hadn't paid attention to where I was going. Perhaps because it was dark, I didn't recognise where I was at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, I knew, but I must have been five floors above there.
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library – Restricted Section."
I felt the blood drain out of my face. Wherever I was, Match must have known a short cut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to my horror, it was Triphorm who replied.
"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."
I stood rooted to the spot as Match and Triphorm came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see me, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into me – the Cloak didn't stop me being solid.
I backed away as quietly as I could. A door stood ajar to my left. It was my only hope. I squeezed through it, holding my breath, trying not to move it, and to my relief I managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past me and I lay against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. They had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before I noticed anything about the room I had hidden in.
It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket – but propped against the wall facing me was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if something had just put it there to keep it out of the way.
It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate silver frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Straeh stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi.
My panic fading now that there was no sound of Match and Triphorm, I moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at myself and see no reflection again. I stepped in front of it.
I had to clap my hands to my mouth to stop myself screaming. I whirled around. My heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed – for I had seen not only myself in the mirror, but other things behind me, too, but they were a bit out of focus.
But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, I turned slowly back to the mirror.
When I turned back to face the mirror, I could feel the Cloak slip off my shoulders and, surprisingly, things started to come out of the mirror! The leafy birds and petal-people came out of the mirror and danced in a circle around me. The birds fluttered their wings in a way of saying hello to me and the petal-people bowed and curtseyed to me. I curtseyed and waved back to them before they went back inside the mirror.
"They seem to know who I am!" I gasped. "But how?"
Then I turned back to the mirror and I saw a person – an actual person this time, not a petal-person – walking towards it slowly, out of focus at first, but slowly coming into focus. It was a woman, I spotted, who was walking towards me. And just like the birds and petal-people, she came out of the mirror, her arms out wide in welcome.
She was very beautiful; her golden waist-length hair hanging down her back, tall, elegant, and her eyes were the exact same shape as mine, I thought. She stopped right in front of me, smiling and waiting for me to say something. I looked at her slowly recognising her and where I saw her from, and then it hit me, the photo from my parents' wedding – she was my mother!
"Mum?" I said, and her smile grew wider and I ran into her arms, and she picked me up and spun me around. Then she put me back on the floor and she knelt in front of me and we hugged. I was so happy and I looked over her shoulder at the mirror; someone else was walking towards the mirror, too, a man this time, out of focus, like Mum, but coming into focus as he came nearer, slowly, like Mum too. He stepped out of the mirror like Mum did and he stood gazing and smiling at me and Mum. She looked up at the man when she saw the shadow over us and smiled at him, stood up and went to his side. When she reached him, he put an arm around her. I now studied the man, holding her and looking at me, smiling a wide, loving smile.
He was taller than her, not by much though. He had tawny hair with a claw-like fringe on either side of his face, just like mine, I realised. And his mouth and smile were just like mine and I knew I was looking at my father – really I knew when he first came out of the mirror, for I had seen him before. "Daddy?" I said, and then both my parents held me tightly and for the first time in my life I felt whole, like a large space in my heart had been filled. I cried with pure joy at holding both my parents like this, for I had only held my Dad before then, not my mum – I had only seen my mum by that picture at my bedside of my parents wedding at the cottage. I dried my eyes quickly and leant back so I could look at my parents properly. We then sat down on the cold hard stone floor.
"I'm so happy to talk to you both!" I said. But they didn't reply, they just kept smiling at me. I was wondering why this was, and then it came to me. "Of course," I said, "you're just reflections in a mirror, you can't talk to me, can you?" they both shook their heads sadly. I looked at them both hungrily, longing to be with them forever, wanting to stay with them, touch them, look at them, let them hold and look at me. Nothing else mattered to me at that time except the people sitting in front of me.
How long I sat there for, I didn't know or care. My parents didn't go back into the mirror and I looked and looked at them and they me until a distant noise brought me back to my senses. I couldn't stay there, I had to find my way back to bed. I got up to leave as did my parents, whispered to them, "I'll be back," which they nodded sadly to, hugged them both, picked up the Cloak and ran to the door. When I reached the door I looked back, but my parents were gone, so I wrapped the Cloak around me and hurried from the room.
0000
"You could have woken us up," said Chrissie crossly.
"Yeah, we would have gone with you," said Chris.
"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."
"We'd like to see your mum and dad," said Chrissie eagerly, as Chris nodded.
"And I want to see all your family, all the Dawsons, you'll be able to show me your brothers and sisters and everyone."
"You can see them any old time," said Chris, waving his hand. "Just come round our house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows people from the past? Shame about not finding Fleming, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"
I couldn't eat. I had seen my parents and would be seeing them again tonight. I had almost forgotten about Fleming. It didn't seem very important to me at that moment. Who cared what the three-headed cat was guarding? What did it matter if Triphorm stole it, really?
"Are you all right?" said Chrissie. "You look odd."
0000
What I feared the most was that I might not be able to find the mirror room again. With Chris and Chrissie covered in the Cloak also, we had to walk much more slowly next night. We tried to retrace my route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.
"I'm freezing," said Chris. "Let's forget this and go back."
"Yeah, I want to go back, too," said Chrissie.
"No!" I hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."
We passed the ghost of a tall wizard floating in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Chrissie was starting to moan that her feet were dead with cold and Chris was complaining that his hands were getting number, I spotted the suit of armour.
"It's here – just here – yes!"
We pushed the door open. I dropped the Cloak from round my shoulders and ran to the mirror.
Just like the night before when I reached the mirror, leafy birds and petal-people dashed out of it, fluttered their wings and bowed and curtseyed to me. I waved and curtseyed back to them. Then my parents came out of the mirror, at the same time that night. I was so happy that I hardly noticed that Chris and Chrissie were shuddering and jumping as they felt things that they couldn't see nor hear fly past them.
"What was that?" Chrissie said, jumping aside. "I swear something just brushed past me!"
"Kiara, who are you hugging?" Chris asked surprised, as he looked at me hugging my parents who he couldn't see.
"What, can't you see them?" I asked Chris and Chrissie whilst looking at my parents.
"Kiara, we can only see you hugging invisible people," said Chrissie.
"But look at them, they're standing right in front of me."
"It's like Chrissie said, kid, we can only see you."
"Well, stand in front of the mirror, then!" I said impatiently.
Chrissie stood in front of the mirror first. With her in front of it, my parents were quickly whooshed back into the mirror and I jumped back and ran to Chris' side as I felt invisible things swirl around me and him from the mirror, but which Chrissie could obviously see, for her face was lit up brighter than the moon.
"What do you see, Chrissie?" I asked her.
"I'm Ma's favourite!"
"What?"
"It's true. Ma has her arm around me and all the family are really impressed and proud of me, Sian too."
"All right, you've had your turn, now let me see," said Chris, pushing Chrissie aside. Chrissie ran to stand by me and her visions vanished and things that only Chris could see whooshed around him.
"What do you see, Rickers?" Chrissie asked.
"I see my parents," he said. "They're together, just like I always wanted them to be. And my mum … she's normal … she hasn't got anything wrong with her – you know, in her head – and I'm introducing her to …" his voice faded away and his face went red.
"Introducing them to who, Chris?" I asked.
He hesitated and said, "Er – no one important." But I didn't buy this, and nor, I think, did Chrissie.
"C'mon Chris, tell, who were you introducing your parents too?"
"Oh forget that, Kiara. Let me have another go in the mirror," said Chrissie, shoving Chris aside.
"Hey, don't do – "
"No, you had your turn, let me see my parents – "
"Er, you had it to yourself last night, give us a go – "
"No, I want to see my parents again – "
"Yeah, and I want to see my real parents again, so – "
"You two aren't getting another go. Outta my – "
"Hey, that ain't fair – "
"Yeah, and don't push us – "
A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to our discussion. We hadn't realised how loud we had been talking.
"Quick!"
Chrissie threw the Cloak back over us as the luminous eyes of Mrs Robbs came round the door. Me, Chris and Chrissie stood quite still, the three of us thinking the same thing – did the Cloak work on cats? After what seemed an age, she turned and left.
"This isn't safe – she might've gone for Match. Come on."
And Chris and Chrissie dragged me from the room.
0000
The snow still hadn't melted next morning.
"Want to play chess, Kiara?" said Chrissie.
"No."
"Why don't we go down and visit Mina?" said Chris.
"No … you go …"
"We know what you're thinking about, Kiara, that mirror. Don't go back tonight," said Chrissie.
"She's right, Kiara. Don't go."
"Why not?"
They looked at Kiara, then back at me and Chrissie answered: "Look, Chris and I were talking about it before you got up and we've got a bad feeling about it – and anyway, you've had too many close shaves as it is. Match, Triphorm and Mrs Robbs are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"
"Are you sure you haven't been spending too much time with Sian before she left here or sent her a letter recently?"
"No, why?"
"Because you sound an awful lot like her."
"Look, Kiara, Chrissie's right. Don't go back to that mirror!"
But at that moment, I only had one thought in my head, and that was to get in front of that mirror, and Chris and Chrissie weren't going to stop me. Besides, they weren't the boss of me. But it turns out that they were right, as you will see.
0000
The third night I found my way more quickly than before. I was walking so fast I knew I was making more noise than was wise, but I didn't meet anyone.
And the birds and petal-people came fluttering and curtseying at me and I waved and curtseyed back and then my parents came and hugged me and we sat down on the floor again. Together. Just like it was meant to be. There was nothing that could stop me from staying there all night with my parents. Nothing at all.
Except –
"So – back again, Kiara?"
I felt as though my insides had turned to ice. I looked behind me. Sitting on one of the desks by the wall was none other than Susan Crighton. I was so desperate to get to the mirror that I must have walked straight past her.
"I – I didn't see you, ma'am."
"Strange how short-sighted being invisible can make you," said Crighton, and I was relieved to see that she was smiling, and my parents were smiling at her, too.
"So," said Crighton, sliding off the desk and coming to sit on the floor beside me, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the Mirror of Straeh."
"I didn't know it was called that, ma'am."
"But I expect by now you've realised what it does?"
I thought about it, and then it came to me – "It shows me my heart's desire, doesn't it, ma'am?"
"Very good. Yes it does show you your heart's desire, which in this case is your family, and in Chrissie's case is her being more important than Sian and Chris was introducing someone to his real parents, and I say "someone" because he is too embarrassed to say."
"How did you know –?"
"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Crighton gently. "Now, you've already said that the Mirror of Straeh shows us our heart's desire. Can you think what that means, Kiara?"
"Does it mean that it shows us what we want … whatever we want …"
"Yes and no," said Crighton. "You see Kiara, some of us know our heart's desire, some don't realise because they have too much on their mind to know until they look in this mirror. You have never seen your parents before, so you see them sitting beside you. My daughter Chrissie sees herself being like her eldest sister and more and being my and her father's favourite, and Chris sees himself with his parents and being, in a word, content. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men and women alike have been entrance by what they have seen, wasted away before it, even been driven mad, not knowing what it shows is real or even possible.
"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Kiara, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do come across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. now why don't you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?"
I stood up.
"Ma'am – Professor Crighton? Can I ask you something?"
"Obviously, you've just done so," Crighton smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."
"What do you see when you look in the Mirror?"
"I? I see my eldest daughter and I here together."
I stared.
"I never get to spend enough time with her," Crighton said. "The most I get to see of her is a couple of weeks in the summer and every odd weekend to see how she's doing. I want more time with her, I really do." She sighed. "Well, goodnight, Kiara."
"Goodnight, ma'am."
Crighton smiled, stood up and left me alone with my parents. I stood up and looked at them. My parents were standing up, too. Then, something odd happened. They whooshed back into the Mirror, even though I hadn't moved, and the Mirror's glass didn't stay smooth anymore. It started to swirl round. I picked up the Cloak and moved towards the door of the room, still looking at the Mirror. It was fortunate I was near the door, for an evil white skull with gleaming scarlet eyes jumped out of the Mirror and screamed a dreadful scream, so dreadful that I can't put it down in word and will haunt me till the day I die, I'm sure of it. Anyhoo, after the scream, I stumbled backwards, wrapped the Cloak around me and hurried back to the dormitory.
I didn't slow down until I got to the staircase to the dormitories. I gently opened the door to the dormitory where I slept – for I could hear Chrissie snoring – went in, gently closed it, took off the Cloak, put the Cloak under my bed and got into bed. And it was only when I got into bed that I really had the chance to think about what Crighton said about what she had seen in the Mirror. It struck me that what she said might have been partly true. But then again, it had been a personal question.
