Dudley was overjoyed with the prospect of going home for two weeks, he had never been away from his parents this long. If there was anything Dudley was sure of, it would be his parents' love for him and his love for them. He could see it now; Mum would be crying with joy and ready to wrap him in a tight hug, while Dad would nod at him, stern faced, and welcome him home.
But that was many hours away and Dudley had one or two trips he had to complete before he could leave for the train at eleven o'clock. The first one was easy, as the boy he was about to search for had just walked in.
"Hey Dud', I'm going to miss you when you're at home. Hogwarts will be a little more boring I think." Harry beamed at his best friend, who looked surprised and genuinely touched by the raven-haired youths words.
"Nah, you'll convince Peeves to float Hagrid away or maybe give Dumbledore some neon green hair." Dudley chuckled and went on "anyway mate, this is for you." He handed Harry a wrapped package and the boy froze, his face going pale and a tear fell from his eyes, before he returned to normal and whispered a shaky
"Thanks, mate."
Walking to his next stop, Dudley was nervous about going home. As it got closer to eleven he became more and more worried that his parents wouldn't be accepting of him. So deep in this thought was he that he didn't notice that he had already gotten to the Library, nor did he notice Hermione who he promptly proceeded to walk right into, knocking both of them to the ground.
"What's the big idea!" She began before seeing who it was and her fire going down, not all the way, before following with. "Dudley, why did you push me over?" She looked upset at this point.
"Shit, sorry Hermione. I was lost in thought trying to find you. I didn't mean to hurt you." He frantically explained to her, looking miserable now. "I wanted to give you this." He paused and pulled out a small box, wrapped with a purple bow. "Merry Christmas, Hermione."
After the mixed results from giving his friends gifts, and not receiving any from them in return, Dudley was sat in his Dad's car on the way home. Yet something was definitely off, both of his parents were frequently glancing at him in the rear view mirror, seemingly scared he would explode at any moment. It took the wind out of the boys' sails and he just knew it would be a long fortnight. As they pulled up at the house his Dad finally spoke to him.
"Now son, your aunt Marge will be coming down in a couple days and she is really looking forward to seeing you. She doesn't know anything about magic and I intend for it to stay that way, am I clear?" Vernon sharply asked him.
"Yes Dad, I know, don't worry about it, by the end of the trip she won't know anything."
Back at Hogwarts all was quiet, the portraits were sleeping, even the various animals of the forest were silent. A unicorn entered a clearing and never left.
Christmas day finally arrived and with it came the biggest shock in Harry's life, after finding out about magic, naturally. He woke up to an empty common room, which wasn't anything new, as all the first year Slytherins but him had gone home, what was new was the pile of presents on his bed. This was surely a mistake, unless… no, it had to be. Besides the one from Dudley, he wasn't getting presents this year. He would simply look at the names on the tags. Surely that should resolve this issue, however when he looked, he saw 'Harry Potter on every one.
"This is a trap, it has to be." He stopped and started to cry with the realisation that he had presents. He picked up the first one, it felt like robes, and began carefully opening the wrapping, taking great care not to tear it. What he saw within greatly confused him, it looked impossible, like a fluid made into cloth. He wrapped the large cloak over himself and turned to look in the mirror. What he saw, or rather didn't see, made him love magic even more. He was invisible, nothing more, nothing less. Now, full of joy instead of sadness, he picked up the next present, one that also felt like cloth. There was a letter fastened to this one, which he opened first. It read.
Dear Harry,
I hope you don't mind me doing so but after having heard so much about you from my youngest three boys I had to make you something. I was friends with your parents back in the day, so if you want to hear stories about them you are more than welcome to come around for summer. I thank you for helping my sons and, as Ron put it, fighting Slytherin from within. I know you're a good boy and a good friend to my sons.
Lots of love
Molly Weasley
He read the letter several times, by the end the parchment was smudged with tears, and set it aside to open the present. He opened it to find a handmade wooly jumper with an emerald H in the centre. Truly, Harry's first Christmas would be the happiest day of his life so far, and maybe his new patronus memory.
Christmas for Dudley was a very different affair, he got more presents than he could need and everything was perfect. However the boy himself was miserable, 'it just isn't the same' he thought to himself while opening present 39. He remembered a month before his birthday he used to sometimes be shaking in excitement for presents and a day all about him, but now he simply wasn't enjoying it. Had Hogwarts changed him that much?
He was sitting down with his Aunt, Mom, and Dad having dinner when things went wrong. His parents had let him drink a bit with them, Marge however insisted that Dudley "Drink up" as she was already drunk and thought the idea of her nephew drunk was hilarious. It was during a fit of laughter Marge knocked the crystal decanter of brandy off the table to its doom, only for it to float up and back onto the table. At this the whole atmosphere changed and both Vernon and Petunia were glaring at Dudley, while Marge was staring at the decanter in horror. She followed her brother and sister-in-law's eyes and started staring at Dudley with even more horror.
"Y-you're a… a freak. Don't hurt me, please." She got up, backing away from the table.
Dudley was panicking more than he ever had and locked eyes with Marge. He wanted her to forget and his magic did just that, instantly she dropped to the floor, hitting her head on the fireplace, which, combined with Dudley's accidental magic, had an unintended outcome.
When she regained consciousness she looked even more terrified. "Who are you all? Where am I? Don't hurt me please, I don't know who I am or what's going on." She started to cry and two things happened very quickly, Vernon started crying, pleading with Dudley to fix whatever he did.
"I didn't do anything, she passed out after seeing magic and hit her head on the fireplace she probably has a concussion and amnesia due to that." He shouted back and ran upstairs. This Christmas was the worst day in Dudleys life.
Harry was sick of walking around the castle alone, his friends would be back in a few days, so he decided to go to the Great Hall for some food. There were maybe 15 people in the hall and they were all busy eating at their tables. He saw Ron and decided to ignore the house difference and go over to him.
"Hey Ron, you mind if I join you?" He asked, simply making him jump.
"Blimey Harry, you scared me." He took a few breaths and then continued. "Sure, sit down. I was just about to play chess, but it's better to have a person to play against, the magical second player is rather predictable after thousands of games."
"I've not actually played chess before, do you mind teaching me?" He replied, at which Ron's face split into a grin and he went about setting the board up and explaining the rules. Even though he would go on to lose all three games they played, Harry had a lot of fun.
At this sight Headmaster Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he smiled at the back of Harry's head.
Later that night the halls saw an invisible Harry exploring to his heart's content, at this moment he was in the Library reading up on magical artifacts when he came onto the section on Alchemical magical items he became intrigued. The chapter began with an introduction to alchemy and what it hoped to achieve.
The basic idea of Alchemy is nothing more or less than the magic of change, be it water to wine or bronze to gold. Many wizards have spent their entire collective lives studying and amassing information on the limitations and depths of Alchemy. Some of the greatest believed in the creation of something called the Philosopher's Stone, this was to be the single most powerful discovery in Alchemy. Believed impossible, it wasn't until the teaming up of Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel that this fabled item was created. This stone could turn water into the Elixir of Life and transmute all metals into gold. Neither wizard has been very open when discussing the Stone, so more information cannot be gathered at this time.
Deciding this book would be very helpful to him, Harry took the book and left, making his way back to the Slytherin common room.
While walking down a corridor, leading to the grand staircases, Harry heard the sound of arguing, a sound he was very familiar with. Getting as close as he dared, he stopped to observe and listen.
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell. Stop asking me about my obstacle to the stone, you know very well that I won't be telling you."
"B-b-but t-there issss a th-threat to it," Quirrell stammered out, but before he could continue, Snape replied.
"You mean Potter? How many times do I have to tell you, that boy isn't a threat. I'd even say he was more like his Mother than his Father. What use would he have for the Stone?"
Harry was staring hard at the back of Quirrell's head, deep in focus, thinking about what he had heard. Did they mean the Philosopher's Stone? So deep in thought about this was Harry that he nearly didn't hear the next words Quirrell said.
"H-he c-c-could ussse it to b-bring back h-hisss parents." His voice was low, but Harry could still hear every word. This conversation was becoming too much for him. He would find another way to the dungeons.
His journey was interrupted when he stumbled upon a giant gold-framed mirror with writing on it. The writing read 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'. Clearly this mirror wasn't made in England, whatever language that was, he didn't know. Immediately the thought of what it could say left his mind. He looked in the mirror and saw himself, so far that was normal, what he didn't normally see were a man and a woman. The man looked like an older him, but with brown eyes, the woman was beautiful, with red hair and green eyes and a kind face. They both looked kind, now that he looked closer, and they were both smiling.
"Mom, Dad?" He asked them both and they nodded back. They both placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and for a moment he could feel the gentle weight of love. As he stared, another woman came into being inside the mirror, she was also smiling and came to place her hand on Lily's shoulder. This was her, his mom's sister, he just knew it. Before anyone else could show up, a real hand was placed upon his shoulder and for a moment he hoped. Turning around, he was shocked and saddened to see Dumbledore there, their eyes met and the Headmaster could see the unshed tears in Harry's eyes. They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other, when Harry shrugged the hand off his shoulder and took a few steps away from Dumbledore.
"I'm so sorry you had to see this, dear boy. I had hoped to have the mirror gone before any students encountered it, alas I wasn't fast enough." The old man looked very upset with himself, but also for Harry.
"What is this, sir? I've never heard of anything like this before." Harry questioned, his voice cracking with emotion.
"This is the Mirror of Erised, Harry. It simply shows us only the greatest desires in our heart, it does nothing more and nothing less."
"So this mirror shows us what we want, whatever we want? Even if it's unobtainable?" The Headmaster's heart broke at this.
"Yes Harry, many powerful wizards have wasted away before it. Please know Harry, this mirror cannot influence the real world, only those within it. Now please, use that useful cloak of yours and go back to bed. The Mirror of Erised will be moved to a new home soon. I want you to, please, never try to find it." Dumbledore pleaded, sounding older than his, already considerable, years.
"I promise, Sir."
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