Harry woke up early on the first day of the new term. He put on his glasses and looked towards Ron, who was still sleeping. The moment he got up, his eyes fell on a small package that was kept at the foot of his bed. He picked it up and read his name on the label. Thinking it must be a Christmas present, he unwrapped the package and something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds. Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material. Harry noticed that there was also a note. He opened the letter and read,

"Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you."

There was no signature. Harry stared at the letter wondering who sent it, and what it was he was holding. It looked like some type of cloak, but it felt so weird to touch. Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and walked towards the mirror. He was shocked by what he was seeing. His head was suspended in mid-air, his body was gone. He gave a mild shriek and removed the cloak. Now he could see himself properly. He threw the cloak back on his shoulders and saw that he became invisible again. His heart was racing, what was it that he was holding, he wondered if it was some kind of an invisibility cloak. He removed the cloak and ran towards Ron to wake him up.

"RON! Wake up!" roared Harry excited.

"Harry! Leave me alone" said Ron half asleep.

"You wouldn't believe what I have here."

"What?" said Ron, still half asleep.

"It's a cloak. Look I'm invisible!"

Ron woke up with a jolt and looked around. Harry was nowhere to be seen. "Harry," he called out. No response came. And then suddenly Harry removed the cloak and Ron gasped.

"Harry! What is that?" he asked, grabbing the cloak as Harry handed it to him. "These are so rare, so valuable, where did you get it?" he asked, feeling the cloak.

"I don't know," replied Harry and handed Ron the letter. After some time, Ron spoke again.

"Maybe it was Professor McGonagall or something. Who else could have sent you this?"

"No idea!"

Harry told John and Hermione about the cloak and the letter later that day. Both of them were surprised by its existence.

"Invisibility cloaks are so rare, Harry," said Hermione. Gave a pause and continued, "If this did belong to your father, then this must be at least 10-15 years old."

"She's right," added John. "Invisibility cloaks don't last that long. But this has. This one must be really special." After a moment's silence, he continued, but in a low voice. "Harry, if I were you, I wouldn't go about telling everyone about this." Hermione nodded and Harry seemed to agree. The first day of the term went well for Harry. Oliver, the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team was already talking about strategies and intense training sessions. Later in the evening, Harry, Hermione, Ron and John were sitting by the fireplace after dinner.

"I still can't believe we haven't found out who this Nicholas Flamel is," said Ron.

"I have gone through a lot of books, but no luck," added John.

"Did you try the restricted section?" asked Hermione looking at John.

"Hermione, it's the restricted section. It is restricted, so no, I haven't tried it yet," replied John looking annoyed. But then he sat up straight.

"Harry, you should go and look at the restricted section," said John.

"How? We need a permission letter from a professor. Who will give me that? And what will I say, when they ask me the reason?" replied Harry.

"We need a permission letter, not you," said John.

"Wh-" began Harry and suddenly it struck him, "The invisibility cloak!" shouted Harry.

"No, no way. That's a bad idea. You'll be in trouble, Harry. What if someone sees you?" said Hermione.

"It's an invisibility cloak, Hermione. How could anyone see him through that?" asked Ron. He continued, "Harry, go tonight."

"Okay, I'll go tonight," said Harry. Hermione gave a look of disapproval but didn't say anything. John was looking perplexed, but it was decided. Harry would use his invisibility cloak to go to the library's restricted section to look for Nicholas Flamel. When everybody had gone to sleep, and the common room was empty, Harry slipped out of bed and wrapped the cloak around himself. Looking down at his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a very funny feeling. "Use it well," the note had said. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him in this Cloak. Excitement flooded through him as he stood there in the dark and silence. He could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch would never know. He crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. Harry said nothing. He walked quickly down the corridor. The library was pitch black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in mid-air, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him 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, he held up his lamp to read the titles.

They didn't tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry 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 Harry's neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be. He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting looking book. A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence – the book was screaming! Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. He stumbled backwards and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside, stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran for it. He passed Filch almost in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through him and Harry slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears. He came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. He had been so busy getting away from the library, he hadn't paid

attention to where he was going. Perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recognise where he was at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, he knew, but he must be 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, The Restricted Section." Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. Wherever he was, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror, it was Snape who replied.

"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see him, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into him, the Cloak didn't stop him from being solid. He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief, he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past and Harry leant against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he 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 him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that

looked as if someone 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 gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top,

"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."

Harry moved closer to the mirror to get a better view. The moment he got close enough, he almost shrieked loudly, for he saw a bunch of people standing behind him in the reflection. He quickly turned behind, but there was no one behind him. He saw the reflection again and noticed to his surprise Ron, John, Daisy, Dudley and Aunt Petunia amongst the people. He looked closely at the people who he couldn't recognise, all the while wondering, what this mirror actually was. It took him a few moments to realise, but the moment he did, he stumbled backwards in shock. He had only seen them in photos till now, but there they were standing behind him in the reflection. His Mom, Dad and Uncle Vernon. The panic that he had come into the room with had now turned into an unexplainable feeling. There was an involuntary smile on his face, he felt elated, and he stood there for a long time admiring the reflection in the mirror.

The next morning Harry told Ron, John and Hermione about his late-night adventure.

"You were very lucky, Harry," said Hermione.

"What did you say you saw in the mirror again?" asked John.

"Well you were there, Ron was there too. And besides Ron was Daisy, Dudley, Aunt Petunia. Standing besides Aunt Petunia was my mother, my dad and Uncle Vernon."

"Let's go see this mirror tonight," said Ron.

"I want to have a look too," said John.

"We can't all go, we'll be seen," replied Harry.

"We'll do this, the invisibility cloak can't cover all 3 of us. So you and Ron take the cloak."

"What about you?" asked Ron.

"I'll trust my luck. And if I get caught, you guys go on, Filch won't be able to see you. I'll just lie that I wasn't feeling sleepy or something." replied John.

"That's a bad idea," said Harry.

"Yeah, if you get caught, you'll be in big trouble. You have a certain reputation, John," said Hermione.

"What reputation?" asked John, though he knew full well what it was. Since his first confrontation with Snape, he had had similar but less offensive confrontations with Snape. He also argued and questioned in class, he was never afraid of talking back. Though every Professor in Hogwarts liked John, he always seemed just a tad short of coming off as arrogant and ill-disciplined.

So, later that night despite Hermione's valiant efforts to stop the execution of the plan, the plan proceeded. Ron and Harry were easily covered under the cloak, and John was treading beside them carefully, trying not to make a sound. Harry guided them to the room where he saw the mirror. John was indeed lucky, as this time, nobody heard or saw the three walking. Once they reached the room, Harry pointed to the large mirror. He walked towards it and saw the same reflection he had seen the previous day.

"Look, that's you and John, those 2 are Daisy and Dudley, and they are my parents and my Aunt and Uncle," said Harry pointing at the people while he named them. But Ron and John couldn't see anything.

"Can't see anything mate," said Ron.

"Stand in front of the mirror," said Harry, and moved aside for Ron to come closer. "Now can you see them?" asked Harry eagerly.

"No… I'm alone… Wait, I look different, a bit older… and I uh, I am HEAD BOY" said Ron getting excited. "I'm wearing the badge as Bill used to, and I'm holding the house cup and the quidditch cup too… I'm QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN too"

Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry.

"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? All my family are dead. Let me have another look..."

"You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit more time."

"You're only holding the Quidditch Cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents," said Harry and tried to push Ron away, but just then John stopped the pair of them.

"Guys stop! What do you think you're doing?" he said in a strong whisper. "The amount of noise you're making, Filch will definitely hear us," he added. Just then, they heard a sudden noise outside in the corridor. Ron and Harry quickly covered themselves with the cloak as John behind the mirror. It was Mrs Norris, Filch's cat. She was standing there looking at thin air and after a minute it turned away.

"Harry, let's go, it's not safe to be here anymore," said Ron.

"John, come on," said Harry as he and Ron made a move.

"I'll come, you guys go," said John and stayed back to have a look at the mirror.

The next day at breakfast, Harry and Ron were talking about what they had seen in the mirror, as Hermione joined them.

"What happened last night?" she asked Harry. Harry recalled the events and told her about what he had seen, Ron told her what he had seen in the mirror. She listened eagerly and said,

"It can't be the future, maybe it is showing you what you want to see. Where's John?"

"He… I don't know, haven't seen him since last night," said Harry, a sudden thought coming to his mind, "Have you seen him, Ron?"

"No, I haven't," replied Ron. All 3 of them were thinking the same thing. What if John was caught by Filch?

"You don't think..." began Harry but didn't finish the sentence. John was missing from their classes too. By the end of their classes, they were wondering if he had been expelled, or punished by Professor McGonagall or even worse.

"I… saw… her," he said, in a stuttering voice and continued, "I haven't felt like this in a long time."

"John, it's ok, what's happened has happened. There's nothing we can do about it. Look at me… John!" she replied in a throaty voice. John looked up at the 2-way mirror.

"Jane, I don't know what that thing is, how it knows... It… it was there, and then it was blank, and then it showed me."

Hermione was extremely worried about John. She asked Professor McGonagall as casually as she could if she had seen him anywhere. But the Professor hadn't. Hermione went to the library, but John wasn't there. The only place she could think of was the lake. From afar she couldn't spot John, but as she went nearer, she could see the outline of a person sitting behind a tree. As she got closer to the tree, she could hear faint voices. The closer she got, the louder the voice became, and she instantly recognised it as John's. She was about to call out his name when she heard him cry. It sounded like he was talking to someone. She could barely hear broken sentences,

"... broke me..." he said.

"... illusion ..." said a woman's voice.

"Yeah… Dark magic..."

Not wanting to snoop anymore, Hermione decided to leave John alone. It was the first time she had heard him cry. Something about the whole thing made her really sad. She wondered what John had seen in the 'Mirror of Erised' and left for the common room.

"I'll be fine, but I'm never going back there. That mirror is pure evil," said John.

"Write to me if anything else happens. And don't go looking at the mirror again," she replied.

"I won't!" he said, wiping tears off his face. But then another thought came to him, "Jane, do you know of any invisibility cloaks that have lasted 2 decades or more?"

"No, why do you ask?" she replied curiously.

"Did you know that James owned one? Somebody gifted Harry an invisibility cloak, the note said it belonged to his father."

"Oh! I had no idea," she replied.