Chapter Thirteen: The Mirror of Erised

"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the House, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." I scowled at the darkness of the dormitory. Why, why, did Father have to teach me Muggle poems? This one had been running through my head, over and over, all night. Just because most of the world was non-magical, didn't mean that the non-magic part was any good. I mean, that Saint Nick bloke must have been pretty poor with a wand; else, why would he have needed eight magical reindeer? One would have been just fine! Still, I was excited that tomorrow was Christmas.

A faint noise of footsteps on the stone floor caught my attention. Sitting up, I squinted toward the door. Someone was there...but it was too dark to see who. Maybe it was just my imagination. I flopped into bed again, wrapping the goose-down comforter closer around me.

I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Draco's grey eyes were twelve inches from my face.

"Ahk!" I said groggily. "What are you doing here? Is it morning already?"

"Shh!" he said, raising a finger to his lips. His wand was lit up like a candle, casting a yellow glow on the room. "It's still twelve-thirty. But, you'll never guess what I just found!"

I rolled my eyes. "O, just tell me."

"I can't."

"No one else would hear. They all left for the holidays."

"I mean, I can't just tell you. You have to see it."

Groaning, I rolled out of bed, almost stepping on Felon, who let out a fierce shriek. Pulling on a violet robe over my pajamas, I said, "Fine. I wasn't getting much sleep, anyway."

Leaving Slytherin Dungeon, Draco led me, with Felon close behind, through twisting hallways and dark staircases. Along the way, he explained how he had found...whatever it was that I was about to see.

"About half an hour ago," he said, with obvious excitement, "I realized that I'd forgotten to send a letter home to Mother. She's always concerned about how school is going! And, you know, since I'll not be seeing her for a while, I thought it'd be a nice Christmas gift to send an owl."

"So what's your point?"

"I'm getting to that! I wrote a really quick letter, than went to the owlery to send it. On my way back, I got lost, and ended up in an abandoned classroom. It's right around this corner...here!"

I stepped into the room apprehensively. "Why," I thought, "are we sneaking around at night? What if Filch catches us? Or worse, Mrs. Norris!" However, Felon didn't seem to sense any danger, and crossed the room. Then she started licking her paw nonchalantly in front of a huge mirror.

"Is that it?" I asked Draco. "I came all the way here, in the middle of the night, to see a mirror? Sure, it's pretty, and probably really old, but..." I shrugged. A mirror, of all things!

"Not just any mirror. A mirror that shows the future!" he exclaimed. "The Mirror of Erised!" I crossed the room to look closer at it. It was gold, standing on two clawed feet, and it had an inscription at the top:

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

"What are those words?" I asked.

Draco shrugged. "No idea. I pretty sure it's the name of the thing. But look in it, already!"

"I see myself. Long, straight, brown hair...brown eyes...glasses...violet robes...a grey cat at my feet...nothing unusual."

"Stand right in front of it, not to the side." I complied. "See? Right there! It's the Karasjok Kites! D'you see me? Isn't is brilliant?"

But apparently, Draco was confused...there were no kites in the mirror. In my reflection, there were two people standing behind me, a man and a woman. They were dressed in winter furs and thick, black boots, and each held a wand. Scars lined their harsh faces, and snow swirled violently around them. A big, white dog lay at the woman's feet. I turned around, but no one was there.

Somehow, those faces looked too familiar...but it was impossible! I had never seen these people before. They were obviously magical, but they looked like Dark Followers! If this was my future, I wasn't sure I wanted to see it...

Draco must have seen the horrified look on my face. "You mean, you don't see a Quidditch team? I guess it shows a different future for each person...that makes sense..."

Suddenly, the man put his hand on the reflection of my shoulder. It felt like ice...but very, very far away. There was something about his eyes that scared me...a lot. I gasped sharply. "Draco, let's leave. I don't like this mirror." Before he could stop me, I grabbed Felon off of the floor and bolted from the room.

Dashing down dimly-lit corridors, I suddenly remembered my original worry: Filch could catch us. I glanced around nervously, but couldn't hear or see anyone else. "What," asked Draco, catching up to me, "is going on? What did you see?"

"First tell me what you saw."

"Well," he said slowly, "it was the Norse Quidditch team, the Karasjok Kites. I've always wanted to play on a professional team. I thought the mirror was showing my future...which would be bloody lucky for me." He narrowed his eyes with concern. "So...what was so bad about your future?"

I bit my lower lip. "If that really is my future, I'm in for some trouble. There was a man and a woman...they looked kind of like Soviets, and really evil."

"Soviets?"

"Don't you know any history?" I cried, exasperated. "It's not just Muggle stuff! If they have a war, it affects us, too." Draco looked away. "I'm sorry. It's just...it frightened me. I don't want to meet those people."

He shook his head. "I bet it's not really the future. I bet it's something that could happen. Or, something that someone wants you to think will happen." I could tell he was bluffing; he wasn't even very good at it. I sighed.

"Well, we should get back to the Dungeon now..." Just then, two red eyes met mine. They belonged to Mrs. Norris. "O no...what now?"

But Felon seemed to have the situation under control. She sauntered over to Filch's cat, purring. When she was just inches from Mrs. Norris, she suddenly reached out her claws and took a vicious slice at the other cat's nose. Mrs. Norris howled and fled, bleeding.

Draco and I gaped. "Felon?" I said. "Did you really just do what I think you just did?"

"I think," said Draco, "that she did. If we're lucky, Mrs. Norris will be too, eh, ashamed to report to Filch."

"Hm. Well, I don't know how cats think, but if I were Mrs. Norris, I certainly wouldn't want to report being beaten up. Y'know, keeping up appearances." Draco chuckled, and we headed back to Slytherin Dungeon.

To Be Continued...

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, am not JKR, am not Warner Bros. Am not Harry Potter. Read Year of the Parselmouth, by WildMage42. Review. And review mine, too.