Dear Harry,
If you're reading this letter, it means that I was right, and something terrible happened. I don't know what exactly happened, but chances are, this night ended in tragedy. It's the evening of June first, and you're being searched for by the Order of the Pheonix. Something's wrong, despite their repeated assurances that you're fine and you haven't gone off and done something crazy. I know you better than that, and I know you well enough to know that SOMETHING isn't right. So I'm writing you this letter as a precaution to the feeling inside that tells me before this night is over, something very important and very terrible is going to happen.
The point of this letter is to tell you something about a gift I gave you long ago, something about this gift that I guarantee you don't already know and it's important for you to find out. The gift in question is the mirror half that I instructed you to say my name into if ever you needed me. Do you remember? I told you that your father and I used them when we were put into separate detentions. The time has come for you to know the complete and total truth about this mirror, a truth I expect you've never imagined.
Your father and I invented this mirror. Only when one mirror-holder says the name of the other mirror-holder can the magic in the mirrors be put to use. As an anti-dark-magic spell, we included a blockade of certain names. For example, anyone in the Malfoy family is officially rendered as Evil by this mirror and the magic won't be revealed to someone like them. If the mirror passes through the hands of a Malfoy and onto one of their dark magic friends that your father and I did not list as Dark Wizards, however, the mirror knows nothing but to let the mirror-holder use the magic within. Naturally, we didn't include Voldemort (or Tom Riddle, as we would have known him back then) in the Dark Wizard category, so he's perfectly capable of using the mirror if he comes across it. Another important detail about the mirror: only when the correct name is spoken into the mirror can the magic within be used. If Voldemort comes across one half of the mirror, for instance, and says the name of Peter Pettigrew, he won't be able to have instant contact with Wormtail. If you have the other half, you are the only person who can speak with Voldemort through the mirrors.
I thought some details about the mirror and it's magic might come in handy for what you're bound to be thinking, or bound to think soon enough, once you realize...the truth. If something happened to me tonight, which is why you're reading the letter, then you'll be desperate to find out about the veil. In which case, you'll need the mirror to fulfill any...plans you might come across. I'm sorry I can't be more specific or tell you the whole story...I've already written more than I should, in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, Harry, this is something we have to be constantly on the lookout for during these times.
Now you know about the mirror, but you'll find that I've left letters and clues throughout my parents' house, the school, and with acquaintances who might come across you. So even if something fatal happened to me...we haven't lost touch, because I've left instructions and letters all over the wizarding world for my godson. I hope you come across some of these letters very soon, Harry. In case I never said it enough...I love you, Harry.
Your Godfather and Friend,
Sirius Black
Harry said nothing as he read the letter once, twice, and then a third time through. How had this happened? How had Sirius known that something terrible would happen, and why would he have thought to tell Harry about the mirror now? How had Hedwig come across the letter in the first place, and what did Sirius expect Harry to do with this new information?
To help him think more clearly, Harry pulled out the section of the mirror that Sirius had given him for communication purposes what seemed like a lifetime ago. Harry stared at the mirror section and then pulled out the matching piece from beside it in his bottom bureau drawer. He didn't know what to think about the mirror or the new information he now possessed. The only thing he could think of was to test what Sirius had told him, and he had no way to do that without shoving the mirror under his muggle family's noses and presenting them with feared magic. Feared by the muggles, anyway, and Harry had to continue coming to live with the Dursley family during summers for his own protection. After what had happened to Sirius, especially, the wizarding community thought Harry ought to be well protected.
"The mirrors are obviously important." A voice said from behind Harry, and he had to stifle a shout when he realized who it belonged to.
"Fred!? George!?" Harry whispered disbelievingly. "What in the bloody hell are you two doing here? Are you trying to get me killed?"
"We've come to take you to The Burrow for the rest of the summer." Fred shrugged. "Mum's orders. And would you believe it: she let us fly the car!" Harry broke into a wide grin and leaned out his bedroom window to see the beat-up red car that Fred and George had once snuck to rescue Harry in the middle of the night. Harry and Ron had also stolen the car during their second year to fly it to Hogwarts when the barrier through to Platform 9 3/4 had been sealed shut. It had saved their lives that year, coming crashing through the forest and rescuing them from the giant spiders that had been after them. Harry couldn't help feeling a wave of unexpected sadness as he remembered everything that he and the car had been through; it reminded him of simpler times, before-Sirius times...times before he had known what true happiness was.
"I don't know what you're thinking about, but I suggest you stop." George demanded. "We told the muggles we were from the high school...told them you had requested information on attending the school in the fall and they ate it all up. Let us come up to your room to fetch you for the trip...I guess we should probably tell them the truth, eh?"
"I guess so." Harry laughed. "Let me get my trunks and things put together, and then we can go downstairs and tell them what's really happening."
It took Harry no less than fifteen minutes to put all of his belongings in his various trunks and bags, fetch and cage Hedwig, and drag everything down the stairs and to the waiting car in the driveway.
"Vernon? Petunia?" Harry called, stepping back through the front door and looking into the living room at his extremely suspicious-looking aunt and uncle. "They lied. They aren't from the high school, they're from Hogwarts. They aren't here because I want to go to the high school instead of Hogwarts in the fall, they're here because they want to take me to their house in the wizarding community for the rest of the summer. This isn't a normal car, it's a car bewitched to fly that I've ridden in several times before. I've gotten my things in the car and I'll be leaving for their house for the remainder of the summer in a few minutes. Any questions?"
Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley (the muggle Dursley family of 4 Privet Drive that Harry was forced to live with every summer) stood unblinkingly and in utter shock, staring at Harry with fixed expressions.
"I thought not." Harry shrugged. "Well, I'll be on my way then. See you next summer."
The Dursleys were still speechless as Harry stepped out the front door and into the car waiting for him. Fred and George, who had left Hogwarts the year before for business opportunities (they ran a joke shop in the entire wizarding shopping center of Diagon Alley), were the older brothers of Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at school. They, too, were good friends of Harry's, and Harry had supplied them with the gold they needed to get their joke shop running properly. Though Mrs. Weasley, a very logical and solid-minded witch, had been against the joke shop at first, she now realized that Fred and George were learning proper business techniques and doing something good and productive with their time.
"I cannot believe you're mother let you fly the car out here!" Harry exclaimed as the car rose into the air. Fred, who was driving, hit the invisibility button and turned the car completely invisible. Harry released Hedwig and allowed her to flutter around inside the car, but thought it was better if she stayed inside the car until night fell and muggles would be accustomed to seeing an owl flying. Owls in the broad daylight had presented problems before, and Harry didn't want to be the source of another almost-discovery of the wizarding race by muggles.
"Bet you've been having one hell of a summer." George grimaced, turning to face Harry.
"Yeah, no word from any of my friends and the first summer of my life spent after losing someone I was very close to...it's been spectacular, thanks." Harry's voice took on a sullen and angry tone, and George frowned.
"Yeah...sorry about that, mate...we really wanted to write to you, we did." George shrugged. "Mum thought you might want some time to yourself...she figured you wanted to 'ponder your situation'...we argued, though, and we finally convinced her that you needed us."
"As much as Ron needs you." Fred added, and George grimaced again.
"Why? What's wrong with Ron?" Harry asked immediately, worried about the welfare of his best friend.
"He's got a crush." Fred said gravely.
"On Hermione." George added.
Harry felt his jaw drop. Ron and Hermione? Hermione and Ron? The idea had never crossed his mind! They spent far too much time fighting and arguing to fancy each other, that much was obvious to anyone who knew them! Hermione was too bookish for troublemaking Ron, and Ron was too interested in sports and not emotional enough for demanding Hermione. But that didn't change what Fred and George were telling him: Ron liked Hermione! All those hours of arguing had been desperate attempts for attention, and probably attempts to flirt as well!
"Wow, Harry. You took that rather badly." Fred looked in the rearview mirror and frowned at Harry. "Is there something you're not telling us? Secret feelings? Secrets you knew that we didn't?"
"Of course not." Harry scoffed. "I don't like Hermione, it's just a total surprise that Ron does. I mean, they argue so much, all the time! And Ron always calling her a bookworm, a know-it-all, and an obnoxious brat at that!"
"Ron doesn't know much about girls, mate." George shrugged.
"That's why he needs you. He's desperate for Hermione to notice him, and he's convinced he's got no shot with her. He thinks she fancies you! And he thinks that you'll come to fancy her if you don't already, and you two will date." Fred added.
"That won't happen." Harry shrugged, and had a fleeting impression of floating on air. That was how he felt around a certain girl that he had gotten to know very well over the past years, and he thought he might be starting to fancy her.
"Who's your girlfriend, Harry?" George asked in surprise, taking note of the look in Harry's eyes.
"No one." Harry said quickly. "Don't worry about me. I'll help Ron get Hermione, and then we'll all be happy and with the people we like! And then everything will be simple again, and Ron won't have a thing to worry about."
"Harry James Potter, who is it?" Fred demanded.
"No one!" Harry exclaimed. "Just leave it alone!"
Fred and George exchanged a look which clearly said that they didn't believe Harry, but didn't want to press their luck too much. Harry groaned inwardly, knowing their investigation into his love life was far from over. Then, with a sudden crash against the window, an unfamiliar owl diverted everyone's attention from Harry.
If you're reading this letter, it means that I was right, and something terrible happened. I don't know what exactly happened, but chances are, this night ended in tragedy. It's the evening of June first, and you're being searched for by the Order of the Pheonix. Something's wrong, despite their repeated assurances that you're fine and you haven't gone off and done something crazy. I know you better than that, and I know you well enough to know that SOMETHING isn't right. So I'm writing you this letter as a precaution to the feeling inside that tells me before this night is over, something very important and very terrible is going to happen.
The point of this letter is to tell you something about a gift I gave you long ago, something about this gift that I guarantee you don't already know and it's important for you to find out. The gift in question is the mirror half that I instructed you to say my name into if ever you needed me. Do you remember? I told you that your father and I used them when we were put into separate detentions. The time has come for you to know the complete and total truth about this mirror, a truth I expect you've never imagined.
Your father and I invented this mirror. Only when one mirror-holder says the name of the other mirror-holder can the magic in the mirrors be put to use. As an anti-dark-magic spell, we included a blockade of certain names. For example, anyone in the Malfoy family is officially rendered as Evil by this mirror and the magic won't be revealed to someone like them. If the mirror passes through the hands of a Malfoy and onto one of their dark magic friends that your father and I did not list as Dark Wizards, however, the mirror knows nothing but to let the mirror-holder use the magic within. Naturally, we didn't include Voldemort (or Tom Riddle, as we would have known him back then) in the Dark Wizard category, so he's perfectly capable of using the mirror if he comes across it. Another important detail about the mirror: only when the correct name is spoken into the mirror can the magic within be used. If Voldemort comes across one half of the mirror, for instance, and says the name of Peter Pettigrew, he won't be able to have instant contact with Wormtail. If you have the other half, you are the only person who can speak with Voldemort through the mirrors.
I thought some details about the mirror and it's magic might come in handy for what you're bound to be thinking, or bound to think soon enough, once you realize...the truth. If something happened to me tonight, which is why you're reading the letter, then you'll be desperate to find out about the veil. In which case, you'll need the mirror to fulfill any...plans you might come across. I'm sorry I can't be more specific or tell you the whole story...I've already written more than I should, in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, Harry, this is something we have to be constantly on the lookout for during these times.
Now you know about the mirror, but you'll find that I've left letters and clues throughout my parents' house, the school, and with acquaintances who might come across you. So even if something fatal happened to me...we haven't lost touch, because I've left instructions and letters all over the wizarding world for my godson. I hope you come across some of these letters very soon, Harry. In case I never said it enough...I love you, Harry.
Your Godfather and Friend,
Sirius Black
Harry said nothing as he read the letter once, twice, and then a third time through. How had this happened? How had Sirius known that something terrible would happen, and why would he have thought to tell Harry about the mirror now? How had Hedwig come across the letter in the first place, and what did Sirius expect Harry to do with this new information?
To help him think more clearly, Harry pulled out the section of the mirror that Sirius had given him for communication purposes what seemed like a lifetime ago. Harry stared at the mirror section and then pulled out the matching piece from beside it in his bottom bureau drawer. He didn't know what to think about the mirror or the new information he now possessed. The only thing he could think of was to test what Sirius had told him, and he had no way to do that without shoving the mirror under his muggle family's noses and presenting them with feared magic. Feared by the muggles, anyway, and Harry had to continue coming to live with the Dursley family during summers for his own protection. After what had happened to Sirius, especially, the wizarding community thought Harry ought to be well protected.
"The mirrors are obviously important." A voice said from behind Harry, and he had to stifle a shout when he realized who it belonged to.
"Fred!? George!?" Harry whispered disbelievingly. "What in the bloody hell are you two doing here? Are you trying to get me killed?"
"We've come to take you to The Burrow for the rest of the summer." Fred shrugged. "Mum's orders. And would you believe it: she let us fly the car!" Harry broke into a wide grin and leaned out his bedroom window to see the beat-up red car that Fred and George had once snuck to rescue Harry in the middle of the night. Harry and Ron had also stolen the car during their second year to fly it to Hogwarts when the barrier through to Platform 9 3/4 had been sealed shut. It had saved their lives that year, coming crashing through the forest and rescuing them from the giant spiders that had been after them. Harry couldn't help feeling a wave of unexpected sadness as he remembered everything that he and the car had been through; it reminded him of simpler times, before-Sirius times...times before he had known what true happiness was.
"I don't know what you're thinking about, but I suggest you stop." George demanded. "We told the muggles we were from the high school...told them you had requested information on attending the school in the fall and they ate it all up. Let us come up to your room to fetch you for the trip...I guess we should probably tell them the truth, eh?"
"I guess so." Harry laughed. "Let me get my trunks and things put together, and then we can go downstairs and tell them what's really happening."
It took Harry no less than fifteen minutes to put all of his belongings in his various trunks and bags, fetch and cage Hedwig, and drag everything down the stairs and to the waiting car in the driveway.
"Vernon? Petunia?" Harry called, stepping back through the front door and looking into the living room at his extremely suspicious-looking aunt and uncle. "They lied. They aren't from the high school, they're from Hogwarts. They aren't here because I want to go to the high school instead of Hogwarts in the fall, they're here because they want to take me to their house in the wizarding community for the rest of the summer. This isn't a normal car, it's a car bewitched to fly that I've ridden in several times before. I've gotten my things in the car and I'll be leaving for their house for the remainder of the summer in a few minutes. Any questions?"
Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley (the muggle Dursley family of 4 Privet Drive that Harry was forced to live with every summer) stood unblinkingly and in utter shock, staring at Harry with fixed expressions.
"I thought not." Harry shrugged. "Well, I'll be on my way then. See you next summer."
The Dursleys were still speechless as Harry stepped out the front door and into the car waiting for him. Fred and George, who had left Hogwarts the year before for business opportunities (they ran a joke shop in the entire wizarding shopping center of Diagon Alley), were the older brothers of Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at school. They, too, were good friends of Harry's, and Harry had supplied them with the gold they needed to get their joke shop running properly. Though Mrs. Weasley, a very logical and solid-minded witch, had been against the joke shop at first, she now realized that Fred and George were learning proper business techniques and doing something good and productive with their time.
"I cannot believe you're mother let you fly the car out here!" Harry exclaimed as the car rose into the air. Fred, who was driving, hit the invisibility button and turned the car completely invisible. Harry released Hedwig and allowed her to flutter around inside the car, but thought it was better if she stayed inside the car until night fell and muggles would be accustomed to seeing an owl flying. Owls in the broad daylight had presented problems before, and Harry didn't want to be the source of another almost-discovery of the wizarding race by muggles.
"Bet you've been having one hell of a summer." George grimaced, turning to face Harry.
"Yeah, no word from any of my friends and the first summer of my life spent after losing someone I was very close to...it's been spectacular, thanks." Harry's voice took on a sullen and angry tone, and George frowned.
"Yeah...sorry about that, mate...we really wanted to write to you, we did." George shrugged. "Mum thought you might want some time to yourself...she figured you wanted to 'ponder your situation'...we argued, though, and we finally convinced her that you needed us."
"As much as Ron needs you." Fred added, and George grimaced again.
"Why? What's wrong with Ron?" Harry asked immediately, worried about the welfare of his best friend.
"He's got a crush." Fred said gravely.
"On Hermione." George added.
Harry felt his jaw drop. Ron and Hermione? Hermione and Ron? The idea had never crossed his mind! They spent far too much time fighting and arguing to fancy each other, that much was obvious to anyone who knew them! Hermione was too bookish for troublemaking Ron, and Ron was too interested in sports and not emotional enough for demanding Hermione. But that didn't change what Fred and George were telling him: Ron liked Hermione! All those hours of arguing had been desperate attempts for attention, and probably attempts to flirt as well!
"Wow, Harry. You took that rather badly." Fred looked in the rearview mirror and frowned at Harry. "Is there something you're not telling us? Secret feelings? Secrets you knew that we didn't?"
"Of course not." Harry scoffed. "I don't like Hermione, it's just a total surprise that Ron does. I mean, they argue so much, all the time! And Ron always calling her a bookworm, a know-it-all, and an obnoxious brat at that!"
"Ron doesn't know much about girls, mate." George shrugged.
"That's why he needs you. He's desperate for Hermione to notice him, and he's convinced he's got no shot with her. He thinks she fancies you! And he thinks that you'll come to fancy her if you don't already, and you two will date." Fred added.
"That won't happen." Harry shrugged, and had a fleeting impression of floating on air. That was how he felt around a certain girl that he had gotten to know very well over the past years, and he thought he might be starting to fancy her.
"Who's your girlfriend, Harry?" George asked in surprise, taking note of the look in Harry's eyes.
"No one." Harry said quickly. "Don't worry about me. I'll help Ron get Hermione, and then we'll all be happy and with the people we like! And then everything will be simple again, and Ron won't have a thing to worry about."
"Harry James Potter, who is it?" Fred demanded.
"No one!" Harry exclaimed. "Just leave it alone!"
Fred and George exchanged a look which clearly said that they didn't believe Harry, but didn't want to press their luck too much. Harry groaned inwardly, knowing their investigation into his love life was far from over. Then, with a sudden crash against the window, an unfamiliar owl diverted everyone's attention from Harry.