Disclaimer: I do not own the lovely characters, places, or the Mirror of Erised.
Chapter 2: A Mirror By Any Other Name
"Ginny! Wait up!"
Ginny Weasley turned around to see Harry Potter running to catch up with her. She patiently waited until he was next to her.
"Hi, Harry," she said to him.
"There is a D.A. meeting tonight. Dumbledore said he has a surprise for us. We're meeting in the usual place," he said in hushed tones.
"I'll be there," Ginny told him. "I have to go or I'll be late to potions."
"Er…right. See you later."
After dinner, Ginny walked with Ron, Harry, and Hermione Granger to the Room of Requirement for a meeting of the D.A. Once they walked into the room, they saw that they were the first ones there so they made themselves comfortable with a couple of pillows on the floor. After a couple minutes, the rest of the D.A. started arriving one or two at a time until everyone, but Dumbledore was there.
They were sitting around talking excitedly to one another, wondering what Dumbledore's surprise could be. As if he knew everyone was talking about him, Dumbledore walked in wearing one of his usual outfits – today, his robes were a canary yellow with silver stars and moons and of course, a matching cap. He walked in front of the group, with his hands clasped and a twinkle in his bright blue eyes.
"I have a special surprise for everyone," Dumbledore said, and with a wave of his wand a mirror appeared. "This is the Mirror of Enitsed, brother to those who know it, the Mirror of Erised."
"What does it do?" Hermione asked.
"Good question, Miss Granger," Dumbledore commented before losing the twinkle in his eye and his voice becoming gravely serious. "We all know that the war is coming, which is why you have all been training. I feel that this mirror will help you in your efforts.
As I mentioned, this mirror is brother to the Mirror of Erised, which for those who don't know, shows your heart's desire. This is the Mirror of Enitsed, if you notice along the inscription it says 'Enitsed stsa pru oyt ube tafru oyt on wohsi,' which if you place the words together correctly and read them in the opposite manner, would read 'I show not your fate but your pasts destine.'
It does not show your fate, but the destiny of time that has passed. It will not show everything of the past, only that which ties to your future. I felt that this would be useful in studying what occurred in the first war so that we may avoid those mistakes," Dumbledore finished, the twinkle once more returning. "I will now leave you as I have some delicious lemon drops waiting for me in my office."
With this, Dumbledore left the D.A. in absolute shock at a mirror that shows that which has been. Harry being the bravest approached the mirror first. He remembered that when he and Ron had looked into the other mirror, they could not see what the other saw. He wondered if this one would work the same way. He looked into the mirror.
Harry saw his parents. He saw Dumbledore. He saw Remus. He saw other faces that were vaguely familiar. He saw Grimmauld Place. They were having a meeting. Judging by the faces, it was a very grave meeting, indeed. Harry managed to tear his eyes away from the images; he saw that everyone was looking at him peculiarly.
"Did anyone see what I saw?" He asked.
"No, mate," Ron answered.
Harry decided to test his theory further. He had Ron come up and stand next to him. They both looked into the mirror at the same time. Harry saw more images of his parents. This time, they were battling Deatheaters. He saw curses being thrown at one another. He saw his mother push his father out of the way of a Deatheater's Crucio and taking the full front of the curse herself. He couldn't stand to look anymore and turned his face away.
He looked over at Ron, who had done the same. "What did you see?"
Ron wide eyed looked at Harry. " I saw my mom when she was young. She was crying. My dad was comforting her, telling her that it would be okay. I saw Bill, Charlie, and Percy. They were scared. They were all scared. What did you see?"
"My parents," Harry answered simply. He didn't want to get into any details right now. "Attention, everyone, when you look into this mirror, you won't see what someone else sees. I think it might be specific for the individual."
"I think we should all keep a journal of what we see, but always leave the journal in this room. That way other's can benefit from what we see," Hermione piped in.
"I think that's a great idea," Harry responded enthusiastically.
In an instant journals were appearing for everyone, along with quills and ink.
"We'll all take turns looking into the mirror and taking notes. You can go alone or with a friend," Harry said as he took a journal, quill, and ink. "Hermione and Ginny, you can go next, while Ron and I write down what we saw. Everyone else can practice simple curses and shielding from them."
For the next few weeks, the D.A. would practice curses as well as looking into the mirror and taking notes. Harry and Ron would go first and then Hermione and Ginny as Harry felt it was most important for the four of them to know as much as possible. Since Harry and Ron had just finished, it was Hermione and Ginny's turn at the mirror. They walked up to the mirror and could feel themselves drawn to the images that appeared.
Ginny saw the Marauders. They looked to be about in their late teens. They were at Hogwarts. Everyone was in the Great Hall and looked very grave indeed. Dumbledore was addressing them. Ginny noticed that the twinkle was missing from his eye. She wondered what he was telling them. She wondered if he was talking about Voldemort.
At this exact moment, a stray curse came flying towards the girls, and then Ginny was gone.