Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Assignment #2 - Cryptology (Codes Throughout History)
Task #11 - The Phastos Disk: Write about a hidden place or city.
Further prompts are at the end.
Word Count: 1,239
Harry blinks at the full-length mirror in the center of the room, once. Twice. Three times. Then glances down at himself, just to check, because that- the reflection-
This is a mirror, right?
Well he has no idea what else it could be, especially as the boy in the mirror smiles at him, takes out a marker, and writes in beautiful calligraphy and pine-green ink, ollɘH.
"Hello," Harry murmurs. "You- What are you? Wait, can you hear me?"
The boy nods, then writes, .ɘlbbiЯ moT ƨi ɘmɒn γm bnA .nɒɔ I
"'I can'," Harry reads aloud, "'And my name' - your name - 'is Tom Ribble' - I mean, Tom Riddle. Sorry." The boy, Tom, waves a hand dismissively, as he erases the writing. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter. So you're a, um, a real person? Sorry, is that rude? I didn't mean to be, I've never met a-"
Tom holds a hand up, and Harry finds his words dying away. .ɿoɿɿim ƨi⑁ɟ ni bɘvɿɘƨɘɿq ,γɿomɘm ɒ ɟud ,γlɟɔɒxɘ ,noƨɿɘq 'lɒɘɿ' ɒ ɟon m'I .ɟi ɟɘϱ I ,ɘbuɿ ɟon ƨ'ɟI
"'It's not rude, I get it' - oh, thanks. 'I'm not a 'real' person, exactly, but a memory, preserved in this mirror'." He frowns - he's never heard of magic like that before. "How?"
Harry balks at the sight of the mass of text that comes next - "Is there a spell to mirror writing? Pun not intended?"
Tom looks contemplative, before nodding. .ƨɿuo⑁ lɒɿɘvɘƨ ɿoʇ ɟƨɒl bluo⑁ƨ ɟi bnɒ ɘɔɒʇɿuƨ ɘ⑁ɟ no ɟi ɟƨɒɔ ,mɒɿuɟqiɿɔƨ ɟu muluɔɘqƧ .γɟluɔiʇʇib ɘ⑁ɟ ɿoʇ ,γɒw ɘ⑁ɟ γd ,ƨɘiϱoloqɒ γm - ƨi ɘɿɘ⑁T
Five minutes later, on Harry's third attempt- Better?
"Yes! It worked! Thanks. Do you-" He pauses, because on the one hand, it feels rude again, but on the other… "Do you know any other spells?"
I do, Tom writes. I could teach you, if you want. Spells that they don't teach at Hogwarts. Spells-
"Hogwarts?" Harry repeats - now where has he seen that word before? "Oh, that Hogwarts? You mean the school?"
Yes. You don't go there?
Harry shakes his head. "They destroyed it, before I was born. The last major battle and all. My parents went, though, and from the stories it sounded…"
He trails off, because Tom's writing again, words a little jagged and rushed. Who destroyed it? What war?
"…How old are you? The mundanes destroyed it, of course, bombed it out at the end of the last Magical War."
Mundane - you mean Muggle? Non-magical?
"I don't know about 'Muggle'," Harry says, "but yeah, the non-magical. They found out about the magical world, in the '30s, I think - that's 2030s, sorry - and they tried to negotiate peace, but by the '40s we were at war. The major conflicts were all in the '40s, and the mundanes killed off most of us by the '50s, but obviously, some of us survived. Hogwarts was one of the last remaining safe places until they bombed it, in 2059."
What year is it now?
"2075."
It takes Tom a long moment to respond. I could've told them that would happen. But I wonder, my original…
Harry cocks his head. "That'd also be a Tom Riddle? I've never heard of him, so I'm guessing, sorry, that he's also dead-"
He's not.
Harry frowns. "Are you sure-?"
He can't be, because I exist.
"Oh." Harry shrugs, because of course Tom would know better, especially if he had an actual magical education. "I mean, it's possible, I guess - there's not many of us magicals left, and it's not like we can contact each other."
'We' being you and your parents?
Harry shakes his head. "My parents died when I was young. I was raised by my aunt and uncle - mundanes. Yeah, I know, I was lucky they didn't turn me in - they told me that my whole childhood. Ran away when I was eleven, found another group of magicals when I was thirteen."
There's a long silence (or would 'pause' be a better word, since Tom's always silent?), before Tom picks up his marker and writes, hesitantly, I grew up in an orphanage, a Muggle orphanage. My mother died giving birth to me, my father left before I was born.
Harry nods once, because there's nothing really you can say to that.
I know a few spells, Tom writes, an obvious change of topic. Would you like me to teach you?
Harry can feel a grin slowly emerging. "Really? Would you?"
Tom is without a doubt the best teacher Harry's ever had - a fact everyone, even the pre-war gen who had a formal magical education, agrees with. But more than that, Harry finds himself seeking out Tom's company, because there's something about him, something that makes Harry end up smiling after every conversation, that makes him feel kind of warm on the inside whenever Tom smiles-
"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione says, when Harry asks her about it. "You've got a crush."
"A… crush?" Harry frowns. "Like, a romantic thing? No, that can't be right, I don't-"
Hermione rolls her eyes: "Whatever you say, Harry."
"Plus, he's a mirror," Harry adds. "It's not like we could ever be together or anything."
"…I'm so sorry, Harry."
Harry smiles, somewhat forced. "For what? It's fine, it's nothing."
They've gotten kind of comfortable, in their new hideout in the abandoned mansion complex with Tom's mirror, in these past two months, which, in hindsight, should've been a red flag. Because seven weeks after Harry meets Tom-
"Hunters," Hannah shouts, spinning into existence, voice echoing through the mansion. "Searching the buildings, two blocks away."
"Premise seven-thirteen - hide all evidence!" Harry orders, as the building springs into motion. "Regroup at the second point, midnight tonight!"
What's going on? he sees Tom write on the surface of his mirror.
"Mundanes," Harry answers. "They're searching the nearby buildings, so we're evacuating."
Will you be back?
"…Maybe," Harry offers. "It- it depends, on how safe we find the building. You know. I- I'm sorry."
Not your fault, Tom scrawls immediately.
"We could take you with us-?"
No. Leave me here.
"Why-?"
I can spy on the Muggles mundanes for you. Let you know whether they suspect you're here.
Harry breathes out deeply, then nods slowly. "Alright. You won't be in danger?"
Tom shakes his head. I can hide, and this mirror will just look like any other. There are also other safeguards - they can't hurt me.
Harry doubts it, because bombs, but nods. "I'll come back for you. And if it's not safe, I'll take you with us."
You won't be able to, Tom writes slowly. The safeguards - feather-light charms, shrinking charms, Apparation, none that will work. Promise me you won't waste your time. Promise. He underlines the word three times.
"I-"
For the sake of your magicals, Harry. For the sake of you. Don't make me responsible for your death - for your magicals' deaths, what do you think will happen if they catch you? Are you willing to watch Hermione die, because of you? What about Ron? Ginny? Nev-
"Okay! I promise, I won't- won't try to take you along. But I will come back for you. At some point. Just- just promise you'll be there."
I will wait for you, Harry. Always.
When Harry Apparates back into Tom's room, fifteen hours later, there's one word written on the mirror's surface: ИUЯ.
Winter Seasonal Challenges
Days of the Year & Religious Events: December 31st - Make Up Your Mind Day: Write about someone having to make a decision.
Black History Month: Martin Luther King, Jr.: Write about the face of a movement.
Penguin Awareness Day: Northern Rockhopper Penguin: (emotion) bewildered
Colours: Pine Green
Crystals & Gemstones: Nephrite Jade: (emotion) Confident
Tarot Reading: Eight of Wands: Write about something urgent that can't wait
Slytherin Characters: Tom Marvolo Riddle
Slytherin OTPs: Tom/Harry
But Can You Spell It? A - (word) Always
Writing Club: February
Character Appreciation: Trait: Protective
Record Collection: Don't Turn Around, Aswad: Write about watching someone walk away.
Book Club: Imogen: (trait) shy, (plot point) lying to someone, (emotion) hesitant
Showtime: Six: (genre) friendship
Amber's Apothecary: (color) green
Liza's Loves: Paladin - Trait: Good
Angel's Archive: Y - (emotion) Yearning
Sophie's Serial Killers: Prompt: (word) Independent
Scamander's Case: (word) warning
Film Festival: (theme) Sacrifice
Lyric Alley: Something in the way you're looking through my eyes
The Forecast Says… 25th: Rain: Casting a spell
EnTitled: Bloody Mary - Plot Point: Feeling trapped - alt - Item: Mirror
Gen's World Tour: Akbar the Great - a Mughal emperor said to have practiced religious tolerance while ruling over both Hindu and Muslim territories - [prompt] Write about someone fighting for an important cultural change
Would You Rather? Break up your OTP OR write a happy ending for your NOTP?
You Get My Love: (task) Write your OTP
Stop! Hamper Time: Cakes: Words - Red Velvet Cupcakes: Tremble
Stickers Club: Marvolo Gaunt's ring - Setting: A secret hiding place
Resolution Evolution: Write - Write a fic in which a witch/wizard attends a school other than their canon school
Fantasy February: Day One - Every morning when you first look in a mirror, you see a small piece of advice for that day, such as "take the subway to work" or "don't try the free pizza". Today, the mirror simply says, "RUN."
365: (trope) mutual pining
Scavenger Hunt: Write a story over 1000 words
Fantastic Beasts: Limax - AU: War!AU
