At last, it was time for Christmas break to end, and lessons began again. On 12 January 1992, the Sunday after Epiphany, the group all met up again in London. They were all delighted to see each other for the first time in person since they had all parted ways on 15 December 1991. Everyone's parents also met up again and they chatted about everything, then after the children had left on the Hogwarts Express, they all went out for beer in the pub before returning home the next day. Not much catching up needed to be done, as everyone had made sure to keep in touch via magic mirror over the break, so everyone knew what was happening.
Everyone brought with them whatever presents they could (and still had, in the case of the edible presents), and quite a fun day was made of showing off each other's presents in the train. It was a long journey, as Hogwarts had to be reached via a split from the Far North and Kyle lines at Dingwall. The Start of Term feast was re-held, and it was a great day full of fun.
On the first night back, Harry decided to test out the invisibility cloak he had received. He had wanted to know what could be under that trapdoor encountered earlier in the year, so he decided to look it up in the restricted section of the library. He went in the middle of the night to the library and into the restricted section. He grabbed a book, which began to scream the moment he opened it, so he quickly put it back. Unfortunately, Mr. Filch heard this. Of course, Harry had the cloak on, so he couldn't be seen. Mr. Filch told Mr. Snape his suspicions, and they walked right past him without noticing.
Harry went into the room next to him. Inside he found a lovely mirror, with an inscription atop it: Erised s'traeh ruoy tub ecaf ruoy ton wohs I. He went to look at himself and saw nothing. Of course he didn't see anything, he was under the invisibility cloak. So he took it off, and again saw nothing. Confused, Harry went back to the Common Room, and told Ron what he had seen. The next night, after a full day of classes, Ron came with him, using the cloak of course, and when Ron got there, he actually saw something. He was a bit older, was wearing the Head Boy badge, and was holding the House and Quidditch cups. Unfortunately, they made such a noise that Mrs. Norris entered the room. It was at this point that the two decided to leave. Harry, after much pestering not to from the others, went back to the mirror the third night, but this time, Ms. Cackle was there as well.
Harry decided to back out of the room, but Ms. Cackle had heard him and asked he remove the cloak, which he did. "I see you have managed to find the Mirror Of Erised," Ms. Cackle observed thoughtfully. "So that's what it's called," replied Harry, clarity suddenly coming to him. "It shows us the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts," Ms. Cackle explained. "I see my sister Agatha, as she abandoned me in favor of the dark lord. Your friend, Mr. Ronald Weasley, sees himself as the best of his family, as he feels overshadowed by them. And, you seem to be quite selfless, my dear boy, as you don't see anything." Everything suddenly became clear to Harry. "I advise you not to come back here, Harry Potter," warned Ms. Cackle, "It does not do to dwell on dreams." Harry took this advice and went back to bed.