The 3rd floor corridor.
It's time for the children to get the stone.
"Right, one final check before we leave." Vida said as she held up a list.
Vida, Layla, Harry, Matilda, and the spectral form of Aria were in the room of requirements, getting ready to go to the third floor corridor and retrieve the stone.
"The Marauder's map we got from Sirius," Vida said.
"Check." Harry said, holding up a piece of parchment.
"Runes,"
"Check." said Matilda, holding a handful of rocks with symbols engraved on them.
"Weapons,"
They all held up their wands.
"Check." Vida said.
"Emergency teleportation crystals,"
Each of them held up a crystal from around their neck that would give them a one-way trip to Muse academy if they got into too much trouble.
"Check." Layla said.
After they made sure they had everything they needed they started to sneak their way through Hogwarts until they reached the door on the third floor corridor.
"Remember, don't use magic unless we have to. The conventional way is less likely to be traced back to us and getting us caught." Vida said.
Layla knelt slightly at the door and withdrew some medal rods, which she then proceeded to use to pick the lock on the door, after they heard a satisfying click she put them away. They quietly opened the door and Vida took a peak inside.
"There's a Cerberus in there." Vida whispered after she withdrew her head. "It's sleeping, but not for long if we go in. Quick, what do we know about them?"
"In Greek mythology the original Cerberus was put to sleep by music getting played to him." Harry said.
"Right. Once we go in we'll put a silencing rune on the door, then Layla can play her violin." Vida said.
Layla nodded and took a bead off her own charm bracelet, which turned into a violin and bow. The group quietly entered the room and quietly closed the door, Vida and Layla laying the silencing runes in front of it to stop any sound escaping. The Cerberus stirred but fell back into a deep sleep as Layla started playing a soothing melody on the violin.
"Now what?" Harry asked.
"There, under his paw." Matilda pointed to a trap door under the Cerberus' paw.
"Help me move it." Vida said.
The three gently lifted the paw up and off the trap door and opened it to reveal darkness. Harry took out a torch and shone it down to reveal a plant that moved on it's own.
"If this is meant to stop us it has to be dangerous, but what is it exactly?" Vida asked.
"I think it's devils snare." Matilda said after a moment. "If I remember what the book on it said correctly, it hates bright light and warmth."
"My time to shine." Vida joked.
Vida took out her want and converted it back to its original staff form. She pointed it at the plant and concentrated, the staff emitted pure light and the plant shrivelled away.
"Come on, before it can grow back." Vida said.
Vida jumped down the hole followed by Harry and Matilda, Layla following last after she stopped playing and closed the trap door behind her before the Cerberus woke up.
"Do you hear that?" Vida asked as her fox ears, under the enchantment that concealed them, picked up on a sound. "It sounds like fluttering."
The group came across another door where they heard the same sound that Vida could. They opened the door to reveal a room with a high ceiling, flying around the rafters were hundreds of keys with wings.
"What the…" Vida said.
The children spotted another door on the other side of the room but found it locked.
"Do they expect us to get one of those keys to unlock the door." Matilda asked.
"Dumbledore was really counting on whoever comes down here not being very smart or only knowing the wizarding way of doing things." Layla commented as she once again picked open the lock.
The next room had a giant chess set in it, and when the group tried to cross it to get to the door on the other side the pieces came to life a blocked the way.
"Now we're expected to play a giant game of chess?" Harry said as he shook his head.
The children combined their magic and removed all of the enchantments on the pieces so they were just statues.
Vida opened the door to the next room only to close it again as soon as she saw what was in it.
"At last we're presented a challenge," she said. "There's two trolls in there."
"How do we get past them?" Harry asked.
They all thought for a moment before Matilda clicked her fingers as she got an idea.
"Layla, Vida, think you can use your powers to get us through there?" Matilda asked. "Vida can make us invisible, and Layla can make us all intangible."
"I think I have enough energy to spread my power to all of us for the time needed." Layla said.
"I should be able to keep us all invisible." Vida said.
All the children joined hands and the Saxton sisters spread their powers to all of them.
"Let's hurry." Vida said.
The children ran, through the wall into the room inhabited by trolls, and eventually through the wall on the other side; the trolls had not seen them under Vida's illusion powers. As soon as they made it they separated hands and Vida and Layla started panting slightly in exhaustion.
"Are you two okay?" Harry and Matilda asked them.
"Just give us…a minute then…then we'll be okay." Vida answered as she tried to get her breathing under control.
"Using our powers like that is sort of like running as fast as you can for a long distance without warming up first." Layla explained since she spoke through her radio.
"You two get your breath back while we get through the next challenge." Harry said. "I wonder what it is."
As if by activated by his words, magical fire sprung from both of the door ways. The twins found a table with some liquids in some bottles and a parchment explaining the challenge.
"So, we either drink wine, poison or a potion that will allow us to go through the flames." Matilda concluded after reading the parchment.
Vida just took each of the bottles and smelled them, concluding which bottles held the wine, poison or potion with her sensitive nose. The group split the potion between all of them and walked through the flames. The room they entered seemed to be the final one; it was bare save for a mirror.
"A mirror?" Harry asked sceptically.
"Wait a minute," said Vida as she looked at the writing on the frame of the mirror. "I think this is the mirror of Erised."
Layla nodded at her sister's synopsis.
"The mirror of Erised?" asked Harry.
"Yes. It's meant to show a person's hearts desire when they stand in front of it. I actually was made by the Fae." Vida said. "Some Fae owed a king a dept so as payment for that debt he asked them to make something that would show him what ever he wanted, but, since Fae like to mess with humans when they don't state their deals straight, they made the mirror only show him what he wanted, not actually give him what he wanted."
"The king got rid of it and it's been popping up all over the place ever since, it appears that Dumbledore is the most recent person to own it." Layla said.
"But where's the stone?" Harry asked.
"Maybe it's hidden in the mirror." Matilda suggested.
"So, who wants to try it?" Harry asked.
The Saxton sisters shook their heads. "We already know our desires, we don't want to see them." they said with a hint of sadness in their voices.
"Together then?" Harry asked his sister as they held hands.
"Okay." she answered.
The twins stepped in front of the mirror with their eyes closed. When they opened them they were met with the sight of their mirror-selves standing alongside all three of the Saxton sister with their true forms showing, and their birth parents as well as Jenny and Sirius standing behind them. The reflections of the twins smiled and winked, then Matilda's reflection took a red stone out from her pocket and put it in the pocket of Harry's reflection, the real Harry then felt something appear in his pocket. Harry then searched his pocked and found the stone.
"Good, you've got it." Vida said as she and Layla walked over to the twins. "Now let's get…" she tailed off as she and Layla caught a glimpse of the mirror.
As if caught in a trance, the girls moved to they could fully see the mirror, deaf to Harry and Matilda talking to them. In the mirror they saw all three of their sisterhood, standing side by side and two adults just behind them. All three of the sisters had their Fae features showing in their full glory, Vida had both her eyes showing with her left one seemingly undamaged, Layla wore nothing around her neck because there was no scar over her throat to hide, and Aria looked as solid and real as her sisters with the tribal tattoos of her Fae form showing all over her body. The woman behind them was very beautiful and had youthful features, she had long white hair and red eyes. The man has handsome and had a kind and gentle face, he had short black hair and blue eyes.
The Saxton sisters didn't seem to notice they were crying as they looked upon their deepest desire.
Back in reality Harry and Matilda continued to try and wake Vida and Layla out of their trances.
"What's wrong with them?" Harry asked.
"I don't know." Matilda said. "It's like their statues and fixed to the floor." she tried and failed to Vida out of the way of the mirror.
"Right, we should teleport to the academy, hopefully the Muses will know what to do." Harry said. "Matilda, go back trough the challenges and make sure it looks like we were never here.
Matilda nodded and left to take back the runes left in the Cerberus' room, quickly re-grow the devil's snare, put the enchantments back on the chessboard, and refill the potions; thankfully the trolls had gone to sleep so she just needed to be quiet to get past them.
Meanwhile, with the Saxton sisters, they continued to watch the mirror until the woman gave mirror-Aria a gentle push while mouthing words to Vida, 'take your sister' she mouthed.
Vida walked forward and touched her hands to the glass, mirror-Aria doing the same and touching the same place. Then, the two curled their fingers and Vida's sunk into the mirror and they wrapped around mirror-Aria's, Vida then pulled on mirror-Aria's hands as she stepped back from the mirror, and mirror-Aria came out of the mirror. Once mirror-Aria fully came out of the mirror Vida felt the presence of the real Aria disappear from her body and mirror-Aria took a deep gasping breath. Vida would have panicked with Aria's disappearance if she didn't somehow know that her sister was now in front of her, finally having her own body again.
"Aria." Vida and Layla said together.
Aria smiled and went to take a step forward, only to collapse into Vida's arms since she wasn't used to walking.
"Oh, Aria, you're really here, we can finally touch you." Vida and Layla sobbed as they both hugged Aria.
While this was going on, Harry and Matilda, who had just got back from resetting all of the challenges, watched in amazement at the sight of the third Saxton sister having a physical form.
"Vida, Layla…Aria?" Matilda asked.
The twins were relieved to see the triplets respond to them, the triplets turning their heads towards them.
"I think we should teleport to Muse academy now, to turn in the stone and find out what's just happened with you three." Harry said.
The triplets smiled and nodded. They all took out their gems, and extra one going to Aria, and said the activation words. Just before they all disappeared in a flash of light, the triplets turned to the mirror of Erised and spoke to the two adults that were still there smiling at them.
"By, Mom, dad." they said.
Now that Saxton sisters are fully complete, Aria finally has a physical form. The idea for Aria coming out of the mirror goes to 'Penny is wise'.