The Mirror of Erised
Christmas was around the corner. One morning in mid December, Hogwarts had woken up to see that it's all covered in several feet of snow. The lake was also frozen solid and the Merlon twins ended up being punished for bewitching several snowballs to follow Quirrell around and bounce off the back of his turban. Arthur was when it happened and he could've sworn he heard growling and hissing at one point.
The few owls that managed to battle through the stormy sky to deliver post were nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly again. Athena was one of them as Arthur used her to tell the Dentleys that he'll be spending the Christmas holidays at Hogwarts, which they were okay with, they'll just have to send his Christmas present to him.
Everyone was so looking forward for the holidays to start. Whilst the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires that provided warmth, the draughty corridors were bitter and icy thanks to wind and the cold. The worst of this were in Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where one's breath is like a mist and they'd keep as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.
"I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." Draco said aloud, looking over at Arthur. Both Crabbe and Goyle chuckled before Arthur fired back that he chose to stay at Hogwarts and that his relatives actually treat him as one of their own, making Draco look stupid, as he measured out powdered spine of lionfish.
Of course, Draco was becoming more unpleasant after Slytherin's loss at the Quidditch match. So disgusted that his house lost, he tried to get everyone to laugh at how a wide mouthed frog would be replacing Arthur as Seeker next. Though, no one laughed as they were impressed that Arthur hung onto his broomstick considering what it did. Seeing that he looked more stupid, as well as being jealous and angry, Draco just went to taunt Arthur that he didn't really have a proper family.
McGonagall came around the week before the holidays, making a list of students who would be staying at Hogwarts. Arthur signed up immediately, having already informed his relatives. He was excited to see what Christmas at Hogwarts was like. David and his brothers were also staying because their parents decided to go to Romania and visit Kenny.
When they left the dungeons once Potions ended, they saw a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet stuck out from the bottom and loud puffing can be heard, telling them that Hagrid was behind it.
"Hey, Hagrid. Want some help?" David asked, sticking his head through the branches.
"Nah, I'm alright, thanks, David."
"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Draco's cold drawl came from behind them.
"Are you trying to earn some extra money, Merlon? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." He continued on.
"My family's home just so happens to be much better than yours, Malfoy." David replied, seeing Snape come up the stairs, so glad that he didn't try and grab Draco.
"And what's wrong? Need your mommy and daddy to get through?" Arthur added, making Draco snarl before he and his cronies wordlessly push past the tree, scattering needles everywhere.
"Seriously… you'd think he'd come up with better insults and jokes than that." David said.
"Hey, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas. Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat." Hagrid said.
With that, Arthur, David and Chrys followed him and his tree to the Great Hall, where both McGonagall and Flitwick were busy with Christmas decorations.
"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree. Put it in the far corner, would you?"
To say that the Great Hall was spectacular would be an understatement. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and around twelve towering Christmas trees surrounded the large room, some would sparkle with tiny icicles and others would glitter with hundreds of candles. Arthur felt that this is what he imagined Christmas to be like in the magical world.
"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked the trio.
"Just one left. Which reminds me, Arthur, David, we have half an hour before lunch, so we should go to the library." Chrys said.
"Right." David replied after he looked at Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out from his wand and trailed them over the branches of the new tree.
"The library? Just before the holidays? Bit kee, aren't yeh?" Hagrid questioned, following them out of the Hall.
"Actually we're not working. We're just trying to figure some stuff out about Nicholas Flamel." Arthur replied casually.
"You what? Listen here, I've told yeh, drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'." Hagrid said, shocked that they're still going on about this.
"We're just wondering who Nicholas Flamel is." Chrys told him.
"Yeah. Unless you'd like to tell us and save us all the trouble of going through hundreds of books? Just give us a hint because I know I've read that name somewhere." Arthur added.
"I'm sayin' nothin'." Hagrid said flatly.
"Then we'll just have to figure it out ourselves, then." David noted before they left Hagrid, who looked disgruntled.
They've indeed searched through books for the name of Nicholas Flamel ever since Hagrid slipped it out. How else would they find out what Snape's planning to steal? The issue was that because they didn't know who Flamel was or what he accomplished, they devoured many books like Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century and Notable Magical Names of Our Time and yet couldn't find him in them. The same for any other books that covered recent magical accomplishments and developments. And there's tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of books in the many shelves and narrow rows.
It started making them think that perhaps Flamel isn't a modern wizard.
At one point, Arthur wandered over to the Restricted Section of the library, wondering if he was somewhere in there. However, he knew that you'd need a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look at any of the books in there. Those books contained powerful dark magic that is never taught at Hogwarts and can only be read by older students that are studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Arthur was able to avoid a confrontation with Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian.
Shortly after, the trio left the library, agreeing that they wouldn't ask Pince where they could find Flamel not just because they're sure she wouldn't tell them, but also because there's a chance Snape would hear what they're up to.
"You two will keep looking while I'm away, right? And make sure to send an owl if you do find anything." Chrys said.
"And make sure to ask your parents if they know anything about Flamel. It is safe to ask them, right?" David asked.
"Very since my mom owns a bookstore and my dad's a dentist." Chrys replied.
Once the holidays started, the boys had too good of a time that Flamel was at the back of their minds. They had the dormitory to themselves, along with Mike McGonagall, and the common room was emptier than usual, so they'd get to sit on the couch facing the fireplace. The two would sit by the hour eating what they could spear with a toasting fork, whether it's bread, crumpets, marshmallows etc…. They even plotted various ways to see if they could get Draco expelled, which they just enjoyed, simply to have fun with their fantasies.
The two even played wizard chess. It was exactly like Muggle chess but the chess pieces were alive, making it feel more like directing troops into battle. David's set was really old and battered, which he said added character, which once belonged to his grandfather. He also knew the chess pieces so well that he didn't have trouble getting them to do what he wanted.
Arthur went to bed on Christmas Eve night, extremely excited for the next day for all the food and fun, even the presents, knowing he'd at least get one from the Dentleys. So when he woke up the next morning, he was stunned seeing the small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.
"Happy Christmas." Both David and Mike said as they woke up. All three boys then put on their dressing gowns. Of course Arthur's pile isn't as big as David's or Mike's but he didn't mind.
He picked up the parcel on top of the pile. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled on it was To Arthur, from Hagrid. He unwrapped it to see that he got a roughly cut wooden flute, which Hagrid whittled himself. When he blew it, it sounded a lot like an owl, which Athena, who was there, responded to with a howl.
He then took the next parcel, which came from the Dentleys. He knew because of the note that read: We've struggled but managed to find something. Happy Christmas from Uncle Nicholas, Aunt Patty and Deacon.
He opened it up and saw that they got him a scarlet sweater that had the letter 'A' on it. There was also a pattern of yellow lions on it, having informed what house he's in.
"That's nice." Mike said, looking at, seeing that it was made with high quality wool. Arthur took his dressing gown off and put it on. Arthur then noted all the other packages.
"Any idea who sent these?" He asked David and Mike.
"That one there's from me." Mike said, pointing at a small box wrapped in purple paper. Arthur was surprised by this. He decided to open it next and saw that it was a candle with red and yellow wax.
"It's a magical candle. The different waxes have different scents and the smoke can form shapes." Mike explained, hoping Arthur liked it.
"Thanks… it's a nice gift." Arthur finally said after examining it in silence. This made Mike smile happily.
"I know who sent that parcel. That's from my mum. I told her that you may not expect that many presents." David pointed at the medium sized parcel. David had one himself and so they opened them at the same time and they each got homemade pumpkin pasties and books. Arthur got a book about the history of Merlin and David got a book that was all about his favourite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons.
Arthur's next present came from Chrys, who gave him a box of Chocolate Frogs, knowing he liked them and that he's growing his collection of cards.
This left one parcel left. When Arthur picked it up, he found that it was very light and loose, clearly a piece of clothing. He then unwrapped it, causing something fluid and silvery grey to fall out, gleaming. Both David and Mike gasped.
"No way." David said quietly, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans Chrys got him.
"If that's what it seems to be, those are really rare and valuable." Mike added, staring in awe.
"What? What is it?" Arthur asked them, clueless about what's so special about what seems to a cloak. He grabbed it and it felt strange, as though water was woven into the material.
"It's an Invisibility Cloak. Try it on." David said. Arthur threw the cloak on instantly, liking the idea of an Invisibility Cloak.
"It is! Look down!" Both David and Mike shouted. He looked down to his feet, only to see that they were gone. Wanting a better look, he made his way to the mirror. In his reflection, he saw his own head suspending in mid air, his body completely invisible. He then pulled the Cloak over his head and saw his reflection vanish entirely. This was just incredible. Who gave him the Cloak?
"Hey, there's a note." David suddenly said, bending down and grabbed said note. He handed it to Arthur, who pulled the Cloak off. The note was written in narrow, loopy handwriting, which he had never seen before. It read:
Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you.
There wasn't a signature, which made Arthur wonder who sent it to him. He was also shocked, now knowing that he just got a family possession.
Before anything else can be said or done, Jack and Kevin burst through the dormitory door. Arthur hid the Cloak, not really feeling like sharing it with anyone else yet.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Hey, look, Kev, Arthur's got some pasties and a book as well." Jack pointed out. Sam then entered, looking more relaxed than he normally did.
"Nice sweater, Arthur." He said.
"Thanks." Arthur nodded.
"I like being a Prefect and all, but it's nice to take a break with family and friends." Sam then said, pretty much making an open invitation to have fun for the day. And everyone accepted it.
Arthur may have had Christmas dinners before, but none were as delicious or as fulfilling as this one. There were a hundred fat roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of fat chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the tables.
The crackers were so unlike Muggle crackers with plastic toys and flimsy paper hats. When Arthur pulled one with Mike, it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon would and engulfed the two with a cloud of blue smoke, which from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and live white mice.
Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and chuckled at a joke Flitwick had read.
Flaming Christmas puddings followed after the turkey. Sam actually nearly broke a tooth from a Silver Sickle that was embedded in his slice, which everyone found funny, even Sam himself laughed at his own misfortune.
Arthur then noticed Mike was watching the High Table and so he looked to see Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face, calling for more wine. He then kissed McGonagall on the cheek, who giggled and blushed, her top hat lop sided. Arthur looked to Mike, who looked mortified. He couldn't blame him. He'd feel the same if something like that happened to his mum.
By the time they left the table, Arthur had a whole stack of things from the crackers which included a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a grow your own warts kit and even his own wizard chess set. All of the white mice had all disappeared, leaving to think dark thoughts that they became Mrs Norris' Christmas dinner.
Arthur, the Merlons and Mike all spent an incredibly fun afternoon having a brutal snowball fight in the grounds. By the end of it, they all became cold and wet, gasping for breath before returning to the common room where they all became dry and warm again.
Arthur decided to break in his new chess set and was able to beat David for the first time.
After they all had tea, which consisted of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle and Christmas cake, everyone felt so full and sleepy that they all went to bed.
It had to have been the best Christmas Arthur ever had, which says a lot considering how Christmas is like with the Dentleys. But a thought started nagging at the back of his mind about the Invisibility Cloak and whoever sent it.
After both David and Mike drew the curtains of their four poster beds over and fell asleep, Arthur pulled the Cloak out from under his bed. All he thought of as he touched it was that it had once belonged to his father. He also thought of what the note said as he ran his hands over the material, smoother than silk and light as air: Use it well.
Being wide awake, he may as well use it now. He realised that he can pretty much travel throughout all of Hogwarts with this Cloak and avoid being caught by Filch. So he slipped out of bed and wrapped the Cloak around himself and crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, through the common room and climbed out of the portrait hole.
"Who's there?" The Fat Lady squawked. Arthur didn't say a word as he just quickly made his way down the corridor.
He decided to go to the Restricted Section, where he can now read for as long as he likes and try to find anything on Nicholas Flamel. So he set off, keeping the Cloak tightly around him.
Upon arriving at the library, he found it to be much more eerie at night as it was pitch black and the shelves were barely outlined. He ended up lighting a lamp to make his way through the rows of books. Of course, the lamp looked like it was floating in mid air, making it look creepy.
He eventually made it to the back of the library, where the Restricted Section was located. He stepped carefully over the rope that separated the books from the rest of the library, lamp held high so that he could read the titles.
They, however, didn't really tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters that were spelled in languages that he couldn't understand. Some didn't even have titles at all. One book even had a dark stain on it that Arthur suspected was blood, which made him feel queasy.
And the most creepy part, that made the hairs on the back of his stand, was that Arthur could swear he heard some books whispering.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he had to start at random. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked through the bottom shelf until his eyes landed on a large black and silver volume. He pulled it out, with great difficulty though, because it was heavy and balancing it on his knee, he opened it.
This resulted in a pierce, blood curdling shriek to end the silence. The book was actually screaming! Arthur snapped it shut instantly, though the shriek went on and on as a high, unbroken, ear splitting note. Arthur scrambled his feet, knocking over his lamp, which went out.
He then heard footsteps coming his way from the corridor outside. Filled with panic, he stuffed the book back on the shelf and then ran for it. He stopped when Filch entered the library. Seeing that he was heading right at him, Arthur went in a gap, watching the caretaker walk past him. Once he was far enough from him, he exited the library and streaked down the corridor, still having the book's shrieks ring in his ears.
He realised that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going when he found himself in front of a suit of armour. And because of how dark it was, he couldn't recognise where he was.
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library. Restricted Section."
Arthur, for the first time, felt the blood drain from his face. He knew that Filch knew various shortcuts throughout the school as he heard his soft, greasy voice getting nearer. And to make things worse, Snape's voice replied.
"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."
Arthur stood absolutely still as the two came around the corner ahead of him. Of course, they couldn't see him, but because it was a narrow corridor, they'd knock into him if they came closer.
With this, he backed away quietly. He then saw a door standing ajar to his left. Taking this chance, he squeezed through it, holding his breath to not move the door and managed to get inside the room without them noticing, much to his relief.
Arthur watched them walk past and then he leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths as their footsteps died off. That was so close.
After a few more seconds, he started noticing that the room he hid in was a disused classroom, based on the dark shapes of desks and chairs piled against the walls. He then looked to his right to see something propped against the wall and it was clearly put there to keep it out of the way.
A magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame stood on two clawed feet. He walked up to it, noting an inscription carved across the top that read: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. He narrowed his eyes in confusion until he finally figured that it was all backwards, so it read: I show not your face but your hearts desire.
Feeling his panic of being caught faded, he stepped much closer to the mirror and instead of seeing his normal reflection, he saw something that made him clap his hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. What he is seeing is a crowd of people standing behind him. He turned to look behind him, confirming that the room was empty.
He then looked back at the mirror, seeing that the crowd of people in the reflection had over ten people. Both a man and woman stood right behind him in the reflection. The woman was gorgeous with long dark red hair and green eyes. The exact same green eyes as his, down to the same bright shade and shape. She seemed to be crying as she was smiling.
The man was tall and had short black hair. He had his arm around the woman. What Arthur noticed was that the man's hair was just as untidy as his.
He finally realised who they were and started crying.
"Mom… dad…" He whispered. They nodded, still smiling at him. He then looked at the faces of all the other people in the mirror, each of which had different features that resemble his, like his nose or his knees. Two stood out that looked like they were from mediaeval times, both having the same exact sword.
Arthur was looking at his family, for the first time in his entire life. Every single one of them smiled and waved at him, the two mediaeval figures bowing, and this made the boy fall to his knees, still crying. He pressed his hand against the glass, feeling so close yet not really.
He didn't know how long he was there for but when a distant noise rang out, he was snapped out of staring at the mirror. He couldn't stay there. So he whispered that he'll be back and got the Cloak before heading back to the dormitory.
"You could have woken me up, you know." David said, both upset yet not really, after Arthur told him of what happened last night with the mirror.
"Well, you can come with me tonight. I'm going back there." He assured him.
"I'd like to see your mum and dad." David then said. This made Arthur remember the inscription on the mirror.
"Yeah, well, I don't think you will. I'm sure that the mirror shows one's deep desires." He corrected him.
"Oh… well, I'm still curious to see the mirror." David shrugged.
After what he saw in the mirror, Arthur lost his appetite, barely eating his breakfast. He had just seen his parents and was going to see them again. He nearly forgot about Flamel, as though it wasn't important anymore. Why would he care what the three headed dog was guarding? Why would he care about what Snape was planning to steal?
"Hey, are you alright?" David asked, concerned for his friend upon seeing his face expression.
With both him and David under the Cloak, they walked slowly when nighttime came to go to the mirror. They first went to the library and retraced Arthur's steps, which took around an hour. Eventually, Arthur spotted the suit of armour.
"We're close." He whispered. They then reached the door, opened it and dropped the Cloak as they reached the mirror. Arthur, of course, saw his parents beaming upon seeing him.
"I only see us." David said, confused. Arthur then realised that only one person per time could see their desires. So he stepped aside, leaving David on his own facing the mirror.
David then found himself transfixed at his image.
"What do you see?" Arthur asked as his friend was speechless.
"It's me… but I'm older… and I'm successful. I'm an author of numerous books. And I'm surrounded by my family, proud that I've done something on my own." He explained. Arthur remembered how David sometimes expressed how he'd like to write books later in life.
Before either of them said another word, a sudden noise from outside in the corridor made them throw the Cloak over them. And just in time, too, because Mrs Norris' luminous eyes came round the door. They stood quite still, holding their breaths as the cat looked in the room for ages before leaving.
"Let's get out of here in case she's going to Filch." David whispered, leading Arthur out of the room.
All of the snow still hadn't melted the following morning.
"Do you want to play some chess, Arthur?"
"No…."
"Want to go to Hagrid's?"
"You go…."
"Look, I know what you're thinking about, Arthur. Don't go back to the mirror." David warned him.
"Why?"
"I just have a bad feeling about it. Plus there's been too many close calls already with Filch, Snape and Mrs Norris. You won't be lucky forever."
"Whatever."
"Please… just don't go."
Arthur just ignored him, knowing that he'll go back to that mirror and nothing, not even his best friend, could stop him.
On the third night, he was able to get to the mirror much more quickly than before. He moved so fast he made more noise than he should but he didn't see anyone.
In the mirror, he saw his mum and dad smiling at him once more, with one of his grandfathers nodding happily. One of the mediaeval figures appeared as well. Seeing him more clearly, Arthur saw that he had long hair and a long beard, wearing all red. He bowed like before with a smile that radiated pride and joy.
Arthur felt like he could stay here all night to look at his family.
"So… back again, Arthur?"
He felt like every fibre of his body had been frozen solid as he turned around to see that sitting on one of the desks by the wall was Dumbledore. He must've been so desperate to be back to the mirror that he walked past him without noticing.
"I-I didn't see you, sir." He said, his head hung low.
"Strange how short sighted being invisible can make you." Dumbledore said, making Arthur look up, relieved to see that the Headmaster was smiling.
"So you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised." The older man said, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Arthur.
"I wasn't aware it was called that, sir."
"But I expect you've realised by now what it does?"
"It showed my desire for my family."
"And it showed your friend David himself as a successful author." This shocked Arthur, seeing that he knew of this.
"But how?"
"I don't need a cloak to become invisible." Dumbledore said casually. The two were silent, looking at the mirror for a bit.
"And to think, the happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is." Dumbledore stated, demonstrating how the mirror works much more clearly.
"Those that look into the mirror show us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. David Merlon, who wants to prove himself capable of doing things on his own, sees himself standing there, his family proud of his accomplishments. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible." Dumbledore then explained further.
"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Arthur, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?" He then said. Arthur nodded. Hearing these words from him made Arthur finally come to his senses, realising that he was indeed wasting his life away, just to see his family. He felt so disappointed in himself.
He nodded and then stood up. But he stopped halfway to the door.
"Sir, is it okay if I ask you a question?"
"Obviously, you've just done so. You may ask me one more thing, however." Dumbledore smiled.
"What is it you see when you look into the Mirror?"
"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks." Dumbledore replied, making Arthur stare at him.
"One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books." He then said.
Once Arthur made it back to his bed, he considered that Dumbledore didn't really give him a truthful answer. Though he wasn't surprised since he did ask a personal question.
Alright, this chapter helps set up something that will occur in the next entry of this series. Won't say what but if you're a huge Potter fan, you'll probably take a good guess. I, of course, won't say anything until the reveal happens.