Harry crept through Hogwarts under his cloak, he had applied his notice-me-nots to himself before applying the cloak and had long ago placed a layer of mithril under his shoes that completely stopped sound being made. The mithril forced a thin layer of air between Harry's feet and the ground so that Harry never physically made contact with the ground, it made him completely untraceable, he hoped.
He entered the library which was conveniently unlocked and stepped into the restricted section, he had already searched the rest of the library ever since Halloween and was disappointed to find that none of the books held what he was looking for. He quickly found a book that looked promising, the title was "Death and the Undying" he skimmed through the book and with disappointed realised it was only about making yourself immortal.
Replacing the book he found another, this one was about how to raise the dead as minions or puppets, again and again he picked out books on death and none gave any help on how to bring back the dead exactly as they were when they were alive.
Seeing a speck of magic he turned and saw nothing out of the usual, experimentally he extended his magic before him sensing that something was before him, his magic reported there was a dead spot that it could not be entered, he figured that dead spot would be an advanced invisibility spell.
"Wulfric?" He said, deepening his voice and hoping he was correct and it was indeed Dumbledore before him and not someone or something less kind.
"Harry" The voice replied, both remained invisible and neither spoke again, Harry kept looking through books on the dead and Albus watched him sadly. He did not stop Harry search as he clearly remembered that after his mother's and sister's deaths he had searched for ways to undo death tirelessly. He sighed deeply and carefully floated a his personal copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" over to Harry.
The boy took the book silently and read through it, he was going to ask the headmaster why he had given it to him only to realise the magical dead spot had gone. Sitting down Harry read the stories and realised they were children's stories, the pages on these sections seemed almost untouched and pristine.
The last story was the only evidence that this story had been read at all, "Tales of the brothers Three", around the main story where notes, dates and even locations that had been neatly written in the margins, some of the writing looked old and returning to the very first page Harry saw the book had been written and signed 1897 with a short message from the author
"To Albus, the truth is out there, the original book is a collection of stories I have found and updated to fit with a more modern audience, as per your request this book includes the original tales as I first originally heard them. Use It Well - Robert Galbraith"
Harry sat and read the short story, it appeared to just be a children's story like the others yet clearly it meant something important if Dumbledore himself had specifically requested the book with an unedited version, quickly searching the library he found a more recent version of the Beedle the Bard book and compared the two versions, this one called the final story "The tale of the three brothers".
At first glance there was no difference between the two stories aside from the words sounding older in the original, however on a closer inspection Harry finally found a difference, in the original version Dumbledore had given him it said the brothers asked Death for objects of death while the newer version had the brothers asking for objects to defy death. It seemed like a small change and both ended up with Death presenting the brothers with a wand, a stone and a cloak, Harry noticed Dumbledore had added an annotation right next to the line where the brothers received the items "The brothers did not thwart death", the word thwart had been underlined many times.
He spent many weeks obsessing over the two books, every time he read them and Dumbledore's cryptic notes he felt he was getting closer to understanding, the only other key difference he had found was the three brothers being named in the original. Antioch took the wand, Cadmus took the stone and Ignotus took the cloak, as was becoming common Dumbledore had added notes yet they made no sense, it was as if Harry was only reading half the note "Daughter took surname Grindel" but the question was whose daughter.
Another note further on in the book Dumbledore had written "Antioch had no sons" one night a very tired Harry grew angry at the vague and pointless notes and tried to clean away a scribble that covered the final word in the second to last note "Walter Prince and Hugh de Topfer, later translates to Hugh the -" it seemed younger Dumbledore had been displeased to find out what Topfer translated to, Harry held his hand over the book and tried to clear the ink from the book so he could read it clearly, he felt the book resist him however and rather than fade more words appeared.
Confused Harry scanned the book for magic, which he realised as it belonged to Dumbledore he should have done that from the start, now that he looked he realised the book was saturated with magic and every page seemed to be enchanted, he sent out a magical probe that Bathsheda had taught him, the book resisted but Harry forced it forward. he had to pull some magic from the mithril band he had started keeping on his forearm but finally broke through the barrier on the book.
Instantly the handwritten notes rearranged themselves and some words were added that weren't present before, Harry read the new message eagerly "Antioch had no son, but his daughter took the surname Grindel, name would be passed down till it became Grindelwald, Cadmus had a son, history tells us this. He disappears from history at the same time the family Gauntus appears, Slytherin related to Gauntus which had nearly died out until it became the Gaunt family, it was said after he left Hogwarts he searched for a ring to call forth the dead that was kept from him despite his birthright. Ignotus had many children, some illegitimate, all lines died out save two, Walter Prince and Hugh de Topfer, later translated to Hugh the Potter, both names fade into obscurity, Professor Sierra Potter most likely related."
Harry felt a weight drop in his stomach after reading that, he recognised the names Grindelwald and Slytherin, two of the most famous dark lords to exist but to see his own name, Potter, next to the names of such famous wizards not once but twice was disconcerting.
Harry started piecing together the puzzle that Dumbledore had left for him, Dumbledore had revealed he lost his sister around Harry's own age, most people said that Dumbledore was over a hundred years old and as the book was signed to Dumbledore 1897, almost a century ago, Harry suspected that this was shortly after his sister's death.
The battle between Grindelwald and Dumbledore was legendary and it was well known that Grindelwald craved magical objects, it was because of him that family heirlooms that had been closely guarded secrets before the war had been leaked to the general public, that had angered both the light and dark families who joined arms to fight Grindelwald.
Was it too much of a stretch to say that the three objects of Death were real? If only he had family alive so that he could ask if they knew of the Cloak that had apparently been passed down father to son… a cloak such as the one his father had passed on to him, the very cloak he now wore, a cloak that absorbed magic in a way he had only ever seen with his own mithril, even the material of the cloak was slightly metallic looking.
If his Cloak were made of mithril, or something incredibly similar, it would explain why it still worked flawlessly if it had been used by his father when he was in school, it would even explain why it absorbed magic and according to magic his cloak did not exist. He and Bathsheda had cast every identification spell they knew and every last one of them told the two that the cloak did not exist, they had even cast the person revealing spell when he was hidden under his cloak the spell told Bathsheda she was the only person within the room.
If the Cloak was real then that meant the Stone and Wand were real too, according to Dumbledore's notes Slytherin certainly believed the Stone was real and as Dumbledore had written the notes and given him the book it was a fair assumption Dumbledore believed in them too. Assuming Dumbledore was correct in believing Grindelwald was related to Antioch did that mean Grindelwald had the Wand? Or as the Wand was stolen in both versions of the story did that mean Grindelwald was searching for the Wand by raiding other family heirlooms and never found it? Surely if Grindelwald had possessed an unbeatable wand, it would have been huge news.
Looking down at his cloak he absentmindedly stroked it and tried to look at it with his mage sight, it had been resisting his sight which had never happened to him before, but Harry had previously not paid it any mind and let his gaze move elsewhere, putting the confusion out of mind, now however he concentrated on the cloak and forced himself to really look at it, he felt the compulsion to look away but now he knew it was there he fought it, he felt something give and suddenly he could see the Cloak like never before.
It was beautiful, the magic seemed to be empty and yet full at the same time, its magic was black but spotted with pinpricks of light like stars, it reminded Harry of looking at the night sky, moving the cloak he noticed the pattern was static, the stars remained fixed and when the cloak moved it was as if the lights moved with the Cloak to keep their position.
The Cloak was like a window into magic rather than the magic making up the Cloak, he had never seen anything like this before. Except for that one time he had gotten a glance at Dumbledore's wand…
Harry walked the corridors, he still researched ways to undo death but feared that he would not find a way anytime soon, the only artifact even rumoured to actually bring back the memories of the bed was the resurrection stone which Harry knew was the Stone in the Tales of Brothers Three.
He had not approached Dumbledore about the story but had looked into the families in the notes, the last of the Gaunt's had died in Azkaban over a decade ago, he had come across an Eileen Prince graduating Hogwarts in 1957 but she seemed to disappear into the Muggle world, the Grindelwald line seemed to have died with Gellert although apparently he had a sister that was mentioned briefly in a book telling the story Grindelwald in the Library.
He had unearthed another note from Dumbledore's books that said Ignotus' grave was located in Godric's Hollow and Cadmus' grave was located in Great Hangleton, Dumbledore also wrote about trying to find Antioch's grave, it seemed each brother had been buried in different countries, Ignotus in Wales, Cadmus in England and Antioch was reportedly murdered and buried in Scotland, however nobody has ever found his grave.
Some suspected he was buried near Hogsmeade as Godric's Hollow remained one of the largest magical communities in Wales while Great Hangleton used to be a large magical community before a battle had killed most of the magical families, the Gaunts where the last magical family to reside in the town by the turn of the 19th century.
Dumbledore had speculated that it wouldn't make sense for Antioch to be buried in Hogsmeade as Ignotus' descendants had still lived in Godric's Hollow when Dumbledore had written his notes and the Gaunts were suspected to be descended from Cadmus in Hangleton, Antioch seemed to have no direct relation to Hogsmeade, it might make sense for Cadmus to have been buried there as it had been Slytherin who had made Hogwarts and he was Cadmus' descendant, not Antioch's.
Harry was pulled from his musings when Mrs Norris hissed at him, turning he saw her sitting at the end of the corridor, tail swishing as she hissed, Harry shushed her only and she started to meow loudly, Harry heard Filch running towards him and quickly entered the room closest to him, he pulled out his wand and tapped it to the lock and placing the strongest locking charm he knew.
Fortunately Filch walked away and so his locking charm did not get put to the test, Harry turned to look around the room he had entered, it was bare except for a large gilded mirror, there seemed to be some writing along the top in a language Harry did not know, the only word that stuck out was Erised, Bathsheda had mentioned a mirror of Erised Christmas day and here was a mirror with the word Erised carved into it.
Stepping closer Harry wanted to see what power this mirror possessed, Bathsheda hadn't mentioned it and he hadn't thought to ask, he unfastened the invisibility cloak and opened it at the front to make himself visible, he had sat in front of the mirror all night and only when sunlight broke through the dusty windows did Harry rise and leave.
Every night he returned to gaze into the mirror, Bathsheda noticed his lack of concentration but he refused to share why, she had tried to follow him one night but he had led her around the school before slipping away unnoticed back to the mirror on the other side of the school, she never admitted to following Harry and Harry never brought it up, finally one night Harry entered the mirror room and immediately noticed the magical dead space at the back of the room.
"Wulfric" He said politely, he had decided that in all matters private and secretive he would refer to the headmaster by his alias.
"Harry"
Dumbledore did not seem to want to talk further so Harry sat before the mirror, he felt with his magic Dumbledore move and join him in front of the mirror
"I trust you have worked out how it works by now?"
"It shows our desire, it also has a mild compulsion to keep looking, I had never thought of protecting something by drawing attention to it before."
"Protecting?"
"This mirror glows like the items of death, or at least like my Cloak and your Wand, I can't speak of the Stone yet." he felt Dumbledore stiffen and heard the sharp intake of breath
"It's different though, with the Cloak the pattern quite literally hidden, it is also static and the Cloak moves around it, this means the Cloak's signature is everywhere but can only be seen when looking through the physical representation of the Cloak, I think that is how it is so perfectly hidden, if you search for magic inside a ward the ward does not appear, in a sense everything is within the Cloak as if under a gigantic, world sized ward.
"With the Wand at first I thought it had no pattern but now I think I was wrong, everything magical has to have a signature and a pattern, I think the Wand has the inverse of a true pattern, any witch or wizard of sufficient strength can use it as their magic will override the inverse making it an exact replica of their own magic. The colour of a witch or wizard generally matches their wand's colour, Bathsheda is kind of purple and her wand is dark magenta, mine is green and my wand is dark green, I find it fitting I only see your magic as see-through grey and your wand is clear…"
Harry paused and took a deep breath, his reflection grinned at him, urging him to continue "While the magic of the wielder of the Wand overrides the inverted magic of the Wand it is a two way share, the inverted magic runs under the wielder's magic, corrupting them more every time they use the Wand until all that is left is the Wand. With the mirror I think it is similar to my original assessment of the Wand in that it has no true pattern of its own but reflects every pattern put upon it… the mirror doesn't actually show your desire, it's far more crueler, it shows what could have been…"
Harry said all this while his eyes remained glued to the mirror, within the reflection Hermione smiled back, beside her was himself as he wished he was and then his parents behind the two. He had chosen to ignore his mirror self, he figured it would be seen as wrong to fear your deepest desire but didn't fear his mirror self… he feared how the mirror self could so easily be him if he chose to ignore his friends.
He and Dumbledore sat and watched their reflections, neither spoke but they didn't need to speak either, it would be strange for an onlooker to see them, two wizards, one so very old while the other was so very young, both looked into the mirror and the mirror stared back, both were wise enough to know the mirror did not foretell the future and both were powerful enough to break the compulsion yet still they looked on, at their desire, at their regret and at themselves.
One saw himself young and optimistic while the other saw himself mature and knowledgeable, finally Dumbledore broke the silence "I came to tell you the mirror will be moved, I had also hoped to teach you about the mirror, yet it seems it is you teaching me" he gave a dry chuckle
"I think you are being too kind Professor, if what you say is true then I only know more as I am not wise enough to leave such secrets alone"
"Wisdom is not measured in how much someone knows but in how much they listen… and I fear I listen far too little."
"If someone can't learn to do something well, they should learn to enjoy doing it badly." Harry said wisely
"Indeed… I can't help but wonder what that has to do with the conversation?" Dumbledore said confused
"I thought we were trading quotes" Harry said shrugging "And you say you listen to little yet you were paying enough attention to me to get confused." At that Dumbledore started chuckling which turned into a full laugh, the door burst open and Filch stuck his head inside, immediately Dumbledore froze, Filch looked around the seemingly empty room in confusion before shutting the door slowly and walking away confused, Harry shot a silencing spell at the door and the moment it was in place Dumbledore began laughing again, Harry chuckled along, letting Dumbledore finish at his own pace.
Recovering from his fit of laughter, Dumbledore asked Harry "You are certainly wiser than you give yourself credit for, Harry"
"I'm just repeating quotes I heard when I was younger that thought sounded cool, I guess I'm also tired and that always makes me rather whimsical" Harry then stood slowly and reluctantly tore his eyes from the mirror "I'm going to head back to my dormitory, I need to look beyond my desires if I ever want to achieve them, I'll remind you headmaster that people have wasted away looking at it"
Dumbledore chuckled again and just before Harry left asked "In your reflection, is she content?"
Harry paused and finally nodded "She is, what about your reflection?"
"She is well… I just wish I had known her better so that I would not have to rely on hope and my desires"
"The dead do not loathe the living, look at the ghosts, they exist because they didn't want to die and yet they still do not hate the living and a man's worth is not measured in their desires but how they go about achieving it… Good night professor"
"I never asked, what is it the mirror is protecting?"
Slipping out of the room Harry only said "The Dead"
Robert Galbraith is the name of the author of the book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" which you can physically buy alongside the normal Harry Potter books… In case I was too vague Harry sees himself and his parents like cannon except he also has a living Hermione by his side while his own reflection is what he wishes he could be, he fears it because he knows to achieve his desire he must ignore his rules and morals, Dumbledore sees Ariana alive and well while a young and innocent version of himself talks to her and gets to know her.
Personally I really enjoyed writing this chapter and if you disliked it then I am sorry to say that chapters like this will slowly become more common as the story progresses.