Chapter 8

Harry woke up the next morning feeling exhausted, seeing his family in the mirror had made him dream about them and a part of the journal kept coming to his mind. His mum had mentioned Voldemort was after him because there was a prophecy saying he had the power to kill him, in the dream Harry kept hearing a hissing voice saying it was all his fault. Harry hadn't bothered to get out of bed and kept staring up at the ceiling as he kept thinking about the dream. Harry was pulled away from those thoughts when the curtains around his bed came open and he saw a blurred figure standing there.

Ron spoke "Hey Harry, are you ok, you're normally at breakfast already?"

Harry sat up and put on his glasses to see Ron standing there, Harry spoke "Hey Ron, I'm fine, I didn't sleep till late."

"Well here I brought you some food in case you were hungry."

Ron handed over the food he was holding, Harry seemed surprised and asked "Why did you save this for me?"

"Well you and Neville would save me some food whenever I overslept, I figured you were still asleep when I didn't see you at breakfast so I decided to save some for you."

Smiling, Harry thanked Ron for the distraction and started to eat, Ron sat on his bed and asked "So did you find out anything about Flamel last night?"

Harry swallowed before speaking "I didn't get the chance, Filch almost caught me so I quickly left, hopefully tonight I can find something."

The two talked for a while until Harry decided to go for a walk to clear his mind, he put on his new winter clothes and wrapped Hermione's scarf around him before leaving. Harry walked around the black lake as he was lost in his thoughts, he knew he needed to find out more about Flamel but he also felt tempted to return to the mirror. Harry kept thinking about his family, he wondered who those two men were, and he wondered why the mirror showed him all his friends. Harry kept thinking until he heard the sound of crunching snow and he saw Ron showed up.

Harry asked "Ron what are you doing here, I thought you were going to be in the common room?"

"I was but then Fred and George showed up with a certain look in their eyes and I knew I needed to be far away from them."

Harry chuckled at hearing that, the two started to walk around when Ron asked "So how are things going in the dueling room?"

Surprised at the question Harry answered "They've been going well, I've learnt a few spells we aren't taught in class yet and I've been practicing a new spell, do you want to see it?"

Ron nodded, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at a tree and said "Invisibilia pingere." Harry started to move his wand but nothing was happening, Harry soon stopped and asked Ron "Can you see anything?"

Ron shook his head and Harry pointed at the tree and said "Seen." Ron saw the words 'Harry was here' appear on the tree, he was amazed and asked "Where did you learn that spell?"

"I read about it in a book." It wasn't a lie since his dad mentioned it in the journal. Harry explained "The only person who can see the message is the person who cast the spell and the spell gives off no light so no one will know it's there unless I show it to others, I can change the color if I want and if I want to hide it I just need to do this, unseen."

The words vanished and Ron said "I can imagine what Fred and George could do with that spell."

Harry continued to show Ron some of the spells they were learning, he fired different colored sparks, conjured a bunch of bubbles, and even started to launch rocks and watch them skip across the lake. The two spent some time skipping rocks and seeing who could get the farthest until they both felt they were freezing so they went back inside. The two returned to the common room to warm up and once again Harry was pulled into a game of chess but he didn't mind.

Hedwig ended up arriving during lunch since she had to deliver many letters and brought a few back for Harry, Harry quickly untied the letters from her legs and thanked her before feeding her. Harry looked at the letters and saw they were from Daphne, Hermione, and Neville so Harry stored them away to read for later. Harry spent the rest of lunch talking with Fred and George, the conversation was about some of the pranks they've set up at night for their next class, Harry asked how did they avoid getting caught only for the twins to say it was a secret.

Lunch had ended and after returning to the common room Harry spent the rest of his time with Ron, he did tell Ron how he became friends with two more Slytherins and to his surprise Ron didn't make a big deal about it. While Ron still didn't trust any Slytherins he had been to the dueling room a few times to work on homework with them and he's listened to the helpful information Daphne and Tracey would say about the homework so he'd keep quiet about them. Ron had gotten Harry to play many games with him or even just walk around the castle and talk, Harry welcomed the distraction since his mind would wander back to the mirror.

It became late and everyone returned to their common room, Harry waited until it became dark and everyone was asleep before leaving for the library. Harry wandered the halls again but once again he started to think about the mirror, before Harry realized it he was on a path to the room with the mirror. Harry ended up arriving at the door that led to the mirror, even though he needed to go to the library he wanted to see the mirror again. Slowly he opened the door and peeked in and saw the mirror was still there, Harry was about to enter when he stopped, he wanted to show the mirror to Hermione, Neville, and Ron and Hermione was counting on him to find out about Nicolas Flamel. Harry stepped back and whispered to himself "Wait till they come back so I can show them." Harry closed the door and left for the library.

Harry arrived at the doors to the library and tried to walk in only for the doors to stay shut, Harry realized Filch must have locked it after yesterday so Harry pulled out his wand and cast "Alohomora." Harry tried to push the door open but to his surprise the door didn't budge. Harry knew he cast the spell correctly so why didn't it unlock? Harry cast the spell again and again but nothing happened. Realization hit him that the lock was magically resistant so he would either need the right spell to remove it or find the key and most likely Filch had it with him.

Not having anything else to do Harry returned to the tower, once he was back in his bed Harry started to think of a way for him to get into the library. Harry summoned the journal and turned to the list of spells his parents left for him, he flipped through and even though many of the tougher spells were blocked the description they gave could tell him which spell he'd need. Harry grew tired after a while and knew he needed to sleep, however he was worried he'd have another horrible dream like the last one, Harry decided to try something he hadn't attempted before.

Closing his eyes Harry used occlumency to bring up the memory of the mirror, he saw his family and those two men again so Harry focused on storing the memory away. Harry pushed it all to the back of his mind and instead brought up more recent memories of his friends. Harry hoped by doing this he won't end up dreaming about losing his family again.

The next morning Harry woke up feeling better, he didn't hear that same voice anymore or dream about his family. Harry got ready and went downstairs for a quick breakfast before heading back up to the dorm, he got out the journal and looked at the list of spells again. While some spells caught Harry's attention, he focused on finding the spell he needed for now. Harry got to the end of the list and hadn't found the spell he needed, however when he got to the end he saw something that caught his attention.

The last page was full of random numbers Harry couldn't figure out, Harry wondered if his mum was trying to create a new spell but he didn't know where to start. Closing the journal Harry decided to head for the library and try looking up magical security hoping it'll have something. Going through the common room Harry saw Ron was playing exploding snap with Fred and George and they somehow got Percy to join.

Harry arrived at the library and noticed Filch was standing nearby so Harry quickly entered the library in case Filch somehow found out he was the one who snuck in at night. Over the next few days Harry had gone through book after book to try and find the spell he needed to undo the charm that prevented him from unlocking the door but he hadn't been able to find anything, a few times Ron had joined him to help but they still hadn't found anything.

It was now Thursday and the students were returning on Saturday, Harry hadn't found anything yet and he even returned the night before hoping Filch decided to remove it but the door was still magically resistant. Harry grew bored going through so many books just to find one spell, because of this he ended up falling asleep and was woken up when he heard "Hey Potter!"

Harry sat up and looked around before noticing Lilian and Blaise were there, Blaise asked "You alright Potter?"

"Yeah, just lost my focus for a moment."

Lilian looked at the book he was reading and asked "Why are you looking up charmed locks?"

Not wanting to tell them the truth Harry spoke "I, uh, I wanted to see if alohomora would still work on them."

Blaise and Lilian wore looks that said they didn't believe him, Blaise spoke "Well to save you the trouble, no, locks that are made magically resistant against that spell tend to not be affected by that spell."

Harry gave a dull look and said "Thanks for the information."

Lilian spoke "While there is a way to remove that charm from the lock I can't remember how it's done, most of our classrooms have that charm on the door after curfew in case a student tries to break in to steal something or to play a prank, I know Filch has keys to those rooms."

Harry doubted he could take the key from Filch and even if he could Filch would find out before he has the chance to use it. Harry thought about it when suddenly he realized what Lilian said, the twins told him before on how they pulled pranks so they knew how to get past the locks. Harry stood up and thanked Lilian for the help before leaving, the two Slytherins looked at each other confused but decided to shrug it off.

Harry returned to the dorm and found Ron in bed reading a quidditch magazine, Harry asked "Ron have you seen Fred and George?"

Sitting up Ron answered "No, I saw them leave the common room earlier but they haven't come back yet, why do you want to know?"

"I think they know how to get past the charmed locks, they've told me how sometimes they set up pranks in classrooms the night before so they know how to unlock those locks."

Harry decided to wait until it was time for dinner since he knew the twins would be there, to pass the time Harry went to the dueling room to practice. Some time later Harry went to the great hall for dinner and saw Fred and George were already there, walking over Harry sat in front of the twins and asked "Fred, George, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing Harry, what do you need?"

Harry didn't try to guess which twin spoke, instead he asked "You two have told me before how you've snuck into classrooms before to play some pranks, I've been told that all the classroom doors are magically locked so I was wondering how do you two get into the classrooms?"

The twins smiled and one spoke "Are you planning on pulling some pranks?"

Harry decided to be honest with them "No, actually I need to sneak into the library at night to look for something."

The twins looked at each other and Harry could tell from their facial expressions they were having a silent conversation, soon one of the twins spoke "Alright, we'll show you when we return to the common room."

Harry thanked the twins and they all returned to their dinner, once dinner was over they all returned to the common room where Fred and George told Harry to wait while they went upstairs to retrieve something. A few minutes later the twins returned, one of them spoke "Alright Harry, we'll show you how to get past those locks."

Harry nodded, ready to learn whatever spell he needed, one of the twins reached into their pocket and pulled something out, he then handed it to Harry and Harry saw it was a hairpin. Harry looked up at the twins confused before one of them decided to explain "Normally to unlock those doors you either need to remove the spell that's been placed on them or find the proper key to unlock it."

The other twin continued "But most don't realize that while the locks are magically resistant to any unlocking spell they don't require the key if you know how to pick the lock."

"This is how we've been able to sneak into the classrooms, we've taught ourselves how to pick a lock back home so now we can open most locks."

Harry stared at the hairpin for a few moments, he spent so much time looking through the library trying to find the right spell when he could have tried picking the lock, he was starting to wonder if he's been relying too much on magic. When Harry was done berating himself in his mind he got the twins to teach him how to pick a lock, they had brought one for Harry to practice on. The twins showed Harry how to pick the lock and helped him practice for a while, they even went to the dueling room and locked it before trying to pick the lock and after a few tries he unlocked the door with the hairpin.

Returning to the common room Harry thanked the twins but one of them spoke up "Listen Harry if you're planning on sneaking out you should also know a spell that can help."

The other twin continued "Mrs. Norris will alert Filch if she finds you but there is a way to avoid her being able to follow you, we've learnt a spell that hides your scent so that cat can't follow you."

The twins showed Harry the spell and after some time to practice got the spell right, Harry thanked them again for their help before they left for their dorms. Harry waited until he knew everyone was asleep before leaving again, he covered himself with the cloak and cast the spell on himself before heading downstairs to the library. Harry soon arrived at the doors and pulled back the cloak and got out the hairpin, it took a few tries but Harry heard the doors unlock. Smiling, Harry entered the library and approached the restricted section, Harry soon decided to pick a random book to start reading, however before picking it he decided to cast the silencing charm on it.

Harry hoped the spell would work, picking out the book Harry opened it and was ready to hear a scream but nothing happened. Smiling to himself Harry started to read it, Harry saw the book was about deadly potions, he only read about one potion but the thought of it made him shiver. The description of the potion's effects were that three hours after adding the last ingredient the potion would begin to dissolve any organic material it came in contact with. Harry felt disgusted when the page mentioned how this potion could be added to someone's food to cause a terrible and painful death, he also read there was a spell that was meant to delay the effects of the potion long enough for an antidote to be administered.

Putting the book back Harry felt terrified at the idea of such a potion, he now knew why this was called the restricted section. Harry continued to silence and search through more books but the more he read the more he understood why these books were restricted, he read about a spell that can cause an intense burning to spread over a person's body before killing them, wards that are set up as traps to kill those that enter, and a potion that is meant to slowly paralyze a person before they are left still conscious but with no control of their body. Harry felt the restricted section showed him the darker side to magic, at least the books also mentioned how to spot the signs of the potions before they could take full affect and how to counter some of the darker spells.

Harry continued on until he got to one book, opening the book it listed some of the darkest spells to be created and each spell it listed showed Harry how dark magic could truly be, the organ rotting curse, the entrail expelling curse, the tortured death curse. Harry was about to close the book when he noticed one section titled The Three Unforgivable Curses. Curiosity got the better of him and Harry turned to that section to read about the three curses, the first one he read about was the Imperius curse. The book described how the curse gave off no light and gave the caster complete control over a person, the caster could control a person from a distance and the spell wouldn't wear off even when the caster is asleep. The victim could be ordered to do anything, from handing over their money to even murdering their entire family, there were no signs a person was under the curse but one way to find out if someone is under the curse is to ask a question only the victim would know since the caster doesn't have access to their memories. The only way for the victim to escape the spell is for their will to be strong enough to break out of it themselves or for the caster to release them or be defeated.

The next spell sent a chill up Harry's spine, the Cruciatus curse, the torture curse gives off no light and causes intense pain through out the victim's body. It said the pain is unbearable and if exposed to the curse for too long it can cause a person to lose their mind. The curse doesn't kill its victims and leaves no physical wound on the person's body but once the victim loses their mind there is a chance they will never recover. Some have described the pain as having white-hot needles stabbed into the body while others have described it as causing intense pain to every nerve in the body.

Harry turned to the next one and saw the last curse, the killing curse, the curse was described as a green curse that causes instant death once the victim was struck. There was no defense against the curse, the curse is said to continue until it reaches a certain range or strikes something living, the curse will break through almost any barrier until it reaches that range or hits something living. The only known way for the curse to be blocked is if it strikes a wall from a magically rich area but while the curse causes no physical wound on a victim it will cause damage to any physical object it hits. For the curse to be cast successfully the caster would need anger in their heart and want to kill the victim otherwise the spell will do nothing to the victim.

Harry felt his scar hurt for a moment before closing the book and putting it back on the shelf, he decided he didn't want to be in the restricted section anymore and most likely the person they were looking for wasn't there. Harry grabbed the cloak and covered himself before leaving the library, however as he left he heard footsteps. Harry stayed to the side and waited for the person to pass by but when the person did show up he saw it was Professor Snape. Harry wondered what was the professor doing out so late since the only person out this late was Filch. Snape continued past him so Harry continued to head to the tower, he moved carefully to make sure he didn't make a sound.

Harry once again heard footsteps and stopped to let the person pass but soon he saw the person was Professor Quirrell, when Harry saw him he felt his scar hurt for a moment before he quickly put up his shields but he then saw the professor stop. Harry covered his mouth to keep quiet and for a moment he thought he saw the professor make eye contact with him but then Quirrell shook his head and continued on as if nothing happened. Harry felt his heart was pounding before he tried to take deep quiet breaths, not wanting to waste any more time Harry quickly left for the tower.

Harry returned to the tower and sat on the couch as he tried to process everything that happened that night, he now understood why students were forbidden to go to the restricted section. Harry thought about the spells he read in the restricted section and understood how dark magic could be, he hoped he'd never see any of those spells. Harry wondered why Snape and Quirrell were out so late, he wondered if Quirrell did see him or if his mind was just playing tricks on him. Harry finished processing everything and decided this was enough for one night and went upstairs to sleep, whoever Nicolas Flamel was they were going to have to find him somewhere else.

The next day after breakfast Harry sat on his bed and talked to Ron about the night before, he explained the restricted section probably didn't have what they were looking for so they'd need to search and he even told him about what happened with Quirrell and Snape. Ron asked about where he saw them and Harry realized it was near the forbidden third floor corridor so now the two started to wonder if Snape and Quirrell were trying to steal whatever the Cerberus was guarding. Harry decided to go for a walk to clear his mind, putting on his winter clothes Harry left to walk around the snow while Ron stayed in the dorm to finish the sweets he still had from Christmas, Ron told Harry he'd come find him later.

Harry walked around outside enjoying the cold and admiring the peaceful feeling he got from seeing everything covered in snow, he had noticed smoke coming from Hagrid's chimney and thought of visiting but in the end decided not to since he wanted to enjoy being alone. Harry sat near a tree where he had a great view of the black lake and the castle, he let his mind wander and he started thinking about how his friends would return soon. Harry didn't know how long he was sitting there but soon he heard the familiar sound of wings flapping and he saw Hedwig land in front of him.

Hedwig moved to Harry's lap and the two enjoyed each other's company in silence before Harry spoke "You know Hedwig, this was by far my best winter break, I got gifts from my friends and I was able to enjoy my Christmas with friends instead of being locked in a cupboard after I cooked everything for them, they never shared any of it with me and always just gave me some stale bread and a cup of water before locking me away. This year I got to enjoy a feast with friends that care about me, I got to see my family even if it was just in a mirror, I actually felt happy for once instead of miserable like every year before, hopefully from now on we can have more Christmases like this."

Harry felt Hedwig snuggle closer to him and say "I hope so too."

Harry held Hedwig and the two enjoyed the peaceful quiet for a while. The peace was ended when Harry saw someone approaching them, he soon saw the person was Blaise. Blaise walked up to Harry and said "Hey Potter, I was hoping I could find you, I ran into Weasley and he told me you'd be out here."

"Hey Blaise, why were you looking for me?"

Blaise sat next to Harry and said "Listen, since tomorrow all the students are coming back that means we aren't going to get many chances to talk since I don't want to risk getting caught by another Slytherin, I'm rooming with Malfoy and the others but they know I like to keep to myself, if I hear anything important I'll find a way to pass it on to you."

Harry saw Blaise was taking this seriously, he got an idea and said "You know Blaise if you want to pass on information to me you can write it in a note and hand it to Hedwig here, she's my owl and she'll know to come find me to deliver it."

Blaise looked at Hedwig and asked "Are you sure Potter?"

Harry nodded "Yeah, Hedwig is a really smart owl so she'll understand what you're trying to tell her and she'll pass it on to me."

Blaise turned to Hedwig and asked "Can I count on you?"

Hedwig hooted but to Harry he heard her say "Of course!"

Harry smiled and said "There's your answer."

Blaise seemed surprised before nodding and agreeing. Harry then asked "By the way where's Lilian?"

"She was with me but apparently she decided she wanted to play chess with Weasley since she thought she could beat him this time. I think they're in the dueling room right now since it's the only private place no one else will find them. I'll let her know how to pass on any useful information to you."

Harry chuckled at hearing what Lilian and Ron were doing, he remembered how a few days ago Blaise and Lilian came to the dueling room to practice with him but Ron showed up with his chess set wanting to play, in the end Lilian challenged him to a few games and so far both of them have won and lost a few games. Harry smiled at seeing how Ron stopped calling her a Slytherin and started calling her by her name, hopefully this meant he'll ease up around the other Slytherins.

The two continued to talk for a while about their classes before Blaise got up and said "Alright Potter I better get going, Lilian and Weasley are hopefully done with their third match in a row and I better go and get her before they start another one."

Harry decided to walk back with Blaise, Hedwig took off back to the owlery and the two boys returned to the castle. Once they were back inside they went their separate ways, Harry returned to the tower and waited for Ron, after a few minutes Ron arrived grumbling about having lost the last game and saying he'd get her next time. Harry decided to go over his homework to make sure it was done while Ron decided to finish the chocolate frogs he had left. Harry was just going over his homework for potions when Ron suddenly yelled "I found it!"

Harry jumped before turning to Ron and seeing he was holding a chocolate frog card, Ron came up to Harry and handed him the card and said "Harry look at what I found!"

Harry looked at the card and saw it was of Dumbledore, he turned to Ron and said "I thought you already had Dumbledore in your collection?"

"Not that, look at what is says on the back."

Harry turned the card around and read what it said, it talked about the uses for dragon's blood in alchemy and Nicolas Flamel. Harry's eyes widened and turned to Ron and said "You found it!"

The two boys had smiles spread across their faces at finally finding something about Nicolas Flamel, they decided to show Hermione and Neville as soon as they came back. Putting the card away, Harry and Ron decided to pass the time by playing a few games after Harry was done with his homework, the two felt the day was moving a lot slower now that they were waiting to show their friends what they found. The day passed and now it was Saturday, Harry was excited to see his friends again while Ron was excited to show what he found.

Hermione had arrived at the train station with her parents, she hugged them goodbye before going through the barrier and arriving on platform nine and three quarters, she boarded the express and found and empty compartment where she sat down and started reading one of her new books. She was soon joined by Neville, Fay, Susan, and Hannah, Daphne and Tracey had made a quick stop to greet them before leaving, soon all five friends were on their way to the castle. The five spent some time talking about the fun they had over the break before Hermione left to use the restroom.

Hermione started to walk back but as she did she noticed there was a compartment with only one person in it. She spotted a familiar head of blond hair and realized it was Sally-Anne Perks. Opening the compartment Hermione asked "Hey Sally-Anne, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Why are you all alone?"

Hermione noticed Sally-Anne looked sad for a moment before smiling and saying "I just thought it would be nice to be alone."

Hermione could tell she was trying to put on a brave face, she's done it before, Hermione decided to ask "Well if you want you can come join me and my friends, we've got plenty of room."

She noticed Sally-Anne's eyes light up at that, the girl asked "Really, are you sure?"

Nodding Hermione invited her, as the two walked back to the compartment Hermione thought about how Sally-Anne always seemed cheerful but she started to isolate herself after a while. Sally-Anne didn't seem like the kind of girl to gossip and she didn't have much of an interest in makeup so Lavender and Parvati mostly stuck to each other while Hermione and Fay stayed close, all five girls could get along but it seemed they paired off with their own friend leaving Sally-Anne alone. Hermione realized how lonely the last few months must have been for the girl and decided she'd try and befriend her.

The two returned to the compartment where Hermione introduced Sally-Anne, the others welcomed her and included her in their conversations. Hermione saw Sally-Anne's usual cheerfulness came back and she was happy to talk about the vacation she had with her parents.

The train had returned in time for dinner and the students came into the great hall, Hermione instantly noticed Harry and Ron before rushing to the two, Hermione called out to Harry before hugging him and saying "Harry I'm glad to see you again!"

Harry was able to hug her back and say "Hermione I missed you, welcome back!"

Hermione hugged Ron next before the two boys were greeted by a cheerful Neville and a happy Fay. The mood was soured a bit when McGonagall came up and said "Ms. Dunbar, I have been informed of what you did to Mr. Malfoy on the train, I'm afraid that kind of behavior will not be tolerated, you will be serving detention with me for the next three Saturdays and thirty points from Gryffindor."

Fay nodded and said "Yes ma'am."

McGonagall walked off and Ron asked "What did you do?"

Fay explained "On the train ride home Malfoy showed up and started to insult us, I called him a daddy's boy and when he started to say something to me I punched him in the face."

Ron's eyes widened before he said "You punched Malfoy in the face!? Bloody hell, I wish I could have been there to see it!"

Fay shrugged and said "He tried to insult me and my friends so I showed him why that's a bad idea."

The five Gryffindors sat down together for dinner with Sally-Anne joining them, Harry welcomed her and soon they all started to talk. Ron told Neville and Hermione they needed to see something once they got back to the common room. Dinner continued as usual with Ron stuffing his face, Hermione commenting on his lack of table manners, and Harry listening to what his friends wanted to talk about. Dinner soon came to an end and the students were all lead back to their common rooms, once they were back many of the students returned to their dorms but Harry, Hermione, and Neville waited for Ron to return.

Ron came back to the common room and showed them the card and they all read the part about Nicolas Flamel. Hermione quickly got up and said she'd be back before rushing upstairs, she soon came back with a huge book she said she had gotten for some light reading. While Hermione turned through the pages the three boys all shared a glance as they had the same thought "Light?"

Hermione spoke "Here it is."

They all read about how Nicolas Flamel was the creator of the philosopher stone and how he created the elixir of life and was over six hundred years old, the four friends all realized that must be what Fluffy is guarding. Harry told Hermione and Neville about the night he saw Snape and Quirrell and now they wondered if one of them was trying to steal the stone. Harry then told them about wanting to show them something he found and they would need to sneak out after everyone was asleep. Hermione tried to protest but after a while she gave in and agreed to join but said she'd blame Harry if they got caught.

It soon became late and Harry came back downstairs with his cloak and they saw Hermione was waiting for them, all four managed to squeeze under the cloak before following Harry to the empty classroom. Unknown to Harry Hermione was blushing but smiling at being so close to him. They all soon arrived at the empty classroom and once they were inside Harry took off the cloak and pointed towards the mirror and said "Here it is, you guys need to see this."

Hermione sounded irritated when she asked "You brought us out here just to show us a mirror?"

Harry answered "No, it's what's in the mirror that I wanted to show you."

Harry walked forward with Ron following after, Harry looked in the mirror again and once again saw his family appear along with his friends. Harry heard Ron say "Bloody hell!"

Harry turned to him and said "I know, it's-"

"I became head boy, and quidditch captain, I'm holding the house cup and the quidditch cup!"

Harry became confused and looked at the mirror only to see Ron still as his current self, Harry asked "What do you mean?"

Ron explained "I'm older and I became head boy and quidditch captain!"

Harry turned back to the mirror and said "I don't see that, I think we're seeing different things."

Ron asked "What do you see?"

"I can see my family, my parents and grandparents." Harry didn't know who those two men were so he decided not to mention them.

Hermione approached and said "Both of you are seeing different things, maybe the mirror shows you what you want."

Harry asked Hermione "What do you see then?"

Hermione approached the mirror and after a moment she gasped and said "I don't believe it, I'm being awarded an order of Merlin first class, I'm being praised for having helped changed the wizarding world and created new spells! I look older and my hair doesn't look like a mess anymore, I don't have my two big front teeth, I-" Hermione suddenly stopped and she blushed heavily when she saw an older looking Harry appear in the mirror, she thought he looked handsome but what made her blush was the older Harry leaned over and kissed her.

Harry got closer and asked "Hermione?" Hermione jumped when she saw how close Harry was, Harry asked "Are you ok, what else do you see?"

Hermione looked away and said "I-I s-see I've b-become p-powerful."

Harry seemed confused by her sudden change but before he could ask Neville approached the mirror. Turning to him Neville let out a gasp and his eyes widened, the three saw tears suddenly appear before Neville said "Mum… dad?"

Neville stepped closer to the mirror and placed his hand on it and looked up as more tears came out, he spoke "Y-you're both b-b-better."

Harry approached Neville and asked "Neville, are you ok?"

Neville turned to Harry and said "M-my parents, t-they're both b-better now."

Hermione looked around at the writing on the mirror before saying "I think I get it now, the writing on the mirror isn't a different language it's written backwards, when read properly the mirror of erised says I show not your face but your heart's desire."

"Very good Ms. Granger." All four jumped and turned to the voice to see Albus Dumbledore standing there.

Hermione hit Harry's arm and said "I told you we'd get in trouble!"

Dumbledore chuckled and said "Don't worry Ms. Granger, I can't blame you for being curious about an item such as this, I say in my youth I would have done the same." Dumbledore approached the group and said "I must say you are correct in what the purpose of the mirror is, the mirror is quite dangerous as it has driven many mad in the past. When some have looked in the mirror they would sometimes see a future they desire or those they have lost, some have wasted their lives in front of the mirror trying to make an impossibility true."

Harry and Neville thought about how they saw their families in the mirror and how it was impossible to have them back. Harry then asked "Sir?"

Dumbledore looked at him "Yes Harry?"

"Why do you have this mirror here?"

"That is a good question, I intend to move it somewhere safer so other students don't come in contact with it and become obsessed with what they see. Only a few can view the mirror and not be drawn in by the vision they see before them, those who are strong enough to resist what they see or those who have no desire at all."

Hermione asked "What do you mean no desire sir?"

Dumbledore explained "I mean those who already have everything they could want, if the happiest man in the world were to see in the mirror he would see only himself as he already has everything he could want."

Harry asked "Sir, what do you see when you look in the mirror?"

Dumbledore looked in the mirror and for a moment Harry thought he saw a look of sadness on his face, Dumbledore then spoke "I see myself with hand knitted clothes I was gifted."

The four seemed confused and Ron asked "Clothes?"

"Yes Mr. Weasley, with how many people see me as a great figure they often give me rare books and valuable items they think I would love, while I do appreciate those gifts most never think that I would greatly enjoy simple gifts. I would very much enjoy the simple every day things many don't often think about, when you are like me you learn to appreciate the simple things."

Harry thought about something and asked "Sir, I wanted to ask, is Fluffy guarding the philosopher's stone?"

Dumbledore smiled while Hermione turned to Harry shocked that he'd ask that directly. Dumbledore spoke "I see you have been doing your research, to answer your question yes my good friend Nicolas Flamel asked me to look after his stone for him, I hope you won't tell anyone about it being here."

Harry nodded and promised he wouldn't, Hermione, Neville, and Ron agreed. Dumbledore thanked them and spoke "I will guide you back to your tower so Filch will not punish you, I'd say a point from each of you is punishment enough."

Dumbledore guided them back to the tower, once they were all back in the common room Harry noticed Neville still had a sad look on his face and asked "Neville are you ok?"

Neville wiped away the few remaining tears from his eyes and said "Y-yeah, just seeing my parents were ok made me tearful."

Harry hadn't asked Neville about his parents, he assumed they must have died in the war just like his parents. Harry told Neville "If you ever want to talk about it I'm here to listen."

Hermione hugged Neville and said "Me too, we're friends after all."

Neville smiled and said "Thanks, I-I think I should tell you guys."

They all sat down and Neville started to speak "My parents were involved in the war against you-know-who but they had to go into hiding since the death eaters were after them. When you-know-who was defeated they came out of hiding thinking it was safe but that's when the worst happened. Our home was attacked by some of the most loyal death eaters and my parents were captured, they were…" Neville took a shaky breath and spoke "They were tortured by them, they were tortured into insanity and are now in St Mungo's for permanent spell damage."

Neville's eyes started to tear up, Hermione moved over and hugged him while Harry and Ron approached, Harry wasn't use to hugging yet but he saw Neville needed it and hugged him while Ron patted his back as a way to comfort him. Hermione spoke "Neville I'm so sorry to hear that."

Neville wiped away the tears and said "I visited them during the break, they are still unchanged, we're hoping one day they recover but it's been ten years."

Harry spoke "It may take time but I'm sure one day they'll recover."

Ron spoke "Yeah, you can't give up hope, one day I'm sure they'll get better."

Neville smiled and thanked them for trying to comfort them. They stopped hugging and saw it was getting late so they all decided to head to bed, Hermione told them good night and left while the three boys headed upstairs to sleep. Neville said to Harry "Harry, thank you for showing me the mirror, even if it was just what I'd desire it gave me some hope they may recover one day."

Harry smiled at him and said "When that day comes make sure you have plenty to tell them about how you became a great wizard."

Neville nodded and soon all three boys got into their beds to hopefully get a good night sleep.

Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.