Erised Revealed

Surprises in the Mirror

As Hermione walked down the hallway to Divinations class, she thought about what she wanted in life. I know it isn't the most original of topics to think about but as per usual for her, she wanted to get a jump start and know exactly what she wanted for the future. She really hadn't thought about it much other than she knew that she wanted to graduate from Hogwarts and get a job at the Ministry of Magic and start a Magical Creatures Rights Act. But beyond that she had no clue. She walked past a portrait that was trying to get her attention without as much as a glance in its direction. The hall was wide with grey brick walls. There were portraits all along the walls and every one of them were moving and speaking, which in a muggle dwelling would be very strange but here at Hogwarts it was normal.

She finally arrived at the Divination's tower and walked through the door into class with Harry and Ron, both of whom had been trying to figure out more tragedies that would happen to them for their next assignment in divination. The room was stuffy as usual and the windows were covered so that the light wouldn't interrupt the "flow of the inner eye" as the teacher always told them. The room was a half circle in shape and the tables that were meant for the students were on a stage like platform and there were three tiers of tables.

"Boys, you know I hate this class, but that is not how you finish your homework." Hermione scolded, sitting down at the closest table to the door in the chair closest the door.

"Why are you still taking this class if you hate it so much?" Harry asked, sitting down at the same table next to her and behind the table. Ron sat across the table from Hermione and listened.

"One, you guys are in it and I want to make sure that you aren't getting into any trouble. And two, this is an easy class. I know that is not something that you hear from me often but this is the one class that I can take and not actually have to participate in much." She replied.

Harry and Ron couldn't comment on this because Professor Trelawney walked in and started her lesson. Since she knew it would be a boring class like always, Hermione spaced out and continued to think about her future while the teacher spoke. At least she did so for about a minute until the teacher walked to the corner of the class room and pulled what Hermione assumed had been a window drape off a tall item. As soon as the mirror was revealed, Harry leaned over toward Hermione.

"That's the Mirror of Erised. You know the one I found in First year. I wonder why she has it here." He leaned back as the teacher began to speak again.

"This mirror is called the Mirror of Erised and it shows your deepest desires. Sometimes it will show you something that you never even realized that you wanted until now. Each of you will come up here and look into the mirror and tell me what you see. If you don't want to tell me just say so and you may write a paper on what you saw that will be due in one month. You will have to explain why you believe you saw what you did and what you think you can do about fulfilling this deepest desire." Trelawney explained, walking up to the tables. She walked over to Lavender and Parvati's table, which was the furthest from Hermione's table, to indicate that they would go first.

By the time it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione's turn only 2 people had chosen to do the paper instead of telling the class what they had seen, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnagan. Harry went first. He walked up to the mirror and at first he stared at it, then after a moment, he smiled at what he saw. "I see my parents standing behind me. Mum has her hand on my shoulder and they are both smiling at me. Also, my grandparents are behind my parents." He glanced at the teacher and she nodded at him to go back to his seat. It was Ron's turn next. As he walked up to the mirror he glanced at Harry and Hermione quickly and when he got to the mirror he looked at his reflection and his deepest desire. He watched the mirror intensely and his ears began to turn red. After a minute, he spoke in a shaky voice that sounded short of breath. "I will write the paper". Hermione looked at Harry and they both looked shocked. When Ron sat down, they both looked at him expectantly. When he refused to look at her, Hermione stood to walk to the mirror.