HL one shots + asks

A Mirror Named Grief

Things get darker around Halloween. Souls, the sky, the temperature of the air, and our hearts. We crave something a bit deeper, more intense and engulfing than anything we've seen in the summer. Gothic novels, wandering under fading trees, venturing out on moonlit nights to hear wolves howl to no one.

Magic at Hogwarts becomes a bit odd as well. Potions bubble a lot more than necessary, ghosts dance longer into the late hours, and students sneak through the hallways in dark hoods hoping to sneak something from the kitchen or prank a friend.

But this year it was a lot more concerning. Wands sparked in overconfident hands, making them drop them screaming when it turned into a writhing snake. Broken glass covered bathroom floors and toilets gurgled, leaking black inky water everywhere.

Girls shrieked when their reflections eyes turned black and boys began fearing falling asleep in fear of the nightmares that made even 7th years wet.

One night after a quieter day than they'd had all week, a few brave students sat outside around a campfire, watching their Charms professor closely, his glassy blue eyes flickering with a tale of mystery.

"Will you tell us what you know?" One of them asked, a brunette witch who sat crossed legged, her hands in her sleeves. "They say you went to school before all this and know what haunts the school in October."

"That I may." He replied slowly, his voice heavy. "But not everyone believes it, nor can handle the depth." The tall man leaned back against the willow, stretching his legs. His blonde hair stood out against the bark, looking more silvery in moonlight.

"We can handle anything," said another quieter voice. It came from a haunting boy who didn't look up from where he fiddled with a blade of grass before ripping it up. "Please tell us Professor."

"Yeah!" The third student chimed in loudly and a lot too eager. He was large for his age, towering over them all even while sitting, and leaned close enough to singe his sleeve. "I mean- if yeh don't mind sir."

"Then settle in children. This isn't a story for the light hearted. It's a tale of betrayal, heartbreak, and dark and twisted magic. Worst of all, it's true."

"Why does that make it worse?" Asked the girl.
His blind eyes seemed to find hers, serious as stone.

"Because no one should have suffered how she did."
——

Once upon a time a girl believed that fantasies were beautiful things. That magic was the fix to anything that ever plagued her. Even better was if it came with love, with a prince who swept her off her feet. She never thought magic could have been real until it happened to find her. Ancient power flowing through her veins, blue as blood but with more bite.

It freed her from her abusive father and brought her family to new shores, a world she couldn't wait to explore. Even better, a place for her awaited where she could grow in her new strength, and belong. She had no idea what the cost would be to magic. "It all comes with a cost," her mother said.

But that was just a fairy tale lie, wasn't it?

( "She was a girl of pure light and hope." His eyes grew misty as he spoke of her. "Always looked for the good in things no matter how broken she was." )

Always getting up from the ashes after crashing and burning, brighter and stronger than before.
It was hard to believe that she could ever be broken. The hero of Hogwarts broke and bled for everyone. She learned that her magic did have a price and that fairytales didn't lie about that.

So how could it lie about love?

( The boy scoffed, earning him a scalding glance from the girl who shifted closer as her professor got deeper into the story, eyes closed as he relived it. )