Albus Dumbledore and the Mirror of Erised

Chapter 1: Thoughts and Regret  

"Ah the castle is so calm in the night", thought Albus Dumbledore as he walked the corridors of the school. He had just finished his meeting with Severus Snape. He chuckled as he remembered the tyrant of complaints Professor Snape made of the Potter boy, "- mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent..." and the list just went on. He found Harry Potter as a very shy, modest boy, very likeable and reasonably talented. It could not be helped that Professor Snape thought of Harry in a way he thought of James Potter, Harry's father. James was one of the most popular students in the school in his time, a prankster, popular among the ladies because of his good looks, brilliant quidditch player. He was also one of the students who got along with everyone (well, except the slytherins of course) and he was one of the best aurors Dumbledore knew. As Dumbledore continued walking around lost in his thoughts, he found himself in front of the door leading to one of the old classrooms on the fifth floor. As he entered the classroom, he remembered that the Mirror of Erised had been placed in this classroom by him. 

He saw the familiar looking magnificent mirror standing in front of him, as high as the ceiling with an ornate gold frame and standing on two clawed feet. He moved to stand in front of the mirror and saw his family. Professor Dumbledore though, one of the popular wizards of the era whom people respected and sought for help, had indeed had a troublesome childhood. As he stood there in front of the mirror, he remembered his younger days, when Ariana was a happy girl before the incident where 3 muggle boys had attacked her when they saw her using her powers and she was never the same. His father had gone after those muggles and attacked them and later was sent to Azkaban till the end of his life for it, thus saving the Dumbledore's from embarrassment of anyone finding out about Ariana. He remembered his mother Kendra Dumbledore, a strong, proud witch, her family was her first priority. She had taken care of his squib sister Ariana. Though many people tell that his mother had locked Ariana in the cellar because she was too embarrassed to tell anyone about her squib daughter, no one other than the Dumbledore family knew how much she took care of Ariana. She was able to calm her when she had one of her tantrums. Ariana's favorite brother was Aberforth. Aberforth was just a few years older than Ariana and was there in the house while Albus was in Hogwarts and thus Ariana loved him more than anyone from the family, apart from his mother of course. Then, along came Gellert Grindelwald and his ideas In the summer Albus graduated from Hogwarts and in the same summer his mother had passed away in one of Ariana's rages. Grindelwald had been a student in Durmstrang but had been expelled when he was of 16 years age. He had travelled around for several months before landing in Godric's hollow and staying at Bathilda Bagshot's in a room. Albus had been an idiot for not caring for his sister and brother as the head of the family and letting himself go away with Grindelwald's ideas and pushing his family, his sister to the last priority. He remembered the duel he and Grindelwald had had in their house when his brother Aberforth had confronted him for his stupidity and things went out of control and he still didn't know the one who did it, but Ariana died trying to help but not knowing what to do and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Albus wiped his tears away as he remembered how his mistakes had hurt his family. "I'm sorry mother, I couldn't take care of Ariana after you passed away. I'm sorry Ariana I wasn't the ideal brother and pushed you to the last priority. I'm sorry Aberforth that because of my stupidity and carelessness we lost Ariana. I'm sorry ... ", Albus thought as he saw his family next to him in the mirror smiling back at him. 

A loud piercing scream cut the silence of the calm night. "Ah someone not allowed has entered the restricted section of the library... oh Severus will take care of it ", though Albus as he went back to remembering his younger days when he heard footsteps outside the door. He heard Filch and Severus talking. He heard the door open and close. Silently, Albus cast the disillusionment charm on himself and walked towards the upturned desks and turned around to see no one behind him. Then he heard the swish of a cloak as young Harry Potter materialized in front of him and chuckled. "Oh yes, the invisibility cloak... glad to know Harry has already started using it. So he was the one in the restricted section", Albus thought as he saw Harry see the mirror and move towards it. Albus wondered what young Harry would see in the mirror. "His deepest desire... oh could it be...?", as he saw Harry almost scream and look around him in wonder and turn back to the mirror. He heard Harry whisper, "mom? Dad? ". "Yes, his guess was correct. Harry saw his parents in the mirror", Albus thought as he silently started walking towards the door. As he left the room thinking he shouldn't be here as it was a personal moment for young Harry, he turned around to observe him. The boy had suffered a lot in such a young age and his future looked grim as well. Tom Riddle would be back to haunt Harry in the coming future. He left the room and he saw Mrs. Norris hissing. He thought he'd help Harry and thus knocked down a vase. "Enough time for Harry to cover himself with the marvelous cloak", Albus thought as he saw Mrs. Norris slip into the room.