Albus Dumbledore and the Mirror of Erised

chapter 3: Questions

Disclaimer: none of the characters belong to me! There are a lot of parts in this chapter which are a repeat of the book. Enjoy! 

Chapter 3: Questions 

"The castle looks so beautiful", thought Hagrid as he sat in his wooden house as he drank his cup of tea with Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore had been the one had saved Hagrid from almost getting banished from the magical world, from his home. He had trusted in Hagrid when he had been wrongly accused in his 6th year, he had been the one who had persuaded Professor Dippet, the then headmaster, to let Hagrid stay as the gamekeeper as he had no other place to go to. Hagrid owed his life to Professor Dumbledore. Hagrid smiled as he looked at him, "kind, thoughtful, a brilliant brilliant man ". Professor Dumbledore got up at that moment telling him that he had some business to attend to in the castle and wished him a good night as he left his house. 

Albus Dumbledore walked past the greenhouses towards the entrance of the castle, taking in the beauty of the castle. The snow had not been cleared yet and the castle looked amazing, covered in snow. He started walking towards the classroom which had the Mirror of Erised. He entered the classroom and was just about to raise his wand to move the mirror when he heard footsteps coming towards the classroom. Albus walked towards one of the desks and took a seat as he saw Harry come into the room, smiling at the sight of his reflection in the mirror and sitting in front of it. A few minutes later, he realized he wasn't alone after all and turned towards the desks where Albus was seated. 

"So- back again, Harry?" said Albus as he smiled at the fear on Harry's face. "I didn't see you, sir", Harry said."Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you", said Albus and chuckled and continued on to say "So, you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised". "I didn't know it was called that, Sir". "But I expect you've realized by now what it does", asked Albus knowing very well that Harry was a smart boy and would have figured something out. "It- well- it shows me my family-", began Harry, "and it showed your friend Ron himself as a head boy", said Albus. 

"How did you know-", asked Harry when Albus cut through his question by gently saying, "I don't need a cloak to be invisible. Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?" 

Harry shook his head, Albus helped him by saying, "Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is; he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?" Albus could see Harry was thinking hard as he said slowly, "It shows us what we want...whatever we want". 

"Smart boy", thought Albus as he explained "Yes and no. It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible". 

Albus looked at the young boy sitting in front of him and continued on "The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?" 

Harry stood up. Albus looked at the Mirror, lost in thoughts when Harry interrupted them. "Sir- Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?" he asked. 

Smiling, Albus replied, "Obviously, you've just done so, you may ask me one more thing, however". 

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" 

"Oh this boy is clever and very curious but Alas, I can't tell him the truth", thought Albus as he replied, "I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks". Harry stared. He continued "One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books". Albus felt a bit bad for lying but what he said was half true, people really did insist on giving him books on any and every occasion as he remembered his collection of books in his study. 

As he magically moved the Mirror to its new home, Albus realized it won't be late before Harry would have to face Tom Riddle once more. "Well, all we can do is pray for his safety and protect him as much as possible", he thought to himself as he walked back to his study.

The End