Harry Potter Headcanons

1. Teddy Lupin and the Mirror of Erised

It was one in the morning and Teddy Lupin couldn't sleep. He lied there, staring at the canary-yellow-and-black curtains that lined his four-poster bed. Feeling the need to wander about the castle, he threw off his comforter and slid into his shoes, wand in hand. He slowly tiptoed across the room, occasionally stopping whenever he heard an abrupt noise. 

Teddy opened the door and took the stairs down to the Common Room. He peered around, and resumed to a regular pace when he realized that he was alone. Teddy escaped the Common Room and found himself in the middle of a barren hallway. He quietly walked to the portrait with the fruit bowl, tickled the pear, and entered the Hogwarts kitchen. He smiled when he saw his favorite house-elf, Miry, running towards him with a tray of assorted cakes and pastries.

"Mister Lupin! Mister Lupin!" Miry called, running towards him at full speed. "Miry has been wanting to send this to Mister, but Miry has been busy tending to Winky, sir."

Teddy looked to the corner of the room to find Winky, who, according to Miry, has been there for sixteen years. Miry held the tray of cakes up to him and he picked up a chocolate eclair and took a large bite out of it.

"She's still not okay?" Teddy asked worriedly after he finished chewing and swallowing. He felt sorry for that elf. 

"No, sir, no. Trauma got to her head, sir, trauma did. Still goes through 12 bottles of butterbeer a day. Used to be more, but Miry made sure that Winky doesn't drink as much as she used to!"

"How, Miry?" asked Teddy.

"You see, Mister Lupin, Miry likes to uncork the bottles first, then pours a bit out of them, then gives 'em to Winky to drink. Then, the next week, Miry pours out a little more and such. Now, instead of drinking full 12 bottles, Winky drinks 8."

"That's brilliant, Miry." said Teddy. Miry swelled with pride at his compliment. Before they could talk more, the other house-elves scolded her for not working like a good house-elf.

Out of things to keep him occupied, Teddy left the kitchen with an English muffin topped with yogurt chips and walked up the Grand Staircase, chewing as he went. On the sixth floor, he tripped over a trick step and dropped his half-finished muffin. 

"Great." he muttered, stooping over to pick it up. Not one to eat anything off of the ground, he headed upwards to find a trash receptacle. 

When Teddy got to the seventh floor, a mysterious door appeared in a wall. He hesitated, but opened it anyways. He slid inside surreptitiously to find a room full of trash bins -- from giant ones that were far past his height to little ones with the words 'RUBBISH' plastered across them. He found one that said 'FOOD WASTE' and tossed it inside. While on the way out of the mysterious, way-too-convenient room, his eyes caught a glimpse of electric-blue hair.

"Who's there?" he called, widening his stance. Teddy relaxed when it was his reflection. He walked towards it, and realized that it was a mirror. He admired its ancient beauty, its beautiful age-worn detail, and the words "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" engraved at the top. Finally, he studied his reflection...or actually the reflection of himself and two other people. 

Startled, he glanced behind him, but there was nobody. He rubbed his eyes, blinked hard, and pinched himself, but the people didn't disappear from the mirror. He looked at them closely. The man had scars on his face, thinning hair, and heavy bags under his eyes. He was quite handsome and looked rather intelligent. The woman, on the other hand, had bright pink hair, and a young, beautiful face. Suddenly, her hair turned electric-blue -- just like his. 

"Mom?" he asked out loud, turning to her reflection. The woman smiled and nodded, putting her hand lovingly around his shoulders. Teddy immediately grabbed his shoulder, but felt nothing. He felt disappointed, but couldn't help but smile at the loving gesture.

"Dad?' he turned to the man. Like the woman, he nodded and smiled, then put his arms around the woman's shoulders, pulling them together.

The family stood together in silence until the roosters cried.