There might be coincidences in this world, but when it came to the witch before him, one who took the greatest pleasure in toying with others, Ian couldn't help but feel that this wasn't a coincidence at all.
Of course.
Since Witch Morgan had voluntarily changed the subject, the guilty Ian was more than happy to follow along. He quickly cooperated with Morgan's lead, pulling out his money pouch and retrieving the Mirror of Erised.
This magical mirror had been in his possession for quite some time now, yet he had almost never taken it out. Many people might become obsessed, wasting away in front of it, entranced by the images it showed, even driven to madness, but that was only because they didn't know whether what they saw in the mirror could ever come true.
Ian, however, was different.
Perhaps it was the confidence granted to him by the system, or maybe he was just naturally "arrogant." He had no confusion or doubt about the future. He firmly believed that achieving any goal depended solely on whether or not he wanted to do it.
With that kind of mindset...
The Mirror of Erised naturally held little appeal for him.
"Professor, your mirror. Consider it returned to its rightful owner." Ian gently placed the mirror in front of him. The surface of the mirror was smooth as glass, yet it seemed to contain infinite depth.
The traces of alchemical craftsmanship glimmered faintly, as if they could pierce into a person's soul.
"I didn't expect you'd really be able to find it... Or rather, perhaps you always knew you could." Morgan gave Ian a sideways glance, then walked over to the Mirror of Erised and gazed into it.
No one knew what she saw, and Ian only noticed that the legendary Dark Witch's smile had grown more intense.
"To reflect the deepest desires of the heart... sometimes, that too is a unique kind of cruelty," She suddenly remarked, her tone calm and thoughtful.
"The creator must've had a somewhat dark heart," Ian agreed sincerely. After all, both Harry and Dumbledore had been tormented by this mirror in the original timeline, unable to break free from its grip.
It was somewhat like a magical Dementor in that way.
"Do you know who created the Mirror of Erised?" Morgan asked, her expression unreadable as she softly traced her fingers across the surface of the mirror, as if lost in a memory.
This mirror was even taller than Hagrid.
At the base of the mirror, two intricately carved claw-shaped feet supported the entire structure, making it more stable while also adding a sense of mystery and majesty.
"Erised?" Ian blinked, answering clumsily.
When it came to non-textbook history, sometimes it felt just like math: If you don't know, you just don't know.
In fact, even the scholarly Dumbledore probably knew very little about it. He had simply pulled it out of a Hogwarts storage room that Ian himself had never managed to locate.
Generations of Hogwarts professors had brought back curious magical items from their travels. Even the origin of the Mirror of Erised and how it had ended up at Hogwarts was likely lost to history.
"My foolish little apprentice, the way you interpret the name 'Erised' is really quite amusing," Morgan laughed heartily at Ian's answer.
"'Erised' is merely a word that describes the function of the mirror. Why didn't you ever try reading it backwards?"
"A mirror always reflects things in reverse, doesn't it?" she hinted. Ian, not exactly stupid, immediately looked embarrassed as realization dawned.
"'Desire'...?"
Perhaps that was the true name of the Mirror of Erised. The word engraved on the mirror, "Erised," when reversed, spells "Desire."
It symbolized longing.
Just as the mirror's power was to reflect the deepest desires of one's heart.
"Yes, that's right, 'Mirror of Desire.'" Morgan murmured softly and again reached out to caress the surface of the mirror. Her tone was tinged with vague emotion, filled with a meaning that was hard to decipher.
"It may truly possess a kind of unique magical power. Though I scoff at the scenes it shows me, it does indeed carry a secret, one I have yearned my entire life to understand."
On the face of the legendary Dark Witch, a rare trace of wistfulness appeared.
"May I be fortunate enough to know this secret?" Ian cautiously asked, testing the waters.
However, Morgan merely glanced at him.
"No." Her reply was crisp and blunt.
"…" Ian honestly didn't know how to respond to that.
"Well, it is your privacy, after all. I'm not the kind of person who has no sense of boundaries," Ian said with an awkward laugh, trying to play it off and voiced what he was actually thinking.
"In any case, I imagine you've already found the answer you were looking for. After all, you once said it didn't matter whether the mirror was recovered or not. Clearly, it's no longer that important to you."
Ian had his reasons for thinking this, not just because of Morgan's earlier attitude toward the Mirror of Erised, but also because she had once let her devious and beautiful senior sister steal it away.
If she wasn't over it…
Morgan would never have let it drift out of her grasp.
"Of course. The answer has always been… clearly visible to me," Morgan turned to look at Ian again, her radiant eyes reflecting the image of Ian in front of her.
"Uh…"
Ian couldn't help but think: 'My teacher is better at acting mysterious than I am.'
Which, he supposed, made sense.
"I remember you said the mirror has other uses?" Ian didn't enjoy watching people show off, so he quickly switched the topic like a true opportunist.
Honestly, he was still curious about what Morgan had seen in the mirror, but he knew full well that anything involving personal privacy was not something he'd get a real answer to.
"What do you think those other uses might be?" Morgan tossed the question right back to him, offering no direct answer. Maybe she was trying to train his independent thinking.
"Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror… who's the most beautiful woman in the world…" Ian tried to link his understanding of the mirror with some familiar tropes. "I think it can scan the entire planet and present anything or anyone the user wants to find?"
That was his best guess based on what he knew.
"You're right, but also not entirely right." Morgan lifted her slender fingers and gently swiped through the air. Suddenly, the letters on the Mirror of Erised began to shift, their order rearranging in an instant.
Erised transformed into Eraser.
"Eraser?" Ian blinked and read the word aloud, surprised. It was a perfectly normal word, but figuring out how it hinted at another magical function of the mirror was still baffling.
Honestly, if it weren't so hard to study without taking it apart, Ian would've already dissected the thing. But since it belonged to Morgan, he hadn't dared.
After all, who knew what kind of alchemical craftsmanship was inside? If it was anything like a drone, once you took it apart, good luck putting it back together,
Not only would it be a disaster, it'd be embarrassing as hell.
"Yes. What it erases, and how the mirror changes when that happens… that's your new alchemy assignment." Morgan smiled sweetly, but to Ian, it felt like a mountain of pressure landing on his head.
Even without thinking, he could guess this wasn't going to be easy to figure out. If it were, Morgan would never have called it "homework."
And sure enough, her next words confirmed that.
"It's missing a small component. You'll need to find what's missing, and then manufacture it yourself. I recommend studying the alchemical craftsmanship from Egypt."
Though that sounded like a helpful hint, actually expanding his alchemy skills that far was no small task.
(To Be Continued…)
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