Chapter 173. Mirror of Erised
It looked like a classroom that had been abandoned for a long time.
Many desks and chairs were piled higgledy-piggledy by the wall, forming great black masses of shadow, and there was also an upturned waste-paper basket.
But on the wall directly opposite them rested something that did not seem to belong here, something completely out of place.
Fred's eyes fixed, curious, on a mirror whose imposing frame reached all the way to the ceiling, with an ornate gold border and claw-shaped feet.
"It seems we've stumbled on something extraordinary." Fred sighed, and with his arm linked through George's, the two edged towards the mirror.
"The Mirror of Erised? Christmas is over — shouldn't Dumbledore have had this mirror moved?"
Duncan frowned.
As he carefully observed the mirror not far ahead, he thought, "Could it be that because I took Quirrell out, Dumbledore couldn't find a suitable person to steal the Philosopher's Stone, so he gave up on that long-planned saviour-cultivation plan and hasn't moved the mirror for the time being? Or is it that Dumbledore can't bear to part with it and comes here to mourn his lost youth now and then, to look more at that person?"
While Duncan's thoughts were running wild, Fred and George had already edged up to the front of the mirror.
They stopped and peered inside, curious.
Then their eyes grew and grew, until they were nearly as big as a House-Elf's.
The two of them grinned foolishly and murmured, "Fred/George, do you see it? This is brilliant..."
"What's with you two? Struck dumb?" Duncan stepped up beside them and gave Fred's shoulder a light push.
Fred seemed to return from a blissful dream.
He wiped away the drool at the corner of his mouth and said, "Didn't you see? We've opened a shop!"
"And not just one shop!" George added, delighted. "Every street and alley all over the world has our joke shop!"
"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" Fred breathed. "Listen to that — what a marvellous name. Duncan, get over here and have a look!"
They made room, pulled Duncan to stand directly before the mirror, and wanted him to see the wonderful scene in their eyes as well.
"Mm..." Duncan stroked his chin and smiled. "But it seems what we're seeing isn't quite the same!"
In his view, the mirror showed a beautiful world similar to the one inside his case, where magical creatures lived in habitats that suited them.
A Thunderbird soared over open wilderness.
Unicorns leapt and darted through the woods.
A dragon coiled on a mountain peak and roared at the sky.
A Niffler happily counted up Galleons.
Mooncalves frolicked in the moonlight, chasing fireflies...
And his home sat in a valley bursting with flowers, with a vast, emerald-like lake not far from the door; a Kelpie glided through the water, sending out ripples, layer upon layer, that spread into the distance and slowly vanished.
In the little courtyard, he busied himself at the grill, while his friends — some helped at his side, some played with the animals that had wandered in.
Under a huge banyan tree, Newt — Merlin knows what he'd done wrong again — hung his head, aggrieved, while Tina, hands on hips, vented her anger.
Queenie and Jacob hid carefully behind a low wall of stacked stones not far away, peeking out to watch the show, teasing smiles at the corners of their mouths.
"Is this the life I long for?" Duncan thought silently, smiling. "It actually looks rather good!"
"No way? The scene hasn't changed. Fred and I are still greeting customers!" Fred said, cocking his head in puzzlement.
George jabbed Duncan in the waist. "Then tell us — what do you see?"
"Er... I see myself in a vast fairyland," Duncan described the scene in the mirror. "White mist coils everywhere, countless magical creatures weaving around me. Oh — and you two are there as well, doing your utmost to shovel a gigantic pile of dragon dung."
Fred squinted at Duncan, suspicious. "You're not having us on, are you?"
Duncan chuckled. "The part about you shovelling dragon dung is fake, because you can do magic and aren't that daft. But everything before that is true — truly true."
"Hm? Why would that be?" George mused, then ventured, "Er... could this be a prophetic mirror?"
"In other words, we've seen a scene from the future?" Fred carried on, elated. "Our shop will really spread all over the world?"
"Oi, can't your eyes pay a little attention to other places?" Duncan said. "For example, that line of words at the top of the mirror."
At this, George looked up, curious, and stumbled through, "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi..."
"What on earth is that?" George frowned. "It doesn't even read smoothly!"
"Try reading it backwards," Duncan prompted.
Fred glanced quickly and his eyes rounded slightly. "'I show not your face but your heart's desire'?"
"Ah — so it only shows what we're thinking of," George said at once, shaking his head in disdain. "What a useless thing!"
The blood of one hundred per cent doers flowed in both of them; ethereal things like this simply couldn't hold their interest.
"Let's go." Now that they knew the mirror's scene was false, Fred turned without hesitation. "Shall we go and check by the entrance? If Snape and Professor McGonagall have gone, we can head up to the eighth floor and take a look at that mysterious room, how about it?"
"No problem." Duncan nodded his agreement, and the three walked together towards the door.
Fred carefully pushed the door open a crack, stuck his head out to look, and, once sure there was no one, beckoned behind him. "Come out — they've all gone."
Duncan and George followed Fred out.
Unfortunately, they hadn't gone far before they heard Filch's furious cursing and the meow of a cat.
"Looks like Filch still has no intention of letting us off..." Fred tipped his head back with a sigh, his face full of helplessness.
"Forget it — tomorrow then." Duncan shrugged and headed downstairs.
Pro lay weakly on top of his head, eyes vacant, like a dreamless small fry. "I'll take you to the kitchens for a snack. I already spoke with the house-elves on the way here; they'll get things ready for us."
"All right, I'm a bit hungry now too..." Fred rubbed his stomach and shuffled off at an easy pace.
Not long after they left, dust stirred in the corner of the room that housed the Mirror of Erised, as though someone were moving there on silent feet.
That person stood before the mirror for a moment, then pushed the door open and slipped out, vanishing without a trace...
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