"What... what happened?" Harry stared at the cracked mirror, completely stunned.
Ron was also full of surprise and confusion.
"I don't know." Dudley's mouth twitched slightly.
He had no idea what had happened. He had simply stood in front of the mirror and glanced at it, then the mirror cracked on its own. He hadn't even seen if anything was reflected on the mirror's surface—he only saw blackness.
"Let me see." Harry pulled Dudley aside and stood in front of the mirror again himself.
After a while, he looked at Dudley and Ron with a somewhat pale face.
"The mirror seems to be broken. I can't see anything now," Harry said.
"We should run quickly," Ron said hurriedly.
Although he didn't know exactly what this mirror was for, its imposing appearance showed it was unusual and probably very expensive. Now that they had broken it, what if someone discovered them and made them pay compensation?
But actually, they hadn't done anything—the mirror had cracked on its own, not because they broke it. However, such an explanation probably wouldn't be believed by anyone.
Dudley wasn't panicking. He stood in front of the mirror again. The Mirror of Erised was now completely black, not only failing to reflect people but showing nothing else either. The entire mirror surface seemed to have become a misty black wall that no longer reflected light at all.
Dudley frowned and reached out to touch the crack spreading down from above.
"Did this mirror discover something? Or is what I truly desire in my heart something it cannot reflect, something that can't even be displayed on the mirror's surface?" Dudley fell into contemplation.
"Beyonder power still possesses irresistible strangeness in the magical world," Dudley thought to himself.
Hiss...
Dudley drew in a light breath and withdrew his hand. His right index finger had been cut by the cracked mirror surface, though fortunately it wasn't deep—just seeping a little blood.
"What do we do now?" Harry looked to Dudley as if seeking help.
It was he who had violated school rules, sneaking out in the middle of the night to discover this mirror, then bringing Dudley and Ron here. He had originally just wanted to show them his parents, but hadn't expected it would lead to this situation. The mirror had cracked directly, losing its original magic.
He wanted to take responsibility, but was afraid this responsibility was beyond what he could bear, and it would also implicate Dudley and Ron.
"The mirror cracked on its own. It has nothing to do with us. Let's go," Dudley said simply and directly.
Without giving Harry time to react, he picked up the Invisibility Cloak from the ground, covered the three of them, and left the abandoned classroom.
After returning to Gryffindor Tower, Dudley said to Harry and Ron before going to bed, "Forget about that mirror. It cracked on its own and has nothing to do with us, understand?"
Ron immediately nodded. Harry still felt a bit guilty, but wasn't foolish enough to want to take responsibility for the mirror's damage. As Dudley said, none of them had touched the mirror—it had cracked on its own, which couldn't be blamed on them.
Thinking this way, Harry immediately felt much better and no longer worried about the mirror issue. He just felt some regret that he wouldn't be able to see his parents anymore. When they smiled at him, it had been so warm—he had never felt as happy and joyful as in that moment.
The three gradually fell into dreams.
After an unknown amount of time, Dudley suddenly felt he was being watched, causing his consciousness to immediately awaken.
"Who is it?" He looked around. There was no one here, just an empty room.
"I'm not in the dormitory." Dudley frowned, then quickly understood his current state.
"I'm still in a dream, just maintaining my consciousness." Dudley looked around. This was a very unfamiliar space—he was certain he had never been here before.
It wasn't very large, about half the size of a classroom, surrounded by black walls of indeterminate material. Soon, Dudley's gaze fell on the wall about five meters away, where there seemed to be a door embedded in the wall.
But this door was different from ordinary doors—it was very tall, reaching directly to the room's ceiling, giving a strange feeling.
Dudley slowly walked toward the door. He felt that the watching gaze seemed to come from behind that door.
The door was black. Dudley couldn't clearly see anything from the side, only discovering after approaching that the door seemed to be semi-transparent.
After taking two more steps, Dudley finally stood before the door. At the same time, he finally clearly saw what was behind the door, causing his expression to change immediately.
A white-haired old man stood behind the door, his withered palm gently brushing over the door's exterior. His gaze, through half-moon glasses, carefully examined a crack on the door, as if trying to smooth it with his palm.
Dumbledore!
Dudley looked at the scene before him in surprise. Outside the door, besides Dumbledore, was the abandoned classroom they had just left. Everything was exactly the same as when they left, with the only difference being the addition of an old man.
"How could it... crack..." Dumbledore murmured softly.
Dudley held his breath, watching the scene outside the door.
"The Mirror World!" Dudley almost immediately thought of this.
He just hadn't expected that in this magical world, he would have the opportunity to enter the Mirror World. Dudley was no stranger to the Mirror World. Because in that other world, many abilities of certain pathways were related to mirrors.
In mysticism, mirrors were often given symbolic meaning as passages to another realm, mostly associated with horror and terror. Strictly speaking, the Mirror World wasn't a real world—it was more like a collection of doors connecting different mirrors and different mysterious realms. If one got lost inside, they might directly appear in the abyss or even among the stars.
Descriptions of the Mirror World surfaced in Dudley's mind. But he wasn't currently in that other world—he was in the magical world. The Mirror World here probably had different meanings from the Mirror World in that other reality.
But regardless, Dudley entering this mysterious Mirror World in his dream gave him a taste of horror. As if he had returned to that world constantly filled with mutation, loss of control, and danger.
Suddenly, Dumbledore, who was wiping the mirror surface, stopped his movements. His gaze looked straight at Dudley in the mirror.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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