"The Mirror of Erised!"
Looking at the mirror in his hand, Dudley's gaze tightened slightly. Everything that happened in the dream was still vivid in his mind. If he hadn't just woken up in his own bed, Dudley would probably have thought that everything that had just occurred had happened in reality.
"The intersection of dream and reality," Dudley mused, playing with the small mirror in his hand.
It was much smaller than before. The surface still had fine cracks, but it could now reflect images and was no longer pitch black.
"It seems I've seen a similar mirror somewhere before," Dudley thought to himself.
Immediately, an ancient silver mirror with strange patterns appeared in his mind, with black gems decorating both sides like "eyes."
"A living, sealed artifact with extremely high intelligence. I remember asking it quite a few questions," Dudley chuckled lightly. Looking at the Mirror of Erised in his hand again, it was far inferior to the mirror in his memory.
"However, that space inside the mirror should be able to store some things."
Thinking of this, Dudley picked up the mirror, released his spiritual power, and it slowly enlarged until it could reflect his entire face. He thought for a moment, holding the mirror in his right hand while his left hand reached into his clothing pocket and grasped the Philosopher's Stone.
Immediately, he saw his reflection in the mirror take out the Philosopher's Stone. Then his reflection disappeared for a moment. When it reappeared on the mirror's surface, the Philosopher's Stone had already vanished from Dudley's hand.
"It can really store things." Dudley was overjoyed. This way, it would be much more convenient for him to move around in the future, without having to carry so many things with him.
After familiarizing himself with how to store items in the mirror, Dudley also put the Trunsoest Brass Book inside.
"Given the abilities and status of the Trunsoest Brass Book, the space in this mirror is just another form of a pocket. Once the Brass Book activates, the mirror definitely can't stop it if it wants to leave. But this is still pretty good. At least I don't have to carry the Brass Book with me all the time anymore. Otherwise, I'd have to guard against it being discovered or stolen by others."
After putting these two items inside, Dudley suddenly smiled. "Dumbledore originally wanted to hide the Philosopher's Stone in the mirror. I suppose I've helped him achieve his goal, in a way."
Recalling what Dumbledore had said before, Dudley couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. The Philosopher's Stone had gone through so much, and in the end, it returned to where it was supposed to be.
"I haven't had time to study the Philosopher's Stone yet. This thing should have many wonderful uses, most likely not just turning metal into gold. As for the elixir of immortality, unfortunately I don't have the formula and can only try to figure it out myself later," Dudley said to himself. At Hogwarts, he didn't have many opportunities to study the Philosopher's Stone. If Dumbledore discovered it, it would be quite troublesome.
After pondering for a moment, Dudley's attention turned to the mirror itself. "This Mirror of Erised could originally reflect others' heart's desires, but it seems that after seeing my inner desires, this ability was destroyed. I wonder if it has any other abilities."
Thinking of this, Dudley continuously infused his spiritual power into the mirror, wanting to see if it would undergo any changes.
Suddenly, the mirror's light flickered slightly, reflecting a fair cheek and long black hair. It seemed that because she was asleep, her blanket was slightly askew, revealing a slightly protruding collarbone...
Cough, cough, cough...
Dudley choked on his own saliva. He didn't recognize the figure reflected in the mirror, but he knew it was an older female student from Gryffindor whom he had seen a few times in the common room.
"Holy crap, a peeping mirror!" Dudley was greatly shocked.
From the mirror's angle, he could tell that this should be a mirror placed on that female student's bedside table, and this mirror was facing her bed. He never would have thought that this artifact would have such a function. This ability was too creepy.
Dudley looked at the scene in the mirror and quickly scanned all areas of the reflection. Fortunately, he saw the glass on the opposite window, which could reflect the mirror's surface.
"Good, it's not two-way!" Dudley breathed a slight sigh of relief.
From the reflection on the window glass, the mirror's surface was currently hazy, as if covered by a thin veil. Neither Dudley's figure nor the situation on the bed was reflected. He adjusted the Mirror of Erised's angle and found that no matter how he changed it, this new mirror could only see in one fixed direction.
Dudley calmed down and tried to continue controlling the Mirror of Erised. He needed to know its limits. Soon, the images on the mirror began to change, with scene after scene constantly appearing, all within Hogwarts. And only where there were mirror surfaces could the Mirror of Erised reflect them, which also included reflective glass and water surfaces.
After some examination, Dudley could confirm that this mirror could reflect a range of about a few dozen meters. Further away, the images it reflected would become blurry until they were completely unclear. Moreover, the mirror's angle could not be adjusted, meaning what that other mirror surface could see was what Dudley could see. He couldn't see other things by adjusting the angle. In other words, there were significant blind spots.
Of course, Dudley could circumvent this by switching to other mirror surfaces, but if there were no mirrors around, then Dudley would see nothing.
After finishing his experiment, Dudley felt this mirror was somewhat useful, but not very. After all, it couldn't see very far, and the angle couldn't be adjusted. It was good for peeping, but was Dudley that kind of perverted person? Of course not.
After playing with the mirror for a while, Dudley shrank it and put it in his pocket. This thing could just be used as a storage bag.
"After using a truly good mirror, the Mirror of Erised always feels a bit lacking. Alas... it's hard to go from extravagance to thrift," Dudley thought to himself.
The mirror in his memory was much more useful than the Mirror of Erised. Unfortunately, that mirror didn't seem to be his. He had only borrowed it a few times. "If that mirror had traveled through with me, it would have been much better. This magical world would no longer have any secrets for me."
Dudley looked at the time. It was still early, so he decided to continue sleeping.
And on the other side, Professor Dumbledore was still in that dilapidated classroom. For him, this night was destined to be a sleepless one.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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