Chapter 42: Looking in the mirror secretly in the middle of the night
The next night, Harry, Ron, and Aaron, squeezed under the Invisibility Cloak, carefully made their way through the corridors, climbed countless flights of stairs, and arrived at an empty classroom.
The classroom was covered in dust, like a place used for storage.
Besides a pile of desks and chairs, a particularly grand mirror was placed against the wall.
"That's it, this is the mirror I was talking about," Harryeagerly took off the Invisibility Cloak, pointing excitedly at the smooth mirror surface, "Do you see them? These are my mom and dad."
"But I only see the three of us," Ron said.
"Change your angle, stand over here," Harry pulled Ron over so he could get a better view of the mirror, "Alright, do you see them now!"
Harry was about to point out his parents in the mirror when Ron excitedly shouted, "That's me! I've become the Head Boy, and I'm holding the Quidditch Cup.
What a wonderful thing, I've also become the QuidditchCaptain, I'm so magnificent.
Harry, can this mirror show the future?"
"How could that be?" Harry lowered his head regretfully, "My parents are both dead."
"Indeed, it's impossible!" Aaron said thoughtfully, "This is definitely not about the future."
"Aaron, what about you? What did you see?" Ron asked with interest.
"Let me see," Aaron walked to the front of the mirror, and Harry and Ron consciously made way for him.
After a dozen seconds, Aaron stroked his chin, lost in thought, "How could this be?"
"What did you say?" Harry asked.
Aaron shook his head, "Unfortunately, I only saw myself. The mirror even discriminates!"
"You mean you didn't see your parents like Harry, or become Head Boy like me?" Ron said in surprise, then patted Aaron's shoulder with a hint of sympathy, "You can only see yourself. Such a magical item is useless to you."
"Would you mind taking your hand off me?" Aaron rolled his eyes speechlessly, pointing at the mirror's golden frame, "You'd better look at the words engraved on this mirror."
"Eris. Strala. Erhelu. Aiyite. Wubi. Kafulu. Aiyiteang. Wohus," Aaron read out the words syllable by syllable, "It's obviously a string of garbled characters. The entire Magical World probably doesn't have such a person.
But this isn't a name; it's a sentence, a sentence introducing this mirror.
If you spell these words backward, you'll know."
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, then looked at the mirror's frame simultaneously, and then read in unison: "It shows us nothing more than the deepest, most desperate desires of our mind."
"So this mirror shows us what we want to see?" Harry asked.
"Exactly!"
"But why can you only see yourself?" Ron asked curiously, then he thought of something, his mouth widening in astonishment, "You don't mean you have no desires, do you? That's too pitiful!"
"No, you can't say that," Aaron shook his head, "As long as one is human, one will have desires. It's impossible for me to be without desires, but this mirror simply can't reflect my desires."
"That sounds amazing.
So what are your desires?"
Aaron paused, then turned and gave Ron a meaningful smile, "Do you think I should tell you?
That's personal privacy, isn't it!"
"Uh..." Ron chuckled awkwardly, "I didn't mean anything else, I was just curious."
"Then please rein in your curiosity."
"Aaron, could you please move aside for me?" Harry said somewhat embarrassed, "I still want to see my parents. They're gone, and I might only be able to see them through this mirror."
"Of course," Aaron moved aside and made a 'please' gesture.
"Thank you!" Harry simply said thanks, then stood quietly in front of the mirror.
His eyes gradually softened, and he reached out to caress the mirror's surface, a faint smile spreading across his face.
The beauty and warmth of reuniting with his family were evident, but to Aaron and Ron, Harry's expression seemed somewhat dazed.
After a dozen minutes, Ron hesitated, then asked with some concern, "He's not going to be okay, is he?"
"He'll be fine. He's just seen the deepest family affection in his mind and is momentarily unable to extricate himself.
But you need to be careful not to let him get too deeply lost.
What you see in the mirror, no matter how beautiful, is always an illusion.
A simple remembrance and self-motivation are enough, but wasting time on fantasy is the greatest tragedy."
Ron:... "Your lecture, no, what you said makes a lot of sense.
But why do I have to be the one to pay attention?"
"Is that even a question?
You are Harry Potter's best friend, inseparable all day long. Who else would be more suitable than you?"
Ron opened his mouth, then straightened up with a proud expression, "You're right. As his best friend, I have a duty to pull him out."
With that, Ron walked up to Harry, grabbed his arm, "Harry, you need to rest."
"Just let me look a little longer."
"No, you're almost losing yourself in it," Ron said righteously, "Just let me look for a bit!"
Pfft!
Hearing this, Aaron almost choked.
Is this what they call best friends? And he thought their bond was so deep! In the end... just this? A plastic brotherhood, somewhat disappointing!
"Ahem! Although it's a bit of a mood killer, I still want to interrupt you two.
We should go. Staying up late to look at a broken mirror here, don't you find it boring?"
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, then shook their heads in unison.
Although they knew what was in the mirror was fake, the comfort it brought to their mind was not ordinary, so they naturally wanted to look a little longer.
Aaron rubbed his forehead and shook his head, "Coming with you two to see this broken mirror is the biggest mistake I've made this semester."
"Haha! Don't say that!" Ron chuckled awkwardly, "Why don't you come and try again? Maybe you'll see your desires!"
"No need for that.
Compared to illusions, I prefer to be down-to-earth, and I hope you two are too," Aaron said, then, ignoring Harry and Ron's strange expressions, he walked towards the door, "I'll go first. Good night to you two."
"Wait a minute," Harry quickly stopped him, "You don't have an Invisibility Cloak. It's not safe to go out."
"I have my ways," Aaron meaningfully took out a transparent bottle (Invisibility Potion), then pushed open the door and walked out.
"I always feel like he's sometimes stricter than my mom," Ron said, his mouth twitching.
Harry nodded, and just as he was about to speak, he heard a 'bang'.
The door suddenly opened, and Aaron ran back in a hurry, "Uh, I think we really need to leave, but before that, we probably need to hide."
"Why? I haven't seen enough yet!" Harry said reluctantly.
"Exactly, I haven't seen it either!"
"I saw Madam Norris. Is that reason enough?"
Ron was instantly startled, and asked nervously, "You mean that cat? Filch's cat?"
"What else?"
As soon as his voice fell, the three heard a cat's meow.
Harry and Ron instinctively shivered, and without further ado, they decisively pulled up the Invisibility Cloak, covering Aaron as well.
Soon, a faint yellow light appeared at the doorway, and Filchwalked in with a lantern.
He carefully looked around the classroom but found no misbehaving students, "Let's go, my dear, there's nothing unusual here."
Madam Norris let out a reluctant 'meow' and took a few steps towards the Invisibility Cloak. At that moment, the three held their breath in perfect unison, and simultaneously took steps backward.
Filch frowned slightly, looking ahead of Madam Norris, "There's no one there! Maybe you made a mistake!"
Once they left, the three of them simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.
Aaron emerged from the Invisibility Cloak, "I think we can go back now, right!"
"We should, we should," Ron nodded sheepishly. He had been thoroughly startled just now and didn't want to stay any longer.
Harry was still a bit reluctant. He slowly caressed the Mirror of Erised, "I think I can look a little longer. Filch probably won't be back anytime soon, right!"
"Heh!" Aaron chuckled speechlessly, "Harry, no, Harry Potter, you truly are a genius. Breaking school rules and still being so self-righteous.
Have you ever considered what if Filch suddenly came back?"
"He's right.
Harry, getting caught by Filch is not a good thing.
We've already angered Percy once. If we really get caught this time, we won't be able to face him."
"But..."
"No buts," Aaron interrupted him, "This mirror is just sitting here; it's not going to grow legs and run away. You can come whenever you want to see it later, but right now, we need to go back."
Ron nodded frantically at Harry, and regardless of whether he was willing or not, he directly pulled him towards the door.