Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 79 78. Harry's Illusion and Dumbledore's Lie
It is a city built on a vast area of wind-eroded flat-topped mountains, and also a city built on high cliffs. People usually rely on elevators to enter and exit, so as to avoid being attacked by centaurs.

There are a large number of wooden houses here, decorated with totems everywhere. Even on the roofs of every household there are totem poles or totem windmills, as well as an extremely huge totem pole on the central high ground.

The first thing Harry saw was the entire view of Thunder Bluff from a high place, and then the little home he was most familiar with.

It was very lively, and there were not only Tauren walking on the streets, but also orcs, goblins, even blood elves and undead... This was a festival to worship Sky Father, Harry remembered it very clearly.

Right in front of his own cottage, Brother Bain was carrying a wooden basket full of colorful flowers on his back, and he was decorating the surroundings of the house and on the totem pole in front of the door with these flowers.

Not far away, you can see Father Kane carrying a whole bison on his back. It was probably the prey he had just hunted. Mother Tamara was following next to Father Kane. The two seemed to be arguing with each other and looked very happy.

But what surprised Harry more than his three family members was himself in the mirror - and the person standing next to him.

Welcome.

The master of Theramore was sitting next to him in casual clothes, and her most commonly used phantom staff was casually leaning against the edge of the wooden house. The two seemed to be talking about something, one after another, with smiles on their faces.

After noticing that Father Kane was carrying a cow on his back, the self in the mirror quickly stood up and helped to lift the cow. Then it was time to carve it up, cook, and have a banquet...

Everything looks very beautiful, very harmonious, very wonderful, and full of laughter.

Subconsciously placing his palm on the mirror, Harry stared at everything in the mirror, holding his breath.

Very good, very good, everything is so perfect - except that it has never happened in the real world.

After knowing the effect of the Mirror of Erised, Harry did think about what he would see in this mirror, and at the beginning, everything was no different from what he expected... until Jaina appeared from it.

But - how is this possible?
When they were in Azeroth, there were indeed many gossipers who spread rumors about his affair with Jaina. Even Brother Bain made such a joke. Father Cain and Mother Tamara even urged them to break up. But only Harry and Jaina themselves knew that the relationship between them was not what outsiders imagined.

If the identities of the two people were still the same as they were a dozen years ago, just a simple princess and a young boy, then this kind of thing might still be possible.

But today, Harry has become the great prophet of the Tauren tribe. His will affects not only the Tauren tribe itself, but he also plays a vital role in the larger tribe. Even the most unruly orcs will bow and salute Harry Bloodhoof, and respectfully call him a prophet, hoping to get his guidance.

This is the status that Harry has earned with blood and glory over the past decade. It is also his responsibility and something he must protect.

And Jaina is not only the leader of a neutral city like Theramore, but also inherited the responsibilities of her father Daelin Proudmoore and became the queen who ruled the Kul Tirans. She holds the position of commander-in-chief of the Kul Tiran navy and is also the admiral of the Alliance.

What separates himself from Jaina is no longer the simple obstacles he once had, but a higher-level requirement, something more complex and heavier.

Whether it is due to continuous military preparations for security reasons, or due to constant conflicts led by some people with ulterior motives or conspirators, the final result is that the war between the tribe and the alliance has never stopped.

As for me and Jaina... it seemed like I hadn't seen each other for a long time. The last time we met was on the battlefield against demons. The two of us smiled at each other, and our cooperation was as tacit as it had been many years ago...

what.

Unable to help but shake his head, Harry chuckled silently, then lowered his hand that was pressing on the mirror.

He closed his eyes and opened them again. This time, all the complicated images in the mirror disappeared, leaving it empty, as if everything that had just existed in the mirror was an illusion.

Harry was the only one left in there, in his present appearance and clothes - and the mirror seemed to be just an ordinary mirror.

Harry stretched out his hand, looked at himself in the mirror, and slightly adjusted the collar of his sweater that had flipped out of his robes around his neck, and put it back under his robes.

"To be honest, the green sweater and black robe are a little too conspicuous... It's like wearing a green circle." Harry turned his head and said to Ron jokingly: "Ron, please be sure to convey my thanks and request to Mrs. Weasley. That is really crucial."

Ron didn't reply because he was staring at the mirror with his eyes wide open, even when he was in heat after taking the love potion, his eyes were not so wide open. He was breathing rapidly, wishing he could get into the mirror.

"Well, I'm afraid I'll need to remind him again later." Harry shrugged. He turned around and saw Dumbledore looking at him in surprise.

"Did you see yourself in the mirror?" Dumbledore tapped his shoulder. From Harry's actions just now, he seemed to have guessed something.

"No." Harry shook his head slightly, "At least not at the beginning. I saw a lot - even some scenes that I had never thought of or expected. It was really amazing."

"Can I ask you one more question, Harry? Just consider it as satisfying an old man's idle curiosity." Without caring about Ron who was already immersed in the mirror, Dumbledore waved his hand, and the dusty chairs behind him became clean. He motioned for Harry to sit down and talk.

It has to be said that since the day after Harry's housewarming dinner, Dumbledore always treated Harry with a relaxed conversation between friends, unless they were in public or crowded places outside the school.

and so--

"No," Harry sat down and said without hesitation, "Will you share your love history when you were young with me?"

"...No." This sentence made Dumbledore fall silent. "So, what you saw was your love history?"

When he's not acting like a genial old man, this old man can be surprisingly sharp in his words.

"No, I saw my home," Harry said with a smile, "So what about you? What did you see in the magic mirror?"

"I saw a gorgeously dressed woman asking who is the most beautiful woman in the world." Dumbledore told a joke and made himself laugh. He laughed happily and wiped away the tears from his eyes after a while and said, "Okay, okay, I-I saw myself holding a pair of thick wool socks, which are enough for me to wear for a long time."

"You are lying," Harry said with certainty, "but out of respect for an elder, I will not ask you any more questions."

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Harry," Dumbledore said with a playful wink. "To be honest, you didn't even give me a chance to reason with you. I wanted to advise you not to be obsessed with this mirror, because no matter how powerful you are in the mirror, it's all fake... But I didn't expect that you only got rid of the scene in the mirror after being obsessed for a few minutes."

"A few minutes?" Harry was a little surprised, because he felt like he had just taken a glance.

"Aha, that does make one lose track of time," Dumbledore said with a smile, "I am quite certain that you stared into the Mirror of Erised for a good three or four minutes."

"Well," Harry sighed, "it's indeed nostalgic...but I don't think you lost the opportunity to make sense."

Harry pouted at Ron, who was still staring at the mirror.

Dumbledore simply laughed. After finally stopping laughing, he panted and said, "You are right, Harry - but even if we are to be reasonable, I am afraid we have to wait until Ron has enjoyed this wonderful moment, otherwise it would be too cruel to him."

"By the way, I didn't lie just now," Dumbledore said in a fake serious tone, "This is a very serious accusation. I did have a pair of wool socks. Socks are never enough. Christmas came and went, but I didn't receive a pair of socks. I don't know why, but people always give me books, as if I were reading all day."

"Well said, but I still don't believe it." Harry also pretended to be serious. "But I do agree with the latter point. As far as the Christmas gifts I received this year are concerned, they can basically be divided into two categories. One is candy, and the other is books."

"Oh, I thought you liked reading, Harry," Dumbledore said in surprise, "After all, as far as I know, you spend most of your free time in the library."

"Yes, but when it comes to gifts, I prefer food or toys," Harry explained. "I actually hope to receive something that is very characteristic of the wizarding world... For example, I was surprised when I first saw the Chocolate Frog."

"Ahaha, a typical Gryffindor idea. I like new things, things I haven't seen before, curiosity and a desire for adventure." Dumbledore nodded. "I was similar to you when I was young, but I have become much more patient as I get older."

"Oh, by the way, as someone who has been through this, I may have some experience to pass on to you, Harry." At this point, Dumbledore suddenly remembered something, "You may not feel it in school, but in fact, you are quite famous in the wizarding world - well, according to the current situation, you will probably become even more famous in the future."

"So?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You have to be careful with your gifts," Dumbledore said seriously. "You'll find that sometimes a Howler at Christmas is the safest gift... Be careful when you open it."

"Curse? Trap gift box?" Harry understood it in an instant.

"Yes, but that's all for the future." Dumbledore was serious for only a few seconds, and he quickly returned to his previous state. "You don't have to worry while you're at school."

After the big celebrity in the wizarding world passed on his experience to the little celebrity for a while, Ron suddenly shuddered, as if he had come to his senses.

"Hey! Harry! Headmaster Dumbledore!" Ron turned around in surprise and shouted, "I see that I have become the Head Boy! I am holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup in my hands! And I am wearing a wolfskin coat! Oh my God! Is this a prophecy of the future?! Harry!"

This kid was so excited that smoke was almost coming out of his head.

"If you turn your head a little, you might remember what I said at the beginning - 'I present not your face, but the desire in your heart'" Harry complained.

"...In other words?" Ron couldn't laugh anymore.

"Yes, I'm sorry to tell you this directly, but what you see in the mirror is an illusion, child." In front of Ron, Dumbledore looked like a kind elder again. He said gently: "It can make you see the things you desire most, but the happiest person in the world can use the Mirror of Erised as an ordinary mirror. In other words, what he sees in the mirror is his own appearance. Do you understand?"

"I see," Ron said dejectedly, "They're all fake, all illusions... The Head Boy is fake, the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup are fake, and the Quidditch Captain is even fake..."

"It's just fake now, Ron," Harry rolled his eyes and said, "If you work hard in the next period of time, at least some of them will become real... such as the College Cup and the Quidditch Cup."

"Yes," Dumbledore said, looking somewhat helpless, "The future is still unknown."

“That’s the magic of the Mirror of Erised. It allows us to see our most urgent and strongest desires in our hearts—even if we don’t even know what they are, the Mirror of Erised can still show them to us.”

“But this mirror cannot teach us unknown knowledge, nor can it tell us the truth or facts of a matter. It is like a cocoon that traps us inside and we cannot escape, let alone see what is outside the cocoon.”

"After a long time, people will waste their time in front of it, obsessed with what they see, and even driven crazy, because they don't know whether what is in the mirror is real or can be realized, and then they desire everything to come true, and even abandon the real world in which they exist."

"...That's too horrible," Ron couldn't help but say. He opened his eyes wide, as if he was frightened by the situation described by Dumbledore.

"It's quite useful, isn't it?" Harry leaned closer to Dumbledore and whispered, "At least the knowledge you prepared wasn't wasted."

Dumbledore seemed not to have heard this, but he winked at Harry.

"It is useless to indulge in illusory dreams and forget the real life, Ron," Dumbledore said gently, "This mirror will be moved to a new place soon. I hope you don't go looking for it. Well, I'm afraid Harry won't let you look for it either. In short, don't think about it anymore."

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore," Ron answered in a long voice. He couldn't help but look back at the Mirror of Erised. The older Ron in the mirror raised the trophy a little higher.

A wonderful evening and a wonderful experience, at least for Ron.

When parting with Dumbledore, Harry glanced at Ron who had walked out first, and then whispered to Dumbledore: "I'm afraid those words just now also apply to you, Dumbledore."

“Don’t indulge in it anymore.”

Leaving this sentence, Harry turned around and followed Ron.

Harry would never believe what Dumbledore said about seeing wool socks in the mirror - perhaps the wool socks had some kind of symbolic meaning.

Compared to this simple lie, Harry believed more what Dumbledore said at the beginning... that he and Ron were the ones who arrived unexpectedly.

He is just an old man who educates Ron with reason, but in fact he himself is also obsessed with illusions.

Harry saw it clearly.

Without even a moment's grief for Dumbledore, as soon as he returned to his dormitory, Harry climbed into his trunk and summoned the spirit of James Potter.

The main reason was that he was too curious about the invisibility cloak. So far, all tests had proved that it was a treasure, and perhaps the most precious equipment he had. At the same time, Harry was also very curious about how it was made, what kind of magical skills were used, and whether he could learn them.

But judging from James Potter's answer, his father was probably busy playing pranks, playing Quidditch and picking up girls during school. His only impression of the invisibility cloak was that it was very useful, and nothing else.

James Potter only knew that this invisibility cloak had been passed down in the Potter family for a long time, at least since his grandfather's time, but he had no idea where it came from or why it had such a strange effect.

Seeing James just stroking the back of his head and grinning, Harry couldn't say anything harsh. He could only wait until the planned visit to the Potter mansion during the summer vacation of his first year to look for clues in the family treasury.

Well, considering the magical nature of the portraits in the wizarding world, perhaps my ancestors could also provide a useful answer - if that didn't work, I would have to hold a large-scale sacrificial ceremony and summon the Potter family's more distant ancestors for questioning.

This is the magic of shamans, many times they can skip the process and go directly to find the answer.

Don’t ask, the answer is the wisdom of our ancestors.

(End of this chapter)