Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 175: The Magic Mirror

A corner of the corridor.

Here stands a gleaming suit of armor, upon which is a jet-black cat.

The black cat leaped into the air, transforming into a little wizard, and silently left the corridor.

The sir's pony was even more convinced of chivalry than he was, and when he wasn't entirely sincere, or rather, fully embodying chivalry—Sheen guessed—he couldn't ride the pony.

So he came to check, only to find that the Jazz had gone to trick the prefect.

Inside the Hope Hut.

Sheen lit a magic candle on his seat.

For two days in a row, he read and organized these notes.

It must be said that although these notes are fragmented and sometimes quite strangely off-topic—for example, researching whether the water in the "Clear Water Like a Spring" spell from ancient magic script is drinkable…

However, compared to Professor Terra's notes, they contain more advanced sections, such as Niven's notes.

Perhaps out of fear that Sheen might conduct some overly dangerous experiments, Professor Terra's notes do not mention much about senior figures like Niven.

Just as Columbus discovered a new continent, Sheen found the most important runes in other notebooks.

These were, in fact, cases of wizards failing, but their failures were not meaningless; at least Sheen learned some useful ancient runes. For example, in old Fursac's rune poetry, 'g' represents gift, positivity, and miracle; 'o' represents possessing or acquiring things beyond consciousness and experience.

These runes will be very helpful when wizards transform into magical creatures.

Also relying on these notes, Sheen had some ideas about runes and materials.

Once Professor Terra returns, Sheen can begin preparing the experimental cat slicing cookies.

On the evening of the third day of the Christmas holiday.

Harry and Ron suddenly rushed into Hope Cottage.

"Sheen, you have to come with us and take a look!"

He was very serious.

……

night.

The castle fell asleep. Whispers drifted from not far down the fourth-floor corridor.

"Would you like to put it on, Sheen?"

A wisp of air spoke; it was actually Harry inside the Invisibility Cloak, and a trembling Ron.

Sheen shook his head and casually cast an illusion spell on himself.

[You have practiced the Illusionary Body Spell to a proficient standard, proficiency +10]

He wouldn't miss any opportunity to practice spells.

"What are you..."

Harry's eyes widened.

"I feel like I've read about this somewhere before, it's the Illusion Spell?!"

Ron gasped, then covered his mouth.

So the three of them began their operation.

Sheen hadn't really wanted to come, but then he suddenly remembered that he might see some books in the magic mirror that he had overlooked but longed for.
Memory can be deceiving sometimes, and a trip here doesn't take long.

December always brings more snow, and sometimes a biting wind blows. Ron was already shivering in the corridor.

"I'm freezing!"

It was Ron speaking.

"Let's stop looking and go back."

"no!"

Harry said in a hoarse voice,
"I know it's somewhere nearby."

The three of them brushed past the ghost of a tall wizard who was wandering from the opposite direction, but did not see anyone else.

Just as Ron started groaning that his feet were freezing, Harry saw the armor.

“This is it—this is it—yes!” They pushed open the door. Harry took the Invisibility Cloak off his shoulders and ran to the mirror.

He saw them—they were still there. His mother and father were overjoyed to see him.

Ron was stunned. As Harry turned to the side, he saw himself wearing the prefectural badge that Bill used to wear—and holding the House Cup and Quidditch Cup in his hand—and he was actually the captain of the Quidditch team?!

Sheen silently revealed himself and looked around. It looked like an abandoned classroom.

Many tables and chairs were piled up against the wall, forming large, dark shadows. There was also an overturned wastepaper basket. However, on the opposite wall, there was something that didn't seem to belong there, as if someone had temporarily placed it there because they had nowhere else to put it.

It was a very grand mirror, reaching all the way to the ceiling, with a magnificent gold frame, supported by two claw-shaped feet. Inscribed at the top were the words: Eris, Stella, Ehru, Ayteubi, Kafru, Ayteon, Voches.

Sheen knew that, read backwards, it meant: The Mirror of Erised could reveal one's deepest, most urgent, and strongest desires.

So what will you see?

Sheen became somewhat curious.

Harry and Ron were still arguing at this point:

"You've already spent the whole night watching it by yourself, so give me a little time."

Ron said.

“You’re just holding the Quidditch cup, what’s so fun about that? I want to see my parents.”

Harry retorted.

Don't push me—

"Oh—Ron, have you forgotten, Sheehan!"

"Merlin—how could I have forgotten this!"

Harry and Ron turned around apologetically and quickly made room for Sheen.

Sheen nodded and walked to the magic mirror.

At the same time, a figure slowly emerged.

Those were pure, deep green eyes. Sheen stared at the person in the mirror for a moment, and then heard Harry start to stutter.

"Oh no, Sheen, how come it's become a regular mirror here?"

Only Sheen knew how much the mirror had suddenly changed in that instant.

Soon, the night grew even deeper.

A black cat returned under the cover of shadows and quickly transformed into a little wizard in black robes.

Sheen stared into those green eyes, and the image suddenly became slightly blurry.

The first scene is in a dilapidated orphanage, where the dead orphans reappear;

Then came the majestic scene of Hogwarts Castle, with each professor's figure so clear in the Great Hall, even Dumbledore in the main seat was blinking.

These scenes flashed by, and in the end, only a young wizard with black hair and green eyes looked at Sheen from afar.

"It seems to you it's just an ordinary mirror... Oh, you don't mind me seeing your past, do you?"

An old wizard with a long, white beard emerged from the shadows, his voice becoming much softer:
"Are those...children I saw still alive?"

Sheehan said "Headmaster Dumbledore" and then shook his head.

“I am saddened by this. But child, I know there was once a man who was in a place that was also worthy of resentment.”

He's talented and excellent. Like you, he wants to escape that place. He wants to stand out, he wants to shine.

But child, why... is happiness so easily satisfying?

Sheehan knew who Dumbledore was talking about; it was none other than Dumbledore himself.

"The past is a ghost, Headmaster Dumbledore. To me, it is nothing but a ghost, it has no influence. It is the future that has weight."

…A future based on imagination is never reliable. My intuition has always told me one thing: relying on myself gives me the best chance of success.

Dumbledore admitted that he had never seen such a brilliant wizard—a tenacious life, stumbling and struggling to find its home.

He saw the fleeting glimpse of Hogwarts Castle, and he saw the unwavering will that the child may never have known, forged through trials and tribulations.

The land here has endured ten centuries of desolation and hardness. As the biting wind from the tower cuts around his throat like a knife, all that remains in his mind are those dazzling green eyes.

(End of this chapter)